Forget Me Not | ✓

41 | Sweet Raindrops & Salty Tears

   
41
Breaking Dawn  [Pt.1]
S w e e t    R a i n d r o p s
&   S a l t y    T e a r s
 

 
      

THE WAIT WAS unbearable. No one had heard anything since Carlisle and Adele sped off to the hospital with a dying Maxine. Esme was pacing anxiously in  the foyer alongside Rosalie. The hopeful atmosphere from before had vanished and even the sickly Bella insisted on staying up so that she could find  out the news on Max.

They all stood in a tense silence. A few minutes before, a pissed off Alice told Bella exactly what had happened between Adele and Edward to make them so cold to each other. The human gave him hell for treating his sister like shit. Adele had always been there for Bella even when Edward himself was not. She also pointed out, with her voice raised despite being bedridden, that Adele had been there for him long before Bella came into his life and she still was to this day.

Everyone underestimated Bella at first because they thought that she shared his mindset, but the way she had scolded Edward in her weakened state earned their respect. It had gotten through to Edward – now more than ever – and he knew that he had to be there for his older sister during the hardest time of her life.

Their heads all snapped up as they heard a car pull into the gravel driveway. When the engine shut off, Esme and Rosalie were already opening the door and everyone was looking into the foyer.

"They're back!" Rosalie's tone was stiff.

"Is Max with them?" Alice inquired in a small, hopeful voice that prompted Jasper to wrap a comforting arm around her.

Bella sat up and successfully hid a wince from her smarting ribs, much to Edward's chagrin. "Is she okay?"

Esme's face contorted with horror as she realized her husband and Adele were alone, their shoulders slumped and expressions grave. Rosalie's voice dropped to barely a whisper. "I don't see her."

They watched as Carlisle walked around the car and closed Adele's door for her as she stood in a stupor. The pouring rain soaked her to the bone and her blonde hair stuck to her porcelain face as she watched him dejectedly. She couldn't get those images out of her head – Max's fear, her blue lips, the tears that streaked down her face as Adele yelled at her father. She almost swayed on her feet as she recalled her frantic scream as she rushed into the emergency room with her unconscious daughter, who lay limp in her arms. She just couldn't get it out of her head. Carlisle wrapped his arms around his daughter as she let the dam break; as sobs wracked her body.

Esme couldn't take it anymore.  She threw open the door and ran out into the pouring rain, oblivious to the wolves who were still prowling the perimeter of the house.

"Esme!" Rosalie stepped out on the deck and let the rain hit her. Emmett gently held her back – he may not be able to help Esme, but he wouldn't risk his mate being attacked.

Esme's heart sank as she neared and Adele's sobs we're louder than the thunder and the rain. This was not happening. It couldn't be true. They couldn't have been too late...That beautiful little girl just started her new life; she just found happiness with them.

Dreadfully, Esme reached placed her hands on them and Adele slowly pulled back from Carlisle. Salty tears and the sweet, sweet rain cascaded down her beautiful face. Sh

"Adele?" Her voice trembled as she thought the worst: was her grandbaby dead?

When Adele met her eyes, words failed her. Instead, she let a shaky smile grace her lips – she was relieved. She was crying tears of pure joy. "She's going to be alright."

"Oh my God..." Her mother-figure grabbed her and pulled her into the biggest, happiest hug as relief washed over her with the rain. "Oh my God."

"She had a severe case of Bacterial Pneumonia. There was fluid in her lungs...we made it just in time." Carlisle sighed heavily. He didn't understand why he didn't see it sooner. "She has to stay in the hospital for a few days."

"She's going to be alright?" Esme asked him.

"Thankfully, yes." She could tell that even he was frightened; it was a fear he hadn't experienced in decades.

"Let's get inside." They put their arms around Adele and walked onto the deck. Carlisle and Esme entered the house and explained everything while Rosalie brought Adele into her arms.

"We were so scared."

When Adele pulled away, her face was ashen and that same fear still lingered in the golden depths of her eyes. "I still am."

"Of course you are. You're her mom."

They walked into the house. Esme and Carlisle we're peeling off their wet coats when Emmett offered Adele a towel, which she quietly refused.

Like a puppy with its tail between it's legs, Edward approached her and engulfed her in a hug that she didn't refuse. "I'm so sorry. I'm glad she's okay." 

He pulled away and for a long drag of a moment, they all just watched her – her clothes clung to her porcelain flesh, her hair dripped with rainwater, and she was oblivious. Her piercing gaze landed upon Bella, who smiled in relief at her.

"I have never felt like that before in all of.my years.... I have never felt such fear." She stood idly in the doorway, speaking only to Bella, who's smile slowly fell. Her trembling voice fell to a whisper. "My baby girl almost died in my arms tonight and I almost died with her. If she would have...she's my entire world. Her and my son..."

"I know..." A wry smile graced Bella's pale lips and her hand brushed over her swollen belly.

Adele wasn't angry anymore – at least, not at Bella and Edward. They didn't plan for any of this; not the baby, not the wolves turning on them, and certainly not her death only weeks after truly starting their life together. She wasn't going to let Bella ever feel how she felt tonight because she could help. She knew she could.

"I understand it, now – your choice. I always did, but now I see it with more clarity. I could not bear it if I lost either of my children..." She walked around the sofa and coffee table and knelt beside Bella. "Your child, your daughter," She smiled at everyone's shocked reactions and Bella's jubilant smile. "She is a part of you now, as my children are a part of me."

Bella smiled at her. Adele Cullen was a great many things, good and bad, but one thing was for certain – she never lets anyone lose hope and she never, ever gives up without a worthy fight.

"You are going to live to see your baby girl, Isabella Cullen. More than that, you are going to raise her and watch her live a happy life."

Edward sighed as everyone exchanged wary glances. "I wouldn't give her false hope."

"It's not false hope. It's real hope – it is knowledge and it is fact." She looked from him to Bella again. "I have stuck by your sides since the beginning. I have saved your asses more times than I care to count and I have never failed any of you." Bella's hope pooled with the tears in her eyes as Adele gave her her piercing stare. It was her we're-gonna-do-this-and-we're-going-to-win stare. " I don't plan to anytime soon."