Handcrafted by the Swans (Twilight Fan Fiction)

Chapter 58

Edwards POV

I heard a few grunts and insults coming from the kitchen. It had been going on for a while now as the twins tried to catch up on homework. Masen was working away and Rosa wouldn't focus and had been distracting him quite a lot. I knew I should step in but I was tired. I had just finished up a night shift at the hospital which was always something that drained me and Bella was picking Renesmee up from Charlie's.

"Masen don't be a dick and let me copy your work," Rosa insulted, using cuss words had become somewhat of a habit this past week and Bella just couldn't stamp it out of her.

"Ro, you need to do your own. I'm not letting you take mine and flog it as yours," he replied.

They started bickering and arguing over the said homework and I got up to see if I could cool it down. When I entered the kitchen I saw them fighting over an exercise book.

"Masen just let me borrow the freaking thing!" Rosa yelled, her face growing red.

"I've said no already. You should just do what you're supposed to do in school and you wouldn't struggle with it at home," Masen grunted.

Rosa began shouting at her brother at the top of her lungs, so much so that the veins in her head and neck begun to protrude - something I had seen before and suddenly it clicked.

Masen had given me the first clues last week when he said things with Rosa at school had been tense. Then there was the little things she had been breaking in rage like spoons and plates. It was all the signs I needed before I stepped in and placed an authoritative hand on her now shaking shoulder.

"Hey, Rosa, why don't we go and see if there are any of my old workbooks back at Charlie's that you can have?" I asked her, trying to diffuse the situation before it got messy.

She grunted and grabbed her coat off the hook. I looked at Masen who looked very confused at his little sister's outburst. "We will talk later buddy," I told him. "Tell your Mom we will be back soon, yeah?" He nodded.

The drive over to Charlie's was tense. I could feel it cursing through Rosa's blood - the confusion, the fear, the questions.  However, when we got there she was as pleased to see Charlie as ever and her normal happy mood returned. Perhaps it was something to do with the pasta bake the Sue had made. That was something else I picked up on, Rosa's portions never seemed like enough anymore. The atmosphere at the table was normal but it was apparent Charlie noticed the unstoppable was about to happen too.

"Edward, that's a time bomb waiting to go off," he told me as I tried to palm it off. I didn't really know how to deal with it but I knew it wasn't something I could tell her was going to happen.

I went to join Rosa upstairs. "Let's go look in the attic for that workbook," I told her.

We went up and rummaged through old boxes my dad had stored up here for years. Most of them were just keepsakes him and my Mom had kept mostly of mine. Rosa flicked through some old pictures.

"You look very like your Mom," she told me. I smiled.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Yeah, you have the same hair color and your eyes are exactly the same," Rosa noticed.

"You know you remind me of her quite a bit too. You're kind and selfless like she was," I replied. 

Her facial expression hardened through what I could only point to as remembering the incident in the kitchen earlier. She opened her mouth to reply but no words came so she shut it again, turning back to flick through the pictures. A silence sat in the room for a few moments. When Rosa had finished looking at the photo album she set it on her lap before she spoke again.

"Dad, do you think being back here does things to you?" She asked carefully.

I didn't really understand what the question was but I knew there was something hidden there that she wanted an answer to. I decided I needed to be careful with my words.

"I um," I thought. "You know it's where I grew up, it's a part of me and that makes it a part of you too."

Rosa nodded, finding an unspoken answer. "I like it here I just..." Rosa trailed off.

"I'm glad you do, it's nice for my kids to experience some of my heritage and whatever happens while we are here is a good thing. I matter how big or small," I finished.

Rosa looked a little teary so I changed the subject quickly. I spotted a brown box with the word school written on it. I crossed the small nook to grab it.

"Here, why don't we take these with us and see if you or your brother can get any use out of them?" I asked.

She nodded again and we said goodbye to Charlie before heading back home. I knew Rosa was scared, hell I was too. But I knew that deep down it wasn't necessarily a bad thing once the initial change was over and done with it would be nice to bond with her like that. No matter how lost she was feeling now I knew Rosa would always have a home.