My Heart Beats For You // Alice Cullen

51. The New Era

*10 Years Later*

"You can't be serious, shove off!" Lorenzo yells from his room in the apartment. Video games - again. He is such a typical teenager.

I roll my eyes and finish the dishes, drying my hands off. "Len, turn it off now and grab your things we have to go meet mom!" I yell upstairs.

I hear him groan and I giggle a bit as I roll my eyes and grab my bag. Just as I do my phone rings and I frown when I see Ronnie's number; he knows to wait for my call...

"Hello? Ron?"

"Bails..." He whispers. He sounds exhausted and I can hear a quiver in his voice despite him trying to hide it.

"What. What's wrong." I demand as I go to the big window and look out of it, looking over the city. We're currently in New York where we spend our fall and winters until Christmas when we go to Alaska to be with everyone else.

He takes a shaky breath. "Mom... She had a fall. W-we thought it was just her age but... But she has a tumour. Grade 4 pancreatic cancer. She has Weeks, Bails. Weeks." He whispers.

I feel the air leave my lungs as I freeze, staying silent. No... No. Not yet... I mean, I knew it would happen one day but she's barely 70. That's still so young these days!

"Bails?" Ronnie sniffs.

"I'm-I'm here. Um. I-we-um." I stutter. I can't process this.

"I shouldn't have called." He realises.

"No. You should have, I'm glad you did I just--I thought there would be more time." I whisper.

He sighs. "Me too.. I have to go, she'll wake soon. I miss you."

"I miss you too. I love you... Kiss her for me." I whisper.

"Bye B." He whispers and the line goes dead.

I take a shaky breath and try to compose myself as Lenzy comes down the stairs, his muddy brown hair slicked back into a pony tail. "Ready... Everything okay?" He frowns.

I force a smile and nod. "Yeah, let's go. Mom said you can have pizza if you want."

"Okay... You tryna butter me up or something?" He teases as I roll my eyes, pushing the button for the garage in the elevator. "Was that Lil on the phone? Is she coming home?"

"Lily will come home when she's ready. It's going to take her a very long time to feel comfortable around human blood, no matter how confident she feels; she and Jane are doing fine with Alec in Egypt, doing some work for pops. The Bentley or the jeep?" I ask.

"Duh." He rolls his eyes as he edges towards the grey Bentley continental gt.

I roll my eyes back at him and unlock it, making sure he buckles up before I even start the car. My son is a little too ballsy for my liking at times - gets that from his uncles. I head out of the parking garage and into the evening traffic, weaving my way through the few drivers who like to go slow because they're the type of person who thinks 'we aren't going anywhere so why ride his ass' type thing.

"Maw said she wants to come visit, can we do it next weekend?" Lenzy asks as he looks up from his phone.

"I'm sure we can sort something but I need to talk to mom first." I say as I pick up speed in the thinning traffic.

"Okay..." he says slowly as he eyes me; he isn't dumb but he's smart enough not to pry.

I keep my eyes on the road as we arrive at the terminal, Lenzy climbing into the back seats as I pull up beside where Alice waits; I smile and climb out to hug her, kissing her hard as her arms wrap around my waist.