"Indeed I did," he replied solemnly. "And I'm the luckiest man in the world."
Bella rushed to Esme, surprising the older woman with an awkward but heartfelt embrace.
"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" she cried.
Esme held her breath and carefully returned the hug with great relief. Whoever this mysterious young woman was to Carlisle, it did not seem that their connection was romantic.
Carlisle cleared his throat. "As much as everyone would love to visit with you… selfishly, I wonder if we could speak in private a moment."
Bella's expression sobered rapidly and she looked nervous again. She nodded, swallowing.
Carlisle guided her down the hall to his study, seemingly unable to take his eyes off her. "Just this way, Isabella," he spoke quietly, leading her into his study.
He was so intent on his young visitor that he didn't notice the small gasp of astonishment from Esme.
AN: Ok, usual disclaimers apply. I own nothing and I earn nothing. I'm writing this story because I like writing Bella going back in time and righting the wrongs (that is, what I think was wrong. I would never choose Edward for her). So, she goes back and she lives a different life. If you know any good Bella goes back in time story, let me know.
1.
Bella had given birth to her baby; she managed to see her daughter for a moment before her eyes closed and everything went silent.
She opened her eyes and she was on the Cliff of La Push, 'the infamous' cliff where a long time ago she had jumped to hear Edward's voice. She looked at the Ocean and she felt the peace of the place.
"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" A voice behind her whispered.
Bella turned around and she gasped; a beautiful native Quileute woman was smiling at her. "Where am I, am I dead? Who are you?"
The woman shook her head. "I'm Elena and you aren't dead. You are here because your life could have gone in another direction. So, I'm giving you a choice. You can go back in time and choose someone else as your mate or you can go on to become a vampire."
Bella looked at her seriously. "Why would I want to be with anyone else? I'm happy with Edward." She whispered; but the seed of a doubt had been planted in her mind.
"I'm sure you are, as I said you had two choices and one was Edward. What I'm offering here, it is the chance to see another life. When the right time will come, you will be back here and you can decide if you want to stay with this mate or if you want to go on and live a vampire life with Edward. The choice will be entirely yours; you will be free to choose. The other life is there waiting for you." The beautiful woman said.
"I can go back to Edward if I want when the time to choose will come. What's the catch?" Bella asked, she was sure that nothing was ever that simple or straightforward.
"There is no catch Bella, let's say that I'm not doing it for you but for him, your 'other' mate." Elena replied.
Bella took a deep breath and turned to look at the Ocean again. The place was peaceful and brought a serenity that she didn't remember having for a very long time. Since the battle with Victoria, perhaps even before her rescue of Edward in Volterra.
Would it be so bad if she gave Jacob a chance? Edward would be waiting for her in the alternate life, nothing would change. She turned to look at Elena, the woman was peacefully waiting for her to make up her mind.
Bella's mind was feverishly springing many questions and problems. "What about Alice and Jasper's gift? If I go back, they will know something is wrong with me."
Elena walked closer to her and smiled. "Alice will see flashes of you doing human things, Jasper will read your superficial emotions and Edward will read your thoughts, just not the one regarding him. Basically, you will fool them as another human girl. You won't even be Edward's singer."
Bella turned away and watched the forest. It was an intriguing idea to see whether her vampire family would notice her for herself and not for the 'special circumstances' of being Edward's singer or her mute mind.
"When you say that I had another choice, are you talking about Jacob?" She asked.
Elena smiled at her. "I'm afraid I cannot disclose his identity. You will go back and you will meet a lot of other men again. The time will come when you will discover the identity of your mate."
Bella bit her lip, she had assumed that her other choice had to be Jacob, but Elena had not confirmed it.
If not him, whom?
Angry eyes and a serious tormented face flashed through her mind and she snorted.
Being Sam's imprint was absolutely out of the question.
But why had she thought of him? Why Sam out of all the wolves? Because she was sure that Elena meant that she would be an imprint, an imprint that had to make a real difference.
The fracture of the pack had started because Sam had imprinted on Emily, from there Leah had reacted badly, Sam had hurt his chosen mate and there was no peace for the pack.