chapter┊ ✦. :: eighteen
♡ ﹙the truth﹚ ❋ ˚ ݂ ꛒ

Lydia woke up, realizing that for the first time in weeks, she had slept better than ever in her life. She felt so relaxed and at peace, plus the blankets were very warm, and she didn't feel a bit of cold during the night when it started snowing or in the early morning when the temperature dropped even more.

However, she also realized that she was alone in bed. There were no notes or anything similar indicating where Carlisle had gone, but she shrugged it off; maybe he wanted to keep talking with his family.

She got out of bed and noticed that not only were the blankets warm, but so was the small room, thanks to the heating Carlisle had turned on the night before when they went to sleep.

Her suitcase was already in the room next to Carlisle's. She opened it to look for clean clothes and to go to the bathroom, but she didn't have anything warm enough for the Alaska weather. Inside the house was warm, but if she went outside, she would definitely freeze.

A soft knock on the door made her jump. She quickly went to open it and found herself face to face with beautiful golden eyes belonging to the girl she knew as Kate. Kate smiled kindly at her.

"I hope you rested well," she said.

"Yes, thank you," Lydia replied.

"Carlisle left with Eleazar earlier to hunt," she explained, "but I brought you some clothes that might fit you. Carlisle mentioned you didn't pack much warm clothing, and since we only use it for appearances, I thought it might be more useful to you than to us."

Lydia felt embarrassed immediately but still smiled and gladly accepted the clothes.

"Thank you so much, Kate."

"Carmen is preparing something for you to have breakfast. When you're ready, she'll be waiting for you in the kitchen."

"You shouldn't have bothered, really," Lydia hugged the clothes Kate had given her.

"It's okay. Carmen enjoys using the kitchen for the first time. She spends her time watching recipes on TV."

Lydia smiled shyly and just nodded.

"Thank you. I'll come down in a moment."

Kate smiled again before leaving quietly. Lydia returned to the room to change and carefully examined each garment Kate had left her. Everything was really nice and seemed very warm and perfect for the icy weather.

After getting dressed, she left the room and headed to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she was in the kitchen, sitting at the beautiful island, while she looked with interest at the decorations she hadn't noticed the day before. Carmen was very excitedly preparing something that Lydia didn't get to see, but it smelled really good. Both women engaged in a small conversation just to pass the time without any awkward or uncomfortable silences.

When Carmen placed the plate full of food in front of Lydia, she looked at it with shining eyes. It looked delicious. She started eating, realizing that the taste was even better than she imagined. Carmen smiled proudly at her good cooking skills, and she was even more encouraged to prepare more dishes for Lydia.

After breakfast, Lydia got up to wash all the dishes, and although Carmen told her it wasn't necessary, she insisted because she didn't want to cause any more trouble. Later, Lydia was in front of the house, looking at the beautiful landscape while the cold wind hit her cheeks, which had already turned as red as her nose.

She took her phone out of her pocket and looked at her mother's contact for a long time, quite indecisive about whether she should call her or not. Anyway, she didn't know what to say. In the end, she decided to press the call button, not wanting to postpone the matter any longer.

However, her mother didn't answer the phone. It wasn't strange since she never answered, but she had a small hope that her father would at least pick up. She then called her father's cell phone, but it was the same result. She would try again later or the next day.

The men didn't return until the next day. It was the same time that Carmen showed Lydia around the house while Kate engaged in a long conversation with both, interested in Lydia's work.

Carlisle came back refreshed. He seemed less tired and more energetic than when they arrived. Maybe he needed that hunting experience, but when the men arrived, it was the girls' turn to go on their own hunt.

"My parents didn't answer the phone," Lydia had told Carlisle. They were both sitting on the beautiful cream-colored couch.

"Have you tried calling your sister?" he suggested.

She looked at him skeptically, but Carlisle just chuckled.

"It didn't even occur to me. It's not really strange for my parents not to answer, but I've been trying to call them since yesterday and nothing. My mom would have returned the call by now."

Carlisle pulled her closer to his chest.

"Do you want us to go look for them? I was planning on leaving here in two weeks, but if you're worried, we can leave right now."

She shook her head.

"No, it's okay. I like it here. Everyone has been very kind, and you seem happy."

They both smiled at each other.

"We can stay just one week and then take a flight to Florida."

She nodded.

"Do you think... could we go to Minnesota? I would like to see my old apartment and maybe sell it now that it's of no use to me."

He looked at her intently for a moment before planting a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Of course."

As Carlisle had promised, one week later, Lydia was saying goodbye to the Denali family. Kate made her promise to call from time to time, and Eleazar asked her to inform him more about her condition when she found out what was going on.

Lydia would definitely miss them. She had spent a short time with them, but she had a great time during that time. Everyone had made her feel very comfortable and welcome.

And then, Lydia and Carlisle stopped in front of the girl's parents' house. It was night, but the weather was quite warm.

Lydia called a couple of times, feeling relieved to see her mother on the other side of the door, who quickly embraced her tightly. She didn't fall behind with Carlisle, whom she also warmly welcomed and invited inside, calling out to her husband from the entrance.

"I wanted to let you know I was coming, but you weren't answering your cell phone, and Dad wasn't either."

They sat in the beautiful room with floral prints. Compared to the Denali's home, it was a smaller and more homely house, without so many luxuries. Delilah let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, your father and I went for a boat ride, and we both left our phones in my bag... unfortunately, it ended up at the bottom of the sea, and we haven't gone to buy new ones."

Lydia laughed.

"I'll go buy new ones for both of you tomorrow. I was so worried that you wouldn't answer, and since you don't have a landline because Dad hates it when the bank calls, I was really worried."

Marcelle entered the small room, letting out a big yawn but smiled when she saw her daughter, whom she quickly embraced tightly. Then she greeted Carlisle with a firm handshake. Lydia noticed that her mother woke the man up because he looked somewhat swollen-faced and still sleepy-eyed.

"Dear, could you prepare some

coffee?" Delilah asked her husband.

He nodded and without saying a word, headed to the kitchen as if he were some kind of zombie. Lydia wanted to tell him it wasn't necessary, but in the end, she stayed silent. Carlisle simply looked around, marveling at the many photos and diplomas adorning the walls. The diplomas belonged to Lydia, all before she entered university, and the photos were of the pair of sisters, from when they were newborns to the present day. There was one of Lilian's wedding where both families appeared, Carlisle remembered how uncomfortable Lydia was when they took that photo.

"Do you know anything about Lilian?" Lydia dared to ask, although it was only to make conversation before getting to the point she was really interested in.

"Not much, I talked to her before I lost my phone, but you know she was never very communicative. The last I heard was that she had already found a house with Jonah, and the pregnancy discomforts had worsened," Delilah seemed disappointed at the mention of the word "pregnancy."

"I understand. I suppose they'll continue to live in Minnesota, right? Jonah was the hospital director, and I don't think he would want to lose that job for anything in the world."

"I'm not entirely sure, but I remember Jonah mentioned something about a transfer to Seattle. He was offered a specialty chief position. Although I don't understand why he accepted it if he was already the director at his hospital."

Lydia turned pale. That was very close to Forks. She almost rolled her eyes and sighed, but she resisted. Carlisle noticed and tried to calm her by putting a hand on her knee. It really helped.

"Mom... about what you told me at Lilian's wedding..."

Delilah cleared her throat and settled into her seat uncomfortably. She glanced quickly at Carlisle but smiled when she saw her husband coming with a tray and some cups.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to leave you. I have to go to work tomorrow, and I need to sleep. We'll talk calmly tomorrow."

Lydia got up to hug her father once again, who gladly returned the hug.

"Rest, Dad."

Marcelle went upstairs with fatigue. He looked like a zombie.

Meanwhile, Delilah took one of the cups and took a big sip of the lukewarm coffee. Just the way she liked it. Then she stood up and searched the bookshelf behind her. She took out a book and handed it to Lydia.

"I knew you would come for this one day," she settled into the single armchair, "since you were little, I always knew about the existence of supernatural beings. I never taught you about it because I never saw one myself. I gave up on teaching you because I thought you'd never return to Forks and you'd never have to deal with all that."

"What is this book?" Lydia remembered her mother giving it to her without saying anything.

"Oh, they're the legends I told you about, but more extensive, and maybe you'll understand them better than my explanation. I don't remember the stories exactly, but if you're interested in knowing, you'll find everything there."

Carlisle was also shocked by the revelation. He had no idea that Nephilim existed. When he was with the Volturi, the rumor of humans with angel blood spread. Aro had been very interested in it; he wanted to taste that kind of blood, but it always remained just a rumor. If Aro found out... no, he didn't even want to think about it. No one else could know.

Not even Eleazar. He trusted him, but there was the possibility that the rumor would spread unintentionally, and he didn't need that because it meant endangering Lydia. They would hunt her without hesitation. He probably wouldn't even tell his family.

He didn't listen to the rest of the conversation between the two women because he was quite immersed in his own thoughts. No one must know. No one.

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