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𝐄𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 of regret, guilt, and self-loathing from his father, so despaired it almost immobilized him himself as he stepped into Carlisle's office. He had returned home after spending the day away with Bella and wanted to check on Emma.
Alice had warned him that she had not adjusted easily, which he learned was the lightest possible deliverance of the truth. He could hear her thoughts as he drove through the woods to their secluded abode. Her debilitating thirst, her overwhelming guilt. "How is she?" he asked, though he already knew the answer when he stepped foot into the house.
"Struggling," his father replied with a sigh. That was putting it lightly. He was perched on the edge of his desk, his chin lowered and his brows furrowed as he stared at the ground in deep anguish. "I'm a monster for doing this to her. I've damned her to this eternal life. She didn't want this, and I forced it upon her."
"Carlisle." At the sudden weight on his shoulder, he looked up to see his first son standing beside him. "We cannot change the past, but we can help her move into the future. She will need our support and our help to get through this. She will need you. You cannot allow yourself to wallow in this."
"How can I not? Edward, she's miserable. You should have seen her face when she... And the crying, and the screaming, and the hatred – not even for me, but for herself. How could I do this? I've damned her-"
"Carlisle." Edward's sharp tone paused him in his spiral. "I can hear her thoughts. Emma will be all right." Carlisle had never once asked Edward what Emma's was thinking, not wanting to infringe on her privacy. But this single time, he was inclined to listen. "She is not angry, save maybe for herself at the moment, but that will pass. She does not regret your choice. It will take time for her to accept this new life, but she is determined to live it. She is struggling as you say, but it is only because it is hard to adjust to this life. She is coping, and we will be there every step of the way to help. It may be difficult for some time, but this too shall pass, as every other challenge that we have faced. Emma will be all right."
Carlisle would still feel immense guilt for the rest of his life after his actions, but he felt the slightest relief at knowing that Emma was open to accepting this life. He believed she could belong quite well as a vampire, but he would always adore and miss the blushing, soft human. The only one who would miss her humanity more was Rosalie, who would no doubt throw him out of a window in the next twenty-four hours.
"If Emma cries again, I give you an hour," Edward chimed in, reading his thoughts. "Although Rose is more inclined to forgive you now that Emma is more accepting of everything. She believes Emma's thoughts weren't coherent enough for you to have made such a decision, that you had mistranslated her words. But she is willing to forgive you so long as Emma transitions comfortably enough, which she will do her best to help."
