The Truth (Mommy's House 2)

Epilogue

It was the night of February eighteenth, 1988.

Bella stared in the bathroom mirror at herself. Despite being nineteen years old, she could still easily see her fourteen year old self gazing back at her. Her large, olive green eyes were still pooled to the brim with fear and trauma. Those eyes saw way more than they ever should have.

Five years before, she was rescued from Mommy's House. She couldn't believe that so much time had passed. That much time had passed since she had the blood of Rose and Steven coating her hands. That much time had passed since she had last seen Cole. She rarely saw Elliot since then, only a few times between the years.

She smoothed her dress down and ran her fingers through her waist-length hair.

"You're okay, you're okay. You're stronger than this, Bella, just breathe," she whispered to herself, inhaling sharply as she stared down at the granite countertop of the sink. She hoped that nobody was in the stalls as she spoke to herself.

She took a deep breath and quickly exited the bathroom, into the large venue where people were all over. She immediately saw James' son, Benny, talking to somebody who must have been in his family. He was about her age now, and Bella was so glad that he was finally talking to his father again.

Her eyes suddenly focused in on James, clad in a tuxedo, talking to Liv who was stunning in her ivory white dress. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on her lips.

Bella walked slowly up to them, and James looked over at her.

"Hi, Bella," he said with a smile, and Bella forced a smile towards both of them.

"It was a beautiful ceremony," Bella said, her voice nearly drowned out by the sound of people talking and Whitney Houston playing through the speakers. "Congratulations, guys, and Liv, you look stunning."

"Thank you, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" Liv asked, her hand resting on Bella's shoulder as Bella swallowed and nodded.

"Uh, great, actually. I just wanted to let you guys know how happy I am for you," she told them.

Bella felt a tug on the skirt of her dress, and she looked down to find their nearly four year old daughter, Annie, staring up at her with a big smile. Her brown hair was tied in two pig-tails on the sides of her head, and she was dressed in a tiny pink dress.

"Bella!" the little girl exclaimed.

"Hi, Annie!" Bella cooed, kneeling down to smile at the little girl.

"She was asking all about you before," James said, bending down to pick Annie up.

A woman approached Liv, and Liv looked at her before she turned to Bella. "I'm going to go off for a second, but Bella, I'm going to talk to you later. Okay?" she asked, her fingers resting on Bella's arm.

Bella nodded, knowing that James and Liv could see right through her act. They always could. She could tell by the way James was looking at her.

Liv walked away, and Bella looked at James. "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "This is stupid, I'm so... selfish," she said with a breathy laugh, trying to remain calm.

"Don't apologize, Bella. This is a really hard day for you, I'm so glad that you're here right now. That's all that matters to me," James assured her, and she immediately felt calmed by his presence.

Bella leaned in and wrapped her arms around James and Annie, her head resting on James' shoulder as she took a shaky breath.

"You know Elliot's here, right?" James said, pulling away from her after a minute. "I invited him and his mother, surprisingly, they came. I also invited Cole, but I don't even know if he received my invitation or not."