Okay, tell me if this makes more sense.
Picture 1
Right side, back of beam. There is a continuous 2x8 on the front side that spans 3 posts. The attached piece, spans from it's connection to one post. As you can see it is glued, nailed, mesh plated, and carriage bolted.
Picture 2
Front side of same end, you can see where it's carriage bolted to the back.
Picture 3
Other end of the beam, just a mirror image of the other side.
Is this acceptable?
EDIT: Sorry about the size.