Jasper and I hadn't been married long when it happened. When she happened. Destiny. Our daughter. Jasper and I had spent our honeymoon in Italy. We had passed through Volterra and an elderly woman had frantically pressed a baby into my arms. "il suo nome e destino." I looked at the sleeping baby in my arms and back to the woman. The woman softly said, "destino di controlli del destino." Jasper and I had been left with a baby. "Jazz, what do we do?" I asked. Jasper said, "We care for her as if she was ours. Did the woman say a name?" "Destiny. Her name is Destiny." I said. Destiny. That word was important to us. It had been destiny that brought us together. "Perfect." He said. I couldn't get the woman's other sentence out of my mind. What did it mean? Destiny controls Destiny. It didn't make sense. Jasper and I went back to our hotel and I booted up my laptop with Destiny on my lap. I looked up Destiny in a thesaurus, but it wasn't the synonyms that caught my attention, it was the definition.
There in black lettering was the answer. FATE. Destino di controlli del destino. Destiny controls fate. Without a moment of hesitation, I packed my suitcase. "You okay?" Jasper asked. I packed Jasper's suitcase and took them to the taxi. Jasper didn't ask questions about our sudden departure. We returned home.
For days, I didn't say a word. All I could say was that one sentence. Destino di controlli del destino. Could this warm little gift really control fate? If she did, it would explain the elderly woman's panic and her desperation. The volturi would love a baby with such a talent and the elderly woman couldn't outrun them for long. Coming across a young couple would have been a hard move, but very smart.
The volturi wouldn't give up so easily. If this sweet baby was as talented as I thought, they would stop at nothing. But, what would Jasper and I do when they found her? Could we give up an innocent baby? How could we possibly beat the volturi? I looked at Destiny. She was our daughter and we'd die before we gave her up. Fate. She controlled fate. That was a powerful gift for a child to possess. I could alter people's will, but that was nothing compared to fate.
When we got to the airport, we went to the ticket desk. "Two tickets to…" "Seattle." I interrupted. Jasper looked at me and then back at the ticket counter attendant and said, "Two tickets to Seattle." He said. We got on the plane and flew back to Seattle. "Why Seattle? Why not Houston?" Jasper asked. "We need to talk to Carlisle." I said. "About?" He asked. "Jasper, I love you. You know that, right?" I asked. "Of course I do." He said. "Then you'll understand that I can't tell you." I said.
We hurried to Forks and rushed into the Cullen's house. "Carlisle!" I yelled. "Chai? What are you doing here?" He asked. "We have a surprise for you." I said. "Come into my study." Carlisle said. Jasper and I went into the study and shut the door. "What happened?" Carlisle asked. "Jasper and I have a baby." I said. "A baby?" He asked. "While in Volterra, an elderly woman handed me a baby. She said…something to me and then disappeared." I said. "Chai, what did she say? The elderly woman. What did she say to you?" Carlisle asked.
I froze up. This was the question I had dreaded. "Destino di controlli del destino." I said. Carlisle's face froze. "What does it mean?" Jasper asked. "It means…trouble…for all of us." I managed to say. "It's Italian for Destiny controls destiny." Carlisle said. "Not quite, Carlie. That's what I thought at first. It actually means destiny controls fate." I said. "Destiny controls fate? What does that mean?" Jasper asked. "It means the volturi will be after this baby." Carlisle said, seriously. "The volturi? Why would they want the baby?" Jasper asked. "They want this baby because she controls fate. Just like you can control emotions, Alice can see the future or Edward can read minds." I said. "But, she's human. How can a human child have skills?" Jasper asked. "She might not have actual skills, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say she has special tendencies just like the rest of us as humans." Carlisle said. "Jasper, remember Houston? You were charismatic and people liked you. Now, as a vampire you have the ability to change people's emotions. Destiny must be the same way. Right now, she can't actually control fate. But, if the volturi gets ahold of Destiny, she's a vampire and a very very powerful one at that. We can't let them take her. If we do, it will be the end of all vampires. The volturi will have complete control of any and every situation they end up in." I said. "The volturi are very strong. If they find out we have Destiny, we won't be able to fight them. They have the numbers and there is no way we can compete with the Volturi. If we try to fight them, we'll all die. " Jasper said. "What do you expect me to do, Jazz?" I asked. "Isn't it obvious? We have to let them have Destiny." He said. "No. I won't give up my child!" I said. "Chai, it isn't really your child." He said.
"My child or not, it is still a human being. You can't just kill a defenseless baby. That might be your past, Jasper, but I thought you had given up that way of life." I said, viciously. "That's not fair, Chailyn and you know it!" Jasper said. "Jasper, this is what we talked about. What we always wanted. How can you give that up? Can you honestly give that up just because you're scared of a fight with the volturi?" I asked. My voice shook as I handed Destiny to him. "This baby. This sweet innocent baby isn't just any baby, Jazz. She's our baby. Our daughter. She picked us. It was Destiny. But that doesn't mean anything to you anymore, does it?" I asked. I took Destiny from him and locked myself in our room.
How could Jasper be so willing to give up our daughter? How could he not care about destiny anymore? Destiny was everything in our relationship. Destiny was what had brought Jasper and myself together not once but twice. It was what had brought this sweet little girl to us, and I wasn't going to let it be what drove us apart. Jasper never backed down from a fight. He had always been sweet but defensive. He was the first to suggest a fight and now, he was backing down. I had always been the passive one. "Well, that's not going to happen this time. I'm going to fight for what I believe in. Even if it means fighting alone." I said. I set Destiny on the bed and packed a suitcase. If my family wasn't going to help me, then I would fight the volturi by myself." I thought to myself.
As soon as I finished packing, I went downstairs with Destiny and our bags. I didn't say a word to anyone downstairs, I just handed Destiny to Rosalie and put our bags in my car. I didn't have a word to say and while Rosalie and I didn't get along well, she was the only person I would trust Destiny to at the moment. She knew what I was feeling and how important it was to have a daughter. Rosalie wanted a child and if she had one, like I had Destiny, she would be doing the same thing as I was. When I came back inside, Rosalie handed Destiny back to me and said, "Be careful." I nodded. I turned to leave, when Rosalie spoke again. "Chai, wait. Take this, you'll need it." She said, handing me a blanket. It was a soft purple blanket with three small pink flowers clustered in the bottom corner. It was beautiful. "Thank you. It's beautiful. Destiny will love it." I said.
I hugged everyone in turn. I kissed Carlisle on the cheek and looked into his gold eyes for a brief moment. There was a flash of pain and sorrow. "I'll be fine." I said in a whisper. Carlisle nodded. I turned to Jasper. He was standing off to the side, waiting quietly for the moment when it would be his turn. "Don't do this." He begged. "You aren't giving me a choice." I said. "What about me? What about us?" Jasper asked. "I love you, J and I don't want to lose you. But, I won't lose my daughter either. So, don't make me chose." I said. Jasper didn't say a word. His silence and his passiveness felt like a slap in the face. I hugged him tight against myself and kissed him. It felt like a hole had been punched through my chest. I had finally found Jasper again and now I was leaving him on my own free will.
I turned from Jasper and got into the car after buckling Destiny in. Driving away was one of the hardest things I had ever done. Harder than leaving Jasper after our fight, harder than going to his funeral and harder than leaving Italy after Carlisle left. This hurt me more than any of that. But, I didn't have time to think of that now. I had to think about what was best for my family. I didn't want to lose any part of my family, but even though Destiny wasn't my daughter by blood, she was still my daughter. As a mother, I had to do what was best for my daughter, even if that meant it wasn't what I wanted and leaving Jasper and my family behind was certainly not what I wanted.