CHAPTER 2

Jaden wandered the clothes rack at the local Wal*Mart super center, trying to decide if she liked the blue jeans or the black jeans better. She was in town doing some shopping, trying to bolster her depressed mood. She'd been moping around the cabin for a month now and still Jeff hadn't come back, not that she was in any hurry for him too, especially since they had a big bay window in their bedroom… No, she was good.

Finally Jaden to get a pair of each color and tossed them into the cart, wandering over by the shirts. She desperately wished for some tee shirts, hating the feel of bulky knit cable sweaters on her skin but it was constantly cold here so the mortals stocked up on winter items like it was going out of style.

The weather didn't bother here, being vampires neither she nor Isis and Mark really suffered from the cold too bad, though if they were exposed to it for hours on end they found that their skin began turning blue.

Now it wasn't the same for heat, they all enjoyed sitting in front of a roaring fire and letting the warmth wash over them. That they could feel.

Another one of the unsolved mysteries of being a vampire.

Jaden sighed disgustedly when all she found were more cable knit sweaters and turtlenecks, heading for the lingerie, in hopes of maybe finding a chemise to wear instead.

She had just started going through a rack of baby doll cut nightgowns when a familiar scent wafted by.

"Try the green one, it'd bring out your eyes."

Slowly she turned around to find John behind her, leaning on a shopping cart of his own. "Hi."

"Hello." He smiled at her, amusement making his eyes crinkle. "I was wondering if I'd ever get to see you again."

"You were? Why?" She blurted out.

He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe to see if you got rid of your loser boyfriend yet?"

Jaden pushed her hair back over her shoulders, frowning slightly. "Yeah, I haven't seen him…. Since that night actually."

"So you're free?"

She arched an eyebrow at him.

"Want to get something to eat with me then?"

Jaden felt her stomach drop. "Actually, I ate not too long ago," Technically, that wasn't a lie… "But I'll come watch you eat."

"Agreed."

**********

"There, it's finished." Mark announced, stepping away from the table.

Isis smiled, running her hands over the smooth finish. "It's gorgeous darlin'." She said, beaming at him proudly.

"I could never do these things when I was alive, you know, really alive." Mark looked down at his hands. "I was too clumsy."

Isis sat on the countertop, looking at him curiously.

"In a way, I'm grateful for what happened, with Damia and Gabriel." Mark walked over to stand between her legs, wrapping his arms around her.

"Even the part about never having children?" She asked softly.

Mark looked down in Isis' eyes, taken aback by the sorrow he found there. "Isis, you never told me you wanted kids."

"What's the point?" She whispered. "We can't have them anyways…"

Mark rested his head on top of Isis', feeling his heart break when she began to cry.

**********

"Hey Mark." Jaden greeted cheerfully, strolling into the front room of the cabin, closing the door behind her, oblivious to the nasty weather outside.

Mark glanced over his shoulder at her from his place in front of the fire. "Hey J, how was the trip?"

"Great." Jaden tossed down her numerous shopping bags on the couch. "There's some nasty weather coming this way, we'll probably be snowed in."

"Hmm…"

Frowning, Jaden walked across the room to sit in the rocking chair besides him. "Is everything all right?" When he didn't respond she leaned forward to touch his shoulder. "Mark, is everything okay?"

Mark looked up at her, his green eyes troubled. "It's Isis."

"Speaking of, where is my country bumpkin wench?" Jaden asked.

"In bed."

"All ready? There's still an hour or so left before dawn."

Mark sighed. "Yeah, all ready."

"Is everything all right?"

"Isis wants kids."

Jaden looked startled. "What?"

"Children, Isis wanted them."

"Oh…"

Mark sighed again. "She never told me until tonight…"

Jaden remained quiet, not knowing what to say.

**********

Isis kept her eyes shut even when she felt Mark come to bed. Feigning sleep she pretended not to notice when he pulled her into his arms.

"I love you." He murmured, burying his face in her hair.

Once he was asleep, Isis sighed raggedly.

**********

"I'm beginning to hate snow." Jaden said, staring out the window.

Isis walked over to her. "Yeah, it's does get ol' after awhile."

"We should've picked a spot where it's always summer."

"Always summer means more daylight…" Isis reminded gently, an amused smile on her face.

"Oh yeah." Jaden groaned. "I'm getting cabin fever! What's Mark doing?"

Isis shrugged. "He's out in his workshop."

"How about we go down to the city?"

Isis looked out at the falling snow and then back around the cabin. "Yeah, I'm with you.

Anythin' to bring a lil excitement."

"Should we tell Mark?"

"Nah, I'll just write a note."

Less than a half hour later the two were dressed and out the door.

"Um, I don't know about you, but the last time we took a truck out by ourselves, we ended up destroying it," Jaden began. "I'm not in the mood to cause an avalanche today."

"Neither am I." Isis' mouth curled into a smile. "But…"

**********

A few heads turned when the sounds of laughter reached the town. Soon a four wheeler came into sight, two people on it.

"It's those crazies from the mountain." A woman said scathingly, exchanging dark looks with a man.

He just nodded, never taking his eyes off the approaching couple. Finally he excused himself and disappeared down an alleyway.

**********

"I'm drivin' on the way home." Isis laughed, dismounting and shaking her hair out, tucking the helmet under her arm.

"I'm not a bad driver!" Jaden protested, pocketing the keys.

"You did a jump over the river…"

"Yeah, so?"

Isis just shook her head.

"Where to first?" Jaden asked, looking around the Christmas lit pavillion.

"I don't know, holiday shopping?"

"Sounds fun to me."

They roamed the streets, stepping into the shops that closed around eight or so first, enjoying the fact that it grew dark early here.

"You know, either we have to find a way to get Mark to bring the truck down, shop less or buy a wagon for our wheeler…" Isis laughed, walking out of a boutique with Jaden, their arms laden with bags.

I'm thinking the wagon idea sounds pretty good. Something tells me Mark wouldn't be to happy with having to drive down the mountain just so we can shop."

"Probably not."

After a half an hour they had managed to procure a decent trailer with a cover to attach to the four wheeler.

"That is so much better." Jaden laughed as they walked away from it, not paying any attention to the stares they were receiving.

Isis didn't reply, she was too busy looking ahead, a knowing smile on her face.

Jaden followed her friend's gaze, surprised to find John walking towards them, his eyes locked on Jaden.

Isis excused herself, disappearing into a little hobby store.

"Hello." Jaden greeted, raising her eyebrows curiously when John halted in front of her.

"Hi, fancy seeing you here." John smiled down at her. "Don't you ever come down during the day?"

Jaden forced herself to smile back. "I'm pretty busy during the day, around the house and whatnot…"

"Oh… mountain folk."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

John started laughing. "Nothing."

Jaden pursed her lips, thinking that he looked really edible.