Chapter Seven
Esme
I was thrilled to hear from Rose, although I trod carefully, I didn't want to be the one to break the news about the baby because I knew how much it would upset her but then she told me that she and Edward would be attending Emmett and Kerri's wedding. Now that might be a little awkward because Bella and Jasper were also going to be there and I didn't think it would be right to let poor Rose walk into the situation without being forewarned. I braced myself and continued,
"Darling, have you heard Bella's news?"
She said she hadn't, so it was up to me to break it to her as gently as I could
"Well, she and Jasper have a baby my love, a son called Adam."
She took it a lot better than I expected so I went on.
"Do you think it's a good idea for you and Edward to come to the wedding, with them coming too?"
She didn't seem upset by it at all and then I understood, poor Rose couldn't resist the chance to see the baby, she would be fine with them.
"What about Edward?"
She assured me that he had pulled himself together and had promised to behave, not to spoil Kerri and Emmett's wedding day. That put my mind at rest at least a little, there was always going to be one member of the family absent, Alice, but it was her own fault. Her actions had been inexcusable and we couldn't really have her here, but I would miss her smiling face in the photographs. I had no idea where she was now but I assumed she had decided the safest thing was for her to get as far away as possible after that nasty little joke with the flowers although I couldn't make up my mind if it had been just that, a nasty little dig at Bella's lost baby or a genuine attempt to send her condolences.
Rose
I smiled, well that was Esme taken care of, she was so gullible! Now for Edward, that might be a little harder but if I played it the right way he could be of use to me.
"Edward honey, I've just rung Esme to accept the wedding invitation."
His face was black as thunder,
"After what Emmett and Jasper did to me? Are you out of your mind?"
I patted the seat beside me,
"Not as crazy as you will be if you don't sit and listen to my proposition, Edward".
As I explained he began to smile, little did he know that I was well aware of his on/off longing for Bella, he thought I was asking him to make a sacrifice in looking after her for a while and when he'd heard it all he was grinning.
"So you see, it will all work out in your favor Edward. What do you say?"
He nodded,
"I like the way you think, Rose."
Bella
Neither Jasper or I really wanted to go to the wedding if it meant seeing Carlisle and Esme again, but Kerri would be very disappointed and she was my best friend so we bit our tongues and agreed. However, there was a serious disagreement as to whether we should take Adam with us or leave him here for two days with Peter and Charlotte. I hated the idea of leaving him, of being away from my new baby but equally, I hated the idea of taking him anywhere near Esme so I was torn.
"Do you think you could bear to be away from him for so long?"
I looked at Adam sleeping peacefully in his cot and shook my head,
"No, but if we take him with us and Esme gets within ten feet I will personally rip off both her arms Jazz so what do we do?"
He grinned at my threat,
"I guess we'll just have to think about it some more but there is something I've been wanting to show you and now you're strong enough I think it's time."
I looked at him questioningly but he just took my hand and led me downstairs and out of the house through the yard and across the paddock to an old oak tree with a small white picket fence around it. Funny, I hadn't noticed it before but that's where we stopped and he opened the gate drawing me in beside him. I saw the white headstone at the head of a tiny grave and read the inscription through tear dimmed eyes.
"Em, Peter and Charlotte did it for us, so we knew she hadn't been forgotten."
I cried for a long while kneeling beside our daughter's grave and promised her that we would never forget her and when he was old enough to understand we would tell her twin brother about her. I would be sure to thank Emmett when I saw him and the others as soon as we got back to the house, this was such a beautiful gesture and showed just how human our friends still were underneath their vampire hard exteriors.
Jasper
Life was good, apart from the conflict over what to do about Adam and the upcoming wedding. He was growing so quickly it did concern me and I wondered if it might be a good idea to let Carlisle look him over although I knew what Bella's reaction would be if I even suggested as much. I thought he was at the developmental age of a human two or three year old already and it had been only four and a half months since his birth. He could walk and speak although he was happy to play dumb when he wanted to and he was at his most happy when playing Cowboys and Indians with Peter and me. One would have to be Adam's horse while the other had to try and ambush us and as soon as the ambusher won he would laugh delightedly and toddle to Bella for a hug.
He was a wonderful child, full of delight at everything and intensely curious. One day he went missing when Peter and I thought he was with the girls and they thought we were on Adam patrol duty and we looked everywhere for him but he seemed to have disappeared. Bella was beginning to panic when we heard a shout from Charlotte who had gone to check the barn and as we approached Lucky came running out with Adam on his back, tail wagging and barking excitedly.
The other three laughed but I was less amused,
"Do you think it's safe for Adam to be so close to the dog?"
Peter snorted pointing at the pair
"I think you have your answer there, Major"
Adam had slipped off Lucky's back and the dog was standing beside him licking his face.
"OK Lucky, I'm OK"
Adam was talking to the Airedale as he stroked its fur and I exchanged a look with Peter, was it possible that Adam could communicate with animals?
I went over to where Adam and Lucky were now rolling around in the dust,
"Is Lucky happy now he knows you're OK?"
I asked him squatting down to their level.
Adam got up and threw his arms around me covering my face with kisses,
"Daddy, Lucky was worried when I fell down, we went treasure hunting in the barn, look"
He pointed to Lucky and I noticed he was wearing an old leather belt around his middle,
"Saddle Daddy."
I picked him up and swung him around, whooping as we did so.
"Whose idea was that?"
He looked at me with infinite patience on his face,
"Lucky's, he said I could hang on."
I looked at the dog who was now almost full grown and smiled. He lay on his side panting but his eyes were on mine and I swear I could see the wisdom in them.
Adam and Lucky became inseparable after the rodeo incident, where one was, the other was never far away, and at night when I finished his story with a kiss, Lucky would amble up the stairs to lay in the door way as if on guard duty, then Bella and I would relax with Peter and Charlotte. We had talked about changing her but she wanted to put it off until after Kerri and Emmett's wedding and until we had a house of our own although I think what worried her most was missing out on so much of Adam's accelerated childhood, she couldn't bear that and I completely understood, it was her decision and I wasn't going to put any pressure on her. I could hardly bear to tear myself away from him even to go hunting.
Deciding I could put it off no longer I decided to go hunting once Adam was safely asleep and Bella engrossed in learning lace making with Charlotte I left with Peter who had offered to join me, not necessarily an unusual event but I could feel the stress coming off him in waves. Once we were away from the house and I'd taken down my first deer he started to talk.
"Major I think there's trouble brewing but I'm not sure where it's coming from. Have you and Bella decided what to do about Adam? Are you taking him with you at the weekend? If you are I think you should take Lucky too, he'll protect the boy if you can't."
I stared at him in concern, it was never wise to ignore Peter's feelings, not when it came to trouble, he was rarely wrong.
"Trouble? Do you think Adam is in danger?"
Peter
I hated to worry The Major but he had a right to know after all the shit he and Bella had been through although I couldn't really tell him any hard facts, it was just a feeling I got that there was trouble headed his way.
"I don't know Major, you understand my gift doesn't work like that and I can't even tell you if the trouble will be here or in Jacksonville, but it's on its way and you my friend are likely to be right in the middle of the said shit storm. Do you want us to come with you? Adam and Lucky can stay with us, then we'll be around to give a hand if trouble materializes."
He looked at me and I could see that for the first time since I'd known him The Major was genuinely worried.
"I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to either of them, Peter."
I nodded,
"I know Major and you can trust us to look out for them."
He nodded looking relieved,
"OK I'll explain the situation to Bella and I know she's gonna want you two around. I'm hoping she'll agree to Adam staying with you and Charlotte, there's just going to be too many people at the wedding that I don't trust."
"You can say that again. Wouldn't it be nice if just once we could all relax and just enjoy life? Still, we'd probably only get bored. Come on, I'll race you back, the winner gets to play hide and go seek with Adam in the morning."
