Chapter 12: Umialik

Leah wishes me to remind you that you are all invited to the wedding. That's assuming Ivo gets on his game and asks her to marry him. Like that's gonna be a problem! Please indicate your (fake) name, bride/groom affiliation, dietary needs, and species. I'm collecting your answer so Alice can plan the seating. Please rsvp asap. Those who do not rsvp early risk being seated at the back. Those who rsvp soon risk being written into the chapter in minor roles. A few of you have already sent me such entertaining personae that you will have an ongoing place in this fic, and make appearances in LAF.

Edward and Carlisle are cool as... you know, Cold Ones. But Sam's having kittens already. Something about Trads and unsuspecting humans occupying the same space.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is merely coincidental. Opinions expressed are those of the characters, and may not reflect those of the author. Ivo belongs to me. And to Leah. Hands off or she'll tear you a new orifice. Grr.

Please go to my channel, youtubedotcom/jmollytwilight2, and pick the HHMH playlist to hear great music that I guarantee will enhance your reading. This chappie's vids start at #19:

'Bridge Over Troubled Water', sung by Roberta Flack

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry
them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

Friday, February 23, 2014, 7:30 am:

Ivo's pov:

She sleeps, and I stand before the long pane of glass, trying not to chew through my lip. A little while ago, she was awake, but so, so listless. It frightens me.

"I don't want to go back to school," she moaned a couple of hours ago, thick tears collecting on her hot forehead. "I want to go to your events. I want to travel with you. I don't like the job. I don't like... let me. Oh..."

And in that moment, I would have promised her anything. Children. The moon. So I told her she didn't have to go back. That she could go back to taking her courses by correspondence, and leave the co-op placements for a few months, until she was very sure she didn't want to finish. I told her we could get her Senior Kinsman to write a doctor's note, and she would get a reprieve from the responsibility of work.

How could life change so much in six days? And yet that is what happens. One goes along in a rut, and then something happens to blow everything out of the water. Suddenly, for better or worse, everything changes. It's a blizzard after a long stretch of mild weather.

It is very difficult to wrap my head around all the changes that have taken place in less than a week. Even my vampire brain is overwhelmed. I wonder how Leah feels. She does not have perfect recall. She gets tired. And now it seems that she is sick.

It is my fault.

At least, that is what I infer from Edward.

I don't know what I did. Her Senior Kinsman asked about kissing. But mates kiss, do they not?

I want to cry.

Just as the sun peeps out of the blackness, I see the strangest thing: There is a fighter jet flying low over the black water of the harbour. As it approaches, two very shadowy figures drop thirty feet, like a pair of sharp black quills into the freezing water. I am riveted. The jet surges sharply upward, and vanishes. A few minutes later, the pair of men walk onto the shore, right outside my building.

Vampires.

Could it...

Yes!

I grab two towels and hurtle into the elevator, cursing the time it takes to reach the main level, and throw myself out of the lobby into the street, around the building and down to the icy waterfront. They are carrying large, waterproof cases, and wearing wetsuits.

"Edward! Carlisle!" I shout at vampire pitch, and they turn toward me, waiting. I do not hesitate, but run straight up to them, thrusting the towels at them so they can dry off.

"Ivo," Carlisle says, rubbing his hair with the towel, and I am so relieved to have help for my Leah that I start to sob, and they put their arms around my shoulders as though I am family, and gently push me back the way I came.

"How is Leah?" Carlisle asks gently.

"I don't know," I say, begging them with my eyes to help her. If she dies my life will become a never-ending winter.

"Alright, chum, we're here now," Edward says as I push open the door and use my key-card to enter. He calls me chum, which is the stuff they feed to sharks to make them come. I deserve this name.

Edward pats me a little. "Where I come from, 'chum' means friend. The same as 'pal'. I wouldn't be mean to you, Ivo. There's no reason to be."

I nod, relieved, but I continue to feel guilty for not taking adequate care of his kinswoman.

The doorman will be here soon. Thank goodness he has not yet arrived. The last thing I want is to draw attention. I hurry to the elevator, gesturing for the Cullens to follow. Blessedly, it has not ascended, and we can go straight up.

"Symptoms?" Carlisle asks on the way.

"Her heart is slower. She is burning up, and she was moaning and fretting a couple of hours ago, and she is so tired," I relay fretfully.

"Well, a lot has happened in a few days. It may just be exhaustion," Edward tells me, but I think he is not being honest.

The door opens, and Kaya jumps on, her eyes widening in surprise. Then, she hurries to greet the visitors.

"Kaya, down!" I snap, uncharacteristically sharp, and feel a sharp stab of regret.

"Chht!" Edward says, poking Kaya on the side of her neck. She flops down on the floor, submitting to him. The men set down the large cases and remove their wetsuits. Under them, they wear jeans and navy blue t-shirts.

"She's in here," I direct them, pushing the bedroom door wide. They hurry straight to Leah's side.

Edward feels her forehead. "She's not hot. Probably because fevers break at dawn."

The sky outside is a lovely mass of swirled colours: orange, red and yellow mixed with the black.

"Mmm. I concur," Carlisle murmurs. "We'll soon know."

"Leah? Hey, Sweetheart? Smurfette?" her Senior Kinsman says, smoothing his hand up and down her arm while Carlisle lifts one case onto the dresser and opens it.

Leah moans and rolls, and tries to open her eyes. "Leech?"

"She lives. Hello, Baby," Edward smiles.

"Are you really here?" she asks weakly.

"You betcha. We're gonna run some tests, okay?"

"Whatever. I'm going back to sleep." She is pouting.

Carlisle takes a device and sticks it in her ear. It beeps, and he looks at it. "One-oh-two." He puts the device away, then takes something out, and lies it on the floor. I don't know what it is, either.

"It's a scale, to measure how many pounds she weighs," Edward tells me. "Stand on it, please."

"Why?" I wonder.

"Well, you're the lightest of us, so there's less chance we'll break the scale when we put you and Leah both on it. And to know how much she weighs, we have to know how much you weigh," he explains.

"Oh," I say, and step onto it, careful not to break it.

"Hundred and sixty pounds," Edward tells Carlisle.

"How tall are you?" Carlisle wonders.

"Five foot six," I tell them. Why does it matter? Perhaps they are just curious. Both of them tower over me.

Edward tells me not to move, and he steps over to the bed, gently putting his arms around Leah. "Fluffy? I'm gonna lift you, okay?"

"Lemme sleep," she whines groggily.

"Soon, Baby." He cradles her and picks her up, and brings her to me, hushing her whimpers as he transfers her into my arms.

"Don't call me 'Baby'," she growls, to his amusement. I press my lips to her forehead, balancing carefully on the scale.

"Two-eighty-two," Edward murmurs, and Carlisle writes it down. "She's lost weight, Dad." He presses his lips together, and I resist the tingle of fear that creeps up my spine. "You think she's infected?"

"Likely. I'll know for sure when we compare these." Carlisle hands a little glass rectangle to Edward, who holds it up close to my face. It makes me feel a little anxious.

"Lick it," he directs me, so I do. He puts another, smaller piece of glass on top of the wet one, and passes it to Carlisle, who puts it under something that looks like a jeweler's eye piece with legs. Carlisle looks through the eye piece at the glass, and then writes on a white sticker, and puts it on the piece of glass.

Leah makes a loud, angry whimper. "I hate needles, you bloodsucker!"

"Sorry, Fluff. Only need a little bit," Edward says, amused.

"Should-a known you'd act like a tick," she pouts crossly. Edward and Carlisle chuckle quietly, their eyes alight with humour.

Edward passes Carlisle another little piece of glass that has Leah's blood on it. Carlisle covers the blood with the smaller piece of glass, makes another name sticker, and puts Leah's blood under the strange viewing-object.

Edward leaves some blood in his hypodermic. The scent bothers my nose and throat.

"Bingo! Look at this, Edward," Carlisle says. I am twitching with the need to see for myself and understand what it means. But I must be polite.

"Wow, that's fascinating," Edward enthuses. "Okay, Ivo. We know what's going on. Come here and look."

I approach the strange equipment.

"You don't interact with humans much, do you?" Edward asks, yellow eyes flickering.

"Some humans," I protest. "The ones who go to the art shows and book openings, and our friends."

"But no TV and not too many books. I can tell. But it's good that you Google stuff you don't understand. This, my dear fellow, is a microscope. It allows us to magnify the cells we want to look at. The glass holding the sample is called a slide. The virus in our venom is very tiny. Here, come and look at it."

I peer into the microscope, and look at the slide. My saliva is streaked with miniscule silver cells. The cells are moving. They are alive.

"All of our venom is much the same. Now, have a look at Kwoli blood. This is Sam's." He invites me to look. The unmoving circles are dark red, with amber fluid outside them. The blood smells like Kaya.

"This belongs to my son-in-law Jacob," he says, putting a new slide under the viewer. I look at it. The blood is red, and thick looking: little round bubbles with dark edges and outer rims of silver. It smells strange: doggy, and stale, but sweet.

"Now here's human blood," Edward shows me, switching the slides. I look. The round bubbles are a lighter red, with sort of amber liquid around them. Delicious.

"See, now this was Leah's blood, before she came here," Edward tells me. Upon inspection, I find it to be a thicker, darker red with amber liquid around the circles. It looks the same as Sam's.

"And this is Leah's blood now," Edward tells me, smiling a little. Reassured, I look into the eyepiece. Leah's living blood is made up of dark red circles, with amber around them, but there's something weird: there are little silver things invading the red cells, and when they do, all the content of the cells moves out, and is replaced with a new, darker center.

"What's the silver?"

"Venom. It's the virus," Edward says. "Congratulations. You've turned Leah into a hybrid."

I gawp at him, then panic. "Vampire venom is toxic to Kwoli Ute!"

Edward's mouth turns up on one side, and Carlisle grins. "Apparently not. My son-in-law is still alive."

"Eh?" I ask weakly. It is odd, having him read my mind.

"A mercy," Carlisle says, looking most teasingly at Edward.

"Hey, I didn't even hit him when they announced their elopement," Edward protests.

Carlisle pinches his lips shut with his fingers, eyes dancing. How can he be so happy when my Leah lies sick in our bed?

"Let's go sit down, so she can sleep," Edward placates me, taking me by the arm. I must trust him.

"She won't die?" I whimper.

"No, no. Everything's going to be okay," he soothes me.

I sag in relief onto our new blue couch. Carlisle and Edward sit down, too, Carlisle in the chair and Edward at the opposite end of the couch from me. Kaya invites herself up onto Carlisle's legs. He coos at her and scratches her ears.

"We think the legend started because some Kwoli Warrior in the distant past got bitten by one of us, and his abilities and physique were enhanced. Obviously, the tribal elders would not have wanted the idea to become popular, hence the invention of the idea that our venom is deadly to Shifters. It isn't."

"How did this happen? I haven't bitten her," I lament.

"You don't know much about venom, do you?" Edward asks me.

"I know it paralyzes prey," I cringe, "and it makes humans into vampires if enough of it gets into their system."

"Yes, that's true. But it doesn't take as much venom as you think it does to make changes. Have you bitten humans you want to leave alive?" he asks calmly.

"No. I'm afraid I'll get carried away if I use my teeth. Long ago, I bit my victims, and it was impossible to prevent myself from draining them. It became hard to cover up deaths, so I started knocking them out and making a small cut instead."

"Did you seal the cut by licking it?" Edward presses.

"No. I didn't want to leave a scar that could not be explained. So I was careful not to make too large a cut. I'd put pressure on it, and leave it seeping slightly. Then, when my victims woke up, they always thought they fell and cut themselves."

"Amazing," Carlisle says, shaking his head. He exchanges a look with Edward, and then they both look at me as though they are impressed.

"And most recently, I tried to frequent these clubs that cater to strange humans who think they're like us," I tell them. "I don't have to knock such people out and falsify anything. I just find a willing victim, and feed from him or her."

"Rue Morgue?" Edward wonders.

"That's more for Goths. I go to the smaller, seedier clubs. At least, I used to. I'm converting to vegetarianism, but I had to go there as an emergency yesterday," I say, peeking at the males sorrowfully. Perhaps they will disapprove of me now that I have broken my promise not to feed from humans. "I know it's wrong to use humans like this. I want to stop. But the animal blood doesn't satisfy my thirst for as long a time."

"No. Animal blood only satiates us for a few days. We should have warned you and Leah. We were remiss," Carlisle says, and I feel easier. He accepts me despite my failure. "Edward? Are you sure Ivo isn't your kid? He's so much like you."

"Hah. He's older than me, Grandpa. More like your age. Now, back to the subject. So, Ivo, you never touch your victims with your saliva?" Edward checks.

"That is correct. But it wouldn't hurt them anyway," I shrug.

"I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but you're wrong. It barely takes any venom to change a human," Edward informs me. "It simply takes longer to transform the victim, the less venom there is, and if the venom seals the veins before it reaches the heart, the human can die."

"But..." I object. "Leah?"

"Leah's not Human. She's a Shifter," Carlisle says.

"So. You've gifted Leah some venom," Edward says, brows raised. I get the feeling he wishes to laugh at me.

"I didn't touch her!" I protest. We are waiting until we are married. Not that her clan could prevent us if we wished to consummate the bond earlier, but because of Leah's history, I do not want her to worry about being abandoned.

Edward hums the smallest of laughs, and brings his eyes up to meet mine. "There is no venom in ejaculate, male or female."

"Oh," I say shyly. I guess I don't know very much. "But Leah says the human mothers of hybrid infants start to become hybrids themselves when they become pregnant."

"Well, that's not the father," Carlisle tells me. "That's the baby."

I am perplexed.

"The father's DNA and the mother's mingle to create the baby. The baby is then infected with the DNA that makes us vampires. Venom exists all through our bodily tissues. It becomes part of our genes. Why the father does not infect the mother during intercourse, we do not know, but in experiments with human tissue and vampire ejaculate, we know it doesn't.

"We think perhaps the healthy bacteria humans secrete in their mouths and genitalia act as a barrier. Human research shows that healthy bacteria somewhat deters disease between monogamous partners, so it may just work on the venom. It seems like a stretch to accept that, when some human diseases that don't affect us are passed on from partner to partner, like AIDS. But there's so much about our own physiology we don't know yet, and since nobody's willing to be dissected, it's apt to be a very long time before we find out. And since we already know everything that's important, we don't need to ardently pursue it. Just because scientists can do something, doesn't mean they should.

"What we do know is that the hybrid baby starts to produce minescule amounts of venom, carried in its blood, very early in utero. It crosses the placenta and infects the mother."

"How do you know?" I ask Carlisle. Do they experiment on the precious unborn?

"Nobody experiments on the unborn, they're too rare to risk," Edward tells me, "but sadly, upon occasion, a mother or a fetus is lost. The Volturi have had enough cases of that, for us to form a conclusion."

"Wow," I say. They have answered so many questions that I didn't even know I had.

"So you kissed Leah, and some of your venom got in her mouth," Edward tells me. "It's not always present in our mouths. If we're thirsty, or angry, or feeling strong emotion such as anxiety, it comes down out of the ducts in our top teeth, and the one in the soft palate. It's something vampires can learn to control under certain circumstances. That's why you see Incubuses and Succubi who don't infect their human... partners."

"Oh," I say shyly.

"So you know enough to not bite humans, but you never thought twice about kissing Leah?" he asks, smiling gently.

"Leah says you kissed your mate all the time when she was human," I protest. "Do mates not kiss one another?"

"I didn't kiss Bella with my mouth open until August 11th, 2005," the umialik tells me.

"That date was two days before your wedding?" I ask. "But did you not know the venom could harm her?"

"Like I said, Ivo, you can learn to control the release of the venom under certain situations, and my mate ... encouraged me to experiment. Bella has always been rather daring."

Carlisle snorts when Edward describes Bella as daring, and Edward takes his middle finger and scratches his temple with it while mock-glaring at his father. I wonder what it means. Edward does not tell me, but Carlisle is now laughing under his breath.

"She kind of ... took me by surprise, the first time," Edward admits. "For all we know, I might have gifted her venom, but at that point we didn't know she was already pregnant, and her DNA was changing. At any rate, kissing her once gave me the confidence to do it on a regular basis."

"But you might have been giving her venom. How do you know vampires can learn to control it?" I wonder.

"Based solely on my own experience, we could not safely extrapolate that conclusion. The hypothesis would be based on too narrow a population. However, we know a handful of Succubi and at least two other Incubi who have taken human lovers, and they all proudly boast of oral contact with their partners, and the ability to control the flow of their venom."

Wow.

I shake myself and refocus on what is important: Leah. "So what does this mean for my mate?"

Edward's lip turns up. "Not much. She's going to feel awfully tired for a couple of days, that's all, assuming we can go on Jacob's model. Hopefully, females are affected the same way as males."

"Not much? But she cannot phase," I lament. "Is she back to being like a human?"

"When Jacob and my daughter..." Edward breaks off, looking like he needs to gather his thoughts. "When Ren was a kid, she bit him. He got sick like Leah for a couple of days, and we were all terrified, based on Quileute Legend, that he would be poisoned and die. For a little while, he couldn't phase, and then things just kind of went back to normal. He didn't weigh quite as much, his body temperature cooled a few degrees, and he says his memory is better and he can think faster. His dyslexia is much milder. He runs faster. He can hear higher pitches than a Kwoli. He doesn't eat quite as much as he used to. Not a bad deal, as far as I'm concerned. He soon went back to phasing, and he wasn't quite as ... rambunctious, but he still doesn't age and he stayed fertile. Lucky dog."

"Win-win," Carlisle nods.

"So... it's going to be fine?" I check, not quite able to believe my good fortune.

"Yep. We'll stick around a bit, and give you a few pointers to help you adjust to the lifestyle, and fill Leah in on her new genetic make-up. But yeah, it's going to be okay."

"Wonderful!" I gush, beaming. "Thank you so much for coming. I was so worried."

"You're welcome," Edward says. "It was best to make sure this was the problem with Fluffy's health, and not something else. We love her a lot, you know."

"Yeah, and it's nice to get away from Alice for a little while," Carlisle mutters. This Alice must be terrifying if she intimidates large males.

Edward continues. "Besides, this gave us a chance to come and meet you, and see your place. It's super. You must really like living here."

"I do. It's a big enough city to meet my needs, and yet small enough to not be overwhelming. I love the view, and the tenants and superintendent tolerate my sculpting. And I'm very close to the ROM and the AGO, so it's good for my career."

"We hear you have a book signing today," Edward smiles.

"I was going to cancel it," I murmur. "Reschedule it for when Leah is better."

"You shouldn't have to," Carlisle shrugs.

Leah wails from the next room. "I want to go."

Carlisle and Edward huff affectionate laughs. We all get up and go back into the bedroom.

"So how much did you hear, Fluff?" Edward demands.

"I'm turning into a Stripe!" she cries. Edward and Carlisle laugh very loudly.

"Congratulations!" Edward giggles. I cannot understand the joke. How unfair.

Edward gets control of himself in order to enlighten me. "A long time ago, when our clan started producing hybrids, Rosalie, while razzing me, referred to my daughter as a 'Stripe': a combination of two kinds of creature that don't traditionally mix."

I don't understand how that could be. Colours always mix to create something new, and usually wonderful, when you're painting.

"But textures and chemicals, or elements, don't always mix, do they?" Edward asks.

"No," I admit.

"And somehow, God created tigers, and zebras, and leopards, and dogs with brindle coats and such, and their coats aren't all one colour or even texture," he says.

"Is it about colour then?" I wonder.

"No, it's about the fact that Humans, Shifters, and Vampires -as natural-born enemies- ought to be genetically incompatible, and they're not. Somehow, everything splices together genetically to create a being that is pretty highly evolved, and yet fertile. The hybrids are not inferior genetic specimens like mules. They're successes, like zebras."

"The name could have been an insult," I worry.

"Rose meant it in fun, although it easily could have turned into something derogatory. The hybrids like being called Stripes. They call each other Stripes all the time. God help anybody who would dare to try to use it as an insult. The hybrids are very protective of each other, and so is everyone who knows about their existence. Essentially, they allied a lot of old enemies. Even the rare number of Trads who know about them are their fans."

"Trads know about them," I ask, shocked. It could lead to so much abuse of humans, were they to know they could reproduce and enjoy raising children.

"I love this guy. Don't you love this guy? He's worried about whether there's widespread knowledge about our Stripes." Edward tells Carlisle.

"Yeah, you were meant to be one of us," Carlisle tells me.

I feel pretty happy about that, but Edward has not answered my question.

He smiles patiently. "The Volturi know about them, along with a few allies. The greater Trad population does not know. It would be catastrophic."

"I agree," I say for Carlisle and Leah's benefit. Edward already knows.

Leah huffs. "The book-signing?"

Edward nudges Carlisle. "We tell her she's turning into a Stripe, and she's more worried about missing the book-signing." They laugh again.

"Sorry," Edward tells me, looking not at all contrite. "It's just that Fluffy used to be so prejudiced against us."

"Yeah, whatever," Leah says crossly. "Tell me how I'm going to attend the signing when I don't even think I can walk."

"What time's the signing?" Edward wonders, eyes dancing.

"Two o'clock to four-thirty," I inform him.

"This morning, Fluffy, you're going to sleep. You can get up and get ready at noon, and then Carlisle and I will pretend to be bodyguards. We'll carry you, and you can sit in a chair near Ivo while he greets his fans."

"Well, that will be a turnabout," Leah sighs. Her vampires snort.

"Yeah, it'll be funny carrying you, instead of the other way around," Edward says, his expression wry.

Leah tells him to do something that I think is anatomically impossible, and calls him a tick.

"She hasn't changed, thank God," Edward says, shaking his head as though he is reminiscing. "Still the same old cranky beeyotch we know and love."

My mate growls at him. "Watch your step. When I feel better, I'm going to be able to outrun you."