Eternal Flame

Author's Note: I am so sorry for the wait, I got a bit of writer's block that was taking it's toll on me. Thank you all for bearing with me. On with the show. Again, this story is BASED on my relationship with Timmy…but I have added a few things in for twists.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or True Blood for if I did I would be in the middle of an orgy with Carlisle, Alcide and Eric right now with Jasper, Emmett and Jason stopping by occasionally. (Sorry I have a dirty mind)

Chapter 14

*Alcide*

I was surprised at how well Charlie took the news of our upcoming baby and wedding. I was expecting to be put through the ringer a bit more. It was also nice to meet her friend Jacob, he seemed like a pretty good guy…although you could sense he was also overly protective of my Bella. Another thing I sensed about Jacob was that like me, he had alpha blood running through his veins and like me he refused the responsibility. He of all people would know how hard it was not to give into the calling though with enough willpower you can…though the wolf doesn't really like to.

After we got back to Shreveport, we dropped Summer off with Debbie and I was yet again hit on by her but like every other time I pushed her away. When Bella and I got home and unpacked there was an unexpected knock at the front door and I could tell by the smell of the visitors that they were vampires. Thinking it was Bella's friends Alice and Jasper I opened the door to find that they were being accompanied by 4 other vampires.

"Hello Alcide…can we come in?" she asked politely and I nodded that they could enter.

"Bella is in the shower right now, she should be down soon. It's nice to see you again, Alice, Jasper…who are they?" I asked politely nodding toward the others.

"My fault, Alcide. This is the rest of my family, excluding my depressing brother, Edward." she said with a smile. "When Bella said it was ok for them to come, I went to Alaska to get them."

"Oh ok." I said "Would you like to have a seat?"

"Thank you, that would be wonderful." Alice said and everyone took their seats around the living room. I stood by the doorway and leaned back against the frame before speaking again.

"Well you all know who I am, I'm Alcide Herveaux…Bella's fiancee." I said trying to break the ice. "And I am sure you know WHAT I am."

"Yes, and honestly that doesn't really mean a thing to us." said the eldest of the group. He was tall with short blonde hair swept back away from his face. "I'm Carlisle Cullen and this is my wife, Esme."

"Ah, the doctor. I've heard of you from both Bella and Jacob when we visited Charlie this weekend." I said. "No worries, everything was good. Though Jacob didn't really offer much because he had yet to meet you."

"I understand." he said extending his hand to which I took. I also took Esme's hand and placed a chaste kiss on it out of respect.

"This is my son, Emmett and his wife, Rosalie." Carlisle continued nodding toward the tall and bulky man with short black hair and the beautiful blonde model type sitting beside him.

"It's nice to meet you." Emmett said as he shook my hand firmly…I knew then he must have been the muscle of the family.

"You too, as is it nice to meet you Rosalie" I said bending down to take her hand in mine and kiss it as I did Esme. Rosalie said silently for a minute and I knew that she was thinking of something but I didn't ask. Instead she felt comfortable enough to finally speak.

"Alcide, I will be honest with you. I didn't really like Bella to begin with when my depressing brother brought her home to meet us but that was mainly because I envied her humanity and I couldn't understand why she would want to become one of us back then. I envied that she could live out the rest of her life, have children, grow old. I was against her and Edward being together from the beginning. When we left, though, I'll admit I was a bit hurt because I was just starting to warm up to her. I am glad though that she changed her mind about becoming one of us, and I am glad that she is able to live a somewhat normal human life despite being engaged to, and carrying the child of, a werewolf." she said.

"Thank you for your honesty. I'm sure Bella would be glad to hear that." I said with a small smile.

"I am glad to hear that Rosalie, and I understand." Bella said from behind us, alerting us to her presence. Everyone turned to look at her and she smiled brightly. "Hello everyone, I missed you so much."

"We've missed you too, Bella." Carlisle said and at that each Cullen got us and hugged Bella before we all took our seats again.

"So, where's Edward?" Bella asked and normally I would feel a tinge of jealously at the mention of her ex-love but if she was comfortable enough to talk about him or even befriend him then I would support her decision. After all, everyone has a first love.

"He is in Canada. I'm afraid he wasn't exactly thrilled about hearing about your upcoming nuptials or about the baby-to-be but this is what he wanted for you…a normal, or somewhat, human life. Vampire free…though from what Alice tells me you are not. He'll get over it." Carlisle said.

"Thank you Carlisle, I hope he does…I wouldn't mind being his friend even if I have moved on with my life." Bella said with a smile.

"So, what's up with the whole vampire situation, Belly? I thought you'd stay away from vampires after we left." Emmett said.

"Kinda hard to do, Em when down here they are not ruled by the Volturi but by the Authority. Vampires down here are about 98% human drinkers and are 'out of the coffin' so to speak. It's not unusual for vampires and humans to interact and know about one another down here." she said. "That and my cousin, Sookie, is living with and engaged to this area's Sheriff, Eric Northman."

"I've heard of him, from before his time with the Authority." Carlisle said "A very ruthless and very feared Viking, he is…though my dealings with him were always pleasant. I'd like to see him again after so many years. It's been nearly 200 years since I last saw him."

"Alice has been to my cousin's house…she and Sookie are becoming the best of friends, perhaps she can take you by." she said.

"Yeah, Sookie and Eric have a theory on your kind of vampires…the ones that are ruled by the Volturi." I said.

"Oh yeah?" Carlisle said, his interest peaked.

"Yes, actually. They seem to think that your earliest descendants are part Fae and that is how you are able to walk in the sun without having to go to ground at night. Whereas the full blooded vampires down here in the south can only walk in the sun for a few hours at the time if they were to drink the blood of a Fae." I said and Carlisle seemed lost in thought for a few minutes.

"That actually makes sense." he finally said. "I have heard of the vampires down here from our son, Jasper, from his time serving down south during the vampire wars. I had often wonder how they would have to abstain from coming in contact with the sun, whereas we could walk in the sun…though we sparkle when we do."

"Yep." Bella said with a smile. "Eric is able to walk in the sun for a few hours after he feeds off of Sookie. Which isn't very often."

"Sookie is a Fae?" Carlisle asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, she is." I said "Sookie is 1/8th Fae on her father's side of the family, which is Bella's uncle. Bella is also 1/8th Fae. They have special powers…Sookie can read minds and has what she likes to call 'microwave fingers' and Bella, as you know, is somewhat of a mental shield."

"Yes, I noticed that when she was with Edward. He was able to read everyone's thoughts but hers." he said.

"That would be why." I said.

"So, are you guys staying down here or what?" Bella asked changing the subject.

"We will stay as long as you want us around, Bella, you know that." Carlisle said.

"Good because Alice is already busy planning our wedding with Sookie and I'm sure they could use some help planning for the arrival of little Chloe." Bella said glancing at Rosalie who smiled.

We all chatted for a while before the Cullens left to go visit Sookie. Bella seemed content after their visit.

"Are you ok with them being here, baby?" I asked her and she nodded with a sigh.

"It's definitely going to take some getting used to, having them back in my life." she said. "Don't worry, my love, even if Edward does come back…I am over him, my feelings will never change for you. I love you."

"I know that, babe. I trust you. And I love you more." I said kissing her forehead. I pulled her into my arms and we fell asleep that way. The next morning we went to our respective jobs and that night I went to work at Fangtasia, which I hadn't been in a while though Eric understood. It seems Eric had a soft spot for my Bella, that only meant he would be more protective of her and I was glad to have him backing her as well.

The next few months were hectic with the planning of the wedding and Bella's due date quickly approaching. My court date was continued due to the fact that the judge we wanted had a family emergency so we had to wait even longer before we could take our custody hearing to court again, sadly.

The wedding date was set for April but Bella was about 2 weeks overdue and I was starting to think that perhaps we would be getting married BEFORE Chloe was born. I must have spoke too soon because I got the call at 2 am just as Eric, Pam and I were closing up Fangtasia.

"Alcide?" Bella said through labored breathes "It's time."

"I'm on my way." I said before turning to Eric and Pam who had heard through the phone. They nodded and I ran too my truck and sped all the way to the house. Bella was downstairs with her bag when I got there. We rushed to the hospital and about an hour later little Chloe Michelle Herveaux was born. To say I was a proud father would be an understatement…but it would've been an even MORE enjoyable occasion if Debbie hadn't have been a bitch and not let Summer come up to the hospital to meet her sister.

Bella and I were married in a small wedding, with our families and the Cullens in presence and Bella and I were BOTH excited to hear that a couple of months later, Darell had finally gotten us in with the judge that we wanted for the custody hearing.

On the day of the trial I was nervous. I had dropped Chloe off with Janice for the day and Sookie, Jasper and Alice all came with us for moral support during the hearing. The first day we laid out all evidence we had in front of the judge and they put me on the stand where Debbie, who like an idiot decided to defend herself, proceeded to make herself look like a complete moron in front of the stand. What was the highlight of my day though was when Bella took the stand.

"Your honor, we would like for Isabella Herveaux to take the stand." Darell said and Bella approached the stand to swear in. Darell went through his basic questions for Bella and then it was finally Debbie's turn to question Bella.

"Just how old are you, Bella?" Debbie asked.

"I don't see how that's relevant but I will be 21 next month." Bella answered gracefully.

"How is your relationship with my daughter?" she asked.

"Summer and I have a wonderful and loving relationship. I treat her no different than I do my own daughter." Bella replied with a smile.

"As a mother, do you not think that I deserve to be loved and respected?" she asked. I immediately thought…what the hell?

"I am not trying to replace you as her mother, I am only trying to love her and treat her the way she deserves to be treated." Bella replied. GREAT answer!

At that Bella stepped down and we were adjourned for the day and set to come in the following morning to finish up and hear what the judge had to say. On our way out the door we were stopped by the lady from Social Services who was seeing over the hearing, and giving her opinion to the judge.

"May I have a word with you?" she asked us and we nodded, stepping into one of the conference rooms outside of the courtroom. Once inside she took a deep breath before speaking. "First of all, good job today. I would like to go ahead and tell you that I am putting it as my recommendation, on behalf of Summer, for custody to be transferred over to you. It's all in the judges hands now but based on the evidence now, I'd say you guys have this in the bag."

"Thank you, so very much." I said beaming. Bella was also smiling excitedly.

"We'll see you in the morning then." she said and at that we left. The next morning we were back in the courtroom waiting for the judge to rule. Darell was getting ready to do his closing argument when the judge raised his hand.

"Mr. Cayton, you can give your closing argument but I've already transferred over custody. Mrs. Bozeman, do you have any final words to add to possibly change my mind on my decision?" the judge said and Bella and I sat in shock as Debbie stood up to speak.

"I may not be financially able to care for Summer but I did give her a new family to love. If you could find it in the your heart, please don't take my daughter." she said mockingly sweet.

"I'm afraid Mrs. Bozeman, I have made my final decision that the custody of one Summer Herveaux, be awarded to Alcide Herveaux and that child support cease coming to you on her behalf. Visitation will be set so that every other weekend, and some holidays will be reserved for you and that you will pay child support to Mr. Herveaux to help provide for you daughter." he said "There should also be a stipulation to this that Mr. Bozeman is to be no where near Mr. Herveaux or his wife during drop off or any other time when Summer is around. With that being said, court is adjourned."

Bella and I floated out of the courtroom as we saw Debbie running past us crying. I wish I could say that I felt bad for her but she brought all of this upon herself for deciding to use our daughter as both a bargaining chip and a punching bag. We went into a side room with Darell to start on the paperwork to transfer over custody and to work on visitation and child support arrangements before we left.

Summer officially moved in with us the following Monday and to say that she was happy would be as big of an understatement as saying that I was. She bounced around the house happily for weeks after she moved in. And she played with Chloe every chance she got, she was such a great big sister. I was glad to have her home.

About 6 months after we got custody of Summer, Debbie called me to meet her one day while Bella was at work to talk about a job offer that Marcus had gotten out of the country in Mexico. Against my better judgment, I agreed. We met at the local park to talk.

"Alcide, I wanted to talk to you because Marcus has gotten a job offer in Mexico that he can't refuse. He's down there right now setting up our house to move. I wanted to talk to you about signing over all parental rights to Summer and possibly having a clause stating that I can get visitation and possibly rights back if we were to come back to the states"

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" I asked.

"Yes. As much as it hurts me, I need to be able to provide for my family." she said starting to cry. Debbie had certainly changed a lot since losing custody of Summer and started to go back to the woman that I was once married to. Out of impulse, I leaned over to brush the tears from her eyes. What happened next was unexpected. Debbie leaned in and kissed me passionately. I don't know what came over me because warning bells and Bella's face popped into my head as I deepened the kiss.

As I said before, I don't know what the hell came over me…perhaps the familiarity and vulnerability of the situation. All I know is we ended up in the back of Debbie's van, half naked with her handing me a condom from her purse. After we were done I felt incredibly guilty and disgusted with myself so much I went home and scrubbed my skin until I saw red and raw.

When Bella came home, I acted as if nothing happened but I still felt terrible that I would stood so low as to give into my ex wife. I told her what Debbie proposed and of course she agreed that it would be fine. After all, Summer was already calling her mom…which only made me feel even worse. I knew I needed to tell her but I just didn't know how and it was eating me alive.

The next day I received a text message that said "Yesterday didn't happen, it was just a quick roll in the hay for old times sake." from Debbie's phone. I immediately saw red, knowing then that she had this shit planned from the beginning and I was even more pissed at myself for allowing it to happen. I knew then and there I needed to tell Bella…even if it meant her leaving in the process. I loved her with all of my heart but what I did was inexcusable and she didn't deserve to be treated that way. I was fearing the worst.