Chapter 21: Family (Part 1)
A/N: So I decided on this plot line about a week ago when I began planning what I was going to do after the Volutri storyline. I hope you guys like it; I really do. I decided that I should cut this into 2 parts, there was a lot that I wanted to write in this chapter and eventually I decided that it was a bit too much and that I should leave it as two chapters with each main character getting their own point of view so that you see and fell how Leah and Jeremiah deal with the aftermath of their child's birth and how it will affect those are them.
Leah's POV
It had been a few weeks since the baby was born and the truth was it had been really strange how quite Chris had been.
"It could be that he sleeps all the time, obviously he gets that from his mother," Jerry once told me with a grin on his beautiful face.
Our son was looking like him more and more every single day; it scared me because I knew that before long I would have to deal with the fact that my son was going to be so good looking and in turn he would become a heartbreaker, he already had all the women in the Cullen family and on the reservation wrapped around his little finger.
I smiled, I don't know why but it was something that I was proud. I was just glad that my son wasn't someone who didn't go without sleep like for example his father don't get wrong, that fact didn't change how I felt bout Jerry but I was trying to keep my baby as human as possible. I made sure that I changed my sleeping patterns to fall in line with him. But since Jerry didn't need the sleep he could watch over the both of us and he would always make sure we were both okay. The other thing that I was glad about was the fact that Chris didn't crave blood and for that matter he didn't show any signs of being a vampire but he didn't show any signs of being a shape shifter either. Carlisle took some of his blood and had it test and compared against samples from Jerry' venom and my blood and he told us that Chris had traits of both Vampire and Werewolf his guess was that it was recessive and may never actually show. I was glad that our child was going to be as normal as possible and actually live a life away from all the bullshit that we have had to live through. But the fact was that Carlisle wasn't certain so I could ever really let my guard down about him eventually showing signs of being one or the other or even both for that matter
The fact that my baby was growing at a normal rate did let me sigh in relief a bit like I said before I could never really be nonchalant about this whole thing, I mean he was a baby and I was hoping that he would stay a baby for a while. It made me feel bad for Eddie and Bella, Nessie was growing at such a fast rate that in only a few years would she be an adult and they would essentially miss out on so much and wouldn't get go through all of the events that normal parents get to experience with a child. I mean in our world that means lots of hair and rage and drinking blood but at least it would be a childhood full of memories and that would be what we get with Chris.
Life had been peaceful for the most part, I had gone to visit my family on the reservation and it was nice to see everyone again. I mean of course I saw my mother and Seth all the time but this was the first time I had seen Jake and the rest of the guys; Embry took a shining to Chris quite quickly and Chris likes to play with his cheeks. When I turn my attention away from Embry and my baby I see that my mother walks over to me and look me up and down; obviously I give her a confused look.
"Wow, dear its only been a few weeks I mean you have lost all of the pregnancy weight and now you look like you did before you were pregnant, what's you secret?" she asks me
But before I could even think about how to answer that question she slaps her forehead realizing what the answer could possibly be
"Yea mom," I tell her as I patted her on the shoulder and I went to get Chris from Embry
"What I forgot, its been a while since you've done it what do you expect," she tells me
I roll my eyes and chuckle but that when I see Sam walk near us and I hear him growl. I hand Chris to my mom and give her a look she nods and takes him in the house; once the door is closed I glare at Sam
"What the fuck is your problem?" I shout at him
He huffs at me, the son of a bitch
"Listen you fucking cunt if you ever do that again," I tell him
But before I am able to finish that statement he has the audacity to cut me off
"What you'll get you're little boyfriend to kill me," he snorts
"No I won't, because we all know if I did actually tell what you just did he would break his foot up your self-righteous ass and kill you without breaking a sweat so before he gets a chance to I'll fucking kill you myself so at least you have a fighting chance but we all know that you're not much of a fighter anyways," I tell him
"Whatever you say princess, but as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted I don't even know why he is allowed to be on this land, it breaks the treaty," he answers staring at my kid
"Don't you dare, he is half Quileute. He has as much right to be here as any of us. He is a member of the tribe and he should be given the same rights that any of us have. Bill said as much," I shout back
"He is half leech, that's enough to break the treaty," he retort
"We'll you're about to be half Quileute because I'm about to break you in half," I tell him
"You wouldn't even dare," he tells me
Then I feel Seth, Embry and Jake come up and stand beside me
"So that's how it's going to be?" he asks
"Yeah, that's how its going to be. Remember you're not even the true leader of the tribe, that's Jake he just let you have it because he wanted a normal life; remember he can rightfully assume that role whenever he wants but he was nice enough to let you continue to lead a pack, a pack by the way that is maybe up of dumbshits, half wits and rookies, the only one that's worth a damn in a fight is Paul," I shout at him
He growls and huff then he walks away, I know that there is this giant grin on my face
Once Sam is out of hearing distance I hear a huff coming from Jake
"What?" I ask
"You do know that you shouldn't have said that?" asks Jake
"Of course I did, he growled at my son who is half Quileute by the way he deserved everything he got he is lucky that I won't tell Jerry who is dying to get into a fight with him and that I am a lady," I tell with a smirk
"Oh, you are the definition of ladylike," he says with a sarcastic tone
"Yea whatever," I tell him
I slap him across the arm, he fakes being hurts and gives me a smile, which I return of course; only Jake could laugh at a situation like this. Seth pats my shoulder and Embry gives me a weak smile. I nod to all of them and I go back into the house to get my son. After everything that just happened it only took the sight of my son being in the arms of my mother to make it all go away. I said my goodbyes to everyone; everyone wanted me to stay a little while long but they all relented but the one that made it the hardest to leave was Embry
"Aww Leah, but this little dude is so freaking cute," he tells me
"Em bro you'll see him again," Jake tells him
"Alright, fine. Bye little dude, you are the greatest little dude in the entire world yes you are yes you are. And you have a cool Dad and an even cooler mom," he tells Chris and to me for that matter, I guess he thought that buttering me up would make me want to bring Chris by so that he could see him more often
"Embry we'll be back, I am glad that my son likes you and for that matter Jerry likes you too so don't worry about it we'll be back and you can hang out with us at the Cullens' mansion whenever we are there, so don't worry bro," I reassure him
He smiles and nods he head excitedly, I just sigh and put Chris in the car. I gave my mom one last hug and i get in the care and drive away
The entire drive home I kept on thinking about what my mom said, I mean she did have a point; it was something that I was concerned about so when I got back to the cabin so I had a conversation with Carlisle about it.
"Well how have you been feeling?" he asked me
"Great; I feel normal, I mean normal for me anyways," I told him
"Hmm okay, well just to be safe I want you to wait a few more weeks before you attempt to change," he told me
I nod, I mean at first I hated what I was the only thing that I ever thought about was getting rid of that part of myself but the truth was that Jerry forced me to look myself in the mirror and accept who I am and I am glad that it is apart of me and I never want that to change.
But no matter how everything was so great and I knew that we were a happy family there is one thing that was lingering in the back of my mind; I was something that I always wanted to do and since Chris had just been born I felt like right now was the perfect time. But the only problem I had was keeping this from Jerry, its hard having a boyfriend who is a vampire who use to be in C.I.A who has skills that make him a living weapon. Wow did I really just say that, geez the world we live in is freaking strange man; that's the kind of shit we deal with everyday and that's the world we are raising our child in. Oh sorry kinda went off on a tangent didn't I? Oh well whatever. I went to the computer and I checked the prices for what I needed but I couldn't do it alone I knew that I would some need help to pull this off
I grabbed my phone from my coat and I called Alice
"Hello," she answers
"Alice can you come over I need your help with something," I tell her
"Okay," I'll be right there
A few minutes later I hear the knock on the door and I answer it
"Before you say anything I wanted you to know that I can't your future so I won't be able to tell you how it will turn out," she tells me
"Okay weirdo, can I tell you what I wanted to tell you before you go into freaky vampire mode," I tell her
"I'm just letting you know," she tells me
"I know but damn dude really," I tell her
"Okay okay I get it what can I do for you Leah Clearwater," she asks me
"Alright before I tell you, can you promise that this will stay between you and me?" I ask her
"Yea of course what do you need?" she asks
I whisper in her ear letting her know what my plan is
After I let her know what I have planned she gives me a confused look
"Are you sure about this?" she asks me
I nod
"Yeah; its not for me for the both of them and I know that in the end they will be glad that I did this," I tell her
"Well how can I help?" she asks
"Well I was wondering if you could handle the preparations for me, I would handle it myself but I don't want to tip Jerry off," I tell her
I pull my wallet out of my pants and I take out the credit card that Jerry had given me but before I hand it over to her, I see that she is bouncing up and down excited about new plastic
"Wait before you go bat shit crazy on me, I have two conditions before I give this to you," I tell her
"Okay okay okay, what are the conditions?" she asks as she continues to bounce up and down
I roll my eyes; I can't believe I am actually doing this I think to myself
"The first condition is it that card should only be used for what I asking you to get," I tell her
She nods but I can tell that she doesn't like it, which makes me happy
"And the second?" she asks
"And the second condition is that I will not let you go overboard on this. If you fail to meet both of my conditions, I will never let you see Chris ever again," I tell her
"Aww but he is so damn cute, you're no fair," she wines to me
"Damn straight, I have the cutest baby in the world, which is why I know I can get away with this. So do we have a deal?" I ask her
She frowns and nods
"But I have one question," she tells me
I nod letting her know that its alright to ask her question
"Won't the three of you be needing new clothes?" she asks with a smile on her face
"You're right but it's only because I want us to be looking our best for this but again do not go overboard," I tell her
"Okay I promise you that I won't; I can I please see little Chris?" she asks me jumping up and down
"I swear sometimes," I think to myself
I shake my head but eventually I nod, she smiles at me and goes skipping into the bedroom and comes back out with Chris in her arms, she was still asleep so I didn't have to worry about him waking up and crying so it was so weird because he hardly cries, he only does it when he is hungry. She aww's and coo's at him, mumbling a bunch on incoherent sayings at him. But before she can go any further he wakes up and gives her a confused look and begins to cry
"Hand him over, he is hungry," I tell Alice
"How can you tell?" she asks
"Because that is the only time that he cries," I tell her
"Oh," she says as she hands him over and he begins to feed
"Wait, you can't see his future can you?" I ask as I nurse Chris
"No I can't, its really starting to bug me that there are many individuals whose future I can't see. But I figure that since he is the child of a werewolf and a vampire who can block all abilities that he would be able to have some those abilities as well. It's not his fault because he is so cute, yes he is," she tells me
I give her a confused look
"Okay?" I tell her
"Leah honestly I am so envious of you," she tells me
I was about to ask why but I already knew what she was talking about, it must be so hard for her and Blondie and Esme to see Bella and I have children when they can't. Sure they put up a brave face but I'm sure that it must hurt like hell.
"I'm so sorry Alice, if I had it in my power you know that I would make it possible for the three of you to have children," I tell her
"I know and thank you for caring so much, but its not meant to be then its not meant to be. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never have children and that it is my duty to be the greatest auntie in the entire world to Nessie and try to be the same for Chris," she tells me
"I'm glad that you feel that way because as strange as this sounds coming from me I want you to feel like you are an aunt to Chris, I mean who is going to be the one to dress him. I know I have no fashion sense so I can't help him there," I tell her relenting to her ways
"Really?" she asks
I nod
She smiles and goes over to me and hugs me, at first I feel that my body tenses but eventually I relax and pat her back
"Well I am on my way and I'll take care of everything. I'll back later tonight to give you everything," she tells me
"Thank you so much Alice, now I just to figure out a way to tell Jerry about this what getting him mad," I tell her
"I am sure that he will love it, he loves you and will be okay with it since he knows that you are looking out for his best interest," she tells me
I know she can't see the future but it was still nice of her to say
"Thanks Alice, now get before Jerry comes home with Eddie and he figures out what we're up to," I tell her
She nods kisses Chris on the head and gives me a quick hug and she exits the cabin. After Chris is done feeding, I see that he is out cold and I put him back in the crib so that he can sleep comfortably. I hop into bed and watch some TV waiting for Jerry to come home, I use the time to think of ways to tell him but I can't come up with a good way to do this so I just stop think and before long I feel Jerry cupping my cheek
"Lele wake up baby," I hear him whisper in my ear
I groan and open my eyes, I calm down when I see Jerry smiling down at me
"I fell asleep?" I ask
"Yes you did, I probably shouldn't have woken you but I just wanted to let you know that I was home, if you want you can go back to sleep and I'll watch over Cristobal," he tells me
"Nah, I'm okay actually I need to be awake anyways, I needed to ask you something," I tell him
"You know that you can ask me anything," he tells me
"I know that but I just don't know how you will react to this," I tell him
"Well you will never know until you find out, right?" he asks me
I nod
"How do you feel about taking a trip to see your family?" I ask
"That would be great, I mean I know that Siobhan and Liam would love to meet Cristobal," he tells me
I shake my head
"No, not that family. I was talking about you mother and sister and her family," I tell him
"Oh, I don't know about that Leah, I mean would be putting them at risk if we just showed up," he tells me
"From whom, the Volutri are gone and are you telling me that you and me wouldn't be able to defend them against everyone else," I tell him
He sighs and looks over to the crib
"You're scared, aren't you?" I ask
He nods
"Is it because you think that your mother won't be able to accept the fact that you are still alive and that you have showed up to her door 20 years later with a family looking like you did when you died," I ask
He nods again
"I haven't seen her since I was 18, I don't know if I could be able to handle her rejecting me and you and our son," he tells me
"Don't you think that you should at least try, if not for yourself but for our son. I want your son to grow up with all of his family and that includes your mother and sister," I ask
He closes his eyes and begins to rub them concentrating on coming up with an answer
"I know I just need to think about this," he tells me
"You better think fast because I have Alice buying the plane tickets for me and a bunch of clothes," I tell him
"Leah," he groans at me
"What? I knew that if I asked you then you would probably say no and I know if you don't do this then you will regret this," I tell him
He grunts and get up from the bed, he goes over to the window and puts his head down, I hear him sign. I get up and walk over to and wrap my arms around him and place my head on his back
"Even if I could, I wouldn't be able to say no, right?" he asks
"Nope, I would just go ahead and take Chris and go visit your mother myself. This way I am letting you make up your own damn mind as to whether or not you want to come," I answer
I hear him chuckle
"I let you get away with way too much," he tells me
"That's because you love me," I tell him
"Yea I am so crazy in love that I let you get away with murder," he tells me
"Yup and you would be there to cover it up if I did actually commit murder," I tell him
"Probably, wait you let Alice buy everything; isn't that play with fire?" he asks
"Yea but I told her if she went overboard then I would never let her see Chris ever again," I tell him
"Wow, already using our child to barter with people," he tells me
"Nope just with Alice," I tell him
"Fair enough," he tells me
"I love you," I tell him
"I love you more," he tells me
I smile, he always says that but before I could say or do anything else I hear a knock on the door
"Hold on to that thought," I tell him
"I always do," he tells me as I let go of him and walk toward the front door
"Hi Alice," I says as I open the door
'How did you know it was me?" she asks as she enters the cabin with a bunch of bags in her hand
I point to my nose
"Oh right sorry," she tells me
"Let me help you out," I tell her as I grab a few bags and we walk into the bedroom
"Hello Alice," Jerry greets her
"Hello Jeremiah," she responds
"I already told him and he is on board," I tell her
"I had no choice," he says with a smile on his face
"I know, Jasper is the same way,' she tells me
I see that Jerry is shaking his head
"Well I have everything that you are going to need and here are your plane tickets," she tells me as she holds me the tickets and my credit card. I put the card in my pocket and I proceed to inspect the tickets
"Private Jet?" I ask
"Before you say anything I just want you to know that I did not go overboard, the fare for the jet was at a reasonable price; I think that it is in everyone's best interest if you guys keep this very private, you never know when Chris might exhibit his abilities if he even has some so this is the best way to cover all the bases and really when have your ever said that you have been in a private jet," she tells me
I grunt in response she is right I mean not about the whole being in a jet thing because I could give a damn about that but I to hold on to our privacy and it would be best if there weren't too many people around just in case Chris does something suspicious.
"What she means to say is thank you for everything, we are glad to have you in our lives and we appreciate the fact that you want to keep our lives as safe as possible," Jerry tells me
"Well you're welcome Leah," she tells me with a dumb grin on her face
I shake my head as I look through the bags; there are clothes for the three of us
"I don't usually do this because I feel like its tacky to do this but I am letting you guys borrow some of mine and Jasper's luggage, but it has never been used so you should be good," she tells me
"Thank you Alice," I say
"I'll have Jasper bring them by later and you guys can pack, remember your flight is set for tomorrow night. Jasper and I would be more than happy to give you guys a ride to the airport," she tells us
"That would be much appreciated," he tells her
I nod as well
She smiles at us and looks over at Chris before making her way out of the cabin
"Well we better start getting everything together and when Jasper brings the luggage we can pack," I tell him
I nod, the next thing I know is that I feel him walks over to me and wraps his arms around my waist
"What?" I ask as his gives me a strange look
"Nothing it just that I love you so much," he tells me
I lean up and he closes the distance and we begin to kiss, as soon as I am able to assert some control I push him on to the bed and walk over and sit on him in the straddling position.
"Before this goes any further don't you think that we should stop," he asks me
"You don't want me?" I ask as I try to get off but I can because he keeps me on his lap
"Of course I want you, I want you all the time but don't you think that we should stop, I mean wouldn't it be setting a bad example," he tells me
I look over to the crib and I groan
"You're right, damn sorry about that but you have the tendency of making my mind all foggy and what not," I tell him
"Hell you do the same to me, look I promise you that we will find some time to be together even if we have to get one of the Cullens or your mother to watch him while we are alone I hope that doesn't sound awful of me to say," he tells me
"Okay," is all I can say at the moment as embarrassment sinks in.
"Look Leah this is all new to me, I have a family now with you and with Cristobal and something I'm afraid that I am going to fail at, that I am going to do something that makes you leave me. All I have ever been good at is killing people whether they were human or vampire, it was all I ever knew but that changed when I met and it has gone even further now that we have Chris. I am responsible for providing for the both of you not just momentarily but physically and emotionally. So I ever do something and say something that makes you want to scream or want to leave me please just bear with me and let me know what I am doing wrong so I can change, so I can better myself, so I can be a better father to my son and a better lover to my love," he tells me
"I just want you to be you, that's all that Chris and me will ever need from you; you have already given us so much love and compassion. That's all we will ever want from you, you are right so much of your way was all the things that you have said but you are not that man anymore you turned away from all that because he felt that you should be better than that, that somehow you were meant for better things; you are a great boyfriend and an even better father. No one is asking you to be superman or superdad for that matter; just be the man that I fell in love with and the man that loves his son," I tell him
He smiles and cups my cheek, I kiss his palm I feel the electricity flow between us but before this goes any further I decided that is best for me to roll off of him and just lay beside of him so that if Chris wakes up and needs something I can easily get it for him.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" he asks as I try to get off
"I thought you said that it was best if we didn't do that," I tell him
"Yeah but it doesn't mean that I don't wanna continue holding you," he tells me
"Well then, continue holding me," I tell him with a smile
He smiles and brings me down with him as I lie on his chest, with a wave of content washing over me. But as it does another wave of emotions hit me and this one is not one of joy but of fear because now I am truly afraid about how his mother will accept the fact that he is still alive and everything that he has to tell her. On top of that how will she accept Chris and me, will she see us and hate us for being what we are. I want everything to be perfect but can I really have it all?