Chapter twenty nine
The five years
~Five years later~
"Mama! Mama! Tell Kaleb to stop!"
"Mama, tell Lukas not to be a crybaby!"
"I am not a crybaby! You are just mean!"
"Lukas, Kaleb, both you. Stop, or we are not going to see Harry and Auntie Gemma today," Bella threatened, fixing her sons with a firm look.
That shut them up. "No, mama, no!" Kaleb whined, looking up at her with his brown eyes.
Whenever Kaleb looked at her with his oak brown eyes, Bella's heart panged with pain. Both of them looked so much like Elijah, but Kaleb had his eyes. Lukas had Bella's eyes, but Elijah's personality. He was calm, moral, reserved, and honest like his father. Kaleb, on the other hand, was wild, outgoing, reckless, and full of energy. Her twins were the opposites of each other, though they shared one similar trait. Their loyalty. They were taught to value family above all, because that was what both Bella and Elijah believed in. Though they had never met their birth father.
"If you two behave, we can still go," Bella told them, looking back down at the dishes she was washing.
"We will, mama," Lukas promised her.
"Can we go play?" Kaleb asked her, antsy to get out of the house.
Bella bit her lip. Her husband, Liam, was working outside. If he saw Lukas and Kaleb…
"I will take you to the clearing after I am finished with the dishes," she told them. Even though she had managed to somehow convince Liam that the twins were his, he didn't treat them very well. The relationship reminded her of Mikael and Niklaus, and thinking of them made her think of Elijah.
Bella's life five years after Elijah left was a twisted version of the future they had planned out together. The only things that made her happy were her sons and her brothers and sister and their children. She had only married Liam for her sons. She needed a home and money to raise her children, and Liam needed a beautiful wife. He didn't even care that she was pregnant. It made Bella sound despicable, marrying Liam for his money, but Bella did it for her sons. She would do anything for her children.
The rest of the fairies had moved on as well. Gemma had married and had a son- Harry. Though the only reason she married her husband was because he threatened her life. She loathed her husband, but he was not nearly as bad as Liam.
Joseph had married, but his wife had died giving birth to his daughter, Faith. Bella had tried her best to be there for her brother and her newborn niece, but Liam didn't like it when she spent a lot of time with her siblings. And when Liam didn't like something, he got angry. And when Liam didn't like something…
Garrett had married as well. And his wife, Ella, was pregnant. For the most part, the Eriksons had moved on. They had moved on from their tragic pasts. Halia, Abigail, Adrian, and Erik were spoken about in quiet voices, resulting in Bella crying herself to sleep while Liam snapped at her to shut up and let him sleep. Adora was never spoken about, but no one forgot about her. She was the elephant in the room.
No one talked about the Mikaelsons either, specifically Elijah and Kol. Joseph, Gemma, and Garrett all knew that Elijah was the twins' father, but they never spoke of it. Bringing up Kol only made Gemma angry. But Bella knew that her sister regretted letting him leave. Every minute of every day, she regretted letting him walk away. Bella wouldn't of held anything against Gemma leaving, nor would have their brothers. Gemma knew that, too. It had been her pride, in the end, that kept her from leaving with Kol.
"Can we go now?" Kaleb whined and Bella sighed. One thing Kaleb hadn't gotten from his father was his patience.
"Yes Little Bear, we can go," she told him with a small smile. Bella put the last dish away then went to her sons. She smoothed down Lukas' hair and wiped Kaleb's face. He frowned his mother and pushed her away.
"Why do you call me Little Bear?" Kaleb asked her curiously as they walked out of the house. Bella forced her sons to hold her hands.
"I call you both Little Bear," she told him.
"Why?"
Bella shrugged. "It is a nickname. I have called you two Little Bear ever since you were born." There was silence as Kaleb and Lukas considered this.
"Mama?" Lukas asked her after a pause.
"Yes, Little Bear?"
"Why does father hate you?"
Bella's eyes widened and her heart picked up speed. "He does not hate me, Lukas. Why would you say such a thing?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light. He was only five, after all. He didn't understand.
"why does he hit you then?"
Her breath got caught in her throat. It had only happened a few times, usually when Liam was drunk and raging about Kaleb and Lukas and Bella was defending her sons. Liam would push her to the ground or slap her across the face. He'd grab her arm tightly, call her disgusting things. Then he'd try to have sex with her. Bella would always manage to get away from him by then, though. She'd grab Kaleb and Lukas and spend the night at Joseph's. When she'd come back in the morning, Liam would be sober and act like last night never happened. Bella never forgot, though.
She never imagined that they saw that, though. It usually happened when they were fast asleep. "He does not hit me, Little Bear," she told Lukas in a light voice. She didn't want her sons to know the truth. That the only reason Bella stayed with Liam and didn't run away like her siblings wished her to was because Liam would kill her siblings, her sons, and eventually her. There was no love in their marriage. Bella would only love one man the rest of her life, and he was the father of her children.
"But-" Kaleb tried to argue, but she quickly distracted them.
"Do you two wish to go to the village? If you two behave, I might buy you a new toy," Bella tempted with a smile.
That distracted them from the topic of Liam abusing Bella. They nodded, big smiles on their faces. Bella tried to smile too, but it came out as a grimace. She didn't just sit there when Liam hit her. She struggled and tried to get away. She even kicked him in the face a few times. This only made Liam angrier, though.
Bella looked down at the bruise on her arm, turning yellow. Liam hadn't gotten drunk and angry in a few weeks, but Bella knew better than to think that he had finally cleaned up his act. He had gone a month without hitting Bella before. Then we he finally did, it was the worst time ever. He had almost broken her jaw, and Bella had only gotten away by biting his arm, hard enough to draw blood.
When they got to the trade, the boys instantly made to let go of Bella's hands and run to a vendor selling wooden toys. Bella held onto their hands, though. "No, you two are not to go off on your own," she told them sternly.
Kaleb and Lukas sighed but nodded. Bella let go of their hands and gestured for them to follow her. They walked to a vendor selling fabric, and the boys groaned in boredom as Bella inspected every kind of fabric the vendor had.
"Your sons are so handsome, Bella," The vendor cooed, smiling in affection down at the little boys. She was an old lady, with almost no teeth left.
Bella smiled back. "Thank you."
"And they look more and more like Elijah every day."
Bella froze. Only her siblings knew that Elijah was Kaleb and Lukas' father. "What do you mean, Elijah? Liam is their father." Bella tried to speak as normally as possible, but her voice was raised an octave.
"Ah, right. It is not common knowledge that Liam is not your sons' father. Do not fret, your secret is safe with me." The vendor offered her a smile and went to talk to another customer, when Bella grabbed her arm.
"How- how did you know?" she whispered, eyebrows furrowed.
The vendor's gaze softened. "Your boys look so much like him. Lukas acts so much like him. And you loved Elijah so much, Bella. It was obvious that you were pregnant only a month after he left, and you would not of already moved on to another man that fast. In fact, I am fairly certain that you only married Liam because of your sons."
Bella nodded slowly. "Thank you," she whispered, before letting go off her arm and turning back to her sons. But Lukas was the only one sitting on the ground, picking apart a flower.
"Lukas!" Bella's eyes widened in fear, looking around wildly for her other son. "Where is Kaleb?"
Lukas looked around, as if just realizing his twin was missing. "I don't know."
Bella swiftly picked up Lukas and began running through the village, looking for her wild, out of control son. "Kaleb!" she called. "Kaleb!"
"Mama!"
Bella stopped running when she saw Kaleb sitting near the booth selling toys, a carefree smile on his lips. He was unaware that he had almost given his mother a heart attack.
"Mama, can I get this one?" he asked, as Bella approached him, put Lukas down, and picked up Kaleb.
"Don't you ever run off like that again," she whispered fiercely, hugging him to her.
"I just wanted a toy, mama. You promised I could get a toy," he mumbled.
Bella sighed and put Kaleb down. He was going to be the death of her. "If you keep running off like that, I'm going to stop taking you places," she threatened.
"Okay mama." Kaleb rolled his eyes as if to say yeah, right. "Can I get this toy now?"
Bella sighed but nodded. "Mama," Lukas started to say. "Who is Elijah?"
Bella froze. She really had to watch what she did and said around her sons. They were smart, and weren't oblivious to things around them like they used to be. "Just an old friend, Little Bear," she said lightly. "Would you like a toy as well?"
Lukas nodded, his green eyes lighting up. He and his brother went about picking out toys, and Bella used that time to calm her racing heart. She loved her boys so much, but they were going to give her a heart attack sooner or later.
"Bella."
Every fiber of Bella's being froze at that voice. That voice that she hadn't heard in five years. That voice that she only heard in dreams now. That voice that probably belonged to a vampire who had long forgotten about her.
Still, Bella whirled around in search of the man whom that voice belonged to. She didn't know whether or not she wanted him to be there. It didn't matter, though. He wasn't. She was probably just imagining his voice.
After Bella paid for her sons' toys, she brought them home again. They had to take a nap before they went to see Harry. Unfortunately, Liam was waiting for them when they got home. He looked angry too, and he reeked of alcohol.
"To your room," Bella said quietly to her sons, pushing them out of the kitchen. "Hurry."
"Where were you?" Liam growled at her, as Kaleb and Lukas ran away.
"The village," Bella replied calmly, setting down the things she had bought on the table. She was trying to diffuse her husband, but it wouldn't matter.
Bella gasped in pain as he slapped her across the face, sending her onto the floor. She hit her head hard on the floor, and saw dots in her vision for a few seconds. "Don't lie to me, Bella!" He growled, his voice thick with anger.
Bella stood up and went to run out of the room, when he grabbed her hair and yanked her back. "And where do you think you're going?" he chuckled darkly, his free hand roaming around her body.
Bella took a deep breath, and then sent Liam flying away from her telekinetically. She didn't use her powers around him a lot, because it only made him angrier. Bella down the hall, into her sons' room. she slammed the door shut then barricaded it so that Liam couldn't get in.
"Mama?" Kaleb said, confused as Bella sat down on the floor, as far away from the door as possible, and pulled her sons into her arms.
"Shh, it's fine. We're just going to stay in here for a while," Bella said, smiling despite the tears of pain in her eyes. Her cheek, head, and hair ached, but she forced herself not to show her pain, to remain strong for her children.
Liam started pounding on the door, yelling disgusting words at her. Bella just shut her eyes and held her sons against her.
"Mama? Why is father mad?" Lukas asked quietly, resting his head on Bella's chest while Kaleb rested his on Bella's shoulder.
"Shh, just close your eyes Little Bear," she told him.
Kaleb and Lukas closed their eyes, and Bella sang to them the same lullaby her mother used to sing to her. Eventually, the pounding and screaming stopped, and her boys were asleep. Bella put the twins in their beds before leaving their room.
The house was a mess, but Liam was gone. Bella sighed and placed a hand over her throbbing cheek before she went about cleaning up Liam's mess. Hopefully when he got home, he would be sober. Liam never hit her when he was sober.
As Bella cleaned, she studied the ring next to her wedding ring on her left hand. It was the black onyx ring that Ayana had given to her five years ago. She still wore it, to help keep her powers under control. Though Bella didn't use her powers very often, because of Liam. It only made him angrier, and he called her a freak.
Bella hummed the lullaby to herself as she cleaned. Sometimes, she imagined taking her children and running away. Only, Liam would kill her siblings and their families. Bella was stuck with him until she died. She regretted being foolish enough to marry him in the first place.
A knock on the door broke Bella out of her thoughts. She expected it to be Gemma or Joseph or Garrett. They would have a fit when they saw Liam's latest attack on her. Still, Bella made her way to the front door and opened it.
"Hello-" the words got caught in her throat, her eyes widened to the size of saucers. She blinked a few times, just to make sure that he wasn't an illusion. But he was still there, staring down at Bella as if five years hadn't passed, as if nothing had changed. When, in reality, everything had changed. Not everything though, because he still stared at her with the same love in his eyes he had five years ago.
"Elijah."
~TLND~
A/N: So, originally, this chapter and the following chapter were supposed to be one big chapter. But it was becoming a very long chapter and I wasn't even halfway finished. So I decided to cut it in half. Which means TLND is going to end on 31 chapters instead of thirty. I'm sorry if this was a little slow and boring. It was just introducing Bella's new life, her sons, and her abusive, jackass husband.
Thank you to: Belinda, Kara, HoneyGee08, thetrueoriginal, Brigette, TVDobsession106, and Katerina The Von for reviewing!
Review!
~Abby :)
