Chapter 35
Big Sky Country
I wish I could say we all lived happily ever after, but I don't lie unless it's absolutely necessary. Still, everything is working out so close to perfect it may as well be a fairy tale. We spent the winter in Southern California. Summer was able to spend time with her human friends even though some of her physical changes caused them to wonder. She blamed her pale skin on the twins, and not wanting to keep them out in the sun. She wore contact lenses to change the color of her eyes, and she learned to pretend to eat if it was ever an issue. Still, they could tell she was different. Most just chalked it up to married life agreeing with her.
The twins were the biggest issue, and she told everyone that they were adopted since there hasn't been enough time for her to be pregnant and have toddlers. Fortunately their growth has slowed, and it will get even slower as they age. They're so bright, she had to remind them to speak in baby talk when her human friends were around. They thought it was a game and carried it too far sometimes; making each other laugh at the nonsense words they produced.
It continues to surprise me how they've not only welcomed me into their family, but completely integrated me into their lives. I'm Uncle Vladmir to the twins, and they're not sure if I'm Stefan or Summer's brother. I just love them – all of them! I couldn't be more attached if they were my own flesh and blood.
We've finally moved. It took a while to find just the right place, and even longer to find a company to take over the place in Romania. I'm really glad we're not selling it, but there's a lot of work involved in turning it into a museum. The first obstacle was getting the security upgraded. For so long, we were the security, with just a little help from a guard dog or two. Once it became clear to the firm appraising the contents, that we had a fortune tied up in antiques and artifacts, they insisted we upgrade the security as well as our insurance.
The work is progressing, and the plan is to open one room at a time as it can be furnished, decorated, and outfitted. Considering the age and history of some of our treasures, there's even talk about playing with the vampire legends as a draw to tourists. There was a time when that would have been extremely insulting as well as dangerous. Now I really don't care what they call us. The only name that matters to me is Uncle Vladmir.
They're sending us a photographed inventory of everything they find in the house, along with a rough appraisal. There are some suggestions to have certain treasures auctioned off due to their value or the difficulty in displaying them in a museum setting. I have to chuckle that they've found my paintings and they believe they are quite valuable. I gave them permission to sell many of them, though some of them are personal and I can't part with them.
The place we found in Montana is near Bozeman, at the base of the Rocky Mountains. We can see mountains from the back door, and the children can run and play like deer. It's a working ranch, or at least it once was. Stefan seems to think it would be a good idea to make it so again, though I'm not so sure having another family on the property to take care of it, would be a good idea. We've got fifty acres that includes a home for the foreman's family, and a bunkhouse for the ranch hands. Currently there are no hands and no cattle. I think seeing all the land has made Stefan recall his days in the olive groves of Greece. I try to remind him that he wasn't a farmer, but that he was a scholar. Still he looks out over the fields toward the mountains, and I just know it won't be long until I'm hearing mooing in the morning.
Our new home is very much a reflection of Summer. We have ten bedrooms. She is clearly looking forward to guests, or maybe she's thinking about kidnapping a few neighbors to fill up the rooms. The twins have their rooms upstairs, the master is downstairs, and my room is a private wing. It's a large, rambling log home that started small, but grew to accommodate a large family. The main room is a two story family room with a stone fireplace along one whole wall. The construction throughout is both log and stone, and I never thought I could find something so rustic to be so beautiful. There is a porch in the front facing the lake, and one in the back facing the mountains. We spend a lot of time outside, mostly because the kids want to run free. But there are few neighbors, and we can usually tell if they get close.
The children look like they're four years old now, even though they've just turned one. It amazes me that so much has changed in a year. We're starting to understand that both children are incredibly gifted. Summer found out accidentally what Tessa could do when she took the children into town for story time at the local library. One little boy was with his grandma who passed out with symptoms of a heart attack. The way Summer tells it is that she could hear the woman's heart struggling and failing. Tessa crawled over to her and put her little hand on the woman's chest, and healed her heart! In a few minutes EMS arrived to find the woman sitting up, perfectly fine.
With that discovery, Summer took her to an emergency room and just sat in the waiting area. She gave Tessa a ball, and as she rolled the ball across the floor it gave her opportunities to touch people. When Tessa was tired, she picked her up and left, and so did some of the patients. Her gift is still developing, and it does tire her out, but she can heal anyone she touches. Summer thinks it's the reason she was able to carry the twins and give birth. Carlisle can't wait to see how her gift develops. But I really hope we can keep her gift a secret. It's an amazing power, and there are sure to be those who would want to exploit it. I can't stand the thought of someone wanting to hurt that little ray of sunshine.
Just looking at her I'm reminded of Summer. She is so much like her mother, both in her looks and her personality. Now that Summer's changed she's even more beautiful than before. There are some differences that surprised us all. She's no longer afraid of being alone, but she's fiercely protective of her children. She still won't kill, and Stefan has quite a scar on his neck from her repeated bites. If I ever doubted that they belonged together, just knowing she's able to feed from him would prove it. I actually thought about offering to feed her, to maybe save my friend from a bite. But there's something oddly intimate about it, and they usually only do it in private.
He actually loves that he can sleep and dream after she feeds. Even though Carlisle worried that it could be harming him, nothing seems to have come of it. Aside from his scars, he looks better than ever. Between her and the children our life is never predictable, and we're always busy. Neither of us are stagnant, but it's more than that – he is happy. I try not to be jealous of what he has, but he smiles and laughs, and he plays with the children, and he's just so different from how he used to be.
I think little Tristan has had an effect on all of us. His ability is the one many of our kind will be anxious to experience. He can heal internal damage, and I'm not talking about physical wounds. Just being around him we're all so much more at peace than we ever were before. Even I have been able to release a lot of the anger and pain associated with the Volturi and our lost empire. I don't feel any need to rebuild or take then on again.
In the fall the children will be starting kindergarten. Stefan and I both tried to talk Summer out of it since they haven't been around human children much and they don't understand their differences. Tristan could do irreparable harm if he bit someone, especially since vampire children are against our law. But Summer insists. She wants them to be raised in the world they have to live in. She believes that they need to be around humans to learn not to objectify them and learn how to adapt to their differences. She's been exposing them to different people, like the visits to the library, and a playgroup they attend together. I am sure that it will work out; it seems everything she wants always works out.
Our days and nights are so simple, and yet so much more than I could have ever hoped for. We have the space to be outside unobserved. Fifty acres of fence was a necessary expense, as well as the no trespassing signs. There is a lake to swim in, fields to run through, open wilderness for them to hunt, and Stefan bought a couple horses. One of the animals is terrified of all but Tessa, who rides like she was born on it's back. The other Tristan picked out himself because he said it had a broken heart. He's stronger and faster than the animal, and it seems to have grudgingly come to trust him. Summer likes the horses because they remind her of her mother for some reason.
We have a music room in the house, and we spend a lot of time there. We are a five member ensemble now, and the music is more beautiful than ever. We have piano, keyboard, guitars, violin, drums, and brass and woodwind instruments We can each play almost anything and sometimes it's hard to decide whether to play or sing. In singing the twins have us all beat. Together they have a perfect harmony that is magical. Their voices blend both their gifts in a small measure, and those who hear them are both uplifted emotionally, and they feel better as well. Summer wants us to visit hospitals to perform so their song can help the patients. I'm afraid that we actually sound too good.
It's the old admonition against drawing attention to ourselves that bothers me. Now that we've had a chance to discuss the things we've found out at Volterra, Stefan, Summer, and I believe that there is a good reason for us to keep a low profile. That Aro has been planning for conflict between humans and supernatural creatures makes me certain that such a conflict is coming. The gifts are getting more and more powerful as well as more common, and our numbers are steadily increasing. Still it doesn't take a genius to realize a war would be catastrophic for both sides. It's in our own best interests to keep hidden and never draw attention to ourselves.
The Volturi still haven't made a ruling on the hybrid children, and we really don't expect them to now that there are two brand new births and seven more pregnant woman in various places in the world. Both the new mothers survived, though not as well as Summer. Carlisle has made his findings known to the prospective parents, and five of the pregnant women are already in hypnotic states and hooked up to I.V.'s. He's training the hybrid Nahuel in his methods, so that he will be able to run a place to care for these mothers and their special offspring.
It makes me wonder that there are so many of our kind who have the necessary restraint to mate with humans. I wonder if they only needed to be told it was possible. I've met one of the new mothers and she is overjoyed with her mate and her child. She actually wants to do it again, once the bones of her pelvis and her ribs heal.
The other mother I'm told was actually paid to give birth for a mated pair. He impregnated her in the traditional way, as per their agreement. But when the child was born, she wasn't permitted to see it. Then while she recovered, the father's jealous mate fed on her! Carlisle has made it known that he will not assist in any way in situations like that, and he's also asked the Volturi to rule against it. Even still it's evident that the hybrid is something that we'll be seeing more often.
There's a small part of me that would like to entertain the idea. To have a child of my own after all these centuries... But I could never mate with a human woman. I mean I have the restraint for it, but I've only made love to one woman, ever. I would have to fall in love first, and if I loved her, I could never ask her to go through what Summer suffered.
I still think about her – Sulpicia – my Peaches. I wonder how she has managed to submit to Aro for so long without loving him. No matter how pragmatic she is, I know there must be times when she's lying under him and wishing he were me. And I know with his ability he would know that and take his subtle revenge. I've often wondered how he could take her from me, knowing her love was artificial. She's still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and I know I'm not alone in appreciating her that way. Could he have been blinded by her beauty? Was it just too tempting to strike a blow against me? Did he think she would find real love with him eventually? It tears my heart out whenever I think about it.
And I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Not that I miss her manipulative ways or her coldness. But seeing Stefan so happy with Summer, it makes me conscious of how lonely I am sometimes. Summer is the perfect woman; beautiful, smart, sexy, and compassionate beyond measure. If she were mine I would be in bliss. But I don't let my thoughts go there, except in my loneliest musings.
Summer isn't the woman I really want. It's her. It's always been her, and it always will be. Our visit to Volterra made it clear that I'm hopelessly in love with her. I have to smile when I think that when she and Aro lie together, he will know we've been intimate. We've been intimate many, many, satisfying times! But he will also know the torment I feel in leaving her behind; once again surrendering the woman I adore to the man I despise.
Our connections have let us know that Chelsea and Marcus are missing. The night we rescued Summer, they never returned to Volterra. The two of them are the cement that holds the Volturi together. He can sense relationships and ties, and she can strengthen them, break them, or even reassign them. I'm sure Aro is missing them more than he can admit. How strange it is that the Volturi are at their most vulnerable in centuries, and I have no desire to attack. As much as I'd like to drop Chelsea into a bottomless pit, I'm kind of glad Marcus is no longer brooding over his lost mate.
Our lives have settled down and I am content. I don't think I'd trade my family for another shot at building an empire. But I think Summer is doing a little bit of empire planning herself. She's already looking forward to the twins being grown in a few years and making her a grandmother. I hope they don't rush growing up since they've been a great joy to me this past year. The love we have for one another is better than anything I could have hoped for. I've painted a family portrait and it hangs above the mantel. Stefan and Summer are centered, and the twins are in front and I am in back. I've added faint images of Summer's mother and father, looking down from above. I asked Stefan if he wanted any of his past loves represented in the painting.
His answer surprised me: "No. The ancient history needs to stay in the past. Everything that I thought mattered, is just dust. You've captured everything that's important to me now. You've done a beautiful job, dear brother; even though I think you painted yourself more handsome that you really are." He smiled and laughed. There is a lot of empty canvas to add more family members in the future.
And that's the beauty of the life we lead; we have a future now. The twins are a living and breathing legacy, and the best part is we will be around to see it.