A/N: I just want to give a fair warning: This chapter contains course language, and details about a rape in explicit detail. It's intended to be shocking, and I apologize for the language and content. I'll indicate where it begins and ends, if you want to skip or skim.
Chapter 35
Homeward Bound
We could have left that day, but for all the loose ends we had to tie up. Instead it took over a week. Cipriana proved to be more of a thorn in my side than I'd expected. She was almost impossible to find, and we finally sent the Guard out to look for her. They found her in Rome, hunting her prey of choice in the nightclubs. She didn't want to come back, but they didn't let her refuse.
We were in the council room when Carlisle confronted her about her promise not to kill humans. She didn't seem concerned, and defended her actions by reminding him that vampires have been feeding on humans for centuries. When we brought up the subject of Felicia, she grunted and dismissed her with the wave of a hand.
"I don't know what she's done, and I don't care. You can't possibly expect me to mother the little monster." I was itching to slap the look of disgust from her face, but Felicia beat me to it. She darted out from behind Jasper where she'd been lurking, and kicked her mother in the shin so hard it would have broken a normal leg. Cipriana grunted in pain as Felicia screamed at her.
"I hate you! You're a fucking bitch and a whore, and I'll be glad when I can get the hell away from you forever!" She took off at a run, with Alice right behind her.
"What the hell brought that on?" Cipriana looked at us like we'd unleashed the dogs on her. "I'm not taking responsibility for anything that little brat's done! She's been on her own for a year now; I have nothing to do with how she acts." Carlisle gently put a calming hand on my arm before I tore into her.
He handed her a few pages of an official looking document. "I need your permission to take her away. I realize you were forced to become a mother, and you shouldn't be expected to raise the progeny of your rapist. This will absolve you of any and all further responsibility for the child Felicia." She was quiet as she looked over the papers. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up.
"This looks like you want the little beast." She sneered at him, then pointedly looked at his hand holding mine. "You want to take my daughter, and pretend she belongs to you and your bitch girlfriend?" He squeezed my hand as she laughed. "Oh this is just priceless!" She changed her stance and crossed her arms over her chest. "I think she'd be better off crawling around the sewers under the city than shacked up with you two." She flicked the papers at his chest. "Why should I give you anything that belongs to me?"
He was so much more patient than I was. He stayed calm and amiable, even while I wanted to tear her sneering face off. "We can take her away from here, and you won't be bothered by any of her demands. You won't have to pay for her food or clothing..."
"I don't pay for any of that shit now. She's a little thief and a half human garbage disposal. I don't know how she eats, and to be honest, I don't care. Some day they'll probably find her dead body stinking up one of the tunnels, and I'll finally be free!"
Begins:
My mouth dropped open and I stared at her. I couldn't imagine ever feeling that way about my own daughter. "Oh don't looks so damn shocked." She stepped closer to me and her eyes met mine. "I was kidnapped. I was held in a room far away from all the sparkly vampires – so they didn't get too ramped up on the smell of my blood. Damn straight I was bleeding – they didn't take me without a fight! I was locked in a tiny, stone room, where my screams echoed off the walls and no one heard. No one except the other women being held in the other rooms, and they told me to shut up!"
"When my door opened, I tried to escape, but you know damn well you can't escape a vampire. He barely looked at me. He didn't even undress to rape me – merely unzipped his fly. He held me down on the cold, stone, floor, and used me." Her eyes darted away for a moment. "I was a pro already. I'd been on the streets since I was sixteen after my step-dad tried to rape me. I was twenty when I was changed. I'd been making a living for four years, giving men anything they were willing to pay for. I'd had more things shoved inside my body than just the multitudes of cocks. You'd be surprised how many men like to see a woman writhe in pain rather than pleasure." She took a deep breath.
"Felice was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen – and the most brutal. When he was finished with me, he zipped up and walked out. He left me covered in bruises and blood, curled up on the floor. My back was scraped raw from his frenzied fucking. It hurt to use the toilet when I could finally stand, and there was blood in my piss. Oh, and my toilet was nothing more than a bucket in the corner." She was so close I could hear her teeth grind.
"It was bad. I laid there on the floor, and I could hear the noises from the other rooms. I knew the sounds of sex well enough, and the screams let me know other girls were getting raped too. We were nothing to them. We weren't given beds, blankets, clothes, or anything to clean ourselves with. We were fed twice a day, and the food was always a surprise. It was like they ran through a market and brought us back whatever caught their eyes. Nothing was ever cooked, and it was often inedible. I had a bowl of cake mix one day, and a whole raw chicken on another – and I ate it. We always had water to drink. They didn't care about our pain or our comfort, but they didn't want us to dehydrate," she sneered.
She seemed to realize where she was, and she paced away from me. "You don't have any right to judge me. Don't you think I tried to feel something for her – something besides hatred and disgust? She's my own kid – I should feel something – right?" She was shaking in her anger. "Maybe if I'd had the sense to get knocked up right away... maybe I wouldn't hate her..."
She looked at me with the eyes of an abused animal. "You were lucky. You loved the one who got you pregnant. He cared about you. He tried not to hurt you and he wanted to keep you.
"I found out later that Felice was compelled. I don't know what he saw when he was with me, but it wasn't me." She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "They could have discovered when we were fertile – it's a simple enough test. But they didn't care enough about us to even do that much." Her eyes locked onto mine again. "For two months, he came to me every day. Every day he tore my legs apart and shoved his vampire cock inside me, and went at it hard. I never had a chance to heal, and he didn't care that I screamed. I laid there under him, and memorized every detail of his face."
End
She turned and faced away from my horrified expression. "As much as I hated what he did to me, it was even worse after I got pregnant. He didn't come back to rape me anymore, and I was completely alone. They had someone shove containers of blood into the cell, and I drank it like it was fine wine." She sat down in one of the chairs and looked up at me.
"I knew the moment I conceived. I felt it growing in me, and I knew that was the plan all along. I was nothing more than an incubator. I could feel it moving in me from the first, and all it did was remind me how he'd left part of himself inside me. It was a part of him, and I knew it wanted to kill me. I hated it." I stood there staring at her.
"One of the girls in a nearby room went into labor. I listened to her screams and I could hear the loud noises as it tore it's way out of her. It cried when it was free, then it stopped. I didn't think it died, and no one came to get it. I'm pretty sure now it was feeding on her. I knew that's what was in store for me.
"Bella, you don't have to listen to this." Carlisle put his arm around me and tried to guide me away from her.
"I can't blame you for trying to protect her. You know what happened You almost showed up in time for the big event."
"I'm okay, you don't have to protect me. You told me what you found when you got here." I kissed his face and she rolled her eyes.
"Did he tell you they left us to starve? I think that's why she didn't kill me when she was born. They left us here when they went to Denali. Maybe there was supposed to be someone in charge of feeding us, but it didn't happen. The blood stopped coming, and the thing inside me noticed right away. Screaming and pounding on the door was useless. For days I was hungry, freezing, and in constant pain, and I knew it was going to get worse."
For just a moment she looked ashamed. "I tried to kill it before it was born. I hit my stomach, and it hit back. I tried to fall on it, and it only hurt me." She shook her head sadly. "I was Catholic when I was human. I knew murder and abortion were unforgivable sins and I knew what I was doing would send my soul to hell, but I was desperate! I broke the wire handle off of the bucket and tried to use it to give myself an abortion. All it did was tear me up inside.
"I was bleeding enough I would have died from it when she decided to be born." She closed her eyes at the memory. "I thought I knew pain... but this was so raw and inescapable. I knew it was trying to get out, and I screamed until I lost my voice. I'm not sure why she didn't come through my stomach, which I found out most of them did. She came out as if she were following the wire, and the trail of blood. She came out like she was trying to be born naturally. It's the only thing that saved me. She was small enough she didn't tear me apart, and she came out the right way."
Carlisle explained what happened. "She came premature, but she was born naturally. Cipriana was almost dead when I found her. She'd lost a lot of blood during the birth, and the baby fed on her as well. Thankfully she didn't have a vampire appetite or it would have been too late." He looked at her with convicting eyes. "She promised if I saved her she wouldn't hunt humans."
"I would have promised you anything in that moment! You weren't even the one who changed me. How could you let Felice do it, when he was the reason I was dying?" She looked at him with scorn.
"He was your baby's father..."
"He's never acknowledged her. Once Joham was gone, he pretended he never touched me! He's a liar and a rapist, and he will never convince me that he can't remember. Some days it's all I can remember." She looked at me. "I can't love that girl – she looks exactly like him. She has his face, and every time I look at her I feel like I'm back in the cell, and he's on me – in me!"
"I'm sorry." I really did feel sorry for her, even after what she'd done to Felicia. "Let us take her." I handed her the papers again.
"You'll take care of her?" She looked at me, then at Carlisle. "You won't let her... turn out like me?" Her voice was small.
"We'll take care of her." He sounded so confident and self assured.
"Let me think about it. I should at least read the papers before I give up my own flesh and blood, right?" He nodded slightly.
We were already packed up and ready to go. We were going to fly on the Volterra Jet again; one last concession to Alice before she left her office to Aurora for good. We had all the paperwork done for the girls, so they could be seen as citizens if anyone wanted to check.
When Cipriana came back two hours later, we were stunned at what she wanted. "I'll sign the papers, but I want money first." She looked at us defiantly "I already know I can get one of the vampires to pay for her, so how much are you willing to give me?"
"Just what do you think a vampire would want with her?" Carlisle questioned her with a disbelieving look on his face.
"Well duh! All the new rules have made it harder to hunt. Hybrids might be annoying little breeders, but they're also a good source of blood." I gasped at her casual disregard for Felicia. "Don't get your panties in a twist, you know good and well she's already been snacked on a few times. She's only going to get bigger and more valuable as a blood pouch. If I signed her over to a vampire now, he'd have time to teach her to obey him while she's still young enough to train..." I would have slapped her if Carlisle hadn't seen it coming and stopped me.
"How can you talk about a little girl like that? Even if she wasn't your own daughter, she's still a person! After all you went through, you'd let someone use her like that?" I can't get over the woman.
"She should get used to it early. That's all a woman is good for in a man's eyes – whatever he can get from her. It's a pretty good idea you gave me. I can sign her over to someone else and make a profit on her. She won't be my responsibility, and I won't have to worry about any trouble she gets into on her own. In a few years she'll be old enough for sex, so I should really get a good price for her."
I realized she was baiting me, but I still wanted to hit her. I had my fist curled and Carlisle held my wrist.
"How much do you want for her?" I was stunned to hear his words. "How much will it take for you to sign the papers?" She looked at him with a calculating gleam in her eyes.
"Half a million – American."
"You want five hundred thousand dollars for her?" He sounded shocked.
; "You're a rich doctor, I'm sure you can afford it." He stared at her, then he glanced at me.
"Fine. Sign the papers." I was speechless.
"I'll sign them as soon as I've got my money." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"It'll take me a few hours to get that kind of money. I assume you want cash?"
"You assume right. It's been nice doing business with you." She held her hand out to shake his, but he pointedly ignored her. "Fine. I'll see you when you've got my money." She strode out with her nose in the air, leaving me alone with him.
"You're not seriously going to pay her for her Felicia, are you?" I hope she's out of hearing range.
"I don't see what else I can do. You know she won't stand a chance if we leave her behind."
"We can take her without permission. She wants to go with us, and she won't make a fuss. It's not as if Cipriana can call the police and report us."
"Can't she?" He sighed. "Bella, I've seen her type before. She knows how to get what she wants, and if it means innocent people have to suffer, she's not going to worry about it. If she reports that we've kidnapped her daughter, it will open up a big can of worms that could put all our secrets at risk."
"She wouldn't do that. She would be puttting herself at risk."
"She's good at disappearing when there's trouble. You don't think she'd be delighted to stir up a hornets nest for spite and then sneak away and force us to deal with it?" I hated that he was right. It sounded exactly like her.
"I changed my mind." She was back, and standing in the doorway looking at us. "I want a million." I almost choked – her. I didn't want to give in to her, but she'd obviously heard us talking about how she could make our lives a living hell.
It took us a bit more time to negotiate, and we came up with a plan that would let Felicia get away from her. We'd pay her a million over five years, and she would sign the papers as soon as the first money transfer hit her account. Within hours we had her signatures. Felicia was free of her.
I was cleaning up Nahuel's room when Yanna came through the door. She was using her walker all the time now, and we thought for sure she'd have a full recovery in time.
"We've been summoned to the old Audience Chamber – all of us." She told me her orders came down from Aurora, and we were to dress in Volterra colors. I had to dig through my suitcase to put together the ensemble. I knew once we were home, I'd never wear them again. We met Carlisle in the hall and he took my breath away in his black shirt and red tie. He gravitated to my side and we kissed .
"Enough of that, you two!" Alice smiled as she lightly stepped into the hall. Jasper was right behind her, with Felicia on his shoulders. Alice looked stunning in her red dress and heels. Jasper mirrored Carlisle in all black, except he'd omitted the tie. Felicia looked like a living doll in red ruffles and pigtails. She squirmed until Jasper put her down. She spun and the dress flared out.
She grinned up at me. "I look hot in red!"
I couldn't help but laugh. "You look amazing."
With Carlisle leading us, we turned heads as we entered the Audience Chamber. Arianna waved us to the front of the group, and I remembered all too clearly the last time we were there. It was the last time my husband remembered our courtship.. I held his hand tight as we took our places, just steps away from the three thrones. It seemed everyone was assembled there – both hybrid and vampire – along with several humans. Reese had already left days before.
When she came in, all eyes turned toward Aurora, and the crowd parted. She wore black from head to toe, and her hair was covered with a black scarf. "I want everyone to be aware, I'll be reading thoughts in this assembly." It shocked me to hear her in my head, as Nessie was the only other one who could get through my shield. I was even more shocked when she seated herself on the center throne – formerly Aro's seat.
She placed her hands on the armrests with regal decorum and smiled. "I never understood why Papa liked this heavy, uncomfortable old chair." She didn't have to raise her voice, as we were all silent. She stood and faced us all. "Thank you all for coming." She paced on the dais, then faced us and took a deep breath. "This is the first meeting of our new council. We're going to dispense with the formal way things have been done in the past, so we can get down to business quicker. To start off, I want you to know, that you all have a say in the law and the decisions of our kind from her on out. I trust you've all had a chance to read up on the different issues facing us now, as well as the proposed solutions." There were murmurs of assent across the room.
"Good." She turned and took off the scarf, freeing her hair to fall past her shoulders. She draped the scarf on one of the other chairs. "On the top of my list, is Volterra itself. We've been in mourning for over two years now, and as I take this position, I want to tell you it's time for this to end." She'd obviously choreographed her speech, as she easily shucked out of her black ensemble and stood facing the crowd in a dress of white.
"I understand it's not this easy. But it's my goal to take the Volturi in a new direction. We have a lot of challenges before us. But instead of trying to address them in the old way, or even the new improved way, I want to start from the beginning. We're not going to build our future on the bones of the past. We're going to go forward like it's the first day; and we're going to do it together." She sat down on the throne, perched on the edge of the seat.
As if on cue, the crowd parted and he strode through the people he'd once called his – Aro. He reached the throne and stood looking at Aurora. I could almost feel everyone holding their breath, then he knelt before her and bowed his head.
"I humbly pledge my allegiance to you and your position." It was so clearly staged, and yet I could feel the crowd let out it's breath.
"Stand Papa, you don't have to kneel." As he stood, so did she, and then she hugged him. He stood beside her as she made her next announcement.
"Would the Cullen family please come forward?" Carlisle held my hand as we stepped closer to the dais. I noticed that Felicia and Yanna came with us. Aurora beamed as she looked at us.
"I can't thank you all enough for what you've done for Volterra and all of us who live here. This place would have self-destructed without you. I wish you would stay, but I understand you want to go home. You'll always be welcome here." I was again stunned when Aro stepped forward and offered his hand to Carlisle. For a long moment they held still.
Aro's voice was thick with emotion. "I'm sorry. Maybe we can't be friends, but I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong. I hope we can see past our differences to help make the future better for our children." Carlisle took his hand.
"It's Bella who's owed an apology." Carlisle's words were clipped as he let go of his hand.
"Of course." He turned and looked my way. "I will once again say how sorry I am for what I did, and the pain I caused you. I also want to thank you both. Putting my daughter in charge was a brilliant decision. There's no one better suited for this position – myself included."
The meeting went on for several hours, and many changes were put in place. The council would be held remotely, and none of the representatives would need to be present. The old law about the right of bondage was specifically abolished. All mandatory death sentences were abolished. It was still possible to be executed, but each case would be handled individually.
When the meeting was finally over, I felt like we'd just seen the dawn of a new Volterra. I was impressed at how Aurora had handled herself during the meeting. I knew she was using her ability to head off issues before they arose. We went back to our rooms to finish packing up and when we met in the main entry, a lot of people showed up to say goodbye.
I hugged Leonora, and invited her to visit any time. I also said goodbye to Aro's youngest children. It was good to see Arianna dressed somewhat conservatively, and Armando standing tall and sober. They let me know that they were expecting their older brother to be visiting soon
"Yeah, pops can hardly wait to see the son who's not a disappointment." I hated to hear him put himself down. Impulsively I hugged him.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You'll learn control of your gift, and it will be a valuable asset." I patted his cheek. "I'm proud of you; you've come a long way since I met you."
"I'm really glad you didn't wind up with Pops – then I'd be jealous of him." He smirked.
"I want to come and visit you." Arianna hugged both Carlisle and I enthusiastically. "I've never been away from Italy, and I'd like to travel. Maybe I could go to University there?" We assured her that she would be welcome any time.
When Anton lead us out to our ride, we'd gone from a limo to a van. There were six of us, plus him and our driver. There was also a lot of luggage, which surprised me. Most of it had Alice's bag tags hanging from the handles.
I watched Volterra disappear as we drove through the gate, and down the road. I was surprised to feel like I was going to miss it. So much had happened in my life behind those walls. Carlisle squeezed my hand and kissed my cheek, as if he could read my mind. We were finally going home.
I sit beside him on the jet, and Yanna is in the back, playing some kind of board game with Alice, Jasper, and Felicia. I snuggle next to him in my seat, just thinking about all the changes that have occurred since our flight into Italy.
"I love you." His whisper into my hair makes me look up at him and smile.
"I love you too." I rub my hand over his back
"Have you thought about where you want to stay once we get back? I mean you're only across the hall, but that feels like too far away."
"Yanna will probably want her own room – or maybe Felicia will want that one." I slide my fingers through his hair, dislodging it from it's professional style, until it's falling onto his forehead the way I like it. "I guess the more important question is; how obvious do we want to be about our relationship? Do we care if everyone knows we're lovers?"
"If we share a room, it will be quite obvious we're lovers." His mischievous grin sends shivers down my spine. "I'm fine with that." He kisses me next to my ear, and whispers,"Do we share that we're already married, or do we let them believe we're just living together?"
"That's a hard one to answer. If we look like we're living together, then maybe Nessie will be happier. But I don't like denying that we're committed, and this is serious."
"Everyone on this plane knows we're committed and serious," he murmurs against my ear. "As far as I'm concerned, you're my wife, and I want you with me." He lowers his voice to be sure I'm the only one who can hear. "I want to make love to you every night, and several times in between."
I gasp, peeking over his shoulder to make sure no one else heard. I kiss his neck and whisper just as quietly. "We need to get a strong bed that doesn't squeak."
His lips brush my ear. "Who needs a bed, when we have the floor... or the woods... or even the car?" With that, his hand sneaks up under my top in back. His fingers rub teasingly over my skin, then expertly unhook my bra.
"Hey!"
"Shhh..." His hand is again moving over my skin soothingly. "Relax darling, I just want to touch you..." he turns me to face him, and kisses me. In moments I'm lost in just holding him and feeling his hands gently caressing me. I love this man!
But I should know better than to trust him, at least where some things are concerned. His hypnotic surgeons fingers aren't content to explore my back, and I gasp as one hand finds it's way to my front. He stops kissing me long enough to gaze hungrily into my eyes, as his hand caresses and squeezes his favorite part. I cover his hand with my own, encouraging him.
His kiss takes my mouth by storm, then travels down to my neck. I just know any moment one of the others is going to come forward on the plane and catch us making out like two teenagers in the backseat of their daddy's car. But I don't want to stop, as I clutch his head to me. I fight to keep my breathing as normal as I can, knowing at least two of them can hear it.
I give up that fight when he opens two buttons on my blouse and puts his mouth where his hand was. He's seducing me on a plane, just yards away from his family! I start to think about the references I've heard to the "Mile High Club" and now I know that it must really exist, because I want to join! I'm trying to think about how to make it happen. I could straddle him, and hike up my skirt... unfasten his pants... and be there in moments. I'm about to make that first move, when he stops and buttons my blouse again. His smile is so triumphant and teasing, and all I can do is stare at him. I need him!
He pulls me close and whispers in my ear, "I think you're going to need to move in with me." His hands glide over me with bold familiarity. "I want to be alone and naked with you, forever. I want to fuck you, baby." His words make me gasp, and my whole body clenches He doesn't talk like that, and neither do I, except on our honeymoon.
I turn to face him, and his face is beautiful. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offen..."
He doesn't finish as I kiss him. I seriously consider making love to him under a blanket, or maybe in the airplane lavatory. Like either of us could get away with that ruse. I know he's touched on another memory I didn't share with him via Aurora. I know it's there – I'm there!
"I love you..." I whisper in his ear, then kiss and suck the lobe. "...even though you're a vicious tease."
"Hey!" Felicia's voice intrudes. "If you two want to get busy up there, we won't look! Hell, the UST is already so thick, even all the way back here it's got Jasper fidgeting." Carlisle groans, and I giggle nervously. I hear Alice's reprimand and bury my face against his chest.
"I'm sorry..." He whispers softly against my hair. "I keep forgetting the particular talents of my family – trying to forget as the case may be."
I don't try to hide my sarcastic comment. "You paid a million for that? You might want to get your money back."
"I can hear you! Fat chance getting any of that money back. Mommy Dearest will probably be hiding out in the Caribbean Islands before the ink dries on the check. You know, she tried the Virgin Islands, but they wouldn't take her!" She snickers at her own joke, and I roll my eyes. I'm surprised she can joke about the callous way her mother has sold her out.
We'd tried to keep the news from her, but her mother sought her out and told her. It wasn't to apologize, but to make sure her daughter stuck to the agreement so she'd get all her money. Felicia thought it was great, and she wanted to change her name to Million Dollar Baby.
"You two might as well give up on the privacy angle, and come back here to play with us." Alice sounds unconcerned. "The jet engines drown out the noise, but there are just somethings you can't hide." Even though it's impossible, I feel like I should be blushing. Carlisle laughs at my embarrassment.
"Come on beautiful, let's go see what game they're playing." He stands and holds his hand out for mine. I love his courtly manners. He blocks their view of me as we both straighten my blouse, and then go to the back of the plane to play a Scrabble type game called Bananagrams. It' moves fast, and Carlisle wins almost all of the games. I never knew it was possible to have such an extensive vocabulary. He not only knows the words, but also the meaning, and it's origin and etymology. We finally have to come up with some house rules to handicap him. We start by limiting him to American English of the past fifty years, and outlawing all obscure medical terminology. By the time the plane lands, it's Jasper who is winning.
We've opted to go home first, even though it's been a long time since I've seen Ness and my dad. Though Carlisle doesn't remember it, he'd brought Eleazar to the new place and left him in the care of Colette. He's still surprised that he would have left any patient so gravely injured in order to fly to Italy to be with me, even if Eleazar wasn't his good friend.
The Maserati is waiting for us in long term parking, and it won't seat the six of us – especially with Yanna's walker and all the luggage. Carlisle rents an SUV for the trip home, and as soon as everything is loaded up he grins at Jasper. This time I'm driving Bella in the Maserati, and you get the family vehicle." He tosses the keys toward Jasper, and Alice snatches them from the air.
"I think I'll drive this time – let's see what this baby can do." She slaps the hood of the big SUV and Felicia grins.
"I call shotgun!" Felicia hops into the passenger seat, leaving a bewildered Jasper to climb into the back with Yanna. "Come on Alice, let's go really fast. I bet you can outrun the cops even in this monster." She bounces in her seat excitedly.
"We'll meet you back home, but don't wait on us. We might stop off on the way." With that cryptic remark Carlisle opens my door and unnecessarily helps me into his car. The SUV pulls away, and I'm about to ask him what he meant, when he starts the car and Edward's music floods the space.
"I'm sorry..." He reaches for the controls, and I stop him.
"It's okay. I like this piece... he played so beautifully." We stare at each other, as he fingers his keyring with Esme's name, and we listen to Edward's music. We're both thinking of them. "I think he would be happy for me – for us."
He sighs. "I guess I didn't realize that in coming back home we'd have to confront all the old memories. Are you sure you're alright? I expected you to have some kind of breakdown when you heard his music."
I lay my hand on his cheek with a smile. "You're remembering that I did have a breakdown – the first time I rode in your car and it played. I'm past it now. I'm in love with you, Carlisle. This doesn't have the power to hurt me anymore." I lean over to kiss him and he meets me in the middle.
When we pull away, he gives me an intense look. "Why do I have the desire to make out in the car?" I laugh at where his thoughts have gone. "No seriously... I feel like I want to climb in the backseat and... tear your clothes off." He looks embarrassed.
"We almost did that in Italy... after you came back." I lean in and kiss the corner of his mouth. "We can pick up where we left off, if you want."
"Maybe another time," he smiles mischievously. "I have a different plan in mind for now." Without another word, he puts the car in gear and we pull out of the parking garage. He won't tell me where we're going or what he's up to. It's only when he pulls up to the hotel that I understand.
"I don't have a bed in my room, and I really want to make love to you properly – at least once." His boyish smile melts my heart and I smile.
"You better plan on a lot more than once. I seem to recall you're a bit insatiable – not to mention the way you've been teasing me." He helps me from the car and pulls me tight against him.
"I'm just making up for lost time – I love you so much!" In the hotel room, away from other guests, he shows me just how much he loves me. I feel almost wicked sneaking off with him in the middle of the day. Then I remember that he's my husband – my beautiful, sweet, sexy, insatiable, husband. I love him so much I don't want to leave the circle of his arms, as we lie spent and naked together on the rumpled bed.
The ring tone of his phone pulls him from me. His compressed lips turn up in a resigned smile. "I hate to say it, but this is part of being married to a doctor." I slide my hands over his body as he digs the phone out of his pants pocket. I may have to accept it, but I don't have to play fair.
The call gains my full attention when I hear Jasper on the other end. "You might want to come home as soon as possible... we've got a bit of a... situation here." In the background I hear a woman screaming. "It's Gemma. She's starting to remember." I gasp, as another shriek carries through the phone. "I'm doing all I can to keep her calm, but this girl's been through hell. Colette had to leave the house now that Gemma remembers her being the one who healed her. Colette swears she doesn't remember, and I believe her. I hate to drag you back so soon Carlisle, but... I could really use a little help."
"We'll be there as soon as possible." I'm already dressed by the time they hung up.
"I'm sorry about this Bella. I really planned to at least spend the night." He steps into his pants.
"Shh, it's okay. They're my family too, remember?" My eyes meet his. "We've got a lot of time ahead of us." I help him button his shirt and kiss him. "We'll just have to make up for lost time – next time." He growls low in his throat as he slips into his shoes.
We don't have any luggage, and in the time it takes to turn in the keys, we're on the road home. I used to think Edward drove too fast, but now I'm given proof that he must have been trying to protect me with his slow speed. Carlisle all but flies in the Maserati. Tires scream around curves, and he weaves in and out of traffic like a NASCAR driver. The only reason I know he won't get a ticket, is there isn't a cop around who could catch him.
With all the speed it took to get there, we take the gravel drive slow and careful. "I don't want to scare her with a lot of excitement." Even this far from the house I hear another scream.
"No offense, but I think she's already scared. Shouldn't we hurry?" I remember what happened the last time I questioned his medical decision. But this time he seems to agree with me, and he parks the car and we both run the rest of the way to the house.
What I see when we come in stuns me. The place looks wrecked. One of the windows is broken, the furniture looks as if it's been thrown, and in the empty space in the great room, Jasper and Huilen are holding Gemma down. There are gouges on the wood floor from her fingers, and as she sees us she twists against her captors and screams.
Carlisle doesn't waste any time, but rushes for his medical supplies. When he comes back he moves in close to the straining woman, speaking as calmly as possible. She stares at him with wild eyes. He tries to hide it, but she notices the syringe at the last moment, and wrenches a hand free of Jasper. Blindingly fast, she rakes her nails across Carlisle's face before Jasper takes hold of her hand again. I'm stunned as he unerringly injects her, then backs away.
I rush to him, seeing the oozing wounds which have come perilously close to his eye. "Oh my god, are you okay?" I reach up to his face and he stops me.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, It'll heal, don't worry about it. Come on and help me secure her while the drugs take effect." With more of us there, we don't have to be so brutal in keeping her immobile. She still looks like a terrified animal, but she's not screaming, and she's not fighting as strenuously. When she finally falls into a deep sleep, we all relax.
"That should hold her for a few hours." He looks around at all the damage. "What the hell happened?"
Nahuel comes out of the kitchen with Karina in his arms. "She's been acting strange the past day or two. All she waned to do was sleep, and when she slept, she'd wake up screaming with nightmares. She started to withdraw, and there was a time or two she didn't even want to hold Karina. Any time Colette was near her, she'd withdraw; like she couldn't even stand to be in the same room with her." He looks around guiltily at the damage.
"I'm sorry we weren't able to control her better." He looks between me and Carlisle. "She's always had such a fragile temperament, so I wasn't too worried about her behavior. When Jasper came in this morning, she sort of lost it." All eyes turn his way. "It's not his fault. I think she was just surprised... No, that's not really what I think happened. Seriously, she took one look at the afternoon sun on his hair, and went nuts."
Jasper continues with the story. "I could feel her panic and fear, but every time I got close to her, she screamed." He looks around the room and shakes his head. "She throws furniture like an angry vampire. She tried to leave, but I wouldn't let her. I was afraid she might resort to a predatory instinct if she was confronted by humans. She tried to break out through the window, and it was all we could do to keep her from hurting herself or getting away."
Jasper comes alongside Carlisle and lowers his voice as he takes in the scratches slowly healing on his face. "I'm sorry I didn't hold her tight enough. She's scared to death of me. I think she sees me as Joham." Carlisle groans and runs his fingers through his hair as he paces across the floor.
"Wasn't it bad enough what he did while he was alive? Now we're being plagued with people substituting us for him in their damaged memories!" His fingers tear through his hair, and I go and wra my arms around him. For a moment he clings to me, then he kisses my cheek and lets go.
He steps over to Gemma and picks her up. "Let's take her to her own room, so she's at least in familiar surroundings." Nahuel leads the way, and I follow along with Alice and Jasper. Carlisle places her gently on the bed in their own suite, then he gives her a perfunctory physical while we wait outside.
"There's not a thing wrong with her, at least physically. Not even any cuts or bruises from the earlier scuffle. She's too strong to leave her to her own devices if she's had some kind of break."
"I think it's the blond hair." Jasper speaks up from the doorway. "We've both got blond hair, just like Caius. Joham had strawberry blond hair. Gemma is Italian, and blonds aren't as common. That's probably what set her off." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe if she wakes up in her own bed, and none of us are around her..."
"That could work!" Nahuel looks enthusiastic.
"Yes, but we can't keep her locked up in her room indefinitely." Carlisle isn't convinced.
"Maybe..." I interrupt. They look my way, and I bite my lip. "...I think I've got an idea." It takes a few hours to set it up, and when we're ready when Gemma begins to come out of her induced sleep. Carlisle and Jasper are both wearing hats to cover their hair, and I try not to laugh.
We limit the number of people in their suite. It's just Nahuel, Carlisle, Jasper, me, and Huilen is there to take care of the baby. Nahuel is there with her when she wakes, calming and soothing her. She looks panicked when she comes into the sitting room, but I hit the remote, and the Big screen TV we've moved into their suite comes on.
Her eyes turn and she freezes. "Gemma? Gemma is that you?" A man's face fills the screen, and her mouth drops open.
"Papa?" Nahuel guides her to sit in front of the TV where they've hooked up the camera. Gemma sits and listens to her own father tell her about some of the things she either missed or forgot concerning the last five years of her life. It seems Joham had taken her prisoner, for supposed crimes her father had committed. He'd lost track of her, and thought she might have died in the war. It was the hybrid database which made him believe she might still be live.
Then next call is more touchy, and Nahuel sits with her as computers across the world link up and a petite young woman's face fills the screen. Carlisle has to remind her to speak Italian so Gemma can understand.
"My name is Tamara..." I'm reminded of Aro's story, and I suddenly see her resemblance to Alice. She goes on to tell of how she was kidnapped and forced to have a baby, and become a vampire. She tells the tale of how some of Joham's victims were held below the city and endured torture and experiments. She also tells of their escape, and how she tried to get Gemma to go with them, but she'd been too traumatized by a real werewolf.
Gemma sits clinging to Nahuel as she speaks. After Tamara talks, a shy woman takes her seat and introduces herself as Rachele. Rachele talks about being the mother of Aro's firstborn son. She speaks long and lovingly of Angelo. She tells about how Joham almost killed them, so he could take them captive without Aro's knowledge. Then she goes into the most troubling story.
"Joham really liked you, Gemma. Of course we all hated him, but he liked that you were strong, and you weren't afraid of him. He mated with you... I'm sorry, that's not correct. He raped you." She looks tragically sad. "I'm so sorry we couldn't help you then – we were all prisoners. But you became pregnant, and you had a little girl. You named her Carolina." To me the name sounds like Karina, and I wonder if it was her memory asserting itself.
"After Carolina was born, he forced you and my son..." She shakes her head and is unable to finish her sentence. "He's a good boy, and he would never hurt anyone of his own free will. Joham..." She turned and spat off camera. "...he was a monster! He held little Carolina and threatened her life if you did not do as you were told. You became pregnant again, with Angelo's baby." She smiles in spite of the way it happened. "You had a little boy named Christiano. He's beautiful! Gemma, we have been taking care of your children since we fled Volterra. We couldn't take you with us when we left, but we couldn't leave these babies behind.
"Gemma, my son Angelo can influence memories. He saw you were suffering after you were attacked and raped by a werewolf. He saw how horribly traumatized you were. He wanted to make you forget the past and all about what had happened during your captivity. He was trying to do you a favor when he suppressed your memories." Rachele glances off camera, then gets up.
A handsome young man takes her place. He looks so much like Aro and Armando he could only be related. "Hello Gemma. I'm..."
"Angelo!" She interrupts. A look of surprised wonder crosses her face, and Nahuel looks uncomfortable. "I remember now! Where are the babies?"
The screen fills, as two children crowd in front of the camera. "This is your daughter Carolina, and this is our son Christiano." They each claim a knee, and sit there waving, like only little kids will do when faced with a camera. He kisses both their cheeks. "Christiano starts kindergarten soon, and Carolina will be in the first grade. They're wonderful children, and I tell them about their brave mommy every chance I get." Gemma's face is awash in tears.
Carlisle comes to me, and guides me out of the room. Jasper is right behind us and he closes the door softly behind him. "I think they're going to need some privacy to deal with all these revelations." Carlisle's voice is whisper quiet as we head for the great room.
"Considering all the information, she's remarkably calm," Jasper adds.
"Well, now that we've taken care of that emergency, where did everyone go?" I'd noticed that Yanna and Felicia had disappeared even before we got here. We start to clean up the great room even before Jasper answers.
"Colette took Eleazar and left when Gemma tried to leave through the window.. He's almost fully recovered, but she didn't want to see him injured again. I suggested the house in forks..." Jasper looks at Carlisle with uncertainty. "...I wasn't sure how long Gemma would be unsettled, and it was all I could come up with at the time."
"You did fine. It doesn't hold any painful memories for those two at least. It's good someone can enjoy it." Together we right the couch and set the lamps back on the tables. It reminds me of the cottage during the hurricane. "It looks like a strong wind blew through here." His words catch me off guard, and I smile.
"You just missed Rosalie, Garrett, Alice, and Yanna. They weren't far behind Colette and Eleazar. Alice wanted to get Felicia out of here before she said something to send Gemma spinning even harder. They were going to do a bit of shopping until the drama died down." He shrugs. "What can I say, the woman can shop in almost any circumstance. To his credit, Garrett offered to stay behind and help, but he's as blond as I am, and Gemma had slipped and called him Caius once already."
We quickly have the rooms put right, and Jasper and Carlisle to about fixing the window. When we're finally able to go up to our rooms, I find mine's already been taken over. I recognize Yanna's things around the room, and I smile when I realize the room just looks like it belongs to her.
Carlisle steps into the space quietly. "I think you should come with me. I've got something to show you." He leads me down the stairs, and down the hallway opposite Nahuel and Gemma's rooms. At the end of the hall he opens the door and scoops me up in his arms. He carries me into the suite and sets me on my feet.
"Welcome to our suite, Missus Cullen." Someone has brought my things in, and they're intermingled with his in the sitting room. Through the door to the bedroom, the first thing I see is the bed. Its large, and the ornate wrought iron of the four posts, rise up into a canopy overhead. One of Esme's paintings from the Island hangs on one wall. One of Huilen's woven tapestries hangs behind the bed, and her rugs adorn the floor.
"Who did this... and when?" It's a beautiful room, with the lake glistening outside the windows and the french doors opening out onto a private deck.
"Alice had called home while we were in Italy. Rosalie did this for us." My jaw drops. "Don't look so surprised, she seems to have changed quite a bit. Garrett's a really good influence on her."
"I know she's changed. It's just been so long since I've seen her. She really did a nice job on this. I guess this means she approves of us?"
"So far there's only one who hasn't. But I don't want you to worry about that now." He leads me to the bed and we sit down. "Are you comfortable staying in the same rooms, even though people don't know we're married?"
"I love you, and I don't want to be apart from you, no matter what people think."
His smile is so bright, and I finally touch his face where Gemma scratched him. "It's almost all healed. I didn't know hybrids could do so much damage to us."
"Being venomous means she's closer to us than human. Are you trying to distract me?" He moves closer and eases his arm around me. His kiss on my neck distracts me from his question. "I'm dying to break in this bed, what do you say?" He nuzzles my neck again.
"I think as soon as we got into it, we'd get interrupted." He stares at me longingly, and I can hardly wait until we can make love again. Almost on cue, the noise coming down the hall tells us the shopping excursion is over.
We head out to greet them, and even before I say a word, Rosalie flings herself at me in the most exuberant hug I've ever seen her give. "I'm so happy for you two! Actually, I'm really happy for me too. But this is so wonderful!" She actually kisses my cheeks before she lets me go, and Garrett hugs me as well. "I confess, at first I thought the idea of you two as a couple was just weird, but then I started to think about how great it is to be in love again." She was practically bubbling. "You two both deserve to be happy."
"Thanks." I can't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Oh, and thanks for fixing up the suite for us." She nods and waves a hand dismissively.
"Oh wait until you see what we've found for Yanna and Felicia's rooms."
Felicia responds to the sound of her name. "Oh my god, I think they bought out the store! I told them no pink, and no purple.. Wait til you see the color my room's going to be!"
"What color?" I'm trying to follow all the chaos with so many talking at once.
"I look hot in red, so I'm going to have as much red as I can get in my room."
We all stop and stare as Nahuel leads Gemma into the room. Her English is broken and woven through with Italian, but she's trying. "I am sorry for behaving poorly. I have trouble had understanding truth from lies. Thank you all for being patient with me. Thank you for my family finding." Tears fill her eyes, but a smile lights her face. "I have two other children. They will be coming to visit as soon as they can. I want... can my daughter stay?" She looks to Carlisle.
"Of course she can stay. We're all family now..." He looks around the room at everyone. I consider you all to be my family."
A/N: This is later than planned, and longer than planned. There's still at least one more to go. With luck and better planning, I'll see you on Thursday. BTW, if there ever seems to be missing punctuation, it might not be my fault. The site is doing some creative editing, and it doesn't seem to appreciate the asterisk or combining the question mark and exclamation point. (whew, you should have seen one debate on the forums!) I'm not sure what else it's kicking out, so let me know if you see anything.