Chapter 24
The next few weeks passed quickly and soon, a month had gone by without any major incident, allowing the Original family to work on their personal issues and to organize themselves around Bella and her babies' protection.
Carlisle and Esme had gone home for a couple of days and given the sun jewelry to their family. During that time, they learned that Edward had come back but left shortly before they came back. Of course they informed Bella that Edward apparently knew that she was pregnant, from Alice who had failed at keeping everything hidden in her head, and wanted to see for himself that she had moved on and that, fortunately, he didn't know where to look for her yet. Carlisle added that Alice saw that Edward wanted to fix his mistakes with her but that she couldn't see what he would do because he knew how to hide from her.
Bella wasn't worried though.
Even if Edward made his way to Mystic Fall's and found her, he wouldn't be able to hurt her if he really wanted too. She'd be surprised if he even managed to get close enough to speak with her. She was well protected, especially since Klaus had 2 of his hybrid patrolling around her office regularly, just to make sure everything was fine.
Carlisle had called Rosalie and together, they decided that she'd come back with him after he had dropped the sun stones for the family. It would be much safer. Once she had hers, she and Emmett followed Carlisle and Esme back to Mystic Fall's, happy to see that they had been right all along about Bella.
Bella had met them during her lunch break and she had a big discussion with them both, found out that they had checked up on her and that they had kept up enough on her life to guess why she had come to this town in the first place. She had forgiven them, telling them that she'd eventually see and forgive Alice, Jasper and Edward as well, but that she needed time. She told them her news, that the reason she asked Carlisle in town was because she was pregnant with Klaus' babies and that she was afraid of something supernatural happening around her pregnancy and had preferred having a supernatural doctor nearby. Rosalie had understood of course and even offered to play midwife.
After that, Bella's lunch break was over so she asked Rosalie to meet her at her place later, after her last patient had left, so she could introduce her to « a friend ».
« Bella, am I early ? » Rosalie asked Bella when she arrived, seeing a young man, a vampire, talking with the young woman.
« No, not at all Rosalie. Rosalie, this is Damon Salvatore, a friend and patient, Damon, this is Rosalie Hale, a friend and adopted daughter of Carlisle and Esme. » Bella did the introductions.
« It's extremely nice to meet such a true and enchanting beauty. » Damon complimented, trying to be charming and to seduce the Cold One.
« She's married Damon, don't even think about it. He's taller and stronger than you. » Bella replied with a small and amused smile.
« Unfortunately, all the good ones are. You, her, Elena... Well, I'll be off then, Bella, if Klaus ever stops to do it for you, you know where to find me. » He winked at his friend doctor, nodded at Rosalie and left.
« He's... » Rosalie started, not knowing what to say.
« I know. He flirts with absolutely every female, but he's a good person deep down. » Bella replied, guiding Rosalie upstairs.
« This town is nice. » Rosalie stated, making conversations.
« I know, I love it. Where is Emmett ? »
« Getting to know Elijah and Kol I think.I know he volunteered us to help Finn, Sage and the other break into the university to break some vampire that's prisoner there...» Rosalie replied and Bella nodded.
They had arrived in Bella's apartment and she invited Rosalie to sit down.
« I don't know what Carlisle told you, but I thought you'd be able to bond with Rebekah, be a true friend to her. She's spent so long with her brothers, on the run because their father was after them, trying to kill them, she was never able to stay long in one place, to make real friends. That's why she's going to school now, to try and have an almost normal life. She craves it, a human life. Their mother never gave them the choice, and it's not like they were dying and this was the only way to save them either... Esther made the decision on her own, she imposed this life on them all and although Rebekah loves this life, she wants what you want. » Bella started to explain.
« Children, growing old... » Rosalie whispered.
« Yes, I think so. This is why I thought you'd be able to be her friend, I remember, a long time ago, Edward telling me that you craved it too. You have many things in common, you're both strong, survivors, you make the most of a bad situation... »
« Alice mentioned that there might be someone else you'd want me to help, mentor in a way. » Rosalie asked.
« I wasn't really sure if you'd want to... Her name is Caroline, she was changed a few months ago, against her will, by a vampire who's dead now. She's 17. So far she's learned to have control, and to protect herself, but it's only a matter of time before she realize what this means. Eventually, Caroline will understand that becoming a vampire doesn't just mean being strong, having confidence and staying young and beautiful. Eventually, as time passes and her friends grow old and move on in life, she'll realize that there is a price to pay, that she won't grow old, that she'll never have children and even that never growing old means never being able to work, always navigating between high school and college. She'll be able to compel herself a good position at work if she wants to of course, but it won't be the same... The moment she realizes this could come in a few years, or in a hundred years. I might be around to help her, but I might not be, we never know what life has in store for us. For this, I'd like it if you could at least meet her, try to keep an eye on her, stay in touch with her and make sure she knows that she can come and talk to you. » Bella explained.
« Of course, Bella, I'd love that. I think it will be nice for once to have friends that aren't Cold Ones we've known for decades or humans we'll have to leave behind in a couple of years. » Rosalie smiled and, just then Rebekah arrived.
Bella did the introductions and since Rebekah needed to go shopping for a dress, Rosalie went with her.
.
During the past month, Bella managed to have individual sessions with all of Klaus' siblings, along with a few full family sessions and the Mickealson were now on their way to being a strong united family.
Each of them was willing to work on their individual issues and Bella did her best to help them. Of course, one month hadn't been enough to solve all of their problems, her therapy was effective but not magical, but it was a great step forward for their family. They now understood each other better and knew that as long as they stayed united and were honest, they'd be strong enough to fight anything.
Of course all was not resolved and they still had personal or group issues to work on but they at least were able to put them aside in case of a problem and this was one of the best thing that ever happened to them as a family. A very big step forward.
Bella also took the time to spend more time with Elena, to allow her to be involved in her future babies' life and to talk about Isobel more. Together, along with Jenna, Sage and Rebekah, they went shopping for some of the furniture of the babies' bedrooms and had a very fun day doing so. Since Rosalie was in town for this, Bella invited her to come along and the cold one vampire was very happy to join her and be included in this.
Bella had been a bit worried about Emmett, but he, too, found new friends. He spent some time with Kol, Stefan and Elijah and had some fun with them as well. Watching her old friends getting along with her new friends, Bella could guess that, eventually, once she had forgiven everyone, they'd move in this town, get a house of their own and live a new life here. She knew that Carlisle had asked Bonnie if she knew how to make him a ring that would age him, allowing him to work longer in the same place. Bonnie had promised to look into it. After all, they paid very well.
At some point, Rosalie came to see Bella and decided to tell her her entire story, what happened to her before Carlisle changed her and how she had disposed of her aggressors later. She had made peace with the situation and didn't need Bella's help moving on, because she had, but she wanted Bella to know her story, she felt that it was important.
Kol, Emmett, Rosalie, Sage and Finn had joined Damon and his brother in his storming of Whitmore College's secret society and they had destroyed it all and killed all of its remaining members (which wasn't many) while freeing Damon's old friend. Enzo was angry at Damon of course but managed to forgive him after they explained each other, in Bella's office (and the magical protection it provided). He was now traveling, catching up on life, coming back to Mystic Fall's every few days to spend time with Damon before leaving again. He also came to therapy with Bella once in a while. It helped him a lot.
They had given Bella the last of the secret society's research. They knew that if there was anything interesting or important, she'd take good care of the information.
Once the secret society was gone, Kol managed to find Joe, from the Gemini coven, and he was now working on getting her to trust him so that she'd help them willingly. They didn't need to get a coven as powerful as this one against them, they had enough enemies to worry about as it was.
Kol was a very busy man these days since he was also busy teaching Bonnie everything he knew about magic, to help her be stronger, more powerful. He wanted her to know about every different kind of magic that existed and to be able to channel more power. He was a good teacher and Bonnie enjoyed their lessons a lot. The two of them grew closer with each sessions and soon, they were good friends, if not best friends.
Bonnie had wondered how entire coven's of witches could have spent so much time with a vampire, especially one from the Original family, but she now got it. He was good company, had good advises and was fun to hang out with.
.
As she stepped out of the smelly bus that drove her to the town that used to be her home over a thousand years ago, Esther looked around and frowned.
She had a bad feeling.
The spirits weren't as helpful as she had hoped they'd be and her son Finn hadn't tried to contact her when she knew for sure that he was un-daggered and free. She could guess that his love Sage had something to do with his lack of contact. Only the love of a woman could keep a faithful son from his mother.
What she had heard from the few spirits that were still talking to her was disturbing. Her bastard son had impregnated a young woman with twins and she had united their entire family, and the town even, around her. Even the doppelganger wouldn't be willing to help Esther kill Bella, Klaus and the others. She was too tied up with the lot of them, too happy and eager to meet the future babies, to be the godmother of one of them even.
As quickly as she could and eager to use the cover of night to go through the town unnoticed, Esther discreetly made her way to the abandoned witch house, where she knew the spirits of vindictive witches would be willing to help her hide and plan her move against her children, Sage, Bella and her future babies.
Esther's plan was simple: kill her children as vampires and, once they're on the other side, pull them back as witches so they could be one of the strongest covens in existence. As for Bella, Esther didn't care what happened to her. She was human anyway so once she died, she'd stay dead, she wouldn't end up on the other side and she wouldn't be able to influence Klaus and his siblings anymore. The babies would be claimed by Dahlia and would satisfy her, keeping Finn, Elijah and the others safe from her evil ways. Maybe she'd even release Freya's spirit if she was given 2 babies instead of one.
Bella's babies were the price to pay for her children's safety and Esther was more than willing to pay it, no matter the consequences on the rest of the world.
.
When they arrived at the Wickery Bridge, they separated because Rebekah wanted to speak with Caroline and a few other friends she had made while Bella was joining Sage, Finn, Klaus and Elijah where they stood. Even Carlisle and Esme had joined them and were starting to enjoy life in this town.
Emmett and Rosalie were present as well, eager to have Alice and Jasper join them, and even Edward later, so they could live in this town, were so many people knew of the supernatural and where they were accepted. They might even be able to stay longer than usual in this town and not be noticed.
Rosalie soon left her mate's side to join Rebekah and Caroline, with whom she was getting very close. While Rebekah was becoming a true friend, maybe even a best friend, things were different with Caroline. Their bond was quickly becoming one of a big sister and her baby sister. Rosalie felt protective of Caroline and she wanted to be there for her, guide her, help her for as long as possible. For this two new bonds in her life, Rosalie would be eternally grateful to Bella.
"Everything alright Bella?" Klaus asked her, always worried about her and the babies.
"I'm fine, don't worry." She smiled softly, reassuring him.
To reassure him, she grabbed his right hand and placed it over her small baby bump. He smiled, using his super hearing abilities to listen to their heartbeats, which was something he always did when she was around. He then went to stand behind her, placed his chin on her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her so that both of his hands could be on her baby bump, over her own hands. Once in a while, he'd drop a kiss on her neck, loving the way it made her react.
"This town sure likes to make a big deal out of small events…" Esme commented.
Her tone wasn't judging or negative, she was just stating a fact.
"That's Mystic Fall's for you. They make a big deal about their history, or at least their version of it." Alaric replied as he and Jenna joined them.
"It's because they make such a big deal out of the small historical events that they manage to control their own version of it and hide the supernatural behind those events." Klaus chuckled.
"True." Alaric nodded.
"Hey, where's Kol? I thought I heard him say he was coming as well…" Bella asked Elijah.
"He's standing over there, with Joe." Elijah replied, pointing her in the right direction.
"It looks like things are going well…" She commented.
"I hope so." Finn nodded.
"Well, even if things don't go as well as we'd like with Kol, I've been befriending her. She knows who I am of course but I figured that two would be better than one." Sage informed them and they nodded thankfully.
.
Hidden a few feet from the ceremony, Esther watched as her children laughed and socialized with humans, werewolves, cold ones and witches. They had made friends and got along well together and yet, Esther couldn't find it in her to be happy for them.
Bella's small baby bump was visible even from her distance if she paid attention to it and it was a reminder of the two children she had, herself, lost a long time ago. It wasn't fair that Bella be allowed to keep hers, she couldn't.
Esther was ready to manipulate her son Finn into joining her in her plan but as soon as she saw Sage by his side, she knew that she had been right, she had lost him for good. She was alone to face her children and she had to be careful because they had a Bennett witch on their side. One that was strong and had help from Kol…
Discreetly, Esther went back to the abandoned witch house and did her best to consider her options.
Maybe, if she brought Ansel back from the other side, Klaus would join her but as soon as the thought was formed, she knew it was a bad idea. Ansel would care about Klaus and the babies, he wouldn't care about helping her at all. Bringing him back would only make her work harder. She was truly alone and had to be careful.
Suddenly, the Original Witch was struck by a strong vision and she knew it was her sister witches, the one haunting this house, who were trying to help her. They were right and it was so obvious to Esther…
She needed to take care of Bella and her babies first. Once they were dead, the glue holding her children together would dissipate as well and she'd be able to win them over one by one.
Finding a way to get to Bella wasn't hard, Esther would just have to use her weakness. A relationship that Bella cared about more than she let on. Someone important to her and to others...
And as for making sure she didn't make it, she just had to wait until the Cold ones left to go home to the rest of their family. Once they were away, if she planned things well, they wouldn't be back on time and she'd win, finally.
Review please?
In this story, the girl WILL NOT be names Renesmee, mainly because Renée has no presence in her daughter's life in my story and because Esme, even though she's become a friend, isn't a mother figure anymore. To me, a name needs to mean something, so don't worry, Renesmee won't be her name.
Lorelei Candice Black