Chapter Thirty-Nine: Chocolate and Snow
Carlisle (POV)
"You have confirmation on both?" I asked, Jenks sighed on the other end of the call.
"Yes Carlisle, the Swan Foundation holds the deed to both properties and all assets. Are you sure you want the kid declared dead as well? The police are calling her a runaway after finding that letter in her bedroom." I could hear the clink of ice on glass as he took a sip of something and sighed again.
"She's never returning to that life, but she may want to hold on to the memories. So long as the rest of it is set up for after the move." I tried to keep it vague, but the authorities were set on alert when Angela failed to show up to school again after her family died. They got a court order to search their home and found her letter. Bella felt it was her fault, she knew about the letter but hadn't thought to remove it.
"I'll need those pictures as soon as possible, for the three the sets of initial paperwork. I'll have the standard packages sent over in a few days, excluding Mister Whitlock is that correct?" His question brought up some painful truths, I had been hoping Jasper would return to us, but it was looking more and more likely that he was gone for good.
"That's correct. Have the house in Maine cleaned and set up and purchase two nearby properties of similar size and accommodations." I requested; the choice of Maine had been a family decision. It was far enough away from Forks to feel safe, but close enough that if there was ever a need to return it was less than a day away.
"Can do. Furnished?" He asked with another clink of a glass as he took a sip and then clicked away at a keyboard.
"Yes, one with a clean traditional style, the other classical with a touch of modern touches, lean towards the feminine." I detailed slightly, hoping he would hire the same level of designers who had picked out the furnishings for our home in Oslo.
"Anything else?" He asked with a touch of curiosity and mild impatience in his voice.
"Accounts set up for those three packages, a resume in law enforcement for Charlie, and the standard school transcripts for Isabella and Angela." Using shorthand for things I had set up with him before made it easier than saying I wanted to transfer millions to my new extended family.
"Give me a week for the rest of it and get me those pictures." Jenks said with a small grumble, I had never met the man face to face, that was generally one of the things Jasper would do. Yet I found Jenks to be a fascinating individual.
"We'll have them in a few days, thank you Jenks." It was more than I should've said, but he had to be aware of any delay.
"Don't mention it." He said with a bit of sarcasm. I ended the call and took a few steadying breaths; I hadn't had the best emotional control over the last three weeks.
Esme came in at that point and shut the door behind her. Our room had become the only place I had any peace, since my office was now occupied around the clock. The small writing desk was inadequate to work on, but enough for the small housekeeping tasks that I'd needed to catch up on before the upcoming move. So many logistical questions needed to be answered, and Jasper was no longer in charge of it. I sighed heavily, everything felt like it was balanced on the edge of a knife, and yet we were so close to achieving a happiness I could never have imagined. Esme came over to me and draped herself across my shoulders, kissing my cheek and looking at my laptop screen.
"I hate that we have to move, are you sure we cannot renegotiate with the Quileute?" She asked, the optimism about Angela's transition in my requests from Jenks had already been twisting my stomach into knots. Moving her as a newborn with her newborn children was going to be tricky at best.
"Yes, that ship has sailed. Plus, I doubt we would even be able to contact them directly. However, if we can ever return to Forks, I want to be sure Bella, Charlie, and Angela have their family homes if they want them. I'm putting everything into long term storage and having them cleaned bi-annually. Let us hope that they appreciate the effort, maybe it will be enough to help Angela adjust after…" I shut my eyes tightly unable to speak about my failures. I had worked my nurses and the other doctors to the bone trying to save the Weber's. Jezebel was close, her major injuries addressed, and she was in recovery. I was in surgery working on Joshua when I heard she had a relapse and passed. Three of them gone, I tried desperately to save the child. Yet fate seemed determined to take them away, as I found and closed off bleeder after bleeder, but the damage was far too extensive to patch up. I felt my body start to tremble with emotion, and Esme wrapped herself around me. I Leaned back into her and found her lips and was met with kiss that took a bit of my turmoil away.
"I have to check on her." I said pulling her arms away from me and standing up.
"Bella is watching, so are Alice and Rose. If anything changes, they will call us. Come to bed, you need to relax." I nodded, unable to resist but unsure if anything would help me get past my wall of depression.
We gave in to passion for nearly an hour and found that I had somehow forgotten what it was like to lose myself in her embrace. Then we were done, and she returned to comfort our daughters and I prepared myself to perform surgery. Despite Charlie's rather astute deduction that the children required blood, their need was growing by the day.
The first week into her coma two pints seemed to satisfy them, by week three of the pregnancy they were up to four. The final week, they were close to six pints. Her body draining the intravenous blood like a dehydrated man slurping greedily at a water fountain. Yet despite keeping up with their demand, Angela continued to decline, and never woke up from her injuries. While her body slowly healed most of the major damage over the weeks, she was stll worn, pale, and thin, but she clung to life like it was raft floating on a turbulent river.
Bella refused to leave her side again. She looked the same as she would always look, but in her eyes, I could see her panic and sadness, she was at the point of breaking. Her best friend was practically a corpse, and we hadn't heard from Edward, Emmett or Mason in weeks. The rest of the house was pretty much in the same state. Rosalie was an anchor, despite her own worry for Emmett's safety. Alice spent most of her time drifting from person to person or taking long walks with Charlie. I was glad someone was focused on him, he needed someone to talk to since his daughter was practically inconsolable. Esme drifted between all of them, but focused her love on Bella, trying to be as comforting as possible to our newest daughter. It was a task that was practically a full-time job.
Distractions became more and more important as time marched on. Rosalie started restoring yet another car in the garage. Alice took up creating outfits for Angela and her children, and had a full wardrobe already made for her, with still enough fabric in storage to have clothes for both kids throughout their entire childhood. The upcoming birth of the twins was the only highlight in our lives, without that bright spot on the horizon we would all have succumbed to severe depression.
At least I had the hospital to alleviate some of my depression over events, even though I had given notice I looked forward to my shifts. Yet the pain I felt at losing the Weber's was still pulling at my heart. Most days I barely registered Angela's face, partially afraid that she would wake up and I would have to meet her eyes. How could I possibly tell her that her entire family was gone. It was impossible to tell that to a mortal woman; how could I impart that knowledge to a newborn. Would it destroy her, and drive her into an unending rage, or would she just accept it as rationally as she had with everything else?
Esme tried to help, every moment she could spare she spent with me. We talked about the future, and she fantasized about my silent hopes. Every moment I wished for this all to end happily. I wanted my boys to return safely, and for Angela to have two wonderful children, and a husband that loved her forever. Maybe that could balance the tragedy of her life, which as I thought about it, made me want to throw something due to the unfairness of it.
Then something major changed. Late in the fourth week of Angela's pregnancy I was checking her vitals, when a solid kick from one of the twins shattered one of her ribs. It was a common enough problem late in even a mortal's pregnancy, but it had me worried. I had to make a painful choice because things had become infinitely more perilous. I checked for growth and was happy to learn they were almost fully matured. Labor would likely be impossible anyway, so I prepared for a c-section and for Angela's transition.
When I finally came downstairs and entered the office, I could almost feel the tension in the room. This was the day we had been waiting for. Esme helped me finish the preparations, and so did Bella, who refused to stand by and just watch. I agreed, although reluctantly, because there was no way I could get her to leave anyway. Charlie kept his distance, but I knew he was listening to everything. Rosalie and Alice hung in the background like nervous residents waiting for the attending to give them an opportunity to practice medicine. As I made the first incision the twins immediately began to kick, causing Angela's body to convulse, and I felt my own panic and frustration rising uncontrollably.
"Esme, Bella hold her down." The harshness of my tone made them both pause in shock. But they were quickly able to recover and held her down as I asked.
"Carlisle? What's wrong" Esme asked worriedly. I shook my head, not needing any unnecessary distractions. My focus was fragile, and I couldn't risk losing Angela or her children for my sanity as well as the rest of the family. Then the scalpel proved to be ineffective on her vampiric womb that mimicked the toughness of our skin. Realizing I had no other options I grunted in frustration and leaned in to use my teeth and started to tear into Angela's already ravaged body. It was a distasteful necessity, and it took longer than I wanted it too, but soon I was able to create an opening large enough to pull them free. As soon as the first one was out, I handed it over to Bella without pause, Esme cutting the umbilical cord as I reached in to grab a hold of the other infant. Within seconds Angela's babies were born, but the damage was already done.
I looked at the carnage of her body, the scars on her face and stomach, and how thin and frail she had become and wondered if it was already too late. I glanced at the monitors displaying her heartrate and blood pressure and felt my heart break as her vitals began to slip quickly downhill. I immediately grabbed a syringe of my venom I had created during my preparation for surgery. I injected the thick fluid directly into her heart and waited for a second to see if she would take to it on her own. For three long seconds there was just the slow beep of her heart, until suddenly it picked up pace. Feeling hope again, I turned my attention to her newborns, and pointed towards the two infant monitoring stations I had stolen from the maternity ward, Bella and Esme immediately laid them down with deliberate care.
I took my time to check them over, and it was a relief to see that they were two perfectly healthy little girls. But what was a little unexpected was how distinctly inhuman they were. Somehow, they seemed to be almost a perfect blend of human and vampire. Their skin was as tough as ours, but not nearly as reflective. Yet they were warm to the touch, holding a temperature slightly lower than human and their hearts beat in perfect unison. They were identical, perfect in practically every way, and nearly ethereal in their appearance.
The little differences were the only thing that set them apart. Although their features were impossible to differentiate, which were a subtle blend of both their parents, their hair was starkly opposite, one with Mason's snowy hair and the other with Angela's deep brown. They both had heterochromia like their father, with one blue eye and one green. Their eyes were also eerily opposite of each other, with the darker one with a blue eye on the left and the lighter one with a blue right eye. After I was convinced of their health and pleased with their A.P.G.A.R. scores, I turned my attention back to Angela. Her heart was beating, but it was slow and irregular. Her breathing was also weak and disturbing in quality, yet there was little I could do. It was an uncomfortable uphill battle now, dependent entirely on Angela's will to live. Because although I was confident that she would recover if she completed the transformation, I was concerned she might not survive the next few hours.
The children were almost immediately claimed by Esme and Rosalie who were utterly enraptured by them. Meanwhile Bella and I stood at the edge of Angela's bed, waiting for any indication she would survive the transformation. It took two long hours before her heart started to beat normally, and eventually sped up like any normal transformation.
"She'll be fine. It is just a matter of time now. She may not even be aware of the pain." I said more hopefully than I felt. But at least I could see Bella's tension relax when I said she would pull through, and she looked down and finally let herself smile.
"I hope she'll be okay; I have no idea how to tell…" I held up a hand and shook my head.
"No, I'll tell her." Bella looked at me for a long time, before nodding.
"I feel cowardly letting you do it." She finally admitted.
"I need her to hate me, if only for a few minutes. You need her to love you, I would never take that away from you." I said in explanation, it was only part of my reason, but it was enough. She nodded with a smile.
"Bella." Charlie said from the doorway. Bella looked over and found him standing next to Alice, holding her hand in a way that was hard to mistake for anything other than affection. Bella saw how they were standing and stared at her father for nearly a minute before anyone said anything.
"We never expected to find each other, and we would've said something sooner but you have been so upset…" Alice said looking terrified, but Bella just shook her head and her expression quickly shifted into one of pure joy as a wide smile brightened her face in a way I never thought I would see again. She looked at her father, who was also clearly terrified what she would think, as she launched herself at them and pulled them into a three-way hug.
"I love you both so much, I am so happy for you." Bella said almost giggling with joy. Charlie was belly laughing with relief and Alice looked like she was rolling her eyes, but I knew better. She was so overwhelmingly happy that she was crying, her eyes twitching in a telltale way. Esme and Rose were just on the other side of the living room watching, with wide smiles on their faces. The twins were staring at the scene as well, with extreme curiosity. The intelligence and awareness in their expressions was both amazing and a bit unsettling.
Bella finally pulled away and shook her head in happiness. "I can't believe it, but do I have to call you mom now?"
Alice's eyes widened, before her expression softened and a strange smile crossed her face. "You don't have to, but if you think of me as your sister or a mother, I am just happy to call you family."
Bella stopped and looked at Alice, and they stared at one another for several seconds. "You know, it almost makes a strange sort of sense. Never thought I would have two sets of parents." Then she looked at Charlie who was beaming pride and happiness towards his daughter.
"Dad. I am so unbelievably happy you don't have to face this all alone. But I just realized I haven't really met two very important people. Excuse me." She turned towards the twins then and made her way over to them. They held out their tiny hands to her and she let them touch her face. She smiled warmly before standing and addressing them directly.
"For now, I think I'm going to call you Chocolate and Snow. Your mom will come up with better names later." Bella chuckled slightly to herself, as she took Snow into her arms. I wanted to go over to them as well, but instead I held back the impulse. I couldn't be a part of their lives until Angela gave me permission. I had lost that right when I failed to save her family.
For three days I stood over Angela, watching her body slowly heal and change. Her weight filled back out, her scars slowly vanished, her face and hair took on a radiance that brought out her beauty to a degree that rivaled even Rosalie. I picked out one of her simpler outfits, despite protests from Alice, and with Esme's help we dressed her. We brought the twins in to see her several times a day after she looked better, and every time they both wanted to go to her, clamoring to touch her.
At two o'clock on the third day we gathered in the office, listening to Angela's heart beat furiously in an all too familiar song of fire and ice. It was torturous waiting to find out what was about to happen. Would he mind and memory be intact? Would she be a monster? Would she be Angela? Her heart played with our emotions like a fiddle, dancing with an ever increasing crescendo until finally it gave up and her mortal life ended. Almost instinctively we held our breaths, waiting.
Until suddenly she opened her bright crimson eyes.
Author's Note: I had written almost two pages of content that would've totally screwed up my story. We're talking major continuity errors. I am going to use some of what I had written, but not for a few more chapters. There is one moment in particular that I like a lot. As I plan out the next several chapters, there is going to be a change up in the order of them. One in particular is going to happen a lot sooner than I expected.
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