AN: This is last complete chapter I have written- the next one is about halfway done and I'm hoping I can get it finished by next week but I have an audit this week and hubby and I have a lot going on with both our sets of parents. Not a fan of 2021 either so far...
Bella cried for a while there in Garrett's arms, but as he held her tightly and rubbed her back, comforting her with both his words and his actions, Bella began to feel a little bit better. She rested quietly, simply enjoying his company for the rest of the night, until they heard the babies begin to stir inside.
Jasper woke first as usual, and he smiled as he ran over to Garrett as fast as his little legs would carry him, reaching for him as soon as he was close enough to be picked up. "You still here, Mr. Man?"
Garrett laughed loudly enough that it woke Edward, but he didn't look quite as grumpy as he usually did. "Jasper, you can call me Garrett if you like. And I'm going to be here for as long as your mother will let me."
Jasper dove out of his arms and straight into Bella's. "Can he stay, Momma? Please? Mr. Garrett is nice and soooo tall!"
Bella laughed at his enthusiasm, kissing his round little cheeks and the tip of his nose. "Well, I don't know, baby. Let's see what Edward thinks about that."
She turned to the pallet where Edward was sitting up, his hair in complete disarray as he stared up at the adults. Squatting down beside him, she let Jasper climb out of her arms and over to his brother. "You want to keep Mr. Garrett, don't you? He's big and strong, and he hugs Momma real nice."
Then Jasper reached over and took his brother's hand, staring right into his eyes. Bella knew he sometimes did that when he wanted to talk to Edward privately, and she tried not to feel hurt. She knew her boys would probably always be closer than other brothers—especially since they were the only people like them as far as she knew. She was glad they loved each other instead of fighting constantly like her two youngest brothers had done.
Garrett seemed to sense her melancholy and stepped up to wrap his arm around her shoulder. He also picked up on the fact that the boys were silently communicating, but he just smiled and waited for their verdict.
Jasper was telling Edward that he could feel how much Garrett already loved them all. He also shared with him the great idea that he had come up with—that Garrett could be their daddy. Momma had told them about her own parents, and how she loved her daddy very much. Daddys were supposed to take care of their kids and love them a whole bunch. They didn't hurt Mommas like that bad James man did. So that man didn't get to be their daddy.
The boys decided that since they didn't have a daddy, they could choose a new one. Mr. Garrett might have been the first candidate they had run across, but he seemed like he was up for the job. They weren't entirely sure what to do about the fact that Mommas and Daddys were supposed to be married, but that could be addressed later.
Edward showed Jasper his thoughts on the subject, and as usual, the boys were in complete agreement. Jasper was the spokesman of course, and he pulled Edward up by their joined hands to stand in front of Garrett.
Bella had to hide her smile when she saw how serious they looked. That smile disappeared into a look of shock, however, when Jasper began to speak.
"We want you to stay, Mr. Garrett. But we don't want to call you Mr. Garrett or Mr. Man." Jasper stopped and glanced over at his brother. Edward nodded back and looked up at Garrett again, so Jasper continued. "We want to call you Daddy."
The two vampires froze for several long seconds. For her part, Bella was trying to come up with a way out of this that wouldn't send Garrett running, and wouldn't hurt her boys' feelings. She couldn't come up with a solution.
Garrett was reeling inside. It was like the boys had found his deepest wish and made it come true. While that was entirely possible, given Edward's gift, he was fairly certain he hadn't thought about that in the time that Edward had been awake.
Afraid to look at Bella in case she didn't approve of this development, Garrett decided it was better to ask forgiveness than permission. He dropped to his knees in front of the boys and held out a hand to each of them.
"I would be completely honored to be called your daddy," he spoke quietly but fervently. "I already love the two of you so much, and I can't wait to see you grow and learn all the things little boys learn from their daddy's."
Turning back toward Bella, he saw her covering her mouth with her hands, but her eyes looked teary—happy teary—bright, and so pleased. "What do you think, Momma?"
She nodded quickly, moving her hands to her cheeks and revealing her wide smile. "I think I must be dreaming, Daddy."
Garrett shuddered at the teasing tone to her voice, but he locked down his libido, knowing they were a long way from that sort of intimacy. He reached up and pulled her onto his lap, gently tickling her sides and drawing giggles from all three of them.
The boys climbed up as well—Edward hugging his momma and shyly smiling at his new daddy. Jasper climbed up Garrett's back and looped his arms around his neck. "Tickle me too, Daddy!"
The four of them spent the next several minutes in a laughter filled tickle fest. Garrett couldn't remember ever laughing this much in his entire life, and Bella felt warm inside from the familiar family dynamics.
They ended up in a heap on the boys' pallet with Garrett on the bottom, and Bella laying perpendicular with her head resting on his stomach. Jasper was curled up on Bella's chest with one hand wrapped in her hair and the other resting on her shoulder.
Edward was the most content. He had his head tucked in Garrett's neck, sucking his thumb on one hand, while he stroked Garrett's whiskers with the other one. Bella had a hand on each boy, lightly rubbing their backs as they caught their breath and settled down.
Garrett was just about to speak when Jasper's stomach growled, startling him greatly. "What on earth was that noise?" he asked, bringing on another round of giggles from the others.
Edward stretched his hand further to find the smooth skin of Garrett's cheek. He showed him a picture of him and Jasper eating some of the deer jerky he knew his mother had packed when they had made their escape a few days earlier.
"So they eat human food as well as drinking blood?" Bella nodded at his question and hopped up, bringing Jasper with her. She spoke as she dug around their meager supplies trying to find the jerky she knew she had brought.
"Yes, they eat about once every two to three days," she explained. "They could probably eat more often but they aren't really interested in food unless they're actually hungry. They drink blood every time I do so that may have something to do with it...Ah! Here it is!"
Bella turned to the boys and handed them the last strips of jerky that she had packed. They both growled as they took the meat and began to bite it, their sharper teeth making much quicker work than human teeth would have done.
As she watched them eat, she remembered what Garrett had distracted her from in the clearing. She had intended to bring their prey back to butcher for meat, but had left it rotting there in the clearing instead. Biting her lip, she tried to come up with a solution.
Garrett took his thumb and pulled Bella's plump bottom lip away from her sharp teeth. Instead of kissing it like he really wanted to do, he rubbed it lightly then dropped his hand. "What's wrong?"
Bella sighed and looked back to the boys. They were finishing off what was more like a snack than a meal now. "That was the last of the food for the boys. I had planned on bringing some meat home earlier in the clearing, but I got distracted when you showed up."
Garrett nodded in understanding. While he had planned to go soon and buy supplies for them all, the immediate need for more food would require a more immediate solution.
Well, there was no time like the present…
"So, if I am going to be staying here, I suppose I will need to start hunting animals. Would the three of you like to show me how?"
Both boys jumped up and cheered, and Bella's smile lit up the whole room. He had wondered how much his red eyes really bothered her, but by the look of relief on her face it was a lot.
They set out as a family, with Jasper sitting high on Garrett's shoulders and Edward on Bella's hip. Jasper kept a running commentary as they left the cabin, calling out descriptions to his brother as if Edward couldn't see what Jasper was seeing the whole time.
As they drew closer to the stream where they'd hunted earlier, Bella quieted the boys and took the lead, setting Edward down next to a small bush on the edge of the clearing. Keeping her eye on the few deer grazing nearby, she moved to break the neck of the one that was sicklier looking than the others.
Just as she pounced on her target, she heard Garrett let out a very feral snarl that had her whipping around to see what was going on.
In the tree above the boys, there was a large mountain lion. Garrett had already jumped into the tree and snapped its neck, and was getting ready to jump down with it when Bella caught his eye.
Their eyes were both jet black from her hunt, and his anger at the perceived threat to his children. He had only caught the heartbeat of the large cat when it sped in anticipation of its own hunt. When he looked up in that tree and saw those eyes looking down at his boys he had no further rational thoughts—only fierce instinct.
Garrett jumped down with the cat in his arms, and set it down in front of his mate and children. He was breathing hard, a side effect of the hunt and the fear that had struck him when he saw his children in such a vulnerable position. The boys were staring up at him in complete awe, little mouths and eyes wide open.
Bella looked just as shocked, but she was feeling a strong dose of arousal as well—even if she didn't recognize the feeling. Shaking her head to dispel that thought, she turned to her boys.
"So, um, who wants deer, and who wants mountain lion?"