Chapter Twenty-Eight

Bella

Liam ticks every traffic violation box on the journey between Cambridge and Trinity Farm but he gets us to Emmett's in one piece as promised. If I hadn't been hanging onto my seat while reciting the Lord's Prayer over and over, even though I'm not religious, I would've enjoyed the drive through New York State's picturesque countryside. When we've screeched to a halt outside Emmett's house, Liam moves to get out with Edward and me but Edward stops him.

"Go back to your farm, Liam," he says calmly but firmly. "There's no need for you to be around when James shows his face. I've asked Carlisle and Esme to stay away for that reason. I'd be happier if you weren't part of this."

Liam considers what Edward has said for about five seconds. "I get it," he agrees. "Good luck with … everything. Just keep me updated if you can." He pulls away at a more sedate pace which saves us both from being showered by gravel.

Emmett is on the doorstep of the wood-boarded house which I guess had a previous life as a small barn. The strong, positive, happy-go-lucky guy I met in New York has all but disappeared. The young man hanging onto the door frame looks broken. Moans come from an upstairs window. This doesn't look or sound good. Edward heads for the door but in his haste to help Rosie, he forgets to cover his exposed skin. I shout out to remind him but it's too late. The second he walks from the shade of a tree onto the sun-drenched drive, his face and arms erupt into a blaze of diamonds. Emmett steps backward in shock.

"What the hell …"

I dive in front of Edward to stand between them.

"Emmett, this is Edward Cullen … he's the time traveler I told you about. Remember?"

I say this in a calm, matter-of-fact voice and wait for my words to sink in before saying, "Shall we leave further explanations for later? Edward's a qualified doctor. That's all you need to know right now."

"But not an Obstetrician," Edward adds. "I know the basics though. Where's your wife."

Emmett visibly relaxes. "Upstairs, first right. There's a bathroom off the bedroom."

"Good, now let me handle her care from now on. Are there any medical supplies up there?"

"We've got a full delivery kit. Rosie wanted a home birth. She didn't dare go near a hospital throughout the pregnancy because of Covid. She has other health issues that make her extra vulnerable. Her doctor and midwife agreed with her decision and left the kit here two weeks ago. We've got massive amounts of sickness in the area, including our midwife. It's crazy."

"Okay. Let me get to her and see what we're dealing with. What are her health issues."

"She has Type 1 diabetes and asthma, and I'm sure she's picked up the virus. Her mom's definitely got it. Her dad is showing symptoms and is isolated at the farm. She started feeling really sick last night and has gotten a lot worse in the last hour. She refused to go into hospital this morning and now I can't wake her. You'd best wear a mask before you go in."

"I don't need a mask, Emmett. Bella will explain."

Edward runs up the stairs at normal speed. We follow behind and wait in the doorway while he introduces himself to Rosie. I'm not an expert, but even from where I'm standing she looks out of it. Her eyelids are fluttering at different speeds. Her face, hands and feet are grotesquely swollen. To my eyes, there is a yellow hue to her skin which is blotched and clammy. Her nightdress is soaked in sweat and there are spots of blood on the sheets.

Edward picks up her wrist to check her pulse. Emmett is holding his breath and I realize I am too. Edward drops her wrist and gently opens one of her eyes with his fingers before looking inside her mouth. He presses on her leg just above her ankle with his thumb. The indentation doesn't disappear. Even I know there's no point taking her blood pressure or temperature. It's obvious to anyone they will be dangerously high.

Edward turns to Emmett and I've already read what he's going to say. I gasp.

"I'm sorry, Emmett … she's too far gone. She has all the signs of pre-eclampsia and most likely sepsis as well. Whether she has the virus or not is irrelevant. Her temperature is dangerously high. Her breathing is erratic. Her heart is racing. My impression from examining her eyes and mouth plus the swellings in her extremities indicates that her vital organs have already begun to shut down."

Emmett's howl breaks my heart. He collapses on the floor and curls into a ball. I drop down next to him to try to hug him but he's too broad across the shoulders for my short arms to make an impact.

"Can you do anything for her?" I plead as Edward looks down on us. He nods and walks over.

Edward crouches and puts his hands on Emmett's arms and shakes him. Emmett raises his head. His face is streaked with tears.

"Emmett, I'm going to give you two choices but you have to answer immediately. There's no time to waste now. I can save her but it might end up killing the baby. The other alternative is that I could save the baby, but your wife will certainly die. Before you make the choice there is something you need to know. I'm not human, Emmett. I'm a vampire. Bella already knows this. You've just witnessed what the sun does to my skin and Bella told you that I'm a time traveler, which means you know about the photographs taken in 1923. Am I right?"

Emmett nods. He visibly stiffened when Edward said he wasn't human, but his expression didn't alter when Edward spoke the V-word. There's no doubt he's in shock. This is all too much for him to take in and make an informed decision. I just hope Edward has a good reason for telling him he's a vampire. Edward continues. His voice becomes more assertive, He's making sure Emmett knows this is not a game.

"Now you know that I'm a vampire, this means vampire law kicks in. Because you're human, I'm compelled to either change you to become one of us, or kill you. If I don't, my own life is forfeit. There are no exceptions, except for Bella, but that's another story. I can change Rosie now so you won't lose her, but there is a risk this will affect the baby. I will have to change you afterward whatever happens. Do ... you ... understand?"

Emmett stares at him blankly. "How … how … do you …?"

"I transfer my venom into her body by biting into a vein. She won't feel a thing but she'll be unconscious afterward for about two days. You have to decide now, Emmett. Her heart will give out very soon which means you'll lose both of them."

"And you'll definitely change me to be like her afterward?"

"Yes. I have no choice where you're concerned. You have to trust me now."

Emmett turns to me. "What should I choose, Bella?"

I don't hesitate.

"Choose life, Emmett," I say looking directly into his eyes. "Rosie's dying. You won't want to live on your own if both her and the baby die, whether you're a human or a vampire. If the baby survives, you'll want Rosie to be around to bring him or her up. Take a chance, please."

Emmett turns to Edward.

"Do it then … do it now."

Emmett gets to his feet and stumbles over to Rosie. Her body is convulsing. Her lips are blue. He bends over her and kisses her forehead, then her cheek and her hands.

"I love you, Rosie. I'm letting him do this for us. You must believe me."

I pull Emmett away as Edward brushes Rosie's hair away from her neck. "Don't look," I say.

"I want to," he whispers as Edward sinks his teeth into her neck. I can't turn away either. It's like watching a car crash – morbid curiosity compels you to witness the aftermath.

Edward clamps onto Rosie for what seems like an age. Even I can tell that something is wrong. Because I can access Edward's thoughts, I pick up that he's struggling with the demon who is making it impossible for him to release without drinking her blood. I send Edward encouragement through my own thoughts while I try to disguise my panic from Emmett. The demon is ferocious though and I sense the precise moment when Edward capitulates to temptation. Worse still, I find that I'm able to share vicariously in the ecstasy that Edward is experiencing.

As the man I love is overcome by the demon inside him, the first sign of blood appears on Rosie's neck. Emmett reacts by howling in despair. I want to pull Edward away but I daren't. I'm sure he would fight me and the demon would urge him to kill me. I could end up having to hurt or kill Edward in self-defense. As I'm wrestling with my conscience over what to do, I feel a shock, like I've received a punch from every direction. Edward mentally recoils from the feast, wrestles back control from the demon, and detaches himself from Rosie's neck. The demon audibly growls in anger as Edward pushes away from the bed so hard that he flies backward across the room and crashes into the wall before dropping onto the dressing table, cracking it in half. The mirror crumples and explodes sending shards of glass across the wooden floor.

I turn my attention back to the bed where Rosie's body has begun to shake violently. Eyes full of hate and fury fly open to fix on Emmett and then on me. If a look could kill, both of us would be dead meat without a doubt. A few seconds later, Rosie's back arches off the bed and she screams in a pitch so high I have to clamp my hands over my ears to dull the pain. Her body thrashes uncontrollably like she's having a seizure. Emmett tries unsuccessfully to grab hold of her hands to stop her from injuring herself but she's too strong even for Emmett to keep her restrained.

As I stand helplessly at the end of the bed, I spot that below Rosie's waist, the sheets are being flooded by blood. I grab the hem of her nightdress and cry out. Lying between her thighs is a perfectly formed baby still attached to her. Rosie lets out one last scream before collapsing into unconsciousness.

"Edward!" I shriek automatically, but I realize straight away there'll be no help coming from him. He's on the floor surrounded by smashed wood and glass with his head in his hands, still fighting the instinct to attack. He shouldn't be here. This whole situation must be torture for him. There's blood everywhere, including dripping down the sides of his mouth. I yell, "Get Edward outside," to Emmett who miraculously does as he's told, manhandling Edward out the door and slamming it shut.

"Delivery kit," I snap when Emmett returns to my side. I know nothing about delivering babies, only what I've seen on TV. The one procedure I remember clearly is that you have to clamp the umbilical cord twice and make the cut between the clamps. Emmett brings the box over and tips the contents onto a clean part of the bed. I spot what I presume are the clamps and a pair of scissors. Without gloves or any sort of sterile protection, I get to work.

Emmett brings a towel over and holds it open with shaking hands. I drop the baby inside and wipe my hands on the sheets. The baby hasn't made a sound yet so I check to see if he's breathing. He isn't. "Rub him up and down, like you would a baby lamb," I suggest to Emmett who looks bewildered so I take the baby from him and try to rub life into the infant.

"Go sit with Rosie," I say as I leave the room to find Edward pacing up and down outside. His thoughts are all over the place. Guilt, horror, embarrassment, anguish. His beautiful golden eyes are now pools of red, the same as when I saw him arguing with Carlisle on the street back in September 2019.

"I don't think he's breathing," I say trying not to cry.

"Try mouth-to-mouth," Edward replies and turns away so he's not looking at the bloodied infant.

"Can you?" I plead. "I'm too scared."

"I can't. He's covered in Rosie's blood, and I don't breathe or expel air like a human. Just be gentle, Bella. If you blow too hard you could damage his lungs."

I cover the baby's nose and mouth with my lips and gently breathe into him five times before checking for signs of life. Nothing. In the middle of a second attempt, I feel movement. I look at his face and hold my breath. His eyes have opened a crack.

"Oh my God, he's alive," I shriek and burst into tears.

Edward

Bella and the baby have returned to the bedroom while I get myself under control. When I glanced through the open door for a brief second, Rosie had stopped convulsing which is a good thing. Emmett is in bits though, which is the opposite of good. I'm not in the best place either. I've never changed a human before and don't ever want to do so again. I'll have to ask Liam to change Emmett. He'd been responsible for many new vampires when he lived in Ireland and still likes to boast about his prowess. The majority of them were female. You can imagine why.

My obligation to this newborn mother and her live baby cannot be dismissed. I'd carried out the change without any thought about where to take the family to recuperate. What's worse, James could turn up on the doorstep at any moment. Changing Rosie is probably the most irresponsible action I've ever taken in my whole life. I hope I don't have cause to regret acting on impulse to save her life.

I won't ever tell Emmett, but the only reason I didn't drain every drop of his wife's blood was that I could taste the infection in her system. Without sepsis, a lifeless body would be lying in the pool of blood right now rather than a beautiful woman undergoing the first stage of transformation. Ideally, Liam can change Emmett before she wakes. I don't want Rosie to have the opportunity to relate to Emmett about the hell she's suffered until he's been there himself. I feel sorry for both of them, even though in Emmett's case, even more so than Rosie's, there is no other alternative.

I feel as though I should be calling Carlisle to tell him what's happened. He doesn't know Emmett, or where he lives, so there would be no danger of him passing on our location. I do need to call Eleazar. The safest place to take the family would be Alaska but then I've got the problem with Rosie's parents, and I presume Emmett's family. They'll want to see their new grandchild when they've recovered from the virus. The list of unsurmountable problems gets longer and longer.

I can hear the baby crying now. I expect he's hungry. Could Rosie feed him while she's comatose? Oh hell. That means one of us will have to leave here to get some formula from somewhere. I need to get my act together and start thinking for everyone else before Emmett has a nervous breakdown.

Bella emerges from the bedroom a few minutes later holding the baby and a bag.

"What's in there," I ask.

"Formula, and a baby's bottle. Rosie got them in just in case her own milk didn't come through quickly enough. There's enough here for three days. Do you want to come with me to the kitchen – I've got to sterilize everything first."

"No," I reply, grateful that at least one problem has been solved. "I must examine Rosie. She's still a new mom so I need to make sure she's okay before we start cleaning her up, that's if Emmett will let me near. He's very protective of her."

Bella smiles and I see an image of when she saw them together in a coffee shop. A young couple in love. Blissfully happy. I pray they'll be just as happy when they get used to their new lives. Maybe Alice can foresee their future and put my mind at rest.

I text Liam. Okay but not okay. We have a newborn human child and a newborn vampire mother here. Dad will have to become a newborn too. He knows I'm a vampire. Can I ask you to do the change if we survive the battle with James? Also, I might need help getting them to Alaska. Are you up for it?

Liam doesn't respond. He's probably in the cowshed tending to his herd. After taking a few seconds to ensure that I'll be able to cope with the sight and smell of concentrated blood in the bedroom, I mentally put on a doctor's white coat and walk back in.

Bella

If only Mom, or Dad, could see me now. I'm responsible for a less than an hour old baby who is currently wrapped in a towel, inside a blanket, inside a lidless plastic box that I found in the living room that had magazines piled up in it. They are now on the floor – the magazines, not the baby. I'm sterilizing the bottle in boiling water while warming the milk to 'blood temperature.' I had to look up what blood temperature was on the internet because the tin had omitted to give an explanation.

Mother should drip the milk on the inside of her wrist. It should neither feel hot nor cold.

I'm sure instructions on how to look after babies were all written in England in the 1950s.

The baby isn't crying, thank God. Occasionally he opens his eyes and stares at me. I hope he doesn't think I'm his mom. Holy crap! Will Rosie want to attack him when she comes round? More worrying, will she attack me, or Emmett? There's so much to think about. I'm just glad we were around to help. I'm still angry there were no doctors or nurses or even an ambulance available in an emergency. I get that country folk can't get the same level of service that we do in New York, but to leave Emmett on his own to cope is criminal.

While the baby's quiet, I look in the fridge for something to eat for myself. I haven't had anything since the morning. Time has flown by. After breakfast, Edward came over and we … yeah well, that took an hour. Another half-hour to get from bed to Penn Station and then a twenty-minute wait for the train which took two hours forty to get to Albany. Liam picked us up and drove us to Cambridge in record time. Got there at two fifteen. Half an hour in the shop. Warp speed to here and then all the drama. No wonder I'm starving. Cheese and bread. That will have to do. What I really need is coffee. I'll get more and more bad-tempered if I don't get a fix soon.

Baby Emmett whimpers. Oh oh! Action stations. I'll eat the sandwich and feed him while I'm drinking the coffee. Nope! Not a good idea. Shit! I was calm thirty seconds ago. Baby makes a noise and I'm a quivering wreck. Calm down, Bella. Make the sandwich, drink the baby, feed the coffee in that order. What did I just say! Now, where does Emmett keep the effing coffee. Aaargh!

Edward

Emmett has his head on the bed next to Rosie's when I walk in. I watch him reach up and touch her hair and brush his hand against her cheek. He can't see this but I already notice the change in her. The edema in her face and ankles caused by the rapid build-up of fluid in her body has begun to reduce. The yellowish blotches on her skin have faded slightly. Her heart rate has steadied to a normal rate. The beats will soon begin to slow gradually prior to the transformation coming to an end. Luckily Emmett doesn't know the pain she's suffering or I'm sure he'd want to kill me.

Emmett looks up as I approach the bed. I need to be sensitive about how I speak to him. I've seen him at his lowest point. His pride needs building up again. Even though I'm the doctor, I ask his permission to check on Rosie.

"Are you okay with me examining your wife? I need to ensure that everything to do with the baby has come away," I ask.

"Do you mean the placenta?" Emmett replies. His voice is husky from crying.

"Yes. If you would rather me not … "

"You're the doctor, Edward. Go ahead. As long as you don't do the vampire thing again."

"I won't. I'm totally in control. When you're both recovered, I'll explain the mechanics of what I did. Rosie has the honor of being my first newborn vampire. Your son is the first baby I've helped deliver. When I did my medical training in the 1930s, I could choose between studying gynecology or psychiatry. For obvious reasons I chose psychiatry."

Emmett snickered. "How the hell did you get through surgery."

"With great difficulty."

Thankfully, Rosie's body has expelled everything that I expected to see. Emmett lifts her while I pull the bedclothes from under her so I can wrap everything messy inside. The mattress is ruined and will have to be burned before we set off for Alaska. But what am I thinking? Until the James situation is resolved, I can't make any sort of plan. I just want the confrontation over and done with. How much do I tell Emmett about what's going to happen in the next hours or days? There's a good chance James will kill him if he catches us in the house. I need help, now. The only person who could give me any sort of advice or assistance is Alice.

My cell vibrates in my pocket exactly at the moment I'm thinking of her.

"Alice?"

"Edward!" she's screams down the phone. "I can't see Carlisle or Esme's futures anymore. Something or somebody is blocking me. It must be James."

"Calm down, Alice. Where were they when you lost contact?"

"Ohio, just north of Columbus. My guess is they were heading for Indianapolis. Carlisle has visited a coven there before. Holy crap. If James has hurt either of them, I'll kill him myself."

"He won't hurt or kill them. He may use them as bait to get to me."

"Oh God, I know that, but I'm frightened, Edward."

"I am too. Look, we don't know if you're right, but if you are, how the hell did James manage to be in the right place at the right time to intercept them? And I still can't work out how he'll discover where to find me? Carlisle has no idea where I am. I didn't know I'd be here until this afternoon for Christ's sake. But according to you, this is where James and I will meet, face-to-face. I don't understand."

Alice goes quiet.

"Are you still there?" I ask.

"Yes … leave this with me. Are you staying where you are for the moment?"

"Yep! I have a newborn baby and a newborn vampire mother to look after, and a distraught father who I've also got to change sooner rather than later. I need information, Alice. I can't take much more of you keeping me in the dark. You've got to help me out here."

"I will help you … but you'll have to take that on trust for the next half hour. I'll call you back."

She hangs up before I have a chance to complain. "Fuck!" I hiss.

Emmett raises an eyebrow. "Dare I ask?" he says.

"Yes, because there's something you need to know. In a nutshell, there's a pissed vampire called James who is on a mission to kill me. My sister is sure he's grabbed our adoptive parents who he'll use to flush me into the open. Tomorrow, if Bella and I disappear from the house and don't come back, I want you to call a friend of mine who lives close by. He'll look after you. His name's Liam and he lives less than a half hour's drive from here. If for some reason Liam is unable to help, call my friend Eleazar. He lives in Alaska, but he'll be able to get here quickly. I'll leave their numbers in the kitchen. The vampire community won't abandon you, Emmett, if the worst happens to me."

"You're taking this very calmly," Emmett says.

"Purely a façade, I assure you. Unfortunately, James has a dangerous ability. He can coerce vampires and probably humans as well to do his bidding against their will, something similar to what Charles Manson did with his followers. James attempted to take control of me while I was staying in Alaska but he failed. He marked me then as an enemy and said he would kill me the next time we met. My sister, Alice, can see the future. She has foreseen our confrontation on a farm, which I'm guessing is Rosie's family's farm, but Alice either won't tell me the outcome or can't because she hasn't seen it. What James doesn't know is that I've got a secret weapon."

"What is it?"

"Bella. She's human, but she has a force inside her that could wipe me out. She nearly did yesterday. She's our best hope against James, especially as he has no idea she exists. Ah ... shit!"

"What?"

"He might know now. If he's questioned my parents under duress, they'll be forced to tell James everything about her. Damn."

"So what's your ability then?"

"Mind reading. I know what you're thinking right now and you're right, Emmett, this is a fucked-up situation we're in. I'm truly sorry you've been dragged into our domestic disputes but at least we saved your wife and child. My advice to you from now on is to take each minute, each hour, each day as it comes. Don't think too deeply about what's happening around you. If I get through this, I promise that Bella and I will protect both of you until you're capable of looking after yourselves."

Emmett extends his hand towards me and we shake.

"Geez! Your hand is cold."

"Comes with the sparkly skin. You've got a lot to learn. I'll get rid of these bedclothes and check how Bella's getting on with feeding your son. Have you thought of a name?"

"Yes, but I'm not settling on anything until Rosie wakes up. She may have changed her mind after all this and want to call him Edward instead."

I laugh as I gather up the bedclothes. The smell of blood knocks my head back so I exit the room as fast as possible and go downstairs. Bella is in the living room with the baby in her arms, trying to get him to take the bottle. She doesn't see me watching her, she's too wrapped up with little Emmett. A wave of regret washes over me as I take in the scene. The fact that I could never be a father has never bothered me, until now. Am I envious of Emmett, or is it because I've never been in love before?

In the yard, I get a fire going using wood from the woodpile. The stink from the bedding and what's inside is disgusting, so once I've got everything burning well, I go in and shut all the doors and windows. Daylight is beginning to fade. The temperature has dropped to a chill. I feel I can relax for a while because Alice saw James and me in daylight which means he won't be here tonight. I can look after the baby while Bella and Emmett get some sleep.

Emmett and Rosie's cell phones have been ringing for the last hour. Emmett needs to answer them soon or we may have relatives or friends turning up on the doorstep. I go back upstairs to the bedroom and hand them to him.

"What do I say?" he asks. "They know Rosie wasn't well and her contractions had started."

"Just say false alarm. Tell them Rosie's sleeping and she's got mild symptoms of Covid, and that you'll call them as soon as anything happens. Tell them a doctor has been in to see her. That should put their minds at rest for now."

Emmett takes Rosie's phone first and makes the first call to her father in the distant farmhouse. I leave the room but can hear everything that's being said. Rosie's mother has been admitted to the local hospital with breathing difficulties. I shouldn't be thinking this but part of me hopes she dies, so she won't miss not being able to see her daughter again.

My own cell vibrates. Alice. Hopefully, she has news for me.

"Edward, we've got even bigger problems."

"What the fuck's happened now?"

"It's Jasper. You're not going to believe this, Edward, but I'm positive James has already got to him. He's been acting really weird lately, and before you say it, I know what you're thinking ... he's weird anyway. I'll re-phrase that - he's been acting weirder than usual. If I'm right, everything that he's said done since he got back from a walkabout in Arizona three weeks ago makes sense. He hasn't been the normal Jasper since then. In the last few days, he's constantly been asking questions about Bella's abilities and wanted me to tell him when she returned to New York. Today he asked me where you were. I told him you were meeting up with Liam. He's never taken the slightest interest in your life before. I'll admit I told him that Carlisle and Esme were heading for Indianapolis and now I can't see them. He could be feeding information back to James somehow."

"Does Jasper have a cell phone?"

"Yes … damn, why do I not think of the obvious. Somehow I can't imagine James using 21st Century technology."

"So where are you now?"

"In the Porsche. I'm on the I-90. I should be with you in less than ten hours."

"No, Alice. I don't want you anywhere near James."

"Tough! This is a family thing. You can't stop me because I'm already on my way."

I know from experience there's no point arguing with her. I ask her one more question though.

"Before you hang up, Alice, is there anything you can tell me now that will help before you get here?"

"Only this. Whatever you do, don't trust anybody, and I mean anybody, but especially your friend, Liam."

Liam? Surely not? He's so nice. Oh heck.

Because Saturday is Christmas Day, I'm uploading the next chapter a day early on Christmas Eve, so not as long to wait to find out what happens when nasty James and his followers turn up. The chapter after that will be posted on Tuesday as usual, 28th December, with the final chapter appearing on New Year's Eve, which is also a Friday. (Getting emotional here).

In the meantime, if you celebrate Christmas, I hope your preparations are going well. If you were in Marlborough or Winchester, England, over the weekend and saw a haggard sixty-something staggering around the Christmas markets in an orthopedic boot, using a walking stick, and looking slightly panicked, that was me!

Until Friday,

Joan xx