Author's Note: Chapter 31! I can't believe it. I am honored that you are still reading. Chapters might get a little longer now. We are getting into some of the events I had planned.
EPOV
Bella was sleeping soundly, having fallen asleep in my arms halfway through our second movie of the evening, an old comedy that I wasn't paying any attention to. I was incredibly content having my wife safely with me, memorizing her lovely body and enjoying the cool ocean breeze coming in through the open doors. I settled her in the bed and was just about to remove some of my clothing to join her when my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I stepped outside to take the call, not wanting to disturb her.
"Hello?"
"Can Bella hear me?" Alice asked.
"No, she's sound asleep." I knew this wasn't good news.
"The newborn situation is resolved, but the Volturi aren't happy with whatever they learned. They are coming to question us."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I'll call you as soon as anything changes. Do not leave the island until I call you again, just in case."
"Alice, did our future change?"
"No. The vision of you and Bella holding the baby became a little more possible after you talked to Carlisle, but that's it. Carlisle thinks they are just coming to question us due to our proximity to Seattle. We don't think it actually involves any of us."
"Who?"
"Jane and Alec."
"Thank God."
"I agree, as long as Jane doesn't get too happy with her gift." She clearly had a dislike for Jane, although they had never met.
"Did Emmett and Jasper find anything out?"
"No. They found traces of the newborns but nothing to indicate who created them or why."
"Thanks, Alice."
"You're welcome. I know she'll find out from you in the morning, but I'd rather let her rest tonight. You better get back inside. She's going to have a nightmare soon." I thanked my sister again and ended the call.
I quickly stripped down to my boxer briefs and joined my wife in bed. She immediately rolled over to put an arm over me and rest her head on my chest, rather than the pillows. I lovingly ran my fingers through her hair, careful to gently undo any tangles. I relaxed, breathing in her delicious scent. As predicted, she started to stir a little a few minutes later. Her thoughts weren't showing themselves to me this evening. I supposed she wasn't relaxed enough.
I tried humming her lullaby, stroking her cheek, and kissing her hair, but her heart rate still sped up. "I'm here, love, it's alright." I whispered.
She awoke with a gasp and tears started to fall from her eyes. "Bella. You're alright. It was just a nightmare."
"No, this was different."
"How so?" I asked. She lifted her head up and laid on her side, facing me.
"This wasn't a nightmare. I think I just realized something. The newborns. Seattle. It's…it's Victoria."
I tensed at the mention of her name. "What makes you say that?"
"Laurent must have learned about Alice from his time with the Denalis. I bet he told her how to avoid being detected by her visions."
"Laurent is still with the Denalis as far as we know, love."
"Check."
"Alright."
I was still dialing Alice when she called me. I put her on speakerphone. "You're right, Bella." She sounded panicked. "Laurent isn't with the Denalis. He hasn't been for a couple of months. Irina is beside herself with worry hoping that he will come back. I tried to search for his future, and I see him running from the Volturi. Victoria's future is blurry, like she isn't making any decisions at all. They must be behind all of this."
I held my wife more tightly. How stupid of me. I should have seen that James was Victoria's mate, at least as far as she knew, and that she'd stop at nothing to avenge him. It would make sense that they were coming for me. "But why would they need newborns to come for me?" I asked, confused.
"Because it's me they want." Bella said softly. "The newborns are just to distract you so they can come for me."
"They will never find you." I assured her.
"You're safe on the island." Alice said. "We will handle this. I know you two want to help. I love you both dearly, but please, stay where you are. You are safe there."
"We will." There was no hesitation in my answer. I knew that we were safe here. We were surrounded by ocean. I would hear the thoughts of anyone approaching us miles ahead of their arrival and be able to plan or even take off from the complete opposite side of the island if needed. I would make sure to keep the boat well supplied and maybe order a second for the opposite side of the island, just in case.
"I don't want you guys to be at risk." Bella said.
"We aren't. I know you just woke up. I called Edward while you were asleep. The newborns are dealt with. The Volturi took care of it."
"Everything is alright, other than Victoria and Laurent on the run?"
"The Volturi are going to come question us, but it looks like everything will be alright, especially now that we can give them a credible lead to go on. Just do not leave, you two. Edward, when you need to hunt, maybe we can get Zafrina to sit with Bella."
"I'll be fine." I wasn't leaving my mate for anything until this matter was resolved.
"Edward, you can't starve." Bella said. She was always too concerned about others.
"We'll deal with it when the time comes. I'm alright for another week or so." She reluctantly agreed.
"I'll call you all soon. I need to go prepare the family for the Volturi's arrival." Alice hung up.
Bella looked up at me like she wanted to talk about it more, but I could see that she was extremely tired. I kissed her and encouraged her to lay back down. Then, I looked deep into her eyes, dazzling her as she called it, until she smiled softly and lazily ran her fingers through my hair, falling asleep with her hand still on my head. I laid my head on her shoulder, careful to keep my weight off of her, and stayed with her until she was again sound asleep.
At some point during the night, I had to get up and pace outside the house to deal with my nervous energy. I couldn't help but to be upset with myself for not catching how attached Victoria was to James. I should have known that would be a problem. I was grateful she didn't know that I had left Bella unprotected for several months when I ran away, but incredibly guilty as well for doing it in the first place. How could I have been so stupid? I could have lost Bella for good due to nothing but my own foolishness. We both could have lost our lives because of me.
I wanted to go for a run, to break some stuff and let off some anger, but I didn't dare venture away from Bella. I sank down into the sand and hid my head in my hands, trying to focus on the gentle sound of the waves and my wife's steady heartbeat inside the house.
Alice texted me once more, recommending that we not be seen while the human caretakers came to restock the kitchen and such the next morning.
Knowing that I could never make up to my mate, nor my family, for all the harm and trouble I had caused them, I placed a few phone calls and ordered my family some thank you presents and started breakfast for my love. It wasn't much, but I at least felt like I was doing something.
An hour or so before the caretakers were scheduled to arrive, I woke Bella. I kissed her cheeks, her nose, her forehead and finally her lips. She woke up with a smile, but it faded quickly when I was sure she had remembered the conversation from the night before. "Edward." She said, before kissing me frantically and holding me close to her. I was all too happy to kiss her back, but I had to stop her when her hands started to wander.
"We need to get dressed, sweetheart. The caretakers are coming to restock the kitchen and Alice said it's best if we aren't seen."
"Where are we going?" She asked, rubbing her eyes, adorable as she tried to wake up.
"There's something I want to show you on the other side of the island. You'll love it. I've made you a picnic breakfast to take with us. We'll go as soon as you're dressed."
We were both stressed and nervous from the night before, but she got up without question and went into the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, I had her on my back and a basket with her breakfast in my hand and we ran off to the other side of the island, stopping at a beautiful waterfall surrounded by jungle and plenty of large rocks. I carefully sat her down on a smooth, dry rock and turned to kiss her forehead.
"It's beautiful." She smiled, although I could still hear her nervous heart racing, taking in the colors and the smell of the fresh stream of water. I could tell that she was relaxing a little, as her thoughts were coming to me in snippets.
"I knew you would love it. I also know that you're scared, love. It's alright. I am too. Enjoy your breakfast and then we'll talk." I handed her the basket of muffins, chopped fruit, and juice I had spent a few hours making for her this morning.
"I love you so much." She said, selecting a muffin to start with.
"Because it's like having your own personal chef?"
"No, you are always doing such sweet things for me and taking care of everything I need, because you want to. Not because you feel like you have to. I am so, incredibly lucky."
"I'm the one who's lucky. You must have some idea by now of what your very presence does to me." I smiled at her and she blushed. I loved how I could still make her blush, despite all the time we spent and thoughts we shared together.
I rubbed her back and played with her hair as she ate, and it calmed her some. She watched the waterfall and some tropical birds playing in the nearby treetops. I mostly watched her. Seeing my mate safe and with me was the best feeling and the only thing that could almost entirely silence my negative thoughts.
When she was done, I pulled her into my lap and held her in my arms so we could share our fears together and soothe each other in the best way possible, perhaps second only to lovemaking.
I just want this over with and everyone safe.
Me too, love. She unintentionally saw how I had frantically paced while she was sleeping and how upset I was with myself over being stupid enough to leave her, especially now knowing that Victoria was on the loose after her perhaps even then. I didn't try to hide the thoughts, but I wasn't intending to lead us in that direction so soon.
Edward, you know I've forgiven you for that a long time ago. It's time you forgive yourself.
I don't want to live in a world where you don't exist.
I know. I feel the same. But we can't change the past. We shouldn't dwell on it.
I'll try.
Are we safe here?
Absolutely. I showed her the many, many plans and backup plans I had to keep her safe in case any unwelcome company tried to approach the island.
And our family is safe now?
Yes. It looks like the Volturi will move on after they question the family. And it's us Laurent and Victoria want, not our them. I'd much rather go look for them myself and have this over with, but I won't leave your side. I will keep you safe.
I know. She thought. We contentedly spent a few hours snuggling in the shade by the waterfall. I named some of the flowers and birds around for her. She surprised me by running into the water and splashing me, causing us both to spend some welcome time acting more our physical age.
When we returned to the house, she was fascinated by a selection of candy and chocolate sat out on the counter from all over the world. None of the wrappers were in English, but some weren't even in Spanish or Portuguese. There was a note: "Have fun, love, Alice!"
Bella's smile made everything right in my world for a while. Her disgusted face as she sampled a particularly sweet chocolate bar made me laugh, despite my worries. Alice always seemed to know what we needed. I owed her so much more than the car I had gotten her.
Bella nearly moaned with pleasure, like she had eating my cheesecake, at a particular type of licorice. I made a mental note to ask the housekeepers to bring a lot more of it the next time. It was clear that Bella's time as a human was going to be a little limited, and I would do everything in my power to see that she enjoyed it. I was so thankful to my sister for providing us with yet another welcome distraction.
Carlisle called us while Bella was eating dinner. Although she had sampled several candies happily, I decided she might want something a bit more substantial than just carbs and sugar and made her some roasted chicken and vegetables.
"Everyone is safe. The Volturi are going to track down Victoria and Laurent. They are nearly positive they were the ones that created the newborns."
"What happened?"
"We just told them the truth. That we had nothing to do with the newborns and only found out about them through the human news. We told them that Jasper and Emmett had went to sniff around and not found anything actionable that we could do to stop them just yet. They asked why you weren't with your coven and we let them know that you were enjoying an extended honeymoon and keeping your bride far, far away from humans."
"Clever." I chuckled.
"No further questions were asked about your whereabouts." I swore I could hear Carlisle smiling through the phone. "But we did let them know about Victoria and Laurent as the likely creators of the army. We let them know about James and why we had killed him. They asked why Bella wasn't changed then, and we let them know that you wanted to be married first. We even showed them a wedding picture as further proof. Jane rolled her eyes at me." Carlisle did laugh at that.
"And they aren't upset with us for not killing Victoria sooner?"
"No, we told them we just started to suspect her involvement last night, which that part was true. Alice says that Jane and Alec will have no trouble at all tracking Laurent and killing him within a week. Victoria is going to be a little tricker. She seems to have a special talent for escaping. You two just lay low though and we'll let you know when it's safe to come home."
"Thanks, dad." We both said.
"No problem. Also, Alice said she sent Charlie a huge box of chocolates from Brazil as a gift from you two with a note so he wouldn't worry about your extended honeymoon. And she said to tell you that her next car should be red."
Bella rolled her eyes and I laughed. "Tell her to text me what exact shade."
Bella was oddly quiet after dinner. I thought the Volturi moving on from our family would be good news. I took her face in my hands, kissing her softly, chastely. I didn't even have to ask what was bothering her.
"Edward, how long will I have to stay hidden from the Volturi? What about our baby?"
"What about it, love?"
"They think I've already been changed. Surely, we can't delay it too much longer. And if our future baby won't reach maturity for seven years, how long will we have to hide them?"
"Time passes much differently for vampires as old as the Volturi. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't check in on us again for several decades at least."
"But what if they do?"
"I don't know." I answered her honestly, sadly.
"I think that's something we should start planning for. We know that if I were to get pregnant, we'd only have to hide a few months. I'm sure that's easy enough just with excuses and Carlisle's reputation with them. But to hide a child that long."
"Why would we have to hide our baby?"
"They would know that I wasn't changed when you said I was."
"They wouldn't be able to do anything about that after the fact."
"Wouldn't they?"
"No. The Volturi aren't cold blooded murderers. Not really. I mean yes, they may be by diet. But usually, they only take lives with cause, like if the offending party has revealed our secret to humans. There is an exclusion for future mates." I added to calm her impending panic. "As long as they are changed in a reasonable amount of time. The few vampires I've known to meet a human mate have changed them instantly, so it's never been an issue. We also aren't allowed to make immortal children."
"What's an immortal child?"
"It's usually a toddler, but a vampire that was changed before they are old enough to think logically and obey our laws."
She was quiet for a minute. "And to an outsider, wouldn't our baby look like an immortal child at first glance?"
"They would have a beating heart and blood in their veins. Perhaps at first glance yes, but anyone who got close enough to meet them would realize that they are capable of growing."
"Then we will have to be extra careful to keep our baby out of public until it's grown."
"I suppose so."
"Do you think our family would cooperate with that?"
"I'm sure they would."
"Do you think our child would be alright with that? I mean it's easy enough to keep a baby or even a toddler at home, but at say five or six years old, they are going to practically be a teenager."
"We're teenagers, love. They would be alright to be seen in public at that point. It's just when they look underage that we'd have to be careful."
Bella laughed uncontrollably and blushed, looking away from me.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"I forgot."
"Forgot what?"
"With all of this drama going on lately. I forgot our ages. It just hasn't mattered for a while."
"Did you think about me as your centenarian? Is this what you think a man over a hundred should look like?" I asked, teasingly raising an eyebrow at her.
"God yes. All men should look like you."
I growled and playfully pounced her, grabbing her in my arms. "I would never share you, not even with myself."
