25: Part Two, Chapter Four
Word Count: 3248 ; First Published 13 February, Australian time.
And as always, thanks to Ms Meyer for permission to play with her characters and mess up her sand pit.
Chapter Four - Family
Early Saturday afternoon, Bella sat snuggled under a throw blanket on the couch, watching a movie with her mom, who'd come up to spend the weekend with her before her chemo started. Charlie had gone in to work—mostly to give them some time alone together, she was sure—and Jasper was outside somewhere, giving them what privacy he could, without leaving her unprotected. She wasn't sure who else was out there, but she knew someone would be. There were always at least two vampires or two wolves close by, although there'd been no new signs of Victoria or any other vampire since the day one had been in her house.
"You're not eating much of this popcorn, Bella," Renee said, offering it to her again. "Would you like something else?"
"No, I'm good, Mom. Jasper fed me so much for lunch, I can hardly fit anything in right now." She was also still struggling to comfortably swallow dry foods like popcorn, but she wouldn't say that to her mom. Renee had been trying so hard to be helpful since she'd arrived the previous evening, and she didn't want to discourage her. Even though all she really wanted to do was soak up her mom's positive presence. She didn't really need anything else from her, with Jasper and, when she was around, Esme both waiting on her hand and foot. Even Charlie was pressing food on her whenever he could.
"That Jasper seems like a nice boy," Renee said, "or young man really. I can hardly call him a boy, even though I still think of you as my little girl. Not the way he looks."
"Mom!" Bella flushed a little, knowing Jasper would be hearing their whole conversation.
"Oh, Bella, you can't pretend he's not extremely nice to look at." Her mom laughed at her expression.
Bella decided all she could do was laugh herself. It wasn't as though he would hear anything he didn't know.
"Yes he is," she admitted. "And I do like to look at him, as much as possible!"
"Your father told me he's been taking time off school to take care of you."
"Uh, yeah," Bella said. "He wanted to drop out altogether, but I convinced him not to. He's really smart, so it's not hard for him to keep up with the work, if his sister brings it home for him."
"I'm surprised his parents allow it. Grateful, but surprised."
"They're very supportive," Bella said, defensively.
"I'm not saying this right," Renee said, clearly picking up on Bella's tone. "I'm glad you have him. You're so young Bella, so young… I can't believe—" She took a deep breath a started again. "I'm glad, very glad, that you have the opportunity, that you have someone like Jasper in your life. The way he looks at you, it's as though the sun rises and sets with you. You deserve that, Bella. For however long…" She stopped, her voice choked up.
"Mom…" Bella started, tears filling her eyes. If only she could tell her that it would be forever. That she wasn't really going to die. She grabbed the remote to pause the movie, then turned to her mom and took both her hands. She took a deep breath, and started again. "Jasper and I, we're just trying to take each day as it comes. We don't know how long we have, but neither does anyone. At least we have forewarning not to waste our time together." She knew she was sounding like a book of clichés, but what could she say? She very much doubted she could be so philosophical if she really was facing death, the way everyone thought she was. Then again, for her mom's sake, maybe she could.
"I haven't told anyone else yet," she started again, "but, Jasper asked me to marry him." She pulled one hand away to lift the long chain from under her shirt, displaying the ring on the end of it.
Her mother gasped, and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Oh, Bella!" She reached out to look at the ring. "It's beautiful," she said. "Are those real diamonds?"
"Yes, and the central stone is an imperial topaz, which represents love and affection."
"It's very old fashioned looking," Renee said. "Is it a family heirloom?"
"No, but you're right," Bella told her. "Jasper has ancestors who were in the civil war, and he loves history, so…"
"It's beautiful," her mother said again. "Are you—are you planning on going through with it? With getting married?"
"I'm not sure," Bella admitted. How should she handle this? She hadn't thought about what to say, before she blurted out that they were engaged. She just wanted to reassure her mom that she was truly loved. That even though her life may be short, it was full. But they hadn't talked again about whether they would marry while she was still human, and now, if they ended up deciding to bring her change forward, there was unlikely to be time.
She decided just to tell her mom what Jasper had told her. That he wanted to be acknowledged as more than just her high school boy friend. That he would love to exchange vows with her before God, even if they could never truly live together as husband and wife, but that he was leaving it to her to decide when or if that would happen.
"We're hoping that the chemo might give me enough time to be able to walk down the aisle feeling truly well," she said, feeling that it was a true hope, even if it looked more and more unlikely that she would stay human that long. "And you know, there is a chance, however tiny… Only three per cent of people are still alive after five years, with this kind of cancer," she said. "But three per cent is not none." She shouldn't be offering her mom false hope, she thought, but she wanted to her to understand that Jasper was in this for life. "Of course, I know it's not likely, but… we're both praying for a long life together."
"Oh, Bella," her mom said again, tears now streaming down her cheeks. "It's so unfair… But I'm so glad you've found him. I always said you were born middle aged, and I know, you know your own mind. You're so young, but I truly think, if you can beat this thing, you will have a long life together."
"Thanks, Mom, I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it." Bella choked out, trying to blink back her own tears.
"Well, I've only known your Jasper for less than a day, but I can see how much he loves you. And as for you, I trust you, Bella. You should know that. You've always been wise for your years. I'm sure you've lived before, probably made it to a ripe old age, and then brought that wisdom with you into this life."
Bella laughed through her tears, slightly shocked at how close her mother was to the truth. But also amused at how far.
"But why don't you wear that gorgeous ring on your finger, Bella?" her mother asked when they both had their tears under control. "You said Jasper wants to be acknowledged as more than just your boyfriend. And his devotion to you is obvious. But as long as you keep the engagement secret, it doesn't really mean anything, does it?"
"It does to me," Bella replied. "And to Jasper. But you're right. Now that I've told you, I guess I should tell Charlie too. And then I'll…I'll ask Jasper to put it on my finger." She could feel her cheeks heat, embarrassed a little at her romanticism, even though she knew it was the sort of thing her mom loved. She hoped now that Jasper was listening. She wished she could call out to him to come back now. Tonight, she thought.
…
Jasper chopped salad vegetables in the Swan kitchen, at a frustratingly slow human speed. He watched from there as Bella played the consummate hostess to her Quileute family, as she had called them when explaining why she wanted to host a dinner the day before she started her chemotherapy.
Renee had left only an hour earlier. She'd offered to take time off work and stay while her daughter went through the chemo, but Bella had turned her down, insisting that she'd rather her mother save her leave for later, when she would be feeling better.
Bella had cried in his arms after her mother left, and Jasper knew that Renee was also crying, in the back of the taxi that would take her to the Port Angeles airport. He hoped they would have an opportunity to see her again, before Bella needed to be turned. But he was starting to think that was less and less likely.
They had spent a few quiet days since she'd had the stent implanted. Bella had been eating and drinking as much as she could, getting her strength back up before starting the next treatment, and he'd been pleasantly surprised to see how quickly she did start to seem stronger, and less pale.
Her mother had been just as Bella described, and spent half of the weekend fluttering around in a dither, trying to get Bella to drink this tea, or that green smoothie. But he could feel the love pouring off her for her daughter. Bella's death—or disappearance—would devastate her as much as it would Charlie.
On Friday afternoon, before Renee had arrived, they'd been lying together on Bella's bed, when she mentioned her idea for this dinner.
"I know I'll be feeling pretty terrible," she'd said, "after Renee leaves. I'll probably question why on earth I thought hosting dinner was a good idea. But it'll force me not to give way to despair. And it may be the last time I get to spend time with any of them, without being horribly sick."
A weekend of last human hurrahs, she'd called it. She'd also declared that she wanted to have all her favourite foods this weekend, before the chemo messed with her taste buds, as she'd been told it likely would. So despite her mother trying to force feed her various foul tasting concoctions, in addition to the calorie filled meal replacement drinks the doctor had prescribed, she'd also filled up on hot chocolates, out of season fruit he'd had flown in for her, and a roast dinner he'd cooked for her and her parents (under her instruction) on Saturday night—though she'd struggled to swallow much of that, even with the stent in place. He'd been forced to swallow some of it himself, to keep up appearances, which had been just as disgusting as he'd expected, but was completely worth it to be able to share the family meal with her.
Now, he watched through the open living room door, as she greeted his mortal enemies with hugs and kisses. And as much as he knew they hated him, and felt their resentment and suspicion as soon as they caught sight of him tonight, he could feel the love they had for his mate. He wished they could feel the love he felt for her. If they could only understand that he loved her more than anything, and that it was pure love, not the vampire obsession their imaginations had conjured, they may be more accepting of her eventual change.
With Seth and Leah having recently transformed into wolves for the first time, they were both now thrown into the supernatural world the rest of them lived in. Leah was resentful of the vampires for, as she saw it, causing her change and taking away her choices. Seth though seemed relatively comfortable with who he was becoming, and had confided to Bella that it was a relief to no longer be on the outer with his friends and sister.
He hoped, as he knew Bella did, that whatever their feelings when they did finally discover that Bella was gone—whenever that happened—they didn't allow it to prejudice them against Charlie.
As if the thought had called him, Charlie chose that moment to appear down the stairs. He greeted the "kids" as he had called them earlier, en masse, then shook Billy's hand, and kissed Sue on the cheek. Ahh, the feelings that both Sue and Charlie were giving off then were pretty clear, and evenly matched. So Sue, at least, could be counted on to support Charlie through his grief. Jasper smiled to himself as he watched them. Charlie hovered next to Sue, not quite touching her, but clearly wanting to, as he offered to get both his friends a drink.
Bella came over to him then. "How's the salad going?" she asked, smiling as she touched him lightly on the back.
"Slowly," he said, grinning back at her. He loved the way she was always touching him now. Just a stroke of his arm as she passed him, or a hand on his back, or even the slight pressure of her leg against his as they sat together reading. He was the same of course. If he had his way, he would never stop touching her. Making love to her, naturally, was at the top of his list of favourite activities. But any contact was better than none. Whenever they were apart, even by a room, it was like his whole body just yearned to be nearer her. He wanted to lean down right now and kiss her, in front of everybody. But he knew she wouldn't thank him, if she thought he was just marking his territory. And there would be an element of that to it, he admitted to himself. So instead, he reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"Very human of you," she said cheekily, referring to his food preparation skills, grabbing a slice of red pepper as she spoke and taking a bite.
On impulse, since he couldn't kiss her, he leaned down and murmured his desires into her ear.
"You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now," he said.
He felt, as much as heard, her quick intake of breath. And as he leaned back from her, to look into her eyes, he could feel her desire spike.
"So what's stopping you?" she asked, a bit breathlessly, her heart rate speeding up.
"Oh, maybe just the three wolves watching us hostilely from just a few feet away," he replied, without looking away from her. "Not to mention your father."
"Oh!" She flushed, and glanced quickly at the Quileute's and then away. "Right then, well, I guess we'll just toss all this in a salad bowl," she said, ducking down to reach one out from under the counter.
He laughed, softly. God, he loved her.
Sue came into the kitchen then, glass of white wine in hand.
"What can I do to help?" she asked, as Bella straightened up, handing the salad bowl to Jasper.
"Oh, uh…" Bella was still flushed, and seemed to be very carefully not looking at him. She waved her hand at the abundance of covered food dishes on the counter. "You all seem to have brought enough food to sink a ship, even though I told you I was cooking," she rolled her eyes here, "so if you would just move some of that to the table, I'll get the lasagne out of the oven. It should be ready now.
"And, Jasper," she added, still not looking at him directly, "if you could add some dressing and toss that salad, could you put it on the table too, and grab the plates and some cutlery for everyone?"
"Sure, darlin'." He did as she asked, then grabbed the (entirely unnecessary) oven mitts from her and took the lasagne to the table too, placing it down carefully on a cork board she put down for him.
There wasn't room for many people to sit around the small kitchen table, especially with all the food piled onto it, so most of them would eat with plates on their laps.
"Now," he said to Bella, leading her to the living room sofa. "You sit down and relax. I'll fix you a plate."
She smiled up at him, and finally made eye contact again. As always, it was both a shock and a supreme pleasure to tap into her emotions, and feel the love and happiness pouring out of her. It wasn't all for him though, he knew. She really did look on this group as her extended family.
As he prepared a plate for her, he thought gratefully, not for the first time, of his own family. He was glad he had a whole family to offer her, when she changed. She would do it, he knew, just to be with him. But although she was indisputably introverted, and could spend hours on her own reading, she was also a social creature. She seemed to attract people to her, probably due to the love that poured out of her.
Being a vampire was inherently isolating. Most vampires were nomadic and lived in covens of two of three at most, and even then, if they weren't mated, those coven bonds were sometimes quite weak. To have a family of seven living together was otherwise unheard of, and for such tight bonds to exist between non-mates was as unusual as was the fact that they called themselves family.
But she would love them, he knew, just as he did, and as she was already coming to love Alice and Esme. She was still a little shy with Edward and also Carlisle—who she saw more as her doctor, than anything, he thought—and had hardly had a chance to speak with Emmett or Rosalie. But that would change over time, he had no doubt.
He sat down next to Bella with her meal spread between two plates. Everyone here but Charlie knew what he was, and hopefully Charlie wouldn't notice that he didn't eat anything tonight.
"You can't expect me to eat all of that!" Bella murmured to him, as if reading his mind.
He kissed the side of her head. Surely that much was acceptable?
"No," he told her, "Eat as much as you like, just take a little off both plates, if you can. I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I got some of everything."
He could feel curiosity across the room, and looked up to see Sue watching them. He smiled at her. They'd be seeing a lot of her over the next weeks, as she'd offered to stay with Bella during the day while she was undergoing chemo. The cynical part of him wondered how much that offer was based in wanting a member of the Quileutes to keep an eye on their prophecy, and make sure the vampires didn't break the treaty—as if they could stop them!—but he knew they it also stemmed from a sincere concern both for Bella and Charlie.
Sue didn't smile back, and her emotions told him that she was uncomfortable about something—probably his very presence, if not his closeness to Bella—but she nodded at him politely, before looking away. She didn't seem particularly hostile, at least.
A/N
I am in a bit of a hurry to get this up because I am going away again tomorrow, and have yet to pack. Plus I have school pick up in a half hour. Since the last chapter went up I have been half way across the country for a funeral, followed by some very wonderful (though bitter-sweet) family time, and now my kids have gone back to school, and Autumn is fast approaching. Which ironically gives me less time to write, not more.
So… this chapter is unbeta'd AND I have no recommendations for you (that I have time to look up and add). But, I will balance that out by suggesting you try the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. It's available on kindle as one big book (for less than the three cost individually). That's what I'm reading at the moment.
Feel free to leave reviews with the typos, inconsistencies, and Australianism. Or, you know, whatever else you want to say. I did go over this chapter with a red pen a few weeks ago, but I haven't had a chance to come back to it since.
Also, Thank you so much to everyone who had reviewed this story, you really do inspire me to keep going. I am so sorry to all the people who reviewed last time didn't get a reply. I do, usually, reply to every review. And I know I said last time I would send you updates. But it was a matter of send review replies with a teaser, or just put up the next chapter. No time for both – I figured I knew which you'd prefer!
Thanks for reading, see you next time! :)
(January 2020 - as I type it's been months since I updated, but if you are reading this now, just so you know, I am still working on it, and plan to start publishing again when I have the rest all completed. It's not abandoned.)
