A/N: All rights go to Stephanie Meyers. I do not own anything except for any characters not originally in the Twilight Saga.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Leandra
Marcus has been a little distant since we spoke about the trial. It has amazed me at how much time has passed since I last saw Edward and the thought of his mate no longer being human and then him possibly turning some poor child into a vampire. I would not do that to my little girl not matter what it meant for her, she is not ready and neither are Marcus and I. My sweet girl is curled up by my side in my bed still asleep even after Marcus left to check in with Aro about the trial and our departure. I look up from my book on my knees to the painting of Marcus' first mate that I made him leave up and smile a little.
"What would you have done if you were still alive and Marcus was like this? Would you fight your brother or would you have gone to keep an eye on Marcus?" I ask the painting quietly.
"She would have fought with her brother," I hear Marcus say from the door. I look at him to see he is smiling widely at me still in my night gown with our daughter next to me. "What are my darling girls doing in bed this late?"
"Well, I am keeping our princess company while she sleeps and reading a book," I say with a smile. Marcus walks over to sit on the edge of the bed and caresses my face gently. I see the pain in his eyes when I look deep into them and know something is wrong. "My love, what is the matter?"
"We leave tomorrow and it will not be safe for our little girl when we are gone. I have asked Myra to take Layla away when we leave and told her not to return until I send word to her. I fear that the death of the Cullens will only make Aro even more power hungry and try to cause pain to us after waiting for this long," Marcus says softly. His eyes rest on Layla's angelic face and he reaches out to touch her face with his other hand. "Losing her would hurt me more after just having her appear in my life. I promised to keep her safe and I plan to keep that promise."
"Marcus, she will be safe with my sister," I say softly. I hold his face in my hands and pull him to me for a sweet kiss. "We will return home safely to our beautiful daughter and be a family forever."
"Just promise me that whatever happens to me that you will find our daughter and remain hidden," Marcus says with a small crack in his voice.
"I promise," I whimper. He pulls me close to him again to give me a gentle kiss just moments before Layla stirs. We both turn to her with big smiles and she rubs her eyes sleepily.
"Mama, papa, can we go for a walk in the garden today?" Layla asks.
"Of course, my darling," I say softly. Layla smiles a little and looks over at Marcus to see he is looking at her with sad eyes.
"Papa, what is the matter?" Layla asks sweetly.
"Nothing, princess," Marcus says with a small smile. He picks her up to hold close to him, as if it will be the last time he will ever be able to hold her and smell her wonderful scent. "Let's go take that walk."
"Okay, papa," Layla says with a bigger smile. Marcus keeps her in his arms as he stands and then offers a hand out to help me to my feet so we have one last walk with our darling girl.