"What?!" Edward yelled with a face that remained in shock.
"I'm afraid you heard me correctly." Carlisle sympathized. "Both yourself and Mari CAN have children. There was some question of them back when all the half immortals were destroyed, but the priority for the Volturi back then was to save the secret code of immortality. Afterwards it was deemed to be just myth as no new immortal children, half or full breed were born post destruction."
"So, there may be full immortal children hidden somewhere?" Jasper started to grasp the notion.
"Yes. Many dual immortal parents sacrificed their young to hide from the Volturi, but the legends suggest there may be some still out there. This now leads me to believe the dual immortal parents were just scared into not procreating, rather than it not being possible. This myth is most certainly no longer a myth. This ancient breed of vampire can and have had children." Carlisle sat back in his chair astonished to his findings.
"So if Edward and Mari were to create life..." Jasper only said what they all were thinking. Immortal children, whether half or full breed were forbidden.
"Indeed, you are correct in your assumptions. This could be disastrous for them and indeed us all." Carlisle nodded eying Edward and Mari.
Emmett couldn't resist and asked Edward. "Dude? You two haven't, you know. Have you?"
"No. We haven't!" Edward said frustrated. "NOT that it's any of your damn business!"
"Edward! He's only thinking of the complications it could cause." Esme said trying to keep everyone calm.
"Well, no we haven't. OK?" Edward repeated in a less fierce, but sarcastic tone.
This was one step too much for Mari. With all Carlisle's words pounding her skull and now they were discussing her and Edward's bedroom habits. She had to remove herself from this equation. "Sorry! Excuse me!" She stood and fled the room, out through the kitchen patio doors and onto the veranda for some air. An audible gasp escaped her as she gripped the wooden decking post fighting for a breath of oxygen. Her sudden appearance also startled the chickens, causing them to cluck and flap about.
She felt Alice join her without even looking. "I'm so sorry Mari. We didn't mean to upset you."
"I know. I'm OK, I just needed some air. This is all such a mess..." Mari shook her head.
How had all this happened so fast?
"Hey." Alice rubbed Mari's shoulder softly. "It's a good job Edward is a traditional man huh?! Things could be al..." Alice tried to make light of the situation but Edward joined them interrupting her. "Um. Alice?"
"Sorry. I was just saying..." She stopped when she heard Edward tell her to leave it inside his head. She nodded slowly and retreated back inside.
"Wow! What a night?" He said stepping up beside her. "I thought I'd heard it all in my lifetime, apparently not!"
"Alice, Jasper and Emmett were right though. We could put everyone in an awful lot of danger here, let alone ourselves."
Putting his hands deep into his pockets Edward flexed his elbows awkwardly and grinned. "I knew my virtue would be significant one day!"
"Edward this is serious!" Mari questioned his humor at a time like this.
"I know it is, but I meant it. Alice was also right with what she just said; things could be an awful lot worse right now." He withdrew a hand from his pocket and placed it on her shoulder then leaned in to kiss the side of her head.
"I guess so. I just can't imagine not ever getting intimate with you. The urge is far too strong for me to resist already and I know it will only get stronger. I know you feel it too. It's near on impossible for males to hide their arousal. How will we cope with our feelings?" She had a good point. Edward did feel the pull she described and he did wonder himself how he would resist her, but he wasn't losing her again.
"We'll sort it Baby. I promise" He didn't know how, but he would do his best to find a way. If there was one.
.
For Carlisle, he had to now go away and figure out if any type of contraception would be effective on vampires. There certainly hadn't been any before. No such thing had been needed to be studied. Until then, Edward and Mari would have to refrain, whether they were bound by marriage or not.
Later that night Edward and Mari were lying on Edward's bed in each other's arms. Little had been said about the revelations, they just had to push their feelings deep down inside and lock them there. They could never lose control with each other. Never unite in any bond that could put them in a dangerous position. They could never give in to the natural urge that seeped through their veins. The raw subject still fresh on their minds lingered as the cuddled.
"I don't have to be gifted or mono-venomed to know what you're thinking!" Edward said breaking the silence.
"Hmm. Well, you can't escape the fact if I hadn't..." Mari started.
"No! I'm not letting you go there; you have been the best thing in my life for a long time. I don't regret any of it, and neither should you. We both are guilty of some aspects of our past and we can't keep looking back." Edward pulled back from her slightly to look her in the eye.
"It's all what ifs. Of course I don't regret meeting you. I certainly don't regret saving you, but..."
Edward finished her sentence for her. "...but nothing! It's happened and we will deal with it, like all Cullen's do!"
"Not like the Tyler's huh?" She huffed.
"Tyler's?" He tried out her surname and beamed a lopsided grin. "I never knew that? Why did I not know that?"
She smiled now to against his chest. "You never asked?"
"No, I didn't, did I? What did you mean anyway? Not like the Tyler's?"
"Aw, nothing. Just family stuff." She shrugged. "We just didn't bother dealing with situations. We just hid them, hoping they would go away."
"I'm just starting to realize something, I know nothing about you. Tell me about them?" It was true; she knew an awful lot about him now, but he knew little about her parentage or her human life.
"What do you wanna know?" She questioned. "There is not much to tell."
"Well let's start by what you meant?" His voice was warm, soft and enchanting.
"I grew up in Texas. My mother and father permanently fought like cat and dog; he got drunk, she yelled, he'd hit her, she'd go to bed crying. Of course he'd be sorry, they'd make up and so on..."
Feeling her pain, he squeezed her gently with his arms. "I'm sorry."
Mari continued. "When I was 16, my dad threw me out whilst in one of his drunken rages. He'd hit my mother so hard that day that she was unconscious, so I tried to ring for help. He caught me, beat me to a pulp and chucked me out there and then, pointing a gun at me he told me where to go. I was so scared he would kill her, so I said I would, if he put the gun away. He lowered it so I left."
She paused briefly to swallow hard.
"I stayed at my best friend Sally's house, her parents were so different. They were warm; welcoming, friendly and told me I could stay as long as I liked." A smile crossed her face as she thought about them, which faded as she returned to talk about her father. "I called the state police and reported my father. They went round there and found my mother in a dreadful state; he'd beaten her black and blue. They arrested him and shoved him in jail. That's the last I heard of my father.
Later I heard my mother had recovered well and was in a rehabilitation clinic as her injuries had messed her up. She divorced him and started a new life with one of her care givers. Neither asked after me, cared where I'd gone or wondered what had become of me. I guess I wasn't high on their list of priorities. Sally's parents became the only family I needed. I didn't want to know my biological family after the way I was treated and I never saw them again."
"That's awful!" Edward kissed her forehead tenderly.
Mari's stare as she recalled her story remained unmoved. "I stayed with Sally till that night soon after graduation. We'd been to this awesome party at this fella's house who Sally adored." Chuckling she continued. "She ended up getting lucky, so I walked home on my own, or I would've done if I had I made it home. Mi...HE, bit me and I joined his clan, promised me the world he did, told me I was his girl. I'd never want for nothing."
"Hmm..." Edward sounded irritated.
"...and you know the rest. My family never fought for anything in their life, expect to keep outta my dad's way. I had no siblings, he beat her so hard she couldn't have any more children after me and in a way I'm glad, I don't know what would have happened to them if they had. Could I have left them behind with that monster?" Mari said it like it was a normal life experience.
"That's heartbreaking. Nobody should live like that, never feeling safe." He winced at the thought. "It's ironic isn't it, some humans who freely have kids, really don't deserve them. Yet vampires who can care for them for an eternity and keep them a lot safer are not allowed them."
"Being here is the safest I've felt in 10 years. Your family is wonderful Edward. They have been so welcoming to me. It must have taken a lot to bring a red-eye back here, especially with Renesmee around. Yet they saw the good in me. I will never be able to thank then enough for that." She smiled again now, content.
"My real family was great too. I remember my mother vividly, she was insanely short." He grinned remembering her stature. "She was always baking; I can still smell the cookies in my memory. Despite being poor, she and my father always ensured me and my three older brothers wanted for nothing. Baking was a great way to make food go further. They often went without food themselves to make sure we got fed. My father worked what seemed like to us permanently to bring in money. They eventually both got sick, and left us orphaned. My brothers eventually got jobs and moved on, leaving me to fend for myself. The sickness finally caught up with us all though and I ended up on Carlisle's ward in the hospital. He said he always felt a pang of guilt, with me being the last surviving son and not able to save my family, so he changed me to save me." He shrugged, happy with his story.
"That's beautiful, that he wanted to help you I mean. He even gave you his name?"
"Yes. I went double barreled for a while, but eventually I dropped my real name, and become a Cullen." Edward's pride shone through.
"What was your real name? I don't think I ever asked you either?" She wondered looking up.
"Edward Masen." He smiled again. It had been a while since he'd used that name.
"Masen. Nice name."
"Officially I'm Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Which is somewhat of a mouthful, but I'm happy to keep just the Cullen name though. Both Carlisle and Esme will always be my family too, I will always be thankful to him for saving me. I will always have them, Renesmee, and now you, that's all I need right now and that's all that matters to me."
"Till death us do part." She tittered, staring up into his eyes.
Edward laughed happily flashing his fangs. "Seems that way doesn't it?"
"You're stuck with me now Edward Cullen. For your entire life!"
"What an intriguing idea..." He growled lustfully curling his body around her and planting a kiss down upon her dull pink lips "...and I can't wait."
A/N: Bombshell dropped! This chapter caught up on some of Edward and Mari's back story. Hope you enjoyed. I kinda like that will die together, very romantic. Awwwww!
As before, many thanks to my busy Beta Dodger McClure. I am truly grateful for your time.
Eternal thanks to my pre-reader CaptainClaire3 for trawling through my story, making sense of my garbled rubbish. Thank you. xx
To my readers. I thank you for all your reviews. I love reading them. Keep them coming in.
Onwards then xx
DeathToBeReborn xx