One More Night
Chapter Twelve
Four Months Later
Her feet pounded against the grass as she ran as fast as she could, wind wiping her hair behind her. She loved the feel of the breeze, the sounds of the woods, and the smell of the fresh air.
It was amazing.
"Mommy! Slow down!" Bella came to a stop at the clearing as the beautiful, medium skin toned toddler ran through the trees, stopping right in front of her. "I'm not that fast, Mommy." Vanessa gave a fake pout as Bella giggled and knelt in front of her amazingly gifted daughter.
"Honey, don't pout like that. You look like your father when you do that." She teased her little girl before grabbing her hand, placing a soft kiss on the toddler's knuckles. "Mommy will go slower, but we run like this for your own good, sweetie. You know that, right?" Vanessa nodded with a forgiving smile.
"In case something bad happens." Bella nodded with a big smile. Bella was worried that the Volturi might still come back to Forks. She knew their issues with wolves and Vanessa was a wolf. She needed her daughter to be safe even if they couldn't be with her.
"Yes. Now, what is the 'go' word?" Vanessa giggled a little before covering her little mouth.
"Spider monkey." Little Vanessa had no idea what a spider monkey was, but the image of a monkey with eight legs was hilarious to her.
"That's my girl." Vanessa was graced with impossible beauty. She had long black hair that was wavy and her mother's chocolate brown eyes. Vanessa was a perfect level of her mother and her father in both mind and body. She had her father's carefree spirit and goofy personality along with his hair, nose and jawline. From her mother, she had her shyness, her love of the supernatural beings that surrounded them daily, her lips, and eyes. Her skin tone didn't belong to either of them. It was more of a mix of the two complexions.
Bella softly stroked her daughter's hair. She couldn't believe how perfect everything was.
Billy was surprised when Bella and Jake showed up to see him with a newborn baby girl the day after Charlie met the ray of sunshine. He wasn't happy that his son had gotten his girlfriend pregnant in the first place, but given the circumstances, he was relieved by the ripple affect of her pregnancy. He was happy that she survived it, that his son was happy, and that they had this unbelievably amazing little girl.
The packs were still separate, but they were civil when they were in each other's company. There was still this huge tension between the Black family and the Uley pack. Though Sam's pack felt terrible for what they tried to do, their regret didn't reverse the damage their actions had done to the trust and respect from Billy, Jacob, and Bella. Though the council had entertained the idea of demoting Sam from his Alpha status, there was no one in the Uley pack that was as responsible as Sam to lead them. The others were sheep in comparison to their shepherd.
For the Black pack, Leah was the happiest she had been in a very long time with Edward by her side. Her current happiness made her regret full of how she had misjudged the Cullen's before then. She never thought she would be in a happy, loving relationship with a vampire, but Edward was different. They were so similar. Seeing how perfect they were for each other, she was a little surprised that she didn't imprint on him, but the fact that he was a vampire was probably the leading factor of why she didn't. Paul was happier to have Jake as his Alpha than Sam. Jake was a little more laxed than Sam. Plus, he wasn't so serious and brooding. Seth was just happy that he got to spend every day with his imprint.
Everyone knew that Seth, Bella, and Jacob were Vanessa's top three favorite people in the world and no one took offense to it. The one she was closest to was Jacob.
She was definitely a Daddy's girl.
"When is Daddy coming home?" Vanessa whined as Bella giggled. Her daughter truly was a treasure.
"When he's done working with the pack. How about we play a little game, huh, pumpkin?" Vanessa's eyes widened in excitement before clapping, the biggest smile ever across the toddler's face.
"A game! Yay!" Bella smirked lovingly at her little girl.
"Let's sneak up on Daddy. How about we track him and scare him?" Bella teased her sweet daughter who had a mischievous look in her big doe eyes.
"Yes, yes, yes!" She was excited and Bella grabbed the toddler's hand, both of them running through the forest. They waved through trees and jumped over bushes until they made it to a creek.
Bella knew this was a good way to teach Vanessa to use her wolf senses to her advantage. She worried one day the toddler may need them to protect herself or use these natural gifts she had to stay alive.
"Okay. I want you to close your eyes." The child giggled before doing as she was told. Bella couldn't stop herself from smiling at the beautiful little girl if she wanted to. "Now, take a good, deep sniff of the air. Search for Daddy through his scent." The toddler took a few good breaths through her nose, turning her head in a few directions. She was struggling, but soon she found that musky scent she loved of her father's.
"Daddy's that way, Mommy!" Vanessa pointed down the creek in the direction of their home and Bella shushed the small child. Vanessa covered her mouth and giggled. The child showed her mother the way and sprinted until they found the big russet wolf in the clearing they started at, sniffing the ground. Bella put her finger to her lips for her daughter to stay quiet and Vanessa did the motion to her mouth of zipping her lips and throwing away a key. They looked around the tree and found Jacob back in his human form, dressed in his cut offs.
"Hmm?" He rubbed his head with confusion. He was taking a break to see his girlfriend and their daughter, but they seemed to be moving too fast to track them. He worried for a moment that something might have happened, but he would have sensed Bella's panic if something did happen.
Bella pointed to the spot they were standing for her daughter to stay put and she nodded silently as Bella slowly walked around the tree they were hiding behind before she sprinted at her mate, knocking him to the ground. He landed on his face with an umph noise before she flipping him over, holding him down by his chest. She smirked as she stayed straddling his waist, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.
"Gotcha." He chortled before sitting up, kissing her sweetly.
"Well, ain't this a pleasant surprise?" She nodded before she pulled away, placing a chaste kiss on his nose before jumping to her feet.
"Come on, honey!" Bella called to their daughter who came out from behind the tree, running towards her loving father.
"Daddy!" She exclaimed happily and he picked her up in his arms, swinging her around.
"Hey, munchkin. What were you two doing?" He looked between the mother and daughter with suspicion and Bella snickered happily.
"I was teaching your daughter to track. She learned very quickly." Vanessa nodded proudly and Jake chortled.
"Did you learn to track?" He asked Vanessa who nodded.
"She found you, didn't she?" He rolled his eyes before hugging his daughter closer. Bella felt the tears coming from seeing Jake and Vanessa so happy together. Seeing them like this always made her feel emotional and overflowing with joy, but she didn't want them to think she was sad by seeing her cry.
"You are one smart cookie!" Jake exclaimed happily as Vanessa hugged Jake again.
"I missed you, Daddy!" She couldn't stop the tears from leaking out as Jake kissed his daughter's cheek.
"Missed you, too, sweetie." Suddenly, Seth came prancing into the clearing and Vanessa squealed.
"Seth!" The toddler leaped out of her father's arms, and ran over the to the wolf who imprinted on her. Seth's wolf gave her a goofy, happy smile as she hugged her tiny arms around his leg.
Jacob quickly took the space from his daughter to move to his imprint. His arms encased her waist and his mouth met hers in a passionate kiss. She whimpered into his moist lips as she clawed at his chest.
It was hard for either of them to be apart from each other and, every moment they were, it made them appreciate their time together that much more intensely.
He released the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers, a loving smirk gracing his supple lips.
"Hey, beautiful." Simpering, she gingerly touched his cheek.
"Hey yourself." He softly rubbed her back as they looked over at their daughter who jumped on Seth's back. The toddler stood up as Seth started running, like she was surfing him. Bella instantly panicked. "Vanessa Savannah Black! Do not stand up on him like that!" Vanessa frowned before sitting down on Seth, her shoulders sinking, and Jake groaned.
He loved Bella to death, but she was extremely overprotective of Vanessa and this was worrisome to him.
"Bells, give her a break." His voice was soft yet irritated and she looked to him, befuddled.
"What do you mean?" She asked and he rolled his eyes.
"She's a kid, baby. She's not going to get hurt. All your worrying can accomplish is putting a damper on her childhood. The worst that could happen with her standing on Seth is her getting hit by a branch and she would just shake it off and go on with her day." She scowled at her mate with irritation as she crossed her arms.
"You may not recall, but I almost died having that child four months ago." The reminder of her state that night when she gave birth sent a searing pain through his heart which she felt from their imprint. She sighed and her face softened. "Her growth isn't slowing down and Carlisle is stumped on what to do about it. What if she never phases and she just keeps aging at this rate? If she were human, she would just now be able to push herself up on her stomach. Instead of that, she's running and talking. She cracks jokes and can track scents. She is aging six times as fast as a normal child. At this rate, she will be Charlie's age in a decade. If she doesn't start aging normally, our daughter will be dead in less than fifteen years." This thought hurt Jake to think of, but he knew it was possible.
It could very well be that they would be burying their toddler in a decade and a half, that when she should be starting high school, she would be on her deathbed.
"Bella, I already know all this. You really should stop treating her like she's going to break. Why are you being like that with her? You didn't like it when Edward did it to you so why are you doing this to her?" She sighed as her tears spilled down her face.
"Our time with her is limited. I don't want to lose her sooner than we have to, Jake. It's not like we are going to have any more children. The only time of parenthood we have is with her." His eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Wait, what? What do you mean that we couldn't have any more children?" She gulped before looking down at his shirt.
"Because I haven't gotten my period since before I got pregnant with her. The same thing happened to Leah when she changed, because we are now basically frozen in time. I don't have a choice to stop being a wolf because I can't shift like she can. I'm always going to be like this so Vanessa is the only child we get." He nodded before cupping her gorgeous face in his hands.
"Hey." He whispered softly and she gazed up into his eyes as he looked down at her, love radiating from his stare. "I know you are worried, honey, but your protectiveness is messing with her quality of life. I know you are concerned about her lifespan, but you need to realize that the quality of life is more important than the quantity of it." Bella's shoulders relaxed as he pressed his forehead to hers. "She's a good kid, Bells. She's not going to do something to put her life in danger." His face contorted into a teasing smirk. "Unlike someone I know." He nudged her and she snickered before smirking up at her. "All we can do is enjoy the time we have left with her. Cut her some slack, honey." She caved. He always had a way of making her see things the way he did. It was one of his many gifts.
"Okay." He smirked triumphantly before giving her a sweet kiss. Seth stopped next to the couple and Vanessa jumped down gracefully before something caught her eye off into the distant, on the hill above the clearing.
Through the crisp white snow that covered the trees and ground, a dark figure stood out like a sore thumb.
"Mommy, who's that?" Bella's, Jake's, and Seth's eyes snapped in the direction that the toddler pointed to see a dark figure on the mountain's top, a black cloak covering the petite stature of the blonde woman.
Instantly, Bella thought of Jane until she looked closely, recognizing Irina's features.
"It's our cousin from Denali, Irina." Bella took note of the disbelief, disgust, and disheartening expression on the golden-eyes vampiresses' face. "Irina!" She called to her and waved her over, but she quickly turned, running in the opposite direction.
Without looking for anyone's approval, Bella ran after the vampire. She hadn't seen her since the wedding and it probably shocked her to see that Bella wasn't a vampire. She knew that Irina had still been struggling with her grief over Laurent, but she hoped she had gotten over the belief that the wolves were responsible for his death. True, they did kill him, but it was only to protect an innocent person.
Bella raced after Irina, but the older vampire was way faster than her, probably due to her age. Bella gained on her, but she lost her as the blonde jumped into the murky current from the cliffs in La Push.
Why wouldn't you just talk to me? Bella asked herself concerning Irina.
She worried for the poor girl. She didn't know what she would do if something happened to Jake. She would probably wither away and die the most excruciating death of a broken hearted woman.
Irina was stronger not to just forget everything and let her broken heart completely consume her.
"Bella?" She turned to see Seth, Jake, and Vanessa break through the brush before she looked back at the water.
"She was too fast. I couldn't catch her." She groaned as Jake looked to her confused.
"Who was that?" He asked and she gulped. She said the words she hoped were wrong, but her gut was telling her otherwise.
"A big problem."
Bella stood across the room with Jake by her side as the Cullens huddled around Carlisle on the couch with his mate by his side. Edward sat at his piano with little Vanessa right by him.
"Thanks, Carmen, we appreciate it." The eldest vampire hung up the phone before looking around the room. "Irina was here to see Bella." The wolves looked surprised by this as were Jasper and Emmett.
"Why?" Emmett showed his lack of knowledge of what had happened on the day of the wedding. Everyone looked to Bella who hugged her midsection.
"Because, at the wedding, I got her to see past her resentments towards the pack for her mate being killed." She had already told Jake and Paul about this, but everyone else was clueless. "The pack killed Laurent when you were all gone. He was trying to kill me and Jake wouldn't let it get that far. I explained to her how it was no one's fault that me and Laurent were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was hunting and found me. He tried to resist the temptation, but he couldn't." Bella looked to Carlisle with sad eyes. "Is she really bad off?" Carlisle nodded, agony in his eyes.
"She has been struggling a lot with nowhere to channel her anger or her broken heart." Bella sighed as Jake squeezed her waist.
"And seeing Seth must have been too much for her to bear. Seeing him must have been a painful reminder." All of the people in the room, vampire or werewolf, had an intense pain in their heart for this poor girl who had lost her true love for something she had no control over and couldn't save him from.
"Don't worry. She is family. She'll come around. Carmen will let us know when she arrives back home." Bella nodded as she hugged Jacob's arm around her.
"It's completely understandable, her need to blame someone. I don't know what I would do in her shoes." Her hand slightly squeezed Jake's wrist as he pressed a soft kiss to the back of her head.
They all had the subconscious fear that they might one day lose their true love like Irina had, but none of them could even fathom this fear becoming a true possibility.
Meanwhile, Irina hid in the trees deep within the woods near Vancouver, contemplating what to do.
This was the most impossible situation she had ever been in. On one hand, the Cullen's were her family, distant family, but still. Bella had helped her through her resentments and Rose was a good friend of hers.
On the other hand, it horrified her that the Cullen's would make the same mistake that her mother had. Natasha was blinded by love and protection and now she was dead for that connection she had developed.
After what happened to her mother, she hated the idea of telling the Volturi about anything involving someone's crime, but she had little choice. If the Volturi found out her or any of her family know and didn't report it, they would all be slaughtered by the guard.
Her choice was stripped from her to protect her family.
She had to tell the Volturi about the child that was in the Cullen's possession.
Bella, Jake, Vanessa, and the pack along with their mates arrived at Charlie's house at just the right time.
Charlie had invited them all over for dinner in a lame excuse to get to see his daughter and granddaughter. They always made sure to designate one day a week to see Billy and one day for Charlie, but the old man got impatient. He was still adjusting to the fact that his daughter wasn't living with him and that she was on her own.
Charlie ran out the house as Vanessa jumped out the car, a big smile on her face.
"Pappy!" She shrieked as she ran to Charlie, getting a big hug. Bella and Jacob climbed out of the car as did everyone else from their vehicles.
"Look at you!" Charlie smiled at his growing granddaughter. "You must have grown six inches since I saw you last." Charlie looked to Vanessa bewildered as Sue slapped his shoulder.
"She's a growing girl!" Sue justified as Leah, Edward, Seth, Bella, and Jacob approached the porch.
"Hey, dad." Bella hugged her father who squeezed a little tighter than necessary.
"Hey, Bells." He released the hug before shaking Jacob's hand. "Jake, you treating my girl's good, right?" Charlie gave a teasing glare before Jacob chortled.
"Yes, sir." It only took a couple weeks for Charlie to get over his fear of Jake being a wolf, but the curiosity still filled him concerning what the Cullen's had to do with it.
His whole life, all of the Quileute had a sore spot about the Cullen family and suddenly the Clearwaters and the Blacks are constantly surrounded by them in a happy atmosphere. When Sue told him that Leah was dating Edward Cullen, he nearly spit his coffee halfway across the room.
He wasn't sure if he should believe his daughter when back in May she told him that Edward would always be a part of her life, but he never thought it would be like this.
A Cullen and a Quileute dating? He had finally seen it all!
"Edward, Seth, Leah, you are looking well." Charlie gave a kind smile though Edward still rubbed him the wrong way.
They finished their greetings before everyone went inside. Everything was comfortable and wonderful until it was time to leave.
Leah and Edward got in his Volvo as they headed back to the Cullen house. Leah could tell Edward was on edge, but she wasn't sure what was wrong.
"Charlie has always been suspicious of me." He answered her train of thought and she clutched his hand.
"Why?" She asked aloud with a soft undertone.
"He's got good instincts and a long memory. He wants to know why my family was able to help Bella when she was pregnant and he knows it has to do with whatever about me rubs him the wrong way. He also doesn't understand me and you being together. He knows your tribe has never like me or my family and he doesn't understand the sudden change." This brought sadness to Leah. Charlie was her mother's boyfriend and he had these problems with her mate. "He's never really liked me at all. He never thought I was good enough for Bella and thought it would be better for everyone if I just went away and didn't come back. When I did that, but came back, he wished I had stayed gone. He's just going to keep getting more and more suspicious as time goes one. One day, he will probably figure out my family's secret and that would put his life in danger because of the Volturi." She knew what he was telling her, that one day soon his family would need to go away, even just a town over to be away from the suspicious eyes of Chief Swan.
"I would follow you anywhere, Edward Cullen." She stroked his hand affectionately as she said this and he softly chuckled before wrapping his arm around her shoulder. A soft kiss graced her temple as she purred appreciatively.
"He's just going to have to get used to me since he is planning to propose to your mom." Leah gasped as Edward revealed this.
"What?" Edward laughed happily.
"Yup, looks like you will Aunt Leah to Vanessa after all." He teasingly tickled her side and she flashed a big smile at him.
"Well, I think everyone deserves to be happy. Look at us. We are a wolf and a vampire. We should be mortal enemies, but we are in love and I couldn't be happier than I am by your side." He flashed her a big smiled before he pulled her closer to him.
"Same here, Leah. There is only one thing that could make this any better and, well, I doubt that would even be possible." She looked to him confused as he frowned, the image of how glorious she would look if such a thing were possible.
"What? You can tell me." He sighed.
"The only thing that would make our relationship even better is if we could….have a family together, our own family. Bella and Jacob have Vanessa. It would just be nice if we could have our own children, but I know it's impossible. You're a wolf and I'm a vampire." She blushed before she placed her hands over her stomach. She had been trying her best to hide her thoughts so she could have a good time to tell him her news, unsure of how he would feel about what she had been hiding from him. "What is it? What are you hiding, love?" He pulled his car over in the park parking lot before he turned to her. She smiled to herself before she glanced up at him.
"It's not impossible. I-I've been wanting to tell you, but I wasn't sure how you would feel about it." He looked to her confused as she bit her lip, giggling, while stroking her stomach. He watched her hands then it clicked to him.
"Leah, are you-are you…." She smiled and nodded before grabbing his hand, placing it to her stomach.
"I didn't think it was possible either. I haven't gotten my period since I first phased so I automatically thought that as long as I was phasing that I couldn't get pregnant until I stopped phasing. I-I could feel it, the baby, as soon as the conception was complete. My body felt different. I suddenly felt like I was constantly starving, more than normal, and I felt a little sore in my womb, like something was there that wasn't there before." He didn't speak and his expression was unreadable so she kept talking.
"When you went hunting last, I went to my mom's clinic in La Push and used her ultrasound machine so I could be sure and I saw the baby. You couldn't imagine how happy I was to see this sweet little life on that screen. I figured it would have been like how it was for Bella when she was pregnant with Vanessa, how you couldn't see Vanessa on an ultrasound machine, but I could see the baby. It's not growing very fast at all so I expect I will be pregnant for a long time before we get to meet our son or daughter. Please, say something." She pleaded with him and the shock came to his eyes.
"Really? You are really pregnant?" She nodded happily before placing her hand on his marble cheek.
"I am and, before you even ask, this baby is very compatible with my body. I haven't had any morning sickness, but I do feel a little nauseous sometimes." A small smile flashed across his face with joy.
"Does anyone else know?" Leah smiled back and shook her head.
"Just me and you right now. Who do you want to tell first?" She teased him and he quickly kissed her, so raw and passionate.
"I love you, Leah Anne Clearwater." She blushed before stroking his jawline.
"And I love you, Edward Anthony Masen-Cullen."
Bombshell! Leah and Edward are having a baby! Yay! Who else is happy for them? I know I am! Let me your thoughts and lots of love!