XIV.
Life
The baby was named Jeremy. He had big brown eyes while his hair was black with brown natural streaks. Since he was premature, he wasn't more than four pounds and that got us really worried. He stayed in ICU for awhile. My mom couldn't stop crying her eyes out. Of course we all were worried but they said that if she couldn't relax, they would be forced to give her some medication.
A day after Jeremy was born, Bella came to the hospital. I almost forgot that she was his sister too. It wasn't as if I was denying her claim to the baby, but then I wanted him all by myself. She already have Nessie and I think that's enough right? She brought in a huge bouquet of flowers and balloons. My mother, Seth, and me were all a bit hesitant when she asked if she could see the baby in the ICU. We don't have anything against her. It's just that she was still a vampire and she might not be able to control it.
"I promise, I won't harm him," she said when she saw the hesitation forming in our eyes.
"That's unfair. Bella is still my daughter. What makes you think she would harm Jeremy?" Charlie protested.
"It's ok, dad. They're just worried. But please don't. I promise, I'll be good," she said. I accompanied her to the ICU where Jeremy was sleeping. She looked at him at one of those hospital beds for babies. She didn't look hungry at all but she stared at the baby with tender love. I was getting mad at her again. She doesn't need to look like that. She already have a baby herself. I don't want Jeremy to favor Bella over me. Maybe he will because she was undeniably beautiful and rich. She could bribe the little boy and spoil him, making him favor her over me.
She must have seen in my face what I was thinking because she said,"Don't worry, Leah, I'll do everything to be with Jeremy but I'm not going to take him away from you. I love him already but I know you love him just as much. I'm not competing. But I do hope we're both going to be his favorite sisters."
"Bella, it's not that..."I started saying but I trailed off. I couldn't lie to myself. I couldn't lie to her and she knew it. She smiled and shook her head.
"It's ok Leah, I totally understand. You don't have to explain everything."
I didn't know what else to say so I just stayed quiet. Bella was still looking at Jeremy with the same tender love. I looked away, still feeling envious about what she can be to this little boy when he grows up.
"I wonder if he could shield his thoughts the way I do," she gasped. I looked at her.
"That means when he becomes a vampire, he could be a shield too, right?" I asked. She nodded. "No, I can't let that happen," I answered firmly.
"Relax, Leah, it was just an idea. I'm not going to turn him to a vampire. I want him to live with you guys, remember? But it is kind of sad. I mean he's going to get old like the rest of the humans that we love. We're going to lose him along the way," she said suddenly being overcome by sadness. I know what she means. I even realized that I was going to lose Seth since he will choose to age with that Lexi girl. I was going to lose my mother, Charlie, and all of the boys in my pack except for Jacob. I swallowed hard, trying to fight back the tears.
She looked at me once again knew exactly what I was thinking, "I know, Leah, it's hard but I guess that's the consequence to immortality."
"I never did choose to be an immortal. I didn't choose to imprint on one either. If I could, I would choose to die with everyone else that I love. But you chose your destiny," I said bitterly.
She looked down," I know. It sounds so selfish but I just can't live without Edward. I can't live without my family. You're a part of that now. It's like I've imprinted on him too. I just... I can't bear to think of being somewhere Edward isn't. If there's a heaven and vampires like us can't be there too, then I would be happy because I won't be separated from him."
"And you're willing to out live everyone that you love, even Rene and Charlie?" I asked without friendliness in my voice.
"I chose my destiny a long time ago, Leah. I know the consequences. I know it's hard for you because I know you would have chosen something completely different and you living until the end of time with Ethan wasn't your choice. I know that. But don't take out your anger towards me. If I could, I would make everyone immortal without suffering the transformation of becoming a vampire or phasing of a wolf but I don't have the power to. I've learned that the world must have balance, Leah and we were the ones who were excluded from that balance but that doesn't mean everyone is. It will be hard to see my parents die, to see the people I love die, but that's how things go. That's how life goes, Leah," she said looking at me directly in the eye.
"I just wish we were never a part of all of this. I just wish we were...normal," I said honestly.
"Yeah, I know but we can't really do anything now, can we?" she pointed out.
That afternoon, the whole pack, old and new, came. Stephen and Alex, the new pups, were really excited in meeting the original pack. They asked all sorts of stupid questions that in the end everyone just got irritated. Alex kept on asking Sam what it was like to have a girl in the pack. He was such a little pervert and he was asking the wrong person. I just wanted to smack him in the back of his head but Jacob did it for me.
"If you keep asking questions like that, you'll find yourself without any limbs, kid so if I were you, I would shut up," he hissed in his ear but everyone heard it and howled out laughing. We were laughing as if he just said a joke but we all knew that he was serious.
You could imagine what it was like when boys like them get together. The visit turned to a very loud party. The nurse went in and told us to quiet down or all of them would be forced to leave. My mom couldn't help smiling. She looks at them as if she didn't just gave birth to one small boy but all of these loud, annoying, huge wolves. She considers them as her own. At that time, Charlie was at work so he didn't witness any of these loud moments.
The vampires chose to visit when all of the wolves were gone. I was guessing that tension would be just uncomfortable and they wouldn't be able to stand each other smell. The Cullens came in with such grace and beauty that I was still puzzled why people didn't notice they were not human. They were all wearing these perfect happy smiles and I knew that when we stood beside them, they would be like the bright light and we were the plain objects.
Ethan would always visit even if Bella or none of the Cullens were visiting that time. But then I knew he was making sure I was taking care of myself and not only my mother. Seth would be with Lexi all the time but he didn't bring her when the pack would visit. I think he wants to keep her to him first though, Jacob and me heares everything he says in his head when we were in our wolf form.
When Jeremy was out of the ICU and was allowed to be with us, Ethan was visiting me once again. He looked nervous and stayed quiet and jittery when he was there. He didn't say anything but he looked like he was going to say something important. He kept on looking at me and opening his mouth then close it again and look at his hands. It looked comical and most of the time I would laugh.
I picked up Jeremy and held him in my arms. The baby was asleep and he fitted in my arms perfectly, though he fit perfectly with my mom's arms too. Looking at the baby just gave me this weird protective feeling and I didn't want Ethan there, knowing he was a possible threat to this angel. I looked up and he was looking at me and the baby stunned. I wasn't sure if he was smelling the baby but I knew for sure that he smelled delicious.
"What?" I asked, sure that he was thinking of the baby's blood.
"I just realized how unfair it is that you weren't given a chance to have a baby," he said plainly but his face was still stunned.
I didn't know what to say. I just stared at him, unsure, then looked at the baby once again. He was awake now and his brown eyes were staring intently at mine. I looked at my mom and she was resting peacefully. The hospital were releasing my mom and Jeremy this afternoon so she needs all the rest she can get. The baby took my attention again. When I looked down on him, he smiled such a pretty smile I couldn't help crying in happiness.
The next few months were hazy to me. I guess for the past few months, nothing exciting really happened. I was thinking that maybe this was the end of any adventure that came our way. I don't think the Volturi would come here any longer. We haven't done anything wrong, as far as I knew. Things between Ethan and me were a bit unclear either. He really looks like he wants to tell me something but just couldn't get the courage to do it. He would drag me out of a room and then try to tell me what it was bothering him but then he would tell me something he wants me to tell Jacob. It was getting extremely irritating. I knew vampires were really sure of themselves and seeing Ethan unsure was getting me extremely worried.
"Look, would you just spit it out, Ethan?! It's getting annoying!" I said heated when he called me out of my house again.
He hesitated and then said,"Would you go with me to the La Push? I've always wanted to be there."
"What the hell?! Was that all you want to say after all these months of running away with your tail between your legs?" I said extremely irritated. He smiled and just walked away. I think I threw a stone towards his head then but he didn't even look back.
Before sunset, I went to La Push like what he said. He stood there, looking dazzling, wearing only basketball shorts. His skin, of course, was shining as if diamonds were embeded in it. He had a weird smile on his face, the same smile when I introduced him to my pack as my imprint mate.
"You know that this is stupid right? I mean, you do know that people might see you, right?" I shook my head.
He smiled,"I think I'll risk it."
"What are we doing here, anyways?"
"I think I lost something in the ocean. I want you to find it."
"Look, dogs might have this really strong nose, but that doesn't work underwater."
"I'll help you."
I looked at myself. I was wearing a blue shirt and pants while in my feet were a simple flip flops. "If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit over-dressed."
"I've brought you some new swimwear," he replied pointing at a dazzling car that I haven't noticed before. I looked at him then to the car then to him again.
"Is that your new car?" I asked.
He nodded,"I just wanted to take it out for a drive."
I shook my head,"So that's why you want me to come here, to show off your ride."
"That and I lost something. You can change in the car. The windows are tinted and I swear I won't look."
I approached the jaw-dropping car. I've never been a car expert but by the looks of it, I was sure it was one of the latest Lamborghini models. I have never dreamed of seeing this kind of car, what more being inside of it. If the outside wasn't slick enough, the inside was just unbelievable. The black leather seating seem to shine out of smoothness. I was afraid to touch the dashboard because if I did I thought I was going to leave fingermarks. I wasn't that pleased when I saw that the swimsuit he bought me were two-piece black ones. I hated two pieces and I was hoping for a more modest swimwear.
I got changed quickly and got out of the smooth black car. He was still looking at my direction so I wasn't sure if he was smiling at the sight of the car or at the sight of my embarrassing form.
"You look fantastic," he said but I didn't even smile. I was really getting annoyed by all his games.
"What are we looking for exactly?" I asked, putting on my shirt just to cover some skin up.
"Something very valuable to me," he answered.
"What?" I asked.
"A jewelry."
"We're going to look for that in the whole ocean?! It's going to take forever!" I screamed starting to go back to the car where I left the rest of my clothes.
"Don't worry, I have a general idea where it could be," he said, grabbing my arms to stop me from taking one more step. I let out a frustrated scream and that got him laughing out loud.
"You won't even tell me what kind of jewelry it is! I know vampires don't have to breathe but I have to so you look for it. I'm not going to look for something small in the whole ocean!"
"Just trust me we'll find it before the end of the night," he said calmly and confidently, handing me a pair of goggles.
"Then let's going!" I said frustratedly tearing away from his touch while grabbing the goggles. I dove in the cold water. The salt water already stung my eyes but the goggles helped keep some water away. It was a good thing my mom lets Seth and me play in these beaches all the time. I learned to swim in these waters and I was extremely familiar with them.
The corals underneath were nothing like those in tropical places like Hawaii but they were still beautiful. This particular beach were close to the tourists because it was too close to the Reservation. Too bad. The tourists would have prevented him from doing this stupid treasure hunt. The waves kept crashing over above us though they weren't really that big.
Almost immediately, my lungs were screaming for air and my head was started to get dizzy. I broke the surface and the air stung against my skin. I guess it would have looked normal if he surfaced too. In my opinion, it really didn't matter because if anyone had seen the way he sparkled in the sun would have figured out he wasn't human at all and nothing was normal when it comes to him.
"How do you expect to find this when you keep on resurfacing like me?" I asked. My patience were really running low. What he wants to do is just impossible.
"Would you go back just one more time?" he asked.
"Fine," I answered without patience and took a deep breath before ducking under the waters again. A school of fish swam past me and for a minute, all I could see was flippers and tails. Thank goodness those were only small fishes and we weren't that far out either. Then at the distance, I saw something big approaching us fast. I looked at him, but he just stayed calm and didn't move at all. I was going to move when I saw it was just a really old turtle swimming towards us. I have never seen a turtle in these areas but I guess they come here sometimes. It swam closer and closer to me until I could hold up my hands and touch it. It let me pat its huge head. Then it dropped something in my palm before swimming away. I looked at the turtle before looking at my palm. The most beautiful ring I have ever seen was on my palm, threatening to move out of my grasp. I looked at Ethan and he smiled.
"Will you marry me?" he asked getting on one knee in the bottom of the ocean while grabbing my left hand. I guess vampires can talk underwater too. I didn't know what to answer so I pointed upwards where breathable oxygen was. My lungs were screaming again. When we broke the surface, he waited for my answer patiently.
"Yes," I replied, happiness exploding in my chest.