Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Based on the characters created by Stephanie Meyer, in her Twilight Saga series of books

WARNING: This story will contains scenes of domestic violence, strong language and other forms of physical violence, up to, and including death.

Chapter 7

Time and Recovery

The night passed. Morning came and went. Alison slept through it all. Nightmares woke her, screaming, whenever Mary Alice woke up, but she would fall back to sleep when her child was placed back into the cradle. Callie did as Vernon ordered, leaving her with very little milk for Alison's baby. Savannah gave Molly some few coins and sent her to the shop that Savannah remembered as having nipples and rings, for the bottles. She spent part of her morning making pablum and formula for Mary Alice. With all the preparations for keeping Mary Alice fed, Alison was, still, never left alone. One of them watched over her at all times.

By the time dinner rolled around, Alison was finally awake. She sat up in the bed and held Mary Alice to her chest. Savannah had to be in the dining room, for dinner, but Callie was allowed to stay, so Alison would still have someone to watch over her. Savannah took her place at the table ,as Vernon and Rita entered the room.

"And where is my wife?" Vernon asked mildly.

"She's feeling a bit under the weather," Savannah told her son, as she studied her place setting.

"I thought I made it clear, that you both were required to attend dinner." Vernon escorted Rita to her seat, then took his own. "You will go and get her. I'll have dinner held until you both return."

Savannah rose silently and left the room. When she reached Alison's suite, she was close to tears.

"What is it?" Callie asked, when she saw Savannah's tear filled eyes.

"Vernon has ordered Alison to the dinning room."

"She can't...How could he?" Callie nearly cried.

"I can do it," Alison whispered from the doorway of Callie's room. Her voice was more of a frog's croak, than the beautiful, musical, sound that Savannah and Callie were accustom to. "Please help me dress."

"But Ali, your wounds, they need to be re-bandaged," Savannah told her. "You need rest. We'll find a way to get something to you."

"No. I go as I am, and I go now. Please choose an old dress for me."

Alison walked gingerly to her room, with Callie's aide, while Savannah chose a dress for her. When she entered the room, and saw her bed, she stopped. Memories of the previous night caused her to gasp, as she stood frozen with fear.

"We can take this to another room." Savannah offered, but Alison stood her ground.

"No. I'll not let him rule every aspect of my life. Not anymore." Alison ground her teeth together and stared, wide-eyed, at Savannah. "Let my wounds bleed through. Let his mistress see what he has done to me. Let her see what may happen, when he tires of her."

Savannah could only nod, and help her daughter-in-law change into the old dress she had found. She had always been proud of the way Alison carried herself, and the quiet strength she had seen in her when Mary Alice was born. But she was surprised to discover that she was beginning to feel an even stronger sense of pride in Alison. She had never seen such strength before. She was sure that if Mary Alice had even an ounce of her mother's strength, then she need never worry for the child's character and sense of self. When she was ready, Savannah and Callie helped Alison to walk down the stairs, and into the dining room. The stairs were the most difficult for her. She groaned in pain as she stepped down each and every step, but she refused to stop. By the time she had reached the bottom step, blood had seeped through her dress at her breast, and across her back and shoulders.

Rita looked up, and smiled at the trio, as they entered the room. Her smile quickly faded, as she saw the blood that had seeped through at Alison's breast. She watched as Alison side-stepped past Vernon, turning her head away, but watching him through the side of her eyes. She noticed the blood circles across her back and shoulders, as she turned to sit in the chair next to her, rather than the chair next to Vernon. When everyone was seated, including Callie, Rita plastered a smile back on her face, and watched everyone, her eyes darting from face to face.

"Much better," Vernon announced, as he called for dinner to be served. "Not the appropriate seating, but I will allow it—for now." Then he turned to the soup he had been served.

Rita missed nothing. Not even Alison's small jump every time Vernon said a word. She saw how she leaned away from him, even though Savannah sat between them. And she noticed how she sat so gingerly on the hardwood chairs. When Alison had finished dinner, and was returning to her rooms, Rita noticed the smear of blood on the chair. A realization was slowly creeping into Rita's mind, and she was terrified by it. This one dinner was such an eye opener for her, that she needed more time to process what she was seeing. A part of her wanted to believe that Alison was getting what she deserved, for trying to take Vernon from her. But a growing part of her was beginning to see that perhaps this was the true Vernon. She continued to smile throughout dinner. It wasn't until the trio had left, that she realized that her smile had become the exact same smile she had been seeing plastered across their faces. That is when real fear began to seep into her life.

Savannah noticed Rita's reaction to Alison, and how her attitude seemed to change as the dinner continued. She was too involved with assisting Alison, to be too worried about Rita and her reaction to the reality that was her lover. When the dinner was done, and the sweet dessert was served, Callie and Savannah helped Alison to rise, and return to her rooms. Going up the stairs was much harder for everyone. Alison was exhausted and had to be nearly carried up the stairs. When they reached their destination, they helped Alison undress, then changed her bandages, and placed a night dress over her head.

"I did it," Alison croaked, as she was tucked into her own bed. "And I'll not let him chase me from my room, or my daughter, or my friends," she reached up to Savannah and Callie, as she whispered.

"You did very well," Savannah told her. "Now it's time for you to rest." Savannah pulled the bedding over her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Sleep, my daughter." She whispered against her forehead before leaving the room, and leaving the door partially open.

Savannah leaned against the wall just outside the door to Alison's room, emotionally drained and near tears. Callie grabbed her, for support, and the two ended up in a tearful hug. They broke apart as Mary Alice began to cry. Callie went to pick her up, as Molly knocked on the door.

"I'm sorry, Miss Callie," Molly began, "but Miss Rita requested that you come see to her baby." Molly then pulled a warmed baby bottle from behind her back.

Callie gave out a deep sigh, while Savannah pushed herself off the wall, to take the bottle from Molly, and went to Mary Alice.

"It looks like I'll get to spend a little quiet time with my granddaughter." Savannah smiled through her exhaustion.

Once the house's babies were fed and put down for the night, Callie and Savannah collapsed into their own beds. Molly got to her room after everyone else was asleep. Before she settled into her bed, she quietly slipped into Alison's room and watched her for a short while.

"May my Gods, and your's, watch over you and your babe," she whispered as she looked to the ceiling of the room. As her eyes returned to Alison's sleeping form, Molly noticed the moon out of the window next to the bed. It was in the first quarter. Molly smiled to herself. "May the Gods heal you and give you, and your's, the gift of a stronger power." Then she returned to her room and slipped into her own bed.

In the morning, Alison was feeling better. She was less stiff and most of her wounds had stopped bleeding. Molly had already reported for her morning duties, and Callie was feeding Mary Alice a thinned pablum breakfast, from a bottle.

"Miss Savannah suggested we start her on a thicker formula." Callie told Alison. "She said that it would help her to sleep through the night, so you could get a more restful sleep."

"How does she like it." Alison inquired.

"Very much. She's really taken to all the changes extremely well." Callie smiled down at Mary Alice. "She really is a very good baby." She looked back up, at Alison.

Alison was still walking carefully, as she took a freshly laundered towel from the closet, and laid it on the seat of the cushioned chair, before she sat in it.

"Ohh," she sighed deeply. "I still feel very weak, but all-in-all, much better. And yes, Mary Alice is a very good baby. But have you noticed how she seems to scream and cry the loudest, just before something happens?" Alison leaned her head back into the chair, and waited for Callie's response.

"Babies can be more sensitive to changes in the world around us. Maybe she can hear more than we think she can." Callie rationalized.

"Maybe." Alison said, but she was thinking of her grandmother. "Oh well," she sighed. "I just hope she won't remember some of the things she has seen in the last few days."

"Miss Alison?" Callie started, "Miss Rita asked about you last night, when I went to feed her son, and again this morning." Callie looked over at her, while Alison looked at her hands in her lap. "I didn't tell her anything. I wouldn't—not without talking to you first. But should she ask again, is there any message you would like for me to pass on to her?"

Alison closed her eyes, took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, before responding to her.

"You can tell her, I will heal, but she should consider me should she lose favor with the father of her son."

"I will tell her." Callie said, as she finished with Mary Alice. "Would you like to hold her, till she falls asleep?"

"Very much." Alison smiled as Callie placed Mary Alice into her arms, with her head away from the wounded breast.

Alison held her until Savannah arrived to change her bandages, and help her dress. When she was ready, they all went down for breakfast. Rita was still watchful, and, again, tried to engage Savannah and Alison in conversation. Alison was not yet ready to talk in front of Vernon and Savannah had no desire to talk to either one of them. So, breakfast ended up being a quiet meal, again.

The days continued in the same routine. Alison never asked to go for a walk again, but Savannah and Callie took Mary Alice, often, to the seashore and a nearby park. The days passed, and quickly turned into months. It wasn't long before Alison was sure she was pregnant, again. She began to feel weaker by the day, and other symptoms, that she recognized from her pregnancy with Mary Alice, began to manifest themselves. By the time her third month had passed; since Vernon's violent visit to her rooms, and she had finally stopped bleeding from it; she knew it was time to call in the doctor. Alison was unsure as to how to approach Vernon about it, so Savannah brought it up at dinner.

"Vernon?" Savannah began.

"Not calling me "son" tonight, Mother?" Vernon asked while chomping his teeth on a bite of meat.

"I believe that it is time to call in the doctor to examine Alison. We believe that she may be with child." Savannah maintained her smile, and worked to even sound slightly happy about the situation.

"Well!" Vernon's voice raised slightly at the news, but that was all that indicated that the information made any difference to him. "I suppose this means I'll not need to pay her another visit, like the last one," and he laughed, while Alison tried unsuccessfully not to cringe in her chair. "Yes, yes, send Molly for the doctor tomorrow." Vernon agreed. And dinner continued without further talk.

When Doctor Wilton arrived, the next day, he was shown to Alison's rooms. The sight of her nearly sent the quiet doctor into shock. Alison was pale and thin. She appeared to be fairly healthy, but he saw little things that indicated that she was not. Her hair was thin and dull. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her fingernails were thin and flimsy, and the color of the finger underneath the nail, had a tinge of blue to it. But the thing that bothered him the most was the way she cringed, when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"From everything you have told me, and with what I see from this exam, I would say that you should deliver sometime in June. Most likely the beginning of June."

"Thank you Doctor," Alison said.

"Now, as to other problems you are having, I wish to examine you completely, Mrs. Brandon." Doctor Wilton had stood straight up. His statement was not a request, but a demand. "I shall ask the elder Mrs. Brandon to join us," and he walked to the door to call Savannah into the room.

Savannah entered quietly and looked from Alison to the doctor quizzically.

"Is there a problem?" She asked.

"That is yet to be determined." The doctor looked from Savannah to Alison, and back. "I have asked you to join us because I have asked Miss Alison to disrobe and allow me to examine her fully."

Savannah lowered her eyes to Alison and nodded, as she approached her and helped her to pull her dressing gown down off her shoulders and breast. Doctor Wilton inhaled through his teeth, as he saw the bite scars. He moved toward Alison and gently touched and eyed each bite. Then he moved a step back and allowed Savannah to help Alison to replace her gown.

"One scar on the breast, and five across the back and shoulders." He commented. Was there any other damage, other than what I have seem from the pregnancy exam and..." he seemed unable to finish.

Savannah looked at Alison, and she nodded.

"There was other bleeding," Savannah began, for Alison. "It was not from am attempt to impregnate her." Savannah did not know how to explain it to the doctor. "He..."

"Understood." The doctor let Savannah know that he understood her reluctance to explain more graphically. "But the bleeding has stopped?"

"Yes" Alison answered in a whisper.

"Is there continued discomfort?"

"No."

"Is everything functioning as it should?"

"Yes."

"Very well." Doctor Wilton began to gather his things, and place them back in his bag. When he was done, he gave a great sigh and stopped to look at both women. "You understand that, as much as I wish I could, there is nothing I can do to help you. Or to keep this from happening again. There are no laws to prevent a husband from violating his wife, in any manner he sees fit. At least not without humiliating the wife, and creating a scandal for the entire family. Even then, the most that is likely to happen is he may get a small fine and the church may ostracize him."

"We understand." Savannah said. Alison just hung her head.

"However, I shall make it clear to him," he could not bring himself to put a name to the man, "that any more behavior of this sort, would endanger the child. That should give you some freedom from him. At least for a while."

"Thank you Doctor Wilton," Alison said, as he turned to leave.

Savannah followed the doctor out and was showing him to the front door, when she spotted Vernon coming out of his library.

"Well Doctor, when is my son due," he smiled.

Good as his word, Doctor Wilton informed Vernon of the due date, and the dangers of violating Alison, in such a manner, while she is pregnant.

"I did advise you to wait for at least six weeks before having relations, did I not?"

"She seemed well healed." Vernon stated with a smirk.

"She may have seemed so, but she was not. Not internally. A woman needs time to regain lost energies. A growing child can take a lot out of a woman. It takes time to replace it. Miss Alison will grow weaker, as the pregnancy progresses. She will require close observation. I will make weekly visits, to check on her progress."

"As you wish." And Vernon turned and walked back to his library.

Savannah turned to the doctor and smiled at him. "Thank you, for everything."

"My pleasure, Miss Savannah," and he nodded to her, and left the house.

When Savannah returned to Alison she found her rocking Mary Alice and cooing to her happily.

"Callie has gone to see to Rita's boy." Alison informed Savannah.

"It must be close to dinner time," Savannah observed. "How the day has flown by."

"It has," Alison sighed. "The Doctor is concerned for me." She stated.

"Yes," Savannah said, as she sat on the cushioned chair.

"It is too soon for me to have another child." Again a statement.

"He is concerned that you did not have time to recover properly."

"I may die with the birth of this child." Alison was so completely calm as she said this, that Savannah was more alarmed than she should have been.

"Don't say things like that."

"It's the truth," Alison said. "I feel it. I'm so tired already." Alison sighed deeply. "We should prepare for dinner. Vernon will not allow us to miss his announcements for tomorrow." And she placed a sleeping Mary Alice in her cradle. "She'll need a crib soon. She's growing fast."

"Yes, she is," Savannah noticed how big her granddaughter was getting, and smiled. "I'll talk to Molly about digging out Vernon's old crib. He's already bought a new one for Rita's child."

Just then the dinner bell rang. Savannah and Alison linked arms and proceeded to the dining room, together. Arm in arm, they rounded the table, took their seats and waited for Rita and Vernon to appear. Savannah plastered her smile across her face, but her mind could not forget Alison's words, "I may die with the birth of this child", replayed in her thoughts all through dinner. She hardly heard a word Vernon had to say. She realized that she would have to get Alison to tell her later, after they returned to her rooms.

The night went by without incident. Molly was able to easily find the crib, and promised that it would be brought to Savannah's rooms in the morning, so they could begin its cleaning. Alison looked forward to the exercise, while doing something for Mary Alice. She slept without nightmares, that night, and was up bright and early the next morning to begin work on the crib, right after breakfast.

Vernon was not present for breakfast, so it became the most pleasant meal the trio had had, in a very long time. They chatted among themselves, and were even occasionally civil with Rita. They did find out from her, that Vernon was having some business failings. Since the death of his Father, several of his clients had moved on to other law firms. Vernon did not have the trust of his father's clients. They did not believe that he was the same caliber of lawyer, his father was. They had already seen that his idea of discretion was not the same as their's, and because of that, they could not trust him. Vernon had let go one of the clerks, and was in danger of losing another. The firm was losing money. And it was making him meaner.

The next week went by, also uneventful. The trio had learned not to say anything in front of Vernon. If they were silent and just smiled, he never felt provoked. Unfortunately, that left Rita to deal with his temper. Alison actually began to feel sorry for Rita. She had seen a few bruises on her, during the week, and she knew that it would only get worse for her. Doctor Wilton visited, as he said he would. Each time he ordered Alison to rest more. Also by his first visit, the crib had been thoroughly cleaned, and Mary Alice had been moved into it. Doctor Wilton checked on her as well, and proclaimed her fit and well grown. All things considered, life was fairly good for Alison, Mary Alice, Savannah, and Callie.

I want to thank my two most consistent reviewers: Brenda, my sister-in-law, who sends me an email for every chapter, and Jade SprattMaryJAlice, who also never misses a chapter. Thank you so much. It really is nice to know that someone is reading and letting me know what they think.

I've started sending out previews with every review.

So please review, and get a glimpse of next chapter.