Chapter Eighty Three

Charlie

Thankfully Renee's visit was short-lived because once she knew Bella wasn't dying of consumption she reverted to type, complaining she'd been ignored and frozen out. Of course yours truly got the blame, who else! It was my fault Bella had been sick and it was my fault no one had tracked her down wherever the hell she was, to tell her. I guess my comment about her not coming back any way didn't help but I was getting a little pissed off by that time. It was also my fault Bella was tangled up with a boyfriend and dropped out of school. Of course it was! Unfortunately because she could never know the truth I was forced to stand there and take it all quietly when what I really wanted to do was tell her to shut the fuck up. Bella managed to upset her too when she refused to consider going back to school so she could graduate and attend college. When Bella pointed out that Renee had done just fine for herself without finishing her own education her mother was lost for words but that perfect peace didn't last for long. Jasper had done the best thing by going out with Phil and Peter at Bella's insistence but Charlotte had stayed to give us moral support.

Renee

I knew it, I knew Charlie would ruin her life, she hadn't been here five minutes before all the hard work I'd put in to ensure Bella had a great education was destroyed. True I hadn't completed my own education but I wanted more for my daughter. Also true her boyfriend Jasper was good-looking and made a good impression but he was an orphan and from what I could tell didn't have a steady job so he wasn't all he appeared. Their friends, not Charlie's as I had been led to believe, were a little strange too. I think they might be part of a cult or something because they never ate or drunk while I was there, nor for that matter did Bella or Jasper but when I pointed this out to Charlie he just laughed in my face. God knows what he found so amusing about the situation. I threatened to take Bella back home with me but she flatly refused and neither Charlie nor Phil, when he finally returned, would back me on it. As always I was the only sane head in the place. Well if she wanted to ruin her life it was her choice, I'd done all I could and now I washed my hands of her.

"Don't come running to me when you finally see sense and realise what a mess you've made of you life young lady"

She promised she wouldn't and Phil and I left, I wouldn't be going back, nor would I be ringing my daughter, she could come to me, I was through running around after her and worrying myself sick.

Bella

I heaved a sigh of relief when Renee left because I had been terrified she might suspect something was going on but as usual Renee saw only what she wanted to see and it was easier for her to assume she'd been slighted than to worry what was really going on. The fact she'd left on an angry note was sad but again it made things easier, I could safely forget to keep in contact for some time and I was sure by the time she decided I'd been sent to Coventry for long enough we would think of something. For now I just wanted some quiet time with Jasper and I think Charlie understood because apart from a promise to let him know all the wedding arrangements he let us go without any fuss.

Peter and Charlotte left us at the airport, off to do some mystery errand, and Jasper and I drove home happy to be alone at last. When we drove up our little cabin looked warm and inviting and neither of us said anything, we merely walked in hand in hand and straight upstairs to our bedroom where we showered together then made love with a breeze coming through the open window and the sun breaking like shards of ice over our skin.

"I want to stay like this for always Jazz, just like we are now. Happy in each others company and needing no one else."

"I think Peter might have something to say on that subject Bella, keeping him away will be easier said than done , especially if Charlie visits and I think that's a given"

"Oh I don't mind them or Charlie. I just don't think I can go through another scene with my dear mother."

"She is rather intense isn't she"

"Intense? She's crazy, deluded, and I know within months she'll be hounding dad for news on us."

"Well let's make sure we don't give her our address."

"Don't worry I've already told Charlie I'll bite him myself if he does."

Charlotte rang the next day to say everything was arranged and she'd asked Charlie to fly in at the weekend. I smiled at Jasper who was just getting out of the tub,

"It's all going to be legal next weekend"

"Then I think we should make the most of the illicit sex while we can, come here"

He beckoned me over with a crooked finger and I went to him smiling,

"What a good idea."

I think we spent most of that final week in bed. Or in the tub, or on the floor, even in the paddock, in fact anywhere the mood took us, which was really everywhere. Peter had been barred until the Friday evening when he insisted on a bucks night initially with Charlie while Charlotte and I would hunt alone. Charlie didn't seem at all phased by the idea of a bucks night with two vampires but then he'd been before so I guess he was comfortable enough. My dad never ceased to amaze me but unfortunately at the last minute he was delayed and as a result missed out.

After the guys left Charlotte and I headed into the woods out back not planning on going far, but we hadn't gone more than a mile when we heard a noise in the undergrowth and tensed before Charlotte straightened up with a smile.

"Its OK Bella, this is a friend. Sara, I didn't expect you until the morning"

A beautiful dark-haired vampire stepped out of the shadows also smiling and holding out a hand to me,

"You must be Bella, I've heard so much about you"

"I'm sorry but I have no idea who you are"

Charlotte laughed,

"This is Sara and my guess is that Darius couldn't stay away from the bucks night."

"Got it in one, a chance to wind Peter up had him salivating. Sorry Bella, we're friends of The Major, old friends, and when Charlotte rang with the news we couldn't bear to miss the happy event."

"It was Darius who sent The Major to the Cullens so I guess you have him to thank or blame for his being there to save you from the wolves"

"Oh right, in that case I can't wait to meet this Darius."

"Well think of Peter with a little more class, that's Darius"

Sara laughed this time,

"Well it would be impossible to have less class although I love Peter dearly. Anyway you'll meet my mate tomorrow Bella, in the meantime could I go with you?"

"Of course and I look forward to thanking your mate for his help."

I found Sara sweet and agreeable, very much like Charlotte if a little more reserved. Asking her to tell me a little about Darius I noticed how very much she loved him, vampires certainly never did anything by halves but thinking about it I would have said much the same about Jasper. They had been together centuries having met when Darius was travelling through a small town close to Rome after it had been attacked by the Volturi. It seemed the patriarch had captured a member of the Volturi guard hunting on his way back to Volterra and had him burned. The Volturi were incensed as they had an agreement with Rome that their people would be allowed to hunt provided the Volturi paid a grant for renovation work on some of the temples. The Volturi demanded the patriarch and his family as payment for the dead guard and he had been handed over but not before he had stabbed his wife and two daughters to save them from his fate. When Darius arrived the next day he discovered Sara laying in a pool of her own blood next to the bodies of her mother and sister but she was still alive, just. Darius had changed her and they had been together ever since. It was such a beautiful end to a tragic event. Sara had wanted revenge after finding out her father had been murdered by the Volturi drained of his blood a little at a time to feed the ruling brothers but Darius had talked her out of it knowing it would be a suicide mission but she still held that hatred in her for the Volturi and she and Darius did all they could to thwart Volturi plans and it sounded as if they were quite successful at times. After telling me her story she insisted I tell her mine and although it wasn't as tragic or noble as hers she seemed genuinely interested. By the time we got back to the house I had another friend in this new world of mine.