Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.
Author's note: So sorry for all the delays! I sound like a broken record, but for some reason it's difficult to get back into the characters when there are walls of cardboard boxes surrounding you and you're in a strange house! I'm still not unpacked, but I just have to force myself to plod on - I really have what I think is an amazing storyline coming into play . . . as soon as we get there . . .
Thank you to all who communicate, email and message me in addition to reviewing. Your encouragement is keeping me going! Remember, This story is the same as Heaven, Hell and Harleys minus the things that get it rated M! lol
Chapter 122 North on the Orient
The impossible had happened again, not for lack of trying,
and my vampire husband had managed to get me pregnant . . . again.
~oooOooo~
Jasper POV
The door to our cabin closed and I sat heavily on the sofa in a very un vampire like move. "I just don't know if I can stand the amount of lust rolling off of them, darlin'," I sighed exasperated, ". . . or if you can . . ."
"Jasper!" my wife exclaimed, curling up in my lap and her arms encircling my neck, "When have I EVER complained about there being too much lust?"
"True, darlin'. You've never complained about it, but even I have limits. There is only so much I can stand before I give in to my instincts and take you then and there in front of whoever happens to be looking . . . and it wouldn't be me that was embarrassed," I shared, an eyebrow cocked upwards on one side.
"Jasper!"
"Darlin', for lack of a better way to say it, I'm only human!"
We both laughed at the thought as I ripped the clothes from her body and mine, too anxious to bother taking them off nicely. I had to wonder to myself if this was, in part, the reason she seemed to regard clothing as disposable. It was only a small portion of my brain that was contemplating this, the majority of my thoughts wholly wrapped up in my wife . . . and not destroying the small room they called a cabin or inadvertently rolling hard and going completely through the exterior wall of the train to find ourselves somewhere on the landscape watching the train rush steadily past us, Vampires existing in a human world did have to mind some boundaries, after all, if we wanted to avoid being discovered.
"Hey guys, give it a rest!" boomed the voice of my extremely indelicate adopted sibling. Emmett hammered on the door and showed no signs of leaving unless we answered it, giving me no choice but to search for clothing so that I could accommodate him.
"Brother . . ." I said exasperatedly as I opened the door and he stepped in, unbidden, but luckily timed during a break in mine and my wife's activities.
"Dude, I'm starving. I haven't hunted since we were on this train last time and even then I think you and Edward had more to drink than I did, what with tunneling under the damned mountain and all," he whined, plopping down on the now unoccupied sofa.
Alice giggled from the other side of the door where she was dressing in the bathroom. "I still have visions of you churning dirt and rock like some sort of monster machine, Emmett. Edward has to be right, going over the mountain would have been so much less effort."
"True baby sister, but I have style!" he retorted indignantly.
"Style? Emmett, you wouldn't know style if it bit you!" my wife laughed, her head peeping around the door of the bathroom.
"Bit who?" Rose asked as she came into the room, the riotous laughter so loud she hadn't bothered to knock.
"Apparently your husband is in need of biting something," I laughed," he says he's starving."
She looked at him with distaste, hand on one hip, "So . . . you couldn't just sit and play with Masen with me, you had to come in here and complain about being thirsty?"
"You were putting Masen to bed!"
"And you don't enjoy taking care of your nephew?" she fussed.
"Sure I do," Emmett answered, "well, I kind of do anyway. I like playing with him!"
"Ah," Rose said exasperatedly, "It's like taking care of two kids only the larger one insists on doing whatever the hell he wants."
"Where are Bella and Edward, anyway?" I asked, realizing that I was free from lecherous thoughts for the moment.
"Edward is with Bells in the dining car. She wanted to eat there and he went with her," Emmett answered. "I bet he's thirsty too, unless he hunted while they were in Bolzano at his house, and I doubt he drug himself away from losing fluids with her long enough to feed himself!"
"Emmett!" the girls chided reproachfully in unison.
"Well said," I agreed.
"Not you too!" Alice fussed.
"Darlin', I'm just callin' it the way I see it," I said defensively, "Getting him away from Bella is almost a surgical procedure!"
Everyone laughed at that idea . . . probably because they all knew it to be almost the truth. I was happy to see it though. Edward had been so devastated during the time he had left her, thinking he was protecting her from himself. We had all been through a lot if the truth were known. The entire family had missed him desperately, his self-enforced absence creating such a void in our lives . . . especially for Carlisle and Esme. We had gotten him back, though . . . thanks in part to my wife's persistence. Though Carlisle had been with Edward the longest, having created him, Alice was the closest to him. My little pixie of a wife had been determined and had continued to call and prod him till he saw reason and decided to look for Bella. Thank God we found her. Seeing them together now, none of us could imagine either of them without the other.
"So, who's up for a hunting trip?" Emmett asked again, "The short cut through the mountains is just up ahead."
"I'm in," I told them. "Will you come too, babe?" I asked my wife.
"Sure," Alice answered, straining on her tip toes to reach up and kiss me.
"Well, I don't particularly like mountain sheep and I would rather stay here and play with Masen. I haven't seen him in forever," Rose insisted.
Just then Edward and Bella came down the corridor towards their room and ours.
"Dude, I want a rematch! Jasper, Alice and I are going to head out and cut through the mountains again and meet the train in the morning. Want to come?" Emmett asked Edward excitedly. Emmett could muster some serious exuberance and enthusiasm, making him hard to resist.
"Are you going to be reasonable or will there be another tunnel involved?" Edward laughed as he leaned on the door to the cabin.
"Oh come on . . . you know that was a blast tunneling under the mountain!" Emmett insisted, somewhat indignant.
"It was funny, I'll give you that," Edward answered, looking toward Bella.
"Go on!" she answered the look he was giving her, asking her using some type of mental telepathy. I didn't think Bella had taken up mind reading, but she could read Edward, that was for sure. "Rose and I will stay here with Masen. We have catching up to do anyway," she explained and Rose nodded.
"If you're sure then, love," Edward said as he tightened his arm around her and kissed her lips.
"Whoa! Whoa guys - stop right there! Any more lust and I'll forget all about hunting and take Alice with me!" I told them, my hands raised, palms out as I shook my head. "You guys get started and our little hunting trip is finished, Emmett will have to go all on his own!"
"Brother! You'll be back in 12 hours or less cause that's how long it takes the train to go around the mountains while we go through and over them!" Alice reassured Edward as we headed out the door.
~oooOooo~
Rose POV
Finally! While I absolutely loved dancing the night away with Emmett, I had really missed Masen. Emmett and I had been in Edward's room with Masen since Bella and my brother had gone to explore the cars and feed the human. I had gotten the baby, full from being fed by his mom but not yet sleepy. I had almost lost it when, while we were all three sitting on the floor rolling a ball back and forth, Masen leaned forward, pulled his feet up under himself and ran after the ball rather than crawling for it.
"Rosie! Did you see that shit?" Emmett had whispered, the look on his face comical, even for Emmett.
"I saw. I can hardly believe it . . . but I saw," I heard myself say as I sat stone still and watched my nephew bend and pick up the ball he had gone after and turn to smile at me."
"Masen, nice going little guy!" Emmett bellowed, his voice returning.
Masen smiled a wide toothy grin and threw the ball to him, clapping his hands wildly as he walked back over to where we sat.
"You little con man, you did that on purpose, didn't you?" I said under my breath.
I couldn't read his thoughts, but his smugness was evident and showing in every line of his adorable little cherub face. He walked to me and climbed up into my lap, wrapping his arms partly around my neck and hugging me tightly. The difference in this baby in little over a week was astounding.
"We are sure he's only a couple of months old, right?" Emmett asked, shaking his head in disbelief, "I mean, this is the same baby . . . right?"
"It is hard to believe, isn't it," I agreed, "Even though we were there the night Edward delivered him.
"Masen, Uncle Emmett and I are so proud of you," I told him out loud, though if Edward was right, the baby was probably already reading my thoughts. He put his hands on each of my cheeks and patted my face, keeping the toothy grin as he turned to look at Uncle Emmett.
"Dude, I'm proud of you, too! I had no idea you could do that. Keep it up and soon you can go hunting with your dad, me and your uncle Jasper!"
If I hadn't known better, I would have thought Masen understood exactly what Emmett had said. We played with the ball, rolling it while we sat then gently throwing it to him as he stood and caught it almost as well as when it had been rolled to him. His reflexes were amazing, there was no hint of clumsiness . . . his movements were starting to have the precision of our kind and I had to wonder just how much of his traits would be like his father. He had a heartbeat, blood in his veins and he did eat human food, but I was beginning to wonder if those might be the only human characteristics . . .
At any rate, he soon tired of the game and it was bedtime for him. I tucked him into his crib and sang a lullaby to him, noticing that Emmett had already left. Men. If something he could watch or play with or drink wasn't in front of him, Emmett lost interest almost immediately. Masen popped back up, holding onto the side of his crib after I laid him down, something I had never seen him do before. He was such an agreeable child, he had always just laid there and gone to sleep . . . that is if he wasn't already asleep in my arms when I put him in his crib. I sang him another lullaby and rocked him for a short time till he seemed to be getting at least a little groggy. I put him back in his crib, hoping he would fall asleep. I left the door open and went to the next cabin in the car where I could hear my siblings talking.
"Bit who?" I asked as I came into the room, the riotous laughter so loud that I didn't bother to knock.
"Apparently your husband is in need of biting something," Jasper laughed, "he says he's starving."
I glared at my husband, hand on one hip, "So . . . you couldn't just sit and play with Masen with me, you had to come in here and complain about being thirsty?"
"You were putting Masen to bed!"
"And you don't enjoy taking care of your nephew?" I fussed.
"Sure I do," he answered, "well, I kind of do anyway. I like playing with him!"
"Ah," I responded exasperatedly, "It's like taking care of two kids only the larger one insists on doing whatever the hell he wants!"
"Now Rosie . . ."
~oooOooo~
Emmett POV
"Damn, bro . . . I thought for sure you were going to back out on us!" I chided as I lunged for him, grabbing him in a headlock and knocking my brother Edward over and rolling down the incline by the train tracks. We ended up in a deep patch of show, only our heads showing as we stood to see Jasper standing on a ledge above us, hands on knees to help hold himself up he was laughing so hard.
"He's right, Edward. Once you started kissing her, I was sure our little hunting trip was done for," Jasper finally exploded between bursts of laughter. "Good thing we're in a slight valley or you two would have caused quite an avalanche just now!"
"Well, we wouldn't have rolled like that if my brother the clown could have waited till we got to the end of the train and just jumped, instead of leaping from in between the two cars!" Edward complained, trying to dust at least some of the mound of snow off his clothing.
"Dude, I had to get you off the damned train before you had time to give it any thought and decide to just go back and check on Bella or the kid, just one more time. You were one more timing me to death!" Emmett explained.
"Got to go with him on this one, bro, "Jasper commented as Alice stood beside him, her arms folded as she smiled impatiently.
"Come on you guys, a girl's gotta feed you know . . . I'm hungry!" Alice added, heading off through the trees and brush . . . what there was of it above the snow.
"Yes ma'me," I agreed. Let's get some dinner! The herds are usually on the west slope this time of night, just settling down. Lucky for us, but really unlucky for them," I yelled.
"It wouldn't really matter where the heard was, would it Emmett? If you're thirsty, you would find them in no time flat," Edward commented as he ran.
"True brother, but all the easier since I know where they hang out!"
"Honestly Emmett, t6o hear you talk you'd think you hunted in the Alps all the time," Alice scoffed.
"Well, no. I just understand the animals we're after, that's all," I explained.
"Great, then I'm in the lead when we go after buffalo, right?" Jasper quipped.
"Yep, that'll be all you, brother! All you," I swore.
We ran through the pass and around to the western slope rather quickly, anxious for our meal. After decimating the first heard, we slowed to a lesser run as we made our way over the taller spots, actually having to resort to climbing at some points. Alice showed off her lack of weight by being able to stay on the top crust of snow and literally fly over it, making much better time than us guys and standing with her hip cocked at each ledge that she came to while she waited for us to halfway dig ourselves through the drifts. It wasn't that it was difficult or that we were slow, just that she was able to speed along without the extra added difficulty of sinking below the top crust. Little pixie, she sure livened up this bunch . . . not as much as my awesome new little human sister, but she livened things up all the same.
"So, Alice. Rosie tells me that Eddie here is going to be the father of twins," I said as I punched him in the shoulder.
"I am, Emmett. Bells is pregnant and I can hear two heartbeats other than hers . . . already."
"Congratulations again, Edward. Bella seems very happy about it as well, and I can only imagine how Esme will react!" Jasper added.
"So, anyway," I said acting as though I minded that Jasper and Edward both interrupted me, "How long have you seen this coming? I never had a heads up on this possibility!"
"Emmett, you know how subjective my visions are! So many decisions keep changing. I saw the twins back when we were in Orlando at Disney, but what with Jacob around and the whole thing with Victoria and Charlie and Renee, the visions have changed so fast i could hardly keep up! With Jacob around and Sam, it's a wonder I could see anything!" Alice almost trilled.
"How does that work, anyway. You saw Masen, or Edward with him when he was born, right?" I asked Alice.
"Yes."
"Well, does that mean that you can always see Masen just like you see Bella and our family?" I paused. I heard something about the kid having the same number of chromosomes as the dog, so I just wondered if that affected you're seeing him.
"Ouch!" I yelled, Edward having knocked me off the boulder I sat on.
"Don't compare my son to werewolves!" Edward insisted, "I don't care if they have the same number of chromosomes!" he fused. He said it somewhat playfully, but the hidden threat was there all the same.
"Well, I seem to be able to see Masen as long as he is with one of us, through us really . . . but I have never gotten a vision of just him alone . . . so I don't know."
"You should try when we get back to the train, Alice. See if you can sand outside of Masen's door and see him and what he's doing when none of us are with him," Edward suggested.
"I can do that big brother. I never thought of it, it isn't like someone isn't always with him anyway . . . he is, after all, only two months old! I'm surprised you or Rose put him down often enough for him to have even learned to walk!" Alice teased, "Surely he never left someone's arms when Renee was around!"
Everyone laughed at that, it was so true. My Rosie swooped in at each and every opportunity and grabbed my nephew . . . never ever putting him down till his parents insisted he sleep in a crib rather than someone's arms and now, of course, that the little guy has learned to walk by himself.
"Did I tell you that he stood up and ran after the ball when Rosie and I were playing with him?" I asked Edward.
"No. but It doesn't surprise me. He was tearing all over the house in Bolzano before we left, even running up the stairs. He really is quite amazing. It's like he has all the strength and dexterity of an adult vampire, trapped in a small body and all he needs is the understanding of how to use it," his dad said, looking off into the distance, no doubt thinking about getting back to his son.
"I think it may be even more than that, Edward. He doesn't understand his emotions yet, but if what you say is true about his intelligence, he may have been born with all your powers and instincts, just not the knowledge of them or the fine tuned ability to use them," Jasper offered.
"I think you're right," Alice agreed as Edward and I nodded.
"I wonder if I have reception here, I could call and check on them," Edward said, taking his phone from his pocket to check.
"Dude, put that away!" I blurted out. He had seen only a bar or two and was putting it back in his pocket even as I spoke.
"Fine. I'll check it when we get to the top peak," he agreed, sighing as though he had read our minds and knew the protests that were about to escape our lips if he didn't comply.
"Actually, it would be interesting to see if they work out here," Jasper added, the electronic whiz kid side of him coming out.
"Jasper, leave it to you. Always wanting to push the limits of technology, whether for surveillance or communication," Alice said, taking his arm to hurry along with him at his side.
"That's me, darlin'. Always."
~oooOooo~
BPOV
"I thought they would never leave," Rose exclaimed, plopping somewhat indelicately onto the sofa, at least indelicate for a vampire.
I had just shooed Edward off to go hunting and looked in on Masen, sleeping cozily in his bed next door.
"Bella, I just can NOT believe the difference in Masen since just a couple of weeks ago! It's like it's almost a different child!"
"I know, he stood and walked across the room to me at the house in Bolzano and it seems as though he started running the same day," I smiled, remembering just how startled I was when I first saw him on two legs. "Remember how shocked Edward and I were when he climbed that statue in Paris, breaking out of the stroller right under our noses as we stood beside him?"
"He's much stronger than any of us think, isn't he. You just don't think of a small child as having that type of strength in his hands to climb anything," Rose added.
"Well, you guys seem to scale buildings and climb rock cliffs like spiderman, I guess he is just a smaller version. It's not like he weighs much, so there is less for him to pull up when he climbs!" I laughed. "It does make me wonder though, do you think he could be capable of doing more than we give him credit for?"
"I have no idea . . . but I bet Edward does. Has he said anything about Masen's strength?" my sister asked.
"Not that he has said anything about, other than once, the day we left Verona, apparently he and Masen were packing the car and Masen was standing on the drivers seat, playing with the steering wheel . . ."
"Edward let Masen touch something in his car? That car?" Rose asked, somewhat surprised.
"He did. Anyway, apparently Masen was asking about all the knobs and buttons and how to make the car go and if he could try it . . . pushing the buttons and making things go that is . . . "
"I bet Edward was having a fit at the idea . . ."
"Well, anyway Rose, Edward told him that he would have to wait till his legs were longer so that they would reach the pedals, and Masen bent down to look under the dash and lost his footing. Edward was cracking up telling me how funny Masen looked hanging by one hand from the steering wheel! I guess I never really thought about it, but he would have to have quite a bit of strength to hold himself dangling in the air by one hand."
"He would. I wonder just what he really can do on his own," Rose mused.
"Good thing we're on our way to meet Carlisle. I'm sure he will have a thousand questions and just think of how surprised he will be when he sees what his grandson is capable of," I laughed.
"Good grief. Carlisle will be making notes and asking questions for days. There is nothing he loves better than new information, and this . . . Masen . . .well, none of us has ever heard of anything like him before. There are legends of Damphires, but they are only legends and already they have proven to be wrong," Rose scoffed.
"Wrong?"
"Well, yes. You're alive. Supposedly the babies rip their way out, killing the mother . . . and that didn't happen. Who knows what else is true or not true as far as the legends apply to you and Edward's son. We certainly know he's capable of learning and he seems so good natured! He also seems to like all of us, that's a plus," Rose elaborated.
I must have looked at her somewhat strangely, she elaborated.
"Bella. The offspring of a vampire and a human, if they ever existed, are supposed to hate vampires. Masen doesn't act like he dislikes us, in fact, he seems to love all of us, in addition to his father."
"Hum. Why have I not heard that legend before?" I asked.
"You have, just maybe not all the details."
I gave her a skeptical look, my annoyance must have shown on my face.
"Really Bella, you were pregnant, then kidnapped, then all that with Jacob and Charlie being there and your mom coming with us . . . when was there time to sit and talk about all the old legends? What would it change anyway? Masen is growing up just fine, happy and healthy, and Edward communicates directly with him every day and certainly most of the night . . . at least, the part of it when he can pry himself away from you!" she laughed.
"I guess you're right. He seems healthy and happy, I just want to know as much as possible about the possibilities," I told her as I stood to go next door and just peek in on him.
I walked up the corridor to the next cabin, wondering just what else I was unaware of. The very idea of Masen not liking vampires, it was just absurd. He loved his aunts and uncles to say nothing of how affectionate he was toward his dad. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the legends spoke of women impregnated and abandoned, sure to have very negative feelings about the father of their child while they were pregnant. That could have an effect on the child, if the babies were anything like Masen at least . . ."
I walked through mine and Edwards room and into the room where Masen's crib stood. There was no nightlight and it was too dark to see anything. I walked back and turned on a light in my room so that it would dimly lite the other room and allow me to check on my son.
I saw nothing in his crib. His blanket was there, but Masen wasn't in his crib?
"Masen. Masen? MASEN!"
Rose appeared beside me, human speed forgotten.
"Rose, he's not in his crib," I managed to say, flipping on all the lights.
"Masen! Son, if you are hiding, please come out! Mommy doesn't want to play right now!"
"Masen!" Rose called, looking under and in everything.
"Rose, he's not here! Rose! On My God, Rose, where is he?" I almost cried, my voice cracking in an effort to talk.
"Let's just stay calm. Apparently he is able to climb out of his crib now," Rose deduced.
"He can. I told him i would spank him if he ever did, though. We had a talk about not getting out of places that we put him, Edward insisted that he understood!"
"Well, he may well have understood, but that doesn't mean that kids are always going to do as they are told. I don't smell anyone else in here, so no one came and got him, Bella. He apparently just got out of his crib and has taken a walk. His bear is gone as well. He had it under his arm when I put him down, and I don't see it here anywhere. Let's search the rest of this train car before we check the rest of the train or jump to any other conclusions," Rose said logically, stroking her hand up and down my arm to calm me.
"I checked on him an hour or so ago, under two hours for sure . . . just when we got back from dinner before Edward and the guys left to go hunt. He can't have gotten far!" I insisted.
We had only had Masen in the corridor on the way to our cabin and in the cabin. That apparently helped. Rose caught his scent and we followed him down the corridor in the opposite direction, passing the room we had been in and out the end of our car. The trail stopped there. Though Rose covered the length of the train, all cars and even the freight car that was attached, there was no trace of his scent anywhere else.
"Did the boys leave towards this end of the car or towards the front, where we came into the train and back toward the dining car?" I asked.
"No, they left this way, toward the rear, Bella, I heard them jump off the train and tackle each other when they left acting like large kids."
Rose stood still as a statue, some sort of realization dawning on her face.
"Bella, he followed them."
What?" I shrieked.
"He followed them. Masen wanted to go with his dad, he didn't want to go to sleep and it was hard to get him to lie down. He had never acted like that before. I bet when he woke up, he followed them!"
"Rose, he's two months old!" I whispered, using the wall for support. I leaned against the wall, grasping onto the door handle for support. I knew my son was advanced, in fact, he seemed to have most of Edwards skills but not the knowledge of how to use them. He probably really did follow them."
"Well, Emmett was telling him to get big and strong so that he could go hunt with him and his dad . . . maybe Masen thought he meant now!"
"Oh God, Rose! Masen has no concept of time, no real idea of anything other than now! Rose, he probably read your mind, knew that they had all left and followed them!"
I nearly lost it.
"Let's keep searching, Rose. There could be a chance . . ."
She cocked her head at me, "Bella. I don't hear him. I can tell his heartbeat from half a mile away . . . he's not here!"
I fumbled through my purse looking for where I had left my phone. It was, after all, a satellite phone and they were supposed to get reception anywhere. The call went immediately to voice mail and though I hated to, I forced my voice to work to leave a message . . .
Edward, call me! Masen is missing! He isn't on the train!"