Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight


Chapter Twenty-Seven

*Masen's POV*

I sighed at Grace's pale face. She was asleep, but her fever was spiking. Ava and Grandpa were getting worried now since it hasn't gotten any better. My stomach was churning in so many different directions. Seeing her like this was killing me. I just wanted our child to be born already so Grace would never have to deal with this again.

It's been a few days since Jacob and Renesmee's little fiasco. I'm glad it got out in the open, but it was irritating that it had to happen now. I don't think they've talked since then considering Jacob was sleeping on the sofa. Ness seemed a bit stand offish with my mother as well. I think she just felt weirded out by everything. I don't blame her. Then again, when is anything around here not weird.

Her face was so pale. She was burning up. Each time I touched her skin it felt as if I was touching that of a wolf's.

Quietly, I dabbed her forehead with a wet cloth. Somedays she would just lay in my arms to keep her temperature down.

I thought back to a day the two of us where lying in bed one Sunday morning...

"Would you ever want kids?" Grace mused out loud. We were laying on the hood of my car right in front of the ocean. It was the morning after prom. My girlfriend was still in her dress and me in my messed up tux. She was snuggled close into my side. My hand running through her hair.

"Maybe," I said. "I don't know, why you asking?"

Grace shrugged, "I guess with everything that's happening. I just can't help but thinking maybe we'll have a family one day."

"We'll have a family of our own," I declared. "A bunch of babies."

Grace rolled her eyes at my teasing and playfully swatted my arm. I chuckled, bringing my girlfriend close to my body. Her head laying against my shoulder now.

"I love you, Masen," She said. "I want so much with you."

"I do too," I replied, kissing her temple.

"Forever and ever," She added quietly, fiddling with my hands.

"Grace?" I asked out loud softly.

"Hmmm?" She hummed, her eyes blissfully closed.

I bit my lip and looked down at her. This moment just seemed right. Something about it...

"Marry me?"

Grace looked at me, shocked. "Really?"

"I mean, we're going to be together forever," I said, shrugging. "Might as well propose now. When everything is perfect. Will you, Grace Ava Martin, marry me?"

Grace's face just shone love and pure happiness in that moment. She then tackled me into a hug, pressing her lips to mine.

"Of course!" She exclaimed. "Yes. Yes! Yes! Yes!"

I grinned, bringing her lips to mine again. "I don't have a ring," I confessed.

"That's okay," Grace said, chuckling.

"Wait!" I said, looking down at my shoes. Carefully I took out the ties and then wrapped a loop around Grace's wrist.

"Until I can get you a proper ring," I declared. "For now, this is something we probably shouldn't even mention to our parents."

"They'd flip," Grace mused, chuckling as she shook her head. "Anyway, I love it. It's romantic."

"I love you," I whispered to her.

"I love you too."

The two of just just laid there for the rest of the morning. Grace in my arms and the sound of the waves crashing echoing in our ears. It was beautiful. All of it.

"Why are you doing this?" I wondered out loud. "Why?"

"Because this is our baby," Grace said, startling me. I looked to my girlfriend who was opening up her crystal blue eyes to look at me.

"I know," I muttered, caressing her cheek. "I just hate seeing you in pain. I'd take it away, if I could."

"I know," Grace answered, grabbing my hand in hers. "But this is worth it. Trust me, when he's born everything will make it up-"

"You said he," I mentioned, a smirk on my face. "So you do think it's a boy."

Grace rolled her eyes, "Alright. So I think it's a boy, are you happy?"

I chuckled, pressing his lips to Grace's hand. "I would've been happy either way. Anyway, it could still be a girl."

"As much as I would love a little girl, I can't help but think it's our son," Grace whispered, placing a hand on her baby bump.

I smiled and suddenly thoughts trickled their way into my head...

"Hi Dadda!"

I froze, looking around the room. Grace seemed to know my shock and she raised her eyebrow.

"Masen? Are you okay?"

"I love you, and Momma! I'm sorry if I'm hurting her!"

I froze, placing my hand on Grace's stomach. My lips parting into a smile, "I can hear our baby."

"You can!?" Grace exclaimed, looking down at her bump.

"Yeah," I said, smiling. "I guess the baby doesn't have a mental shield."

"I guess he doesn't," Grace agreed. "I wonder what his abilities will be."

"We'll find out soon enough," I replied, pressing my lips to her abdomen.

"We love you," Grace whispered, rubbing her stomach. "Dadda loves you. Momma loves you. You are so loved."

"He knows," I said, smiling as my hand met my girlfriend's on her abdomen. "He knows."

"Masen!" I look to see Lizzy barreling into the room. I was surprised by her outburst, giving that Lizzy has been quiet all week.

"I'm sorry!" She squeaked, realizing we were having an intimate moment.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's um...Grandpa wants you in the living room. Elaine will stay with Grace," Lizzy explained, flustered.

"Alright," I agreed, turning around to place a kiss on my girlfriend's forehead. "I'll be back soon, kay?"

"Okay," She replied, chuckling.

"What's going on, Liz?" I asked my little sister as we walked down the hall.

"I don't know," Lizzy answered. "But Grandpa said it was important."

"How important that he had to rip me away from my dying girlfriend," I mumbled unenthusiastically.

"Very," My grandpa said as Lizzy and I entered the room. "Something terrible's happened."

My heart dropped to the floor hearing this news. All I could feel was the sudden fear and anguish take over me. What could've possibly happened?

*Aidan's POV*

I groaned as I opened my eyes slightly. Gently, I rubbed my eyes to get the sleepiness out of them.

"Morning," Jen sung softly, rolling over to peck my lips. I grinned against them as the two of us began to kiss more fiercely.

"Could you guys not do that now!?" Seth groaned from across the room where he was sleeping.

Jen and I both blushed bright red, "Sorry, man."

"It's okay," Seth mumbled. "Just be courteous. Not everyone here is fortunate as you two."

"Hey, don't say that man," I told my friend. "You'll find someone."

Seth just looked at me unenthusiastically as he rolled over onto the other side of the sofa.

"Seth Peter Clearwater-"

"Dude? The full name?" Seth groaned. "Really?"

I sighed, getting out of the warm comforts of my bed with my girlfriend as I knelt down next to my best buddy. "You gotta lighten up. Look, Lizzy and you...You're just in a rough patch. You two may not happen for a long time-"

"Or ever," Seth said softly, sitting up in the bed. "Look, I don't feel that way about her. Not now at least. I can wait...But the very thought of never having her in my life pains me. She's my best friend. Even if she doesn't want to be romantically involved in the future, I still want us to have a relationship."

I nodded in understanding, "She's just confused right now. She'll turn around soon. In the meantime, don't do this to yourself."

"Alright," He muttered.

"Good boy, now I'm going to go back to kissing my girlfriend!" I exclaimed, causing him to roll his eyes.

Jen let out a laugh as I jumped onto the bed. "You're such an idiot," Jen mused wistfully as I crawled on top of her. "But you're my idiot."

"One and only," I said, grinning as I pressed my lips to hers. The two of us chuckled as the covers flew above our heads.

"Aidan! Jen! Seth!" I instantly jumped off of my girlfriend to see Renesmee bursting through the door.

"We were in the middle of something here, Ness!" I cried out, absolutely flustered.

"This is important," Renesmee hissed, eyeing us.

"What is it this time? Is somebody about to kill someone or is a mystical pizza going to threaten our existence?" I remarked dryly.

Renesmee narrowed her eyes, "Just get out of the bed, you goof!"

"Alright! Just give us a few seconds!" I cried out, wrapping my arms tightly around Jen's body.

"I got this," Seth declared, taking a pillow and smacking Jen and I with it.

"Buddy!? What the hell!?" I cried out.

"Get up!" Seth grumbled before marching out of the room. I looked towards Renesmee who was smirking at us.

"Oh stop," I hissed at my cousin.

"I didn't say anything!" she sung before leaving the premise. I then turn towards Jen who looked more nervous if anything.

"What's the matter?" I asked her softly.

She turned to me and gently grabbed my hand, "Aren't you worried about what it could be?"

"Yeah," I replied. "It's just...Jen, so many terrible things have already happened. You know me, I try to focus on the positive. If I worried all the time my luscious blonde locks would be gray, sweetheart."

Jen rolled her eyes at this, "Yeah. Okay."

"It's true," I insisted, smirking at her. "Anyway, we should go and see what it is. Maybe a mystic pizza sent by the Volturi is out to kill us."

"That's a good movie," Jen mused as we crawled out of bed.

"Mystic Pizza?"

"Yeah!" Jen exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Haven't you heard of it? The 1988 film with Julia Roberts and Annabeth Gish?"

"No, but I would really like to try some of their pizza," I teased with her. "Is it really mystical?"

"No." Jen rolled her eyes, "We'll watch it later. Let's just go you goof."

"Alright," I agreed as we walked hand in hand into the house. When we got there pretty much everyone was gathered in the living room. Some relatives were nervously pacing the floor while others just shared nervous glances.

"What's going on?" I asked, sharing a brief puzzled look with my girlfriend.

"Just a second," My mother said.

"Is everyone here?" My grandfather asked, looking around the room. "Anybody missing?"

"We're all here," Aunt Bella confirmed.

"What's going on, Dad?" My father asked our grandfather.

"We just received a call from Alice," Grandpa announced to us.

"Are they okay?" Abby asked.

Grandpa nodded, "They're perfectly fine. She just had a vision."

"About what?" Lily questioned.

"The Volturi."

That's when a dense silence filled the air. I pulled Jen to my side and she wrapped an arm around my waist.

"What do they want?" Masen sneered.

"We're not entirely sure," Grandpa explained. "They've been very careful, up until now. I guess they slipped up or they want us to see what Alice did, but she saw them here. They were in Vermont. Alice says she's not sure who they're going for. She said, and I quote her "radar is off."

"So she's not getting proper visions?" Lucas asked.

"Exactly," Grandpa answered. "She's not sure. She just said we need to be on our toes. The Denali's heard and are coming over. Jacob's also informing the rest of the pack to meet us here."

"He's here because of Grace," Masen said, his voice tight. "They know."

"He couldn't possibly know," Carolyn said, shaking her head. "There's no way. Unless one of you-"

"Never," Uncle Edward said, shaking his head. "I would've known if someone in our family gave information about it."

"Then how the hell do they know we're here!?" Uncle Emmett barked.

"The Volturi aren't exactly ignorant," Grandpa pointed out. "They've been around for thousands of years. They can track us down."

"But why?" Aunt Bella questioned.

"Me," Abby said, her voice shaking. "I knew it. Aro, he wants me-"

"No he doesn't, Abbs," I replied, cutting my cousin off. "It's not you."

"Yes it is!" Abby cried out, hugging herself. "I'm the one daughter who got away-"

"I have three children of Aro under my roof?" Carolyn questioned, wide eyed.

"You are not the only daughter!" Dru shot back, rushing to her sister's side. "Look at me, Abby. He won't get you. I'll die before he takes you away from the Cullen's. I won't have you go through what Cordelia and I had to go through."

"Dru's right, squeaks," Lucas added, coming over. "He's not after you."

"It could be our baby," Masen said, shutting his eyes tightly. "If not, he's going to find the baby- We have to get out of here. I need to-"

"Masen, there's no way we're moving Grace," Grandpa said, walking slowly towards his grandson. "She's in no condition-"

"I don't care!" Masen lashed out. "She's my mate! She's carrying our kid! I'm not risking it!"

"Masen," Ava spoke up softly. "The baby's going to be born in a matter of days."

"No!" He cried out, tears welding up in his eyes. "They won't touch them! You hear! If he-"

"Son," My uncle said softly, walking up to him. "Look at me."

Masen paused and looked up at Uncle Edward, "I can't lose them."

"You won't," My uncle said, grabbing him by the shoulders tightly. "Look, we don't know when they're coming. Alice didn't see. It could be after the baby is born and if so, we'll fly you and Grace far away from here with the baby. I know son. You think I don't, but I do."

Masen nodded stiffly as Aunt Bella rushed to her son's side to bring him into a tight hug. He hung from his mother's arms limply.

"So are we going to get ready to fight?" Renesmee asked.

Grandpa bit his lip, "If necessary, we might. Alice said it wasn't the whole court. Just a few, but still...We're down in numbers."

"Ava, we need to produce a charm," Carolyn declared, rushing towards the nearby bookshelf. "One that protects the house. They can't get in here with a charm."

"Once we have the twins and the protection spell we should be fine," Ava said, heading to her mother's side. "We'll get on this."

"We need to take the kids out of here," Dru said, looking to where Lexie, Lucia, and Tommy were in the other room. "We need them out of this area. Somewhere sunny."

"I'll have Maysun and Jackson take them," Lucas said, looking towards Ava and Zach. "If that's okay."

"I think it's for the best," Ava agreed. "They'll be safe. Have them take the kids to Florida. The Volturi wouldn't dare step in that state, considering it's full of witches."

"Are you serious?" I asked, wide eyed. "Why?"

Ava shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, haven't you ever wondered why a bunch of weird people live in Florida? Or why Walt Disney World's there?"

"Walt Disney World is actually magic!?" I exclaimed.

"Of course! I mean, Walt Disney himself was a warlock!" Carolyn said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He chose California because it's fairly sunny. No vampire would dare head there! California and Florida are heavily populated by witches and warlocks."

"Oh damn!" I chirped. "I wanna go now!"

"Not now, Aidan," Lily told me.

"Sorry." I winced.

"Let's just get prepared," Ava muttered. "We need to call up Alice, Jasper, Robert, and Cordelia about what's happening, especially since we'll be taking their child across the country."

"Lizzy and Abby should go with them," Uncle Edward spoke up.

"No!" Lizzy cut her father off.

"Yeah, Uncle Ed I might be the reason he's coming here," Abby said. "I don't want to draw attention to the kids."

"But-"

"Edward, maybe just let them stay," Grandpa said. "They probably just want to intimate us."

"Alright," My uncle agreed reluctantly.

"May and Jackson are coming now!" Zach called out, shutting his phone off. "They should be here tonight."

"I'll have Colin and Brady head down with them and the kids," Jacob added. "Extra protection. Plus Brady's grandmother has a place down there they can stay at."

"Let's get ready," Grandpa proclaimed. I looked towards Masen who was being comforted by Aunt Bella and my sister. Everyone was running all around in a crazed frenzy. My eyes then fell on the form of Lizzy who somehow stuck out like a sore thumb.

I frowned, walking over to my cousin. "Hey," I greet her softly.

"Hey," She replied softly, looking up at me briefly with her big green orbs.

"You two need to talk," I said.

"About what?"

"You know what."

"That..."

"He can't be left in the dark, Liz," I told her gently. "Look, I love you both. He just needs to know everything bothering you because from there, you can figure it out. I promise."

"We'll see," Lizzy muttered. "Aidan, something bad is going to happen to me."

I frowned in confusion at her words, "What are you talking about? Nothing's-"

"I just feel like something is," Lizzy hissed to me, her eyes looking scared. "I don't know what. I've been having dreams just...If anything happens, watch out for him." Her eyes then wandered to Seth's figure. He was currently on the phone with Colin about the plans.

"Of course I'll watch him," I promised her. "But, nothing will."

"Keep telling yourself that," Lizzy mumbled.

"Come here," I said, grabbing my cousin and bringing her into a hug. She now reached around my collarbone. She pressed her face into my chest and I rested my chin on the top of her head. "You'll always be my best friend. No matter how old you are. When you become a teenager I'm coming back for you, Lizzy. You and I are partners and we always will. Understood?"

"Understood," She repeated even though it was muffled by my shirt.

"Good," I said, pressing my lips to the top of her head. I gave her one more tight squeeze before the two of us parted.

My eyes fell on Jen who gave me a small smile before walking over towards me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I brought her into my arms, holding her tightly.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," I answered, shrugging against her head. "I'm just worried about Lizzy."

"It'll be okay," Jen told me, pulling away. "Somehow, we'll make it work."

"I hope," I replied.

Jen then brought her lips to mine. The two of us shared a kiss before having to pull apart to help the others.

I guess that's all we can have right now. Hope.


A/N: Hey guys! Long time no update, but my life has been way too crazy and I'm trying desperately to update and finish a lot. Also had to repost the Sunset trailer and had to change the music which pissed me off to no end, but hey it's up again and it's all good. In the meantime, thanks for reading and keep on the look out!