A/N Please forgive the long wait. I've been working and my husband is battling cancer now. I will tell you that I had to rewrite some of this chapter and that almost never happens. A huge thanks and a hug to my friend OoJasper'sAngeloO for her beta work and honesty on what a lousy chapter this was before I did the rewrite. Hope you enjoy.
Major's POV
Its been a few weeks since we arrived here at the Cullen's and we are still waitin' for a trial. At this point its goin' to be at least six months or more before the trial even begins. Aro's orders and its because of Bella's condition.
Aro had to evenutally send for Eleazar to find out what the fuck was goin' on. After Bella passed out she was goin' from her normal self to ballistic, wantin' to rip into Edward or Alice. After she came to she cried and clung to me as if she was afraid that I was goin' to leave her. I have to admit that I almost did.
We stayed in the RV and everyone agreed to keep Edward and Alice away from us. Bella explained to me and I passed it on that one minute she was listenin' to Edward's bullshit and the next she remembers was wakin' up after she passed out. Carlisle wanted to examine her, but she said,"Fuck NO!" So we did the next best thing and called Ethan and Beth, which also meant Carly as well.
Ethan did have a doctor's degree and since he had brought his own child and our first three into the world it made sense to bring him here. Seems that Bella was pregnant again. She didn't know it at the time, but as soon as Ethan got here he went about his exam as if she was pregnant and of course she was. Both of us were shocked and yet happy at the same time.
We had taken precautions, but apparently this child was determined to not only be created, but to stir up trouble even before it was born. Almost as determined as I was to fuckin' rip Edward's ass apart. My mate had been on her way to throwin' herself into his arms and that fuckin' hurt.
It took six of the Volturi guard members to hold me down to keep me from doin' just that. In my mind she wanted him back and the only thing I could think of at that point was to kill him and she couldn't go back to him then. It wasn't until later that I realized that if she had wanted him back that killin' him would only eventually kill her.
The next three weeks were quiet except for times when Bella saw Edward and then she would go ballistic. There were times when she would do something that was dangerous to her and it was the same thing all over again. She would try to either go after Edward or after Alice to kill them and then suddenly she would pass out.
Aro talked to Eleazar and told us that he might have an idea of what was goin' on. He could sense the gifts of others and it was Marcus who suggested that it possibly could be the baby was doin' somethin', especially since every fuckin' time it happened Bella would pass out. She would suddenly have a total change of personality and then just pass out.
I got very good at watchin' and bein' able to catch her. The thing is that she couldn't remember what happened when she did change. She had no clue as to what she said or did durin' those times that she changed. The only thing we did know is that the smile she had when it happened the first time and her wantin' to run into Edward's arms were misread by everyone includin' me.
Turns out the smile was a sadistic one. She wasn't runnin' into his arms to take him back. She was fuckin' pissed off and was gonna kill his ass, although how she thought she could do it was beyond any of us. That's the thing though, she has no clue as to what she did or why she did it.
The only reason that we know what her intentions were when she did that is because every fuckin' time she sees Edward it happens. It also happens when she sees Alice. This is the only time really that what she tries to do makes any sense. Alice wants me and therefore Bella wants her dead. They both have been warned to stay away from both of us until the trial.
Seems that the Volturi were only interested in us because of Edward and Alice claimin' that Bella and I were their mates. That's one law that is almost never broken because of the severity of the consequences. Although it has the same as exposin' ourselves to humans, comin' between mates means torture before death.
Marcus hasn't said who is mated to whom and won't until the trial and the accusers have given their testimony. I think that if he would just fuckin' tell everyone what bonds he sees between us then there wouldn't be a fuckin' need for a trial.
Alice and Edward will be on trial, but so will Peter, Char, Carlisle, Esme, Bella and myself. Some of us are guilty of allowin' those girls to live with the knowledge of vampires, while others are guilty of tryin' to help them. Edward and Alice will be tried first. If they are indeed our mates then we will have to be separated and be with them.
Both Bella and I have talked about this and have decided that if it comes down to that then we'll just destroy ourselves. Neither of us want to live with anyone else and we both would rather die than be forced to live with someone we hate. Yet we are both sure that Marcus will see the bond between us and declare that we are indeed mates.
If that happens then Edward and Alice's punishment will be up to us completely. Felix was kind enough to share an idea with us and the punishment actually kind of fits the fuckin' crime. It will allow them to live if you want to call what they will be doin' livin'.
Eleazar came and spent some time watchin' Bella and even got a demonstration of what happened whenever she saw Edward or Alice. She would try to attack them and then pass out. Edward of course always spouted his shit about how I had not only stolen his mate, but corrupted her as well. Yeah, I turned her into a monster.
Eleazar told us that it was strange as he saw nothin' more than a mental shield with Bella and yet he could sense another gift comin' from her, but said that he felt like it was the baby. He couldn't really tell us any more than that.
I was really happy when Ethan brought Beth and Carly. The kids were missin' her and Bella was too. They had grown quite attached to each other and she was a huge help to both my mate and I. She had come with me the first time I took them huntin' along with her parents as there are just some animals that neither they nor us want our children to try to bring down, like the big cats.
She also taught Josh how to use his shield to bring a dangerous animal down. He uses it to crush the throat until the cat dies and then he can feed or let his sisters feed. The carnivores always taste better than deer so its their preference as well.
Both Beth and Carly were a huge help when Bella was pregnant before so I was happy they were here. Of course Aro was extremely curious about Carly and spent hours talkin' to her. Once the baby was born though they would go back to Italy until time for the trial. They wanted to give Bella time to heal after the birth and for the child to grow.
What surprised us was that this pregnancy was much harder on Bella then when she carried the three kids. She got big faster and this baby was givin' her a harder time. We didn't really understand what the baby was doin' or how, but we didn't really care, we had another baby on the way. Towards the end I had to stay with Bella all the time to try to keep the baby calm. Seems this one was intent on kickin' its way out.
She was asleep one night and she had been very restless. Ethan said maybe only a couple of more days before the birth. He had decided that maybe this one should be surgically removed because this one would most definitely NOT wait for the birthin' process.
He was right, but it ended it with me keepin' the baby asleep or close to it and Ethan did induce her labor. Since I could keep the baby quiet for the most part he decided to allow her to try for a natural birth. Bella had given Carlisle permission to watch, but he wasn't allowed to help unless it became necessary.
If everything went well then just before the birth we would bring the kids in so they could watch their siblin' come into the world. They were excited and couldn't wait to meet the newest member of the Whitlock family. Neither could anyone else includin' Aro, Marcus and even Caius was interested. The only thing cloudin' everything was our trial.
Everything went well and the kids got to watch the baby come into world. She was beautiful and because of her temperament we decided to name her Mina Zeal Whitlock. Her name means strong willed warrior, with passion. She has a mean temper and she wasn't quiet or shy.
It didn't take long to figure out what her gift was and that she was able to use it on her mother before her birth, but because her mother was human and tried to fight the gift she would pass out. Unfortunately it meant that until she could understand how not to use it that Josh would have to keep everyone shielded so that her gift wouldn't work.
It seems that she can control others and make them do whatever she wants them to do. Somehow she was able to figure out that, at least in Edward's case, her mama was pissed off at him and therefore tried to get her to attack him. It was the same for Alice.
When the kids finally got around her she seemed to know they were hers and wanting them to hold her she made them pick her up. When she wants something she usually tries to make someone give it to her or do it for her dependin' on what it is. We all knew that we would have our work cut out for us. She was smaller than any of the other kids, yet she had one of the most powerful gifts ever and it could be used to destroy even the Volturi.
We noticed that whenever she didn't want someone to do something to her she would concentrate and they would stop. Seems all she had to do was wish or think that she didn't want them to do it. She was growin' fast and she seemed to prefer blood over any human food.
The Volturi were concerned because of her gift and have been overheard talkin' about takin' her with them when they finally went back for good to Italy. I wasn't worried because she could make them change their minds and even make them forget that they even wanted to take her.
The Volturi went back to Italy for awhile and said that when Mina was six months they would be back and a trial would be held. They did leave Felix and few other guard members behind to watch us, but they gave us no problems.
Mina was a very special little girl, besides her gift. She seemed to need me more than her mama and was happiest when I was with her. She loved her sisters and her brother and was extremely protective of them as well as anyone in the Whitlock family. The Cullen's were a different story.
She didn't like Edward or Alice at all. Like all of the other kids she quickly found her way into Emmett and Rose's hearts as well as Carlisle and Esme's. I think their favorite was a toss up though as each one had a special place in their hearts. The only one that Bella and I had any real problems with was Carlisle.
He had tried to get Bella to sit down and talk to Edward. She actually did just that. We both knew that she needed to explain that no matter what anyone said or did she would never go back to him and that while she did care a little; at least enough to no longer want him dead, she didn't love him.
Of course that just started another fuckin' rant from him about how I had brainwashed her. He tried to convince her that I was manipulatin' her and that if she would just get away from me that she would see he was right. He reminded her that she had promised to marry him. He also pointed that she had children out of wedlock.
I had expected her to say something about that, but she told him to basically fuck off. He had said something to her comparin' himself to me tryin' to show her that what I felt for her wasn't love. She finally got up and told Carlisle that it was useless to try and talk to an asshole and that if he couldn't respect her wishes to be left alone then he had better stay away as well.
The problem was that something Edward had said started to work almost like a cancer does in a human. As the days passed she seemed to become quieter and withdrawn. I found her several times cryin' and she just said that it was all of the shit goin' on with Edward, Alice and the trial. She became even more withdrawn from me after that. I began to worry that maybe she had started to believe Edward.
It was Mina who finally told me what was goin' on. I had noticed that every time they came back from a shoppin' trip Bella would be sad. I still didn't push it, but Mina came to me one day after her mama had gone into the RV to rest a while. I had begun to suspect that maybe she was pregnant again, but that wasn't it.
Mina is way beyond her years in intelligence. She pulled me aside and asked if she could talk to me. She looked to be about three or four. When I knew no one else could hear us she started, "Daddy, I think I know what's wrong with Mama. Every time we go shopping she always stops and looks at rings in the windows. She also stops and looks at wedding dresses in other windows. She tries to hide it, but I see her tears. Daddy, why haven't you asked Mama to marry you?"
I was stunned. I had never even thought about askin' her let alone even thought about getting married. It just wasn't something I felt that I needed, but apparently my mate does and what my mates needs or wants, my mate gets.
Later that evenin' the kids and I all had a meetin' with me askin' their opinions on askin' their mama to marry me. What I didn't know and should have was that my kids were way ahead of me. I found out just how dangerous our children really are. . .
A/N Please tell me what you think. I left a clue as to where things are going to go but even my beta didn't see it until I pointed it out. For those who are following Seattle Nights I'm going to try to get the epilogue done in the next day or two but I do work so not sure how long it will take me. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and added this story to their favorites and alerts. Love you guys.