The Immortal and the Baker 7: The Jeweler

by believer76

Marcus Hotchner meets Emily Prentiss when she comes into his jewelry store to buy a chain for her brother's class ring. Marcus immediately realizes that Emily is his mate and so asks her out on a date, even though he knows that she is still mourning her brother who is dead. Will Emily accept Marcus's offer or will she turn him down. Please read and review!

6. Chapter 6

"I have a question for you," Emily told Dave. "I'm curious about something."
"Ask away, I'll answer if I can," Dave said. "I'm surprised you aren't asking Marcus this."
"Marcus doesn't know the answer," Emily said.
"And I do apparently," Dave said rubbing his hand under his bearded chin thoughtfully.
"Marcus told me how you became immortal I have to admit I was fascinated with the story. Yes, I know it actually happened to you, but that doesn't mean I didn't find it fascinating," Emily said.
"I don't blame you for that," Dave said. "I never imagined becoming immortal when I started traveling, which most people did not do back when I was born. Some did of course, but not many."
"Marcus explained why most people didn't travel from place to place especially if it was really far away. He explained about the dangers of traveling. My question though is why would you agree to become immortal? All right, I understand helping a family that was about to be executed, just because they were different, but why not just live out the rest of your mortal years and then die. I would think living forever would be a tad boring after a few centuries."
"You know I don't think anyone has ever asked me that particular question," Dave said after a moment of silence seeming shocked at Emily's question. Dave recovered quickly however. "The answer is fairly simple."
"So?" Emily asked her curiosity plain on her face.
"Godfrey Ambrosius was a powerful seer. That's where someone can see into the future and Godfrey could see farther than most, because he was so powerful," Dave explained. "I wasn't going to agree to his offer as the thought of living for hundreds of years back then was not something I really wanted. To see the people I loved die while I lived sounded like torture to me. In order to get me to agree Godfrey told me something he had seen in a vision.
"Godfrey knew who I was before I ever showed up at the family's door and they were all prepared to flee as soon as I arrived. Once we were away and safe I was about to bid the family goodbye and wish them luck when Godfrey made his offer. At first, I told him no, I wasn't interested in being immortal and living forever. Why would I want to live when all my family and my friends and people I had known forever died eventually leaving me alive to mourn their passing? Yes, I enjoyed traveling and only went home every once in awhile since traveling such distances was rather difficult, dangerous and time consuming, but still, at least I knew they were alive living out their lives.
"Godfrey then told me that I would meet this woman in the future and she would be my mate. He told me that this woman needed me or she would eventually be killed by someone who wanted her affection but who she didn't care for in that way. He told me that she was a pure, bright light in a world filled with pain and darkness.
"Finally, he said that due to my relationship with this woman that I would allow one of his descendants to meet her future husband and that she wouldn't meet him otherwise, because she would see no reason to go on one of her traveling trips, because her best friend wouldn't be pregnant with her first child. In fact, her friend would be dead and she would be mourning her even three years later."
"Wow! That's amazing," Emily said. "So you allowed Godfrey Ambrosius to turn you immortal, because of what he told you he had seen."
"That's why," Dave agreed with a small reminiscent smile. "Godfrey was very right, because when I met Jazz she had this man that was obsessed with her, because she had rescued his butt from some bullies when they were 13. His name was Jorge Mason and he created a rich fantasy life of them marrying and having children. If I had turned down Godfrey's offer Jazz would've died and Shonda never would've met Aaron Hotchner.
"Marcus never would've been born," Emily said. The fact that she might never have known Marcus Hotchner made her so horrified that she visibly shuddered in horror. Emily was suddenly very glad that Dave had made the decision that he had or there would be no other Hotchners other than Aaron himself.
"Exactly," Dave agreed soberly having seen Emily shudder and guessing the reason for it. "You change one thing Miss Emily, you change everything. I might not have known Jazz's name at that time or Shonda's, but that didn't really matter to me. The fact that I could help this woman and that we'd build a life together, have children, was what made me decide to accept Godfrey's offer. I won't say it was easy being immortal, especially at first, even though I saw much history happening, I usually didn't realize that a lot of the events I saw would end up in the history books at the time."
"I'm certainly glad you made the correct decision," came Aaron's voice, as he had come into the room while Dave and Emily were talking. "Because you made the right decision to be turned immortal you met Jazz and I met Shonda and if you hadn't you would've been long dead and I would've been miserable or at least lonely, because I never met my mate. I'll always be grateful to you that you did, as Shonda and my family are the lights of my life."
"I agree with you there my friend. Jazz is the light of my life and also my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren," Dave said smiling as he thought of his family. "I couldn't say no after Godfrey told me that."
"So does that mean Marcus is a descendent of this Godfrey Ambrosius," Emily asked, as if in sudden realization.
"I told my wife at one time that Shonda looked incredibly like the oldest daughter of Godfrey and also his wife, as both were redheads with green eyes. It's not exact of course, because there's centuries separating them, but still the resemblance is rather uncanny. I do firmly believe that Shonda is a direct descendent of Godfrey and also Merlin, but I don't have any proof of that, except what Godfrey told me."
"Still, it is logical," Aaron put in.
"True, it is," Dave agreed.
"Also, Shonda's father told me something while she was in the kitchen getting us pieces of pie that Jazz had brought him a few days ago. This was way back when I first met Mike Walters and as Shonda said he was very sick. It was clear he was not long for this world. Mike told me something very important that I was to tell Shonda after our first son was born if he wasn't around to do so. He was under a restriction that he couldn't tell her before that or he would've told her long before I ever came into the picture. He left it in his will, because he had no idea I was in Shonda's future."
"So what did your wife's father have to say?" Emily said her curiosity practically eating alive.
"That she is indeed descended from Merlin and therefore, Godfrey. It's been passed down in the family for centuries to the oldest son, but since Shonda was an only child Mike couldn't tell her until she had a son herself. It was one of the restrictions that had been passed down through the family for centuries and enforced with magic so Mike literally couldn't tell her until those conditions had been met, no matter how much he wanted too. That the magic that one of Shonda's ancestors put on the original papers that told Shonda all about her ancestor must've been very powerful if Mike literally couldn't tell her no matter how he wanted to. It also kept the parchment it was written on from disintegrating to dust and kept it looking new. Mike left a letter with his will and that told Shonda where the papers were, which was in a lockbox at the bank in Moonlight Gorge."
"I was already quite certain that Shonda was a descendant of Merlin, even without what Mike Walters told Aaron and after their son was born, Shonda herself," Dave said.
"That is the reason I agreed to Godfrey's request," Dave added.
"Also, Merlin was known to be a powerful telepath and that is Shonda main talent," Aaron added.
"She is certainly the most powerful telepath I've ever run across and I've known about magic for a very long time," Dave said.
"Does that mean Marcus," Emily started to ask.
"No," Aaron interrupted shaking his head. "Marcus is one of those that didn't get his mother's telepathic talent not all the children did, not even half of them really. He takes after me in that way. He'll never be able to invade your private thoughts Emily and even if he did have such a talent we taught our children not to use it unless the situation required it. Those that inherited the talent were taught not to use it for frivolous purposes like to read somebody's thoughts, because they were curious."
"But he produced that globe of light," Emily protested.
"Yes he did, but every magical can do that," Aaron said. "All magicals have a separate talent other than what every witch or wizard in the world can do."
"In my wife's case, she's a bakery witch," Dave explained.
"Bakery witch?" Emily asked the unfamiliar term falling off her tongue clumsily.
"It means she puts magic into any dessert type item," Dave explained. "A bakery witch does it on instinct, not even thinking about it, whenever she is making a dessert, which is all the time in Jazz's case. It doesn't matter what type of dessert either."
"Is that what made the tiramisu I had so good?" Emily immediately asked "The magic?"
"Yes," Dave admitted. "It would've been good without the magic added, just not so scrumptious that people are always coming back for more. It's one reason the Jazz does such a good business at her bakery, though not the only reason of course. Even without magic Jazz is an excellent baker and people would still lineup outside her door. She just wouldn't do such a booming business. Her repeat customers rating wouldn't be so high."
"Well, it really was the best I've ever had so I'm just gonna have to keep eating her deserts," Emily said.
"You do that," Aaron said smiling at his soon to be daughter-in-law. "I came to congratulate you on your engagement to my son."
"I guess Marcus let the cat out of the bag," Emily said.
"Actually, it was Shonda, as she just couldn't keep such fantastic news to herself," Aaron told her with eyes twinkling happily. "Welcome to the family."
"Thank you," Emily said smiling. "You are so different from my own family it's like in a different universe."
"I'm sorry your family was like that," Aaron said.
"It was just my mother really, as my father was firmly under her thumb. As I told Marcus, I'm surprised dad stuck around long enough to have three kids, as my mother could be abrasive, rude, domineering, cold. I could come up with other descriptive phrases, but why bother? I was glad to get away from home when I went to college. I never once looked back."
"I don't think either Dave and I can blame you for that," Aaron told her feeling sympathy for Emily. Much like Spencer, Emily came from a broken home, though in Spencer's case it had been his father that was the problem. Emily's past was behind her now and this family would smother her with so much love that it would hopefully heal her wretched childhood.
"We definitely cannot," Dave agreed. "I would have a few choice words to say to Elizabeth Prentiss if she was still on this plane or existence."
"What a weird way to phrase the fact that she's dead," Emily said looking at Dave once she had figured out what he meant.
"So long as you understood me that's all that matters," Dave told her with a smile
"I suppose that's true," Emily admitted.
"You'll find that sometimes we use odd turns of phrase ones that used to be popular a long time ago," Aaron told Emily. "While we've done a lot to modify our speech we still sometimes slip up and use words or phrases you never hear anymore."
"It's a problem that all immortals of any age has," Dave told Emily.
"I can see how difficult it would be, as I'm sure it's easy to slip up and use words or phrases that have dropped out of the English language," Emily said after thinking about Dave's words.
"It definitely is," Aaron and Dave agreed at the same time.

~~~Marcus and Emily~~~

"Well, it looks like we never had a chance to tell them together," Emily told Marcus as soon as they were heading back to Fort Worth Texas.
Marcus knew who she meant and so didn't ask her to clarify.
"No we didn't," Marcus agreed. "I should've known that they would see the ring on your finger though, as all of them are observant. They also knew that I would propose now that you knew my secret and had accepted it. That it was just a matter of time."
"Yes, I can see that," Emily agreed. "I suppose it doesn't matter that they found out separately."
"No, it really doesn't," Marcus said smiling, because he was so happy. "Word will now spread through the family so we can expect numerous congratulations to be forthcoming over the next few weeks."
"I won't mind. I like your family at least the ones I've met," Emily said.
"I'm glad you do," Marcus said giving Emily's hand a squeeze. "They'll be a major part of our lives over the centuries."
"I won't mind that," Emily said. "Your family is so warm and welcoming compared to my mother at least."
"You'll meet the rest of my family at one time or another," Marcus told her.
"So the ones there for your mother's birthday..." Emily asked her voice trailing off.
"I know what you're asking and no, that wasn't even a quarter of them," Marcus told her with laughter in his. "Take the ones we saw at the house for my mother's birthday and multiply that by at least a factor of two, maybe three."
"Wow! That's a whole heck of a lot of people," Emily said blinking in astonishment. "If you multiply that by two that makes your family at least 300 people and by three 500."
"Well, you have to consider that my parents as well as my aunt and uncle are immortal, which means they never get to old to have children," Marcus explained quietly. "Every few decades they have at least four more and the same goes for the Rossis. That basically means the family keeps expanding and you also have to consider the fact that a lot of the Rossis as well as my parents children have found their mates who of course had children of their own."
"Which of course adds up to even more people," Emily said.
"Exactly and the fact that we'll soon be adding to the mob will make both my parents and the Rossis very happy," Marcus said.
"You know, I asked your uncle what made him agree to be turned immortal," Emily said quietly after some silence.
"And what did he say?" Marcus asked, suddenly looking very interested, although he kept his voice down, even though they were on a private flight with no one else around. They didn't mean the stewardess couldn't come down the aisle for whatever reason however.
"I'm surprised you never asked your uncle the same question I did," Emily said.
"I just never really thought about it," Marcus shrugged.
"He says nobody has ever asked him that question but from what your father said he knew and I am assuming that your mother does as well as your aunt."
"I would say that's a certainty," Marcus said. "The difference is he probably told them without them having to ask. He probably told Aunt Jazz first and then told Aaron and Shonda at some point, maybe even at the same time for all I know. Uncle Dave was no doubt being truthful when he said you were the first person to ever ask him that question. You didn't ask him if he'd ever told anyone and that's the difference."
"That makes sense I guess," Emily said thoughtfully then told Marcus the same thing that her uncle had told her.
"So apparently Godfrey Ambrosius was a seer and so saw far, far into the future, which means he was really, really powerful," Marcus said once Emily was done.
"I know your a descendent of this Godfrey Ambrosius thanks to what your father and uncle said," Emily asked Marcus.
"I suppose I am, though I never think about it that way," Marcus told Emily with a small smile. "It doesn't really matter if my family is related to them. Besides if magicals knew they would only come after my family. They would either try to kill us off just because we're related to Merlin, since some magicals hate him for whatever reason, or they try to cozy up to us wanting to be our friends, because of who we are descended from. Merlin is a legendary figure and a lot of people would want to get close to his descendants if they know who those were.
"Dave was sure your mother was related to Merlin, before Aaron ever knew your mother. Said your mother looked incredibly like Godfrey's wife and his oldest daughter same red hair and green eyes and so do you, except your eyes are brown. The similarities were obvious enough that your uncle noticed, as soon as he met her for the first time."
"My uncle is right that mom and Godfrey wife being related, though they wouldn't have looked exactly the same, not after so many centuries," Marcus said.
"So what do you think about being related to Merlin, as even I read King Arthur when I was a kid and also saw various movies or TV shows based off the legends," Emily asked Marcus.
"I've read those books to when I was a kid and seen various movies, which was longer ago than I care to think about," Marcus admitted. "There have been numerous versions of the story over the centuries. It is just one of those legends that is very enduring and never dies."
"That's true," Emily said looking reflective. "I mean there are not only books but numerous movies and even graphic novels based off the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable. You know my favorite stories were always about Lancelot and Guinevere."
"I always liked the stories of Gawain," Marcus said.
"Do you think King Arthur was real or just a bunch of legends?" Emily asked.
"You know, I don't know," Marcus said thoughtfully. "Magicals believe that Merlin was very real and he was the first one to ever be granted magic. The legend goes that every magical in the world is originally descended from him."
"So do you believe the legend?" Emily asked.
"I don't really know," Marcus admitted. "It could very well be the truth for all I know and most legends have at least a grain of truth to them, but they also get distorted over time."
"True that," Emily agreed soberly. "The real history is probably totally different from the legends and the myths."
"Likely true," Marcus said. "We'll likely never know so why worry about it?"
"I'm not worried about it I'm just really curious," Emily admitted.
"Curiosity can't kill you," Marcus said smiling kissing Emily cheek from where he was sitting beside her.
"No, it can just eat you alive," Emily told him shortly with humor in her expression.
"Or at least feel like it is," Marcus agreed.
The intercom suddenly crackled and the voice of the captain came through. "We will be landing soon please buckle your safety webbing."
The buckle safety webbing sign came on just then and Marcus and Emily obeyed.
"Do you know planes have gotten much faster than they used to be," Marcus commented quietly. "It would've taken much longer to go up and see my parents and come back again if this was back in the 20th century. We likely would've had to stay in a hotel overnight unless we wanted to get back really super late."
"I kind if knew that," Emily said. "Yeah, it probably takes less than half the time to go somewhere like Reno then it would've taken far in the past."
"Especially if you were going to great distance like overseas from somewhere like New York," Marcus said. "You often had to take a connecting flight to reach your destination after landing at some big airport, which meant even more time wasted. I remember I was awfully tired if I had a long flight and didn't land until who knows when."
"So you were born in the 21th century then?" Emily asked amazed at how old Marcus really was even though he didn't look it.
"At the tail end of it yes," Marcus said. "I was born in the 2090s and was still a kid when the 22st-century rolled around."
"I had no idea how old you really were, even if I knew in my head that you had been around for centuries," Emily said. "But hearing that you were born at the end of the 20th century just brings home to me how old you really are."
"Age doesn't really matter to an immortal Emily," Marcus told her. "Since we never age past our 30th birthdays we really don't think about how old we are most of the time."
"I'm assuming every immortal finds someway to keep themselves busy so they are not bored unless they're married of course," Emily said.
"Well reasoned and you are absolutely correct," Marcus said. "Every immortal in my family has something they love doing, even if they have to change locations and start up the same business every generation, which can be something of a pain, but a necessary one. Me for instance have had a jewelry store for generations and the first one started in Chicago where I was born and grew up back in the late 21st-century."
"So what did you do until you started your jewelry store?" Emily asked.
"What every immortal does once they're old enough and that is travel the world for a few decades. I finally decided to settle down in Chicago in about 2080, as I knew that city best at the time."
"So why becomes a jeweler?" Emily asked curiously.
"Well, for one thing it's a lucrative profession if you know what you're doing," Marcus begin to explain. "I did take business courses when I went to college and I thought I would put those to good use. For another, I've always been fascinated with jewelry and gems of any type, gold, silver, platinum that kind of thing. I just turned my passion into a business and then a career. Passion is what makes you want to go to work every day. If you really enjoy doing something it is hardly work."
"True," Emily agreed. "So your mom must be passionate about antiques then."
"Yes and those that inherited her talent at finding antiques opened their own stores in different cities or took over from mom when she and dad moved on. Buying and selling real antiques is a lucrative field and you can become quite wealthy so long as you're good at it. My aunt as you know, owns and runs a bakery and she's really passionate about creating and selling desserts. Something she's really good at, even if she didn't have her magic that she adds to whatever she creates."
"So, I am assuming she's opens a bakery every time your family moves somewhere new," Emily said and Marcus nodded.
"She does and then turns the one she's leaving behind over to one of her children when she and Uncle Dave do move somewhere else, just like my parents do," Marcus said.
"I can understand why your family is seminomadic," Emily said. "You don't want the government finding out about you so you move every generation."
"It's just the way that all immortals are," Marcus said. "We have plenty of money so we can move as often as we need to, even if it's a bit of a pain. We have time to have a family and watch them grow before we'll have to leave Fort Worth."
"But haven't you been here a long time?" Emily asked.
"I suppose I have," Marcus admitted.
"So we probably need to move somewhere else after we get married," Emily said.
"We probably do," Marcus said. Marcus took Emily suggestion seriously. "Start thinking of places you want to live for the next generation where we can start a family. It doesn't matter if I have lived there or not, as it's probably been awhile depending on where you suggest."
"My sister is going to be curious as to why we're moving is the only thing," Emily mentioned.
"There is that," Marcus said.
"I can always tell her that I want to move out of the city where all of us had such hard childhoods due to mom and Sandy will accept that. I'll just tell her that you decided to accommodate me to keep me happy."
"That'll probably work," Marcus said.
"It will," Emily said, "as Sandy will understand my feelings very well. She knew I had been wanting to get out of Fort Worth for years but never had a good enough reason to move. This is the city where my childhood was so miserable because of my mother and while she's dead and everything..."
"There are still plenty of bad memories," Marcus said and Emily nodded.
"Exactly," Emily said. "I'm glad I didn't move away now, because we never would've met it if I had, but after we get married, I say, let's move somewhere else far away."
"We can do that," Marcus said. "So why didn't you just move after your mother passed?"
"Moving is expensive for one thing and I didn't see any point of wasting the money, especially since I'd have to start completely over no friends and no family. My siblings were all I had left back then until I met you. At that time, my brother, was still alive and I wanted to be around for him and Sandy. I think they both partly chose the professions they did as a way to get out of the city on a regular basis," Emily said. "Unfortunately, I didn't choose a profession where I can travel regularly, so I was stuck here all the time."
"I'm glad you didn't decide to move as we never would've met as you mentioned earlier," Marcus said shuddering at that possibility. "I never would've known you or the happiness I have found with you in my life."
"I never would've known you either or been just as happy, so it's just as well I never left Fort Worth," Emily said, even as she kissed Marcus's cheek. "It's just as your uncle told me earlier while we were talking about what made him decide to become immortal and he said something that has stuck with me."
"What is that," Marcus asked.
"Change one thing, change everything," Emily repeated what David Rossi had told her at the end of his tale.
"Uncle Dave is very right. If you change even one small event that could change everything in the future, so that events didn't happen the same way," Marcus said.
"I realized quickly that I never would've met you, as you wouldn't have have been born, if your father had never met your mother, so I'm grateful that your uncle made the decision to be turned immortal," Emily said. "That thought absolutely horrified me just so you know."
"It would certainly horrify me if I was in your place," Marcus said quietly, as he cuddled Emily as close to him as he could get. "We can talk about it later as we need to be prepared to disembark."
"OK," Emily agreed easily, which told Marcus that she had said all she was going to say on the subject at least for now.

~~~Marcus and Emily~~~