A/N: Hey y'all. I appreciate you the few reviews that have been left. I will probably give you more than one chapter in the next few days. I am house sitting for my sister in Missouri. Let's hope a tornado doesn't sweep me away while I'm here.
Thank you for reading and an even larger Thank you if you leave a review. I apologize for not getting back to the few PM's that I've received.
Let's see what these kids are up to.
ENJOY!
4/05/2025
Rear-view Town: Moving Forward
Chapter FOUR
"Well, Alice and Jasper are so out of town that they don't have any phone signal, and Carlisle remembers telling Eleazar and Carmen about us getting married. He said they were happy for me and especially when he shared that we were expecting, so it's been a while ago that he told them. It's been over a year."
"Did Dr. C have any ideas as to why Tanya was here?" Paul's gut was telling him that she was up to no good, but he didn't know her, so he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Bella nodded. "No, and he was surprised that she said that she got married. That was the first he's heard of it. He's going to call Eleazar and get back to me."
"She's a vampire, Angel," Paul reminded her. "We know which bloodsuckers we can trust, and she isn't on our list."
"I know." Bella sighed and sank back into her seat. "Why am I getting the feeling that more trouble is headed our way? It's like we're magnets for bullshit."
Paul chuckled. "They smell like bullshit."
"They've always smelled sweet to me." Bella began to remember the scent that all the vampires permeated. It was alluring and attractive.
"You're human, Angel. If you were able to phase, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about. It's like a sickly-sweet pile of bullshit that has sat in the sun for days."
Bella gagged. "That's just nasty. Just thinking about it makes me wanna puke."
Paul parked in the designated parking lot for the City County building. Before he exited the car, he grabbed his wallet from the console. "I hope this won't take too long. They just need my signature, right?"
"From what I understand, that's all." Bella picked up her purse before she grabbed the handle to the door. "What needs to be done after this?"
"Nothing." Paul made sure to hit the lock/alarm on the car considering their bags and a shit ton of money was in the car. "You have anything in mind?"
"Maybe we can just stay in. Watch some TV and have a round or two of..."
Paul growled. "Don't finish that sentence. Not right now."
"I was just going to say Monopoly." She giggled knowing that she was completely full of shit. He knew exactly what she was going to say. If there weren't any other obligations that needed to be taken care of, then she wanted to spend as much time as she could alone with her husband.
As soon as they approached the area to take a number, Paul wanted to turn around and walk out. Sarah was sitting behind one of the desks. Unfortunate for him, everything pertaining to registration, car titles, home deeds, and many more was dealt with out of one office because the town was so small.
Sarah didn't notice that Paul and Bella walked into the building until she called the next number and looked up. Her stomach twisted at the mere sight of him with his wife. She envied Bella and wished she was the one waking up with Paul every morning and had his children. That burned her inside more than she imagined it ever would.
"Hi, Paul. What can I help you with today." She needed to be on her very best behavior.
Paul told her what needed to be done, and luckily it could all be taken care of digitally. In the end, Paul asked for a copy and paid any fees that needed to be paid. "Can I help you with anything else?"
"No thank you." Paul gave her a half-assed smile as he stood up from his chair and extended his hand out to Bella. "Thank you for your help. You take care."
Sarah wanted to ask him so many questions about where he was living and about the people he was calling family. She wanted to know what kind of work he was doing and if he was truly happy. His wife looked very well dressed, but Paul definitely still dressed the same as the last time she had seen him.
Paul and Bella made a hasty exit, not wanting to have any more unnecessary conversations. Paul, especially, knew that if he dragged things along a little slower, he would be stuck with mounds of questions by someone he could care less about.
"That was tense," Bella said as they got into the car. "She could barely take her eyes off of you while we were there."
"I'm just glad it's done and over with." Paul chuckled. "Chaumont is my rear-view town, and it needs to stay that way for legit reasons."
Bella scrunched up her face when she looked over at her husband. "What's a Rear-view town?"
"The best way I can explain it is, once we leave here, it'll be the last time I'll see this place is in the rear-view mirror. LaPush was my mom's rear-view town when she left there with me as a baby."
"Hmmm," Bella hummed. "Sounds like a country music song."
Paul laughed at his wife. "It's already been written, Angel."
"Seriously?" She reached for her phone. "Is that the name of it?"
"Yup." Paul smiled because he knew she was going to google it.
A few seconds later, music poured out of her phone speaker. "Is this it?"
"That's the one."
It was perfect timing to play the song as Paul watched his former home of Chaumont fade behind them. There was a lot of memories there. Thankfully, none of them were bad enough to leave him wanting to forget.
Their flight was scheduled to leave early the next morning, so they stopped at a quick stop convenient store to get a few things before checking into a hotel next to the airport.
They video called Cora to talk to the babies before they got comfortable. Bella had an addiction to watching The First 48. She watched it when she could, so mostly after the babies were asleep for the night when Paul was out doing patrol with the pack, she'll click the TV on.
Halfway through the first episode, both had fallen asleep only to wake up to the blaring alarm coming from Bella's phone. She set it early enough, so they could take a shower. They planned to get some breakfast at the airport after they checked in. The last two days that they had been away from the babies, was far too long and they missed them more than they thought they ever would.
Bella woke up when she felt her legs being pushed apart. She eased her eyes open to see Paul hovering over her. He didn't have to say anything before she reached down and began to push her underwear off and out of the way. Paul wanted her completely naked, so her shirt came off next.
Paul was inside her moments later. Bella had her legs wrapped around Paul's hips as he drove into her. They hadn't worried about contraception since Bella had the IUD removed. It had come loose and caused her pain. She continually bled for two weeks straight, as well. Paul could sense when it was Bella's fertile time and made sure to use precaution when needed. They were positive that she'd be pregnant as soon as that moment came when they were ready for more kids. They made love one more time before the alarm sounded again for them to get out of bed.
The airport was only ten minutes from the hotel, so they didn't rush. Shower sex had always been a favorite of Paul's and made sure to take advantage of the moment while he could.
They were clean and well satisfied when they left the hotel. Once they returned their rental car and checked in for their flight, they made their way over to Starbucks for drinks and small appetizer. They would eat breakfast on the plane. Paul was starving, as usual, and grabbed a breakfast sandwich before they went to their terminal and sat down.
Paul's leg began to bounce up and down from anxiousness before Bella placed her hand on his thigh. "You're making the whole bench shake."
"Sorry." He shoved the last bite of his food into his mouth before opening his drink. "I guess I'm a little nervous. This whole flying thing makes me uneasy. It might be something that I'll never get used to."
"We'll be fine." Bella was pretty sure she was right. It wasn't often that there was news about a plane crash in America. She hated to think about the planes that hit the twin towers in NYC. That will be something that no one would ever forget. "We'll watch a movie like last time."
"I'm just being a baby." He kissed the side of her head. "I have you to protect me."
Bella laughed at her silly husband. "I think your anxiety is messing with your head too much." She reached up and patted his cheek. "You're my protector."
Paul leaned over and kissed his wife before he stood up and made his way over to the large ceiling to floor windows where he could see planes leaving and landing. Bella was right next to him as they watched a plane taxi to its designated gate. "Our next trip will be with the whole family. I think we all deserve it. Maybe we can rent some RV's and go to California or something."
"Sounds like fun to me," Bella replied. "We'll have to get deluxe RV's for all of us because we definitely can't all fit into one."
Paul smiled as he draped his arm around Bella's shoulders and pulled her into him. "We all deserve a good vacation."
Their flight home was just as comfortable as the first one, and just like when they left, they flew into Seattle before taking a smaller plane into Port Angeles. As soon as they saw the sign for LaPush, Paul couldn't drive any faster to get home. Cora was at their house with the babies waiting for them to get home.
As soon as they pulled into the garage, they couldn't get inside fast enough, and when they opened the door, they were attacked by three tiny humans. "Babies," Paul bellowed as he dropped their bags by the door and bent down to pick up all three of them. "Daddy missed you so much." He started peppering their faces with kisses. "Mommy missed you, too."
"Come here." Bella reached up to take Creed.
Cora watched Bella and Paul for a few seconds before she walked over and kissed each of them on the cheek. "It's good to have you home."
"Were they more than you could handle?" Paul asked as he soaked up the attention from his children.
"I don't know how Bella does it all by herself." Cora kissed Ember on the cheek. "This one kept us all on our toes."
Bella looked up to Ember. "Were you being a pain while mommy and daddy were gone?"
Ember giggled as Paul blew raspberries onto her neck. "Not this one. She never bothers anyone."
Cora chuckled. "I beg to differ. Ask your sisters." She walked over to the rack where her purse was hanging. "I'd love to stick around, but I need to find my sanity. I love all of you, but two days with three curtain climbers, I'm sure to be prematurely gray."
Bella smiled at her mother in-law. "We understand." She reached out to hug Cora. "Thank you for everything. I'm just glad we didn't need to be there any longer than we had to be." Creed wanted down. "We'll plan dinner later this week."
"Sounds good. Winter is just around the corner, so we're trying to get all the firewood we can chopped up." Cora patted Paul on the shoulder. "You can help your dad and brother with that. They only like a few things before the house is done and Jake can get moved in. That boy is about to drive Ness crazy."
"He's just anxious," Paul said. "I was too when we bought this place. There's just something about having your own place."
"I know," Cora expressed somberly. "All this just makes me feel older. Before too long, the twins are gonna fly the nest, then what will I do?"
"You and dad can take a long vacation," Paul suggested. "You still have a few years, right?"
"Some days it's not soon enough. I love all of you, but you get on my nerves sometimes." Cora reached up to hug Paul. "And there's nothing I wouldn't do for my family regardless of how much you're a pain in my ass."
"Ass!" Malia yelled. "Ass!"
"Thanks mom," Paul said as he raised his face to the ceiling and sighed. "I was wondering when this stage was going to start."
"It's my right as their grandma." Cora smiled as she tossed her purse over her shoulder. "On that note, I shall see you later. Love you!"
And she walked out through the garage as she headed to her own home.
Bella giggled and looked up to her husband. "We just need to watch what we say from now on. Like you said before, you were wondering when it was going to happen."
On the other side of the country where Alice and Jasper were helping out in a village that was off of any map, Alice stopped what she was doing as she cleaned the face of a small child. A vision swept over her that took her by surprise. When it was over, she looked over to her husband. "We need to cut our trip short."
Jasper was next to her in a flash. "What did you see?"
"Tanya. It looked like she was in trouble."
"Soon?" Jasper queried.
Alice shook her head. "I don't know. I couldn't tell."
"Do we need to warn the others?" Even though they were really far off the grid, they made sure to have a satellite phone that was spotty to use regardless of the area they were in.
Alice finished with the small child and smiled at the little girl. She spoke to her in their native tongue with a smile and let her go back to her mother. She then stood up and looked over to Jasper. "No. I don't want to rattle anyone. We can head home in a couple of days, and I think we'll be fine."
"I'll make the arrangements."
Alice began to search her memory for the vision she just had. She wondered what in the world could make Tanya so distraught and then angry. All she could see was Tanya yelling with her new husband standing nearby. There was another vampire that she didn't know. One that, from the looks of her, she was a newborn. Her eyes were blood red, and she was panting. Whatever the problem, Alice knew it wasn't good.
Later that evening, after Paul had brought their baggage inside, he put the bag with the money on the table. He still hadn't counted it all nor the savings bonds. He knew there was quite a bit there and wondered, again, where his mom had gotten so much money. He was sure he would never know the true answer.
As Paul did his thing, Bella made sure the babies were in their seats so she could feed them lunch. It was close to nap time for them, and she could use a nap herself. When the babies were done eating, she planned to join them.
The money laying in front of Paul was nothing compared to the papers he held in his hands. It was banking statements that included deposit after deposit of millions of dollars. There was so much money that Paul was sure that he couldn't count that high. He was too overwhelmed to even think about where it all came from. He kept going back to the same questions over and over. Where did his mom get all this money? Who gave it to her? What did she have to do to earn it? He hated to think that it was obtained illegally, but among the papers were the documents showing that he was the beneficiary. He needed to talk to Cora and see if she had any answers for him.
Later that evening, Bella was making dinner for them. Nothing too extravagant because she was feeling a little run down. She had forgotten about jetlag from the last time she had flown. She had also noticed how quiet Paul had been. She wondered if it had anything to do with their trip. "Babe?"
"Yeah?" Paul called back from the living room where he was on the floor playing with the babies.
"Come see me in the kitchen, please." Bella was slicing tomatoes to put into a small salad she was preparing for them.
Paul kissed his wife's neck once he entered the kitchen. "What's up?"
"You're being very quiet. Is there a reason?" She dropped the cut-up tomatoes into the bowl she was using.
"Eh..." He replied as he shrugged one of his shoulders. "I guess I'm just trying to get used to being a millionaire."
Bella chuckled. "Babe, you've been a millionaire for a while now." She pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "What's different?"
"Did you look at the papers on the desk?" He turned to lean against the counter and watched as Bella began to cut a cucumber.
She shook her head. "No. Do I need to?"
"Well..." Paul shrugged again and paused for good measure. "I think you need to."
"Is it bad?" Bella grabbed the water chestnuts and started to slice them.
"Far from it." Paul crossed his arms over his chest. "I think I wanna build my dad a new house."
Bella chuckled. "That came out of nowhere."
Paul smiled. "It's just something I've been thinking about. You think they'll want a new house?"
"You need to talk to your parents about that. You already planned their remodel." Bella stopped what she was doing and turned to her husband. "That money is burning a hole in your proverbial pocket."
"For some reason, I feel like there's a lot I owe my dad." Paul sighed. "I guess I'm feeling guilty for what my mom did to him." He kissed the top of Bella's head. "I'll talk to them when we have dinner this week. There's just so much I want to do." He stepped away from Bella and over to the desk that was in the kitchen and picked up the papers. "Look at these. You'll see why my brain is frazzled."
Bella walked over to where Paul was and took the papers from him as soon as she dried her hands. As soon as her eyes landed on the available balance that was shown on the paper, she plopped down into a chair at the table. "Is this for real?"
"I haven't called the bank to confirm, but I'm pretty sure it is." Paul sat across from her. "I don't know what to say or do."
Bella pulled her eyes away from the documents she was looking at to look at her husband. "Well," she chuckled in disbelief. "We just need to keep living like we have been. This doesn't change anything about us. Yes, you can do more, but we need to stay the same as we are. Do you want to know where all this came from?"
"Yes and no. I already have a little grudge against my mom for taking me away from my dad, so finding out where all that came from, it might make me look at her completely different. I love my mother, Angel. That will never change, but what if this is from..."
"Don't do this to yourself," Bella said interrupting his train of thought. "We can ask Jasper and Alice if they gave all this to her. This is more than I've ever seen or even heard of in my entire life." She stood from her chair and slipped onto Paul's lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't tell anyone about it or we'll have a shit-ton of new family members that we've never met."
Paul laughed. "Yeah." He pressed his lips to hers. "When's dinner?"
Bella smiled and stood up just as their toddlers came toddling into the kitchen. Ember was crying. "Momma!"
It became a hustling game as soon as they all entered the kitchen. Paul helped get them situated in their seats so they could be served their dinner. Bath time was an even bigger challenge with all three being very grumpy. Bella shrugged it off to them just being tired. They had a doctor's appointment coming up soon for a check-up. She knew they grew quicker than most human children, but her kids weren't 100% human. To someone who didn't know them, her toddlers would pass as three-year old's.
So, when one cries, then they all cry. It's been a never-ending battle when it came to the Lahote triplets. Bella often wondered if the same situation would happen with Jake and Ness when their babies started to cry. It was enough to make you pull your hair out, but she loves her kids and having them is worth every cry and laugh she gets from them.
Thank you so, so much.
RTB
