The Promise
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 25
The room was quiet, the mood somber as Carlisle and Esme sat watching the young couple they couldn’t help but love in the short time they’d known them.
Esme watched on with a wan smile for the strong, young vampire who refused to leave his mate’s side for even a moment. He hadn’t moved as much as a muscle in the three days since he’d knelt and took her hand.
Carlisle’s thoughts were a bit more somber as he couldn’t escape the feeling of failure when he looked at the ever changing form of Bella. He thought, after all these years of practicing medicine, he would have come to terms with seemingly healthy patients sometimes taking drastic turns for the worst. He knew this to be true. He also knew that sometimes, there was simply nothing medicine could do and yet, here he sat, second guessing himself.
“Carlisle, honey, stop this. We all heard the voice. Perhaps…perhaps this was always meant to happen this way. I know you believe in a higher power my love. Release this guilt you’re carrying and let fate be. All will work out and they’ll be happy and together again when she wakes.”
He sighed with a nod. “I know you’re right Es, but I can’t help but worry. What about the baby? He’s entirely human and now his mother will be a newborn vampire.” He shook his head. “She won’t be able to be around him for years Es.”
Esme squeezed her husband’s hand. “Then we’ll be there for them. We’ll help raise little Holden if that’s what’s needed. At least then, he’ll be able to have both parents around him even if Bella has to keep her distance for a while.” He looked at her skeptically and she nodded. “Yes, I know it will take a lot of effort on our parts to keep them all safe, but it will be worth it all in the end, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it will, if that’s what they decide they want, I’m certainly willing.”
A sudden change in Bella’s heart rhythm got Carlisle’s immediate attention and he murmured, “It won’t be long now.”
“I can’t wait to see her,” Esme said with a smile as she looked over at the couple. “You know,” she mused. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Peter slept through her entire change.”
“It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Carlisle agreed. “He certainly hasn’t been what I would consider lucid.” He looked over to his wife with a wan smile just as she gasped, her gaze still locked on Bella.
“Carlisle! What’s happening?”
He looked back at the bed just in time to see the couple engulfed in a white glow that was growing steadily brighter as he watched. “I have no idea,” he murmured, his voice tinged with awe as the glow intensified with the speed to Bella’s racing heart.
A pained gasp from Peter had Carlisle jumping up from his chair to stand over the obviously distressed vampire whose body suddenly straightened from his slumped over position as his back arched.
“Es, help me lay him out on the bed!”
Carlisle grabbed the glowing vampire under his arms while Esme grabbed his legs and they laid him next to his wife just as he groaned in what sounded like pain as his back arched up off the bed. Carlisle pinned his shoulders but gasped as the sound of another heartbeat started up in addition to Bella’s which was now slowing to a more normal rate.
Esme’s wide eyes met her husband’s. “Bella’s heart is slowing? Is that normal? And Peter?” She stared at her husband and was shocked at the look of absolute perplexity she saw there.
“I have no idea Es,” was all he said as he finally let go of Pete as his body relaxed. They both stood back, Carlisle wrapping Esme in his arms as they watched the glow slowly fade from the couple on the bed.
When it had faded out completely, Bella’s eyes slowly opened and she turned on her side to look at her husband. “Pete,” she whispered as she caressed his cheek. “It’s time to wake up.”
Esme gasped at the sight of the newborn vampire whose heart still beat in a steady rhythm. “Bella! You’re eyes!”
Bella looked up and frowned. “Is something wrong?”
Carlisle laughed incredulously. “I wouldn’t say anything is wrong Bella,” he answered, more awed now than ever. “Just very different.”
It was then that Peter began to stir and opened his eyes. “Bella?” he said as he turned his head to look at her. “I feel so…different.”
She smiled. “So do I,” she answered with a laugh.
He reached up and cupped her cheek. “Your eyes…” he commented. “They’re still brown,” he said, sounding worried.
She laughed. “You should see your own…” She moved her hand to his chest. “And your heart Pete…it’s beating.”
His eyes widened and his heart picked up speed. “What?!”
Carlisle stepped forward and put a hand on Pete’s shoulder. “Don’t panic,” he said while looking into Pete’s hazel eyes. “Just let me give you both a quick exam and we’ll try to figure this out, all right?”
Pete relaxed back onto the pillow with a nod. “Yeah, okay doc.”
He began his exam on Pete first and the door opened just as he was finishing up. Jasper stepped in just as Pete was shrugging back into his shirt.
“Carlisle, why do I hear two hearts beating in here?” he asked while eyeing Bella and Pete. “As a matter of fact, why do I hear any hearts beating at all in here? And what the hell? Their eyes…?”
Bella smiled as Carlisle turned to him with a sigh. “This is what I’m trying to figure out now Jasper. During Bella’s change, something…happened and Peter’s heart began to beat again. Bella’s never stopped. She also retained her human eye color and Peter’s reverted back to what he had as a human.”
Jasper looked startled. “So they’re human?”
Carlisle shook his head. “Not entirely, no. Peter still has fangs and I suspect Bella does now too. I’ve yet to test their bloodlust, strength or speed.”
Bella looked at Jasper. “Holden?” she asked. “How is he?” She looked to Carlisle. “Can I see him now?”
Jasper frowned and Carlisle shook his head sadly. “Bella, while you’ve been abnormally calm since waking, we can’t take the chance with you seeing the baby yet. I need to test your response to blood first, then perhaps we can discuss letting you see him.”
She looked down into her lap and nodded. “I understand,” she murmured and Pete pulled her close. “I’ll go see him in a bit and give him a kiss for you.”
Carlisle shook his head as he moved to Bella’s side of the bed to complete her exam. “I hate to say this but there have been enough significant changes in you Peter, that we’ll have to treat you as a newborn until we know differently. I’m sorry.”
Bella took Pete’s hand and gave it a squeeze while looking to Carlisle. “We understand and thank you for keeping him safe.”
Carlisle smiled. “I’m glad of that, and there’s no need to thank us. Esme and I consider you family. Holden is our grandson just as much as he is Charlie’s.”
She gasped. “Charlie! Oh god, how is he?”
“He’s doing very well Bella,” he said with a chuckle. “He’s already home although I haven’t released him to go back to work yet.”
“Good,” she grumbled. “He needs the rest.” She hissed as Carlisle pierced her vein for a blood sample.
“Sorry,” he soothed as he changed out the vial.
She scowled. “Didn’t think I’d have to put up with this kind of stuff after changing,” she grumbled and Carlisle chuckled.
“Yes, well, had your change been a normal one, you wouldn't have,” he finished with a smirk.
“Yeah, thanks pops. I can see you’re very sympathetic.”
He merely glanced at her, his smirk still firmly in place as he loosened the band on her arm and collected one last vial.
“Did you leave me any?” she asked with a scowl and he chuckled as he put everything away.
“I can clearly see that you are Charlie’s daughter,” he said dryly as Pete snickered.
She scowled at her husband. “You’re not helping,” she grumped as she stood from the bed. “I’m gonna go take a shower.” She looked at Carlisle. “That is if you’re done poking and prodding…?”
He smiled widely. “Yes Bella, I’m done. Everything seems to have healed during the change and I give you a clean bill of health.”
“Good,” she grumbled as she grabbed a clean set of clothes. “I’d like to feel human again…” she froze for a second and grinned as she looked at Pete, Carlisle and Esme. “You know what I mean!”
She left the room and Carlisle took Esme’s hand and turned to Peter. “We’ll leave you now. Feel free to come down when you’re both ready and we’ll see how you do with bloodlust.”
He nodded and watched them leave before slipping quietly into the steamy bathroom with a smirk.
~o0o~
Bella stepped into the steamy shower and moaned as the hot water sluiced over her body. “Oh god, this feels amazing,” she breathed while tilting her head back into the spray. A second later, she smirked and cracked an eye open when she heard the door open and close. “Come to join me?” she questioned and her smile grew at the sound of a dark chuckle as arms wound around her waist from behind.
“Like I could pass up such an opportunity?” he said while placing open-mouthed kisses on her neck.
She hissed in pleasure. “All I can say to that is thank god for vampire healing,” she answered with a smirk as she turned in his arms.
“Amen to that sugar,” he agreed as his hands glided down her back to cup her ass.
“Pete,” she moaned as her lips trailed across his jawline. “I’ve missed you so much…”
He groaned. “It’s been so long baby doll…too damn long…” he muttered as he covered her mouth with his own, his tongue plunging into her eager mouth as he lifted her to pin her against the shower wall.
She wrapped her legs around him and ground herself against his hardened cock as they sucked and nipped at each others lips.
He broke the kiss to trail his mouth down her jaw and neck before lifting her higher as his lips closed over one rosy, hardened peak. She hissed as he sucked it in deeply, her fingers sinking into his silky hair as she held him close. “Pete…inside me,” she babbled. “Need you inside me.”
He turned loose of her nipple and looked at her with concern. “Is it okay? I mean, are you all…ya know…”
She chuckled and kissed him. “I’m fine, Carlisle said I was fine…vampire healing…remember?”
“Right,” he muttered as his mouth slanted over hers in a hungry kiss. “Damn, I can’t get enough of ya sugar,” he muttered while trailing open mouthed kisses over her neck.
She threw her head back. “Then take all of me…I need you,” she breathed and moaned as he lined up and slid every hard, hot inch of his cock into her slick passage.
She gripped his shoulders and looked down in time to watch as he drew his hips back, pulling his cock out almost to the tip before snapping his hips forward to plunge back in. He grinned as she cried out,” Fuck, yes!”
“Such a dirty mouth wife,” he said as he picked up the pace. “Remind me to spank ya later…”
“Mmm,” she moaned with a wicked smirk as she met his gaze. “You promise?”
He grinned. “I do.”
The room was quiet, the mood somber as Carlisle and Esme sat watching the young couple they couldn’t help but love in the short time they’d known them.
Esme watched on with a wan smile for the strong, young vampire who refused to leave his mate’s side for even a moment. He hadn’t moved as much as a muscle in the three days since he’d knelt and took her hand.
Carlisle’s thoughts were a bit more somber as he couldn’t escape the feeling of failure when he looked at the ever changing form of Bella. He thought, after all these years of practicing medicine, he would have come to terms with seemingly healthy patients sometimes taking drastic turns for the worst. He knew this to be true. He also knew that sometimes, there was simply nothing medicine could do and yet, here he sat, second guessing himself.
“Carlisle, honey, stop this. We all heard the voice. Perhaps…perhaps this was always meant to happen this way. I know you believe in a higher power my love. Release this guilt you’re carrying and let fate be. All will work out and they’ll be happy and together again when she wakes.”
He sighed with a nod. “I know you’re right Es, but I can’t help but worry. What about the baby? He’s entirely human and now his mother will be a newborn vampire.” He shook his head. “She won’t be able to be around him for years Es.”
Esme squeezed her husband’s hand. “Then we’ll be there for them. We’ll help raise little Holden if that’s what’s needed. At least then, he’ll be able to have both parents around him even if Bella has to keep her distance for a while.” He looked at her skeptically and she nodded. “Yes, I know it will take a lot of effort on our parts to keep them all safe, but it will be worth it all in the end, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it will, if that’s what they decide they want, I’m certainly willing.”
A sudden change in Bella’s heart rhythm got Carlisle’s immediate attention and he murmured, “It won’t be long now.”
“I can’t wait to see her,” Esme said with a smile as she looked over at the couple. “You know,” she mused. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Peter slept through her entire change.”
“It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Carlisle agreed. “He certainly hasn’t been what I would consider lucid.” He looked over to his wife with a wan smile just as she gasped, her gaze still locked on Bella.
“Carlisle! What’s happening?”
He looked back at the bed just in time to see the couple engulfed in a white glow that was growing steadily brighter as he watched. “I have no idea,” he murmured, his voice tinged with awe as the glow intensified with the speed to Bella’s racing heart.
A pained gasp from Peter had Carlisle jumping up from his chair to stand over the obviously distressed vampire whose body suddenly straightened from his slumped over position as his back arched.
“Es, help me lay him out on the bed!”
Carlisle grabbed the glowing vampire under his arms while Esme grabbed his legs and they laid him next to his wife just as he groaned in what sounded like pain as his back arched up off the bed. Carlisle pinned his shoulders but gasped as the sound of another heartbeat started up in addition to Bella’s which was now slowing to a more normal rate.
Esme’s wide eyes met her husband’s. “Bella’s heart is slowing? Is that normal? And Peter?” She stared at her husband and was shocked at the look of absolute perplexity she saw there.
“I have no idea Es,” was all he said as he finally let go of Pete as his body relaxed. They both stood back, Carlisle wrapping Esme in his arms as they watched the glow slowly fade from the couple on the bed.
When it had faded out completely, Bella’s eyes slowly opened and she turned on her side to look at her husband. “Pete,” she whispered as she caressed his cheek. “It’s time to wake up.”
Esme gasped at the sight of the newborn vampire whose heart still beat in a steady rhythm. “Bella! You’re eyes!”
Bella looked up and frowned. “Is something wrong?”
Carlisle laughed incredulously. “I wouldn’t say anything is wrong Bella,” he answered, more awed now than ever. “Just very different.”
It was then that Peter began to stir and opened his eyes. “Bella?” he said as he turned his head to look at her. “I feel so…different.”
She smiled. “So do I,” she answered with a laugh.
He reached up and cupped her cheek. “Your eyes…” he commented. “They’re still brown,” he said, sounding worried.
She laughed. “You should see your own…” She moved her hand to his chest. “And your heart Pete…it’s beating.”
His eyes widened and his heart picked up speed. “What?!”
Carlisle stepped forward and put a hand on Pete’s shoulder. “Don’t panic,” he said while looking into Pete’s hazel eyes. “Just let me give you both a quick exam and we’ll try to figure this out, all right?”
Pete relaxed back onto the pillow with a nod. “Yeah, okay doc.”
He began his exam on Pete first and the door opened just as he was finishing up. Jasper stepped in just as Pete was shrugging back into his shirt.
“Carlisle, why do I hear two hearts beating in here?” he asked while eyeing Bella and Pete. “As a matter of fact, why do I hear any hearts beating at all in here? And what the hell? Their eyes…?”
Bella smiled as Carlisle turned to him with a sigh. “This is what I’m trying to figure out now Jasper. During Bella’s change, something…happened and Peter’s heart began to beat again. Bella’s never stopped. She also retained her human eye color and Peter’s reverted back to what he had as a human.”
Jasper looked startled. “So they’re human?”
Carlisle shook his head. “Not entirely, no. Peter still has fangs and I suspect Bella does now too. I’ve yet to test their bloodlust, strength or speed.”
Bella looked at Jasper. “Holden?” she asked. “How is he?” She looked to Carlisle. “Can I see him now?”
Jasper frowned and Carlisle shook his head sadly. “Bella, while you’ve been abnormally calm since waking, we can’t take the chance with you seeing the baby yet. I need to test your response to blood first, then perhaps we can discuss letting you see him.”
She looked down into her lap and nodded. “I understand,” she murmured and Pete pulled her close. “I’ll go see him in a bit and give him a kiss for you.”
Carlisle shook his head as he moved to Bella’s side of the bed to complete her exam. “I hate to say this but there have been enough significant changes in you Peter, that we’ll have to treat you as a newborn until we know differently. I’m sorry.”
Bella took Pete’s hand and gave it a squeeze while looking to Carlisle. “We understand and thank you for keeping him safe.”
Carlisle smiled. “I’m glad of that, and there’s no need to thank us. Esme and I consider you family. Holden is our grandson just as much as he is Charlie’s.”
She gasped. “Charlie! Oh god, how is he?”
“He’s doing very well Bella,” he said with a chuckle. “He’s already home although I haven’t released him to go back to work yet.”
“Good,” she grumbled. “He needs the rest.” She hissed as Carlisle pierced her vein for a blood sample.
“Sorry,” he soothed as he changed out the vial.
She scowled. “Didn’t think I’d have to put up with this kind of stuff after changing,” she grumbled and Carlisle chuckled.
“Yes, well, had your change been a normal one, you wouldn't have,” he finished with a smirk.
“Yeah, thanks pops. I can see you’re very sympathetic.”
He merely glanced at her, his smirk still firmly in place as he loosened the band on her arm and collected one last vial.
“Did you leave me any?” she asked with a scowl and he chuckled as he put everything away.
“I can clearly see that you are Charlie’s daughter,” he said dryly as Pete snickered.
She scowled at her husband. “You’re not helping,” she grumped as she stood from the bed. “I’m gonna go take a shower.” She looked at Carlisle. “That is if you’re done poking and prodding…?”
He smiled widely. “Yes Bella, I’m done. Everything seems to have healed during the change and I give you a clean bill of health.”
“Good,” she grumbled as she grabbed a clean set of clothes. “I’d like to feel human again…” she froze for a second and grinned as she looked at Pete, Carlisle and Esme. “You know what I mean!”
She left the room and Carlisle took Esme’s hand and turned to Peter. “We’ll leave you now. Feel free to come down when you’re both ready and we’ll see how you do with bloodlust.”
He nodded and watched them leave before slipping quietly into the steamy bathroom with a smirk.
~o0o~
Bella stepped into the steamy shower and moaned as the hot water sluiced over her body. “Oh god, this feels amazing,” she breathed while tilting her head back into the spray. A second later, she smirked and cracked an eye open when she heard the door open and close. “Come to join me?” she questioned and her smile grew at the sound of a dark chuckle as arms wound around her waist from behind.
“Like I could pass up such an opportunity?” he said while placing open-mouthed kisses on her neck.
She hissed in pleasure. “All I can say to that is thank god for vampire healing,” she answered with a smirk as she turned in his arms.
“Amen to that sugar,” he agreed as his hands glided down her back to cup her ass.
“Pete,” she moaned as her lips trailed across his jawline. “I’ve missed you so much…”
He groaned. “It’s been so long baby doll…too damn long…” he muttered as he covered her mouth with his own, his tongue plunging into her eager mouth as he lifted her to pin her against the shower wall.
She wrapped her legs around him and ground herself against his hardened cock as they sucked and nipped at each others lips.
He broke the kiss to trail his mouth down her jaw and neck before lifting her higher as his lips closed over one rosy, hardened peak. She hissed as he sucked it in deeply, her fingers sinking into his silky hair as she held him close. “Pete…inside me,” she babbled. “Need you inside me.”
He turned loose of her nipple and looked at her with concern. “Is it okay? I mean, are you all…ya know…”
She chuckled and kissed him. “I’m fine, Carlisle said I was fine…vampire healing…remember?”
“Right,” he muttered as his mouth slanted over hers in a hungry kiss. “Damn, I can’t get enough of ya sugar,” he muttered while trailing open mouthed kisses over her neck.
She threw her head back. “Then take all of me…I need you,” she breathed and moaned as he lined up and slid every hard, hot inch of his cock into her slick passage.
She gripped his shoulders and looked down in time to watch as he drew his hips back, pulling his cock out almost to the tip before snapping his hips forward to plunge back in. He grinned as she cried out,” Fuck, yes!”
“Such a dirty mouth wife,” he said as he picked up the pace. “Remind me to spank ya later…”
“Mmm,” she moaned with a wicked smirk as she met his gaze. “You promise?”
He grinned. “I do.”
DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.