Waiting For My Real Life To Begin
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 27
“Da! Da…Da…Da!”
Bella laughed and placed a kiss on her son’s sweet smelling golden curls as she bounced him in her arms. “Yes, my sweet little man, Daddy’s gonna be home very soon.” She cast her gaze out the window as a familiar fear blanketed her like a heavy cloak. “At least I hope so…” she finished under her breath.
Sadness she knew wasn’t her own joined her dread and she glanced down in time to see her baby boy’s chin quiver as he started to cry. She hugged him close. “Oh Jace, Mommy’s sorry baby. Shhh, it’s all right. Don’t cry…Daddy’s gonna be fine…shhh.”
“Miss Bella, what’d I tell you about pinching that baby?”
She turned and rolled her eyes at a grinning Charles who’d just brought in a refreshment tray. He set it on the table and held his arms out, and Bella smiled as Jace leaned toward the man who scooped him into his arms with a playful bounce.
“There now, dry up that crying Mr. Jace. You’re the man of the house ‘till your Daddy comes home.” He held him up and playfully growled as he nuzzled under Jace’s chubby jaw, drawing a squeal and giggle from the baby before settling him back in his arms.
Jace smacked a dimpled hand on Charles’s lapel. “Da!”
“Someone misses his Daddy,” Charles said with a wan smile at Bella.
She nodded with a heavy sigh and a smile. “He’s not the only one, Charles.”
“He’ll be home real soon, Miss, you’ll see.”
She sat down and poured a cup of tea. “I hope you’re right, Charles. It’s already days past when he said he’d probably be home.”
Charles walked over and handed the baby off to the nanny who settled him on a blanket with some toys before taking her seat again.
“Anne, would you care for some tea?” Bella offered while doctoring her own with sugar and cream.
“No, thank you Ma’am,” she quietly refused while moving to kneel on the blanket to distract Jace with his toys.
Bella shrugged delicately. “Charles?” she asked while gesturing to the tray.
“Thank you Miss Bella, but I’m about to join Miss Emily just as soon as your father is done speaking with her. He should be here to see you in just a few minutes.”
Bella took a sip of her tea and cocked a brow. “When did he arrive?”
Charles consulted his pocket watch. “About half an hour ago. Said he had to speak to Miss Emily before coming to see you, so I thought I’d bring you refreshments and keep you company until they’re through.”
Bella smirked and arched a brow as she eyed the man. “You’ve been worse than a mother hen, you know that? And you’re terrible at subtlety. I’m fine. I keep telling you that, stubborn man,” she grumbled fondly before taking another sip of her tea.
Charles took his time straightening already impeccable cuffs as he answered. “You were a right mess when your Daddy brought you home from that cad’s clutches and I care about you,” he grumbled
Bella gave him a mischievous smile. “Thanks Uncle Charles. I love you too.”
A sharply indrawn breath drew their attention to the nanny who gaped at them before snapping her mouth shut and looking away with a bright blush. Bella narrowed her eyes at the girl as Charles muttered lowly, “You ought not say such things, Miss Bella.”
Bella looked back at him. “This is my husband’s house and I’ll say what I please. You and Emily are like family to me. I shouldn’t have to hide that. Not here,” she finished with a scowl and a last look at the sheepish girl who was now helping Jace stack his brightly colored blocks.
Charles shot a wary look at the young nanny before looking back at Bella. “Caution is warranted in these times, especially. I just don’t want to see you or your family hurt. Not for the likes of me.”
Bella’s jaw set and he almost sighed at the stubborn look on her face as she drew herself up straight. Good lord, but the girl was so very like her father at times…
“You and Emily are more important than any hired help. Nannys,” she drew out emphatically, causing a visible flinch from said girl, “can certainly be replaced. Lord knows there are plenty of qualified people clamoring for decent paying jobs these days.”
The door opened then and Damon entered, a tiny smirk twisting his lips as he eyed his obviously ruffled daughter. “What’s got you in a snit?” he asked while taking the adjacent chair and eyeing the tea service with open hostility.
Bella swallowed a snort at the look on her father’s face. “Charles, before you join Emily, would you bring my father his usual, please, before he sets fire to my favorite china with his eyes alone?”
Damon relaxed back and crossed his legs. “Bring the decanter too Charles. It’s been a long day.”
Bella smirked behind the rim of her cup. “It’s only noon, Father mine.”
He returned her smirk. “Is it?” he quipped.
“Anne,” Bella began and Damon’s brows inched up when the poor girl jumped, her heart now racing.
“Yes, Mrs. Whitlock?”
“Take Jace to the kitchen and have cook prepare him a snack. Then change him and put him down for his nap. Stay with him and fetch me when he wakes.”
The girl stood, curtsied and scooped the baby off his blanket before hurrying from the room just as Charles entered with Damon’s request. He set it on the table and left quietly, closing the door in his wake just as Damon poured a healthy draught of fine, aged bourbon in the cut crystal glass. “What’s the story behind nervous Nellie?”
Bella swallowed a bite of cookie and casually waved a hand. “During the course of a conversation, I called Charles uncle and told him I loved him and you would’ve thought I’d propositioned the man with how the girl was gaping.”
Damon snorted.
“So I may have made it clear that she was expendable as an employee.”
“Well, aren’t you just making friends left right and center,” he snarked while grinning behind his glass.
“Whatever,” Bella grumbled. “Bigots can all form a line to kiss my ass for all I care.”
“Careful little Miss Sunshine,” Damon cautioned. “You’re kinda surrounded with ‘em at the moment. This ain’t exactly a progressive society we’re living in and won’t be for a very long time to come.”
Bella scoffed. “Yeah, I just got a good taste of that recently, remember?”
Damon frowned and Bella could’ve kicked herself for bringing it up. Not that she hadn’t appreciated and even loved how attentive he'd been with her afterward—staying with her and holding her all night as she cried it out, but today was a new day and she really was over it and ready to put it behind her.
Before he could start in again, she held up a hand. “I’m fine, Dad.”
“You weren’t fine when I brought you home…”
She set her cup down and met his searching gaze squarely. “I’m a female. I’m allowed to lose my shit for a while after something like that happens. But it’s over and done with. The asshole’s dead and really didn’t get a chance to do anything to me before that happened so, end of story.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, looking skeptical.
“Yes.” She cast her gaze toward the window. “Who I feel for are the girls that weren’t able to escape him in time,” she murmured before looking back at Damon. “I don’t even know who they are or if they’re okay…if they ever got help. I mean, how do you just get on with things after something like that, and especially in a society that sees it as the shame of the victims and not the asshole that’s truly responsible?”
“You knew these times would be very different, Bella. Saint Stefan and I tried to prepare you.” She nodded and he took a sip from his glass before shaking his head. “You can’t single-handedly change the world you’re in Bella. It will change—you know this—but it’s going to take years of strife and pain and bloodshed and that’s something we can’t interfere in little girl, no matter how much we’d like to. Emily’s even told you as much. If you do, lots of people and events that are supposed to happen, might not.”
Bella sagged—well, as much as she could in a whale bone corset—and nodded while rubbing her forehead. “I know… Sometimes I wish we could just grab Jasper and Jace and have Emily do her thing, ya know?” She glanced up at her father.
“So, what’s stopping you?” he asked before leaning forward to refill his glass, his gaze calculating as it rested on her.
Her brows shot up and she blinked at him. “I—I don’t know. I mean, I’ve thought about it so many times, because I really do miss modern times. I miss Renee and poor Charlie…god, when I think of the last time I saw him…I wonder what the hell Renee told him, you know? And then all those thoughts lead me to thinking of the Cullens…Esme, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett. Of all of them, I think only Esme and Emmett didn’t absolutely hate what they were. I could also add Alice to that list. She never seemed to hate life as a vampire, until her hold on Jasper was threatened and she flipped her shit.
“And speaking of Alice…even though she wound up being bat-shit crazy and wanting to kill me there at the end…she was my friend before that and I cared about her. I hate to think of her locked up in some archaic mental facility.”
She looked back at Damon who seemed content to sip his drink while letting her vent her thoughts. “Yeah, those places were horrific, but then again, maybe she was there for a good reason,” he mused before pinning her with a steely, searching look. She struggled not to fidget under it as his eyes narrowed and he finally spoke. “I get the distinct feeling you’re going somewhere with all of this, baby girl. Care to share?”
She bit her lip and glanced up through her lashes and he groaned. “Well,” she hedged. “I was thinking—“
She ignored his grumbled “I was afraid of that…” and plowed on.
“I was thinking, maybe I could change their fates at least? You know, have us all travel as a group, advancing through time gradually with Emily’s help. I think the first place we would need to go is Chicago, 1918, early in the year to beat the epidemic.”
His brows shot up. “You’re going to risk exposing Jasper and Jace to that?”
Her heart plummeted as she really hadn’t considered it. “You have a point…” again, her teeth abused her bottom lip as her mind raced. “Wouldn’t your blood prevent such an infection, or heal it if it happened? Besides,” she rushed on, “the plan would be to find Carlisle and prevent him from changing Edward in the first place before the epidemic ever gets close.”
Damon cocked a brow. “So, you’d just let the boy die then?”
Bella blinked as she studied her hands in her lap before nodding slowly. “Yes,” she said with finality. She met her father’s gaze. “He hated what he was and fully believed he was damned. If he contracts the disease this time around, I truly think he should be allowed to pass on as nature intended.”
Damon snorted and muttered behind the rim of his glass, “There’s nothing natural about any of this.”
“No, I guess there isn’t,” she murmured in agreement.
He set his glass aside and studied his daughter for a long moment. “So, setting the subject of your potential humanitarian mission aside for the moment, have you discussed the long term future with your husband at all?”
Her head snapped up and she stared at him before reluctantly shaking her head. “Not really?” she hedged.
He narrowed his eyes. “Isabella…”
She groaned and looked away. “I know, okay? No need to take a scolding tone with me. It’s just…well, with him being so busy with his duties and me with the baby…just day to day life…” She looked back at him, noting his unimpressed expression as he stared her down. “All right, there’s really no excuse. I did make sure he had the vial and would use it if he needed to on this mission, but that’s as close as we’ve come to discussing a transition. He agreed to using the vial though, and he knows what that means should he”—she swallowed thickly—“should he die with your blood in his system.”
His gaze was cutting when she looked back at him. “That’s not exactly what I would consider informed consent baby girl. You need to have a serious discussion with no details left out.”
“I know,” she said with a drawn out sigh.
“There’s Jace to consider too. He wouldn’t be safe around his father until Jasper learns control. What would you do in the mean time?”
“I don’t know, Dad,” she admitted, rubbing her brow in frustration.
She jumped when Charles burst through the door, his eyes wide and heart racing, bringing both vampires to their feet instantly. “Riders coming through town, Miss Bella. Miss Emily and I saw them through the library windows. Looks like Captain Whitlock’s Company.”
“Jasper…” she breathed before racing out of the room and to the front door. She wrenched the door open and froze on the stoop as the bedraggled and battle worn Company of Rangers trotted past, their horses hooves kicking up a swirling cloud of dust in their midst as townsfolk poured from homes and businesses, crowding the boardwalks to either side.
Damon saw the litter first and grabbed his daughter in a gentle hold. “Jasper!” she cried when she too finally saw it. “Dad, please, let me go!”
He leaned down, his voice low in her ear and she stilled to listen even as her eyes remained riveted on her injured husband. “Wait until the Company assembles at the Rangers office. Now come on,” he said while pulling her hand through the crook of his elbow. “I’ll escort you and when we get there, we’ll have them bring him straight home.”
She nodded and he tilted her chin up with his fingers so she’d look at him. “Now’s not the time to lose it, all right? It won’t do either of you any good and will only delay getting him home. You gotta be strong now, baby girl.”
She blinked back tears, took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. Okay, let’s go.”
He led her through the crowded boardwalk, nodding in acknowledgement at the many subdued greetings they received since Bella was too distraught for niceties as she clutched his arm.
At some point, they were joined by Jasper’s parents, Thomas and Eliza. Thomas gave Damon a grave nod while Eliza dabbed her eyes with a lace handkerchief while leaning heavily against her husband. “My boy…my boy…he looked so sick,” she sobbed as Thomas patted her hand.
“There now, let’s just wait and see what the doctor says. No use in borrowing trouble,” his voice steady and calm as he soothed his wife. One quick glance told Bella he was anything but, as his eyes showed his worry clearly.
“We’ve already sent for the doctor,” Thomas told Damon as they shouldered their way through the crowd around the milling Company.
Damon bit back his frustration and nodded as Bella surged forward, hitting her knees in the dirt next to the litter that held Jasper as a young Private unhitched it from the horse.
“Oh god, Jay,” she whispered as she grabbed his hand while running her other over his sweaty brow and cheek. Her eyes skittered over his slack features; the pale hue of his skin, chapped and bloodless lips and closed eyes and she choked on a sob. He looked close to death.
“Believe it or not, Ma’am, but he looks good compared to how he was yesterday.”
Her eyes shot up to the speaker who smiled sadly as he drug his hat from his head. “Mrs. Whitlock, I presume?”
She nodded and wiped at an errant tear on her cheek.
“I’m Private Reed, Ma’am and I’ve been watchin’ over the Cap’n here for the past couple’a days.”
“Well, our family owes you a debt, Private,” Thomas spoke up from where he stood with his wife, just behind Bella.
The Private shook Thomas’s outstretched hand as he wrung the brim of his hat in the other. “No sir, it’s me that owes the Cap’n here. He saved my life just days ago, sure as my name’s Peter William Reed. Would’a taken a hatchet straight between my shoulders if he hadn’t ‘a stepped in.”
Eliza gasped in shock, covering her mouth with a gloved hand and the Private blushed and dipped his head, his sandy blond hair sliding into his hazel eyes as he murmured “Beggin’ your pardon for the crudity of my speech, ladies.”
“Well, Private Reed,” Damon spoke up, “we’re very grateful, all the same. Now, do you think you could gather three more of you to carry the Captain to his home just down the street? I believe that’d be the best place for the doctor here to assess his condition.”
Peter dipped his head. “Right away, sir.”
The old doctor blustered, insisting on having a cursory look at his patient then and there. With a grunt and a frown, he looked up at the men. “I must agree with you Mr. Salvatore. I’ll follow, but the sooner the better.”
Damon helped Bella to her feet as Peter and three more Rangers arrived and hefted the litter between them. “Lead on, sir,” Peter said with a nod to Damon.
Thomas and Eliza took the lead and Thomas sternly cleared the way of all the onlookers as the group hurried up the boardwalk to the Whitlock house.
When they arrived, Charles had both entry doors wide open and both he and Emily had their arms loaded down with clean linens. “There’s a pail of boiled water in your room, and more on the fire in the kitchen, Miss,” he told Bella as she hurried in after her injured husband.
“Thank you Charles, Emily,” she said before mounting the stairs. “I believe we’re going to need it. Bring our strongest bottle of alcohol too. He’s got an arrow in his side and it’s been there a while.”
“Oh lord,” Emily muttered. “I’ll fetch my herbs.”
As the soldiers lifted Jasper onto the bed, Damon grasped Bella’s arm. “We need to know if he used the vial. If we can’t find that out, we need to get him alone long enough to give him some blood,” he said, keeping his voice low and lips close to her ear.
She looked at her father, wide eyed. “Wouldn’t he be better if he had?”
Damon peered in to where the doctor was directing the soldiers in stripping Jasper’s uniform and getting him settled. “That Private said he’s better now than he was yesterday. That makes me think someone gave him the vial, but baby girl, that just wasn’t enough. With as bad as he is, it would take a hell of a lot to heal him.”
Bella’s eyes filled with tears. “How are we gonna manage with all these people around?”
“If I can get the Doctor to get everyone out of the room, I can compel the man and do what I need to do, but sweetheart,” he said quietly while cupping her cheek, “he may be too far gone.”
She swallowed a sob and he pulled her close while whispering in her ear. “I’ll get more blood into him, baby girl, but this may be it. If he dies, you know what happens then and you need to make some quick decisions about things I mentioned earlier—Jace being a major one.”
She nodded and wiped her eyes before looking into her father’s. “Save him Daddy, please. I don’t care how. Just do it.”
He nodded and they walked into the room just as the soldiers were picking up the litter to leave. “We gotta get back and write some reports,” Peter said quietly. “I wish y’all the best and I’ll stop by tomorrow to check on the Cap’n.”
“Thank you, Private Reed, for everything,” Bella said while extending her hand.
He took it. “It’s my honor, Mrs. Whitlock. Your husband’s a great man and a fiercer fighter I’ve never seen. I’d follow him anywhere, Ma’am.” He bowed over her hand and took his leave behind his three fellow soldiers who’d all tipped their hats to her as they exited.
“All right,” the doctor spoke up with a grave look at everyone left in the room as he rolled his sleeves up. “I’ll need two strong men to help me. The rest of you need to wait outside. I need to get this arrow out and though he looks deeply unconscious now, I don’t believe he’ll stay that way.”
Damon grabbed Charles by the arm and stepped forward. “We’ll help you.”
All the rest filed out into the hallway, and Bella hurried to the nursery to look after her son. She just couldn’t stand the thought of standing outside the door and having to listen to Jasper go through what she knew would be an excruciating ordeal.
As it was, she could still hear his muffled screams and the curses of the old doctor from the nursery as she fed little Jace.
Jace squirmed in her arms and began crying as his father cried out and she held him close, rocking him to soothe him even as tears dripped from her chin. “Shh, baby, Daddy’s gonna be okay,” she whispered into his ear, her voice cracking with emotion as her little one continued crying.
For the first time, she found herself lamenting her child’s empathic gift. There was just no soothing him in such a saturated environment. He wouldn’t even settle enough to nurse, so with a sigh, she gave up, buttoned her dress and carried him out into the hall to wait with everyone else.
When she joined them, all was silent with the exception of Eliza’s quiet weeping and Thomas’s murmured reassurances as he held her close. “Our son’s strong and has so much to live for. You’ll see. He’ll make it through this.”
The door opened and the Doctor walked out while drying his hands. “It was a close thing, but I got the arrow out and the bleeding under control and he’s stable. Now we wait and hope he can fight the infection,” he said as Damon and Charles walked out of the room. Damon gave Bella a discreet nod and she nearly collapsed with relief.
Emily came and eased Jace out of Bella’s arms. “Go and see your man. I’ll take care of your little one.”
When she walked in, the smell of blood and alcohol nearly bowled her over and her eyes zeroed in on a basin stuffed with crimson soaked linens.
Jasper’s body was still with the exception of the shallow rise and fall of his bare chest. Below that, he was heavily wrapped with crisp, white bandages but she could see the blood seeping through already on his right side where the arrow had been deeply imbedded between his ribs.
There was a sheet draped over his lower body, but beyond that, she could tell he was bare. “Oh Jasper…” she whispered as she ghosted the rest of the way to him before kneeling next to the bed to grasp his hand. His skin was warm though and his cheeks had color despite all he’d gone through. It seemed the blood her father’d fed him was doing its job.
With tears of relief in her eyes, she kissed his hand and bowed her head over it. “Thank god,” she whispered. “You’re gonna be all right.”
She nearly gasped when she felt him squeeze her hand and her head snapped up to see his beautiful green eyes, still filled with pain, but regarding her clearly. “Bella,” he rasped as his lips curved into a crooked smile. “Aren’t you a sight for these sore eyes, darlin’.”
With tears rolling down her cheeks, she laughed and leaned up to kiss his lips softly. “Welcome home, husband mine. I missed you.”
“Da! Da…Da…Da!”
Bella laughed and placed a kiss on her son’s sweet smelling golden curls as she bounced him in her arms. “Yes, my sweet little man, Daddy’s gonna be home very soon.” She cast her gaze out the window as a familiar fear blanketed her like a heavy cloak. “At least I hope so…” she finished under her breath.
Sadness she knew wasn’t her own joined her dread and she glanced down in time to see her baby boy’s chin quiver as he started to cry. She hugged him close. “Oh Jace, Mommy’s sorry baby. Shhh, it’s all right. Don’t cry…Daddy’s gonna be fine…shhh.”
“Miss Bella, what’d I tell you about pinching that baby?”
She turned and rolled her eyes at a grinning Charles who’d just brought in a refreshment tray. He set it on the table and held his arms out, and Bella smiled as Jace leaned toward the man who scooped him into his arms with a playful bounce.
“There now, dry up that crying Mr. Jace. You’re the man of the house ‘till your Daddy comes home.” He held him up and playfully growled as he nuzzled under Jace’s chubby jaw, drawing a squeal and giggle from the baby before settling him back in his arms.
Jace smacked a dimpled hand on Charles’s lapel. “Da!”
“Someone misses his Daddy,” Charles said with a wan smile at Bella.
She nodded with a heavy sigh and a smile. “He’s not the only one, Charles.”
“He’ll be home real soon, Miss, you’ll see.”
She sat down and poured a cup of tea. “I hope you’re right, Charles. It’s already days past when he said he’d probably be home.”
Charles walked over and handed the baby off to the nanny who settled him on a blanket with some toys before taking her seat again.
“Anne, would you care for some tea?” Bella offered while doctoring her own with sugar and cream.
“No, thank you Ma’am,” she quietly refused while moving to kneel on the blanket to distract Jace with his toys.
Bella shrugged delicately. “Charles?” she asked while gesturing to the tray.
“Thank you Miss Bella, but I’m about to join Miss Emily just as soon as your father is done speaking with her. He should be here to see you in just a few minutes.”
Bella took a sip of her tea and cocked a brow. “When did he arrive?”
Charles consulted his pocket watch. “About half an hour ago. Said he had to speak to Miss Emily before coming to see you, so I thought I’d bring you refreshments and keep you company until they’re through.”
Bella smirked and arched a brow as she eyed the man. “You’ve been worse than a mother hen, you know that? And you’re terrible at subtlety. I’m fine. I keep telling you that, stubborn man,” she grumbled fondly before taking another sip of her tea.
Charles took his time straightening already impeccable cuffs as he answered. “You were a right mess when your Daddy brought you home from that cad’s clutches and I care about you,” he grumbled
Bella gave him a mischievous smile. “Thanks Uncle Charles. I love you too.”
A sharply indrawn breath drew their attention to the nanny who gaped at them before snapping her mouth shut and looking away with a bright blush. Bella narrowed her eyes at the girl as Charles muttered lowly, “You ought not say such things, Miss Bella.”
Bella looked back at him. “This is my husband’s house and I’ll say what I please. You and Emily are like family to me. I shouldn’t have to hide that. Not here,” she finished with a scowl and a last look at the sheepish girl who was now helping Jace stack his brightly colored blocks.
Charles shot a wary look at the young nanny before looking back at Bella. “Caution is warranted in these times, especially. I just don’t want to see you or your family hurt. Not for the likes of me.”
Bella’s jaw set and he almost sighed at the stubborn look on her face as she drew herself up straight. Good lord, but the girl was so very like her father at times…
“You and Emily are more important than any hired help. Nannys,” she drew out emphatically, causing a visible flinch from said girl, “can certainly be replaced. Lord knows there are plenty of qualified people clamoring for decent paying jobs these days.”
The door opened then and Damon entered, a tiny smirk twisting his lips as he eyed his obviously ruffled daughter. “What’s got you in a snit?” he asked while taking the adjacent chair and eyeing the tea service with open hostility.
Bella swallowed a snort at the look on her father’s face. “Charles, before you join Emily, would you bring my father his usual, please, before he sets fire to my favorite china with his eyes alone?”
Damon relaxed back and crossed his legs. “Bring the decanter too Charles. It’s been a long day.”
Bella smirked behind the rim of her cup. “It’s only noon, Father mine.”
He returned her smirk. “Is it?” he quipped.
“Anne,” Bella began and Damon’s brows inched up when the poor girl jumped, her heart now racing.
“Yes, Mrs. Whitlock?”
“Take Jace to the kitchen and have cook prepare him a snack. Then change him and put him down for his nap. Stay with him and fetch me when he wakes.”
The girl stood, curtsied and scooped the baby off his blanket before hurrying from the room just as Charles entered with Damon’s request. He set it on the table and left quietly, closing the door in his wake just as Damon poured a healthy draught of fine, aged bourbon in the cut crystal glass. “What’s the story behind nervous Nellie?”
Bella swallowed a bite of cookie and casually waved a hand. “During the course of a conversation, I called Charles uncle and told him I loved him and you would’ve thought I’d propositioned the man with how the girl was gaping.”
Damon snorted.
“So I may have made it clear that she was expendable as an employee.”
“Well, aren’t you just making friends left right and center,” he snarked while grinning behind his glass.
“Whatever,” Bella grumbled. “Bigots can all form a line to kiss my ass for all I care.”
“Careful little Miss Sunshine,” Damon cautioned. “You’re kinda surrounded with ‘em at the moment. This ain’t exactly a progressive society we’re living in and won’t be for a very long time to come.”
Bella scoffed. “Yeah, I just got a good taste of that recently, remember?”
Damon frowned and Bella could’ve kicked herself for bringing it up. Not that she hadn’t appreciated and even loved how attentive he'd been with her afterward—staying with her and holding her all night as she cried it out, but today was a new day and she really was over it and ready to put it behind her.
Before he could start in again, she held up a hand. “I’m fine, Dad.”
“You weren’t fine when I brought you home…”
She set her cup down and met his searching gaze squarely. “I’m a female. I’m allowed to lose my shit for a while after something like that happens. But it’s over and done with. The asshole’s dead and really didn’t get a chance to do anything to me before that happened so, end of story.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, looking skeptical.
“Yes.” She cast her gaze toward the window. “Who I feel for are the girls that weren’t able to escape him in time,” she murmured before looking back at Damon. “I don’t even know who they are or if they’re okay…if they ever got help. I mean, how do you just get on with things after something like that, and especially in a society that sees it as the shame of the victims and not the asshole that’s truly responsible?”
“You knew these times would be very different, Bella. Saint Stefan and I tried to prepare you.” She nodded and he took a sip from his glass before shaking his head. “You can’t single-handedly change the world you’re in Bella. It will change—you know this—but it’s going to take years of strife and pain and bloodshed and that’s something we can’t interfere in little girl, no matter how much we’d like to. Emily’s even told you as much. If you do, lots of people and events that are supposed to happen, might not.”
Bella sagged—well, as much as she could in a whale bone corset—and nodded while rubbing her forehead. “I know… Sometimes I wish we could just grab Jasper and Jace and have Emily do her thing, ya know?” She glanced up at her father.
“So, what’s stopping you?” he asked before leaning forward to refill his glass, his gaze calculating as it rested on her.
Her brows shot up and she blinked at him. “I—I don’t know. I mean, I’ve thought about it so many times, because I really do miss modern times. I miss Renee and poor Charlie…god, when I think of the last time I saw him…I wonder what the hell Renee told him, you know? And then all those thoughts lead me to thinking of the Cullens…Esme, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett. Of all of them, I think only Esme and Emmett didn’t absolutely hate what they were. I could also add Alice to that list. She never seemed to hate life as a vampire, until her hold on Jasper was threatened and she flipped her shit.
“And speaking of Alice…even though she wound up being bat-shit crazy and wanting to kill me there at the end…she was my friend before that and I cared about her. I hate to think of her locked up in some archaic mental facility.”
She looked back at Damon who seemed content to sip his drink while letting her vent her thoughts. “Yeah, those places were horrific, but then again, maybe she was there for a good reason,” he mused before pinning her with a steely, searching look. She struggled not to fidget under it as his eyes narrowed and he finally spoke. “I get the distinct feeling you’re going somewhere with all of this, baby girl. Care to share?”
She bit her lip and glanced up through her lashes and he groaned. “Well,” she hedged. “I was thinking—“
She ignored his grumbled “I was afraid of that…” and plowed on.
“I was thinking, maybe I could change their fates at least? You know, have us all travel as a group, advancing through time gradually with Emily’s help. I think the first place we would need to go is Chicago, 1918, early in the year to beat the epidemic.”
His brows shot up. “You’re going to risk exposing Jasper and Jace to that?”
Her heart plummeted as she really hadn’t considered it. “You have a point…” again, her teeth abused her bottom lip as her mind raced. “Wouldn’t your blood prevent such an infection, or heal it if it happened? Besides,” she rushed on, “the plan would be to find Carlisle and prevent him from changing Edward in the first place before the epidemic ever gets close.”
Damon cocked a brow. “So, you’d just let the boy die then?”
Bella blinked as she studied her hands in her lap before nodding slowly. “Yes,” she said with finality. She met her father’s gaze. “He hated what he was and fully believed he was damned. If he contracts the disease this time around, I truly think he should be allowed to pass on as nature intended.”
Damon snorted and muttered behind the rim of his glass, “There’s nothing natural about any of this.”
“No, I guess there isn’t,” she murmured in agreement.
He set his glass aside and studied his daughter for a long moment. “So, setting the subject of your potential humanitarian mission aside for the moment, have you discussed the long term future with your husband at all?”
Her head snapped up and she stared at him before reluctantly shaking her head. “Not really?” she hedged.
He narrowed his eyes. “Isabella…”
She groaned and looked away. “I know, okay? No need to take a scolding tone with me. It’s just…well, with him being so busy with his duties and me with the baby…just day to day life…” She looked back at him, noting his unimpressed expression as he stared her down. “All right, there’s really no excuse. I did make sure he had the vial and would use it if he needed to on this mission, but that’s as close as we’ve come to discussing a transition. He agreed to using the vial though, and he knows what that means should he”—she swallowed thickly—“should he die with your blood in his system.”
His gaze was cutting when she looked back at him. “That’s not exactly what I would consider informed consent baby girl. You need to have a serious discussion with no details left out.”
“I know,” she said with a drawn out sigh.
“There’s Jace to consider too. He wouldn’t be safe around his father until Jasper learns control. What would you do in the mean time?”
“I don’t know, Dad,” she admitted, rubbing her brow in frustration.
She jumped when Charles burst through the door, his eyes wide and heart racing, bringing both vampires to their feet instantly. “Riders coming through town, Miss Bella. Miss Emily and I saw them through the library windows. Looks like Captain Whitlock’s Company.”
“Jasper…” she breathed before racing out of the room and to the front door. She wrenched the door open and froze on the stoop as the bedraggled and battle worn Company of Rangers trotted past, their horses hooves kicking up a swirling cloud of dust in their midst as townsfolk poured from homes and businesses, crowding the boardwalks to either side.
Damon saw the litter first and grabbed his daughter in a gentle hold. “Jasper!” she cried when she too finally saw it. “Dad, please, let me go!”
He leaned down, his voice low in her ear and she stilled to listen even as her eyes remained riveted on her injured husband. “Wait until the Company assembles at the Rangers office. Now come on,” he said while pulling her hand through the crook of his elbow. “I’ll escort you and when we get there, we’ll have them bring him straight home.”
She nodded and he tilted her chin up with his fingers so she’d look at him. “Now’s not the time to lose it, all right? It won’t do either of you any good and will only delay getting him home. You gotta be strong now, baby girl.”
She blinked back tears, took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. Okay, let’s go.”
He led her through the crowded boardwalk, nodding in acknowledgement at the many subdued greetings they received since Bella was too distraught for niceties as she clutched his arm.
At some point, they were joined by Jasper’s parents, Thomas and Eliza. Thomas gave Damon a grave nod while Eliza dabbed her eyes with a lace handkerchief while leaning heavily against her husband. “My boy…my boy…he looked so sick,” she sobbed as Thomas patted her hand.
“There now, let’s just wait and see what the doctor says. No use in borrowing trouble,” his voice steady and calm as he soothed his wife. One quick glance told Bella he was anything but, as his eyes showed his worry clearly.
“We’ve already sent for the doctor,” Thomas told Damon as they shouldered their way through the crowd around the milling Company.
Damon bit back his frustration and nodded as Bella surged forward, hitting her knees in the dirt next to the litter that held Jasper as a young Private unhitched it from the horse.
“Oh god, Jay,” she whispered as she grabbed his hand while running her other over his sweaty brow and cheek. Her eyes skittered over his slack features; the pale hue of his skin, chapped and bloodless lips and closed eyes and she choked on a sob. He looked close to death.
“Believe it or not, Ma’am, but he looks good compared to how he was yesterday.”
Her eyes shot up to the speaker who smiled sadly as he drug his hat from his head. “Mrs. Whitlock, I presume?”
She nodded and wiped at an errant tear on her cheek.
“I’m Private Reed, Ma’am and I’ve been watchin’ over the Cap’n here for the past couple’a days.”
“Well, our family owes you a debt, Private,” Thomas spoke up from where he stood with his wife, just behind Bella.
The Private shook Thomas’s outstretched hand as he wrung the brim of his hat in the other. “No sir, it’s me that owes the Cap’n here. He saved my life just days ago, sure as my name’s Peter William Reed. Would’a taken a hatchet straight between my shoulders if he hadn’t ‘a stepped in.”
Eliza gasped in shock, covering her mouth with a gloved hand and the Private blushed and dipped his head, his sandy blond hair sliding into his hazel eyes as he murmured “Beggin’ your pardon for the crudity of my speech, ladies.”
“Well, Private Reed,” Damon spoke up, “we’re very grateful, all the same. Now, do you think you could gather three more of you to carry the Captain to his home just down the street? I believe that’d be the best place for the doctor here to assess his condition.”
Peter dipped his head. “Right away, sir.”
The old doctor blustered, insisting on having a cursory look at his patient then and there. With a grunt and a frown, he looked up at the men. “I must agree with you Mr. Salvatore. I’ll follow, but the sooner the better.”
Damon helped Bella to her feet as Peter and three more Rangers arrived and hefted the litter between them. “Lead on, sir,” Peter said with a nod to Damon.
Thomas and Eliza took the lead and Thomas sternly cleared the way of all the onlookers as the group hurried up the boardwalk to the Whitlock house.
When they arrived, Charles had both entry doors wide open and both he and Emily had their arms loaded down with clean linens. “There’s a pail of boiled water in your room, and more on the fire in the kitchen, Miss,” he told Bella as she hurried in after her injured husband.
“Thank you Charles, Emily,” she said before mounting the stairs. “I believe we’re going to need it. Bring our strongest bottle of alcohol too. He’s got an arrow in his side and it’s been there a while.”
“Oh lord,” Emily muttered. “I’ll fetch my herbs.”
As the soldiers lifted Jasper onto the bed, Damon grasped Bella’s arm. “We need to know if he used the vial. If we can’t find that out, we need to get him alone long enough to give him some blood,” he said, keeping his voice low and lips close to her ear.
She looked at her father, wide eyed. “Wouldn’t he be better if he had?”
Damon peered in to where the doctor was directing the soldiers in stripping Jasper’s uniform and getting him settled. “That Private said he’s better now than he was yesterday. That makes me think someone gave him the vial, but baby girl, that just wasn’t enough. With as bad as he is, it would take a hell of a lot to heal him.”
Bella’s eyes filled with tears. “How are we gonna manage with all these people around?”
“If I can get the Doctor to get everyone out of the room, I can compel the man and do what I need to do, but sweetheart,” he said quietly while cupping her cheek, “he may be too far gone.”
She swallowed a sob and he pulled her close while whispering in her ear. “I’ll get more blood into him, baby girl, but this may be it. If he dies, you know what happens then and you need to make some quick decisions about things I mentioned earlier—Jace being a major one.”
She nodded and wiped her eyes before looking into her father’s. “Save him Daddy, please. I don’t care how. Just do it.”
He nodded and they walked into the room just as the soldiers were picking up the litter to leave. “We gotta get back and write some reports,” Peter said quietly. “I wish y’all the best and I’ll stop by tomorrow to check on the Cap’n.”
“Thank you, Private Reed, for everything,” Bella said while extending her hand.
He took it. “It’s my honor, Mrs. Whitlock. Your husband’s a great man and a fiercer fighter I’ve never seen. I’d follow him anywhere, Ma’am.” He bowed over her hand and took his leave behind his three fellow soldiers who’d all tipped their hats to her as they exited.
“All right,” the doctor spoke up with a grave look at everyone left in the room as he rolled his sleeves up. “I’ll need two strong men to help me. The rest of you need to wait outside. I need to get this arrow out and though he looks deeply unconscious now, I don’t believe he’ll stay that way.”
Damon grabbed Charles by the arm and stepped forward. “We’ll help you.”
All the rest filed out into the hallway, and Bella hurried to the nursery to look after her son. She just couldn’t stand the thought of standing outside the door and having to listen to Jasper go through what she knew would be an excruciating ordeal.
As it was, she could still hear his muffled screams and the curses of the old doctor from the nursery as she fed little Jace.
Jace squirmed in her arms and began crying as his father cried out and she held him close, rocking him to soothe him even as tears dripped from her chin. “Shh, baby, Daddy’s gonna be okay,” she whispered into his ear, her voice cracking with emotion as her little one continued crying.
For the first time, she found herself lamenting her child’s empathic gift. There was just no soothing him in such a saturated environment. He wouldn’t even settle enough to nurse, so with a sigh, she gave up, buttoned her dress and carried him out into the hall to wait with everyone else.
When she joined them, all was silent with the exception of Eliza’s quiet weeping and Thomas’s murmured reassurances as he held her close. “Our son’s strong and has so much to live for. You’ll see. He’ll make it through this.”
The door opened and the Doctor walked out while drying his hands. “It was a close thing, but I got the arrow out and the bleeding under control and he’s stable. Now we wait and hope he can fight the infection,” he said as Damon and Charles walked out of the room. Damon gave Bella a discreet nod and she nearly collapsed with relief.
Emily came and eased Jace out of Bella’s arms. “Go and see your man. I’ll take care of your little one.”
When she walked in, the smell of blood and alcohol nearly bowled her over and her eyes zeroed in on a basin stuffed with crimson soaked linens.
Jasper’s body was still with the exception of the shallow rise and fall of his bare chest. Below that, he was heavily wrapped with crisp, white bandages but she could see the blood seeping through already on his right side where the arrow had been deeply imbedded between his ribs.
There was a sheet draped over his lower body, but beyond that, she could tell he was bare. “Oh Jasper…” she whispered as she ghosted the rest of the way to him before kneeling next to the bed to grasp his hand. His skin was warm though and his cheeks had color despite all he’d gone through. It seemed the blood her father’d fed him was doing its job.
With tears of relief in her eyes, she kissed his hand and bowed her head over it. “Thank god,” she whispered. “You’re gonna be all right.”
She nearly gasped when she felt him squeeze her hand and her head snapped up to see his beautiful green eyes, still filled with pain, but regarding her clearly. “Bella,” he rasped as his lips curved into a crooked smile. “Aren’t you a sight for these sore eyes, darlin’.”
With tears rolling down her cheeks, she laughed and leaned up to kiss his lips softly. “Welcome home, husband mine. I missed you.”
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.