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Out of the blue, with a weary, lethargical yawn escaping past the ebony-haired woman's lips; her eyelashes rapidly blinked away her physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion in response to the nerve-wracking sound of her infant daughter's heart wrenching screams.
Immediately, bolting herself upright into a sitting position, the back of her head banged against the headboard, splintering the wood. Her charcoal irises frantically searched for her baby girl. Leah felt the moment her maternal instincts and postpartum hormones were triggered and kicked into overdrive, which then consumed her heart, mind, and soul. Briseis! Where am I?
Suddenly, a sequence of last night's eventful memories came crashing down on Leah all at once from the phone call in the woods, taking a cab to the hotel room, enduring half an hour underneath of Demetri's methodically manipulative interrogation, watching him take her daughter out of the car seat, then declaring that she and their now one week and a day-old baby would return with him to the hilltop town of Volterra in Tuscany, Italy, and after forty-five minutes into arriving at the hotel fatigue had eventually won and the she-wolf had fallen asleep in her bloodsucker's new den.
Soon enough, she found Demetri, who paced back and forth in front of the closed curtain window with unusually wide, worried, and bewildered scarlet eyes as he attempted to soothe the frustrated, shrieking infant cradled in his arms, who was simply having none of her father's efforts.
Leah concluded that he was truly helpless when on his own, trying to figure out and tend to his daughter's ever-demanding needs.
My little Fawn is hungry; of course my baby would be. She slept all through the night after Demetri had spent hours rocking while humming Italian lullabies to her. I'll have to feed her in front of him; there's no way I'll even attempt to get her to take the bottle, not when it's six in the morning and I'm just waking up. It's a lot easier admitting defeat to that tiny tyrant now rather than later.
With a motion of her finger in the millennium-old Greek Mediterranean man's direction, she silently gestured for him to bring Briseis over to her, which Demetri conceded, as it was apparent to the new parents that he was at a complete and utter loss of how to de-escalate the situation at hand.
The dishwater blonde took slow, carefully practiced steps over to the bed, both the new mother and father inclined toward each other, devastating the distance that she had worked to create before she had passed out. The complicated couple adjusted the infant girl down into her mother's warm, protective, loving embrace.
Leah and Demetri shared a palpably tense stare for a heartbeat-long moment; there was still so much they had to discuss before her attention was led back to the persnickety newborn rooting against her chest, wielding a fierce determination that left the young mother stunned.
Briseis Fawn sulked out of indignation when her hungry mouth was met with the material of her mother's black dress, and she began to wail louder. I definitely gave her a set of lungs.
"What's wrong with our little Briseis, la mia lupa?" .She felt the hotel mattress dip low at the edge on the right side where she was propped, as he sat nearby with a curious yet anxious glint in his eye, observing their eight-day-old daughter's behavior.
"She's hungry, and this is around the time she gets up anyway. She's an early bird and night owl all rolled into one. I breastfeed, Briseis won't take a bottle yet, we've tried everyday for the past week that she's been here." .Leah felt her face flush with a warmth, her eyes flickering around before settling on her lap as a distraction, while explaining to the father of her child the feeding method that she had been hustled into by their newborn daughter.
It's not like Mom, Seth, and I haven't tried with the bottle; it's moreso Briseis just flat out refuses to even give it a chance, let alone actually take the bottle. How does a week-old baby already have something against rubber nipples!?
Fawn's high maintenance and entitlement absolutely came from Demetri; I will never forget watching him spend nearly two hours fixing his hair alone, only just to ruin it all over again after he decided that we would stay the night in the cabin.
Swallowing down the embarrassment that she felt about feeding her daughter in front of Demetri, she reached into Briseis' diaper bag. She pulled out a baby blanket to provide herself with some decency as she shrugged the right sleeve off of her shoulder and down her arm.
Once situated, the Quileute woman crisscrossed her legs under the hotel sheet, resting her back against the wooden headboard; the mother and daughter pair adjusted themselves into comfortable positions. Leah had the infant in her left arm; her sun-kissed fingers gently held the eight-day-old close, who greedily suckled. Meanwhile, she dug into the mauve backpack with her free hand and pulled out a small notebook.
Leah and Briseis Fawn Clearwater's milestones. I did keep him out of my pregnancy and the birth. I can't take back what I did, but my timeline will at least give him a little insight into what it was like. It won't make up for the lost time, but it's all I have. She extended the shaky hand that held the precious notebook for Demetri to take from her.
His rich burgundy gaze read over the title spelled out with a green colored marker, his gloved fingertips mindfully took the time capsule by the corner edge.
"It's my pregnancy and baby book. I wrote time stamps, a baby name list, pictures of my bump growing, I taped in Briseis' first and only ultrasound on the front page, and tucked in there is her birth certificate." .With each part that she described about their daughter's progression journal, he would eagerly flip through the detailed pages in search of that piece of information explained in her handwriting.
When she saw Demetri lift their daughter's birth certificate into the light. Briseis Fawn Clearwater. Weight. Five pounds and ten ounces. Was born on the first day of November. To mother, Leah Clearwater and. To father, blank. In the year of 2007. A shame boiled inside of Leah, making her divert those charcoal eyes down at the white sheet that covered her lap.
I know the main reason I'm feeling this way is because of the imprint and the commands he issued out last night, but soon it'll be two years of our on-and-off-again hook-ups, and within that time, real feelings have developed. I hate it. I wish I didn't, but I do. I will always remember the day when I realized that I love him outside of the supernatural shackles that bind us.
A cool compress to her chin guided her attention back to Demetri. His gloved hand held her by his thumb and index finger, while in his other hand he had Briseis' birth certificate. He glanced at the unclaimed father's signature where his name rightfully belonged and then back to Leah. "You made a mistake, la mia lupa, because you were scared. I forgive you. However, it is my duty to protect you and our daughter, but you chose to seek refuge under Carlisle Cullen's care."
He folded the delicate paper into its original square shape before stuffing it deep into his pocket. Demetri stood up to his full height; he straightened out his Victorian-style tailcoat, his red eyes roamed over Leah, her chest covered by the baby blanket, while their daughter quenched her thirst. "I have made arrangements for the Volturi's chauffeur to drive us to the La Push, Reservation. When we arrive there, you will pack, say your fairwells, and then we shall return to Volterra as a family."
Before Leah could utter a word, Demetri had become a blur at the speed at which he moved throughout the hotel room.
She gasped at the motion of being lifted and then settled upon his lap, where solid arms of Teflon encircled her waist, pressing her taught against his frigidly, firm chest. "I will not tolerate such a betrayal, Leah. You wished for an imprint, and fate chose me, Demetri Volturi, to be yours. You pleaded for me to love you; I have handed over my whole unbeating heart to you. You ask that I am gentle with Briseis, an unnecessary request, yet I listened. When you demanded that I remain true only to you, I already had the second we locked eyes in the clearing."
What has gotten into him!? Why is he saying all of this? He acts as if I cheated on him. I needed time alone. But Demetri is right; he has done what I have asked over nearly two years, but I've done much more for him.
She gasped at the bitter whispered words he hissed into her ear. There was a genuine anger that she had never heard, not even the night before when Demetri had every right to be furious. Leah's eyes went wide as he continued. "A year and five months ago, it had been three days after you imprinted, in the clearing where I took you as my permanent conquest. Upon my arrival home to Volterra, when I entered my suite, I found a woman bare as the day she was born, eagerly awaiting me in my bed. La lupa, what do you think transpired after that?"
I don't want to know. I don't even want to think of Demetri with other women, but it's inevitable; he's lived over a millennium, and I was born in the year nineteen eighty-six. I'm only twenty-one years old.
At the sound of her animalistic growl, a low, unamused chuckle began to fill the space around Leah; the rumbling of his chest vibrated against her spine. "You truly doubt my undying loyalty to you, my Leah? I threw her out. That would be the first time in over four centuries, along with every other woman who knocked on my door seeking out my carnal talents."
At an incomprehensible velocity, his hand had enclosed around her throat, never squeezing, but gently directing her to peer over her shoulder, and her charcoal gaze was aligned with his blood-soaked stare, which she shivered underneath the intensity of it.
All the while, she cradled her daughter close to her chest, seeking comfort in the innocent child that she had created with the Volturi's bloodhound. Leah felt truly and utterly powerless whenever she was with Demetri.
Leah couldn't bite back the pitiful whimper that escaped her lips, then was followed by tears that had overwhelmed and broken her dam began cascading down her sun-kissed cheeks. Quit crying! How could she, though? His words were as pointed as arrowheads.
Immediately, Demetri paused at the emotional vulnerability that Leah was exhibiting in his arms as her body quivered against him; her free hand rested over his heart as she sobbed. "I'm sorry, Demetri. I love you! I do! Please, be kind to me again. I swear to never turn to anyone else."
It was uncharacteristic of her to break down so easily. He had seen her cry numerous times over the course of seventeen months, usually a result of intimate overstimulation and, in rare cases, when she opened up to him about her life. These tears were real and born of a hurt he had deliberately caused when she had imprinted.
Removing his hand from her waist, he brought his ring finger to his mouth, where he bit down on the fabric of his glove, tugging himself free of the article of clothing. His alabaster fingertips wiped away the streaks of salty tears; the hand on her neck gently massaged the area. "There, there, Leah, I am not angry with you nor would I ever abandon you again. I have been careless to have misplaced you for so long."
Demetri embraced his teary-eyed, sobbing, lamentable mate close to his chest, resting his forehead against hers, one hand tangled in her silky, ebony tresses, while the soft coos of their daughter emanated from between their bodies. "Leah, You have given me a beautiful baby girl. I never believed I would ever be a father; you were presumably infertile, and yet we conceived her from a place of love."
The Volturi's bloodhound felt as she heaved, listened to her whimpers and the pattering of her broken heart. Then Leah allowed the baby blanket to slip down her shoulder and into her lover's lap.
Briseis' cloudy eyes blinked up at the two adults, whom she was cradled between. Demetri's gaze flickered down at the mousy-haired infant, his eyes then snapped back to meet Leah's. Her tears were dried, but the pain that resonated within her heart remained.
Leah wielded the grief, shame, brokenness, misery, and hatred she felt for Demetri. I have groveled long enough. He's right; we did conceive Briseis out of a vulnerable night where he made love to me, but I can't stop fighting because of one night. "All I have ever been to you is a satisfying afternoon! You have never loved me!"
"Is that what you believe, Leah?" .The usual soft, whispery baritones of his European cultured accent were gone. Leah scoffed at him as she stood up from the bed, separating herself from the immortal man. "It's what I know."
I'm getting out of here. This can't work. We can't work. Honestly, it would be better for Briseis not know him at all. Her heart wasn't breaking; it was shattering from the endless abandonment, control, use, mistreatment, and manipulation she had endured for the past seventeen months of having Demetri in her life.
"I eliminated every single one of those women out of my love for you, Leah. I have always done as you have asked of me, but never once have you thought of what I desire." .He spoke to her even as she gathered her daughter's things, strapping the infant into the baby carrier. I have to keep going; if I listen, I'll never leave him.
Slinging the diaper bag over her shoulder, lifting the car seat in a knuckle-white grip, she concentrated on the door ahead. Keep walking. If you look back now, it'll all be in vain. This has gone on long enough. As the hotel door clicked open, it snapped shut again when Demetri appeared seemingly out of thin air; he was utilizing his near indestructible physique as a barrier between her and freedom.
"Move." .She muttered to him, refusing to look at him; her gaze was directed to the ground. I can't keep doing this. We have a baby now. He'll be popping in and out of our lives unpredictably. We're not stable or healthy. Demetri has his demons in the Volturi, and I'm constantly trying to keep my head above water.
with the weight of the cold palms of his elegant hands coming to rest on her shoulders his touch caused her to flinch. I just need to get through the door. I can raise Briseis on my own without Demetri. "Leah, stop."
Then the she-wolf did as told, coming to a perfect halt as commanded by her imprint. Leah's onyx gaze stared into his crimson eyes, patiently waiting for the next order for him to speak to her. Demetri reached forward, taking the handle of the baby carrier into his hand. "Hand our daughter over."
No, please, Demetri don't do this. I need to comply; if I'm not a threat, he won't feel provoked. Closing her eyes, Leah released the weight of the car seat; the creaking of the hotel door instantly had her eyelashes flutter to attention. She looked from Demetri to the hallway of the third floor.
"Hold my hand, la lupa; we will be taking the elevator down to the valet, where the chauffeur's waiting for us." .Obediantly, the she-wolf swallowed her pride, interlocking her fingers with the man, whom she had tried to walk out on. I have to think of what's best for my little girl. What if Volterra is exactly where she needs to be? What about my family? I'm scared for us, Briseis.
//
Settling inside of the luxurious vechile hadn't been easy for Leah by any means as was she desperately clinging onto the side of her infant's car seat, utterly terrified that if she dared to let go, she would lose her eight-day-old daughter forever, meanwhile Demetri sat legs spread wide with his thigh flush against her own, his arm was encircled around her waist.
Then there were the blatant, unblinking stares from three crimson-eyed vampires, all of which were focused on her, Demetri, and the car seat.
"You have an acquired taste, Demetri. This is the woman you spent over ten hours restrained under my pain for?" .The petite English teenager commented, her doe eyes stared blankly as if she didn't have a thought behind them. Ten hours under her gift? When had he done that!? Demetri, what did you do?
"I'm quite thankful for my acquired tongue and palate then because I love a feast." .His suggestive implication, paired with a shameless smirk, had both Jane and Alec visibly disturbed. Demetri tilted his head at the physically younger immortals with cockiness.
Leah swished her head back and forth from the bloodhound and then to the young witch. Eventually, her attention was caught by the tall, muscular brunette immortal man, who nodded to her and the baby carrier. "Demetri originally planned to bring you to Volterra while you were pregnant. It took over ten hours of explaining to him that you and the baby were safer under Carlisle's medical experience than with us."
He spent ten hours under what Edward Cullen described as the worst pain that he's ever experienced!? Her hands remained tightly on the plastic of the car seat as she shifted around in the backseat. "Why did you do it, Demetri!?"
She wanted nothing more than to hate him. Wish that he were dead. Yet she still loved him. Demetri will always have me even if it eats me alive. The very idea of him withering in pain hours on end because of me I can't bear it! The scent of ozone and sea salt tickled her sense of smell as he stretched out, his cheek rested on the top of her head. "Is it a crime that I wanted to be with the woman that I love and adore, while she's pregnant with my child?"
A familiar fussing from under the carrier's cover prevented Leah from berating him as her wholehearted sole focus became Briseis, who demanded to be unveiled, to peer at the three strangers across from her. My nosey, busy body little girl!
Her borderline fair-skinned daughter had an unimpressed expression, her eyes narrowed slightly with a frown as if she were actively judging everyone in the car, including her parents. She rubbed her index finger against the infant's mouth, attempting to ease her daughter's face. "Oh, no. You have my face. That's really all I get? You're father's spitting image, and you only met him last night!"
A chill pressed firmly against her back as Demetri leaned over to zero in on the most pessimistic newborn known to man. Briseis took mainly after her father in physical appearance, however she was most definitely Leah Clearwater's daughter, her little hands fisted the baby blanket as if it had offended her, while she took her mother's finger in her mouth.
"Briseis, you're ridiculous." .And for a moment, Leah forgot about her worries, her and Demetri's problems, as she blissfully gushed and swooned over her infant daughter's antics, watching her kick her feet against the car seat cushioning, she would kiss the eight-day-old's little fists as they waved in the air, or coo back and forth with the little girl, who maintained her scrutinizing look.
She hadn't even registered the airport symbols on road signs, the specific turns that the driver made, or the fact that there was another vampiress in the car currently sitting in the passenger seat. Hesitantly, Leah unbuckled the seatbelts on her infant daughter's car seat, the young mother lifted Briseis out of her confines, and cradled her against her chest, while she rested her side against the father of her child, who was equally enamored with their infant.
Alec and Jane, the twins, are rather quiet. They look young. Younger than any other vampire I've seen before. I know that Felix and Demetri are close, but he seems radio silent at the moment. Leah made subtle observations of the Volturi guard that surrounded her.
Mentally. Physically. Emotionally exhausted and fatigued, Leah found herself nodding off. Demetri adjusted her back to recline on his chest, his arms rested over hers that held Briseis, he tucked her head to rest on his shoulder. He's such a good man. He'll be a good daddy. Why am I always picking fights with him? Demetri loves me.
She hummed at the feeling of a cool peck to her temple, despite how tired she was. The she-wolf listened attentively to her lover's poetic sweet nothings whispered into her thick, ebony locks. "I always thought Icarus had been a fool to fly with wax wings, reaching out for the scorching sun, but now I understand he had been willing to risk everything for the sun, who he loved and I realize the sun despite how she melted and burnt him, had actually been reaching out for her lover needing him as he did her. You have made me become a ruinous, love obsessed man exactly as Icarus, who yearned be with the sun. You have made me a stranger to myself."
Drifting off into a sound sleep against her complicated lover's body Leah was left completely unaware of the destination that the Volturi guard had set. Demetri kissed the side of her head, his scarlet gaze found the cloudy eyes of his expressive daughter, who stared back at him with wonder. "We'll be home soon, il nostro prezioso miracolo."