Birth of Jaiden (19 page)

I did remember. I used to
find comfort in the love of God. How could I do that when I was
certainly bound for hell?

She ordered me to find
that comfort again, and then she disappeared.

I decided not to tell Jacob of
my encounter with her. He would only tell me more lies, and I
didn’t want to hear them. Somehow, I knew she had not lied to me,
that she
really
was my guardian angel.

You can feel it, the
difference between something evil and something good, and I could
feel that about her.

Danielle continued to
appear to me. As time went by, her appearances became more frequent
until, finally, I had to tell Jacob about her. I told him that I
was going to leave him. Jacob pretended he understood, but I knew
that, inside, he was boiling with rage. I left that very night,
despite the bit of guilt I felt for abandoning him.

Being with Danielle so
often had helped me to come to grips with my relationship with God
again. I realized I had never really turned away from God; rather,
I had fallen away. She told me that’s the thing about falling, you
can always get back up again.

I could survive on my own
and I wanted to leave Russia. So, Danielle and I traveled the world
for a while before I settled down here…you know most of the
rest.”

Alex took a deep breath.
He was exhausted after such a long story.

Christopher sat in his
chair without moving once. If he had, Alex would have heard
him.

“
Chris?”

“
Alex, I already knew most
of the story, but…hearing you tell it, well…”

“
It’s all right, Chris,
you don’t have to explain anything. I told the story, I got it out
and will not let it remain a secret any longer. That’s what I
needed to do.”

Alex tried to be brave
about having dug up the memories of his past but, inside, he was
still in turmoil. He had born the pain of losing his family for
over a hundred years and had born it alone. It would never simply
disappear. But, at the same time, he felt as if a giant weight had
been lifted from him.

Miraculously, the
simplicity of speaking the words aloud seemed to bring a sort of
closure to his past. It was time to move on.

21

The next evening, when Alex
woke, he discovered his vision had returned, a bit blurry, but he
could
see
!

Isabella sat dozing in a
chair beside his bed with Jaiden propped on her shoulder. As he
stared at her, his vision began to clear even more. Once again, he
was extremely taken with her beauty. Her long blond hair was pulled
up into a ponytail and exposed her precious neck and shoulders.
Jaiden’s small head rested on one of them.

How could he
not
be attracted to
her? How could
anyone
not be attracted to her? In the short time he had known
her, he had grown
very
attached to her.

Damn it.

He wasn’t sure how long he
lay there contentedly watching her, but her eyes fluttered open and
she slowly realized he was staring at her.

“
Alex?”

“
Isabella.”

“
Why are you smiling like
that?”

“
Because I can see
you.”

“
Oh Alex,” she breathed,
“finally!”

Alex sighed. “I really
need to get out of this bed.”

Isabella gave him a
motherly look. “Do you think it’s ok? Maybe I should call
someone?”

“
No, don’t call anyone.
There isn’t anything they could do. I just want to get
up.”

Carefully, Isabella rose
from the chair with Jaiden. “If you say so. I’ll wait for you in
the den.”

Alex nodded as she
left.

He felt terribly odd after
having slept in his bed. He hadn’t slept in a bed since he had
become a vampire. Slowly, he pushed the covers off and pulled his
legs over the edge of the bed. For a while, he just sat there in
his blue and white plaid pajamas, thinking about how Chris always
laughed at him because he slept in his coffin with pajamas
on.

Guess that probably did make a
funny picture
, he thought.

He staggered into the
bathroom where he took a long shower. Even for a vampire, it seemed
an eternity until the hot water began to run cold. While in the
shower, he examined his skin. It was still the hard, porcelain
smooth skin it had been before the burns. Funny, how vampires had
no scars, not even ones they had before being turned.

It felt good to finally
put on some real clothes. He chose jeans and a white cotton tee
shirt, going for comfort instead of looks. After fixing his hair,
he ventured out into the main part of the house which he hadn’t
been in for days. He found Isabella on the sofa feeding Jaiden a
bottle.

“
Hey,” he said softly as
he strode into the room.

“
Are you feeling better
now?” she asked.

“
Yes.” He nodded. “Much
better.”

“
Well, you gave us all a
big shock. Everyone was worried.”

He shrugged. “Accidents
happen.”

Ashamed of his half truth,
he turned his head away.

“
Don’t do that anymore,
ok,” Isabella said.

“
Yes, ma’am,” he answered
teasingly.

Jaiden finished what
remained in her bottle noisily. Isabella took a small receiving
blanket, put it over her shoulder and put Jaiden up there with her
belly against her shoulder. Then, Isabella began to thump her back
firmly.

Appalled, Alex asked,
“What are you doing to her?”

“
Burping her.”

“
She can’t burp on her
own?”

She shook her head.
“Nope.”

Jaiden let out what Alex
thought was a huge burp for such a small baby. Isabella took her
off of her shoulder and offered her to Alex. “Do you want to hold
her?”

Alex moved over to where
they were sitting and held his arms out for Jaiden. Even though he
had become used to her, holding her still felt awkward.

Once she lay comfortably
in his arms, he looked down at her and said, “Hey, you.”

Jaiden pursed her lips
together and stared up at him.

“
Have you been a good girl
while I was sick?” He moved her into both his hands and held her up
in front of his face. “I missed you,” he told her while he wiggled
her just a little bit.

Jaiden burped again, then,
only seconds afterward, something thick and white spilled out of
her mouth and onto Alex’s shirt.

Isabella immediately burst
into laughter while Alex froze.

“
What do I do,
Isabella?”

“
Hold on.”

She took the receiving
blanket and stretched over to wipe Jaiden’s mouth off. Then, she
took Jaiden from Alex’s arms and gave him the receiving blanket to
clean himself off with.

“
Oh man.” Alex complained
while wiping frantically at his shirt. “I’m going to go
change.”

“
We’ll be right here.”
Isabella giggled.

Alex went back to his room
and exchanged his white tee for a different white tee shirt, then
returned to the den. He sat with Isabella and Jaiden for a couple
hours until it was time for Jaiden’s nap. He decided he should make
his usual visit to the church and go down to the casino for a
while.

The drive was wonderful.
It had not rained for some time and a warm breeze filtered through
the night. It felt nice to be out in the fresh air again instead of
being laid up in bed.

He arrived at the church
and went about picking the locks as usual. Once he entered, a
strong sense of peace washed over him. Even though it had only been
a short time of recovery, he felt like it had been a long time
since he had been there. He felt guilty, almost as if he had
betrayed the lord and himself.

As always, he felt
Danielle’s presence lingering in the atmosphere and chose to ignore
her. He went to the altar where a brilliant arrangement of white
lilies was displayed and lowered himself to his knees.

“
Lord, I have not been able to
come here to pray for the last few nights; you know the reason why.
Of course, it doesn’t mean I
haven’t
prayed, only that I haven’t been able to be here,
in the sanctuary which you have provided for me.

So much has happened lately. I
am worried about Stewart; he has been gone far too long. Regardless
of if he has betrayed us or if he was taken, I truly hope he is
alive although I know that is almost too much to hope for if
Malcolm
has
kidnapped him. I pray we find him soon, alive and
well.

My dreams have become so vivid
and strange but I’m not sure what they’re trying to tell me. I know
from parts of these dreams as well as when I am
not
dreaming that I have fallen for
Isabella already but I will not let myself take our relationship
further than what it is now.

I just can’t put myself in
the position to have to choose whether or not to make her a
vampire, because I won’t do it. I have to make myself find
something about her I don’t like, even just one thing.”

Alex chuckled
softly.

“
But finding even one
thing may prove difficult. She’s perfect.

I know a confrontation
with Malcolm is coming and there will most likely be many losses.
So, please be with us in these difficult times. Each and every one
of us will need your guidance and protection. Lord God, I am truly
your servant and I ask nothing more than that.

In Jesus name I pray,
amen.”

Alex opened his eyes.
Then, as he stood and stretched, he called out, “Danielle, you can
show yourself now.”

He turned a circle,
scanning the church.

She shimmered into
solidity, appearing on a pew in the back of the center row. Her
long black hair was pulled off to the side over her left shoulder
and she wore a turquoise gypsy gown.

“
Hello, Alex.”

“
Hi, Danielle.”

“
I see you have fully
recovered.”

Alex grinned. “Like you
didn’t already know. But, yes, I am feeling well again.”

He gravitated toward her
and she stood to meet him.

“
I miss you when you’re
not around,” he told her.

“
Well, Isabella seems to
do more than enough when it comes to taking care of you. She was by
your side almost the whole time.”

Alex smiled at the
thought. “Yes, I know.”

“
I’m sorry I wasn’t with
you as much as I would have liked to be. I have had other
obligations to attend to.”

“
Like what?”

“
We need to have a meeting
and everything will be explained.”

“
Why can’t you tell me
now?”

She sighed, her impatience
clearly visible. “Alex, mainly, we just need to have to find a way
to get Stewart home. Your injury slowed down our progress a lot. No
one has heard a thing from Malcolm but they are getting impatient
while waiting around for something to happen. Everyone feels it is
time to act.”

Alex held up his hands. “Whoa,
I’m
sorry
. I was just wondering; besides, I’m not allowed to go,
anyway, so how is it slowing things down?”

“
You are
still
a part of this council and part of
being a
council
is making decisions together. So, that being said, we will
meet at your house tomorrow night. Ok?”

“
Yes, that’s
fine.”

Danielle moved forward and
embraced him lovingly.

“
I am so grateful you’re
ok,” she whispered into his ear.

“
Me too,” he replied as he
released her.

“
I must go, Alex, take
care until I see you tomorrow.”

“
I will.”

She stepped into the isle
and headed toward the doors. Alex watched her shimmer back into
nothingness before her hand even touched the door
handle.

For a moment, he simply
stood in place and stared at the spot where she had disappeared.
Oh, how much he loved her. It wasn’t the same as how a man loved a
woman but rather how a parent would a child or a brother would love
a sister. For the first time, he wondered what his existence would
have been like had he not known her. Or worse, what it would be
like should she somehow have to leave him. He was under the
impression, though, that she would be with him for as long as he
did exist because she was his guardian angel.

Alex reluctantly left the
church and decided he would stop by the casino and see how things
were faring there. When he arrived, he left his car with a young
valet who mentioned it had been a while since he had seen
him.