Chapter 16, Many Happy Returns
When we walked back into the house, Leah was stirring again. “I think I need help up the stairs,” she addressed Nahuel. Wordlessly, he picked her up and moved lithely up the stairs.
I looked at Rose and shook my head. “I can’t believe anyone can be so big!”
Jasper was still leaning against the wall, his eyes half closed. I knew he was carefully assessing the emotions of the room. I wondered what he was thinking. He rarely shared his thoughts. Edward forced him to be more open.
Huilen was statue still even though Jasper was keeping us calm. She had never learned to practice acting human. Her birth as a vampire was unaccompanied by a mature vampire. She’d had to learn everything by trial and error. Appearing human took some coaching.
They were back downstairs in a few minutes. Leah patted her huge stomach tenderly. She looked up apologetically. “I’m starving... again.”
“Do you want your blood warm or cold?”
Leah looked confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“We bled out the bear while you were sleeping. Did you want it warm or cold?”
“I didn’t know you could do that. Cold should be fine.”
I walked into the familiar kitchen and started going through cupboards. Sue had switched the dishes around. It took me a while to find a glass for Leah, but only a moment to fill it and head to the living room.
I had just handed over the glass when the door burst open. Carlisle had his black bag in hand. Four vampires visibly relaxed. Everything would be fine.
“Don’t drink that!” Carlisle ordered.
Leah paused abruptly, a little of the blood sloshing on her shirt. “Why not?” she asked.
“You can’t have anything in your stomach during surgery.”
Carlisle looked at Jasper. “What have you set up here?”
“There’s a hospital bed in Bella’s old room and some monitors and an IV stand.”
Carlisle nodded his approval. “Time to move you upstairs,” he ordered.
Huilen reached out for the glass of blood, and Leah wordlessly handed it over.
Nahuel picked up Leah and carried her back upstairs.
Edward and I had embraced when he appeared at the door. I stroked his velvet face and looked in his eyes. We hadn’t been apart this long since before I was a vampire. It had been painful for both of us. He bent down to kiss me, then straightened and watched Carlisle expectantly.
“Edward, I need some assistance with the caesarian. Can you join me?”
Edward nodded and headed into the kitchen to wash, a product of his medical training.
“Rose, we’ll need someone with the baby once it’s delivered.” Carlisle wasn’t going to give anyone a choice. He knew Rose could handle a newborn. He’d seen her in action.
“Bella, I’ll need some nursing assistance.” I wondered how so many of us would fit in my small room.
I washed then quickly followed Edward up the stairs. Sue was still asleep. She must’ve been exhausted to be sleeping through all this noise. Vampires were quiet, though, so maybe we weren’t being as loud as I thought we were.
Leah was laying flat on the hospital bed. Carlisle had already cleaned her abdomen and placed the sheeting to protect the incision from contamination. The monitors were all hooked up as was the IV. Edward was pulling a needle out of Leah. I could smell the morphine. She would need something before the operation started.
Nahuel was visibly shaking.
Carlisle had masks and hats for everyone in the room. We obediently put them on. “Jasper,” his voice was quiet, “we need you up here.”
Jasper’s feet were a whisper as he launched himself up the stairs. He stood on the landing in front of my room next to Huilen. I could feel his calming presence, and Nahuel stopped shaking.
Rose was standing next to the bathroom. She didn’t want to be in the room when the slicing began. She wasn’t hungry and Leah had an obnoxious werewolf scent, but she didn’t want to be humiliated at this birth by needing to be thrown out of the room.
The baby stretched, and we all heard some cracking.
“Has the morphine kicked in yet?” Carlisle was very much in control. He gently touched her feet.
Leah nodded. “I can’t feel my toes.”
“Ready?” Carlisle looked much older with the mask hiding his mouth. He moved the scalpel into a bikini cut. The cut was longer than a normal caesarian cut. The placenta and baby were rock hard, and he didn’t want her skin to tear.
Edward kept the blood sponged. I handed him clean sponges as he needed them. We worked silently, the only sound coming from the scalpel. At last the placenta was exposed.
Carlisle turned to Nahuel. “I believe this is your job. You need to cut through the placenta but be careful not to bite the child.”
Nahuel shook his head, fear shining in his eyes. “I can’t do this,” he whispered.
Edward looked at him intensely and encouraged, “It’s easier than it looks. The placenta isn’t very thick. You can do it.”
Jasper’s influence was critical. Nahuel’s features calmed. He bent over and a strange screeching filled the room, the tearing of the placenta.
Carlisle reached in and pulled out the baby. He held the screaming infant up. “It’s a boy!” he announced happily.
Rosalie flitted to his side and took the baby. She was headed downstairs before Leah had a chance to ask for him.
Carlisle pulled out the rock-hard placenta then looked down, a look of stunned surprise filling his eyes. “Nahuel. I’m afraid your job isn’t over.”
“What do you mean?” shock sounded in Nahuel’s voice.
“You have another one.”
Nahuel looked like he was going to pass out. Jasper stepped a little further in the room. Leah’s blood had enough of the repulsive werewolf odor that he could control his blood lust. Nahuel was once again calm.
He moved over to Leah and again filled the room with the strange tearing screech. Carlisle reached in to pull out the infant. He laughed. “It’s a girl.”
He handed the beautiful baby to Nahuel. Nahuel looked at her adoringly.
Leah was almost too groggy to raise her head, but she could sense the emptiness inside her. “Can I hold her?”
“Of course.” Nahuel handed over the beautiful baby girl. Her intelligent eyes were warm brown. Her tuft of black hair gave her a look of surprise, and her skin was a perfect match to Nahuel’s.
As she was placed on Leah’s arm, she turned and bit her mother. “No, no, baby.” Nahuel touched her lips. “Don’t bite your momma.”
Carlisle had pulled out the second placenta and was busy stitching up the uterus. The incision was already closing up. He worked as quickly as possible and put her uterus back in place. It had already shrunk to half its size. Carlisle taped up the bikini cut he made and shook his head as he watched the cut heal. “I wish it was this easy treating humans.”
He unhooked Leah’s monitors and the IV then pulled off his mask and cap. The rest of us followed his example. I’d felt awkward with the mask on.
The morphine was burning out of Leah’s system, and she sat up with her daughter. She’d been raised in a tribe of nursing mothers, and it seemed natural for her to put the baby to her breast. The baby’s initial bite had already healed, and Leah didn’t seem to notice any pain as the baby hungrily suckled.
Carlisle blinked. He obviously hadn’t thought of this possibility of feeding a half immortal child.
Edward and I exchanged shocked glances.
“Have you decided on any names?” I directed my question to Leah, who was holding her daughter’s tiny hand. She had a look of adoration on her beautiful features. Waves of happiness rolled off Nahuel.
“Names?” she looked up, startled.
“Boy and girl?” I pressed.
She shook her head, confused.
Realization dawned. She’d been too far under with
the morphine to realize the boy had been born.
Nahuel glared at me.
I tried to fix my faux pas. “Uhhhh… I mean girl names?” It was apparent Nahuel didn’t want Leah to know about the boy just yet.
I wonder what he is waiting for.
Leah smiled back down at her daughter. “We hadn’t really thought about it. Something beautiful. Have you ever seen anything so divinely gorgeous?”
I smiled. I have. My own daughter. But I wasn’t going to ruin the moment for her. “She is beautiful, Leah.”
Sue ran in the door, her hair sticking out in all directions. She must’ve just woken up. “How is Leah?”
“I’m fine, Mom.” Leah smiled at her. “Come look at your beautiful granddaughter.”
Sue moved over. Her eyes widened then she cooed at the beautiful baby. “Can I hold her?”
“Just a minute.” Leah carefully unattached the suckling baby and handed her over to Sue. She must’ve watched her share of nursing mothers. She was a natural.
Sue tenderly put the baby over her shoulder and burped her. The baby’s intelligent eyes looked at me. I wondered if she’d have some kind of special ability like Nessie.
Edward was smiling broadly. “The baby is thrilled to be here. She loves her momma very much, and she really likes the name Rachel.”
Leah frowned a little. “She must’ve heard us talk about Paul and Rachel, Jacob’s sister. I want something a little different. How does Raquel sound to her?”
Nahuel moved over to their daughter. “Raquel? How do you like that?”
“She likes Raquel just fine.” Edward was smiling again. He enjoyed being able to communicate with the infant. He looked meaningfully at Nahuel. “I think there’s someone else we need to meet.”
Nahuel snuck a look at Leah then nodded quickly. “I’ll be right back.” Leah was too engrossed in watching her beautiful daughter to pay much attention.
I followed Nahuel and Edward down the stairs. I wanted to see the boy, too.
Rose was just passing him to the waiting arms of Huilen when we walked into the kitchen. “Oh. He’s beautiful.” I enthused as I smiled down at him. “May I hold him?”
“Of course.” Huilen handed the small bundle to me. He was wrapped in blankets. He smiled up at me and turned to bite. Nahuel touched his lips gently and said, “No biting.” The baby stopped and looked at his father, an intenseness in his gaze.
Nahuel looked at Edward. “Does he have a name preference?”
“Michael.”
“Michael? I don’t know any Michaels.”
Edward stared at the baby a moment. “Michael is the name of… the archangel.”
“Archangel?”
“Biblically speaking, the leader of the forces of good against evil. Michael is also another name for… Adam.”
Shivers went up my spine. What can this mean?
Nahuel looked as shocked as I felt. He stared at his son. “Michael?” he whispered. The infant smiled and waved his arms. Nahuel took him from me and held him close. “Michael.” He said again, this time more firmly. He smiled down at the beautiful child. “I think it’s time to meet your mother.” He carried the wrapped baby up the stairs.
I didn’t want to intrude on the moment. I stayed in the kitchen with Edward. I whispered, too stunned to speak in louder tones, “What was the baby thinking?”
Edward frowned a little. “He wasn’t really thinking much. Just that he was to be named after Michael the Archangel. I have no idea what it means.”
“Oh.” I breathed. There was too much going on here. I needed a moment.
Suddenly, I remembered Edward’s trip to Iraq. “Did you get the information you needed?”
Edward’s face was brilliant in his happiness. He reminded me of Carlisle. “Actually, I think we did. We were investigating the story of Gilgamesh. According to ancient tradition, Gilgamesh had traveled to the only immortal being he knew to discover his secret of immortality. It involved eating a plant found on the bottom of the sea. Oddly, most of the traditions of immortal beings involve the eating of some kind of plant. Have you ever heard of the Tree of Life?” I shook my head.
“It’s linked frequently with immortality. Carlisle thinks that Marcus or Aro might have more information for us.” Edward’s excitement faded. His face reflected his worry. “We’ll need to visit the Volturi to get more information, I’m afraid.”
I looked up as I heard footsteps on the stairs. Leah and Nahuel were descending them. They were holding their infants. Leah was walking normally, as if she hadn’t just been sliced open. I’d been watching her heal as Carlisle was sewing her up, so I wasn’t surprised, but I had to admit I was a little envious. I never regretted becoming a vampire, but for one small moment I envied Leah her ability to carry her half immortal children with such ease. I’d probably have another infant in my arms if only…. and then I stopped that impossible thought. I had been supremely happy in my life, and it wouldn’t do any good to start wishing for things that I could never have.
“I’m absolutely famished,” Leah declared.
“Did you want a glass of that grizzly?” I asked.
Sue was heading for the fridge.
“Yes, and some eggs, please. They sound good at the moment. Maybe some bread, too.”
Wow. Leah was turning normal fast. I shook my head dazedly. We might not need all twelve gallons of grizzly blood, after all.
Rose and Huilen were still in the kitchen. Rose approached Leah timidly. I’d never seen Rose be so… humble. “How were you planning to feed Michael?”
Nahuel looked down at the sleeping infant in his arms. “We hadn’t really thought about it.”
“You know, the males are venomous.”
Nahuel and Leah nodded simultaneously. I was glad Nahuel had finally clued Leah in. But then, maybe she’d known all along…
Rose continued to quietly press her point, “I’d be happy to help care for Michael until he gets past his biting stage.”
Leah stared at Rose a moment, considering. “I’m planning on pumping for him. Would you be comfortable feeding him my milk?”
Rose looked momentarily stunned then recovered. “Of course I would. I’m just here to help however I can.”
Leah nodded. She seemed more appreciative of the help with a venomous son and having a set of twins. They’d keep everyone on their toes for their first year at least. Huilen and Rose would have plenty to do.