Birth of Jaiden (9 page)

“
We’ll be fine.” She held
out her arms for Jaiden.

Softly, he placed Jaiden
into Isabella’s waiting arms.

“
Good night,
Alex.”

He stayed in the hallway
until she had gone into the room across the hall and closed the
door behind her.

10

The next night when Alex opened
his eyes, he felt something which he had not felt for years:
excitement. He actually
wanted
to get up and find Isabella and Jaiden. It was
terribly weird that in the middle of everything going on he felt so
good.

He dressed and went to the
kitchen where a fresh pot of coffee awaited him. He peeked into the
den, then the sitting room, and finally found them in the sun room.
Although he didn’t technically need to eat or drink human food,
coffee was a treat he favored and adored the scent of.

He began to enter the room
and stopped short in the doorway, unable to say a word. Isabella
sat on an antique iron bench with Jaiden in her arms, singing a
children’s lullaby.

Fully bloomed roses of red
and white formed a half circle around them while ivy climbed wildly
up the gray stone walls. The moon glowed brightly through the large
windows, reflecting off her blond hair as well as Jaiden’s sleeping
face, causing them to appear dreamlike.

This is it, now it’s a done
deal. Seeing them like this is almost straight out of a love
story
. He
had gone and done it; he had fallen in love with her.

It won’t be long before I fall
in love with Jaiden too. If only I hadn’t lost everything I ever
loved, it would be so much easier
.

The door bell rang and his
trance was broken. Isabella turned and saw him watching her. Their
eyes met and he could tell she was not nearly as embarrassed as he
was.

Alex turned quickly to
answer the bell. When he opened the door, Chris stood on the stoop.
He looked uncomfortable in the business suit he had to wear for
work.

“
Hey, Alex.”

“
Come in, Chris. Sorry I
haven’t been in touch; I’ve been pretty busy lately.”

“
What’s wrong with
you?”

“
What do you mean?” Alex
widened his eyes innocently.

“
You
look…happy.”

“
You must be imagining
things. Remember, I’m a boring, no fun kind of guy,” he said
teasingly with a bland voice.

“
Stop it, you’re scaring
me.”

Alex chuckled lightly and
waved Chris inside. “Come on, I’ll tell you everything.”

Once they were in the
sitting room, Chris folded his long figure into a chair while Alex
stood next to the fire place.

After Alex had explained
the entire situation in excruciating detail, Chris jumped up from
the couch.

“
You brought home a
human
baby?”

He spat the words out like
they tasted badly. Alex nodded.

“
Are you mad? How in the
world are you supposed to take care of a human child? You’re a
vampire, Alex!”

Alex appreciated Chris’s
reaction, but he knew it would only be a matter of time until Chris
came around and would be happy for him.

“
I have argued with
Danielle about this and I have argued every reason that you can
think of, but she has convinced me that this is what is right.”
Chris shook his head. Alex ignored him and continued, “Apparently,
the baby, whose name is Jaiden, is a huge part of the future. It is
now my job to protect her and also to be her father.”

“
My God, Alex, I think you
have finally gone crazy.”

“
Christopher, when you
really think about it, it doesn’t seem that crazy. We know angels,
dark angels, we see things that humans can only imagine, and we
know that God is a part of everything, just as the devil is. So how
hard can it really be to believe that this is meant to
be?”

“
I believe you, but why
you?”

“
Jaiden is a powerful
natural witch. Danielle says that she needs to love, because if she
grew up full of hate, she could be harmful.”

Chris shoved his hands up
into his messy brown hair. “This is just too much.”

Alex nodded. “I know. I felt
the same way like you do right now; I have had a while to think
things over, though, and I
will
do what God wants me to do.”

“
What happens to the baby
in the day time? You can’t take care of her.”

Alex threw his hands up.
“Oh, I totally forgot to tell you about Isabella. She’s a friend of
Deanna’s and a strong natural witch who is going to live here to
help take care of Jaiden and also help with her
training.”

Chris shook his head. “I don’t
like this at all; it’s just way too strange. A human baby
and
a human woman
living in your house. What if she gets pissed at you and decides to
kill you in your sleep?”

He couldn’t think of
anything more ludicrous. “She wouldn’t do that, and besides, no one
knows where I sleep.”

“
If you say so, Alex, but
I’ve never known you to be so trusting before. I mean…you sleep on
the other side of a maze buried beneath your house. That’s not
exactly a trusting kind of person if you ask me.”

“
Don’t worry about it;
you’ll meet her in a few minutes and see for yourself.”

“
Fine
.”

Alex didn’t blame Chris
for being upset. If the roles were reversed, he would be skeptical
too. He motioned toward the door. “Let’s go see Isabella and
Jaiden.”

Chris nodded and
reluctantly followed Alex as he led the way into the sunroom. Alex
knocked softly against the doorjamb and peeked in.

Isabella still sat among
the indoor garden with Jaiden, who, he noticed, was finally clothed
in a little pink pajama suit.

“
Isabella.” He spoke
softly so as not to wake Jaiden. “This is Christopher Cavanaugh;
you’ll see a lot of him around here.”

“
It’s nice to meet you,”
Isabella whispered. “I would shake your hand but…” She glanced down
at Jaiden in explanation.

Chris held his hands up.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m pleased to meet you too.”

At least Chris knew to
mind his manners, even when he was upset.

Alex nodded down at
Jaiden. “And this is Jaiden.”

“
Look at all of her hair,”
Chris exclaimed.

Alex laughed. “That’s what
I thought too. Do you want me to take her?” he asked
Isabella.

“
We’re fine. I love it out
here.”

“
Ok. I’ll see you later, then.”
Alex bid her goodbye, but didn’t move.
Damn, Damn, Damn. This is ridiculous
for me to be acting like this. Move body!

Isabella smiled her
perfect smile for Chris, who had been watching quietly while they
conversed.

“
Later,” she
whispered.

As soon as they were
safely out of ear shot, Chris cornered him. “Alex, I can see it all
over your face when you are with her.”

Alex tried his best to
look surprised. “What are you talking about?”

“
You know exactly what I’m
talking about. I’m surprised she’s still here, with the way you
stare at her.”

He’s right; why hide it
now. “Fine, you’re right; just don’t hassle me about it. I know I
have to get past it.”

“
Well, do it
fast.”

“
Chris, how am I supposed
to control my feelings?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Well then, I don’t think
you have very much room to talk.”

Looking somehow defeated, Chris
admitted, “You’re right about that. I just don’t think it would be
good for anything to come of this because…if you two fall in love,
you will have to make a decision that I
know
you don’t want to make.”

Alex nodded. “Don’t worry
about it; I know what I have to do.”

The doorbell rang again
and caused a premature end to their conversation.

When he opened the door
and saw Danielle and Damion on the other side, he marveled at how
weird they looked together. Danielle was so dark while Damion, the
dark angel, was so light. He motioned them inside.

“
We have information about
Deanna’s progress,” Damion began as they entered the sitting
room.

“
Are we still going to use
slayers?” Alex asked.

Damion grinned and flopped
down onto the sofa. “Yes, actually, Deanna is on the job as we
speak. If anyone can talk her way into something like this, she
can.”

Danielle appeared curious
too. “How does she do that?”

Alex was surprised.
“
You
don’t
know?”

He and Danielle both took
seats in the recliners while Chris remained standing.

“
No, Damion wanted to wait
until we got here to talk about it.”

Chris, who was totally
confused, asked, “So, are you going to tell us, or not?”

Damion still grinned from ear
to ear as he told them, “She’s telling the slayers that she is part
of a group of vampire slayers who have been hunting Malcolm for
years and she’s gathering as many slayers as she can from around
the world to take him as a
united front
.”

Chris actually laughed,
but Alex was impressed, really impressed. “That girl never ceases
to amaze me.”

“
Then you should see what
she is wearing.”

“
Damion
,” Danielle exclaimed, appalled at
his remark.

“
Well, it’s true. Deanna
is
hot!
”

“
Stop it!” Danielle
ordered.

Damion did his best to
look shamed, which wasn’t very good. “Sorry, Danielle.” He looked
her over carefully. “You know, you’re kind of hot too.”

Danielle glared at
him.

Ignoring her piercing
eyes, Damion continued with his report. “Ok, ok, anyway, she is
doing a great job but the bottom line is that we don’t yet know
where Malcolm is. That leaves us with the fact that we can’t do
anything, including finding Stewart.”

Chris raised his hand like
he was asking the teacher a question. “What will the slayers do
when they find out they are the only ones there, instead of, um…a
united front?”

Damion looked absolutely proud
to inform them of Deanna’s work. “Hopefully, they
won’t
be the only ones
there. Deanna has taken this to a level which no one would have
thought her capable of. She actually
is
going to slayers all over the world to ask them to
take part.”

“
No way
!” Alex shouted, completely
shocked.

“
Did you know she was
going to do that?” Danielle asked Damion, who in turn gave her a
sarcastic look.

“
Of course I knew;
strategy is my job.”

Alex was still taking in
the fact that Deanna had come up with so many great ideas. She was
truly a blessing to the council.

“
Is she safe?” he
asked.

Danielle folded her hands
prayer style. “Right now, I don’t think any of us are truly
safe.”

“
I hope she’s ok,” Chris
said.

“
We all do, Chris, we all
do.” Alex put his hand on Chris’s shoulder.

11

Deanna got off the plane
in London and went in search of her luggage. It was the third
country she’d visited in the past two days. She was tired and
sweaty and couldn’t wait to get to the hotel where she could take a
hot, steamy shower and get ready for her meeting in the
morning.

The band of slayers she
had already met with had been more than willing to help. She
literally had had to calm them down again when she had mentioned
going into battle with Malcolm. The council would decide if they
could be trusted enough to use them later.

She retrieved her bags,
took a cab to the hotel, showered, and then checked her cell phone
messages. Chris had called to check in on her. His message told her
he was worried about her safety. It made her smile that he thought
enough of her to call. She dialed his number.

“
Hey Dee, where are
you?”

“
In London, I have a
meeting tomorrow and then I will be heading home.”

“
Be careful, those slayers
can be like cave men sometimes. I just wanted to know you were
ok.”

“
You’re just saying that
because you’re a vampire. Do you want to meet me at the airport
tomorrow night?”

“
Ummm…Ok, if you want me
to.”

“
I want you
to.”

After they had arranged
their meeting, Deanna hung up the phone. She rolled over on the bed
and fell asleep.