Southern Comfort: Chandler's Story (The Southern Series Book 1)

by Shelley Stringer

  “No, no, it’s not that. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s like the gown is so soft, and it is giving me chills. Like the opposite of this morning, the water hitting me in the shower; like I couldn’t stand the sensation, it felt like a thousand needles pricking my skin.” I shivered again.

  “It’s the zzzrrtts.” He shivered the way he had when he described the feeling he was having after he’d been bitten. “I know exactly how you feel. Every new sensation will be multiplied by one-hundred. Every sensation,” He added emphasis on the last statement.

  “Oh.” I understood a lot about his hesitation about being intimate with me for the first time after he’d been bitten.

  He smiled, and then continued telling me about Everett and home. “Everett wants to bring Olivia to see you. She’s been worried about you. Oh, and Mom and Claudia have been cooking up a storm and putting things in the freezer, and they’ve even done some mysterious Christmas shopping. There are all sorts of packages under the tree. They can’t wait for you to come home.”

  “Mmm.” I was suddenly very sleepy, not having slept all afternoon. “I can’t wait to see them, and sleep in my own bed.”

  “Our own bed,” he corrected me, as he gently placed a kiss on the top of my head.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  I woke with the sun rise, so ready to get home I could barely contain my excitement. My insides felt as if they could explode every time I had a happy thought. I wondered if it was the extreme happiness I felt as I anticipated everything wonderful about to happen in my life, or if it was partly the transformation I was going through.

  Dr. Lane pronounced me released after breakfast, and Banton helped me dress in a sweat suit Claudia had packed for me, and tucked me comfortably in my SUV parked just outside the clinic doors. He stopped briefly at a pharmacy on the way home to fill a prescription Dr. Lane had given him, something mild to help with my nerves, and some prenatal vitamins to start taking. As we drove up into the driveway, Banton’s family and our friends spilled out on the porch.

  John was the first to the car.

  “Andie-girl, welcome home!” he exclaimed, opening the door so Banton could help me out.

  I held my breath as everyone took their turns hugging me around the waist, and shoulders. I was sorer than I’d originally thought, now I’d been up and moving around. I held my breath again when Banton’s dad hugged me on the porch. Banton caught me wincing over his shoulder.

  “Um, let’s get Chandler up to her room and in her bed, and then everybody can come up to visit her. I’m sure she’s tired from the car ride home and being up for a time.”

  He ushered me through the front door with his hand gently on my lower back. Dropping my bag at the foot of the stairs, he lifted me up in his arms and carried me up to our room.

  “Thank you,” I whispered in his ear.

  “My pleasure,” he whispered back, placing a kiss in my ear.

  As he pushed the door to the room open, I felt so much better. The sunlight streamed through the window and warmed the room, and it felt like the house was giving me a warm hug. The bed was ready for me, the covers pulled back and pillows piled and fluffed. Banton placed me carefully on the soft bed.

  “Do you want to put a gown on?” he asked as he pulled the covers up over me.

  “No, I’m good. I might change later.” I pulled him down, seeking my welcome home kiss. He didn’t disappoint, as he kissed me softly, running his lips slowly back and forth across mine.

  I sighed. “I guess you have to let everyone else in now.”

  He gazed down at me. “Yes, or I might have a revolt on my hands. But there’s always later. I can run them out at a moment’s notice,” he offered.

  “Okay. I’ll just have to wait to be alone with you a little bit longer,” I shot the biggest grin I could manage as he turned to go and get my new family.

  Of course, Beau was the first to push the door open. He bounded across the room. Instead of coming to the side like he usually did, he jumped on the end of the bed, and wriggled up to lay beside me. He’d never done that before and it startled me. I was so happy to see him, I didn’t scold him. I just kissed his nose and rubbed his ears.

  “Beau, get down from there! What the hell!” Banton scolded him as he came back into the room carrying a glass of tea for me.

  “I know… I’ve never seen him act like this.” I urged Beau back into the floor.

  “He hasn’t been himself since you went missing. He even disappeared one night and didn’t come back till morning. I think he was out looking for you.” Banton came to sit down beside me on the bed, as he played with Beau’s ears. Beau circled the room a couple of times, and then finally settled down on his usual rug beside me.

  Then Claudia and Mrs. Elaine came into the room, and sat down in chairs Banton had brought. John soon joined us with Brie close behind. As soon as Brie saw me, she began to cry and ran across the room to hug me.

  “I’ve been so scared for you!” she whispered to me, holding me gently. “Are you all right?” She pulled back to search my face.

  “I’m great, now that I’m home.” I was unsure, not knowing what degree of information everyone in the room had besides John. Banton must have sensed my worries.

  “Chandler, Claudia and Mother are filled in on everything. Dad talked with both of them after we visited in N’awlins. Mother already knew about the gene and about Dad’s transformation. But Claudia, like me, had no idea. They felt it was time to tell her about the gene she carries. And I told John to come clean with Brie. She needed to know since all of this could endanger her too, being so close to us.” He leaned back, and pulled me into his arms.

  “Brie knows everything, Andie. You can talk to her now.” John smiled at me, and reached to pat my foot at the end of the bed.

  “I hope you’re not mad at me for not telling you more about their missions. I couldn’t.” I glanced at her apprehensively.

  “Of course not. I just can’t believe you’ve been going through all of this alone for weeks. And thinking about you being bitten,” she shuddered as John pulled her close to him.

  John spoke up then. “Andie, I know what you’re going through with your nerves. I was bitten the night you were taken and we came after you.” He pulled his collar down on his shirt, and bite scars were visible on his right shoulder. “That’s why I had to tell Brie.” He smiled down at her, giving her another hug.

  Then Banton broke in, “Yeah, but he’s ‘Mr. Laid Back and Charming,’ even bitten. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He shook his head as everyone laughed.

  Banton’s father came in the doorway, and announced, “I have someone who wants to see the patient right now!” He stomped his foot for emphasis. I could see Ava Grace reach the top of the landing just behind him. She flew across the room around him, jumped up on the bed, and crawled up into my arms.

  “Mommy Andler, Aba missed you! Where have you been?” she squealed as I kissed the top of her head.

  “Don’t worry, I’m back now, and I won’t leave again, I promise. And it’s Aunt Chandler.” My eyes teared, gazing at Banton over the top of her head.

  Banton’s father cleared his throat and then said, “Chandler, I’d like you to finally meet Will, Claudia’s husband.” He motioned behind him, and a very handsome sandy-haired man about Banton’s size walked into the room.

  “It’s great to have you home, Chandler. I was beginning to think I’d never get to meet the angel who brought us Ava Grace.” He crossed the room and kissed my cheek. I could see Claudia watching proudly over his shoulder.

  Banton’s mother spoke up, “I know Chandler is exhausted. Let’s go downstairs for lunch, and let her have some quiet time. We’ll send someone back up with a tray for the two of you, all right?” She smiled as everyone rose to leave.

  “That would be wonderful, thank you,” I answered. She was right, I was exhausted, and the tears were beginning to gather from all the emotions in the room and all the sensations I wa
s unexpectedly feeling.

  “Mommy Andler, Aba wants to stay.” She looked up at me pleadingly.

  “I’d love for her to stay with us, if that’s all right?” I asked Claudia.

  “Sure. Just send her down if you need to.” She smiled as she crossed the room, and bent to give Ava and me both a kiss. She brushed Banton’s cheek with her hand and left the room.

  I sighed, and pulled Ava closer to me as I snuggled down into the covers of the bed. She played with my hair and stroked my face. I could almost feel she was hesitant to let me go. I realized my disappearing the night she’d been lost in the cemetery had made a negative impression on her, and I was frightened for what impact the incident might have on her tenuous feelings of security.

  Banton and I held Ava while she fell asleep between us. We talked quietly while we waited for lunch.

  “So, when do I get to see my new bathroom?” I nodded over to the thick plastic sheeting covering the new doorway in the wall.

  “Not just yet,” Banton replied. “John informed me downstairs it will be up and running the day after tomorrow, and he’ll bring some samples of tile and things for you to see tomorrow.”

  “I still can’t believe the two of you have gone to all this trouble.”

  “Well, with you being so ill with the baby, we both thought the two of you might need a closer bathroom.” He kissed me across Ava’s sleeping form as he patted my tummy.

  Abruptly Claudia appeared again, bringing our tray of food. She set it on the dresser, and as she turned, I could see tears in her eyes. Picking Ava up, she abruptly left the room. I looked at Banton, confusion running over me as he rose with a look of concern and followed her. I could hear their voices in the hallway, and I detected a note of bitterness in Claudia’s tone, although I couldn’t understand her sudden mood change. I’d never seen her act this way, and I wondered what I could have done to cause any unrest between Banton and his sister. My first thought was Ava, that maybe she was hesitant to share her affection now that I was back. But it had never bothered her, even when Ava insisted on calling me “Mommy Andler.”

  A few moments later, Banton came quietly back into the room, carrying a medicine bottle and a glass of water.

  “Banton, what’s wrong with Claudia?” I questioned him as he sat down on the bed. “Is she upset about something?”

  “Oh, Chandler. This is the last thing you need to be worried about right now. I’m sorry, I should have been more careful. This is all my fault,” He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “What?” I asked again, apprehensive.

  “I left this on the cabinet downstairs, and Claudia found it. It never occurred to me your pregnancy would hurt her feelings, but her emotions are so raw about not being able to conceive, and then here we are, barely engaged, and she finds out we’re already expecting.” He handed me the prenatal vitamins he’d picked up at the pharmacy earlier.

  As it sank in that she’d reacted with her sudden mood change because of my pregnancy, it was like someone turned a knife in my gut. “Oh, Banton, I’m so sorry.” I drew my knees up to my chest, holding in the pain I abruptly felt for her. The thought hadn’t occurred to me she would take this so hard. I couldn’t stand feeling I’d caused her any sadness. The tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over.

  “Andie, please don’t cry. It was just a shock to her, something she hadn’t considered. I know my sister, and by tomorrow she’ll be over the hurt feelings, and feel badly for reacting that way. She loves you like a sister already; she told me so while you were away at the clinic.” He pulled me into his chest and stroked my hair as he tried to comfort me. “Please, don’t let this put a damper on things. Today is a really happy occasion for me! I’ve got you safely home, and we’re only days away from getting married.”

  “I’m sorry, I’ve just been so wrapped up in us, I’ve guess I’ve been a little selfish.” The tears continued to spill. “I can’t seem to get the tears to stop once they start. Darn hormones.”

  Banton laughed as he wiped them away with his thumbs, holding my face in his hands.

  “Well, let’s see if we can’t get that mood swung a different direction,” he mumbled as he smiled. He pulled me in for a real, heart stopping welcome home kiss that I was sure was going to set the house on fire.

  * * *

  After a marathon make-out session I hoped to continue later on, we ate our lunch, and then Banton insisted I take a nap. It seemed I’d barely shut my eyes when I began to dream.

  I walked along with Ava Grace, holding her hand as we passed between the beautiful headstones in the cemetery down the road from our house. The wind shifted, and leaves were swirling all around us. I looked down at her, and her face became that of another child, not Ava Grace, a child with black curly hair and Banton’s dimple. Her hand was so soft and warm in my hand, and she had the sweetest smell, a mixture of sweet baby breath and baby lotion. I longed to pick her up and hold her close to my face. I turned to lift her into my arms and looked into her deep, green eyes. Rapidly, out of nowhere, a hand reached out and jerked her away from me. A dark form ran with her as I chased them down row after row of tombs. My limbs became heavier and heavier, and I couldn’t move my legs at all. I was falling, and then someone covered my body, crushing my legs beneath him, his dreadlocks covering my face…I woke, screaming for him to get off, to leave me alone, to give my child back. It took several seconds for my mind to register that I was safely tucked into my own bed in my warm, sunny little room.

  “Chandler!” Banton burst through the door and rushed to the side of the bed. “What’s wrong, are you hurting? Are you all right?”

  Covered with sweat, tremors shook my entire body as I looked at him with wild eyes, still trying to acclimate to my surroundings.

  “My God, Chandler, you’re shaking the whole bed. Are you sick?” He reached to feel my forehead, and I shrunk back from his touch.

  “Chandler!” He raised his voice, like he was trying to snap me out of it. Finally, it registered on me, it was Banton. Banton was here, and it was just a dream. “Chandler, come here, come here, Sweetheart…” He pulled me over to him, and rubbed my shoulders and my back. “Shhh. It’s all right. You just had a bad dream. Was it a dream?” he asked, pulling me back enough to look at my face.

  “Yyyeeess,” I finally managed to get out through gritted teeth.

  “It’s all right. You’re fine now. Do you want to tell me about it?”

  “It was – it was just…” I paused, trying to put the scene that had just played out in my head into words. “I was walking with Ava in the cemetery, and then it wasn’t Ava, but our child.” He smiled at me as I continued. “Then someone took her away, and ran with her. I ran and ran, and couldn’t get to her, and then my legs wouldn’t move, and then he was there, pushing me down, crushing me again,” I began to shake again as I replayed the nightmare for Banton.

  “Who was there, Chandler?” he firmly urged me to continue.

  “Him. My attacker.” I looked up at him and watched his eyes as they turned from concern to fury.

  “Chandler, how much do you remember, about when Ty and Sam carried you down the tunnel? Do you remember seeing anything?” He searched my eyes.

  “No. I didn’t see anything, I could only hear. I could hear you, sense you near me, and I knew you were fighting. Then when you took me from Sam, I could feel your warmth, I could smell your scent. The first time I saw anything was when I forced my eyes open in the ambulance, and saw your face over me.”

  “Sweetheart, I wasn’t going to bring this up, but you need to know. I destroyed that creature. I pulled him off of you, and we fought as Ty got you out of there. I pumped several rounds into him, and finally almost split him in half before he quit coming at me. Then we finished him off. I promise you, he is gone. He isn’t coming back.”

  I’d never seen a look on Banton’s face like the one he had when he was telling me how he’d dealt with my attacker.

  He conti
nued “I know you’re going to have some bad dreams for a while. But hopefully in time, they will fade.” He pulled me in closer to him as he lay down beside me.

  “I’m all right, I’m sorry.” I had calmed down completely now. “It was just so real, like I could feel our baby’s hand, like I could smell her sweet scent…” A thought occurred to me as I remembered how the baby’s eyes appeared in the dream, and I froze.

  “What is it, Andie?” Banton asked me, gently brushing my hair back from my face.

  “Oh my gosh! I hadn’t thought…” I couldn’t finish my thought.

  “What?” he asked, alarmed at the look on my face.

  “The baby,” I whispered. “It never occurred to me, is the baby automatically immune? I mean, if you and I both carry the gene…” I was afraid to ask again.

  “Yes.” He smiled at me. “They are positive the baby has the gene.”

  I felt relief, but I sensed there was something else he wasn’t telling me, so I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Ok, I didn’t want to say anything until we could go back next week for another sonogram. Dr. Renault is concerned, though, about the fact you were bitten while the baby is developing. There doesn’t seem to be any precedent for this. Small children with the gene have been bitten, but never under the age of five or so. No one has ever been bitten while pregnant, as far as they know.”

  Tears began to gather in my eyes, thinking about the effect the venom might have on the tiny baby if he or she wasn’t immune yet.

  Banton anticipated my reaction, and added hurriedly, “But Dr. Lane reasons it wouldn’t be any different than having, say, a born Aldon father and half-breed mother. There is no reason to start worrying yet.” He smoothed my hair, and leaned in to kiss the top of my head. “Please don’t worry. I know in my heart that everything is going to be all right.”

  “I’m sorry you always have to comfort me, like the weak female, and all these crying outbursts – I’m one really emotional half-breed.” I smiled up at him.

  “Hey, there isn’t anyone on the face of this earth I’d rather deal with right now.” He pulled me into him, his lips gently moved against mine. He slipped his hand under the loose jacket I wore, and he slid both his hands up my bare back, sending shivers down my spine. It seemed like years since he’d touched me that way. I wound my arms around him, and pulled him over on top of me. His lips trailed down my throat and past my breast bone while he slid the zipper down on the top of my jogging suit. I wrapped my leg around his waist, drawing him closer to me.