by LJ Baker
Gabe scanned the room, twice, then went over to talk to Jayce, before returning to Michael.
"I actually haven't seen him since the kids were first brought in. When was the last time you saw him?"
"I'm not sure," Michael said. "But I don't trust that guy."
From the first moment Michael came face-to-face with Cole Porter, he got a bad vibe off him. The focus had been on his sister, but only because Michael hadn't thought his intentions went beyond what he could get from Willow. If he'd looked deeper, maybe he would have get a better idea of what the guy might be hiding.
Just because he was a creep, it didn't mean that he was involved with the abductions of the vamplings. It also didn't mean he wasn't. It would make sense. Cole had access. He wasn't originally from around here and Michael hadn't met a single resident who had a nice thing to say about him.
Why though?
What would Cole want with a group of kids? And why would he be stupid enough to leave the door open so they could escape? He might be a creep, but he didn't seem like he lacked intelligence. In fact, Michael got the opposite feeling. He came off as if he was an average guy, but Michael knew he was pretending to be less intelligent than he was.
Michael had met people like that before. They made you lower your guard, made you think they were harmless, but Michael didn't buy his act. Neither did Chase. Maybe that was just because he didn't want Cole near Willow, but maybe he saw something else, too.
None of it mattered if they couldn't find the guy.
That was only a matter of time. All Michael needed was Willow and they would find Cole Porter. Then they would get to the bottom of what happened to those kids, and what his involvement might have been.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"Oh my God, Alexander. If you touch me one more time, I'm going to punch you in the throat." Ari swatted Lex off and groaned through clenched teeth.
Chase internally laughed, but he had to admit, his sister was being a little crazy. Okay, maybe a little more than crazy. She was downright psychotic. All Lex did was put his hand on her back. He was trying to comfort her, because really, what the hell else could the guy do in this situation? Ari was the one who had to push those babies out. She was the one who had to endure the pain. All he could do was watch.
Chase got it though. It physically hurt to watch Ari in so much agony. Chase felt it, and he knew damn well, Lex felt it too. But then, he was the one who knocked her up, so he kind of deserved it.
With Ari so wrapped up in the labor, and Lex wrapped up in Ari, it was the first time Chase had a little privacy in his own mind around either of them since all this started. He hated to admit it, but he was enjoying his bit of mental freedom, even if it wouldn't last.
Rebecca brought in another cup of her special tea for Ari to drink between contractions. There was something about the scent that made Chase's nose twitch each time. He had no clue what was in that stuff, but if it tasted as bad as it smelled, he felt even worse for his sister.
Ari took a few sips of the tea and shook her head. "No more, please." Her big eyes came up to meet Lex's and glowed a stormy blue. He took the cup from her and handed it back to the midwife. Rebecca scowled, but accepted the cup.
Hours ago, he'd thought things were moving faster than normal, but as the hours ticked by, Chase started to grow more concerned. Even Doctor Song figured the babies would have been born by then. Other than the misery Ari was going through, they'd been assured that everything was fine.
The babies heartbeats were strong and steady, not that Chase or Lex needed a doctor or midwife to tell them that. Chase zeroed in on the babies and counted the beats in his head. Vampire senses certainly came in handy.
The male baby would be born first. He had been bigger the whole pregnancy and now he was fighting his way out first. His heartbeat was stronger. Not by much, but enough of a difference for Chase to be able to pick up on it. The female might be smaller, and have a slower heartbeat, but it didn't mean the little girl wasn't a fighter. She had Ari's blood in her, so how could she be anything less.
Chase glance over Ari. She was growing more pale. She was almost as pale as she'd been when he almost lost her. As awful as it sounded, he almost wanted to leave the room so he didn't have to watch her this way. Not that Chase would admit it, but other than the time she almost died, this was the most afraid he'd ever been. He even wished that Willow had ignored him and came along anyway. He could use the distraction.
Rebecca paced the room, glancing at her watch every few minutes, then looking at the monitors. She'd been the one to deliver Lex's baby brother only weeks before. They'd been lucky to have things work out the way they had so she could be there for Ari's delivery.
She wasn't the most friendly, but then neither was the doctor. And they didn't have to be. All they needed to do was take care of his sister and the babies. They were all that mattered.
"Shouldn't this be moving along?" Lex stepped away from Ari with her contraction and directed his question at both the doctor and midwife. He had a desperate look to him that Chase recalled from when she almost died. He never wanted to see that look again, but there they were, just barely holding down the panic.
Doctor Song looked at Ari before answering. "It should."
That was it? No explanation. No advice. Just, it should. Chase was pretty sure that Lex wanted to strangle the woman just as much as he did, and maybe he would have, if they didn't need her to care for Ari.
"How about you give us a little more than that, doc." Chase was on his last nerve.
"Sometimes things stall during labor. It's not ideal, but as long as the babies aren't in distress, and Ari is handling things, we can wait and see how things go."
"Look at her." Chase waved a hand toward his waning sister. "She isn't handling things. She looks like she's ready to pass out. There has to be something you can do to help."
Doctor Song sighed. "I understand this is difficult for you both to watch, but it's better if we let things happen naturally. The alternative is surgery. You don't want that if it can be avoided."
The thought of his sister being cut open was more than Chase could handle, and from the look on Lex's face, he felt the same. But they couldn't just sit there and watch her suffer either.
"I'm going to examine her again. Why don't you step out and get some air for a few minutes, Mr. Summers." Doctor Song scooted Chase toward the door so she could see if Ari was any more dilated.
He wanted to be there for his sister, but there were some things he didn't need to watch.
***
Willow sat on the stairs in front of the house. She'd fully intended on going straight in with confidence, but that wavered the moment she stood in front of the mansion. Chase was inside. She could sense him there. She could sense his distress. It wasn't like Willow to want to comfort anyone. Even with her twin, she just wasn't that kind of girl.
But for some reason, she wanted to comfort Chase.
Willow pressed her knees together and leaned her elbows on them with a sigh. What was she even doing there? Chase told her not to come. He didn't need her. So why did she find herself wanting to be nowhere else?
Quietly, Willow chanted a small spell, something that wouldn't be considered illegal. It was meant to sooth Ariana as she progressed through labor, but her magic bounced around, not quite reaching its target. It was strange that the spell wouldn't be able to complete. That wasn't something that usually happened. The only real excuse for it was that maybe the King had her warded against magic.
She thought about that for a moment and convinced herself that had to be it. Maybe he was concerned someone would try to use magic to harm her or the babies during her most vulnerable time. That made sense, but she still wished she could help. If Ari was okay, then Chase could calm down. It wasn't much, but it was something she could do.
When the door opened behind her, she jumped to her feet, having no real excuse for being there, other than the truth. Which she didn't want to admit.
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"I was in the neighborhood and I figured I'd stop by and see if there was anything I could do." She stammered, making the most ridiculous excuse ever. She sounded like an idiot, she knew she did, but Chase just nodded. His face was pale and he looked as if he couldn't speak.
"Is everything all right?" Panic washed over Willow. What if something happened to his twin? She knew how strong that bond was and couldn't imagine losing Michael. Chase would never recover from such a tragedy.
Instead of answering, he stumbled down the stairs, straight into her arms. It was the last thing she was expecting, but she accepted him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and nestling her face against his chest. Immediately, the tension in his body released and he melted into her. It was the only thing she'd wanted all day and she couldn't even deny it to herself.
They stood that way for a long time, neither speaking. Finally, Willow pulled back when Chase's breathing slowed to normal, and spoke.
"Is your sister, okay?"
"Yeah, she's…it's just…" He pulled out of her arms and turned so she couldn't see his face. "It's just taking so long."
She knew what he meant. He didn't want to see her suffer. Willow could understand that on a twin level. Not that she'd ever seen Michael really suffer, but she'd spent so many years imagining all the ways he might have been suffering at the hands of Julian Hart.
"What can I do to help?"
Chase turned to look at her with a confused look. "What do you mean?"
She stepped forward, took his hands into hers, and tried her best to look sincere. Willow didn't have much use for that expression, so she hoped it came across how she intended.
"I mean, I'm here, for you, or for anything else you need from me."
"I don't need—"
Willow put her finger up to Chase's lips and smiled. "I know you don't, but I'm here and I'm not leaving. So you can tell me what you need, or I can just be here with you. But I'm not leaving, even if I have to sit out here on this porch all night."
Chase stared at her for a long moment. His eyes flashed from confusion, to anger, to relief. He didn't speak, but he nodded.
"Let's just sit out here for a bit. I need some fresh air." Chase led her to the stairs and they sat, in silence. If that was what he needed, then that's what she would do.
***
As much as he hated to admit it, he wanted her there. When he told her not to come, he wanted her there. When he opened the door and found her sitting on the stairs, he felt relief for the first time in days. It didn't matter that she wasn't good for him, or that he needed to focus on learning to live as a new vampire. His body, and now his mind, betrayed him at every turn.
Chase was too stressed out to fight it. Once he stopped, he found that just having her there, just feeling her head on his shoulder, her warmth radiating against him, he felt better. He was still worried sick about his sister and the babies, but with Willow there, he felt just a little more calm.
They sat on the front stairs for a long time, not talking, not hardly moving. It was exactly what he needed. Every once in a while, he heard his sister cry out from inside. Things had been stalled for hours and he was starting to think that the only option was going to be surgery.
The thought of Ari being cut open gutted Chase. He felt physically ill imagining it in his mind. If he could take her pain, deliver the babies for her, he knew that he would. But he couldn't do it for her. He couldn't take away her pain. All he could do was be there, hope for the best, and deal with the outcome.
"Are you ready to go in yet?" Willow looked up at him with her big eyes and her pouty lips. He leaned in and brushed a soft kiss over them and nodded. The spark from their touch gave him the courage he needed to go back, to face whatever would happen.
As soon as Chase stood, Willow slipped her hand into his. His first instinct was to pull away, but the warmth and comfort her touch provided, stopped him. Together, they walked into the house, still holding hands, and slipped quietly into the room where Ari would deliver the babies.
She was no longer sitting on the couch. A bed had been brought in and she was sitting up in the middle of it, with Lex behind her, supporting her. The midwife was kneeling between her ankles, whispering words of encouragement and trying to get her to drink more tea. Doctor Song sat near the head of the bed, looking over the monitors.
Chase wanted to ask how things were going, but everyone seemed engrossed in their task. Not a single head even turned in his direction when he and Willow came into the room. He was unnecessary. Unneeded. And the feeling sucked.
Willow squeezed his hand and smiled up at him when he looked at her. At least one person wanted him, even if he didn't understand why all of a sudden she did. Chase would take it though, and not only because it was all he could get at the moment, but maybe a little because he actually wanted it, wanted her.
For a quick moment, Chase thought about what his feelings meant. He wanted Willow there, not for sex, or because he was attracted to her, but because she made him feel calm, safe. The implications of his feelings were more than he could handle with his sister in her current situation, so he pushed the thoughts from his mind.
Doctor Song got up, stretched, and walked in Chase's direction.
"How is she?" It was Willow that asked, but the doc directed her answer at Chase.
"She's holding her own. The labor has finally started moving along again, which is good, because baby B's heartbeat was starting to slow down with the contractions."
"Is that bad?"
"It can be, yes. We need to get these babies born, and I'm afraid that in order to do that, we need your sister to relax so nature can take its course." Doctor Song glanced over her shoulder at Ari, then turned back to Chase. "You're her brother, you must know what makes her relax."
"Yeah, usually, it's him." Chase motioned to Lex and frowned. "But I guess that's not cutting it here."
"Isn't there medications you can use?" Willow asked.
"I'd rather not," Doctor Song said. "Without knowing exactly what the babies are, we can't know how any medications will affect them."
That really was the question of the year. What the hell were the babies going to be and when would they even know?
Chase recalled the time he woke up as a newly turned vampire. It was agony. Every sound, scent, dot of light, was sensory overload. He was overwhelmingly hungry and had no sense of himself. Would the babies experience that because of their father's vampire blood? Would they need to feed on blood right away? Chase had no clue how any of this would go, or if anyone else did either.
A few times, he tried to bring things up with Ari and either she avoided answering, or he wasn't ready to hear it. He got the feeling that she was sticking her head up her ass and hoping for the best. Probably not the best way to bring two new lives into the world.
"I think we are ready to have a baby," Rebecca called over to the doc and she rushed back to Ari, with Chase and Willow in tow.
The next few minutes were a blur, with people encouraging Ari to push, and words like crowning being thrown around. Chase fully intended on staying up near Ari's head for this whole thing, but he found himself at the foot of the bed, watching the head of his nephew squeeze his way into the world.
For the first time since he'd been turned, the sight of blood wasn't a positive thing for Chase. The baby whooshed out with more blood than he'd expected. Rebecca expertly caught the baby and plopped it on Ari's chest with the cord still attached and coming from someplace Chase wasn't about to look on his sister.
The baby was bloody and a little bluish, but otherwise looked like a normal baby. Chase wasn't sure exactly what he was expecting, but this all seemed a bit normal. And he wasn't expecting normal.
As soon as he cried, both Ari and Lex cried with him, and if Chase was being honest, he teared up himself. His sister delivered a baby boy. She was a mother. Chase was an uncle. The emotion was overwhelming. If not for the warm feel of Willow holding on to his arm, Chase might ha
ve broken down right there.
Doctor Song gave Ari and Lex a moment to gush over their new son, then took him to the bassinet set up to examine him and make sure he was healthy. It was just the right amount of time, because another contraction hit, and Ari had to get ready to deliver another baby.
Chase sought out the little female's heartbeat. It was slower than her twin, but still strong enough to call her a fighter. She was already just like her mother, Chase mused to himself. His pride bubbled over inside him and he couldn't help but smile.
He walked over to Doctor Song and watched as she measured and weighed the baby, then wrapped him up in a yellow blanket. His face was fat and swollen. His cheeks were red. But he was the most beautiful thing Chase had ever laid his eyes on. Tiny blond curls covered the top of his head which reminded Chase too much of his father's side of the family, but only for a moment. Then Doctor Song thrust the baby into Chase's arms and went to see about Ari.
Chase froze.
He'd never held a baby and this one was so small. Only six pounds, according to the measurements that the doc had taken. If this baby was the bigger one, Chase didn't want to think about how small the other would be. He wouldn't have long to wait, because before he'd even adjusted to holding the little one in his arms, the next was ready to be born.
It took only thirteen minutes for the next baby to join the world. For the good part of that time, Chase cuddled the baby boy against his chest. The quick beat of his heart soothed Chase, driving away all the worry he'd had for his sister all day.
The baby girl didn't cry.
That's not to say she didn't cry when she was born. She just didn't cry. Doctor Song assured them all that she was healthy and breathing, despite the lack of noise that most assumed occurred when a baby entered their harsh world.
Ari looked like she was about to panic, so Chase shoved her baby boy into her arms to distract her. It did the trick and she immediately went about unswaddling him to make sure he had all ten fingers and toes. Chase went over to the doc to see about the girl.