Birth of Jaiden (6 page)

“
This is your chance to
see your daughter grow up.”

“
My daughter is dead!” he roared
at her. “
That
is not
my daughter and she will
never
take her place.” He got up and started to
pace the length of the room.

“
Alex, calm down. Come
over here and hold her.” Danielle held out the child that was
finally sleeping peacefully.

“
No,” he snapped. “I don’t
want to hold her. We need to find someone else to take care of
her!”

Danielle knew Alex would
give in. “There is no one else, Alex, it is up to you. She will
need much protection in the years to come. There are many, good and
bad, who have been waiting for the birth of this child, and some of
them are only waiting to get rid of her.”

Alex plopped down in the
chair. “Why me?”

Danielle shifted the baby
closer to her chest. “You’ve been asking for this for years; you
should be grateful the Lord has listened.”

He bent over, put his
elbows on his knees, and lowered his head into his
hands.

“
Why does she need so much
protection?” he mumbled into his hands.

“
This child here,” she looked
down at the baby, “is a very powerful natural witch; she has powers
she won’t be able to control. Some witches spend years trying to
perfect their powers because they don’t have enough natural blood
in them, but she will spend years trying to
control
too much power.”

He didn’t care how much
power the baby had. “You still haven’t answered my question; why
me? She should be left with a witch, someone who can teach her
about all that.”

“
You will hire someone to
help you with that but she needs to learn to love. If she grows up
full of resentment and hate…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “She
could annihilate us all.”

“
I don’t know if I can do
this. I’m nocturnal; children need sunlight to grow, and they need
to go to school. They need parents, not blood sucking
monsters.”

“
This child will see the
sunlight and, with Jeremiahs help, you may also.”

His head jerked up. “Did
he have a breakthrough?”

Just the thought that he
may someday see the sunlight almost brought tears to his
eyes.

“
Not yet,” she answered.
“You know, Alex, I only know so much and we will both be left with
some unanswered questions. You must not worry, though; remember,
everything happens for a reason.”

She held the baby out to
him with both hands. Alex knew that if he took her, he would be
accepting responsibility. He looked at the sleeping baby; her
breathing was slow and regular.

How can someone so little
have so much hair?

Memories came flooding
back to him. He remembered thinking the same thing when he had held
his own daughter in his arms for the first time. Reluctantly, he
wandered toward the sofa, bent down, and took her into his arms.
Her slumber was so deep that the shift between Danielle and himself
did not rouse her. Once she was securely in his arms, he and
Danielle met each other’s eyes with understanding.

After all these years, he
would have to be a father again, but he had no idea how to be one.
Danielle stood and touched her soft hands to his cheeks. “Alex, the
Lord has given you this child. This is your second
chance.”

“
I know.” He looked down.
“She just looks so much like her.”

“
That is also part of the gift.
You loved your first daughter so much and now you will see
her
live
.” She pulled her hands away. “You must give her a name; we
can’t just keep calling her the baby, or the child.”

He would never give that
baby his daughter’s name; he just couldn’t bear for her to carry
that name. “I think I will call her Jaiden. I have always loved
that name for a girl and it seems to fit her.”

“
It’s beautiful.” Danielle
clasped her hands together. “The birth of Jaiden.”

6

Stewart tossed and turned.
The muted television projected a luminescent glow throughout the
room which caused shadows to crawl eerily over the walls. The
hustle and bustle of late nights in the city echoed from the
streets below.

Something isn’t right
here
.

He flung back the
comforter on his narrow twin bed and put his bare feet on the cold
hardwood of his apartment floor. He stood and stretched, and then
went to the kitchen wearing only his blue boxer shorts.

He squinted his eyes
against the blinding light when he opened the fridge and cringed
when all he saw were only four day old take out boxes and a bunch
of condiments.

“Ugh!”

He slammed the door shut
with so much force it shook the whole refrigerator. When he turned
around, he was face to face with Malcolm.

“Oh. Just
great!”

Malcolm’s long black hair
was pulled into a tight ponytail secured at the base of his neck.
Stewart met Malcolm’s green eyes with his own, refusing to let
himself look away.

He marveled at Malcolm’s bright
red lips, but upon careful scrutiny, he became convinced that
Malcolm was wearing lipstick and eye makeup around his eyes to make
himself look meaner. Not to mention the black suit and cape.
Who does he think
he is, Dracula?

“Get out of my
house.”

Despite Malcolm’s costumed
appearance, Stewart was frightened of him. However, he was never
one to back down from anyone.

“You little fool.”
Malcolm’s deep voice resonated through the kitchen. “Have you
decided yet?”

Stewart held his head
high. “I will never betray the council.”

Malcolm laughed
derisively. “Oh really. I suppose you need one more day to think
about it.”

“No. I won’t change my
mind.”

Malcolm grasped his black satin
cape on both sides and fingered the soft fabric. “You have
never
known what you’ve
wanted, Stewart.”

“Your mind games won’t
work with me. I’ve played them my whole life. Besides, it’s none of
your business what I want.”

“Of course it is, Stewart,
you are my key weapon.”

“I will not betray the
council,” Stewart repeated.

“You mean the old man who
picked you up off the streets?”

“
Don’t you
dare
speak badly of Jeremiah. Besides, the
council is the closest thing to a family that I’ve ever had. I will
never turn my back on them.”

“Just because your own
family didn’t want you doesn’t mean that a bunch of idiots who want
to run the world want you.”

“Shut up!”

“I can give you a better
life, Stewart.”

“
I said
shut up
!”

“One way or another, I
will get my way.”

“You always underestimate
the council and their army.”

Malcolm reared his head
back and bared his fangs as he laughed. “Think about it, Stewart.
You don’t have much time left.”

“Get out!” Stewart waved
his hand at the door in dismissal.

“I will come for you
tomorrow night.”

Malcolm menacingly waved
his cape in front of his face; then a huge cloud of smoke appeared
and he was gone.

Stewart shook his
head.

“What a freak,” he said
loudly. “I don’t care if you can hear me,” he said even
louder.

He returned to bed and
pulled the blanket over his head, fully knowing he would begin the
next morning without having had any rest. He only lay there
thinking, just like Malcolm had said he would.

7

Alex paced the floor with
the baby. Overwhelmed, his mind skimmed over all the things he had
to do. There were so many things he needed to buy; they still
needed to find a witch for the baby, not to mention whatever was
going on with Malcolm.

Suddenly, he felt a warm
liquid spreading onto his arm. He cleared his throat.
“Danielle.”

“
Yes.”

“
I think we forgot
something.”

From the sofa, Danielle
raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“
A
diaper
!” He wondered how he was ever going to
manage this. Gently, he laid Jaiden on the sofa and spread out the
blanket which had been swaddled around her. He heard giggling and
glanced over his shoulder. “Danielle!”

Her hand flew up and
covered her lips.

“
This isn’t funny,” he
snapped at her. “Will you grab those diapers?”

Danielle stood. “It’s
nearly dawn. Why don’t you go to sleep and let me take care of her
until you wake?”

Surprised at the time,
Alex nodded. “Thank you.”

Jaiden sighed and puckered
her lips in sleep. Danielle smiled and waved him off.

Once in his coffin, he lay
silently and waited for sleep. He felt resigned to his sudden
responsibility though he wasn’t sure if he was doing it for God,
the child, or himself.

Well, no matter what the
reason, it’s a done deal now
, he thought.

For the first time in a
while, Alex enjoyed a peaceful and dreamless sleep. Although he
wasn’t totally confident about being able to handle raising a baby,
he awoke to the realization that it was part of believing in
God.

Sometimes, he will throw
things at you which you cannot control. Or things you won’t
necessarily like, such as letting one of his children get turned
into a vampire, but you have to stay strong and trust in
him.

Invigorated from the
potency of his thought, Alex went to greet Danielle and Jaiden in
the sitting room. Jaiden was wide awake and lay on a blanket on the
floor. Danielle sat Indian style right next to her.

“
Hello.” He entered the
room and sat on the floor across from Danielle.

“
Did you sleep well?” she
asked him.

“
Yes, actually, I did. Did
she?” He nodded at Jaiden.

“
She slept most of the
day. I think the exhaustion has already run its course.”

They both gazed at Jaiden
while they spoke. She wore only a diaper, looked freshly bathed,
her red hair shone and her soft pale skin glistened.

Alex’s body shook visibly
as a terrible thought occurred to him. How could this be the answer
to his prayers if he had to watch her grow old and die?

“
Alex, you need to stop
thinking about all that.”

“
I
thought
we agreed not to invade each other’s
minds unless it is absolutely necessary.”

Danielle ignored him and
picked Jaiden up. She held her out toward Alex.

“
Here, Alex, it’s time to
start learning how to be a father.”

“
Danielle,” he whispered,
“I’m afraid of her. I‘m afraid that if I learn to love again she
will only be taken from me. I feel like I am setting myself up for
failure.”

“
Now is not the time to
worry about these things.”

Alex reluctantly cradled
the baby in his arms. Jaiden looked up at him with her beautiful
eyes and made a cooing noise. He touched his finger against the
palm of her thin hand; out of reflex, she clasped onto his finger.
Alex looked at Danielle and whispered, “Are you sure this is what
is right?”

“
Yes, I’m sure. Victoria
will be here soon with a prospective witch for you to meet. Her
name is Isabella Preston; she is a strong natural witch who pretty
much raised her six siblings.”

“
She
does
know I’m a vampire, right?”

“
Yes. There is no need to
worry about that. Isabella is a good friend of Deanna’s; Deanna put
in a few good words for you.”

“
And she understands that
she will have to live here?”

“
Yes,
Alex, and you can talk about all that
when she gets here.”

He grinned at her with a
sparkle in his eye. “We get to go shopping.”

Danielle laughed a loud
belly laugh. “You really are something else, Alex.”

“
I know.”
This might actually be kind of
fun,
he
thought as he looked down at Jaiden.

The door bell rang.
Danielle jumped to her feet. “I’ll go.”

She returned a few minutes
later with Victoria and the most beautiful woman he had ever
seen.

His gaze was first drawn
to her long, straight, blond hair which hung to the middle of her
back. Then his eyes moved slowly to meet her emerald eyes which
were surrounded by long, brown lashes. Freckles dotted the bridge
of her nose and cheek bones. Tall, slender, gorgeous.

“
Why don’t we all have a
seat down by Alex?” Danielle held her hand out toward
him.