Birth of Jaiden (7 page)

Isabella immediately sat
down next to Alex without looking at him, but Victoria had to have
a fit about everything.

“
Why would you make an old
woman like me sit on the floor, Danielle?”

“
I’m not
making
you do anything. Sit wherever you
want.”

Alex was amazed that
Danielle could be so patient with someone as unpleasant as
Victoria.

“
I will,” Victoria replied
petulantly as she plopped down on the sofa. “So this is the child
we have heard so much about.”

Alex couldn’t answer because he
was still staring at Isabella.
They want this beautiful woman to live
with me for eighteen years
.

Suddenly, Danielle’s voice
saturated his head
. Stop staring at her; you’ll scare her
away
.

Shifting his eyes and thoughts
over to Danielle, he thought,
Sorry
.

Danielle nodded
acknowledgement.

“
Isn’t she sweet?” she
said aloud.

As if Jaiden knew they
were talking about her, she made more baby noises. Carefully, Alex
laid her down on the blanket.

“
Alex, this is
Isabella.”

As Victoria made the
introduction, Isabella turned to Alex and extended her hand. He
took it reluctantly for fear he would not be able to let
go.

As their hands met, so did
their eyes; he could see a life of hardship and pain reflected in
them. At the same time, he could feel the love and kindness
emanating from her.

“
It’s nice to meet you.”
Their hands stayed joined while she spoke; hers was soft, like her
voice.

“
It’s nice to meet you as
well,” he finally uttered.

Danielle’s voice was in his
head again.
What’s wrong with you?

He pulled his hand away
from Isabella’s and shot an annoyed look at Danielle. He couldn’t
stand when she did that.

“
May I hold the baby?”
Isabella asked Alex.

“
Of course.”

“
What is her
name?”

“
Jaiden.”

“
That’s
pretty.”

“
Thank you.”
Well, at least I can hold a
conversation with her.
“Danielle told me you raised your brothers and
sisters.”

She picked up Jaiden.
“Yes, my parents left as soon as I was old enough.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
It’s ok; I have learned
to live with it. We are really much better off without them
anyway.”

“
Where are your brothers
and sisters now?”

“
At home. My sister is two
years younger than I am; she is old enough to look after them
now.”

“
How do you support
them?”

“
That’s why I’m here.” She
looked down at Jaiden and rocked her gently back and
forth.

Alex watched as Jaiden’s eyes
started to roll back and her lids slowly shut.
Impressive, it’s almost as if
she has her under a spell.

“
Do any of your siblings
have magic?” he asked.

“
Some have it mildly, but
none of them are like me.”

Danielle leaned forward.
“Has Victoria explained to you about Jaiden, about how powerful she
is? It will be a very hard training process.”

“
Yes, she has. No one
taught me how to control it. I didn’t even know what I had until I
was twelve. Then, I got so angry at a teacher in school that I
wished she would be crushed. Suddenly, the entire black board
covering the wall behind her came off and fell right on top of
her.”

“
My goodness.” Danielle’s
hand went to her mouth.

“
Yes, that was when I
realized I had to control my emotions.”

Suddenly, Alex began to have
visions of some of the things which could happen while raising a
baby who couldn’t control her power.
What if she gets mad at us? All children
fight with their parents every now and then
.

Isabella identified the
fear in his face. “Don’t worry; there are ways to avoid it. If she
loves you, her subconscious will never let her hurt
you.”

Boy, she gets more and
more interesting by the minute.

Danielle spoke again. “Why
don’t you two go shopping for the baby things and get to know each
other. I can stay here with Jaiden.”

Alex looked at Isabella
questioningly. “Do you want to?”

“
Sure.”

Victoria rose from the
sofa. “I have to go.”

“
Thank you for your help.”
Alex stood up so he could walk her out.

She ignored his thanks and
bid farewell to Danielle and Isabella, then walked out the door
without waiting for him.

Alex threw his hands up.
“Sometimes, that woman drives me crazy.”

Danielle and Isabella both
smiled up at him.

“
What?” he
asked.

“
Nothing,” they replied in
unison. Isabella lowered Jaiden back onto the blanket and
stood.

“
Are you ready?” Alex
asked her as he grabbed his keys off the table.

“
Yes. See you later,
Danielle.”

“
See you later.” Danielle
waved at them as they headed for the door.

8

The rain finally stopped
and the night air smelled fresh as they drove along the highway.
While Isabella chatted along the way, Alex became more
comfortable.

“
Victoria explained
everything to me so you don’t have to worry.”

Alex chuckled. “Based on
what I’ve already seen, I’d say you’ve been gifted with a lot more
than magic.”

More than he could see her
blush, he smelt the rush of her blood rising to her
cheeks.

“
You would think that
after taking care of my family for so long I’d never want to see
another baby, but I absolutely love to see children grow and learn
and to know I was a part of it.”

He nodded his head in
silent agreement and told her, “You’re going to be perfect for
Jaiden.”

“
Thank you,” she said
meekly. “So where are we going?”

“
Since I can’t shop during
the day, everything is closed except good ole Wal-Mart.”

They arrived at the Wal-Mart
and found the baby department. Alex felt anxiety creeping in again.
The fact that he was shopping for
his
baby was odd enough, but to be doing it with a
beautiful, amazing woman beside him was even more
incomprehensible.

After they had picked out
all the essentials, Alex wandered around marveling at how much
stuff a tiny baby actually needed. He added a soft, pink, blanket
to the cart. Then, he paged through some of the books about having
a baby. He felt someone’s eyes on him and looked over the racks of
infant clothes. His eyes met Isabella’s who was staring at him with
a sweet smile on her face.

“
Do you have telepathy?”
he asked her.

“
No, I just have a good
sense about people.”

“
I am not a person.” He
closed the book and put it back.

Isabella moved closer to
him. “Yes, you are,” she whispered.

“
Well, we could argue
about that all night.”

“
Let’s not.” She grabbed
the book he had put back on the shelf and threw it on top of their
overloaded cart. “I know what you’re thinking, Alex, you’re an open
book.”

Alex changed the subject.
Secretly, he hoped she didn’t really know what he had been thinking
about her. “What other powers do you have?”

“
Well, I can do pretty
much anything magic, but I’m best at moving things.”

“
Not to sound stupid, but
how that is a witch power, a lot of people can move things with
their minds.”

She took his criticism
lightly. “I can make very large things disappear and then reappear
where I want them to.”

“
Oh.”

“
Most people don’t
understand it until they see it.”

When they were done
shopping, they put all the large items on a gigantic flatbed cart
and wheeled it out to the truck.

“
I hope we got
everything.” He examined the full bed of the truck.

“
I think we’re ok for
now.” Isabella giggled.

As he slid behind the steering
wheel, he glanced over at her and then quickly looked away.
I am so glad they
chose her, but I’m going to have to keep my distance. It would be
too easy to fall in love with her.

When they arrived back at
the house, they found Danielle in the sitting room with Jaiden and
Damion.

“
Hello, Damion.” Alex
greeted him warily.

“
Hi, Alex.”

“
Trouble?”

“
You guessed it.” He eyed
Isabella who stood behind Alex, her hands full with shopping bags.
“You must be Isabella.”

She flashed him a radiant
smile. “You guessed it,” she mimicked. “If you all need to talk
privately, I can stay in here with Jaiden.”

Danielle rose from the
sofa. “Thank you.”

Isabella set the bags down
and sat cross-legged on the floor next to Jaiden.

Alex shut the doors behind
him and led the way into the dining room. Before they were even
seated, Damion tactlessly blurted out, “Stewarts gone!”

Alex snorted. “I’m not
surprised.”

“
Danielle told me you
thought something was wrong with him.”

“
It’s Malcolm, for sure,”
Alex muttered while they all took seats around the massive wooden
table. “Do you think he betrayed us?”

“
No, not intentionally,
anyway.”

Damion tapped his fingers
repeatedly on the table. Alex could tell he was revved up and ready
for a fight.

“
I think it’s more likely
that he was kidnapped.”

“
I disagree.” Alex shook his
head. “But, I
do
think this has something to do with Malcolm.”

“
Stewart
is
kind of vulnerable; he’s mortal,
after all, and he is totally obnoxious. If he got sassy with
Malcolm, chances are Malcolm wouldn’t take it for long,” Danielle
said.

As he was convinced Stewart was
a traitor, Alex couldn’t help his sarcasm. “
Are you
serious
? It
would be so easy for him to go against us.”

“
If he was not
trustworthy, he would not be part of the council. We are all
telepathic and not one of us ever got the sense he would do
anything to betray the council,” Danielle told him.

“
No one except me!”
Frustrated, Alex wondered how Danielle could always stay so calm
when everyone else got worked up.

Damion leaned close to Alex.
“If he has been taken, we need to
act
. How would you like it if you were kidnapped and
we all sat around calling you a traitor?”

He was right. Alex knew
Stewart could have been taken for information. “Ok, but if he was
kidnapped, he better hold up his oath.”

“
He swore to the council.
He will,” Danielle whispered, almost doubtfully.

“
That doesn’t mean
anything if you’re a traitor. There have been traitors on the
council in the past.”

Again, Damion leaned over
toward Alex and put both hands on the table in front of him. “We
must find him, traitor or not.”

Alex knew Damion would
look for Stewart whether or not they all agreed. “All right, I’m
with you.”

Danielle cleared her
throat. “Sorry, Alex, but you have to stay here for
Jaiden.”

He swung his head in her
direction. “Huh?”

“
You heard me, you need to
stay here.”

“
No way, I have
my own
oath to
uphold.”

“
By protecting Jaiden, you’re
honoring your oath, and
that
is your top priority.” She folded her hands.
“Regarding Stewart, we must think this through before taking
action. His disappearance could be a distraction.”

“
So if we send troops into
a war, I will be left here to wonder what is happening?”

“
Alex, you’re being
childish!” Danielle scolded.

“
I need to go.”

“
Alex, that’s enough!
Damion is going. He trains the warriors and it would literally take
an act of God for him to die.”

Alex refrained from
smashing something. “But I have fought wars in the
past.”

He felt Damion’s large
hand on his shoulder. “This, my friend, is not a war. It is only
the first battle of many more to come. Besides, you need to stay
here and keep the child safe; she is the key to a hidden
lock.”