Kayla’s POV

I was furious. How dare she be here?! How could she be here?! Why would he let her? Doesn’t he know how I feel about her and her moronic father? Her stupid father told my mother something, causing her to leave Charlie and go back to England with me. I didn’t know what was sinabi exactly but it couldn’t have been ‘Oh Sarah, you look fat in that today’. It had to be something really serious, really bad, that she would ilipat back to England.
Lexi sat nervously down on the sofa susunod to the guy called Gabriel. There was something about him that looked familiar. I couldn’t quite figure it out but I was sure it would come to me sometime soon.
“So what is she doing here?” I rounded on Charlie. He was standing behind the sofa where Lexi and Gabriel sat. Alice hovered behind me where I sat on the armchair.
“Just a visit,” he said. “Nothing more.”
“Lies,” I sinabi as Lexi nodded her head in agreement with Charlie. “If it was a visit you would have told me. It’s something madami than that.”
Gabriel nodded his head.
“Yes,” he said, still nodding. “Lexi’s been watching you.”
My eyes widened in shock and Lexi struck out at Gabriel.
“Can’t you keep that mouth shut?” she said, slapping his face. Of course, Gabriel was a vampire, I could tell that, so he didn’t feel her slap.
“Watching me?” I looked at Charlie and he cringed under my gaze. Yeah, pregnant or not pregnant I’ll kick his ass.
“Calm down,” Alice sinabi to me. “You get any madami stressed she’ll feel it and kick.”
That was right. I couldn’t do with any madami kicks from her. She was getting just a little too strong for me.
“You’re pregnant?” Lexi said, surprised.
“No,” I said, sarcastically. “Moron, of course I am.”
Lexi looked as if she was going to retaliate but Gabriel put a calming hand on her shoulder and she sunk into the sofa, sulking. The girl was nearly twenty but she still acted like a child.
“I’m going to be a grandfather,” Charlie said, proudly, puffing his chest out. “She’s having a baby girl.”
“Congratulations,” Gabriel said, smiling warmly. Who the hell was he? Why did he look familiar?
Lexi suddenly sat up and glanced at Charlie.
“We should go now,” Lexi said, standing up and tugging on Gabriel’s hand. “We’ve overstayed our welcome.”
I stood up too but not as fast as Lexi.
“No, wait,” I said, stopping her with a hand. “I want to know why you’ve been watching me.”
“To keep you out of danger,” she said, sighing and sitting back down. “I know I haven’t been the best of guardians, but a lot madami would have got you if I hadn’t have been there.”
“A lot more?” I scoffed. “Where were you when Loren shot me? I could have used your help then.”
Lexi glanced at Gabriel and he hung his head.
“She was with me,” he said, quietly. “Helping me.”
He wasn’t an old vampire. He hadn’t been around as long as Edward or Alice and the rest of the Cullens. He was new, not brand new, but new-ish.
He only looked about sixteen, no older than seventeen, but there seemed to be such maturity in his eyes that I wondered if he had to grow up a little too fast. He had dark hair, not like Lexi’s, darker. His eyes were almost black, telling me he hadn’t fed in a long time. Purple bruises under his eyes proved that as well. He was a little taller than Lexi, so taller than me. He didn’t have huge bulging muscles like Emmett, but he had a little something tucked up his sleeve. I guess he didn’t have the time to work out before he was changed. He would have been madami interested in video games and girls than body building.
Suddenly my baby gave a little kick aimed at my abdomen. I bent over in pain, before I could stop myself.
“Kayla!” I heard four voices shout at once. I was surrounded sa pamamagitan ng them before I could blink and I waved them all away.
“I’m fine,” I said, standing straight. “I’m okay.”
“You are not,” Alice said, her golden eyes blazing. “You’ve been lying to us all. Her kicks are madami painful than you’re making out.”
“No they are not,” I lied. “She isn’t hurting me that much.”
“She’s hurting you?” Charlie asked. His tsokolate brown eyes filled with worry and concern.
“No,” I said, trying to dismiss his worry with a wave of my hand. “She isn’t.”
“Liar,” Alice said, folding her arms across her chest.
“Shut up!” I hissed at her. “You’re making him worry for no reason.”
Alice looked at me, a look that sinabi she worried for my mental health. I narrowed my eyes at her. Yeah, I know I was stupid for saying that. My safety and health and well being really should come first over someone worrying about me but I didn’t want people to worry over me. It was ridiculous. Well, I thought it was.
“Is the baby hurting you?” Charlie asked again.
“Yes,” Alice answered for me. “We all know it. The baby is getting stronger so her kicks are stronger.”
I sighed.
“Yes, fine, she is hurting me,” I admitted. “But I don’t mind it. It means she healthy and growing.”
“You’re pregnant?” Lexi said. “How can you be pregnant? You’re married to a vampire.”
I looked at my cousin. My older cousin who had the trademark sisne eyes, something that had skipped me. With her dark brown curls and southern accent she was very beautiful. Her skin was pale like mine and she was tall and willowy. I almost envied her. I’d pag-ibig to be as lithe as she is now. Being pregnant made me feel inadequate to do anything. I couldn’t ilipat fast or attack anyone. Sure I had my glares and I could probably hurt someone but they’d have to be slow and unwilling to kill a pregnant lady.
What got to me most was that she knew I didn’t like her, almost hated her for what her father had done, and yet she’d watched me. She’d been like my guardian angel, keeping me out of harm’s way. And all I’d done over the years was resent her. I felt kind of stupid at the moment.
But I would not let her know that.
“Apparently male Bampira can get humans pregnant,” I said, somewhat civil to Lexi. “If only I’d known that before the wedding.”
Lexi smiled and I sensed the atmosphere in the room relax a little.
“Tess is coming,” Alice announced. I hadn’t even see her zone out on us.
“Tess?” Gabriel looked at Lexi. I thought I saw fear in his eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Lexi soothed him. “She’s Uncle Charlie’s girlfriend.”
“Yeah,” I sinabi to Gabriel, wanting to comfort him too. He looked so damn familiar. Like, what the hell? Who was this dude? Lexi’s boyfriend? He looked at little young for her. She was nearly twenty.
Gabriel seemed to relax. Why would the name Tess scare him? Hmm…
A vampire named Tess changed him. I heard Lexi’s voice in my head. I mean, I wasn’t listening to her thoughts. I hadn’t probed out her mind. She was projecting her thoughts into my head.
Oh, I replied to her. When was this then?
A taon ago, I was with him. We were running through the woods near here, trying to get to you. To protect you from the Jenzis we knew were around somewhere. She came out of the darkness from nowhere and practically seduced Gabriel. I couldn’t stop her biting him. But I managed to stop her killing him.
While Lexi and I were having our silent mind conversation I had been completely ignoring Alice who was tugging on my arm.
We have to go, she thought to me. Now.
I looked at her, confused. Why do we have to go? What does she know that I didn’t?
Before Alice could reply, I heard the light footsteps of Tess.
“Tess!” I said, turning away from everyone and moving as fast and careful as I could to Tess. Tess was absolutely lovely. She couldn’t harm anyone. She loved us, as if she would hurt Charlie. Yeah, I wasn’t keen on her at the start but I trusted her now.
“Kayla!” Tess hugged me carefully. “Oh my god, you’re positively glowing! Look how big you are! You are so beautiful!”
Suddenly, the atmosphere tensed. Tess could sense it before I did and she stepped back from me. I turned around to see both Lexi and Gabriel crouched, ready to attack, their teeth bared and snarling.
I glanced at Charlie who looked like he was going to pounce on both Gabriel and Lexi and rip their heads off.
“Woah, guys,” I said, standing protectively in front of Tess. “What’s going on?”
Charlie moved faster than I had ever seen him move. He was in front of me before I’d finished my question.
I peeked around Charlie and focused my gaze on Gabriel. His black eyes held a mixture of emotions. Rage, contempt, fear. I even saw the hint of wanting to kill in there. I let my mind reach out to his and I saw why he was like this. Why Lexi was too. I understood. I turned to Tess and she knew I knew. She couldn’t look at me. I couldn’t look at her either.
I stepped out from behind Charlie and walked over to Gabriel who looked at me in surprise when I stood susunod to him.
“What are you doing?” Charlie asked me. “Can’t you see they’re going to attack her?”
I looked at Lexi who stopped baring her teeth to smile gratefully at me. I looked back at Charlie and put a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.
“She started it.”