Thursday, August 13, 2009

Gabe and Genevieve: Chapter 6


Gabe and Genevieve: Chapter 6

Genevieve and the kids drove through the night to get to the lake house. This was the same house Gabe's mom had retreated too after his sister Alicia has been taken by Ronan. The girls ran inside with Mordred and Gen was met on the porch by an unfamilar man.

"My name is Jack" he said introducing himself to her quickly. "I was sent to keep an eye on you and your family."

"Sent?" Genevieve asked, still trying to recover from the long drive.

"Gabriel asked The Pack to offer some protection, that's me." Jack explained.

"Pack?" Gen asked but before he replied, everything clicked. "Oh The Pack! Of course! So you're a..."

"Werewolf" Jack said nodding. "Yes, I put my stuff in the room above the garage. I won't get in your way there."

"Right" Gen replied suddenly exhausted. "Okay..."


The family settled into the house. It was fully furnished and a beautiful house. Gen hired a maid to come help uncover the furniture and remove the dust that had gathered over the years. The girls fought over the beds in their room until Nimoe discovered a full bedroom suite in the basement and moved down there. After a few weeks, Gen's exhaustion and general ill feeling still hadn't let up. One night after she put Mordred down, everything clicked in her mind.


She was pregnant. At first, forgetting the situation, she was thrilled - then she remembered and let out a snarl aimed in Gabe's general direction.


After a few weeks, it became obvious they were going to be here for awhile so Gen told the girls they'd been enrolled in the local school and would be starting tomorrow.

"Fine" Morgana said
"Whatever" Nimoe replied.

Gen shook her head and walked away muttering something about "tweens"


Morgana loved the clear skies available at the lake and spent many evenings using the telescope. She also made a note to ask for a telescope whenever they got back home.


Nimoe practically took over the entire basement as her own personal space.


Genevieve spent many nights tossing and turning, unable to sleep comfortably alone (and pregnant).


As a result, when she would go out on the deck to sunbathe, she often fell asleep.


Months passed with no real word from Gabe. Gen wouldn't even know he was alive if Jack hadn't been giving her reports from the Pack. They grew to be good friends as the time passed. The time came for Mordred to have his birthday and Gen was so distracted with the pregnancy, worrying about Gabe, etc that she completely forgot to get a cake.


As he grew up, he had many of Gabe's features, making it difficult for Genevieve.


-----------

Meanwhile, back in Riverview, the entire council of Regents had pretty much moved into the council headquarters. To them, it looked like the large, fantastical castle it was. To the unknowing humans it looked like every other home on the block.


The council of Regents consisted of:
Lisa Leafthorn, Regent of the Fae


Ethan Wolf, Regent of the Weres


Jayne Madison, Regent of the Witches


Thomas Darcy, Regent of the Vampires

And, of course Gabriel as the human Regent. Also in attenance were Patrick, another vampire and Josh Wolf, Ethan's brother.

On the first day, everyone was allowed to sit at the table even though Patrick, the female vampire and Josh had no official vote. Gabe and Patrick were both permitted to speak.


And then everyone tried talking at once. Gabe kept watching the female vampire, she was obviously turned as a teenager but there was something about her that disturbed him.


Hours turned into days and days into weeks. They kept talking in circles and no one could agree on anything except that Patrick had no claim to Genevieve anymore - that much the council at least agreed on. Gabe and Patrick got into it on the sidelines so often, the rest of the attendees ignored them usually.


Thomas always stepped in before it came to serious blows (usually initiated by Patrick). As time passed, Gabe still couldn't figure out what about the girl was bothering him.


During one of the breaks, she approached him and leaned into him "are you planning to talk to me....brother?" she asked quietly.

Gabe's eyes went wide and he realized that standing before him was Alicia. His sister - who was 6 when she was taken from them and presumed dead after months of searching. Ronan had even admitted to killing her...He sputtered a lot before attempting to pull her into a hug. She threw him off her and snarled at him. "Don't touch me!"

Gabe was surprised, shocked even. "Alicia, please. You were dead, everyone said you were dead...how?"


"I wasn't dead! I wasn't dead at all - not for another 10 years! Ten years Gabriel! Ten years they kept me before finally turning me!" she probably should have been angry at Ronan and Patrick and years ago she had been but now she was angry at her family for leaving her with them, not rescuing her.


The longer they talked, the more agitated Alicia became. Suddenly Patrick launched out of his chair at Gabe, knocking him to the ground. Alicia merely laughed.


Thomas finally sent Patrick and Alicia from the room, they were no longer welcome to sit in - everyone had heard Patrick's arguments and his presence was not necessary. The talking continued...


And continued for weeks. Everyone agreed that Patrick was a threat but no one could figure out the best way to deal with him.


While only Ethan had the vote for the weres, Josh had every intention of having his opinion heard and tried many times to change Ethan's vote. Josh, who would be happy if all vampires were eradicated, wanted Patrick staked (an opinion shared by the Fae) - Ethan didn't agree that such a drastic action was required (which the witches agreed with).


In the evenings they often moved outside to continue talking. Even though Gabe hated Patrick with a passion, he respected Thomas and they were becoming some variety of friends as the weeks wore on.


Months had passed and each day, the heads of the council grew hotter. Everyone wanted to go home. Patrick and Alicia, though confined, were ready to make a nuisance of themselves. In the midst of one particularly long debate Thomas stopped everyone and called for a vote.
"I propose a banishment." Thomas said drawing gasps of surprise. Patrick would be taken into custody but not staked. Given that he was immortal, his punishment could last a very long time and Riverview would be safe - or safer. "The vampire community is prepared to take him. His possessions would go to Gabriel, as the wronged one."



"What about the other vampires that have come in to support him?" Jayne asked, knowing the coven was still threatened as long as so many uncontrolled vampires roamed the town.
"They will be given a choice to swear allegiance or leave, if they don't leave, they will share Patrick's banishment." Thomas said.



Jayne thought about it and nodded. "Agreed"
Attention turned to Josh and Ethan as they fought across the table. "It's not even my choice!" Josh said angry, "It's up to you"
Ethan looked to Gabe and then Thomas and nodded.



"The Weres agree to the proposal" he said.



Lisa had learned a lot about Gabe's family over the months and looked at him nodding. "Of course. The Fae will also offer to bolster the human Regent's protection, with the witches' help if they agree." Jayne nodded across the table.



Thomas nodded. "Then it's agreed, correct?" he said looking to Gabe who hadn't officially voted.



Despite Alicia hatred toward him, he felt a brotherly connection. "What about Alicia?" he asked. "She was Ronan's progeny and has sworn to Patrick."



"She'll have to make the same choice as the other vampires Gabriel. She's done nothing to deserve banishment but she's not welcome here as a rogue." Thomas replied. Gabe knew it was the only way and finally nodded his consent. A collective sigh of relief swept the table.

Gabe attempted to talk to Alicia that evening but it didn't go well.



The next day, the council summoned Patrick and Alicia to inform them of the decisions made. They informed Patrick that his actions against Gabriel's family were unacceptable and his continued attempts against them could not be forgiven. Further, his actions threatened the stability of Riverview and the fragile balance of secrecy they maintained. As they spoke, Patrick grew angrier and when they told him of the banishment he let loose.


Thomas stood and Patrick calmed instantly thanks to a little vampire power. A vampire guard had arrived and escorted Patrick away.


Next they told Alicia about her choice. She refused to swear allegiance to Thomas or any other area vampire but agreed to leave the town to avoid banishment.


"Go get your family Gabriel" Thomas said as it was all over. "I suspect they've missed you as much as you've missed them."

Gabe merely nodded. "Thank you. For your support." he said quietly. Thomas didn't reply. "Goodbye Thomas."

As Gabe turned to leave Thomas spoke. "I'm going to be staying around for awhile longer. It seems the local vampires here need a strong hand right now." he said.

Gabe nodded. "Than I'm sure I'll see you around town." he said as he left. He practically flew to his car to get to the lake house as soon as possible.

---------

Gabe arrived at the house late in the evening. Genevieve has all but given up on sleeping in her bed and was relaxing on the deck when he approached.


She eyed him for several minutes. Convinced he was an illusion. Finally she got to her feet and approached him. She reached out to touch him to assure herself that he was real. He didn't try to kiss her, though he wanted to so badly.


Once she knew he was real, she pushed him away. "Gabriel Edward Rheyer! It has been months! MONTHS! I was sure you were dead...or I would have been if Jack hadn't convinced me every day that you were still alive! MONTHS Gabe! MONTHS!"


"I know Gen, I know it's been months - believe me I know." he said thinking of the many long days and nights he'd spent with the rest of the council. There was a very good reason they never got together. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry but it's over. All of it, it's over."


Part of Gen wanted to continue to rail at him and tell him how horrible it had been but the greater part of her just wanted to be in his arms. She gave in to the greater part.




As they hugged and kiss, the every growing belly finally registered in Gabe's brain. "You're... You're pregnant?! When? How?"

Gen smirked "I think you know HOW. As for when, it probably had to do with that last night before we left. I found out a couple weeks after we got here but I had no way of getting in touch with you."



"I'm so sorry you had to do this Gen." Gabe said sadly. As he was rubbing her belly, Jack came out carrying Mordred and handed him to Gabe with a smile.

"Oh you've gotten so big little guy!" Gabe said snuggling the squirmy toddler.



The twins ran onto the deck shortly after, having been alerted by Jack of their father's return.



They all stayed a couple weeks longer to give the girls a chance to finish up the school semester before heading home. When the morning rolled around to pack up, Jack and Gabe loaded all the old crates with the stuff they'd brought with them plus a few new aquired items.



The girls were getting ready to get into the car after everything was loaded.



And that's when Gen felt the all too familiar labor pains!



Gabe took Gen to the small local hospital while Jack stayed with the kids.



And many hours later, Gen gave birth to beautiful little girl that they named Elaine.



Once again they all gathered around the car, ready to depart - hoping nothing bizarre delayed their trip home again.



Gabe thanked Jack repeatedly for helping out with the family. "Stay here as long as you want, though I'm sure Josh and Ethan would like you back in Riverview - they're still a little strung from the Council so you can hide out here." Gabe said with a smirk.



Jack laughed as Gabe climbed into the driver's seat. He looked at his family in the car and grinned. "Let's go home!" he said as he backed out of the driveway.

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