Growing Up
By BetterInTexas
Chapter 27:
BPOV
“No Peter.”
“Please baby? If you want a traditional wedding it is going to take a while. I just got into fight with other vampires. You know that works me up.” Damn it. He was giving me those eyes. Stay strong Bella.
“No.” I mumbled. Not much conviction in that one, I admit.
“Darlin I was worried about you. Now listening to Irina and Biker Ted fucking for the past 24 hours has got to have you worked up. I mean can’t you… I mean one time. You can ask for forgiveness later right?”
“I suppose I… No!” He almost got me. He is like the devil. So tempting.
“Darlin, you are doin really good. You haven’t killed anyone in a while. But I know those urges have got to be drivin you mad right?”
“A little…” I whispered. I mean I was a newborn vampire. No! Stay strong Be…
“What if we went and picked out your ring tonight? I mean that has to count for something right?”
“Really? Tonight?” That would be so sweet. He really is amazing.
“Yeah. How does that sound?”
Oh damn. He just took his shirt off. He’s leaning on the bed… He’s grinning. It should be cocky but he looks so innocent when he gets that look on his face. A sexy ripped innocent man with gorgeous hair I want to grab while I ride him lie a god dam…
“I mean. Look it can’t… we can’t do…” Fuck it. I’m so going to hell. I jumped his hot ass.
Four hours later, I was once again apologizing.
“I shouldn’t have made you do that Peter. I am so sorry.”
“It’s okay darlin. I didn’t mind at all.” He responded like always rubbing my hair and smiling.
“I need to wash my mouth out. Then I have to go.” I can’t believe I did this.
“Go where? Ready to go get your ring? It’s still daylight.”
“No. I need to go to confession. Father Francis is in the Church until 6.”
“You are serious?”
“Yes. I take my faith very seriously. Plus, I need to talk about how we are going to work this marriage since you aren’t Catholic.”
“Neither are you Bella.” He said for the hundredth time.
“Peter. Shut. Up.”
“Okay.” He raised his hands in defeat. I grabbed a long blue dress, my gloves, and my large hat.
I drove into town thinking of why I wasn’t able to stay strong on my convictions. I also smoked three cigarettes. Sex made me think of feeding. I’m not talking about feeding from Bambi either.
Father Francis would understand. He is a very understanding man.
Whoa.
I stopped the car. It was high noon. Very bright out but I was covered. I saw him. He was in the shadows of an alley. A kid in his early teens just left the alley. Holding a bag. It didn’t look like groceries. Being a former crack buyer I recognized drugs when I saw them.
Okay. I should probably call the police. But seriously the guy would see them coming from a mile away and just run or dump his stuff and come back to get it later.
I could handle this. Rough the guy up. Make him scared. Tell him to stop selling to kids. That would be it. I would intimidate him. Do society a favor. I wouldn’t kill him. I wouldn’t.
I parked and walked quickly across the street. He saw me and smiled. Stepping into the dark alleyway I took off my sunglasses. My red eyes would intimidate him.
He backed up farther into the darkness. Before I could address him he spoke.
“You’re new around here. You payin in cash or pussy?”
That caught my attention. I immediately started sniffing the air. I listened. No other scents or heartbeats near. Still I better be safe.
“You a cop?”
“No. Are you?”
“No.” I replied sharply, still a little nervous about cops being around.
“So what are you buying, woman? Because I can give you a hell of a discount if you will get on your knees and suck…”
Twenty minutes later I walked into the Church. Father Francis was at the front of the Church sweeping. He smiled when he saw me. I didn’t. I had been bad. Very, very bad. I took off my hat and glasses and walked quickly to him, head down. He looked at me and knew. I don’t know how he knew but he did.
“Isabella, you have a little something on the corner of your mouth.” He whispered.
Oh shit. I guess I knew now how he knew.
“What color is the something on the corner of my mouth?”
At this point I wasn’t sure what color I was hoping for.
“I guess you are here for confession dear?”
“Yes father.”
“Here.” He handed me a tissue and I wiped the corner of my mouth. It was red. I suppose that was better than what it could have been.
I followed him into the confessional. He prayed and I started.
“Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been one week since my last Confession.”
“Go ahead child.”
“Uh… I may have been cursing quite a bit.”
“Okay. We talked about that. With the changes you have gone through a few curse words here and there are not a big deal Isabella.”
“I also may have had relations outside of marriage.”
“I see.”
“Yes.” I whispered.
“With your reincarnated vampire lover?”
“Yes! I’m not a ho father.”
“I meant nothing of the kind Isabella. Are you planning on marrying him? Have the two of you talked about this?”
“Yes.”
“In the Catholic Church?”
“Yes.” This seemed to be a very important issue with him.
“No pagan ceremonies at Stonehenge, right?”
“No Father.”
“So you had one indiscretion?”
“Yes. I mean it was one time. But for like four hours or so.” Right before I drained a drug dealer and then came to Church.
“I see. Have you killed anymore humans?”
“No.” I whispered.
“Excellent. When I saw you had blood on the corner of your…”
“Father I also lied to a priest.” This was so bad.
“When was this Isabella?”
“Just now.”
I heard him take a deep breath. Sounded like a sigh.
“Isabella…”
“He was selling drugs to kids!” I defended myself.
“Did you call the police?”
“No. He seemed like he would be enough to hold me over.”
Oops.
He sighed loudly again.
“Any more humans Isabella?”
“No Father.”
“Are you lying to a priest again?”
“No Father.”
“So one human in the past week. Honestly you have done better than I thought you would. Now that you have proven that you can hold off for the most part you have to work harder.”
“Thank you Father!” I felt so relieved. “So if I can keep it down to say one a week I should be good?”
He just sighed again.
“Isabella. Stop killing people. Even those who commit evil answer to God. It is not our place to hand out God’s punishment.”
“What if God put me there to send them to him? You did say the Lord works in mysterious ways, right?”
“Isabella?”
“Yes Father?”
“Stop killing people.”
“Yes father.” I whispered. Damn it.
“How has your feelings of jealousy and possessiveness been? Have you been praying for strength to deal with these insecurities?”
“Honestly Father I have been pretty much focusing on not having sex and killing people. Not much time for prayer. I mean can’t we work on one thing at a time? Sex and blood? Really? Both? How about I give up smoking and cursing except during sex and just work on the blood thing?”
“Isabella, how about you bring your young man here so we can get started on classes? Then the two of you can be married and you can explore the joys of marriage in a manner that is pleasing to God.”
“God watches?” Oh shit. Even that?
“God sees all Isabella.”
Oh damn. That’s… awkward.
“You said when I was married I could do anything I wanted to him though, right? Make him do anything I say. No matter what? It’s all fair game?”
“I didn’t use those exact words Isabella but yes, that was the gist of what I said.”
“Okay.” That was somewhat of a relief.
“So have you committed any other sins you feel compelled to confess?”
“I may have placed superglue in Garrett’s shampoo bottle. He likes to use this special shampoo and it’s ridiculous but he is always freaking out if anybody else’s uses it. So I wanted to use it and he told me I couldn’t. So I may have gone to Wal-Mart in Presidio and bought a large container of superglue and poured half of it into his shampoo bottle.”
“Vampires wash their hair?”
“Yes. I mean we get dirt and water and stuff in it just like everybody else.”
“Will this cause him to lose his hair?”
“No. But it made a hell of a mess. He had to clean each strand of hair. His hair looked like it had snow in it for a few days.”
“Why did you do this?”
“I said I was sorry.” I pointed out.
“You apologized to him?”
“No! I’m apologizing now. Here in confession. That’s what this is for, right?”
“Isabella confessing your sins to God is good but it doesn’t give you a license to commit whatever acts you like towards others and then not apologize to them.”
That didn’t sound right.
“Are you sure? Cause it kind of seems like it does.”
“No Isabella. You cannot commit a sin with the expectation of simply confessing it to God and being done with it. You must have true sorrow in your heart for your act. Are you sorry you did this to Garrett?”
“No.” Damn it.
At least Father Francis laughed. “Good. Honesty is good. We will work on these other things later. Anything else dear?”
“Not that I can think of. At the moment.” I added on quietly.
“Then I absolve you of your sins. As penance you must say 20 Hail Mary’s and apologize to Garrett.”
“Thank you… Wait hold up! I only had ten prayers last time. And why do I have to apologize to Garrett? I thought we covered that I wasn’t really sorry?”
“I realize that. As far as the prayers you committed the some of the same sins. You get a heavier penance.”
“I didn’t do it as much!” I argued.
“Yes. I understand that. But penances are not negotiable. My choice. As far as Garrett, I realize you aren’t sorry. But you should still apologize. It’s the right thing to do.”
“But if I tell him I’m sorry he will know I did it and try to get back at me.” I stressed.
“You think he doesn’t know it is you?”
“No! It could be me, Randall, or Benjamin. He really doesn’t know for sure. He can’t afford to go after all three of us.”
“Again. Non-negotiable. This is the penance. If you don’t like it there is a Baptist Church one hundred miles to the North.” He was laughing. He was enjoying this.
“Abusing the powers of the Priesthood is a sin, Father.” I growled.
“If that is what I am doing I am truly sorry. I will bring it up the next time I go to confession. Now that confession is over, let’s talk. How is the whole vampire war thing you have going?
“Okay. We killed a vampire in Mexico the other night who was turning people into vampires to fight for the guy who killed Peter’s family. I made some new friends with the vampires she turned. Peter killed her. The rest of the family took care of her friends. It was a pretty successful raid.”
“Jasper Whitlock? When is Peter planning on going after him?”
“He hasn’t decided.”
“I think you will have an easier time being at peace with yourself when the violence around you is reduced. The sooner this is over the better.”
“I agree. If it was just Peter and I we would have already gone after him. But it’s not that simple.”
“Why?”
“Because when we fight others will fight against us. That means our friends who have become our family will fight. That means Peter and I can’t just jump into a battle. We are responsible for others now. We have to plan to fight in a way that gives us all the advantage. Tia isn’t that great at fighting. But she has the spirit of a fighter. Irina and Tanya aren’t fighters in nature. Kate really isn’t either despite her power. They don’t like the idea of war, but they are not afraid of it by any means.”
“What of Edward Cullen?”
“What about him?”
“What will you do if you find him?”
“Kill him.” I answered without hesitation. Father Francis nodded.
“I don’t suppose I can’t talk either you or Peter out of going after the objects of your vengeance can I?”
“Father, this isn’t like killing humans. Our kind don’t forgive and forget. If we don’t go after them others will be turned. Killed. Innocents. We have to stop them. It won’t be as easy as calling the police.”
“I understand Isabella. I worry about you.”
Awwww.
“Thank you Father. I realize I am young but my memories go back thousands of years. As Peter likes to say, this ain’t my first rodeo.”
“Just be careful. I’ve never had a vampire parishioner. I would like to keep you. Now could you ask Peter to come meet me tonight? Here? Say around 8?”
“Of course Father. Why?”
“I need to speak to him about starting marriage classes. I also want to speak to him about other things. His spiritual growth is important as well. Being a married couple means you are joined in much more than just body. Much more than just hearts. Peter is a young man who has been lusting after vengeance for over one hundred years. That weighs heavy on the soul. I want to speak to him.”
“Of course Father. We will…”
“Just him Isabella.”
Okay…
“Father I was under the impression you were afraid of Peter. He said you were looking uncomfortably at him when you came out of the confessional.”
“In my defense, I had just learned of the existence of vampires when a beautiful 18 year old woman with red eyes and pale skin bit a Quarter in half. Plus you did tell me that he had anger and possessiveness issues. But after giving it further thought I decided that if you love him he must be a good man. So if you don’t mind?”
“Of course Father. He will be here.” I may have to rip his legs off and bring his torso but he would be here.
“No way in hell!”
“Please Peter!”
“Why? Why do I need to go there, just because you are on some religion kick?” Wow. That came out so fast I didn’t have time to stuff it back into my mouth. Let me check. Yep. She is pissed.
Wait for it Peter. Here it comes.
Oh shit.
She walked off. To our room. Her room right at the moment. Door slammed. Shit.
I prefer when she yells at me.
I gently opened the door and almost walked in when I saw a light flash shoot in front of me. She had her shield pressed against the door. She was on our bed, sitting against the headboard, head on her drawn up knees.
“Bella? Please let me in.” I asked softly.
She raised her head and looked at me. Her eyes were wet. Damn.
“I’m sorry Peter. I will call Father Francis and tell him you won’t come. I shouldn’t expect you to. That was wrong of me. But right now I need a little time to myself okay?”
“Bella I didn’t mean to say that…”
“Yeah. You did Peter. It’s okay. I get that it’s frustrating. I go from being a blood thirsty horny killer to trying to go to Church. I get it. You are right. I should just give up. We should be what we are. Killers. There isn’t anything wrong with it. I was just being stupid. Just give me a little while okay?”
I closed the door and stepped out onto the porch. Kate was there. Glaring at me. Ain’t much privacy around here I guess.
“Hey Kate. She doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now…”
Fuck that hurt! My eyesight cleared up and I realized I was on my ass. Bitch shocked me!
“She doesn’t want to speak to you right now. That has nothing to do with me.” Kate said sharply. She then walked in. I picked my ass off the ground and saw her open the door, and without a word the eerie glow of Bella’s shield disappeared and she walked in. Then the shield was back up.
“That was dumb. You should have just shut up and gone to see the Priest.” Ted said with a smile walking up.
“Nice to see you out of the room, Ted.” I nodded.
“Yeah. You definitely should have gone to see the Priest. I mean here you are. Done gone and made her cry, got the shit shocked out of you and knocked on your ass, can’t even get into the same room as your Mate and the funny thing is we both know you are going to see him anyway.”
I was about to retort when I realized he was right. What difference would it make?
“Tell Bella if she is looking for me I went to the Church.”
The sun was going down so I took my Harley I picked up on the way to Texas and rode into town. Pulling up to the Mission, the sun had gone completely down. Brave guy to meet me at night. Course I guess he really had no reason to be afraid. I didn’t bother knocking. I knew the Church would be open.
“Welcome Peter. Thank you for coming.” Father Francis greeted me when I walked in.
“Padre.” I nodded.
“Have a seat Peter.” He waived his hand to the bench he was sitting at. I sat down at the end.
“So what can I do for you Father?” I figured this could go a million ways. None of them probably good for me.
“Peter do you believe in destiny?”
That was a surprise.
“Yeah. I do.”
“Good. Isabella is a pure soul. She has a monster inside her wanting to break free and she is doing everything in her power to control it.”
“Yeah. She is doing a helluva good job.”
“Yes. I have to say I was shocked when she proved to me that she was, what she was. I always imagined that if a vampire actually existed he or she would be inherently evil. Talking to Isabella about your friends and especially you, I can see that is not the case. Isabella told me what you have done for her. I have to say you are an exceptional man to do these things.”
“I have loved her for eternity. Literally.” I said hoping he challenged me.
“Yes. I understand you and Bella have complete memories of your past lives. I figure it has something to do with the change. Maybe it was just meant to be.”
Wait a minute.
“You believe her?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I? Isabella is painfully honest, even when she doesn’t want to be.”
“I just wouldn’t think the Church would believe in reincarnation.”
“Actually the Bible doesn’t really answer this with certainty. Many passages indicate when a person dies he goes to Heaven or Hell. However there are a few passages that may allude to reincarnation. Do you know that the Bible hints at John the Baptist being the reincarnation of the Prophet Elijah?”
“No. I didn’t know either of those guys so I probably ain’t the best person to ask about that.”
“Peter why did you put Isabella in a Catholic School?”
May as well be honest. “I didn’t want other guys around her.”
“Do you know that as she went through the school year she became very interested in theology?”
“Really?” She certainly didn’t act like it in bed, I thought with a grin.
“Yes. She never told you because she didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“Really?”
“Do you think it was perhaps her destiny to go to St. Elizabeth’s? It may have been your jealousy and possessiveness that placed her there but perhaps that is where she was meant to be. Isabella, despite your memories of past lives, is still a young woman trying to find herself. Finding a spiritual side to herself is not a bad thing. It is a part of growing. Spiritual growth is as important as any other type of growth. She has grown physically, mentally, emotionally somewhat. This vampire turning event has definitely made her emotions difficult to handle but I understand it passes. I hope you will support her in her attempts to grow spiritually.”
“I support her in everything.”
“So you came here with joy in your heart tonight?” he smiled.
“Okay. Maybe joy isn’t the word I would use.” I mumbled.
“Do you believe in God, Peter?”
Damn. This guy doesn’t pull punches.
“I guess. I mean I know our souls go somewhere after death. I know… I guess. Yeah.”
“Where do you think these feelings you get come from?”
“Uh… I don’t know. I guess I always figured it was some vampire thing.”
“A vampire thing? A vampire thing that told you to find Jasper Whitlock, the object of decades of hate and instead of killing him to follow a girl you didn’t know to a ballet studio?”
“I… she told you all that?”
“Yes. We were in there for five hours. She didn’t have that many sins. Despite your best efforts.” He winked.
“I don’t know where my feelings come from.”
“Peter, I believe in destiny as well. I believe God has a plan for all of our lives. You and Isabella have long lives ahead of you. Perhaps forever. This is a gift that can be used for good and evil. Those you are after, obviously use their lives for evil. What about you Peter? Is your sole purpose in life to kill Jasper Whitlock? What about when he is dead? What then?”
“Bella will be the only thing in my life. She is everything.”
“So if she asked you too, you would not kill Jasper?”
“If she asked then yes. I would let it go. Let me guess. You don’t think I should kill Whitlock.” I knew we would get here eventually.
“No I definitely think you should kill him.”
Okay.
“But…”
“Just not for the reasons you think you should.”
“What do the reasons matter?” I asked. I wasn’t angry. Despite myself I found myself fascinated by this guy.
“Reasons for our actions are very important. I don’t think you should kill Jasper Whitlock for revenge. I think you should kill him because he is an evil man intent on harming the weak to get what he wants. You are a strong man with a strong woman and strong friends who can stand up to him. You can defend the weak.”
“Results the same.” I pointed out.
“It really isn’t. Peter, every time in the history of the world when a great evil has arisen good men have also risen to stop it. You Peter are a good man. If you weren’t, Isabella would not love you. The two of you attract good people around you. Jasper Whitlock will not stop with the vampire world. He will eventually grow tired and try to enslave humans. Evil men are not often satisfied. Always looking for the next thing to conquer. I believe it is your destiny to stop him. Isabella’s as well. I hope you do this because you are the type of the man who believes in defending others. Not just getting revenge for your parents and sister who have already moved on to Heaven or perhaps are living new lives as you and Isabella have done so many times. Let it go. Kill him for the right reasons. This revenge you are after can only harm your soul.”
Damn.
“That all you wanted to talk to me about?”
“No. When are you asking Isabella to marry you?”
“Tonight.”
“Good. Call me tomorrow. The Church requires a few classes before couples marry. We can get started as soon as possible. Based on her… urges… and the fact that I don’t imagine you help her much with those, we should most likely get the two of you married as soon as possible.”
“Father… you know Bella isn’t really Catholic, right?”
“Not technically but I believe in the spirit of things. She took the same classes in school she would have taken to be a convert. So I guess you could say I am deputizing her. You on the other hand… let’s just say we have work to do.” He smiled.
“Peter, support her. It is important to her. She is afraid to talk to you about it. The two of you are soul mates. She should never be afraid to talk to you about anything.”
Nope. This guy does not pull punches.
I nodded.
“Also stop tempting her.”
I turned around and this time he wasn’t smiling. I nodded again. I suddenly wanted to get out of here very quickly. I suppose now might be the right time. I was hoping for a better time. A time when I hadn’t left her crying on our bed. But this needed to be done. It needed to be done now.
Before I walked out I turned around once more.
“Hey Father? Thanks for the talk.”
“I look forward to many, many more Peter. God wants to be with you. Let him.”
BPOV
I was watching TV with Kate. I had finally calmed down. I needed to get a handle on these damn emotions. It was ridiculous. I shouldn’t have acted like that.
I heard the Harley pull up. I hoped he didn’t eat Father Francis.
Kate patted me on the hand and I gave her a slight smile as she walked out.
I heard Peter tell her to cut it out.
Then he walked in.
I smiled. I shouldn’t have been like that. Why would I expect him to stop having sex until we get married if I give it up like a damn nympho? I’ve been like this even before I was turned. I obviously can’t control myself around him.
“I’m…” I started.
“Sorry.” He finished.
“What?”
“I should have known it was important to you. I shouldn’t have said that. You are trying to grow and I made you scared to tell me. I never want you scared to tell me anything. I love you. You are my world. You want to go to Church and hold off on sex till we are married and stop killin people that’s what we are gonna do. Nothin in the world I wouldn’t do for you Bella.”
Now my eyes were wet again. I could barely see him through the tears.
He picked me up and held me in his arms. The arms that I belong in. Then he let me go.
I opened my eyes and he was on one knee. He had a box in his hand.
He opened it and I saw the most beautiful ring.
“Bella. Will you marry me? Again?”
“Yes.” I whispered. “Nothing separates us this time.”
“Nope. Me and you are living forever girl.” He said with passion.
He placed the ring on my finger. Despite being a vampire my hands were shaking.
He stood up and kissed me. I kissed him harder. Then he stopped.
“We are going to do this together. We are going to do whatever Father Francis wants us to do. It’s important to you. That means it’s important to us.”
“Thank you Peter. I love you so much.”
“I love you too…”
Peter stopped and his face went blank.
“What’s wrong Peter?”
He smiled. “Nothin darlin. But our little army is takin a field trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas. How would you like to catch up with Edward Cullen?”
“I would like that very much.” I grinned. One more peg to knock down.
“Good. But first we have a stop to make.”
Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction 
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