Chapter 23 – unedited (Written 15/7/2013)
*Friday 4th July*
Caleb's small cries next to Ara woke her up immediately. Being the mother she is, she sat up in her bed and picked up Caleb who slept right next to her.
After last nights encounter with her wrecked apartment, she'll be staying a few days in Faith and Heather's apartment. Since the two were rooming together, Faith and Heather had a bigger apartment than Ara did, they had three bedrooms and a couch bed, for guests.
Faith and Sebastian slept in Faith's room while Heather crashed in her own. Xander, not wanting to cause problems, slept on the couch.
When Xander heard the faint cries of his son, he jolted awake and rushed towards the guest room. Ara was cooing the Caleb's small cries when Xander barged right in, making her jump in fear.
She had to still get used to Xander. It didn't help that he was shirtless, his jeans from yesterday hanging dangerously low on his hips. She had to admit, the boy had abs. Yeah, well this boy is your mate. And got you pregnant. Her conscious kicks in, making her slightly annoyed.
Of course, at times like these her common sense bugs in and does what it does best – put common sense into her. Just like now, how she's warming up to Xander and all, something inside her reminds her that he was the one who put her in this position, the one who made her lie to her parents, made her feel so alone and unaccounted for during her pregnancy.
Not to mention the reason why she went through the terrible pain of giving birth, but it was eventually all worth it.
Xander sat on the light brown sheets in front of his newfound mate and son. He wasn't aware of his shirtless-ness and laid down on the side of the bed.
"Does this always happen, him crying?" He asks softly in a small guilty tone. He's been beating himself up since he found out he got a girl pregnant, not to mention his own mate. Then she did it all herself.
"Yeah, but I'm used to it. Tonight was a lucky night. He slept right through it, usually I'd have to wake up about twice a night, but I take naps during the day." She replies simply, lifting Caleb up and supporting him to stand on the bed, letting him jump up and down.
His cries turned into small giggles, as he jumps up and down, with the help of Ara of course. Xander feels guilty once again; it was technically all his fault. His momma could never be proud of her baby boy doing this.
"I know you're guilty. I can see it by the look on your face when you see Caleb. Honestly, I know what we did was meant to happen, things happen for a reason. The whole soulmate thing is a little...weird to me. But hey, at least you put something interesting into my dull plain life." She admits sheepishly, trying to make him feel better.
She twists Caleb so now he was sitting on her lap, his back resting on her stomach while his fingers carelessly in his mouth. Ara noticed that Caleb's first tooth was sprouting and was planning to buy new teething toys.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I really am. I hate that I did that to you, I hate that I could do it to anyone – especially you. I, I–" Xander apologizes but Ara interjects.
"No offense, but sorry isn't going to fix it. It's nice that you apologized, manned up and took action, I really appreciate it. I forgive you, I do, I figured in the last two days I've just gotten to know you, you wouldn't just disappear. The only thing that is wrong is that I don't trust you yet." Xander's face falls, but he knew the reason why.
"I understand and I totally agree. To be honest, I want to make it up to you. I want to be apart of your life, apart of Caleb's life." To become a family. He wanted to add, but it was far too soon, so he just stuck with what he said.
Ara puts on a small smile then lets Caleb lay next to Xander on his stomach. Caleb was giggling at Xander as he tried to coo at him while making funny faces. Ara reaches for her phone that she had set on the bedside table.
It was thirteen past seven, the time she usually wakes up with Caleb. "I know you'll be able to make it up for the terrible thing you've done to me. I have faith in you." She replies from what he said earlier and in return he smiled.
"But right now, I'm hungry. How about we go raid aunt Faith and aunt Heather's fridge?" She coos to Caleb, picking him up and resting him on her hip. He sticks his tongue out, letting Ara know he's hungry.
Xander hops up from the bed to follow them through Faith and Heather's apartment.
In the kitchen, Ara uses a free arm to search for food in Faith and Heather's cabinets. She had a few good squeezables in Caleb's bag for him to eat, so she'll probably prepare something for them all and let Caleb sneak in a few pieces.
When she opens the plain oak wood cabinet door, a stack of uncooked waffles sat there in all their glory. She smiled, taking them out.
"Looks like we're having waffles for brekky." She announces softly, kissing Caleb's cheek. Xander smiles at the two in the kitchen then builds up the courage to walk in and offer help.
"You need any help?" He offers, leaning against the doorway, his ankles crossed one over the other and his arms crossed over his chest, making his muscles flex. He was still topless.
Ara smiles, shaking her head 'no'. "No. Wait– now that I think about it, could you hold Caleb, please? The high chair got erm...destroyed." She started confidently but nearly fell over when she saw Xander standing there in his shirtless glory.
She noticed it in the bedroom, but he looked absolutely flawless like a male model coming straight out of a magazine. She stood there uncomfortably, unknown confusing feelings erupting into her. She hated this 'mate bond' thing.
But this so-called 'mate bond' is really just your soul letting you know you're close to your soul mate, also known as the other half of your soul. And of course, her soul mate just so happens to be a werewolf prince who unfortunately is the one she's supposed to hate. But she honestly doesn't know how she can bring herself to do it.
She felt like she was PMS'ing, feeling all this jumbled up feelings. One moment, she feels that he's sweet and kind and the next she feels intense hatred towards him for all the months she spent alone.
Xander smiles at her, he would pay to know what's going on in her little head right now. He gladly takes the four-month-old purple eyed baby boy who he had just found out was his son into his arms, resting his butt on his left arm and supporting his back with his right.
He takes a seat on one of the chairs tucked into the kitchen table, Caleb gently sitting on his lap as he sucks his fingers. He watches Ara get to work as she makes waffles, how elegant and graceful she looks and how professional they were turning out.
Then in came Faith in simple cotton shorts and an oversized hoodie, Sebastian happily strolling behind his gorgeous blonde mate wearing nothing but his pants from yesterday.
It was clear they didn't do anything the night before, since everyone knew it was extremely quite and it would have been awkward to do it in a house full of people.
"Wow, smells good! Oh, and happy Fourth of July! We should totally go to the beach, they're putting on a fire work display and I wanna get front row seats." Faith announces happily, throwing her arms up in the air, taking in the smell of Ara's delicious waffles.
Sebastian smiles at his mate, taking a couple of steps forward and wrapping his long arms around her thin waist and dipping his face into his neck, taking a whiff of her warm comforting smell. Xander looked at them in envy, he wanted to do that with Ara. He wanted to kiss her freely, circle his arms around her sexy little waist and pick her up and spin her around.
He wanted them to be that cute little family everyone adores, he wanted to be a father to his child and a husband to his child's mother.
Ara turned to Faith in surprise, with all the excitement about meeting Xander and getting her apartment crashed – also raising her baby – she had nearly forgotten the dates. While taking turns to put each waffle into the waffle maker she chats with Faith.
"You're kidding, right? Already? Geez, I can't believe it's already the Fourth of July. It feels like yesterday I had given birth to little ole' Caleb over there." She jokes with an amused laugh. Her long wavy brown hair gently cascades down here back, covering her shoulders as Xander stares at the back of her lean figure from head to tow.
He found himself blushing when he reached her long beautiful tanned and toned legs.
"Well it is apparently the Fourth of July. We can go to the beach and watch the fireworks. I'm pretty sure Caleb's never been into the sea." Xander voice interjects happily as he bounces Caleb softly on his knees.
Ara smiles at him, placing two waffles on every plate then squeezing syrup over it. "That's be fun! I haven't been to the beach since last year when I was invited to this bonfire. I had the most cutest – no wait, second cutest little boy on my lap. Then his mother complimented me by saying I'd be a good mother. Oh it was so fun! But this time, we're going to have fireworks!" She exclaims, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Even after giving birth, her body went straight back to normal with a bit of dieting and exercising. She had the perfect natural hourglass figure just like she had before pregnancy except with a more mature side to it.
Xander thinks long and hard about the bonfire she explained. He remember a few guys rambling about a, "Very hot chick playing with Aiden."
It must of been her at the bonfire that night, but of course when he remembers he was surrounded by girls who literally took a bath of perfume, that was the only thing he could breathe in. But the beach...I'd be able to see my little mate in her bikini as she plays with our son. Oh this would be fun. He thinks silently to himself.
He couldn't help the small perverted thoughts, especially due to the mate bond. He could always smell her and her arousal. It didn't help that she wore simple victoria's secret boy shorts and black camisole.
He knew why boys would always turn their heads her way, or why he would have done what he had done in the first place.
A plate filled with two waffles drowned in syrup landed in front of him, pulling him out of any more thoughts of his beautiful little mate. He smiled at the amount of syrup she had put on, he was known to have a very sweet tooth. And when his son went to stick his hand on the plate then lick it, he knew that he took after him.
"Caleb! Don't do that! I'm so sorry, but could you please hold him longer while I get a few wipes and his food?" She desperately asks Xander. He smiles at her nodding.
"Mon Amour, you do not need to ask for something as simple as that. I will attend to every wish you command." He says cheekily, adding a bit of French. His hometown was in that small area between the borders of France, Italy and Switzerland in which he grew up learning multiple languages.
Ara nods, hiding her blush and went away. She couldn't figure out any excuses to those feelings. It was like something had tied them together and she'd feel so lost without him. She hated that she felt that way, things like that aren't supposed to happen.
But her case was a little different. Everyone knows Ara isn't exactly what society calls, 'normal'; in fact she's very different. She was destined to be pulled and pushed through different twists and turns on this rollercoaster we call life.
Because eventually one way or another she was going to meet Xander. It was fate who put this together, helping Xander fix his mistake and to help find his mate. In some twisted way, that's how their lives were supposed to be. Instead of Ara going off to college in Berkeley and meeting a boy and get married, leaving Xander mateless or doomed when he finds her, he had done that terrible thing to help put the two together.
That's what the fates wanted. Because no one really wants to live the normal typical clichéd life.
Ara comes back with Caleb's spoon and applesauce packed into a squeezable. Everyone had taken seats and Heather who had just walked into the kitchen went to join them.
Ara took the only seat left, which was right next to Xander's and put Caleb onto her lap, ignoring her small stack of waffles.
While everyone starts making small talk with each other, she starts cautiously feeding Caleb. It was funny to think that here she is, feeding her baby that had been conceived through a one night stand, the father sitting right next to her while she's crashing at her best friend's apartment since hers got crashed.
Wait a minute...the words on the mirror, roses are red and violets are blue stuff. Someone all along wanted to get me. Why would anyone want to get me, what have I done? She inquires to herself. Of course – someone wanted revenge on her.
And then...he's for me, not for you. It's obvious this person is Xander.
"Remember yesterday when I found my apartment ruined?" Ara asks softly, her head down, focusing on Caleb.
Looking up, she sees everyone nodding as they dig into her delicious pancakes. Arabella frowns a little when thinking about what she was about to say.
"On my bathroom mirror, written in blood red lipstick was a poem. The one that goes like, 'roses are red, violets are blue, he's for me not for you, if by chance you take my place, I'll take my blade and it'll go right through your brain' poems, I think someone's trying to get me out of the picture." She inquires aloud to her friends. Xander frowns, someone was trying to hurt his mate – his family, even if she doesn't consider them being a family.
"Babe, what do you mean 'out of the picture'?" Faith asks, setting her knife and fork down.
"By out of the picture I mean, somebody wants you, Xander. It's easy to put two and two together. Last year someone sent me the exact same not in my locker, but a little different. Then at Prom – I was unexpectedly announced Prom Queen and I hadn't even ran for it. I was pulled to the side before the light could crash above me. Now my apartment is mugged." She explains softly.
Sebastian catches up, he had been thinking the exact same thing – and now that he has a bit more details, it was simple to put two and two together.
"Xander, mate, I think you've got yourself a love-crazed stalker." He says with a blank face. Xander frowns, with a small gulp. Someone wanted his mate dead, and there was no way he was going to allow it.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ara builds the courage to exit the changing rooms with her friends in nothing but her striped blue and white halter bikini and a pair of jean shorts. She changed Caleb into one of those swimming diapers and a pair of cute little blue board shorts Xander bought at the store in the clubhouse.
They were at this beach clubhouse resort where Heather's mate, Daniel's best friend owns. They got free entry and a very nice exclusive spot to watch the fireworks that would be happening.
Looking at her best friends, Faith looked flawless in her yellow bandeau bikini while Heather rocked her aqua coloured bikini. They set off, Ara carrying Caleb on her hip and a bag resting on her shoulder as they walk through the air-conditioned resort to the outside pool.
They caught attention of very many single guys, but Caleb made them back off. People were diving into the large pear-shaped pool while some rested in the V.I.P area with a Jacuzzi or laying out on the beach.
Ara spotted Xander, Sebastian and Daniel resting on three wooden cushioned sunbeds, their towels laying under them. They looked as if they were sneaking in their session of tanning in their board shorts.
They had stopped by Xander and Sebastian's hotel for them to change then met Daniel and Heather at the beach club.
Ara smiles, feeling the softness of the sand surround her toes. She missed the free feeling, the smell of the salty ocean. It was all a bliss.
They walk over to where the boys were sitting when they saw another group of three girls walk up to their boys and asking to rub sunscreen over them.
"Hey cuties. We're having trouble with our sunscreen, do you mind of you could rub it on our backs?" One asks suggestively, licking her lips seductively. Xander pulls of his sunglasses and scoffs at the three girls.
They smiled at his beautiful unusual eye colour, resting their hands on their hips as if they rehearsed this.
Sebastian sat up from his laying spot and was about to say something when Faith snuck up behind him, covering his eyes with her hands.
"Guess who..." She whispers in his ears huskily. He bites his lips to prevent himself moaning in front of everyone. Sebastian knew exactly who she was, her very sexy voice and irresistible smell spoke it all.
He stays still for a while plotting a plan when he twists around and in record speed picked her placed her on his lap, giving the three other desperate girls a show.
They frowned at it, going for the other two next to Sebastian. They smile seductively at the black haired purple-eyed hottie and his pretty brown hair brown eyed friend next to him. They were both shirtless and very gorgeous, who wouldn't be attracted.
While walking towards them, Heather notice and went for full attack just like she saw her best friend do as Ara holds Caleb securely with one arm and the other looks into Caleb's Thomas the Tank Engine carry bag for sunscreen.
Since her friends had forced her out quickly, she didn't have time to apply sunscreen to Caleb or herself.
Not bothering to look up and see the three girls who were now disappointed to notice two of the three guys were taken were now targeting Xander.
"Hey Xander, could you please hold Caleb for a sec? I can't find the sunscreen!" She calls out to him, noticing her best friends had ditched her to protect their men. Xander ignores the young girls in front of him and got off the sunbed.
"Sure. As I said before, Mon Amour, I'll always hold our son when in need." He replies cheekily, grabbing Caleb out of Ara's embrace and lifting him into the air. When the three other girls notice the strong resemblance between the two, they were frowning in huge disappointment.
"I thought you said that I didn't need to ask you to keep on holding our son." She replies equally as cheekily, forgetting the fact that she had said 'our' instead of 'my'. Xander blushes a little when she says that.
"And what does Mon Amour mean? You're starting to call me that and I have no idea what it means!" She adds with a small giggle, finally picking the sunscreen out of the bag. Xander smiles at her in awe, taking in her from head to toe. He finally got to see her without forcing himself on her.
"I'll tell you next time, belle." He teases, tapping Caleb's nose in replacement for hers. He walks back to his sunbed with Caleb sitting on his lap – and the girls have not even left yet as they were secretly hoping they'd ditch their girlfriends to go with them.
"My name's Arabella not Arabelle. But okay." She mutters amusingly, setting the bag by her feet as she takes a seat next to Xander who was lifting Caleb into the air and jumping him around on his lap.
"Well it's a good thing I also speak Italian, bella." He teases, staring at her in adoration when she zips up Caleb's bag.
"Bella...I know that is Italian for beautiful. I skipped those language courses and took Spanish. And what language is Mon Amour? French?" She asks, squirting a small drop of sunscreen on her arm and rubbing it up and down.
Xander gulps a little before replying. "I can speak French, Italian and English. And to my luck, I've created quite a few nicknames for you without you knowing if they are part of your name or not." Ara grins at him, rubbing her other arm.
"Thank you for letting me know. Can you hold Caleb still, now? He needs sunscreen." She says and Xander obeys.
"Hey! We need sunscreen too!" One of the three girls from before cries. They still hadn't left, to save their dignity. Ara turns to where the loud screeching sound came from to reveal three young high-school girls wearing bikinis and high heels. Who wears high heels to the beach, and on sand?
"Oh, sorry! Didn't see you there. You want to borrow some?" Ara offers, clueless as to the real reason why they were here. She was too nice and innocent for her own good. Apparently they thought she was being sarcastic and rolled their eyes.
Ara dabs a little bit of sunscreen on Caleb's naturally slightly tanned face. It wasn't too pale, but it was normal pale for a baby. But he was quite tanned since he had to neatly tanned parents.
"No, we've got our own." The first one from before mutters annoyingly. Ara just smiles politely.
"Oh. Okay, enjoy your day!" Ara replies kindly with a small wave then turning back to Caleb and dabbing and applying small amounts of sunscreen on Caleb's arm.
Faith notices the girls still here. "Xander, cover Caleb's ears please, I don't want Ara to scold me for this." She mutters lowly then turns to face the three girls.
"Would you kindly please leave and try aim for someone who's not in a relationship as you can clearly not f*cking see at all." Faith says to them through gritted teeth and they were shocked at how rude they were spoken too.
Xander, Sebastian and Ara laugh at the girls' reactions. "Jeez, bitchy much? You shouldn't be at the beach while PMS'ing, bitch." The lead girl sneakers while her friends follow along.
Faith laughs at her because she had said bitch...as in female dog. "That was a really lame comeback. Honestly, if you're looking for a fun time, get on a dating app. I'm sure you'll meet very nice men there, who are actually interested in you." She replies, sarcastically, sitting on Sebastian's lap with her arms folded across her chest. Sebastian rubs her back to calm her down.
"You're such a bitch! Don't end up like your slut of a friend here, tying down a dude by pregnancy." She snickers, referring to Ara. Ara looks down, small tears falling through her eyes. She's been insulted before, but not on her pregnancy. Faith gasps, getting out of her seat.
"Okay, here's how it'll go, bitch. You can insult me, you can say every bad word in the book about me, but if you dare – if you dare say anything bad about my friends or family, I will beat you 'til a pulp and deny it. You don't know half her story, so who are you to judge?" She exclaims, staring straight into the girl's eyes. Sebastian was planning to stop his mate, but found it an extreme turn on when she was angry.
"Yeah, I'm the slut because I'm totally the one who's got a kid." The girl replies, crossing her arms over her chest to hide her fear.
"Just because you've got a kid, doesn't mean your a slut. Now, get out of my face 'cause Shrek called, and he's looking for his ogre wife." Faith remarks, shooing them away. They only step back a little, a small frown on their face.
"You girls are like fifteen. Hang out with your friends at the mall, not with some guy in his bedroom." Faith adds happily before sitting next her best friend who was shedding a few small tears.
Xander already wrapped an arm around Ara to calm her down. Surprisingly, she leaned a little more into him for comfort. Her mate's soothing touch helped a little, but the small insult she got directed at her really hurt.
"Aw, Ara, don't let them get to you. They don't know anything about you and are just stuck-up jealous girls who think that by growing up they need to open their legs to anything with a dick and a pulse. You have a beautiful baby boy and you are a wonderful mother to him, karma will bite them back in the ass when they end up pregnant and have no clue who the baby daddy is." She coos softly, rubbing her shoulder.
"She's right bellz, you can't let them get to you. They don't know anything you've gone through just to become who you are today. You're not considered a slut, you're known as the strong girl who managed to have a baby at eighteen and did not break." Heather adds, facing her.
"I'm so sorry, bella, this is all my fault. I'm sorry I did that to you, I'm sorry that you were called that, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that you have gone through." Xander whispers softly, keeping one arm wrapped around her while the other securely holds Caleb.
Ara shakes her head, laughing a little while she wipes her tears away. "No, no, it's okay. As you said before, I was your soul mate. It was bound to happen. Either way, I would have met you and might have gone through a slightly different procedure, but it was just one insult. I've been called worse – it just got to me since I was overly worried about ever being called that since I've got Caleb. But now I know, I should just never let them get to me of course." She answers in a small voice, the ends of her lips tugging upwards.
"Yeah. We should enjoy our day, a few fireworks will come at night time and we still have yet to have fun in the water. Speaking about it, who wants to come?" Sebastian asks, standing up. Faith laughs up at him as he stares down at her lovingly.
"You know what, don't answer the question." He adds before bending down and scooping Faith and placing her on his shoulder. She lets out a squeal of laughter, tapping his butt.
"This is highly unnecessary!" She squeals once again when he taps her butt in response. Sebastian runs towards the large blue ocean with his newfound mate on his shoulder and acting like does lovey-dovey couples.
Heather laughs at them, turning to face Daniel. "If you through me over your shoulder, I will honestly give you the silent tre–" She was cut off by a squeal when Daniel picks her up bridal style.
"You never said I couldn't do this!" He cheekily exclaims, running towards the ocean and jumping in with her in his arms. Ara amusingly watches, no more tears falling down her cheeks.
**********
A/N:
Also I liked werewolves and wanted to make him foreign 'cause I find that extremely sexy.
Mon Amour (French): My Love. I know what you're thinking; Cheeky little Xander!
Belle (French): Beautiful
Bella (Italian): Beautiful. Xander you're so cheeky! Haha!
Brekky (Australian): Short for breakfast.
© 2013, rinnyhere
**2020: uhm. what the actual fuck was this chapter. like actually.