Diamond Legacies 2: Prologue 'Little delights' (aka Ivy and Micah family fluff)

This is a little prologue/extra of sorts for the Eden/Nova story. Their story will be solely their pov but i wanted to get this extra out there of when they found out about Nova's ability, plus im in love with Ivy/Micahs relationship so i had to write more of it. This is part 1 of this, i will post a part 2 before i start the mini story. Part 2 will show Ivy's reasoning behind why she isnt officially married to Micah... yet... and why their relationship is so unique. This story shows a little bit of an insecure side to Ivy, but it will make sense in part 2.

 

Winter 2208

Ivana Balev 

 

It hadn’t snowed in Chicago for over 50 years. That’s what everyone in our family loved to remind us of as Alice ran around the Volturi mansion excited she’d seen snow this weekend. The only reason myself and Micah had even seen it before was because we went looking for it once in our gap years. Climate change had been somewhat reversed since the early 21^st century but the damage that was caused then was enough to change the world drastically. Not many states in the US ever saw snow anymore, and when it did it was rare.

“Ivy,” I heard Micah’s excited voice in my head. I had no idea what the time was. It had to be early. “Ivy, wake up,” he said kissing my jaw, neck, cheek. “My sister was right. It snowed all night!” He said like a child on Christmas morning. I groaned as I rolled over to face him. He wasn’t in his night clothes. He was fully dressed. I frowned at his attire.

“I’m going to go see it, but I wanted you to come too,” he said softly with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile back. “First snow sighting has to be shared with my best friend,” he said holding his hand out.

“You’ve seen snow before” I reminded him.

“Not in Chicago I haven’t.” He said as if that made all the difference. I took his hand and he pulled me out of the bed in one swift gentle movement. I landed on my feet in front of him, he was grinning down at me, more excited than I had seen him in a very long time. “Get dressed,” he said kissing my forehead once and darting to the door. I chuckled as I saw his expectant face wait at the door of our bedroom. I made my way over to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my hair. I did it at vamp speed to not delay the excited puppy waiting to go play. I tried to find the most appropriate clothes I could. Micah wouldn’t feel the cold, but I would.

He watched me dress. Normally this would probably turn into a very different kind of activity but there was no evidence of desire in his eyes as he watched me. Just eagerness and excitement for me to be finished with such a mundane chore.

He took my hand immediately and practically pulled me down the stairs. He walked to our large sliding window door that led to the backyard and paused to smile at the sight. He opened it in one swift movement and took a step outside. The sun was barely above the horizon as he took a step onto the porch and into the thick snow.

“I’ve been watching it fall all night. I was going to come out as soon as it started sticking but then I realised I wanted to be with you when I saw it again.” He said turning to smile sweetly at me. I couldn’t help the gravity I felt to be beside him in his happiness. I stepped forward to stand next to him, wrapping my hands around his and hugging his arm to me. I kissed his bicep and he smiled down at me.

“I had no idea snow excited you this much,” I said truthfully.

“It’s just so… pure,” he said in amazement, taking a step out again without dropping my hand. The snow on the grass was deeper than on the porch.

The sound of little feet broke the serenity of the moment.

“Mama, Papa!” The girls called in unison; they were in their pyjamas running straight for us outside.

“It’s snowing!” They both said, each of them leaping towards us. They didn’t step a foot on the snow. I held Nova as Micah caught Eden. The pair clung to us in their pyjamas, the cold was already setting into them as they shivered.

“You can’t come out dressed like this,” Micah said sternly to both of them heading back into the house.

“Can we play in it?” Nova asked me her small face watching me for approval.

“of course, you can. But we need to find something for you to wear,” I said following Micah back inside. We both placed the girls on the floor, and they headed back to the stairs.

I followed them up, Alice had given the girls a present the day she saw the snow was coming. Full snow suits and snow boots, with some gloves and hats. I pulled them out of their closets, and they gasped in surprise.

“Your Auntie Alice knew you’d need these,” I said to them helping them get dressed into their padded protection. My girls weren’t human, far from it. But they still experienced cold, just as I did. It was only their father that was completely immune to the effects of temperature.

The girls dressed, buzzing with excitement as their father did. I already knew he’d gone back out, waiting for his daughters to come play with him in it.

The girls raced down the stairs as soon as I tied their scarfs and headed straight out the door. I followed them slower. Reaching the door as the girls struggled to run through the snow to get to their father in the centre of the garden. The snow was higher than the girl’s knees. He chuckled watching them push their way through the snow. Nova leapt, clinging onto her fathers back, trying to pull him down to the floor. Eden pulled at his legs and he humoured them by ‘falling’ into the snow. The pair giggled and I smiled widely at the picture from the door.

“Mama come play with us! Can we make a snow man?” Nova called to me and I couldn’t resist the glimmer in each of their eyes.

Snow was too rare to spend in doors. As much as I wanted to crawl up with a book by the fire and a warm mug of my favourite animal blood. I knew I wouldn’t take this away from my children. No matter how much I hated being wet and cold.

I turned, pulling on some hiking boots I had from when Micah and I used to travel and stepped back out into the cold. The jacket I had was enough, for now, but it was no snow suit.

I joined my little family in the snow and the girls excitedly started to form snowballs to make into a snow man.

We were out there for a few hours. The girls wanted to make a whole family of snow men, two children, two adults. Just like us.

The garden was still large enough to have a big area left over to play in after collecting the snow for the snowmen. I was aware of a phone buzzing in the house as the girls and Micah started to play with snowballs. I took it as my cue to get out of the cold and found Micah’s phone lit up.

It had ‘mom’ on the caller ID.

“Hey Esme,” I answered.

“Ivana, my dear! I know this is a special day for you all, but Carlisle and I were calling to ask if we could come see the girls in the snow, if its not intruding. If you want the day to be a family, I understand,” she said, her sweet voice almost backtracking. I loved this woman with every part of me.

“You are our family Esme. Of course, you can both come over. The girls have been out in it since sunrise. Although I’m not sure who loves it more. The children or your son,” I giggled, and she laughed back.

“Oh wonderful. We won’t be long, thank you Ivy,” she said sincerely, and we hung up. I walked back out to see the girls trying to climb their favourite tree. Struggling with their snow suits but laughing at their challenge.

Micah was making snow angels. I walked out to him, folding my arms across my chest in the cold.

“Your parents are coming over.” I told him, barely able to see him in the depths of the snow. “What are you doing?” I giggled as he continued to move his arms and legs like a child.

“Making snow angels,” he said.

“You’re such a child,” I laughed at him, reaching my hand out for him to stand up. He took it but instead of using it to stand up he pulled me down with him into the snow. My instinct was to wrap myself into his side, flinching from the cold. Although It would do no good; his body was no warmer than the snow at this point. He had been out here so long.

He chuckled at my response, tickling my sides, and kissing my jaw as he did it.

“How is it, that the heir of a multibillion-dollar dynasty, one of the most powerful men in the world is defeated by a bit of snow?” I mused as he continued to kiss me.

“Little delights.” He mused pulling me onto his body. His back lay against the snow as I lay over him. I smirked down at him, feeling his body temperature warm at my proximity. The snow would start to melt around us now.

“Your parents will be here any moment and your now wet,” I mused reaching for his hair that was slowly getting soaked by the melting snow.

He reached his head forward, so it was closer to mine and he kissed my nose.

“It’s too late to change,” he agreed as we heard his parents pull up in the driveway.

“Let’s go,” I said trying to make my way out of his strong arms. He smirked, pulling us both to our feet. I frowned at my dampening clothes.

“I’ll greet them, you go and get changed so you’re not uncomfortable,” he said, keeping hold of my hand as we walked into the house. I was shocked at the amount of closeness he had shown me today already.

We were together, in every sense of the word but we still very much hung onto that best friend title. He was my lover and effectively, my husband. But more important than that, he was my best friend. The other stuff was mostly reserved for the bedroom. We’d occasionally call each other a pet name or give a passing kiss but never all this touching and kissing and attention. We tended to give each other space in the day.

Maybe the snow had taken some of his reluctance away. It certainly took mine away, seeing him so childlike and free.

I raced up the stairs as the door opened. Micah stayed downstairs to greet his parents. I knew he’d keep an eye on the twins from the wall of windows on the ground floor of our open plan house.

“Morning,” he greeted them.

“Playing in the snow I see?” Carlisle asked his son.

“How did you know?” He asked feigning surprise. I reached the top of the stairs as they were reaching in to hug each other.

Carlisle turned to smile at me. He would have known that the only way for Micah to be wet with snow was that I must have joined him. Snow doesn’t melt on vampire skin. But it does on mine.

Esme reached to hug me, and I returned the hug of my, for all intents and purposes, mother in law.

“Your son has turned twelve in the time the snow took to stick on the ground,” I mused at her. She pulled away to smile widely at me.

“We must have our little delights,” she responded and looked at her son proudly.

“That’s what I said!” Micah smiled back at his mother with equal proudness. Micah was the perfect mix of his parents. The three people before me in my eyes, were so perfect, in fact, that sometimes I felt entirely inadequate to be in their family.

Carlisle kept his arm around his son’s shoulders as the pair turned to look at me and Esme.

“The children must be enjoying it immensely,” Carlisle said looking towards the windows to see the girls in their snow suits laughing at each other.

“They are,” I agreed as we all followed his gaze to the twins. Esme was already instinctively moving towards the door, as if she couldn’t resist their infectious laughs. The smile on her face hadn’t dropped the second she walked into the house. We followed her. Micah running ahead to tackle his daughters into the snow.

They giggled and playfully hit him.

“Get down snow monster!” Eden called as Micah played along, roaring at them for effect. Carlisle stepped out into the snow, with only a cotton t-shirt and jeans to reach them. The girls noticed the movement, turning to see their grandfather heading towards them. Their faces lit up, both leaving their father on the floor and heading towards Carlisle. They both collided with his legs, hugging him, almost fighting over him. He chuckled, bending down to hug his granddaughters.

“Are you having fun little ones?” He asked them.

“It’s snow grandpa! It’s snow!” Eden called excitedly.

“It is.” He agreed with a smile. I felt Esme’s hand join mine as I stood next to her on the porch. I turned to smile at her, we were both equal height as our husbands were.

“Are you okay?” I asked her softly. Her smile, still, plastered on her face.

“More than okay,” she responded, and I squeezed her hand in response. “Sometimes I just have to touch someone, to remind myself that the life I have is real. So many centuries ago when I lost my first son. I had no reason to live. No purpose, all I could feel is pain and anger. Now I see Micah, I see my other children. The descendants that have come from that great man-“ she said nodding to her husband “-and I can’t believe that I’ve been gifted with this much happiness. So, I apologise for grasping your hand so suddenly, but I just had to make sure you were real.” She said sheepishly.

“I’m not sure even I would be here if it weren’t for you and Carlisle. Your family gave my mother purpose. Gave her a life. She’d still be living in that house so far away from civilisation, hiding from Aro. My father would still be with his family in Italy. I wouldn’t exist.” I said thinking back at the history of my parents. How was it possible Carlisle, a singular man, had changed the world, created so much life?

“He’s the greatest gift this planet has ever had. All the people he’s helped, the people he’s created. I sometimes marvel he is mine,” Esme said wistfully.

“Tell me about it,” I mumbled, seeing Micah interact with his father, throwing the girls into the air, catching them as if they were playing throw and catch with a ball.

“He’s certainly passed all that onto our son,” Esme agreed.

“If I didn’t grow up with him, if I didn’t know him as well as I did. I wouldn’t believe someone so selfless could exist.” I told her truthfully. I realised both men could hear our conversation, but it wasn’t something Micah hadn’t already heard from me before. Micah was easy to love. He was just so… good. I often second guessed if I even deserved him. As I aged, as I saw him interact with our children, care for strangers, give and help so much; I knew there wasn’t a person on the planet good enough to be his equal. I certainly didn’t deserve the place at his side. As a best friend, lover, sure. But his equal? I wasn’t that conceited.

“Our children are the very best of us,” Esme agreed. “Each of my children have given me such a unique gift in this world. I know you worry about your daughters, about what they will become and who they will be, the power they may possess. But I know with all my heart that one day you’ll be standing with your daughter as I am, watching your grandchildren play, saying the same thing,” she said and I squeezed her hand in response. I could barely think about the next week, never mind the next few decades or grandchildren but I appreciated the image. The assurance and surety everything would be okay. I had never told Esme I worried for my children, but then any mother would know. She had raised so many children, worried and cared for so many grandchildren. She knew the feelings I had better than possibly anyone on the planet. She was the epitome of motherhood.

“Papa,” Eden’s voice called out softly. She had run off back to her and Nova’s favourite tree, but she stopped still at the sight of something. Micah was immediately at his daughters’ side. I couldn’t see what was buried in the snow, but I could see his face. It softened and he smiled, reaching forward to pick what ever it was up. He looked over to me.

“Ivy,” he said barely above a whisper. I frowned at his softness but made my way to his side anyway. My feet were bare, but I ignored the cold as I walked towards him.

I knew the expression on his face well. It was the way he looked when he found life, found a living creature in need of help. It didn’t matter to him whether it was a bird, an insect or a person. Life was all the same to Micah. It was precious to him. And to see something in pain hurt him. This was part of who he was, being so good surrounded by so much bad. Other peoples pain hurt him. Sometimes being as selfless as he was, could be too much for him to handle.

“Is it hurt?” Nova asked trying to jump up to see what was in her father’s hands.

“He is, badly hurt,” he informed our child, his eyes never leaving my face. I could see the hurt on him, he couldn’t feel the pain directly, not in the same way his brother Jasper could, but he saw it. He could feel pain through his sight. Something I learnt I couldn’t begin to understand. He saw more than I could ever imagine.

“What are the waves papa?” Nova asked.

“Waves?” I asked my daughter.

“The dark blue,” Nova said reaching up to touch the air around her father’s hands. Micah watched his daughter with awe, then turned to look at his father suddenly. “They’re like me?” he asked. Carlisle was over by us in a flash reaching down to his granddaughter.

“Is it only around the bird that you see the waves Nova?” He asked her. She frowned at his question.

“Sometimes I see them on people but not all the time,” she said looking to me and Micah. She was wondering if she was in trouble.

“You’re not in trouble little one,” Micah said. He knew our daughter as well as I did. He turned to look at Eden who was standing quietly, off to the side. “Do you see anything Eden?” He asked her. She just shook her head. Lifting her finger to her mouth to rest on her teeth nervously.

Esme appeared behind her granddaughter. Wrapping her arms around Eden’s shoulders to comfort her.

“Ivy,” Micah said turning back to me, eying the bird in his hands. It was breathing but its wing was broken. I reached out and closed my eyes to rest two fingers over the broken wing. It didn’t try to move. It was too weak. I concentrated on the feeling of its anatomy. I had mended very many wings of birds Micah had found and brought to me.

It was the first animal he ever asked me to save. I had taught him as a child how to drink without hurting an animal, without killing it and on that same hunt he had found a wounded hummingbird. He couldn’t bare to see the pain, even as a young child. We weren’t close friends back then; we only saw each other occasionally growing up as young children but I had witnessed his pain and it seared him onto my heart without me even realising. He had been physically older than me and yet I felt like I was the one that needed to protect him. It would take me longer back then, to use my ability to heal but as time passed it got easier. To the point where I could save humans too.

I felt a flutter under my fingers and opened my eyes to see Micah smiling widely at the sight of the bird. It adjusted itself to stand in Micah’s hand. Pausing a moment before flapping and flying away. He grinned widely after the bird as it flew into the trees. I couldn’t help but stare at his happy face. Anything to do with life made him happy. It was infectious. My love for life didn’t extend as much as Micah’s. In fact, I enjoyed repairing people, but I wouldn’t ever go out of my way to save an animal. In fact, I’d probably put it out of its misery and have a drink instead. Micah wasn’t like that though; I wasn’t as connected to life as he was. He would have been a better fit for my sister Anelie, if they weren’t born centuries apart and an imprint wasn’t involved. I might not have cared for the bird, but I knew he did. Any and all life was precious to him. And I did anything for this man. He didn’t even have to ask. I knew he couldn’t fathom the idea that the bird was in pain, so I helped it, without question. As we grew closer and became friends, he would often ask me for favours like that but over the years I’d learnt to know his wants without any words. I was proud to say he was gradually making me a better person.

I smiled at his reaction to the bird being healed and his eyes suddenly landed on mine, his smile growing wider.

“I love you,” he mouthed to me, and I chuckled.

“Little delights?” I asked him with a smirk. I was amused that he had professed his gratitude with a declaration of love.

“You saved a creature from certain death. That is no little delight, my love,” my heart stammered at him saying ‘my love’. It was extremely rare for him to call me that, and even rarer for him to say it in front of others.

“Mama, did you save the birdie?” Nova asked coming over to me.

“I did,” I smiled down at her.

“I wish I could do that,” she mused looking up at the tree the bird flew off too.

“I think you’re more like your papa than me sweetheart.” I smiled at her curious face. If Nova could see even a small amount of what Micah could see, now at 5 years old. I knew in the next few years that would grow into more.

“Time will tell,” Carlisle agreed and turned to look at Eden still being held by Esme.

“Let’s continue to enjoy the snow. Mama needs some shoes on,” I held my hand out for Nova and she laughed at my bare feet.

“Are you cold mama?” She asked me childlike, she seemed to have forgotten about what she had seen.

“Very. As cold as a snow man,” I told her, and she laughed again. I was sure that laughter was the best sound in the world, and I knew every adult in the garden with me would agree.

I would never forget that day, not just because it was the first incline of my daughters abilities but because it had felt so pure and normal. We were just a little family enjoying the snow as many more across the country would be doing too. We weren't Cullens or vampires or heirs or leaders to anything. We were just us; enjoying the worlds little delights.