The Last Snow: A Mother's Love

Bella’s POV
October 15th ~

“Bella, open the door!”

The constant banging on my door woke me up.

“What the hell?” I grumbled, hopping out of bed and unlocking my door.

“Good Morning! I’m sorry to get you up so early, but we got Bianca in for a doctor’s appointment today.” Gaia told me.

“Woah, what?” I groaned, still hazed over by my deep sleep.

“You know, a doctor, someone who helps you when you’re sick.” Gaia replied.

“No, I know that. Why are you taking her to one though, you’re not her mom.” I said, now sitting up.

“Yes, that’s absolutely true. However, her mother kind of is tied up in this whole kidnapped situation, and everyone thinks she’s dead or locked up in some creepy guys basement.” Gaia pointed out.

Oh yeah….there was that.

“True, true.” I agreed, getting up and taking Bianca from Gaia.

The three of us walked down to the kitchen and I instantly strapped Bianca into her high chair with a few toys on the tray to keep her happy and preoccupied.

“Hey, where’s Kylie?” I wondered, starting a pot of coffee.

Right on cue Kylie suddenly came barging through the front door, a giant grin on her face.

Oh no...that couldn’t be good.

“Good Morning!” She squealed in happiness, wrapping her arms around me very tightly.

“Oh geez...what’s in the box?” I groaned, noticing that she had a small little silver box sitting on the table with a precious little bow on top.

“It’s a little gift for you.” She smiled, handing it over to me.

“A gift, for what? If anything it’s you should be getting a gift.” I replied.

“Are you kidding me, you don’t know what day it is?” Kylie gasped, her jaw dropping.

“Um….I think it’s a Monday..” I said, nervously guessing.

“No, no, no, no, no! It’s your birthday!” She cheered.

“Happy Birthday!” Gaia chimed in.

“Oh no, there is no way. It...it can’t be.” I stuttered.

“Better believe it Bells, it’s October 15th!” Kylie giggled, running over and giving me a giant hug.

“Oh my gosh.” I sighed, not really believing how much time had already passed.

There was no way it could be October, let alone half way through it!

“I know, time flies when you’re free.” Gaia chuckled.

“Uh, uh, uh, no bringing that up on her birthday. And you...go ahead and open this!” Kylie tsked Gaia and I.

“You seriously didn’t need to get me anything.” I told her.

“If it makes you feel better it’s actually from Bianca too, so you can’t be mad.” She said.

“Ok, ok.” I agreed, finally getting to the task of opening my little gift.

I slipped the bow off of the box and popped the lid off.

Inside there was a sparkle of silver hidden under a thin layer of tissue paper.

The second I pulled the paper off, my heart stopped when I saw what was in the box.

It was absolutely gorgeous.

“Thank you, thank you so much!” I cried, running over to her and giving her a huge hug.

“Do you like it?” She asked me.

“I love it, it’s perfect.” I cooed.

“Go on, put it on!” Gaia excitedly shouted.

I grabbed the necklace and quickly placed it around my neck.

It was a gorgeous thin chain necklace with a heart at the bottom, but not just any regular old heart.

On the left side of the heart it was actually the shape of a mother holding her child, and the right side was still the shape of a heart, but encrusted in diamonds which was actually Bianca’s birthstone.

It was perfect.

Simply perfect.

“Look at this, little one, it’s you and mama.” I said, bending over her high chair so that she could see it.

Her lips instantly curled up in an adorable smile as she reached for it and let out a happy and very high pitched squeal.

“Yeah, you did such a good job on helping Kylie pick out the perfect gift for mama.” I told her.

That only elicited an even high pitch squeal of approval.

My heart melted seeing her like this, so happy and carefree.

It was my job as her mother to protect her from everything bad, anything that would harm her, scare her, or hell even worry her.

I would always be there to scare away the monsters that dared to hurt her.

Whether that be the fictional ones hiding under her bed, or the all too real ones that had completely changed the course of my life.

I would keep that innocent smile on her face and keep worry far from her mind.

“I love you.” I whispered, gently running the back of my finger along her chubby little baby cheeks as I placed a kiss on her forehead.

“And thank you guys as well.” I added.

“Of course, we saw it and couldn’t resist. You deserve it.” Kylie replied.

“I hate to bust the mood, but we really need to get going to her appointment. We don’t want to be late, especially because we want her to get in to get checked all over as well as get her immunizations.” Gaia stated.

“She’s right, Bells. I’m sorry it just happened to fall on your birthday, but it would have been a whole month longer if we hadn’t scheduled the appointment for today.” Kylie told me.

“No worries, I get it. I’m thankful that you guys are willing to take her to those check ups.” I said.

“Anything for you two.” She smiled, gently grabbing Bianca out of the high chair and into her arms.

“If you don’t mind getting her in the car, I’ll be right out.” Gaia told Kylie.

“Sounds good! We should be home pretty late tonight, just because the office is a few hours away for security measures.” Kylie said.

“That’s ok, just take good care of my munchkin.” I chuckled.

“Will do!” She yelled from the front door.

“I’ve also got a little present for you.” Gaia whispered.

“Oh goodness, you seriously shouldn’t have. The necklace is enough, you guys didn’t need to do anything above that.” I groaned, hating the feeling of knowing they could go out and buy stuff for me, but I couldn’t reciprocate it.

“Ah, ah, ah, it’s ok, I promise. These are for you.” Gaia said, dropping a set of car keys in my hand.

“I’ve overheard you talk to Kylie about your love for tattoos, and how having them makes you feel empowered because you are marking your body as your own. So….I did my research and found a tattoo artist about 25 miles from here. I called him and got you an appointment for today. I’ve already prepaid a sum of money and he agreed to help you get whatever you’d like.” She explained to me.

As soon as she told me that, tears instantly ran down my face.

I couldn’t begin to understand what I had done to deserve someone so kind.

Not just for giving me this gift, but for taking me in when there was literally no where else for me to run. I knew there was risk in this for her and Kylie as well.

There’s not words on this planet to explain my gratitude to them.

“Thank you so much.” I whispered.

“You’re welcome, Bella.” She happily stated, coming in for a hug.

“I should let you guys go. Have a safe drive, and I’ll see you guys later tonight, just text me when you’re here.” I said.

“Sounds good! Have fun, oh and the directions are already programmed into the GPS in the car. When you get there, just tell them Gaia sent you.” She told me.

“Alrighty, and thank you guys a million times over, it really means a lot.” I thanked her again.

“Happy Birthday.” She whispered, pulling me into a quick hug.

With that, she took off to get in Kylie’s car and I was left alone in the house.

I absolutely planned on going to the tattoo artist Gaia told me about, I first just had to get ready.

I didn’t know how much this man knew about me, did he know who I really was? Or was he under the impression that I was someone different?

I couldn’t risk anything, I knew I had to hide some of my give away traits.

That meant brown eye contacts to cover my blue eyes, my hair down to show my dyed hair that was now only down to my collar bone.

It might not seem like that much, but matched with the almost 2 years that have now passed since I first went missing from the public, the structure of my face and body have also changed in that time.

It was enough.

I slipped on some decent clothes, and finally got into the car.

Pulling out the GPS I started up the car and quickly made my way to the shop.

This wasn’t how I expected my day to go, but at this point I’ve learned to go with the flow.

A short 30 minutes later I found myself in front of a red brick storefront that stretched about half of a block long.

All of the windows were tinted, but I could still see some dim lights on inside.

However, there was a closed sign right on the front door.

What the hell?

Was I at the wrong shop?

Did Gaia get the day wrong, did the guy get it wrong?

There was only one way to tell.

I shut off my car and made my way up to the front door. I gently knocked and waited for someone to hopefully come to the door. Thankfully, as soon as I knocked I saw a tall male figure start walking from the back of the building up to the door.

He opened up the door and smiled down at me.

“Hello.” I whispered, my nerves a little on edge.

“No need to be shy dear, a friend of Gaia and Kylie is a friend of mine. My name’s Isaac.” He introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Bella. I guess you already knew that though.” I chuckled.

“I know that much, really nothing else. They were kind of weird on telling me next to nothing about you.” Isaac said.

“I’m kind of a boring person.” I giggled.

That wasn’t necessarily a lie. I was pretty boring, it was just that crazy shit tended to happen to me.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there’s no boring people. Everyone has something about them that makes them special and unique.” He told me, shutting and locking the door behind us.

“Goodness, where are my manners? Come on in to my studio and get yourself settled!” He said.

“You’re perfectly fine, and just in advance I want to thank you. I’m sure you have more important people to deal with than myself.” I replied.

“Not really, to be honest with you lately I’ve just been getting a lot of unimaginative customers who want the same 3 designs on them. When Gaia told me that you had a passion for tattoos, especially ones that have meaning, I got very excited. I like creating art that matters.” He told me.

“And I love having art that matters.” I said, following him back to a fair sized office room with a large black leather tattoo parlor chair in it.

“Awesome. So, do you have any ideas as to what you want? Or should we brainstorm something great up together?” He asked me.

“Honestly, I just found out about this like an hour ago. I’ve always thought about different pieces that I might like to get, but nothing’s for sure.” I explained.

“That’s ok. What kinds of things mean a lot to you, as well as what things do you enjoy?” He wondered.

I turned to him and told him exactly what meant a lot to me, Bianca. I told him how she was the light of my life and I would honestly kill for her. There was no question that I had to get something that would remind me of her.

I spilled my passion for more silly things as well, such as Disney movies (mainly Alice in Wonderland) , anything Tim Burton, and of course anything that resembled my own personal freedom.

There was a light of excitement in his eyes and I opened myself up to him and spilled about all of the things that truly made me happy. Boy, was I ever glad that he was excited as I was, as it resulted in 3 beautiful tattoo designs he drew up for me.

The first was set to be placed on my left shoulder, and it was a quote from Alice and Wonderland. It read ‘ It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.’ THe quote was surrounded my a square frame of mainly roses, but in the bottom left hand corner there was the white rabbit’s pocket watch.

My second piece was going to be the smallest, yet most meaningful.

It was going to be Bianca’s name on my right wrist, but wrapped into an infinity symbol, to show my love for her was forever, no matter how the future might end up.

Lastly on my left thigh Isaac drew up a beautiful and ornate bird cage with a diamond in the middle of it.

The diamond was his idea to resemble me. They were strong, they could endure lots of pain and damage, and yet no matter how much life threw at them people would still respect them, and realize they were worth something.

That meant a lot to me, lord knows within these last two years there’s been plenty of times where I felt worse than the dirt. If they could use me how they did, why would anybody else see me any differently?

This would help me start to regain my grip on what my worth truly is.

“You ready?” He cheered.

“Yes!” I exclaimed back, excited.

I heard the hum of the needle start up, and I knew there was no turning back.

That was ok though, I needed this.

Having the decision as to what was going on my body and being done to it was a huge boost of confidence for me, and of course the importance of having something relating to Bianca on me was so incredibly special to me.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her now, about how much I love her. I felt so guilty about bringing her into this world, let alone the crazy mess I myself was in. I just wish there was a way to be assured that no matter what the future and the guys were going to throw at me, I could trust that Bella would be in good hands and care.

I let out a chuckle as I realized that that’s the only true birthday gift I’ve ever really wanted.

Sitting in silence, I let Isaac concentrate on his work. He wasn’t one for small talk, but let’s be honest, I wasn’t sure how much he knew about our situation, and I didn’t need to let anything accidently slip.

So silence was alright with me.

……..

“Ta da!” He yelled, a total of 9 hours later.

“Oh my gosh, they’re ready?” I squealed.

“Yes, ma’am. Come take a look.” He whispered, helping me up in front of the mirror.

My jaw just about hit the ground as I saw the 3 new beautiful pieces of artwork gracing my skin.

“They’re perfect.” I cried, running over to give him a tight embrace.

“Oh good. I’m so glad you love them! You deserve them, you’re a good kid.” He chuckled, hugging me back.

Just as I was about to respond to him, my phone started buzzing.

“Shoot, I’m sorry.” I apologized, taking my phone out and seeing who was calling.

The instant I saw the number on my screen, I started to panic.

“Um….I have to go. Thank you again so much for everything, it means the world to me.” I stated.

“Of course, and if you ever want some more artwork...you know where to find me.” He chuckled.

“Absolutely!” I told him.

We said our last and quick goodbyes, and I promptly made my way to the car.

I had to glance back down at my phone one more time to make sure it really was who I thought it was. Sure enough, Tyler was now calling for a second time.

Wait a second….maybe that birthday wish could come true.

If there was anyone in this world that could guarantee Bianca’s safety, it was them!

“No Bella, are you stupid? If you answer they’ll know you’re weak. You can protect your daughter yourself.” I whispered to myself.

Setting my phone to silent I tossed it into the passenger's seat and made my way back down the highway to the house.

My heart sank when I realized they still weren't back with Bianca yet, I guess the drive must be taking a bit longer than they had anticipated.

As I walked in I threw my phone into one of the kitchen drawers to help me from being enticed to finally answer Tyler’s calls.

My heart and brain battled each other for what felt like forever, just trying to figure out what to do.

Did I not answer and leave my daughter’s well being up to chance?

Or do I answer and look weak?

Neither was a great option, but my love for my daughter overwhelmed me.

I reluctantly grabbed my phone and pressed the redial button.

Here goes nothing

……
‘Knock, knock, knock’

“Bella?” I heard someone whisper.

My eyes opened up and I jolted up.

What the hell had happened? How had I gotten to my bed? What was going on?

“Hey, hey, relax.” Kylie whispered, entering my room and sitting next to me.

She put her arm around my shoulder and gave me a tight hug.

“Sorry, I’m just a little dazed. I got back from the the tattoo parlor late, and then I made myself a few birthday drinks, so I guess I might have just had too much to drink.” I explained.

I waited for a response, but didn’t get one.

I looked up at her and saw pure confusion flashing across her face.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” She asked me.

“Last night, remember..,Gaia told me that she had hooked me up with a tattoo artist for my birthday, and I went and did that when you and Gaia took Bianca to the doctor’s.” I said.

“Bella, come here.” she groaned, grabbing my arm and practically dragging me in front of my full body mirror.

“Where do you see a tattoo that you just got?” She asked me.

“Right here.” I said, looking over at my left shoulder.

Oh shit.

“Wait….what the fuck? Where...where are they?” I cried out.

“I don’t know what you think happened sweetheart, but you never went anywhere yesterday. You’re right about it being your birthday, but you were out of it like I’ve never seen before. You just shut down, you cried and screamed and shook, it was like watching someone have a day long extreme panic attack.” She explained.

“Oh great, I’m losing my mind now.” I groaned, putting my head in my hands.

“Shhh. Don’t blame yourself, in case you’ve forgotten you kind of have a lot of stuff going on in your life. We all have bad days...and getting that phone call wasn’t about to help you out.” Kylie stated.

“Phone call? Who got a phone call?” I wondered.

“You did. Tyler called. You don’t remember that?” She asked.

“I do and don’t. I remember thinking that he called me twice, and then right as you woke me up I had gone to call him back.” I admitted.

“You’re quite the vivid dreamer. It’s ok though, we’re all entitled to our yearly mental breakdown. “ She attempted to comfort me.

“Thanks.” I grumbled.

“Where are you going?” She wondered as I hopped up from the bed.

“I think I need some fresh air for a bit. I’m going to go for a jog in the woods, I just need to clear some stuff up in my head.” I sort of told her the truth.

“Ok, be safe.” She called to me as I was already out of my room.

I had snatched my phone from the table and headed out to where I knew I was safe to make a call.

Thankfully Gaia wasn’t up yet so I didn’t have to face her wrath of questions as well.

20 minute later and I was peacefully surrounded by nature.

Now to disrupt the peace.

I pulled out my phone and gazed through a list of recent calls. There they were- 2 phone calls from Tyler.

One was exactly at midnight to start the 15th and there was a second one 10 hours later.

I shook my head, just perplexed at what a weird day yesterday apparently was.

Here goes nothing, I thought as I hit the redial button and said a quick prayer.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tyler Burgess’ POV -

“Someone brought the list of what we need, right?” Chris asked as he pulled onto the highway.

“Nope, you said you got it.” Ronnie laughed.

“Oh fuck.” Chris sighed, slamming his head back against the headrest.

“It’s ok, I’m sure between the 6 of us we can remember at least half of the shit.” I joked.

The 6 of us being Chris, Kuza, Ronnie, Danny, James, and I.

Just as I foresaw a snarky comment coming my way, it was cut off by my phone suddenly buzzing.

“Who the hell is calling you?” Kuza asked.

“That’s what I’m checking, dick.” I snapped back.

Oh shit.

“Oh, damn.” James exclaimed, peeking at my phone and seeing Bella’s number pop up on my screen.

“Bella’s calling?” Chris asked.

“Yup.” I softly said.

“Well shit, answer it.” Danny prodded me.

“Put it on speaker.” Chris chimed in.

“Yeah, yeah, I will.” I said, trying to answer the call before it dropped.

I instantly put it on speaker as well.

“Hello?”

I heard a great big sigh of relief coming from her end of the line.

A grin popped onto my face, just hearing her voice put me in a good mood. I guess everyone was right, I’m a little nuts for this girl.

“Hey Tyler, it’s Bella….um...can you talk?” She whispered.

“Absolutely!” I exclaimed.

“Do you need or want anything in particular?” I asked her.

“Actually….yes. I need to ask you for a birthday gift.” She said boldly.

“Tell her I’ll beat her ass for a present.” Danny whispered with a chuckle.

I put a finger to my lips, turned around to face him and gave him the best possible death glare I could conjure up.

“What would that be, dear?” I asked.

“I need you to promise me that no matter what happens in the future...Bianca will stay safe. I’m not stupid or naive, I know Chris and the others aren’t going to let me keep living this way forever, I’m sure there’s already an end date in sight, but I could give a shit about myself. IT’s her that needs to be protected, and I just need to hear you or hell, anybody promise me that she’s going to be ok. Knowing that, I could actually breathe.” She explained.

“Bella, Bella, of course we would only ever leave Bianca in the best care. That was never up for question. You can trust me personally to take care of that.” I promised her.

“Thank you. I just needed to hear that. It’ll give my mind some peace and quiet, so thank you again.” She cooed.

I could hear something else in the tone of her voice though that she wasn’t sharing with me.

Normally her voice was a tad bit higher, happier if you will.

There wasn’t happiness evident in her voice, just a tight underlying sadness.

“Hey Bella, what else is on your mind? You sound like you’re trying to hide something from me.” I interrogated her.

“Nothing, it’s stupid.” She muttered.

“Press harder.” Kuza whispered.

I rolled my eyes, as of he knew how to get more out of Bella than I did.

“Woah, woah, woah. Don’t think I don’t know you well Ms. Noel. All of those questions before bed, I’m a proclaimed Bella expert, and all of the signs currently tell me that you’re super upset, so bite the bullet and tell me what’s on your mind.” I encouraged her.

“You. It’s you that I need.” She softly said, her voice breaking halfway through the sentence.

“Oh sweetheart, please don’t get upset and cry. It’s ok. Everything’s ok.” I hushed her.

That’s when she broke down and just sobbed into the phone.

It shattered my heart into a million pieces to have to sit here and listen to her go through so much mental and emotional pain. I couldn’t do anything for her. None of us could. They all knew to an extent that Bella was always hurting on the inside, Now for once, the rest of them could see and feel Bella’s pain on a level that I deal with a lot.

That got them to shut up pretty fast.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even called. This was a fucking stupid idea.” She cried.

“Bella, shh, it’s ok, I promise.” I attempted to soothe her.

“No, just forget I said anything. Forget me, forget what I just said….forget everything.” She grumbled.

“Don’t hang up Bells, keep talking to,,,” I started to say, but got cut off by the violent sound of her phone hitting a very solid surface.

Static came through the line, and then nothing.

“Poor thing sounds fucking tormented.” Chris stated.

“She is, and it’s all because of us.” I sighed.

The truth of that cut deeper than any knife I could ever imagine.

Notes

Alright one more chapter up, plenty more to come!

However, in about a week there may be up to a two-week delay in updating chapters as I am getting surgery on my wrist and am not sure I'm willing to take a risk and type just to possibly undo anything the doctor will fix.

So that means I'll try and at least get one more if not 2 more chapters up by the 1st so you guys will have something to read during that little break.


I have a quick question that has got me curious though in relation to this "series", what was it that made you first decide to give these books a read? I'm truly curious and would love to find out!

Thanks again to anyone out there who's reading this and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday.

~BlackVeilsinWhite