Chapter 16: Whisper

(Song: E.S. Posthumus - Vorrina Pi)

Charlie Swan shocked the hell out of both his family and the Black family when he suggested that they should all rent a cabin together in the North Cascade Mountains for the Christmas holidays, instead of staying home in Seattle. So for the week leading up to Christmas day plus a couple of days after it, the entire Black-Swan family drove from Seattle to Winthrop, Washington to stay in a four bedroom, two story cabin adjacent to the Sun Mountain Lodge Ski Resort.

The inside of the cabin was paneled wood with stone accents like a gas fireplace, plus three bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs. One of the upstairs bedrooms was actually a loft area that was open with a view of the living room downstairs, but there was a sectional couch that could be made into two twin-sized beds. The other two upstairs bedrooms had doors for privacy, but only one of them had a bathroom to itself. The second upstairs bedroom and the loft area had to share a common bathroom that was upstairs right next to the stairs.

The bedroom downstairs had to share its bathroom with the downstairs area which included a full-sized kitchen, dining room and living room. All bedrooms had full-sized beds except the upstairs master which was king-sized. Billy and Sarah took the bedroom downstairs, letting Charlie and Renee have the master while Bella got the other bedroom with the door. Jacob would be sleeping in the loft area because even though Charlie was finally okay with him dating Bella, he was still not okay with the idea of them sleeping together under the same roof as him.

Since they were going to celebrate Christmas there, they had requested a Christmas tree for the cabin. Upon arriving there, they found the tree already set up in front of the large picture window in the living room. The furniture had been rearranged so that there was a great view of both the tree and the fireplace that was built into the adjacent wall. There were only a few decorations on the tree, which was fine since both Sarah and Renee had packed their own decorations as well as all of the ingredients they were going to use when making the Christmas dinner.

The first things they all did was unpack the cars, put their suitcases in their rooms, then put all the kitchen stuff away as well as placing the presents and Christmas decorations near the tree for later. They had arrived in the afternoon, so they just made sure all of the perishable food was put away before they relaxed for a bit in their rooms.

It wasn’t until after they had rested, then gone to have dinner in the dining room at the Lodge, before they returned to the cabin to spend the evening decorating the tree and most of the living room as well as the dining room. While the cabin had a large front porch with a seating area, the only thing Sarah and Renee put outside was a wreath on the door and a welcome mat with snowmen on it. Other than that, the tree was very visible through the large picture window.

Once they were done decorating, all six of them spent the evening in front of the fire sipping on hot chocolate, talking about the things they wanted to do while there as well as anything else they fancied. They knew they would have lots of time to relax since there were no phones, televisions or internet services in the cabin which meant there would be no talk of work for the entire holiday.

That first night they all went to bed early, the excitement and the long day of traveling and unpacking having finally caught up with them. Even Jacob didn’t seem to be too upset about going to the loft without Bella despite the fact that he had grumbled about their sleeping arrangements when they had first arrived there.

Over the next several days leading up to Christmas Eve, the families took advantage of all of the activities that the resort offered, sometimes as a whole group or sometimes in smaller groups. There were days they spent skiing down Little Buck Mountain at the Loup Loup Ski Bowl, then took breaks in the lounge to either relax or grab a bite to eat.

Other days, they ventured into the Western themed town of Winthrop to do a bit of shopping together. A few other things they usually did as a whole family were dinners in the cabin where Sarah, Bella and even Renee cooked the meals, then Billy, Jacob and Charlie would do the cleaning up afterwards. If they didn’t have dinner in the cabin, they would go to the dining room in the Lodge, or go to the Wolf Creek Bar and Grill which was also situated on the Lodge resort grounds. Some evenings were spent in front of the fireplace playing board games or other such activities together, or they would venture to the activity center at the Lodge to participate in the various games or other evening activities that went on there.

When they decided to each do their own thing, Jacob would take advantage of the exercise room at the Lodge resort while Bella enjoyed the library they had there. Sarah would spend time sitting out on the porch with some hot chocolate and her knitting, while Billy spent time in the Lodge’s activity center playing cards with whatever group he could find. Renee would spend more time shopping on her own while Charlie took advantage of the wireless internet in the Lodge’s library.

Of course, when they broke up into smaller groups, they found things to do also. For example, even though it was winter with heavy snow covering the ground, Charlie and Billy managed to find time to go fishing at the lakes and rivers in the area for a few days while Renee and Sarah usually went to the Lodge to indulge in some spa packages. Jacob and Bella went ice skating at the pond behind the Lodge or took sleigh rides around the resort.

Even when they broke up into couples, they actually found time to themselves in their cabin while everyone else was out and about. Sometimes Billy and Sarah had some time alone in the cabin or Charlie and Renee managed to get some time to themselves. Even Jacob and Bella were able to be alone at the cabin while their parents were out.

Of course, Jacob and Bella usually took advantage of their alone time to make love to each other even though Charlie had insisted that they have separate bedrooms. Bella was of the mind that what her father didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, so she and Jacob were always very careful to make sure Charlie didn’t walk in on them. They wanted to have that time together since they knew how limited their time together would be once they returned to their last semester of school and work.

Two days before Christmas Eve, there was a huge snow storm which dumped even more of the white powder than there already was on the ground. The following day, the Blacks and Swans spent their time out in the snow building snow men, having snowball fights and creating snow angels until the coming night with chilly air drove them back inside to warm up in front of the fire once more.

That night Billy and Sarah even broke out the marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers to make s’mores over the fireplace even though they knew it wouldn’t taste as good as it would if it was over an outdoor fire. Still, they enjoyed themselves as one big family, laughing and joking amongst themselves until sleep began to catch up with them.

Renee and Charlie were the first to go to bed, followed by Billy and Sarah, leaving Jacob and Bella curled up on the loveseat together. Bella was actually leaning back against Jacob’s side as she faced the fireplace with her legs draped over the arm of the loveseat. He had an arm around her waist while his legs were stretched out with his heels on the coffee table in front of him.

They sat that way in silence for a while, simply enjoying the quiet of the cabin. Every once in a while, Bella would run her fingers over Jacob’s forearm or Jacob would nuzzle the top of her head. Eventually, Jacob began to place a random kiss on her head, her temple or her cheek until the kisses became more plentiful. Soon he was making a trail of kisses from her temple down to her neck until Bella tilted her head back so that he could plant one on her lips.

When his lips brushed over hers, she buried a hand in his hair to keep him there so that she could deepen the kiss. Like wildfire, the kiss turned hungry and urgent, making Jacob pull her fully into his lap until their mouths seemed to be feeding off of each others.

Bella turned her body slightly so that she could press her chest against Jacob’s while wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He groaned into her mouth before trying to maneuver her body so that she could straddle him. However, before he could succeed, Bella pulled away from him, taking huge gulps of air as she tried to speak.

“Jake, we can’t. Dad’s…”

He leaned down to give her lips a quick kiss before he whispered huskily. “I know. How ‘bout we go change into our swimsuits and go to the hot tubs?”

Bella arched an eyebrow. “Right now?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it won’t be busy at this time of night and I’m not ready to go to bed. Are you?”

She bit her lip as she thought about it. She wasn’t ready to go to bed either, but she wasn’t sure about making the trip to the Lodge where the hot tubs were located.

Jake sighed as he nudged her cheek with his nose. “C’mon Bells,” he whispered, his hot breath against her neck sending chills down Bella’s back. “It’ll help us relax more and give us some more time to be together.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as he nipped at her earlobe, then kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear. She swallowed as she finally nodded. “Okay.”

He smiled at her before helping her to her feet, then took her hand and led her quietly upstairs. They parted just long enough to change into their bathing suits with terrycloth robes over them. Then, with towels in hand, they met downstairs to quietly exit the cabin together.

Since the lodge was about a mile away, they took the Black’s SUV to the building that housed the hot tubs then went in search of one of the smaller tubs in the hopes that one of them would be unoccupied. When they found one, Jacob pulled Bella into the room, placed the occupied sign on the door, then shut and locked it so that no one else would invade their privacy.

Bella didn’t even wait for him to finish locking the door to take off her robe, setting it on a nearby table along with her towel. She stepped out of her sandals before sitting on the edge of the tub to wait for Jacob. She giggled as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her while he removed his own robe and shoes, then joined her at the tub.

(Song: Lady Gaga - Christmas Tree)

Jacob slid into the tub, then turned to help Bella in. In no time at all they were settled in the tub, enjoying the heat and bubbles that frothed around them. For a while, they talked about the Christmas Eve dinner they were going to make for their parents the following evening since their mothers were going to make the Christmas dinner the next day. From there, they moved on to trying to guess what each got the other as presents, until Jacob tried to tease his gift out of her through a combination of tickling and kisses.

Just like everything with them, things naturally moved from the light teasing to the more serious, heated make-out sessions they usually had. This time, Bella did make it onto Jacob’s lap, straddling him as he reclined back against the side of the tub. Her fingers were buried in his hair since she always loved the feel of it against her skin while her mouth mated with his.

His tongue swept into her mouth, sliding against hers in such a way as to make her feel weak. She felt as if she was floating away with the whirling water as his hands moved from her hips to her back to undo her bikini top. He let it float off of her as his hands moved back around to palm both of her now sensitized breasts. Her nipples were tight buds against his work-roughened hands, but when he brushed his nails against them, she let out a gasp as her thighs suddenly gripped his own in a vise-like grip.

Jacob’s mouth moved to suck the pulse on her neck as Bella’s hands roamed down his flexing biceps, until suddenly her fingers were pushing beneath his swim trunks. When her fingers curled around his growing arousal, his hands reflexively squeezed her breasts as he growled against her neck. Bella didn’t let that stop her from stroking the length of him until he was hard and thick in her hand. By that time, he had given up sucking on her neck, throwing his head back against the rim of the tub again.

Bella lifted off of him long enough to tug his trunks down, grinning when Jacob managed to lift his hips to give her some room. As soon as he was sitting down again, Bella took him back into her grasp with one hand while she used her other hand to push her bikini bottom to the side. As she lowered herself, she guided him into her body, eliciting pleasurable moans from both of them.

As soon as she could feel him deep inside of her, she began a slow ride on his lap. First gyrating her hips in small circles to get used to his girth before she began using her leg muscles to lift her body up. She would only lift enough so that the tip of him was barely inside of her before she sank down again. Keeping a steady tempo, she continued to lift her body over his, thus teasing both of them with the easy rhythm.

Before long Jacob was biting his lip, trying hard not to rush her but soon gave up when the torture became to much for him. Leaning forward, he captured one of her creamy wet mounds in his mouth where he began to lap at the water with his tongue. It wasn’t until he sucked the tip a little harder than usual that a moan escaped her as her hands griped his head.

Holding him to her chest, Bella picked up the pace, every pull of his mouth making her hips jerk against his. When her movements became too jerky, Jacob stopped teasing her breasts so that he could lean back slightly while his hands rested on her hips. Using his hands to guide her, he began thrusting his own hips up towards hers as his hands pulled her down onto him.

The feel of his thickness pounding deep inside of her, as well as the undulating waves of water against her skin, made her grab hold of his shoulders for dear life. Throwing her head back, she bit her own lip to keep from screaming out loud, not wanting to let the other hot tub occupants in the building know what was going on.

Jacob didn’t back down from his plundering of her body, only increasing both the tempo and the strength of his thrusts until her body finally reached the point of no return. Just like the water that gushed over the side of the hot tub, so too did her passion spill out of her as her walls clamped down on his throbbing shaft.

She managed to stay quiet through her climax, sacrificing her now bloody lip to do so. The awareness of said blood finally came when she felt Jacob shudder against her body even as he moaned into her chest. Apparently he was also trying his best to keep the volume to a minimum.

Bella couldn’t help but smile as she wrapped her arms around his head and shoulders, holding him to her while they basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking. The heated water continued to swirl and bubble around them, effectively washing away all evidence of their tryst.

Jacob smiled against his girlfriend’s skin as he heard her soft chuckle as well as her whispered words. “Someday, I want to buy my very own hot tub so I can have more Christmases just like this one.”

*************************************************

(Song: Enya- We Wish You a Merry Christmas)

Despite the heavy blanket of snow that still covered the ground, Christmas Day dawned bright and clear. Sure, there was a distinct chill in the air, but the Black/Swan cabin was toasty due to the heavy cooking and baking going on in the kitchen.

Sarah and Renee had gotten up earlier than everyone else to begin preparing the Christmas meal, but Bella wasn’t far behind since she wanted to learn her own traditions for when it was her turn to one day host her family. Since there was a small radio in the living room, Bella took her Ipod full of Christmas music and plugged it into the radio so that the music could softly float throughout the cabin. In the end, the three woman bustled around the kitchen while the men took their time waking up, then bundled up enough to make the trip up to the Lodge to watch some games on the televisions in the bar.

By mid-afternoon the meal was done, prompting Sarah to send Bella up to the Lodge to retrieve the wayward men. They all groused and complained good-naturedly as Bella dragged them back to the cabin, but became all smiles when Sarah and Renee greeted them at the door with cups of hot cocoa and sugar cookies.

As soon as everyone had put away their coats, scarves and other cold-weather coverings, the entire Black/Swan family sat down to finally enjoy a very fulfilling Christmas dinner. While platters, baskets and various other food containers were passed around, lively conversation filled the air along with the delicious scents of the food.

Even though everyone was hungry, no one dove in until Billy and Charlie said a blessing over the food. Once that was done, the light conversation resumed as they all began to enjoy the spread that the women had prepared while Christmas music continued to provide a background to their chatter.

They took their time eating, knowing that not only did they have the main course to get through, but also the desserts that were chilling in the refrigerator. Still, over an hour later there was plenty of leftovers which were neatly contained and placed in either the refrigerator or oven where they would sit until someone was hungry again.

Once the dinner area had been cleaned up and everything put away, the family moved to the living room where they got settled comfortably. Bella turned down the music a bit so that it was only barely there as Jacob got settled on the floor by the tree. He and Bella had been chosen to pass out the gifts this year, so they got right to it once everyone was ready.

In no time at all, all of the gifts had been passed out which meant everyone could now open them. Bella and Jacob remained on the floor as they began to open their gifts. Jacob, like his father, tore into his gifts like there was no tomorrow. Renee and Charlie were a bit more composed, but they were not as meticulous as Sarah and Bella who opened their gifts carefully then folded the wrapping paper and ribbons into a neat pile.

Soon a chorus of oohs and aahs filled the room as everyone showed off their gifts while thanking the person who gave it to them. Needless to say, everyone got what they wanted that year, from new fishing equipment to new kitchen supplies, as well as some coveted electronic devices or jewelry.

The family remained in the living room for a few hours enjoying the laughter and closeness of being with each other. It wasn’t until later that night when Jacob led Bella upstairs to the loft area where they could be alone for a while. He had a second gift to give her which he didn’t want to do in front of the others.

As Bella got settled on the couch, Jacob retrieved the box from one of the drawers in the room. Sitting next to her, he took her hand and smiled.

“I know I gave you that leather bound notebook you’ve been wanting, but there is something else I wanted to give you.”

“Oh, Jake! You really didn’t have to! You know I wanted that!”

He chuckled. “I know you did, but this one’s a surprise and I just wanted to give it to you since you love them so much.”

He set the flat medium-sized jewelry box in her hand as he whispered. “It reminds me of you so much.”

Bella’s eyes went wide as she opened the box, then she gasped as she saw what the gift was.

Inside was a hand-carved grey whale attached to one of the finest thin silver chains she had ever seen. As she took the little whale into her hand, she couldn’t get over just how detailed it really was. It was even somehow tinted in a color similar to the grey whales she knew frequented the waters of the Pacific Northwest waters.

“Wow! Jacob! It’s so beautiful! And so life-like!” she gushed.

He gave her a shy smile. “Really? You really like it?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed, so glad that he knew of her love of the whales. “Where did you find such a great reproduction like this?”

She looked up to see a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “Um, actually, I made it myself.”

She stared at him in awe for a few moments before she threw her arms around him. Hugging him tight, she continued to gush.

“Oh my gosh! I love it! I love that you made this for me!”

Pulling away from him, she fingered the tiny charm once more. “Oh Jake, it’s so beautiful! Thank you so much!”

He reached out to take the chain as he said, “Want me to put it on you?”

She nodded excitedly before turning slightly as she lifted her hair so that he could drape it around her neck. He finished latching the clasp together, waiting until she turned around to get a good look at it on her.

As she looked down at it, he smiled. “It looks good on you.”

She beamed up at him. “Oh Jake! I love it! I love you!”

She leaned into him, pressing a kiss to his lips, sighing as he returned it.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Jacob looked into her gaze and whispered, “I love you too, Bells.”

********************************************

(Song: Evanescence - Whisper)

Billy parked the SUV in front of their house without looking at the man who stood uneasily in front of their door. Only Sarah glanced at the man before looking at her husband, while Jacob gathered up his duffel bag from the seat next to him. Once Billy shut the car off, making the locks disengage, Jacob was the first one out of the car.

Not waiting for his parents to get out of the car, Jacob walked up to the man while trying to keep a stoic look on his face.

“Riley,” he greeted with a nod.

Riley glanced from Jacob to Billy and back again before saying. “Forgive me for intruding, but it’s been a couple of days and I couldn’t wait much longer to come see you. I need help, you see.”

Billy smiled at his wife before saying, “Go on inside, honey, Jacob and I will get the luggage.”

Sarah nodded, knowing that whatever this was, it would be handled by the men. It was really not any of her business unless they said so.

As soon as she was gone, Billy looked back at Riley. “Just what is it that you need, son?”

Riley ran an agitated hand through his hair before blurting it out. “Vanessa skipped town with our daughter. No one knows where she is, not even her parents!”

Jacob and Billy exchanged frowns at the news. Both of them knew that two and a half months ago, Vanessa had given birth to a baby girl despite the fact that she had believed it would be a boy. The results that Jacob had given her the day he had left her, hadn’t informed them what the gender was but she had insisted it was a boy. Even when the doctor had finally informed Riley that it was going to be a girl, Vanessa was still in denial, claiming the tests were wrong just like she had always done before.

“I’ve tried looking every where for her, but she’s not even answering her phone and her apartment has been empty for a few days. Her parents have finally put out an APB on her, but I don’t think she’s even in the city anymore. I don’t know where else to look or what else to do.”

He took a deep breath before going on. “Please, I thought I could come here and ask you to help me find my daughter. I thought maybe you have other ways of finding her that the police haven’t thought of.”

Jacob sighed. He truly understood how Riley felt, but he really didn’t want anything else to do with Vanessa, she had already nearly ruined his life before. Getting involved with her again was not something he looked forward to especially if it had the potential to come between him and Bella.

Before he could say anything, his father spoke up. “You may be right Riley. I’m sure I can get my lawyers to figure out how to track your daughter down. Why don’t you give me an hour to get settled back into my house, then I’ll contact my lawyers and have them meet with us at my office. You remember where it is, right?”

At Riley’s nod, Billy continued. “Okay then. Meet me at my office in an hour and we’ll go from there.”

Riley let out a sigh of relief as he held out his hand to Billy. “Thank you so much Mr. Black, I really appreciate this.”

Billy shook Riley’s hand as he smiled at him. “It’s not a problem, son. I’d want to find her too if she was my daughter. And I did say we’d be here if you needed help for something involving her.”

“Okay, thanks again. I’ll see you at your office in an hour. I’ll bring all the information that I have collected since her disappearance.”

Billy nodded. “That’ll be good. See you in a bit.”

Jacob and Billy watched as Riley left the premises. Waiting until Riley was well out of sight, Jacob finally turned to his father.

“Dad, I…”

Billy held up a hand to stop him. “It’s okay Jacob. I know what you’re going to say. Truth is, I’ll handle this with the lawyers, okay? You don’t have to worry about getting involved with any of this.

You got that? The lawyers and I will help Riley take care of everything. All you have to focus on is work, school and Bella. I’m gonna keep Vanessa as far away from you as I can, understand?”

Jacob gave his father a grateful look. “Okay, I understand. Thanks dad.”

Billy squeezed his son’s shoulder. “You’re welcome, son. Now come on, let’s get unpacked so I can go take care of business.”

As the two of them went to unload the luggage from the back of the SUV, Billy glanced at Jacob.

“By the way, how’d she like the gift?”

Jacob couldn’t hide the beaming smile from his father. “She loved it.”

Billy chuckled, “I told you she would, didn’t I? You are really too hard on yourself sometimes.”

Shrugging, Jacob replied, “I just wanted to make sure it really looked like the whales she loves. She said it did. Best representation she’s ever seen, were her words exactly.”

Billy nodded. “I have to agree with her there. You really did a good job, son.”

“Thanks dad.”

As the two of them finished taking the luggage out of the SUV, Jacob let his mind wander back to the last few days that his family and Bella’s had spent up at the cabin for Christmas. All in all, it had been the best family holiday he had ever had before. Of course, a lot of it had to do with the fact that he had spent almost all of it at his girlfriend’s side, but he was truly glad Bella had liked the necklace he had given her.

In fact, the way she had personally thanked him the day after Christmas, when they had been all alone in the cabin, was definitely one of the highlights he would remember for years to come. It had been two hours of non-stop loving with absolutely no interruptions of their parents making an unwanted appearance. Those two hours had actually made him wish that he and Bella had their own place to share.

A wish that he suddenly realized he’d been making a lot lately.

Author's Note: If you've never heard Christmas Tree by Lady GaGa, I suggest you do. It's funny as all get out. I couldn't stop giggling even when writing the part that it goes too. I'm sure you'll understand why as you read the part.


Also, the Sun Mountain Lodge Ski Resort and its cabin are real. If you want to see what it looks like here are the links:


Sun Mountain Lodge

The cabins

Floor plan