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Hunger

Summary:

(The Archer, Re-write)

Adaline Swan is a 22-year-old mother fated to kings of the vampire world with an odd connection to time. Only time seemed to be against her as of late and it all began when her cousin's vampire friend Alice dragged her and her children across the world to save her suicidal brother.

Fated to three Kings, one with enough rage to tear a rip in time, another with psycho tendencies to wish for a pause, and another where all Adaline wanted, was to go back and fix all the wrong.

But the twins who call her mother have enough power to cause a rippling effect through every single vampire leaving them all in a spell.

Chapter Text

A clock above the mantelpiece in a cozy three-bedroom house ticked quietly. There were two toddlers of raven ravenous curly hair playing with wooden blocks. They were quiet as they stacked them over and over again before the boy would blow hard to attempt to knock it over causing the little girl to giggle and start blowing with him. 

Their mother sat tucked in on a corner of the sofa with a steaming mug of coffee in her hand, watching them occasionally between the paragraphs of her latest Time magazine. 

"Lele..." The little girl sighed. "You have to go big. One big huff." 

"Like the wolf?" The little boy asked. 

"Duh!" The girl raised both her hands as if it were obvious. 

"I HUFF AND I PUFF!" The boy started-- "And I'll blow your house in!" Their grandpa exclaimed, grabbing the boy around the waist and blowing on his neck making him squeal and giggle with his sister. 

"Pop-pop!" They exclaimed. 

Big brown eyes were shining with mirth at his niece who was watching them. "Be careful little ones... I am still in my work uniform." 

"Hi, dad." The young woman grinned.

"Addie," He ruffled the twin's hair and took a seat beside his eldest daughter. "Did Bells come down yet?" 

Adaline snorted her coffee and side-eyed her father. He sighed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "I guess that was a stupid question." 

"You think?" She nodded, widening her eyes. He knocked her shoulder. "I just made a pot, would you like me to make you a cup?"

"Nah... I got it. What's for dinner? Something smells good." He got up and she followed after him, her bare feet smacking the wooden floor so softly it was hardly heard. 

"Shepherds pie," She said pulling the milk out of the fridge for him. He thanked her and poured a bit into his mug. She took it back and put it in the fridge. 

"Hmm... Oh... You baked again, I see. What is that!" He looked excitedly at the red pastry flaky pie that sat on the counter in the cake dish. 

"Rhubarb and strawberry pie," Adaline sat down on one of the chairs closest to the living room so she could keep an eye on her two troublemakers. 

"Have I ever told you how thankful I am that you moved in with me?" He asked. 

"Ha!" Adaline snorted again. "All the time!" 

He grinned at her. "And it's not just because you spoil your old pa or anything." 

"Dad..." She gave him a pointed look. "I know. But I think it helps that you're not dependent on TV dinners. Even if you do go to the Diner every Friday for Steak." 

He scratched his jaw, his nails making that little sound on his stubble that was growing back. "I was doing alright... Still kicking."

"Mmm hmm," She hummed. He looked at her offended. 

"I can cook--"

"No, you can't," A new voice added to the conversation. The two Swans looked to see that the zombie rose from her hidey hole at last.

"Bel--"

"Shh... She's like a baby deer. You'll spook her.." Adaline shushed their dad.

Bella opened her mouth and snapped it shut and rolled her eyes before grabbing the coffee pot. 

"I think you two need to have some faith in your ole dad," Charlie scrunched his nose up as he took a sip of his coffee and spat it clear across the table. "Artie!"

"Wat pop-pop!" Artemis came into the kitchen with her brother following close behind. 

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop switching the sugar out for salt?"

Bella was right about to add the sugar to her cup and paused. She looked down at the spoonful and looked back grinning at her sister. The two sisters chuckled as Artemis stuck her nose up. 

"It wasn't me. I swear!" She said. 

"Oh really? Then who else?" Charlie asked, trying to look stern but amusement was dancing in his eyes.

"Mommy did it," Artemis said simply. 

"Uh, mommy did not," Adaline looked at her daughter trying to stop laughing. 

Artemis pursed her lips. "I swear. I didn't!" 

"Yes, you did," Achilles said, poking her in the cheek.

"Snitches get stitches!" Artemis snapped. "Bitches land--"

"Hey hey!" All three adults started together. "How many times have I told you that was a bad word," Adaline scolded. "Nasty word!"

"I know... I sorry, momma..." she looked down at her toes, wiggling them. 

"It is okay, Artie. But no more bad words, okay?" Adaline crouched before her daughter and kissed her cheek. The little girl nodded her head. "Go play with your bubby." 

Achilles held his hand out to his sister and they went back to play with their blocks. Adaline turned to her dad, glaring at him. 

"What?" He asked. 

"I told you that little brat next door was a bad influence on her!" 

"Kids are like sponges, they repeat everything they hear. How do you know it came from the Millers' son?" He asked.

Bella sat down beside her sister starting to look a little bummed out again. "It was definitely their son, Charlie," She said. Charlie looked at her expectedly. "He was paying Artemis to curse. I told his mom and she told me to screw off."

"I doubt she said, screw," Adaline grumbled. 

"That would be correct," Bella drank her coffee. "Blah... It wasn't just the sugar dish she got." 

Adaline moaned loudly and went to go check the sugar bag. "Good god she switched the bags. That girl is so much like her father..." 

Charlie grunted. "Heaven help us..." 

Adaline laughed loudly. 

The Swans ate dinner and after switching the sugar and salt jars back around and their bags, Adaline got her kids in the bath and then tucked them away for the night. She came back downstairs with her laptop and her journal where she started her going through her emails and job applications. Charlie and Bella were sitting on the sofa watching the Fresh Prince of Bell-Air. 

Will was doing the Carlton dance much to Carl's dismay as his little sister played the drums. 

"Have you heard back from Killian?" Charlie asked when commercials came on. Adaline looked at him from where she was sitting at the kitchen table. 

"What?" 

"Have you heard from Killian?" He asked again, turning the Tv. Down. Bella shifted on the sofa to look at her sister. 

"No, and I doubt he will call me," Adaline grouched. "He's probably too busy rubbing bodies with that skanky bleach-blonde bimbo." 

Bella's eyes widened. Charlie whistled. "I still stand my offer. Do you want me to shoot him?" 

Adaline smiled softly at him. "He is still their father. And he is a good dad, even if he is a crappy husband." 

"More than crappy," Bella muttered. 

"He was sleeping with your best friend, Addie." Charlie frowned at her. "I agree with Bells. That was more than crappy. He is downright dishonorable." 

Adaline lifted her hands and shrugged. "I don't care. They can have each other. If he wants mentally unstable, good for him. If she wants unfaithful, then good for her."

"Yeah but what about the kids?" Bella spoke up. "Is he going to forgo his rights to them? I mean... You're here in Forks instead of Salt Lake." 

Adaline huffed, blowing hair from her face. "I don't know. He hasn't even called to talk to the kids. They miss him and Achilles keeps asking when we're going home." 

"You mean to tell me he hasn't called in two months? Not once, to say good night?" Charlie asked incredulously. 

"Nope."

"Then he is a shit father too."

"Dad..." Adaline frowned at him. 

"No! I am tired of you excusing that man. No, not a man. Scumbag. Let's go with that. He's a scumbag. Tell me, Addie. Has he even sent you money to help with the babies?" She shook her head. "Didn't think so. See my point? Say the words, I will help you pay for a lawyer and we will take him to court." 

"I don't want to put my children through what I had to go through," Adaline said. 

Charlie frowned at her even more. 

"This is different, Addie. Killian hasn't called you in two months to even speak to his children. He hasn't helped you pay for his children's things or medical bills in over two years. He can be all talk but it is more than a snuggle or a laugh to be a parent. He needs to take responsibility, physically and financially. "

"Shh..." Bella said. "I think Lele is spying on us." 

Adaline got up and looked to the staircase where sure enough a five-year-old little boy was sitting on the top steps clutching his stuffed dragon. She sighed and held her arms out and he made his way down and let his mom pick him up from the bottom step. She grunted a little.

"You're starting to get too big for mommy to carry you around, little warrior," She said. 

"You were talking about daddy..." Achilles sighed solemnly. "Daddy doesn't want us anymore does he?" 

"No!" Adaline said quickly. "Your daddy loves you very much!"

"Don't lie mommy..." He looked so defeated. 

It broke Adaline's heart. She looked to her dad for some help. He looked apologetic. He mouthed an apology to her. Charlie knew very well that Adaline didn't want the kids to hear anything bad about their dad. She had a rule no one bad-mouths him in front of little ears. 

"Did you have a bad dream?" She asked, desperate for a topic change. Talking about Killian was still hard for her even if she plays it off as no big deal. She was so in love with him. They had been married since she was a naive sixteen-year-old girl. Seven years might not be a long time for others but in reality, it is. They literally grew together and at some point, he didn't love her the way she never stopped loving him. 

Achilles nodded his head. 

"Was it the red eyes again?" Adaline asked wearily. 

"She was tapping on the window again..." He sniffled. "Scary, momma." 

"Shh... It was just a bad dream," She soothed as she kissed his temple. Adaline wondered if she was seeing things in the way Bella stiffened. 

Charlie frowned at the little boy and shared a concerned look with her. She just shook her head lightly at him. Achilles had nightmares since he was just a baby. He always had them and she didn't like the way the medication the doctors had her giving him was doing to him. He was like a walking emotionless zombie who couldn't feel anything. He was always tired, much more than when he was waking from the nightmares. It was a lot of hard thought and discussions on her part to decide to pull him off the meds. 

"Artie was mumbling in her sleep again too..." He said sadly. "She kept kicking me."

"Mommy will be in bed soon and I'll buffer the kicks. Alright?" He nodded his head. "Do you want to stay with me down here?" he nodded again and snuggled into her. "Alright..." she kissed his head again. 

"I got a book to read for school..." Bella stood up. "Night." 

"Night!" They replied. 

"Night, auntie Bells," Achilles mumbled. Bella stooped to kiss his curls and he wiggled in his mother's arms who shifted on the sofa. 

It wasn't long before he had fallen asleep and was snoring softly, a tiny puddle of drool was collecting on Adaline's chest. She mindlessly ran her fingers through his curls and watched the colors on the Tv, lost in thought. Charlie coughed and muted the tv, pulling her from her thoughts. She looked at him. 

"Are you still against him taking his medication?" He asked, looking at Achilles. Adaline lifted an eyebrow.

"Dad, you have no idea what that stuff does to him. He's worse on the pills. I am not putting him through that again and his nightmares are worse on them.

"A child needs proper sleep, Addie." 

"I know." She furrowed her brows. 

"Then you need to find another solution."

She opened her mouth feeling miffed. Glaring at him she snarled, annoyed. "I am doing the best I can. For, my son. Mine. I have done everything. I am not brushing it off. Why do you think I make all those medical calls? Why do you think I have all those medical books upstairs? I am trying. I just don't want my baby to be an emotionless walking statue. He becomes so numb, he can not even tell when he is hurting. That's what those pills do to him. They trap him in his nightmares and he can not wake from them." 

 

🩸🩸🩸

 

For the weeks that followed, Adaline worked tirelessly from home for her finance job, on top of that researching solutions for her son's nightmares. She was just grateful that Bella finally opened herself up to the idea of friends again. That was one less person to worry about. 

When Charlie opened his doors to her and her children, Adaline found a cationic sister in a zombie state. She had to literally drag her into the shower and shove food down her throat. It was horrible but it did help her process how she ended up on her adoptive father's doorstep. One moment she had kissed her husband bye before going to the park with their children and the next she was returning home to find her best friend and husband in a compromising position. 

Weeks had passed and still not a word from Killian. It's been officially five months and nothing. The kids stopped asking about their daddy and Adaline wasn't sure how to feel about that. 

Adaline shuddered off another skin-crawling sensation as she looked out the window. She just felt off today. It was a feeling she was quite used to when she was fully aware her world was about to flip on its axis. Charlie and his friend Harry Clearwater were sitting at the kitchen table sorting through their fishing supplies while her kids sat on the floor before her, leaning over their coloring books. 

She wondered where the hell Bella was. She was supposed to have been home over an hour ago. She was sure Jacob had something to do with it since she was quite aware of their motorbike-building schemes. 

"Addie," Charlie called. She turned around to look at him. 

"Yeah?" 

"Harry asked if you wanted to go to his house for dinner tomorrow night. Sue and her niece Emily are having a cookout."

Adaline perked up at that. She missed being social. She missed being around people her age... "That sounds awesome. I am sure the kids will like running around the beach."

"Emily will have her niece Claire with her," Harry piped up as he started packing his things away. 

"How is Emily?" Adaline asked. "You know..." She motioned to the side of her face. 

Adaline will never forget when she came in for a visit last year and found herself sitting in the hospital room holding Sue's hand. Charlie had begged her to come get Sue and take her home after the Bear accident. Poor Sue had been drenched in her niece's blood and pale as the moon. She was just glad Billy had been fine with taking her twins that night. 

Harry grimaced. 

"Not good then?" Adaline frowned. 

"The scars can't be fixed," Harry said. "She is strong and seeing a friendly face for once that won't pity her might be good for her self-worth." 

"Of course, she is strong!" Adaline puffed up. "She took on a full-grown bear! She has balls of steel. I don't think I could punch a bear."

Harry snorted and smiled at her. "I am sure you could. You're a Swan." 

Charlie shook his head and nudged his friend. "Get out of my house. Before you blow up her ego." 

"My ego is perfectly leveled, thank you very much." Adaline brushed off invisible dust on her shoulder and winked at Harry. 

"What are balls of steel, momma?" Artemis asked. 

Adaline lost her smile and looked down at her children who were blinking up at her. The two grown men weren't even trying to hide the chuckles.