Twilight 1. Chapter 1

First chapter of the re-write, not to many changes I think, just some clean up, spelling and POV errors I had made before.

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

Jacob wasn't sure what to expect when he arrived, but there was no sign of life around the big white crypt. Of course they knew he was here.

He cut the engine and listened to the quiet. After a few seconds he could hear tense, angry murmurs from inside and further in the house gentle humming. Someone was home that was for sure. He heard his name and smiled, gleeful to think that he was causing them a little stress.

He took one big gulp of air-it would only be worse inside-and leaped up the porch stairs in one bound.

The door opened before his knuckles touched the wood, and the doctor stood in the frame, his eyes grave. Jacob frowned, already the dread was setting in, sitting heavy atop his heart. Something was terribly wrong.

"Hello, Jacob," Carlisle said, calmer than he would have expected from him. "How are you?"

Jacob took a deep breath through his mouth. The reek that was pouring through the door was overpowering his sense of smell, making his skin itch as he fought the urge to shift and rip the good doctor's head off.

Jacob was disappointed that it was Carlisle who had answered. He would rather have it been Edward, teeth bared, that way he would have no hesitation. Carlisle was just so….._human _or something the sort. Maybe it was the house calls he made last spring when he got busted up by that newborn trying to save Leah. But it made Jacob uncomfortable to look into his face and know that he was planning to kill him if he could.

"I heard Bella made it back alive," he said and step into the doorway, forcing Carlisle to step back unless he wanted him to be right in his face. "Where is she?"

"Er, Jacob, it's not really the best time." the doctor seemed uncomfortable, but not in the way he had expected. "Could we perhaps do this later?"

Was he freaking kidding? Was he seriously asking him to postpone the death match for a more convenient time? No! If this was going to happen, it was going to happen then and there.

There was a moment of silence before he heard Bella's voice, cracked and rough, and he couldn't think about anything else.

"Jacob's here?" she asked someone, and he noticed the humming from earlier had ceased. Had that been her?

Bella's voice was not what he had been expecting, in fact nothing since he arrived was like he expected. He tried to remember the voice of the young vampire's they had fought in the spring. But all he registered back them was snarling. Maybe those newborns hadn't had the piercing, ringing sound of the older ones, either. Maybe all new vampires sounded hoarse. Or maybe…

Bella's voice was not what he had been expecting, in fact nothing since he arrived was like he expected. He tried to remember the voice of the young vampire's they had fought in the spring. But all he registered back them was snarling. Maybe those newborns hadn't had the piercing, ringing sound of the older ones, either. Maybe all new vampires sounded hoarse. Or maybe…

He heard footsteps.

"Let me go, Rose, I can still walk. I want to see Jacob." she said to one of them and he heard her footsteps grow louder, moving closer . But then they stopped.

"Don't even think about it, Edward, I've had it about up to hear with you. I don't want to hear another word out of you unless it's something positive." her hoarse voice was practically a growl before her clumsy footsteps became angry thumps.

"Come in, Jacob, I just made lunch." she croaked louder, sounding more cheerful than she had when talking to any of the vamps.

Lunch? Like human lunches, or blood lunch?. He thought, confused and hopeful.

"Excuse me," he said to the Doctor and moved around him. It was hard to go against his instincts and allow himself to turn his back on one of them. Not impossible, just hard. If there was even such a thing as a safe vampire, it was the strangely gentle leader. He would try and stay away from him when the fight started. There was enough of them to kill without including him.

Jacob sidestepped into the house, keeping his back to the wall, protecting it. His eyes swept the room-it was unfamiliar. The last time he had been here it had been all done up for a party. Everything was bright and pale now. He tried to find Bella, and all her warm soft colors, her dark hair, and doe brown eyes, her pale skin with the flush of the running blood beneath it.

"What are you doing, Jake?" he heard her laugh the same moment he caught her scent. Her warm, clean, human scent. His heart soared. She was standing just a few feet in front of him, having come from around the corner from what he assumed was the kitchen from the scent of food wafting from that area. He barely even noticed the blonde blood sucker-the showy one, Rosalie, hovering strangely protective over her.

He looked at her face first and all he saw was the Bella he still loved, her skin still soft, pale peach, her eyes still that remarkable chocolate brown that twinkled a little as she smiled at him. His heart thudded in a strange broken meter, and he wondered if this was just some twisted dream he was about to wake up from. Then he really saw her. All of her.

Despite her smile there were deep circles under her eyes. Her soft, doll like face was also thinner. Her skin seemed to tight over her bones, like her cheekbones were ready to break right through the thin skin there. Her dark hair was messy and pulled over her shoulder, a few strands sticking to her face which had a thin sheen of sweat that coated her skin. She looked so fragile it was scary.

She _was _sick. Very sick. The story Charlie had told Billy was not a story after all. But her smile and eyes didn't give away any pain at all, in fact she looked happier than he had seen her in a long time.

Then he looked down at the rest of her. Bella's body was swollen, her torso ballooning out in a strange and sick way. It strained against the faded gray sweatshirt that was way too big for her shoulder and arms. The rest of her seemed thinner, like the big bulge had grown out of what it had sucked from her. One of her hands, which held an egg sandwich on a plate, were thin and bony, the bracelet he had given her slipped down almost all the way to the crook of her elbow. The other hand was on her bulging stomach, caressing it.

"Your pregnant!" he blurted out, feeling his heart be torn into shreds, though it wasn't the first time. He should have been used to it by then.

There was no way she could be pregnant though, not this pregnant at least. He had only seen her a month ago, it was impossible. How could such a thing even happen. Edward was dead, they were all dead, how could something like this happen? It didn't make sense.

Bella bit her lip, gave a nervous little nod and continued to smile. She moved closer, and he moved back. He felt like her presence was suffocating him.

He didn't want to see this, didn't want to think about this, didn't want to imagine that bastard _inside _of her. He didn't want to know that something that he hated so much had taken root in the body of the woman he loved. His stomach heaved, and he couldn't help himself but gag as he forced himself to swallow back the vomit.  
"Jacob, are you ok?" she asked him, wobbling over to him as fast as she could, egg sandwich still in hand.

"No, I don't think I ever will be again." he admitted, and he could feel the tears begin to sting at his eyes as he tried so hard to keep them back. He felt like his heart, what was left of it was crumbling into a black hole. "This is so messed up."

"I didn't want to keep it a secret from you too," she said softly and placed her sandwich down on a small table against the wall. He did his best not to look down, and focused on her eyes as she brought her hands to his face, the relief he felt to find that ,despite being a little clammy, still held the same human warmth as before. It was enough to bring the tears he had been keeping down to the surface.

"Don't cry, Jake, please don't cry," she begged, her thumbs brushing over his cheeks and wiping his hot tears away.

"I'm so sorry. I know I must look horrible, but honestly I'm ok, I just wish there was a better way you could have found out, wish I could have just told you sooner." she said, and he cried harder when he saw through blurry vision that she too was also on the verge of crying.

"You don't look ok, you look hideous and that's coming from a guy who almost always thinks you look great." he tells her honestly, noticing how she blushes. God he loved when she blushed. Awkwardly he brings his hands to her sides, the balls of hands touching the swell of her stomach.

Rosalie hissed at him, but he just glares at her over Bella's shoulder. Why was she sticking so close to Bella, last he knew, Bellas didn't like Rosalie. In fact, she always seemed to be scared of her when she spoke about her.

A part of him thinks he should feel repulsed, that the thing she was carrying inside of her was a monster just like it's father, but he doesn't. Somehow, he remembers it's also a part of her, like he and his sisters were a part of his mom, a piece his dad will always have.

He feels extremely uncomfortable, but not a hundred percent disgusted by it. Besides skinny and tired, Bella didn't look like she was in too much agony.

"I know. Morning sickness sucks, and I'm up all night from the baby kicking. He's a lively one that's for sure," she laughs, her voice cracking.

"Don't lie to me, Bells, this isn't a normal pregnancy. What's wrong?" he says as she wipes the last of his tears away. "Tell me."

She drops her smile and sighs.

"You're are right. My pregnancy is progressing a lot faster and the symptoms are a lot worse. It's been rough. Everyone thinks I'm dying though, it unbearable." she said with an aggravated roll of her eyes before glaring around me at Carlisle.

"If the doctor thinks it's killing you then-"

"It's not killing me!" she turns her glare on him, his face still held in her hands, increasing the pressure of her thin hands. "This is the first time any of them has heard of a vampire impregnating a human, so they're all jumping to conclusions and thinking the worst because of how strong the baby is.

"What do you mean strong. Exactly how strong is it?" Jacob glares back at her.

"Sometimes when the baby kicks, I get bruises." she explains, and looks away. "sometimes it breaks a rib."

"What else," he probes, that can't be just it to have them all. Bella sighs and drops her hands from his face and folded them tenderly around her bloated stomach, one above and one below, cradling it.

"Alice can't see my future anymore, or the baby's." she explained. "and Carlisle can't see through the amniotic sac with an ultrasounds and amniocentesis is impossible because the amniotic sac is too hard."

"Ok…" Jacob says slowly, not quite understanding what she was talking about, though he did know what an ultrasound was he wasn't sure about the rest.

"Carlisle think it's because the amniotic sac is made of the same material as a vampire's skin. But we've only tried once, Edward stopped him halfway through." she rolled her eyes again, glaring behind her shoulder where Edward was hovering in one of the entryways.

"Because of this it would make a C-section very difficult as the only thing that can break through such tough material is their teeth...or yours." she explained with a grimace, probably picturing what that might look like. "but right now that looks like my only option, he doesn't think I can have a normal delivery if the amniotic sac can't be broken."

"What else?" he says, and this time it's his turn to cup her face. He knows her too well, can practically read her thoughts.

"Edward want's me to have an abortion." she looks like she wants to cry and she step closer to Jacob's warmth, her hands going to his sides where they twisted in the fabric of his shirt, lifting it off his hips just slightly, exposing the warm, dark skin there. Her fingers practically itch to touch it, to feel it under her palms.

"He's determined to believe that I'm dying because of the legends that he's heard of, and the research he's done. And of course, if I am dying so is he. He's such a drama queen. " she whispers the very last part, leaning close to his face, wearing a cute little smile as she rolls her eyes.

Jacob smirks. It's not often he hears her make fun of her apparent one true love. He had to enjoy it while it's last before she goes back to his defense.

"And you're not?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't feel like I am." she shakes her head. "Like I said, I have the usual effects of pregnancy just ten times worse."

"Is that why he look's like he's been set on fire?" he asked, looking over her head at the six vampires staring at them with anxious yellow eyes.

Jacob had seen Edward angry before, and he'd seen him arrogant. Once he had even seen him in pain. But what he was seeing now was beyond agony. Edward's eyes were half crazed and he didn't even look up from the floor to glare at him. His hands were rigid claws at his side.

"Edward's being a dramatic," she told him, not even looking back at her leach husband.

"He hates it," she whispered, talking about the thing inside her. "He hasn't said it out loud, but he doesn't have to. He wants our baby dead, he thinks it's a monster."

"Is it?" he has to ask, not too convinced that something conceived by a vampire could be anything but a monster. She knew what he was getting at, and just like he could read her mind she could read his. They just knew each other too well. Always had in way.

"Jacob, please." she shook her head. She had to heard enough from Edward, she didn't want to hear it from Jacob too.

"You can't possibly think I'm ok with this, Bells." he chokes. "It was hard enough to watch you marry him, and now you're having his kid. It's too much,"

"I know. I never thought you would be ok with it. But you're my best friend. Even with everything between the wolves and vampires, we managed to make it work, didn't we?" she asked, sounding selfish and pathetic.

"Now that you're here, I don't want you to leave." she tried not to start crying again. "You've always been there for me when I've needed you, and I need you now, Jake."

"God, I'm a terrible person aren't I?" she said, her weak little hands gripping at his ribs as tightly as she could. "I'm so selfish and cruel to you, the one who couldn't deserve it less."

"What will happen after the baby's born?" he needed to hear her say it. "Will they turn you?"

"That was my plan," she nodded. "it was the best option if things start going south during the birth, if my body couldn't handle it."

"Why did you have to come back, why not go somewhere else?" she was right, she was cruel, and he wanted to know if she was here just to cause him pain. The Cullens were smart, they would have known better to bring her back, to change her while still in Forks, or even the state of Washington. But he had thought maybe they screwed up, this was their comfort zone, perhaps it was just instinct to come back.

"All the equipment and medication needed to assist my pregnancy are here, and Carlisle has the credentials to get more. That why we didn't go somewhere else. It would have taken too long to move it or get more elsewhere."

"To be honest, I hadn't wanted to come back, not with you and Charlie here. But we had no choice. I was going to call Charlie after, to let him know I was ok, I was happy. I didn't want to put you guys through any more pain."

"You never do, Bella, but it never stops you anyhow." he knew it was a low and bitter blow, but he couldn't help it. He had always been honest with her, told her what he thought about everything and he wasn't going to start now. "Loving you is like torture."

"So why the hell do I love you so much, when all you do is hurt me and everyone I care about. What's wrong with me?" he pulled her a little closer, his nose in her neck, probing right behind her ear, lips at her jaw.

"You have really bad taste in women?" she said with a humorless laugh. "I've been trying to tell you I'm no good for you from the start, but I think in a way we're like Heathcliff and Catherine. Whatever souls are made of, yours and mine are the same."

"Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!" he scoffed at the irony. "I hated that book. The ending sucked."

"I still can't believe you read it." she shook her head a little. He had seen her reading it one day while he was fixing the bikes. Two days later he had checked it out from the reservations library, and finished it in a weak, wanting to know what was so good about it that Bella read it over and over again so much.

"Wanted to impress you," he mumbled into her neck, the skin warm. She gave a shiver as his breath ghosted her ear.

"You never had to do that," she told him.

"I wanted to, wanted to know you more." he told her, taking a deep breath of her scent.

"Wanted your attention," he added.

"You already had it," she told him and he shook his head.

"Not really, not as much as I wanted you too," he whispered against her skin.

"You would be surprised," she admitted with a blush, feeling ashamed of her confession when her husband was right there.

He smiled. He knew it!

He pressed his forehead to hers, and focused on her eyes. He had missed her eyes. He could stare into them forever and be happy. He wanted to forget, forget the bulge of her stomach, forget the pain, forget that she was married to another man and just hold onto her as long as he could before he was forced to let her go again. It was torture, but it was also heaven. How he wanted to kiss her again, to feel the searing passion that had sparked on that mountain, to feel her body pressed against his like he did in the tent. Then her stomach growled.

"Sorry, you were about to eat before I got here," he said and reluctantly pulled away, staring at the now cold egg sandwich that was off to the side.

"That's ok," she shrugged, but Jacob didn't miss the crease between her eyebrows or the way her grip pulled at his shirt before she let go.

"Will you stay?" she asked. After all he had gotten the answer he had come searching for. She was still human. But for how long was the new question. "Please."

"Only if you'll make me something to eat too, I'm starving." he put on a grin, ignoring the vampires as he focused on her, and just for a moment he wanted to pretend that Bella was_ his _wife, that she was pregnant with his child and were in their own imaginary home. The fantasy was so vivid. Bella was glowing and healthy in his mind, love in her eyes as she stared at Jacob. In the corner Edward tensed, Jacobs thoughts finally bringing the vampire out of his depression for just a second to glare at Jacob, pain still in his eyes. But there was also something else, something similar to regret and sympathy.

"Sure, no problem." she grinned and picked her plate back up and proceeded to show him the way to the kitchen. Rosalie followed protectively behind Bella, hovering so close their sides were practically sewed together.

"Can we have some privacy, Rose?" Bella stopped and turned around to ask.

"Over my pile of ashes," Rosalie hissed, glaring at Jacob. "There is no way I am leaving you alone with this dog. The baby might be allergic."

"Don't be ridiculous, Rose. Jake's not going to hurt us," she smiled, touching the vampire's arm in a gesture of assurance. Than she added in a soft, tiny voice, almost as if she was ashamed to say the words. "He's not the one I'm scared of."

It didn't go unnoticed by Jacob how Edward and Carlisle both flinched. Rosalie eyed the two of them warily over her shoulder. Obviously some shit had gone down between everyone since the whole baby thing. They weren't close like they had been before, a rift had been torn between each other and not just with Bella. Jacob wondered what exactly had happened to get Bella to lose trust in them.

"Please, Rose." the blonde vampire finally gave in with a huff.

"Fine," she managed to get out through clenched teeth. "But the slightest noise of discomfort, or racing of your heart, I come running."

"Thank you." and Bella meant it. She was grateful, to both Rose and the time she was giving her to have with Jacob.

Leaving the vampires in the other room, Jacob and Bella continued into the kitchen where Bella then proceeded to take a few bites of her own sandwich despite it having lost it's heat, before she started to make Jacob something. But Jacob refused to let her do everything and helped her take out what he wanted from the fridge, surprised by how full it was. He took out the condiments and a knife from one of the drawers. Without even telling her she stacked the sandwich just like he liked it. Once done she cut it in half in triangles and placed his sandwich on the table. He helped her to sit down next to him, letting her take his hand as he placed a hand on the small of her back and assisted in lowering her into the chair.

"Should you be moving this much?" he asked her after once she was comfortably sitting, taking his own seat next to her. With his sandwich she also gave him a soda to go with it. It wasn't warm like the ones they would have in the garage, but it was still good.

"Rosalie's has had me doing nothing but sitting and lying on the couch all day, it's good to walk around once in awhile and stretch my legs." she told him, stretching her legs under the table, stretching her little toes inside her socks. Cold, she stretched her feet to hook around Jacob's ankles, hiking up the pant leg to get to the warmth underneath.

"So nice, so warm" she sighed, her toes had felt frozen before, no matter how many layers of socks she wore she just couldn't seem to get them warm.

He laughed and took a huge bite of his sandwich. He moaned as he chewed.

"You know me too well, Bells. This sandwich is great." he praised her.

"You're a pretty simple guy, Jake, it's not too hard to remember what you like to eat." she shrugged before finishing off her own sandwich.

"Want another one?" Jacob asked, noticing the way she stared hungrily at her now empty plate.

"I used the last of the egg's to make that. All I've been craving is eggs since I got pregnant." she tells him, shaking her head.

"Egg's, really?" he said, giving her a quirky smile around a mouthful of sandwich.

She nodded, looking almost embarrassed. "That and peanut butter and chicken,"

"Talk about a weird combination." he laughs, and damn did Bella miss that laugh.

"I've missed you, Jake." she spoke her thoughts, and reaches her hand for his. He meets her halfway, twining his fingers between hers, loving the way that despite how skinny she's become her hands still fit in his perfectly.

"I've missed you too, honey." he says softly, any thought about food long gone as they just sit and hold hands.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Jake." Bella took in a shuddering breath.

"I want to believe that Edward will change his mind once the baby is born, once he see's him and holds him for the first time. But I'm scared that he won't, that even after he'll still hate it because of how he hates himself. How can I raise my baby around a father who won't even be able to look at him?"

She knows she's being cruel again by confiding in him like this, but other than Rosalie and Esmeralda she doesn't have anyone else to really talk to was on Edward's side. She didn't know what to do. She was so scared that Edward and Carlisle would somehow find a way past Rosalie and cut her baby out of her before it was ready. She loved Edward, but since she found out about the baby and saw how Edward reacted she was feeling some doubt.

. What occurred was by all means a miracle. She had never thought she would have children or even wanted any, and thrown away all possibilities when she chose Edward. This was her first child, and would probably be her only one. Edward had offered to do in vitro after she had the abortion if she wanted to have a baby so badly, as long as it was a normal human baby that wouldn't hurt her. But other than it's strength none of them had any evidence that her baby would be more vampire than human, but they all jumped to the conclusion that it was some murderous monster growing inside of her.

"I didn't even think you wanted kids, even when we were little you showed no interest in being a mom." he sighed, remembering how his sisters would play with each other and their dolls while Bella played outside, making mud pies with him.

"I didn't think I did either. But the moment I realized I was pregnant, that changed. All I could think about was if it would look like me or Edward, how complete I suddenly felt. I was so excited. After all we all thought it was impossible," she explained, this far off look in her eyes.

"The feeling only intensified when I felt him move inside of me for the first time," she looked down at her swollen stomach and gently caressed it.

"What are you thinking, Bella?" he asked and gripped her hand tighter, letting his warmth seep into her chilled skin. "Seriously."

"I know this seems like a scary thing, but it's not." she tells him, looking up so she can look him in the eyes.

"It's like a miracle or something." she tells him, awkward as ever. Jacob scoffs.

He changed the subject.

"You keep calling it a boy. How are you so sure if Carlisle can't see it with an ultrasound?"

"It's just a guess." she shrugged. "When I picture the baby, I see a boy."

"Sorry I didn't bring some blue balloons." he rolls his eyes.

"Please don't act like that, Jake, I don't need the attitude right now. I know you're not thrilled," she sighed, feeling exhausted and drained from dealing with everyone else trying to convince her to kill her baby.

"In fact, I'm surprised you haven't tried to convince me the same as everyone else." she rolls her shoulders, feeling achey.

"I'm waiting to get all the facts before I decide what speech to give you." he tells her honestly.

"I also know how god damn stubborn you are. Even if I did find out the damage is worst then you're telling me, that it really is killing you, it wouldn't matter if I asked you to get rid of it, would it?"

She shook her head.

"Thought so," he sighed and let go of her hand so that he could put his head in it.

"You've always been in complete control of your body and the decision you make with it. Be it cutting yourself to distract a vampire, choosing to become a vampire, or even having a baby, that's all your choice." it was one of the things he loved about her, her independence.

"I can't tell you what to do, because you won't listen, so I don't know what you want me to say." he sounds as exhausted and frustrated as she looks.

Silence.

"If I had chosen to be with you, and I got pregnant, how would you have reacted?" she asked, him, both hands on her stomach now as she stared at her empty plate.

"I would have freaked out. I might not look it anymore, but I'm a teenager and a baby would be just one more responsibility I wouldn't be ready to handle." he tells her honestly.

"But I also think I would be super excited to be having a baby with the woman I loved, even if neither one of us were ready for one." he follows with.

"Edward went into shock, and then the first thing he said to me was, and I quote 'We're going to get that _thing _out of you'. He called our baby a _thing, _Jake. I was heartbroken. I thought he would be excited." She wanted to cry just remembering it.

"I love him, he's my husband and I chose to spend forever with him," she sounds more like she's trying to convince herself of something than she was him.

"People get divorced all the time, no one would think twice about it if you did when you married so young. They would probably expect it." he scoffed.

"God that was stupid of me, I didn't even want to get married." she confessed, leaning back in her chair. "It was the compromise for Edward to agreeing to have se-"  
She coughed, blushing as she realized what exactly she was telling him.

"That's why you married him, because he wouldn't have sex with you before marriage. Are you fucking serious!?" Jacob didn't know whether to laugh or shake her in anger.

"I knew he was old fashioned, but this is the twenty-first century." Jacob shook his head, almost not believing what he was hearing. Though he rather Edward never had sex with her. Before or after marriage. He was lucky he hadn't killed her. Instead he knocked her up.

Damn.

"You can still live, Bells, you don't have to be turned after you have the baby." maybe for her baby's sake, she would change her mind about being a vampire.

"If they turn you, the treaty will be broken. Sam won't just come after you and the rest of them, he'll try to kill your baby too, he won't show mercy." he needed her to know the risk, the risk that she had been ignoring since the first time she had told him that she planned to be turned.

"You have to think this through, Bella," he took a deep breath in from his mouth, his entire body tensing.

"I can take you right now, bring you home to Charlie. You know your room will always be there." He told her. "I can take care of you."'

"But would you be able to take care of him to?" she asked, looking down at her stomach before her eyes moved back to his face for his reaction. The pain she saw there was her answer.

"I still love Edward, Jake, I know it hurts you. But I do, and always will. I could never leave him." she tells him, once again sounding like she was convincing herself rather than him.

"Than you're going to have to deal with the consequences of what that means now that your back." he shut his eyes tight, a tremble in his hands. "Damn it, Bella, you should have never come back."


	2. Chapter 2

A good number of changes in this one I think you need to pay attention too.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

She knew what he meant by those words, the unsaid concern and worry. The pack. Sam.

"What will they do, Jake?" she asked him, staring at her belly, feeling the small shift of the little person inside of her.

"I don't know. I can't keep this from them, won't be able to once I shift. They'll see everything, I have no idea how they might react, but I have a feeling it's not going to be much different from how your leeches feel," he shook his head, the shaking in his hands gone, his worry for Bella stronger than his anger over the situation.

"I don't like when you call them that, Jake!" she snapped at him.

"Don't you think you should be focusing on everything else I said rather than that right now, neither one of us has the privilege to worry about what I call your in-laws right now when their are bigger problems." he snapped right back, both glaring at each other, competing in a stare off, silence filling the room until Bella caved with a sigh and looked away.

"Will they….try to hurt me?" she asked.

"They can't." his expression was fierce before twisting into something else, his eyes going slightly wide as he pressed his lips together. It was as if he had said something he shouldn't have. She knew him well enough to tell he was hiding something, but for the moment she wouldn't push to find out what it was.

"I mean, you're still technically human, so they can't" he followed a little too quickly, his words rushed and clumsy.

"What about my baby, after it's born?" that was her main concern." It's half vampire, but it's also half human."

"I don't know, this is going to freak them the hell out. None of us have ever heard of anything like what you're carrying, we have no clue what it's capable of that unknown factor is going to set off all of their instinctual alarms." he told her.

"When they look inside my head when I shift, they're going to see the worst, they're going to see what you look like now, see how it's affecting your body, draining you, weakening you and that is enough to see at a threat. Because it's hurting a human,"

"He's not doing on purpose, once he's born everything will be fine, I'll be ok again. Can't you just tell them that," her body tensed with stress, with worry, and she felt so cold again.

"And what if it's born feral, going on instinct, biting whatever it can once it has teeth, what if it craves blood?"

"Then he'll be a vegetarian, like the Cullen's and the Denali's we'll give him animal blood and when he's older he can go hunting with everyone." she threw out their quickly, having obviously thought about this before.

"I'll teach him to be good, he won't' be like some wild newborn, Jake." she promised him. "I'm his mother, he'll be a good-boy, not at all like everything thinks he will be."

"Kids can be hard to control, what if it goes off during a hunt, attacks someone. It's happened even with your precious Cullen's, a slip of control."

"Then we'll put him on a damn child leash!" she threw up her hands and rolled her eyes.

"Besides, why should it bother him, we'll have to leave after he's born anyway when Edward turns me," she told him, regretting her words when she saw him flinch.

"So even if you survive the birth without having to be turned, you would still go through it?" she admired how he could simmer with such anger while still looking perfectly calm, it was the tense line of his jaw that gave how he really felt away.

"What if you can't control yourself, how long did it take these guys before they could be around people. You wouldn't be able to even hold it, maybe for months or even years. You would miss out on so much?" he pointed out. "Do you want to stay the same, watching your kid get older and older, watch them die before you. Because if you survive that could happen. Like you said, it's half human."

"That's what Charlie is going to have to do; bury his daughter. Now that you're going to be a mom, try to think of how that would feel to bury your only child before you, to mourn for them before it was there time to go." he so desperately wanted to change her mind, he wasn't afraid to fight dirty.

"That's not fair, Jake, and you know it!" she glared at him, her voice thick with emotion as she tried not to cry.

"Life's not fair, Bella, and that's no different for the perfect little world you think vampires get to live." he told her, wishing she could see the reality of everything.

"Please stop." she closed her eyes in pain and whispered.

"I don't want to hurt you, Bells, I'm just trying to save you." he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, honey."

"It's ok," she swallowed, and when she opened her eyes he noticed she was looking over his shoulder. Doing the same he saw Blondie, though he had already smelled her entrance so her presence wasn't a surprise to him.

"It's okay, Rose," Bella smiled at her, but Rosalie didn't seem to buy it, glaring at Jacob.

"Don't get her upset again," she warned before leaving, hovering just outside the kitchen, sticking close.

"So, when have you and Blondie become BFF's?" Jacob asked with a raised eyebrow. Changing the subject.

"Rosalie understands what I want." Bella shrugged.

"Sure she just doesn't want to cradle rob you?" he glared back over his shoulder, suspicious.

"Jacob!" Bella gasps, outraged at how rude he was being.

"Bella!" he mimicked her, mocking her for her naivety. Something else was going on here. He doubted the blonde leach was just helping Bella out of the goodness of her cold dead heart.

"That was an awful thing to say, Jacob." she tells him, her hoarse voice disapproving.

"You're too trusting, Bells, I'm just trying to look out for you." he told her. "You always said the two of you weren't exactly close, in fact I thought you were scared of Barbie."

"Things are different now, I know why she treated me like she did. She doesn't want me to be a vampire either." she confessed, playing with the hems of her clothes, picking at the fabric.

"Really!?" that was not what he had expected.

"Yeah, it's not my story to tell you why, but she pretty much thinks I'm an idiot for giving up everything that she always wanted and can never have. I knew she would understand, that why after I found out, and Edward first voiced his opinion I called her for help."

"Huh," he said a little amazed, impressed and as much as he hated to admit, grateful to Rosalie.

"So, what's happened while I was gone?" she asked him, needing to hear some news of the outside world being stuck where she was, and it would only get worse after she was changed. All she had was the Cullen's, and before that felt like it was enough, that she didn't want or need anyone else's company. She wasn't so sure anymore it was enough. It was a little sad really.

"Well, Paul imprinted on my sister." he started off.

"No way!" her jaw dropped, her expression one of horror and sympathy. "Oh, Jake, I am so sorry.

It was universal knowledge that Paul was an all around jerk to everyone, to imagine any girl having to deal with him for a lifetime sounded like a tragedy rather than some blessing on finding their soulmate. Not to mention Jacob could see in Paul's head when they phased, that means every time Paul and his sister kissed, or god forbid have sex, he would know, he would see it, practically feel it. How disgusting.

"It wasn't Rebecca was it? I mean she's married."

"I don't think that really matters with this whole thing, I mean Sam was with Leah when he imprinted, I don't really think fate or the spirits, or whatever gives a shit about breaking people up." he said, his expression a torn one. There was more to it than that though, and she once again got the feeling he was hiding something.

"But no, the one he imprinted on was Rachel." he looked ready to both explode and cry.

"Oh, Jake, she's so smart though. Didn't she just graduate with a major in computer engineering?" she asked, trying to remember the details of what Billy had told Charlie and what Jacob had told her in the past about his sister.

"I know!" he slammed his hand down on the counter and immediately Rosalie was in the room. Bella just shook her head, her hand slipping to cup Jacobs trembling hand, trying to hide it so Rosalie wouldn't worry. She didn't leave the room, but she didn't come any closer either.

"I know she's smart! She's so goddamn smart and that's wasted here. There's not exactly a high demand for computer engineers on the Rez or in Forks."

"She was only supposed to move back for a few months, working part time from home while looking for a bigger job in New York." he told her, his voice growing louder.

"New York, Bells, New York!" he smiled, proud of his sister, knowing she deserved more, deserved better.

"She hates it in La Push, ever since our mom-" he choked.

"Shh, it's alright, Jake, it's alright" said Bella, reaching out and caressing his head, pulling him by the back of his neck to her shoulder, the position awkward on the stools but they made it work.

"I didn't blame her and Rebecca, never, I never resented them for leaving me to take care of dad. Mom always wanted bigger and better things for us, and they were so close to her…"

"Now Rachel is stuck here until the day all this is over, when we can stop phasing and she can leave with Paul but I don't know when that will be. And Paul never leaves our house, oh god, Bells, he eats _all our food_ and I can _hear _them at night, in the afternoon, early in the _morning_. It's absolute hell!" the sob that he gave was more dramatic than it was real, and she felt no tears on her neck or shoulder.

"Poor baby," I cooed, running a hand up and down his back. "no wonder you were so hungry when you got here."

"Thank god for Sue, at least she still comes by to bring us food despite having to feed Leah, Seth and now Charlie." Bella tensed, almost forgetting that the two were dating.

"H-how are the two of them doing?" she asked.

"Seth and Leah?" he sat back, looking at her funny.

"No, I mean them too, but Sue and Charlie." she shook her head then clarified.

"Oh, well their doing good. She takes good care of him, Bells. If it wasn't for Seth and Leah, I think he might ask her to move in with him, but the house doesn't have enough rooms." he told her.

"That's really good, I'm glad he's found someone, he deserves to be happy. I really need to thank Sue for giving that to him." she smiled, but it was distant.

"You know you made him happy too, right?" he asked her softly, making her look at him. "He loves you so much, Bells. It might not have been obvious to you, but for those who knew him before you got here, it was so clear how much you moving in with him affected him, how much happier he seemed to be."

"I know," she said, her mom had said the same thing when she came for the wedding, told her how heartbroken he must be that she was leaving.  
She felt a movement inside, her, a press of a foot or hand.

"Oh," she said, a smile breaking out on her face, some of the color returning to her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked, startled, glaring at her stomach.

"Nothing's wrong, he kicked is all." she explained to him, her palms dragging over her stomach, trying to find that spot so she could feel it against her hand.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, looking freaked out. She shook her head.

"Nope." he had never seen her look so surreal, so at peace, it was strange.

"I call him Nudger, since I haven't thought of a name yet. Rene used to call me Dink, before I was born." she told him, making a little sigh as she felt him kick again.

"My mom called me Peanut." he admitted after some hesitation, still staring at her stomach like the omen child was about to chew it's way out, a big 666 tattoo it's forehead.

"You keep calling it a boy, how can you know for sure?" he asked her, curious.

"I don't, it's just a guess. Every time I think of the baby, I always picture a little boy." she told him, that serene look still on her face.

"I should have brought blue balloons." he chuckled darkly, ruining her mood as she looked up and glared at him.

"Don't, Jacob, just don't. Despite everyone freaking out every time he moves, these are special moments for me, don't ruin this one." she warned him.

"He doesn't move much anymore," she frowned.

"You should feel him, Rosalie says she can even hear his heartbeat, I wonder if you can too."

"Uh,"

"Oh come on, he can't bite you," she rolled her eyes, grabbed his wrist and brought his hand to her belly, placing it right over the spot he had been kicking before. Jacob's hands were bigger than hers, so if he moved off center he should still be able to feel him.

"Give him a minute." it took only a second for Jacob to feel the press of a tiny foot against his palm. He wanted to jerk his hand away, but Bella held him in place.

The longer his hand stayed there he began to notice the heat emanating from inside her belly, radiating out. It was warm, the thing, the baby was warm blooded. Closing his eyes he focused in on Bella, it wasn't the same as with the vamps, his hearing wasn't as advanced when he was human as it was a wolf, but if he focused hard enough maybe.

Bum bump, bum bump, bum bump.

A tiny little heartbeat.

"It's alive," he gasped, finally managing to pull his arm away.

"Of course he is," Bella laughed, "what did you think, he was a zombie?"

"Maybe I'll name him Charlie, after my dad." she said, replacing her hand back on her stomach. "What do you think?"

Jacob sighed.

"Listen, Bells, the reason I brought Charlie up before isn't just because I don't want you to change, but because I know him, Bells, he's practically raised me with Billy after my mom died. People thought they were gay for a long time because it was always just the two of them, which honestly I think my dad is. But shh," he told her, interrupting her before she could question what the heck he meant by that.

"My point is I love Charlie, I care about him and know him, and losing you would kill him. I don't want to see that," he told her.

"I love him too, Jake, I really do but…" she took a deep breath, trying not to cry with Rosalie so close. "It's what I want, what I've always wanted."

"Not always,." he shook his head. "Sometimes you act like you never existed until you met him, and without him you would just disappear. I've seen it before, but that's not true and you know it."

"Why do you always think you're not good enough as you are?" he touched her face, cupping her cheek. "Why can't you just see that your perfect, that your beautiful and smart and that people love you just the way you are, even your precious vamps. You don't need to become one of them to be all the things you already are, Bells."

"Being a human doesn't make you any less of a person then the ones you think they are." he brought his face to her, his nose sliding right against hers, so close yet not close enough. He felt like he was in Charlie's kitchen again, just the two of them.

"Being human isn't about the little time you have to live, it's about how you live that time out with the people you love, with the things that you choose to do."

And then he couldn't help himself. He kissed her. It wasn't like the mountain, or by the beach when he forced himself on her, it was soft, chaste and over in a second as he was ripped from Bella by Edward and thrown into a wall.

"What do you think you're doing to my _wife!_" he hissed in that way vampires did.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself." he grinned, a feral, wolfish smile as he watched Edward flinch. Whatever Jacob was thinking, Edward clearly didn't like it.

"You shouldn't have done that, Jake." said Bella, her voice tiny but not exactly upset, and he noticed with great pleasure and pride how she licked her lips, the kiss lingering with her.

"She made her choice and it wasn't you," Edward reminded him.

"Yeah, but I know the twist ending of this story that not even your psychic Tinkerbell can tell you." he grinned

.  
"It doesn't change anything, you said it yourself before." he shook his head. "She's too stubborn to ever see what's good for her,"

"What the heck, Edward!" Bella glared at her husband, offended. "don't talk about me like I'm not right here."

"It's time for you to leave, dog." Rosalie hissed at him, moving to stand between him and Bella.

"Rose," Bella started to plea, she wanted to talk more with Jacob, she felt so lonely without him sometimes.

"No, Bella, he needs to leave. If he stays things are only going to get tense and then you'll get stressed and it's not good for the baby." she said, glancing over her shoulder at Bella's stomach.

Bella scoffed.

"Like I'm not already stressed as it is." she rolled her eyes, something Jacob noticed she was doing a lot.  
Rosalie scowled.

"It's fine, I was leaving anyway." he said.

"Jake, no, please don't go." Bella pleaded, reaching her thin hand out to him.

"I don't belong here. I've got to get back." he shook his head.

"Why did you come today?" she asked, still reaching limply.

"I just wanted to see if you were alive or not. I didn't believe you were sick like Charlie said." he couldn't tell from her face alone if she bought it or not.

"Liar." she glared, seeing through him like she always had.

"Fine, I came here to see if you had come back as vampire so that I could kill all of the Cullen's and probably die in the process."

"Jacob!" she gasped and Rosalie hissed, the rest of the vampires starting to move into the room eyeing him warily.

"What, can you really blame me? If you had come back turned it meant the treaty was broken, and if you had turned I didn't want someone else to be the one to-"

"To kill me?" she finished for him, looking oddly ok with that.

"Yeah, it wouldn't feel right for one of the others to do it." he shrugged.

Strangely enough, Bella found that kind of romantic. God she was messed up.

"Will you come back again?" she asked, her hand finally dropping.

"You really are a cruel woman," he sighed.

"I won't hang around and torture myself watching you get ready to give birth to someone else's kid and become one of them." he told her, shaking his head.

She flinched. "You're right, you're right. You _should _go, it's not fair to you."

Jacob headed for the door.

"Bye," she whispered behind him. "Love you, Jake."

He almost went back. Almost turned around and fell down on his knees again. But he knew that he had to quit Bella, quit her cold turkey, before she killed him.

"I Love you too." he mumbled, needing to say it one more time so she knew what she was doing to him. Let her live with her choices.

He pushed past all of the vampires, only to stop and glare at Edward, smirking even. She was killing him, he could see it in his eyes. And if Edward couldn't come to love the baby, Bella would have no choice but to leave him unless she wanted to raise her baby with a man who would never even be able to tolerate it. She didn't have to choose either of them(not that there was a choice to be made anymore) but if she chose to live and raise her baby than he would be just as happy as if she had chosen him. Besides, it was fun watching the bastard suffer. After all, it took two to tango, and if he didn't want the baby then tough shit. This was one thing about Bella that was out of his control.

* * *

Back in the house, Bella was brought back to the living room, Esme tucking the blankets around her on the couch, kissing her head. She had begged for Rosalie to leave her alone, she didn't have to worry about Jacob anymore so she had no reason to hover. Edward was also out of the room with everyone else.

"Are you comfortable?" Esme asked.

"Yes, though I wish I had a real bed down here," she admitted.

"I'll see what we can do about that," she smiled before leaving Bella alone like she asked.

By herself, Bella was free to wallow in conceited self loathing.

Why was she such an awful person? All she ever did was hurt the people she loved, over and over again, never learning. She wondered if their was something wrong with her in the head to be this mean to people. She didn't _want _to hurt everyone, but that's what she did anyway. Jacob had been so understanding about everything, and she had been so relieved he hadn't demanded her to get rid of her baby like the rest of them. He had made it clear he wasn't happy about it, but so far he seemed to have respected her wishes.

He was more mature than he had been the last she saw him, more level headed in a way. She wondered what had happened since the time between the wedding and now that might have changed him. But at least she got to see his smile. She loved his smile. She remembered how well they had fit against hers when they had kissed on the mountain, how warm they were, how soft as they moved against hers. He had held nothing back, taking her breath away and leaving her with weak knees. She wished that their brief kiss in the kitchen had lasted longer.

She felt ashamed for thinking about that kiss, for parts of her warmed and made her hold her legs tight together and squirm. She couldn't help wonder how different sex would be with Jacob in comparison to the few times she had had sex with Edward during their honeymoon.  
Realizing how horrible her thoughts were she wanted to slap herself. What was wrong with her? She might be fighting with Edward right now but she still loved him and he was her husband.

She blamed her out of whack hormones caused by the pregnancy.

There was no other way to explain what she was thinking or feeling, she thinks as she runs her hands through her greasy hair. She needed a bath. A nice, calming bath. Or maybe a cold shower.

"Rosalie, could you help me upstairs, I want to take a bath."

* * *

Leaving the mansion the Cullens called a home, Jacob didn't even look at his bike in the front drive. The emotions he was currently feeling were too much for his human body to contain and took off in a run, phasing and bolting into the forest. Everything replaying in his head, every image, sound and touch he had only just experienced between himself and Bella a violent slideshow in his mind,

It wasn't supposed to be like this, it was never supposed to get his far. He knew it was all his fault, that he should have just told Bella the truth and maybe she would have chosen differently, but he knew her better than that to actually believe that would happen. It was so clear then that she only saw him as one thing, wanted him as only a friend, in denial of her own conflicting feelings for him and Edward.

He was positive at the time that it wouldn't change anything. Imprinting on someone meant that you would be anything for them, a brother, a lover, or just a friend and Bella had needed him as a friend so that was where they continued to be as long as that's what she wanted. Despite his tries, she was the one in control of the progression of their relationship.

He hated not having control, he was both relieved that he had imprinted her and resented it all at the same time. He didn't need it to tell him she was his soulmate, that they were born for one another, completed each other and made one another better. He didn't want it to control and take over his life like it had with Sam and Emily, ripping their free will from them. He already had that happen to him when he phased and first joined the pack, he didn't want to add on to it.

Despite his desperate attempts, he had been prepared for the outcome of Bella's choices, what would happen to her after the wedding, her turning. He had been content to know that somewhere she was happy, not alive, but happy and then when she came back he was ready to end her, so that the others didn't get the chance first. The laws of the treaty still held, imprint or not, if she wasn't human anymore she wasn't under their protection, it voided the other rule.

He thought of her smile again, her hands against his skin, her foot hooked around his ankle, The things heartbeat, the warmth that came from it.

_**Jacob, Jake! **_Eight voices chorused in relief in his head.

The pack!

_**Come home right now! **_Sam Alpha ordered him, his voice deep and resounding, unable to be refused. Sam was furious that he had gone off on his own, endangering himself and breaking orders to stay away from the Cullens.

In the background he felt Paul fade out, going back to Billy and Rachel to let them know he was ok real quick. He would be back once they knew he wasn't vampire chow.

As he made his way back home under Alpha order he could feel the others in his head, seeing everything, picking things out. They focused on her bloated stomach, the way she hobbled her gaunt face, the darkness under her eyes, the tense atmosphere at the Cullen's house, the things she had told him about it.

_**The only thing that can break through such tough material is their teeth**__… _Bella's voice was pulled from his memory, hoarse and scratchy.

_Edward wants me to have an abortion…._

_**\- legends he's heard of…**_

_**-Everyone thinks I'm dying….**_

_**-Progressing a lot faster and the symptoms are a lot worse….**_

_**-How strong the baby is….**_

_**-breaks a rib…..**_

_**-Alice can't see my future, or the baby's…**_

They took only the worst, exaggerating it, there imaginations running wild. The new information threw them all in a group state of shock. After a minute they regained themselves, moving to meet up. They convened ten miles just outside of La Push, in a clearing left by the loggers. It was out of the way from any big roads, and surrounded by miles of mountains and forest on either side.

The pack mind was absolute chaos, snarls mixing with words, paws stomping anxiously against the ground, their claws digging lines into the packed dirt. Jacob didn't know what to do, what to think or say to make it stop. He tried to focus on Bella's smile, the way she had laughed, the brief kiss that they had. They ignored it all, not caring for his sentimental, sappy thoughts.

_**Pregnant!?**_

_**What will it be?**_

_**It can't be safe, it's not right, not natural. Dangerous.**_

_**Abomination.**_

_**We can't allow it to live.**_

The entire pack was pacing, jittery and on edge. Jacob and Seth were the only ones who didn't seem to be taking it the same way. He was too dazed to pay much attention to Seth, terrified what this would mean, what they were going to pack circled them.

_**We don't have much time, we'll attack tonight, we'll have surprised on our side. **_

_**But the treaty-**_said Embry, glancing at Jacob with sympathy.

_**The treaty does not cover this. We can't ignore it, this could put everyone in danger.**_

_**How? **_Seth's small voice shattered the chaos, and everyone stilled, staring at wasn't trying to challenge Sam, he was just confused, he didn't understand the direction everyone's thoughts, what it meant.

_**Whatever this thing is, it's killing Bella from the inside so imagine what it could do to her and others from the outside. **_Sam explained almost gently to the young wolf, patient with him. _**A normal baby wouldn't do that to it's own mother.**_

_**You can't possibly think it's that aware, Sam, that it's hurting her intentionally. **_said Jacob, standing, finally having enough of this talk.

_**A vampire's mind is different than ours, they're higher functioning, so the chance that it's already sentient is possible. **_Sam said, his black nose practically touching Jacobs, his muzzle in a terrible snarl. _**That thing is a crime against nature.**_

_**That's real ironic coming from a bunch of shape-shifters. **_Jacob pushed, his own jowls lifting over his teeth. _**It's just a baby. **_

_**Vampires are soulless by creation, Jake, mindless, thirsty monsters. How can anything created by one of their seed be anything less?**_

_**It's also a part of Bella, it's warm and alive, Sam, I've felt it, I've heard it's heartbeat. **_

_**Well, it won't have one for much longer. **_Leah sneered, and Jacob turned on her, snapping his jaws so close he caught some of her fur. _**Don't worry, Jake, we'll make it quick. Snap her neck first, so she won't have to see or feel the rest.**_

_**Your a sick bitch, you know that! **_Quil came up. He could see what this was like for Jacob, the pain it was causing him.

_**You will not be cruel to him, Leah. **_Ordered Sam._** It is against everything we stand for to take a human life, to make an exception to that code is a terrible thing, but necessary in this circumstance. We will **_**all **_**mourn for what we do tonight.**_

_**Please, don't do this! **_Jacob begged his brother, picturing Bella, her eyes blank of life, the wolves around her, her stomach ripped open. His Bella, his imprint. They wanted to kill her. _**You know what it will mean if you go through with this.**_

_**A fight to the death. **_said Sam.

To kill an imprint was the greatest offense, the most severe of pack law, to hurt another imprint with intent or by accident, was unforgivable and leading the Imprintee and the guilty wolf to battle to the death.

_**Think of Emily, Sam. Are you ready to leave her, prepared to never see the little baby growing inside of her, your son or daughter? Because if you kill Bella, even scratch her, I will kill you. **_Promised Jacob.

_**I am thinking of her, and of my child. What if I'm right and I let Bella deliver this thing into our world and it attacks people, it could murder our families. I am protecting my family, my imprint.**_ Sam literally howled, sending a signal in to the air as if a goodbye to Emily, a declaration of his intent.

_**And I'm protecting mine. **_ Jacob roared, pushing forward despite the heavy weight of the Alpha's mere presence, intimidating and fierce.

_**You will stand aside tonight, Jacob Black, you will not interfere with our plans until the battle is over. That is an order! **_Sam declared, an echoe to his voice as he used the Alpha command.

The alpha order felt crushing, it's edict bringing Jacob to the ground, the heavy timber of Sam's command backed with the power of the Alpha a powerful resonation in his ears. He felt like his legs were tied to concrete, holding him down, breaking his spirit and will.

_**No, I won't **_**! **doing what had to be done to protect Bella, he defied an Alpha's order, by becoming an Alpha himself.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter we get to start off with a touching moment between Rosalie and Emmett that I hope everyone can appreciate. I really love this chapter so much.

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

When Bella was done with her bath, feeling relieved and refreshed, she was brought back to the living room where she found Edward's bed waiting, minus the iron posts and headboard. It was tucked in the corner next to the fireplace for maximum warmth. They had moved her couch just a tad to the right to make room for it, and the floor to ceiling windows were right there for her to gaze out at the forest and watch the rain drip down the glass. A number of blankets had been added on top of the golden comforter, as was a multitude of pillows of different size.

"This will be better for the baby too, since you'll be sleeping in a more comfortable and safer position for pregnancy. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before." said Rosalie standing next to her.

"This is great, I know I mentioned it Esme earlier, but I didn't think you guys would get it done so fast." walking over to the bed, she had Rose help her into it, pulling the comforter and blankets back and propping the pillows behind her before tucking Bella in.

"Where is Esme, I really want to thank her for this?" she asked, sinking into the soft mattress with small, delighted moan, warmth quickly wrapping around her from both the blankets and the going fire next to her. She could already feel her eyes growing heavy, so close and ready to just fall asleep.

"She and Carlisle went out for a little while, they're going hunting and picking up some things for you and the baby?" Rosalie smiled, plucking some hair away from Bella's face, taking in the rosy glow she had, the glow of a woman carrying a child. She might be pale, thin as a stick, but she still had it in her eyes.

How Rosalie would do anything to be in her place.

"Eggs?" Bella asked sleepily, her voice a soft mumble as she leaned back against the pillows, her head lolling to the side, starting out at the darkening forest.

Rosalie laughed.

"Yes, eggs too." she laughed, but Bella didn't hear her, she was already asleep, her breathing even and eyes closed.

"Goodnight," Rosalie said, but it wasn't to Bella in which she spoke, but to the baby inside the human, leaning over to kiss the bulge beneath the blankets. She didn't move, and stayed their by Bella's bedside, hand over her stomach, eyes closed as she felt and listened to the little baby inside.

She heard Emmett enter, standing behind her, large hands on her shoulders, his nose planted in her golden waves, taking in her scent.

"I'm so sorry, Babe, that I can't-" his voice was thick with tears that he could never cry, regret heavy in his broad chest and enormous heart.

Rosalie leaned back against him, tilting her head back so she could look up at him. She reached the hand that wasn't on Bella up, to cup the back of his neck, playing with the short hair at the back.

"I wanted it too, Rose; a house and a big family, just like the one I had." he told her, remembering his sister and brothers, from when he was human.

"At that time, before you found me, I couldn't have imagined myself ready for that type of responsibility, but I did eventually wanted to settle down. I was still young then, you know?"

"I know," she said, her voice low and soft so not to wake Bella.

"We don't talk about it, and that's ok, I know it gets you upset so I never bring it up, but I think about it sometimes. What it would be like if we had a little boy or girl, what they would look like, what we would name them."

"Henry, if it was for a boy, like my friend Vera's baby. You reminded me of him, when I first found you, so innocent with those cute dimples and curly hair. I always wanted a little boy just like him, just like _you."_

"Elizabeth for a girl, as pretty and as smart as you. Then there would be George and Louise because we can't just stop at two" he added with a wink. "maybe we would have twins, my brothers were twins. "

"You would have been a great daddy," she smiled, the picture of it all crystal clear in her mind.

"And you would have been a great mommy." he kissed her then, slow and long. It was a sad kiss, one meant to comfort rather than ignite lust. And when they were done, he sat behind her, leg on either side of her, and held her from behind, gently rocking as she let out small dry sobs, mourning something they never even had.

* * *

Jacob had never wanted it to come to this. He never wanted to be Alpha, didn't want that responsibility, that tie to the land and people, his freedom completely gone. Yet here he was, an Alpha, claiming something that he had denied for so long.

He felt the bonds fall from his spirit and body the second he had accepted his birthright. He could feel the power gathering inside of him, the freedom from his brothers and sister wolves strange and hollow. An alpha's power came from their pack, and Jacob no longer had a pack. For a moment he felt the terrible loneliness of what he had done wash over him like a violent tidal wave.

He hadn't earned it the title of Alpha, Sam had, he was the first to phase, to do his duty and rise to every occasion putting the tribe first no matter. The position was his no matter what the blood in Jacob's veins had predetermine. Sam was the Alpha.

But he couldn't let Sam kill Bella.

_**What have you done, Jacob! **_Sam's voice was both sad and angry, stunned at what Jacob had just done.

_**I won't sit aside as you kill my imprint, Sam. **_he shook his large head, widening his stance, readying himself.

_**You would….you would choose your enemies over your own family? **_Sam was shocked, mortified and hurt.

_**Bella is my family, she has been since we were three years old making mud pies in the front yard. **_Said Jacob

_**And the Cullens, they're not our enemy, they never have been. I thought they were too before, I was ready to kill them all today, to kill Bella if she was turned, but I realized something when I had the time to think it all over again. They're more human than us, they have more more compassion and loyalty, and are capable of great love.**_

Sam felt as if he was going to be sick.

_**How can you still fight for that girl, she made her choice, imprint or not she is the first to deny an imprinted wolf. Clearly there is something wrong with her. **_Sam snarled.

_**Why because unlike Emily and the others she got to keep her free will, got to choose if she wanted to be with me or not. I rather have her choose then have some ancient power forcing her to be with me. **_he would have spat if he could, instead he stomped his paw, digging up dirt

_**Emily never got the chance to choose you, Rachel, my own sister, didn't choose Paul either and Claire is too young to even understand what the hell is happening. At least Kim had a crush on Jared before he imprinted on her. She sat next to him everyday in class for an entire year scribbling his name on her notebook and he never once noticed her. **_

He hadn't planned to make such a speech, to hurt his brothers, but it was the truth, the terrible truth of imprinting and of their relationships, of how wrong it all was, even his own.

_**Bella might never have chosen me, but you forget what imprinting means; to be whatever she needs you to be. A protector, a friend, and that's what I have been and will continue to be until the end of my life. **_He reminded Sam, the two snarling at one another.

_**I may choose to destroy myself for her, but you are choosing to destroy the entire pack over her, Sam. If you attack, no matter how many of the pack survive, you will be a murderer.**_

_**Is this it then, Jacob Black? **_Sam asked, hackles raised, muzzle pulled back from his fangs, drool dripping between them. Behind him Paul and Jared bristled, ready to help him. _**Even if you can defeat me, the pack will never follow you anymore.**_

_**Have you not been listening to me, I'm not going to fight you, Sam, not unless you hurt Bella first. **_He relaxed himself, showing that he was not going to attack.

_**I will not take the Pack from you, I don't want to either way, so that's not something you have to worry about. But I'm not a part of it anymore either. **_Jacob explained to him.

_**Do you belong to a coven now, Jacob? **_Sam spat, disgusted.

_**I belong to Bella. **_He answered.

_**If you come for the Cullen's, I will stand between you. I won't let you kill innocent people. **_Jacob turned his back to him then, to the entire pack and raced away from the uproar he had caused, listening with a pained heart to the mournful howls his Pack. He didn't have much time to waist to think of what he had done for too long, he had to get to the Cullen's and warn them. He went with the relief that at least the only one with a chance of outrunning him was Leah, he could take her down easy enough if he wanted to, though he would rather not have to at all.

He took comfort when he realized a few minutes later that they weren't after him. The others were probably still trying to understand exactly what happened. It was then that he realized he couldn't hear the others in his head anymore. That took a much needed advantage away from him. He only hoped that Sam would rethink his choices before it was too late. For his own sake and the rest of the packs.

That day had begun like any other, Jacob had came home from patrol just in time for a rainy sunrise, had breakfast with Billy and Rachel, watched bad TV, bickered with Paul to get the hell out of his house…..so how did it change so completely? How did it come down to him all alone, an unwilling Alpha without a pack, cut off from his brothers and choosing vampires over them?

Jacob blamed Bella. Her and her damn smiles and laughs, her big brown eyes and soft lips. He blamed the stupid fluttering of the baby inside her against his hand, the sound of it's tiny heart. She owed him big time. He wanted a five course meal and a foot rub in return for this bullshit, he deserved it damn it.

Then he heard it, the sound he had been so afraid of. The soft impact of paws against the earth, chasing after him. Damn. He threw himself forward, pushing himself to go faster, rocketing through the black forest. He just needed to get close enough so that Edward could hear the warning he was screaming in his head.

_**RUN! THEY'RE COMING FOR, BELLA, RUN!**_ he prayed Edward could hear him, that he would move fast, to do what they had to get Bella out of that house and onto the public roads, to leave Forks.

_**Wait up, Jacob, my legs aren't as long as yours. **_Jacob practically tripped over his own legs, he hadn't expected to hear anyone else in his head again, much less Seth.

_**What the hell do you think you're doing, Seth! Go back, go home! **_It was an order, but not an Alpha Order, so Seth actually didn't have to do what he told him, but he hoped that the brat would listen to him either away.

Seth didn't answer right away, but Jacob could feel the kids excitement roll off of him as he continued after him. Jacob could see through his eyes as he could see through his. The night scene in both of their visions were bleak, but the only difference is where Jacob saw despair, Seth saw hope.

Jacob hadn't realized he was even slowing down, that or Seth had suddenly gotten faster as he was suddenly at his flank, running in position beside him.

_**I'm serious, Seth, this is no place for you. Go back!**_

The gangly tan wolf gave a snort.

_**I've got your back, Jacob…..and Bella's. I won't stand beside Sam and-**_

_**Yes you will, you have to even though I don't want you to dirty your hands like that. Maybe Sam will let you stay back. **_Said Jacob, not wanting to imagine Seth tearing into Esme and Carlisle, the way it would destroy him to do so.

_**I won't do it, Jake! **_Seth shook, showing Jacob exactly how he felt about the matter in his head, Edward, Carlisle, the way Bella had stroked his fur on that snowy mountain.

_**Go back, Seth! **_

_**Is that an order, Jacob? **_Seth's question had Jacob coming up short, skidding to a halt and turning on the young wolf.

_**I'm not ordering anyone to do anything and I NEVER WILL! **_Jacob declared, adamant to get that fact across, that he was different, that he wasn't like Sam.

Seth cocked his head to the side, in that dopey way domestic dogs did, and plopped down on his haunches beside Jacob

_**It's unsettling not knowing what they're thinking. I didn't notice it at first, but now I realize that the packs aren't linked. **_Seth said, starting out between the maze of tall trees, thoughtful.

_**We should get moving again before Sam sends someone after me. **_Seth was right, they needed to get moving again. He didn't bother to argue this time, it would just be a waste and they needed to get to the Cullen's.

They fell into a run together, Jacob matching Seth's speed, not wanting to push him too hard to have to keep up with him. Seth stayed on his heels, holding the Seconds traditional place on his right flank.

_**I can run somewhere else.**_ Seth offered, his nose dipping a little. _**I didn't follow you because I was after a promotion.**_

Jacob gave a huff, a dog like sigh.

_**You can run wherever you want, Seth, it makes no difference to me. **_He knew Seth was just trying to do the right thing.

There was no sound of pursuit, but still they both stepped it up a little. They no longer could tap into the packs mind, which meant they would have no warning of any attack. It was the fact no one was following them that actually had Jacob worried the most, it meant they were taking their time to think of a better plan of attack. Or for everyone's sake, deciding not to.

_**We'll run patrols, keep an eye out for them. **_Said Seth.

_**And if the pack challenges us will you attack your brothers, your sister? **_Jacob's eyes narrowed, his voice tight. He was fully prepared to do this alone.

_**Then we should sound the alarm first if they challenge us and then fall back. **_Was his answer, as if he had been ready for that question.

_**Ok...Good answer, but um, then what? **_Seth finally seemed to deflate a little at Jacob's follow up.

_**Um, to be honest I don't think I could fight them. **_Seth whined before perking up._** But I think they would be just as unhappy about fighting us as we are about fighting them. That might just stop them there, give us time.**_

_**Will you stop being so optimistic! **_the growl Jacob let out wasn't an aggressive one, he was more frustrated than anything. _**Your getting on my nerves.**_

_**Alright, then you want me to be all doom and gloom or just be shut up completely? **_he was always so eager to please.

_**Just….Just please be quiet for a little while, ok, I need to think. **_Jacob did his best to try to keep some of the edge out of his voice. He wasn't angry with Seth, maybe a little annoyed, but he didn't hate the kid.

_**No problem, Chief. **_Jacob rolled his wolfish eyes, he could practically see Seth's cheesy grin inside his head.

They made it across the main road unseen and continued through the forest that ringed the Cullen's house. He wondered if Edward could hear them yet. If they had any clue that they were coming. If Bella knew he was coming back.

_**Maybe we should think something like 'we come in peace' so that they know it's us and not the others. **_Suggested Seth.

_**Go for it. **_Jacob encouraged.

_**Edward? **_Seth called in his head. _**Edward, are you there?**_

Silence.

_**Ok, now I feel kinda stupid. **_He huffed in an embarrassed sort of pout.

_**You sound kinda stupid. **_Jacob charted, a laugh.

_**Think we're close enough now for him to hear us? **_Seth asked.

_**I think so. **_they were less than a mile out from the Cullen's house.

_**Edward, if you can hear me, you've got a problem.**_

**We've **_**got a problem. **_Corrected Seth.

They broke through the trees then, entering into the big lawn. The house was dark, Bella was probably sleeping he thought. The vampires moved within the dark shadows inside, that he could tell. Edward had come out, standing on the porch waiting for them. On either side of him stood the big one, Emmett and the soldier, Jasper. They were snow white under the pale light of the moon. It made Jacob's skin crawl, they looked like ghosts.

"What's happened, Jacob...Seth." he added the end as a greeting to the smaller wolf, giving him a smile that practically had Seth swooning. Jacob snapped at him, warning him to watch his thoughts.

Jacob stopped a few feet infront of them, the smell so much sharper to this nose, it felt like it was burning him just to inhale it. Behind him Seth whined quietly, hesitating before coming up to flank Jacob. It was harder for him, because of his inexperience, but he did better than the others in tolerating the smell. He seemed to have found Bella's faint scent coming from the house and focused on that. It's what Jacob did as well.

To answer Edward's question Jacob let his mind run over the confrontation with Sam from the time he left the Cullen's earlier. When they got to the part where they learned about the baby, and what Sam planned to do, Edward hissed and leapt from the porch. Seth thought with Jacob, filling in the gaps after Jacob had left the pack until catching up with him.

"They want to kill Bella?" he snarled. "Do your laws mean nothing now? She's still human, your protection should still apply to her!"

Emmett and Jasper, who did not have the same advantage as seeing into their heads were confused, taking there brothers inflectionless question for a statement. The two were next to Edward in a flash, there teeth exposed as they began to move towards Seth and Jacob.

_**Hey, now, not us. We want to protect Bella. **_Seth thought, looking to Edward pleadingly for assistance as he backed away, head low,

"Not them," Edward held out an arm and shook his head. "It's the others, the Pack is coming."

The two rocked back on their heels, Emmett staring out towards the forest, still ready for a fight while Jasper kept his own gaze on the wolves currently in front of them.

"What's their problem?" Emmett demanded, looking up towards a window where Jacob could see barbie standing, listening, watching. He noticed she was standing at the end of a bed, a bundle of blankets pushed up next to the window. Looking closer, Jacob realized the bundle was Bella, curled up on her side towards the window, glimpsing a peak of her pale face poking from the covers. The glow of a fire illuminated the top of her head like a halo. What he would do to be curled up beside her.

"There problem is the same as mine," Edward hissed, glaring at Jacob having caught his thoughts just then about Bella. "The fetus. They see it as threat, not just to Bella, but to other humans. To them."

"Only the Pack has their own plans to handle it. We need to have everyone here. Call Carlisle now! He and Esme need to get back right away, I don't want the pack catching them while their out by themselves." he told Emmett, who immediately pulled out some fancy cell phone from his back pocket, his fingers dialing a number within a few short seconds before he was on the phone, explaining the situation

Jacob whined. He had been afraid of this, that they would be seperated.

"They aren't far," Edward reassured them, his voice dead, and his eyes more so, having lost that earlier flare of anger when Jacob had been thinking of Bella.

_**I'm going to take a look, **_Said Seth. _**Run the western perimeter to be on the safe side just incase they sent a scout.**_

"Will you be in any danger, Seth?" Edward asked, his tone the same, though he was obviously concerned.

_**Don't think so. **_Both Jacob and Seth thought.

_**But maybe I should go too, just in case. **_Jacob added.

Seth shook his head.

_**No, you should stay. They'll be less likely to challenge me. **_He pointed out. _**I'm just a kid to them, they won't bother with me too much.**_

_**You're just a kid to me too, Seth, I'll feel better if I-**_

_**I might be the youngest, but I'm still a wolf, Jake. I can do this much. **_He turned on Jacob, almost angry, his eyes blazing with a confidence and determination Jacob wasn't used to seeing in Seth.

_**Stay. Coordinate with the Cullen's. I'll be back soon. **_And then Seth was darting into the darkness. Jacob wasn't going to order him around, and the kid was right as much as he hated to admit it.

Seth was a wolf, a protector, and he needed to have more faith in him.

With Seth gone, Edward and Jacob stood facing one another, both uncomfortable. Emmett was still on the phone with either Esme or Carlisle. Jasper was watching the spot where Seth had disappeared into.

Rosalie still stood protectively upstairs at the foot of Bella's bed, guarding her. Which he realized they must have moved into the living room, foyer whatever the hell the rich bastard wanted to call it after he had left. The stairs were probably too much for her body to make it upstairs so they were keeping her on the second level.

This was so wrong. Things should never have come to this, where he had to protect her from his brothers that she should have been calling family instead of these leeches. She had been happy among them once. Sure she was teased for awhile, but they had started to warm up to her, she had made friends with the other imprints: Emily and Kim. She should be with them, catching up with his Rachel, helping Emily in the kitchen and talking about books with Kim. If only Edward had never come back, things would have went down the path they were supposed to go, but then things got so twisted.

Now vampire Barbie didn't just have to protect Bella from her own family, but his as well. He stared for a long moment, thinking about what to think at Edward, what to tell him, what type of plan they should concoct to handle this, but all he could think about was Bella, the peaceful look on her face as she slept. Her soft lips, parted and perfect, how he wanted to kiss them again. Wake her like sleeping beauty from this hell they found themselves in.  
Edward gave a hiss of warning, eyes narrowing at Jacob's south bound thoughts.

Alice appeared on the porch then, staring at Jacob with anxious eyes for a long moment before slotting herself into Jasper's side, his arm coming around her to hold her close against him.

"You're right. If I hadn't called that night, jumped to conclusions, things would have gone exactly as they should have with you and her." Edward finally said, his eyes on the same spot as Jacobs. Bella. "She's your imprint, the two of you are half of the same soul. You're meant to be together, no matter what capacity that may be in."

"We should have told her the truth, should have told her you imprinted on her. But when you didn't I didn't see any reason for me to." he shook his head.

"Things could have been so different."

Edward sighed, seeming to think over what he was about to say.

"Alice saw your future." Edward told him.

"There was a single moment of doubt, when Bella was so close to changing her mind when she had visited you after you were hurt." he continued. "In that moment, if Bella would have chosen you Alice had seen you after you stopped phasing, you would have gotten married on the beach, simple and small like Bella would have wanted."

Edward smiled, the most devastatingly tragic smile Jacob ever saw in that moment. The burning man he saw was now a drowned ghost of regret. And then he dropped the final blow.

"You would have had two children. Matthew and Sarah. They would have had your smile and her eyes." he at least had the courage to look at Jacob. "I'm so sorry."

_**You bastard! **_Every part of him felt like it was being torn apart, stripped into thin ribbons at the future they could have had, the future and happiness lost to him. Jacob snarled, snapping his powerful jaws at Edward. _**I fucking told you! She could have had it all with me! **_

Alice was the one to stop Jasper from jumping in, whispering something in his ear.

"I know, I do. I could have and should have walked away when Alice told me about her vision after we fought the newborns, let Bella have that future with you. But I couldn't do it, I was too selfish, I love her too much, I depend on her to give me a reason to exist in this world."

_**Why would you tell me any of this? **_Jacob growled, furious to be tormented like this.

"Because you can still have that future. If you can convince her to let us get that _thing _out of her, I'll leave her, and this time I'll keep my promise to never come back. It's not too late for the two of you." he told Jacob, his eyes far away.

_**You really don't know Bella as well as I do. **_Jacob scoffed, ruffling his own fur with a shake of his body. _**I've already talked to her, and her mind is set, I know that she won't change it for anything even for you or me.**_

"Then that thing will kill her, no matter how much she fights, no matter her own confidence that she's strong enough, her body will eventually give out under the stress the fetus is causing her."

_**That thing, that fetus is a part of her, a part of her that she will never get back if she loses it. **_He explained, remembering his sister Rebecca, when she had called sometime after she had moved to Hawaii with her husband with the happy news that she was pregnant. She lost the baby a month before her due date in November that year.

"It's not impossible to move on, I've seen it, Esme she-"

_**You can try to lie to me, but you can't lie to yourself. You know whatever you're about to say isn't true. So don't even bother saying it, not when you can see into people's heads, know how they feel. **_

"This isn't the same, those were human children, what's inside Bella is a monster, killing her slowly by the minute!" It was obvious that Edward was surprised that Jacob wasn't taking his side on this matter.

_**Listen, I'm not exactly thrilled the love of my life is having someone else's baby, but from what I see she seems fine. I know why the Pack is scared of it, but why are you? **_What did they know that he didn't.

"Excuse me, Jacob, do you mind switching forms?" Alice finally spoke up, "I would really like to know what's going on."

Jacob shook his head, there was no way he could do that, especially with Seth out there by himself.

"He needs to stay linked to Seth." explained Edward, his face a hard mask, the burning man once again returning.

"Well, then maybe you could be so kind as to tell me what's happening, Edward." she suggested a little haughtily, hands on her hips.

With a clipped tone, Edward explained the situation in emotionless sentences. Alice hissed at this new knowledge, of what he pack thought and planned to do. She turned and glared at Jacob, as if this was all his fault, and in a way he supposed it was. He shouldn't have phased when he did, he had lost his temper, allowing the pack in his unguarded mind, showing them what they needed to see to find a threat with the situation.

_**Nobody's out here. **_Seth reported, closer, coming back. _**It's all quiet on the western front.**_

_**They might plan to go around. **_He told Seth.

_**Then I'll make a loop, just in case. **_And then he was gone again.

"Carlisle and and Esme are on the way." Emmett announced. "Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes top."

"We should take up a defensive position," Jasper suggested, his tactical mind working in overdrive, thinking of every possible strategy and weeding out the best ones to fight the wolves.

Edward gave a nod of agreement. "We should all get inside then."

_**I'm going to run perimeter with Seth. If I get too far for you to hear my thoughts, listen for my howl as the warning and find a way to get Bella out of here. **_He told Edward._** You'll be outnumbered, they know how to kill you after watching you practice for the Newborn battle, you won't have much of a chance against them. **_

"Thank you, Jacob." Jacob pretended not to hear him, not even staying long enough to see them back into the house before he ran toward the west. He didn't need the leaches thanks and he didn't want it.

_**Still not finding much, **_Seth told him. That was either very good or very bad. Jacob hoped it wasn't the latter.

_**I'll take half of the circle. Move fast-we don't want to give them the chance to sneak past us. **_Said Jacob. Seth lurched forward with a sudden burst of speed. They ran in silence, keeping their ears open to any disturbances in the forest, the crackle of breaking branches, the quiet of the animals, anything that could give them an idea something was coming.

_**Something is coming up fast! **_Seth suddenly alerted him after fifteen minutes.

_**I'm on my way! **_Jacob hurried towards Seth.

_**Hold your position, I don't think it's the pack….It sounds different. **_Seth told him, tuning into the noises he had been hearing. They both caught a scent on the wind, he could hear the hum of an engine, the familiar smell of it's inner workings. He could even smell the expensive leather of the interior and food, he smelled food.

_**I'm going to meet up, follow them up to the house, make sure the others can't take them out on the road. **_Seth told him already rocketing for the roads before Jacob could even tell him how much of a bad idea that was.

Lucky for him, barely two minutes later, Seth was back reporting that Carlisle and Esme had gone shopping for Bella earlier, and stopped for a quick hunt on their way, it was lucky for them since the car would be harder to attack. They were probably already safely in the garage bringing the groceries in.

_**Oh, and Carlisle thanked me for the guard duty on the way up the road. He's a nice guy. **_Seth said, thinking about the how well the Cullen's have treated him, how they didn't baby him. Jacob rolled his eyes.

_**I don't think Sam is going to go through with a attack tonight, Jake. Now that we let the Cullen's know, they don't have the element of surprise, it would be a suicide mission. **_Seth was doing a good job, Jacob noted, they weren't leaving any gaps.

_**Hey, Jake? **_Seth interrupted his thoughts.

_**What is it?**_

_**Um, does Edward really think Bella might die? **_Seth's question was a whisper, gentle, obviously not wanting to upset anyone.

_**Seems like it. But I'm not so sure, but then again I also don't know what he knows.**_

_**Are you ok, Jake, I mean-**_

_**I'm fine, Seth. **_It was short, curt, and screamed 'drop it!'

_**Jake? **_If this kept up he was going to bite the kid.

_**What is it now, Seth!? **_He growled, a deep irritated rumble in his chest.

_**Do you think Bella will let me feel her belly, I never felt a baby kick before? **_That was not what Jacob had been expecting.

_**You'll have to ask her, but I don't think she'll mind. She practically ripped my hand off getting me to feel. **_He told the kid. Bella seemed excited that he felt it. She was surrounded by people who despised the thing inside of her, it made her happy to have someone else just as excited.

_**It's going to be so cool, I can't wait! **_He trotted, a dog like skip.

Shaking his head, Jacob was amazed by Seth's enthusiasm and ability to find the upside to almost anything.

_**We've done the circle a few times now, can I go in and see Bella? **_He practically begged Jacob, shaking with excitement.

Jacob thought about it. The kid had been the first to go on patrol once they got here before Jacob joined him, and he wasn't sure when the last time the kid had ate or rested since he was on patrol with same before the shit hit the fan. It only seemed fair he supposed.

_**Alright, just be careful around the blonde female, she's very protective of Bella. **_Jacob warned him, giving him permission to go inside. _**Make sure you eat something too, you're going to need the energy. **_

_**Yes, mom. **_Seth teased him, rolling his eyes as he looped back to the house, his tail wagging.

When Seth got to the house, and after putting on his pants, he was actually polite enough to knock on the damn door. It was Esme who answered and let him in, welcoming him with a big smile and the gratitude of what they were doing for them.

"I wanted to see, Bella." he told her, looking around with big eyes as he took in the luxuriousness of the house. He had never seen anything like it before with it's big windows, stark interior, made homey with expensive furnishings and trinkets from around the world it appeared.

"You have a really nice house." he told Esme.

"Oh, well thank you dear, I decorated it myself." she gave him a big smile, her eyes and smile soft like his moms. "But I'm afraid that Bella is sleeping right now."

"Oh," his face fell, his entire posture slumping in a full body pout.

How could anyone resist such a sweet and handsome young boy, Esme thought, taking in the childish innocence that clung to him so thickly. In a way, he reminded her a bit of Emmett. She tried to think of a way to ease his disappointment.

"But if you're very quiet, I'm sure you can peek in on her," she said quietly, almost as if it was a secret what she was doing. "Follow me."

Seth practically bounced as he followed Esme upstairs to where Bella was. They were met with a wall of pretty blond vampire at the top of the stairs, glaring at Seth.

"Rose, he just wants to see her. He's here to help protect her, remember that." Esme said, her voice gentle but strict. After a few more seconds of glaring at Seth and receiving Esme's old stern stare, she finally stepped back, bringing them in the living room where Bella was in bed in the corner.

Bella had turned over, facing the side of the fireplace, a full body pillow tucked between her bent legs and curving around the shape of her belly. Some of the blankets had been kicked off, and she was shivering. Staying quiet, he tried to approach and pull the blankets up but was stopped my a cold hard hand on his shoulder. His instinct screamed at him to phase, but he kept his control, looking at Rosalie who was holding him back.

"I-I just wanted to pull the blankets over her, she looks cold." he told her, nervous and intimidated by the vampires extreme beauty and the promise of pain in her eyes.

"Rose, let him go, it's alright." it was Edward this time that came to his defense and after another staring match, looked back to Seth.

"You better not wake her up, she needs her sleep." she warned him before removing her hand from his shoulder.

Getting to Bella, Seth pulled the comforter and then the throws over her, blushing at the little sigh she made as she cuddled further into her pillow, reacting to the warmth from both the coverage of her blankets and the heat that radiated off of him. She seemed to move towards him, seeking out his heat. She mumbled something, but he couldn't tell what it was, it wasn't too clear. She reached out her hand grasping and unable to let her keep searching blindly he gave her his hand, which she brought to her chin.

"Don't leave again, Jake." the words she had spoken before were a sleepy drawl, but it was clear for all to hear, even Jacob who had finally made it back to the house, running a tight circle around it, a little wag to his tail as he heard Bella call for him in her sleep.

"Don't worry, Bella, Jake could never leave you alone for long." Seth whispered knowingly.

He liked Edward a lot, but Jacob was his brother, he's seen the imprint through Jacob, felt his love for Bella. He wanted Jake to be happy, but he also wanted Edward to be happy. He was so nice to him. He felt really bad that there wasn't a way for both of them to get what they want. Too bad there weren't two Bella's that would solve so many things. But that was stupid, you can't clone people.

"Would you like something to eat, Seth?" Esme asked him, and he took notice of all the vampires in the room. He felt a little out of place, nervous, his instincts in overdrive. But his heart kept it all under-wraps.

"That would be awesome." Seth said very quietly so that he didn't wake up Bella. "Maybe something that I can eat with one hand since she kinds stole my other one."

Esme gave sweet, motherly laugh and even Carlisle smiled.

"I think I can find something."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The sun had risen behind the clouds an hour ago and the forest was now gray instead of black. Seth had ended up curling up beside Bella on the bed after eating the fried chicken Esme had gone out of her way to make him. He had woken up at dawn and traded off with Jacob. Even after running all night, Jacob was having a hard time making his brain shut down long enough to fall asleep, but Seth's rhythmic run was helping. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. The dull paw thuds against the damp earth were like some sort of lullaby. They were already wearing a trail into the ground. He could feel his eyes growing heavy, his head lolling on his extended paws.

Seth's thoughts were empty, just a blur of green and gray as the woods flew past him. It was restful. It helped to fill Jacob's head with what Seth saw rather than letting his own images take center stage. When he had managed to sleep he had dreamed of Bella. No big surprise there.

Suddenly Seth's piercing howl broke the early morning quiet.

Jacob lurched up from the ground, his front legs pulling toward a sprint before his hind legs were off the ground. He raced toward the place where Seth had frozen, listening with him to the tread of paws running in their direction.

_**Morning, boys.**_

A shocked whine broke through Seth's teeth. And then they both snarled as they read deeper into the new thoughts.

_**Go away, Leah! **_Seth groaned.

He stopped when he got to Seth, head thrown back, ready to howl again-this time to complain.

_**Right. Ugh! Ugh!**_He whimpered and pawed at the ground, scratching deep furrows in the dirt.

Leah trotted into view, her small gray body weaving through the underbrush.

_**Stop whining, Seth, you're such a baby.**_

Jacob growled at her, his ears flattening against his skull. She skipped back a step automatically.

_**What do you think you're doing, Leah?**_

She huffed a heavy sigh. _**It's pretty obvious, isn't it. I'm joining your crappy little renegade pack. The vampire's guard dogs. **_

She barked out a low, sarcastic laugh.

_**No, your not. Turn around before I rip out one of your hamstrings.**_

_**Like you could catch me.**_She grinned and coiled her body for launch, _**Wanna race, O fearless leader?**_

Jacob took a deep breath, filling his lungs until his sides bulged. Then, when he was sure he wasn't going to howl, he exhaled in a gust.

_**Seth, go let the Cullen's know that it's just your stupid sister-**_He thought the words as harshly as possible. _I'll deal with this._

_**On it! **_Seth was only too happy to leave. He vanished towards the house, the thought of getting to see Bella rolling around in his head.

Leah whined and leaned after him, the fur on her shoulders rising. _**You're just going to let him run off to the vampires alone?**_

_**He's fine, he slept inside last night. They have no problem with him. It's you I'm worried about being here. **_He told her

_**Shut up, Jacob. Oops, I'm sorry. I meant, shut up, most high Alpha.**_

_**Why the hell are you here? **_he growled.

_**You think I'm just going to sit at home while my little brother volunteers to be a vampires chew toy? **_she snapped at him, looking towards the Cullen's house.

_**Seth doesn't want or need your protection. In fact, no one wants you here. **_he told her, worried about Bella, who Leah had never been afraid of insulting or telling her as it was. If she stressed Bella out, Barbie was going to tear through Leah's neck the first chance she got.

_**Ooh, ouch, that's gonna leave a huge mark. Ha! **_she barked. _**Tell me who does want be around, and I'm outta here.**_

_**So this isn't about Seth at all, is it?**_He said, digging into the deeper reason for her arrival.

_**Of course it is. I'm just pointing out that being unwanted is not a new thing to me. Not really a motivating factor, if you know what I mean. **_

Jacob gritted his teeth and tried to get his head straight.

_**Did Sam send you? **_His voice was filled with warning, with threat.

_**If I was here on Sam's errand, you wouldn't be able to hear me. My allegiance is no longer with him. **_She told him, sounding like she was proud of herself.

Jacob listened carefully to the thoughts mixed in with the words. If this was a diversion or a ploy, he had to be alert enough to see through it. But there was nothing. Her declaration was nothing but the truth.

Damn, he really wanted an excuse to tear into her.

_**You're loyal to me now? **_He asked with thick amount of sarcasm. _**Uh huh. Right.**_

_**My choices are limited. I'm working with the options that I have. Trust me, I am not enjoying this any more than you are. **_She told him rolling her shoulders.

That wasn't true. There was an edgy kind of excitement in her mind. She was unhappy about this, but she was also riding on some weird high from it too. He searched his mind, trying to understand.

She bristled, resenting the intrusion. He usually tried to tune Leah out so he had never tried to make sense of her before.

_**Yesterday you practically offered to kill Bella yourself. What was it that you said. Oh, yea. 'we can snap her neck, it will be quick' something like that?**_

They were interrupted by Seth, thinking his explanation at Edward. Leah whined anxiously. Edward's face, framed in the same window Rosalie had been in showed no reaction to the news. It was a blank face, dead of all emotion. Yet despite his appearance, they could hear the sound of humming and the smell of food cooking. Bella was up, the humming was from her. He could hear Rosalie plead with Bella to let one of them cook, for her to sit down and rest. Bella was having none of it.

"I'm fine, Rose, I can stand on my own two feet without help once in awhile and I am not going to be wheeled around in that chair Carlisle brought home last night. Plus, you always burn everything." they heard her say from the kitchen. Her voice was still hoarse, but she was lively as ever. If not more so.

_**She sounds ok, and besides being a little chilly she was fine last night when she was sleeping. So why is Edward so upset?** _Seth muttered to himself. The vampire showed no reaction to the thought either and disappeared into the house. Seth pivoted and headed back out to Jacob and Leah. Leah relaxed a little.

_**What's going on?**_Leah asked. _**Catch me up to speed.**_

_There's no point. You're not staying._

_**Actually, Mr. Alpha, I am. Because since apparently I have to belong to someone, and don't think I haven't tried breaking off on my own and you know how well that works out, I choose you. **_she told him with a huff.

_**Leah, you don't even like me and I don't like you. **_He could barely stand her in Sams pack, it would only be worse having her around here.

_**Thanks, Captain obvious. That doesn't matter to me. I'm staying with Seth. **_she declared, plopping her furry but down.

_**You don't even like vampires and you've made it clear you don't like Bella. **_He snarled, not wanting her even in visual range of his imprint

_**You don't like vampires either**__. _she wisely didn't mention Bella.

_**But I am committed to this alliance. You aren't. **_He explained.

_**I'll keep my distance from them. I can run patrols out here, just like Seth. **_she told him, trying to compromise so she could stay.

_**And I'm supposed to trust you with that? **_He asked, skeptically. _  
_She stretched her neck, trying her best to be as tall as Jacob as she leaned up on her toes and stared him in the eyes._** I will not betray my pack.**_

He wanted to throw his head back and howl, like Seth had done before. _**This isn't your pack! This is even a pack. This is just me, going off on my own! What is with you Clearwater's? Why can't you leave me alone?**_

Seth came up behind them and whined. Jacob had offended him. Just great.

_**I've been helpful, haven't I, Jake? **_he whined, his voice sounding like a child's, hurt.

_**You have. But you and Leah are a package deal, so if the only way to get rid of her is for you to go home….can you blame me? **_He said to Seth who gave a long whine.

_**Ugh, Leah, you ruin everything! **_He yelled at her.

_**Yea, I know**__, _She told him, and the thought was loaded with the heaviness of her own despair.

Jacob felt the pain in three little words, and it was more than he would have guessed/ He didn't want to feel that. He didn't want to feel bad for her. Sure, the pack was rough on her, but she brought it on herself with the bitterness that tainted every thought she had, making being in her head a total nightmare.

Seth was feeling guilty too now. Just great. All he wanted was to sleep and to have breakfast, the order didn't really matter as long as he got one of them soon.

_**Jake...You're not gonna really send me away, are you? Leah's not so bad, really. I mean, with her here, we can push the perimeter out farther. And this puts Sam down to seven. There's no way he's going to mount an attack that outnumbered. It's probably a good thing-**_

_**You know I don't want to lead a pack, Seth. **_Jacob groaned, tired, hungry and annoyed.

_**So don't lead us. **_Leah offered.

Jacob snorted._** Sounds perfect to me. If that's the case run along home now.**_

_**Jake, **_Seth thought. _**I belong here. I **_**do **_**like vampires. The Cullens anyway, and **_**Bella**_. __**They're people to me, and I'm going to protect them, cause' that's what we're supposed to do.**_

_**Maybe you belong, kid, but your sister sure as hell doesn't. And she's going to go wherever you are-**_

He stopped short, because he saw something when he said that in Leah's mind. Something she had been trying very hard not to think about.

Leah wasn't going anywhere.

_**Thought this was about Seth, **_he thought sourly.

She flinched, caught red handed._** Of course I'm here for Seth.**_

_**And to get away from Sam. **_He said what she didn't want to admit aloud.

Her jaw clenched. _**I don't have to explain myself to you. I just have to do what I'm told. I belong to your pack, Jacob. The end.**_

Jacob paced away from her, growling. This sucked.

He was never going to get rid of her. As much as she disliked him, as much as she loathed the Cullen's and Bella, as happy as she'd be to kill them all, as much as it pissed her off to have to protect them instead-none of it was anything compared to what she felt being free of Sam.

Leah didn't like Jacob, so it wasn't much of an insult having him wish she would disappear. But she loved Sam. Still. And having him wish she would disappear was more pain than she was willing to live with, now that she had a choice. She would have taken any other option. Even if it meant moving in with the Cullens as their lap dog.

_**I don't know if I would go that far,**_She snorted._** I'm sure I'd give killing myself a few good tries first.**_

_**Look, Leah…**_

_**No, you look, Jacob. Stop arguing with me, because it's not going to do any good. I'll stay out of your way, okay? I'll do anything you want. Except go back to Sam's pack and be the pathetic ex-girlfriend he can't get away from. **_She sat on her haunches and stared straight into his eyes. _If you want me to leave, your going to have to _make_ me._

Jacob snarled for a long, angry minute. He was beginning to feel some sympathy for Sam, despite what he had done to him and to Seth. No wonder he was always ordering the pack around. How else would you ever get anything done?  
_**Seth, are you going to get mad at me if I kill your sister?**_

The kid pretended to think about it for a long minute._** Well...yeah, probably. Our Mom would be really sad if you did. **_

Jacob sighed. There was no way out of this.

_**Okay, Ms. Do-anything-I-want. Why don't you make yourself useful by telling us what you know? What happened after we left last nigh**__t?_

_**Lots of howling, but you probably heard that part. It was so loud that it took us a while to figure out we couldn't hear you anymore. Sam was.**__.._She was at a lost of words to describe how Sam had reacted, but they could see it in her head. Both Seth and Jacob cringed.

_**After that, it was clear pretty quick that we were going to have to rethink things. Sam was planning to talk to the Elders first thing this morning. We were supposed to meet up and figure out a game plan. I could tell he wasn't going to mount an attack right away. It would have been suicide at this point, with you and Seth AWOL and the bloodsuckers warned. I'm not sure what they'll do now, but I wouldn't be wandering the forest alone if I was a leech. It's open season on vamps now.**_

_**So, you decided to skip the meeting this morning? **_He asked.

_**When we split for patrols last night, I asked permission to go home, to tell my mom what had happened with Seth after he left chasing your tail-**_

_**Crap! You told Mom? Did you forget she's dating Charlie? Did you tell her that Bella's pregnant? **_he growled. _**Why would you do tha-**_

_**Seth, can you hold off on the sibling stuff for a sec. Go on, Leah. **_He went between them.

_**So, once I was human, I took a minute to think things through. Well, actually, I took all night. I bet the others all thought I fell asleep. But the whole two-separate-packs, two-separate-pack-minds thing gave me a lot to sift through. In the end I weighed Seth's safety and the, er, other benefits against the idea of turning traitor and sniffing vampire stink for who knows how long. Now I'm here, so you know already know what I decided. **_she took a breath._** I left a note for my mom. I expect we'll hear it when Sam finds out…**_

Leah cocked an ear to the west, listening.

_**Yea, I expect we will. **_He agreed.

_**So that's everything. What do we do now?**_she asked, almost giddy to have any distraction.

She and Seth both looked at Jacob expectantly. This was the exact kind of thing he didn't want to do.

_**I guess we just keep an eye out for now. That's all we really can do. You should also probably take a nap, Leah. **_He sighed, though it was closer to a yawn at this point.

_**You've had as much sleep as I have.**_She countered.

_**Thought you were going to do what you were told? **_He glared at her.

_**Right. That's gonna get old real fast, **_she grumbled, and then she yawned._** Well, whatever. I don't care.**_

_**I'll run the border, Jake. I'm not tired at all. **_Seth was so glad he hadn't forced them to go him, he was all but prancing with excitement.

_**Sure, sure. I'm going to go check with the Cullen's and maybe get some breakfast for us. Bella's cooking. **_He lifted his nose in the air, taking a deep breath of the smell of meat, grease, the sweet scent of pancake mix.

Seth, wanting to give Jacob a chance to eat, rest, and spend some time with Bella, took off along the new path worn into the damp earth they had made during last night. Leah looked after him thoughtfully before turning to Jacob.

_**Quick question, Jake,**_She said, and he gave his bust annoyed whine.

_**What? **_He didn't have a good feeling about this. _  
__**Why did you never tell Bella you imprinted on her. I know she asked you once if you had, I saw it in your mind. Why did you tell her you hadn't? **_She asked him, never understanding it.

Jacob looked towards the house, he could smell Bella still over the scent of breakfast.

_**Because I was overly confident. I thought she would choose me and I wanted her to do it of her own free will. I didn't want her to feel obligated to be with me because I imprinted on her. It wouldn't have felt right.**_

_**She's the first imprint to deny her wolf, I've never heard of that happening before.**_she pointed out.

_**We also never heard of a girl phasing before, but it happened. It's not impossible for a imprint to refuse the one who imprinted on her. She may not have chosen me to be her lover, but she did choose me to be her friend. **_He explained, shrugging her shoulders in the only way his body could.

Leah didn't say anything more as she had found a tree to go curl under.

Leaving her, Jacob went back to the house and phased back when he was a few yards from the lawn. He hadn't planned on spending much time as human here. But he hadn't been planning to have Leah in his head again either. He pulled on his ragged shorts and started across the lawn.

The door opened before he got to the steps and was surprised to see Bella, rather than Edward or even Carlisle. Rosalie as always was hovering behind her. Bella was wearing a dark green knit sweater, that despite its incredibly large size, looked like it fit her much better than what she had been wearing yesterday. She was also wearing some very comfortable looking skinny jeans, the fabric soft and warm. They were either fashionable maternity pants or they were altered by one of the Cullen's to fit her. Her hair was braided over her shoulder. It looked shinier,healthier than it had before. The sleep she had gotten last night must have helped.

"Perfect timing, I just finished cooking breakfast. I hope I cooked enough for Seth." she said, waddling like a penguin out the door. She stumbled and he raced to catch her, but before he could Rosalie had one hand holding her arm and the other wrapped just above Bella's swollen stomach.  
"You have to be more careful, Bella, you could hurt the baby!" her voice was even, but her eyes were scolding.

"Sorry, Rose. Thanks for catching me." she smiled, trying not to flinch at how cold Rosalie was being. She had become very affectionate since she told her she was pregnant, but when it came to what was best for the baby she treated her like the enemy rather than the actual mother of said unborn baby.

"Do you want to come in, Jake, or we can eat outside if the smell is too much. I could use the fresh air," she smiled, looking at the small table on the porch.

"I tried to convince them that it wasn't what they thought, Bells, I swear. I defended _him._" He said, touching the sides of her stomach, feeling the swell there. He needed for her to know, needed her to believe him.

"You did?" she asked, and he could see the way her eyes went glassy, threatening to cry as she reached for him.

"I told them it wasn't as bad as it looked in my head, that it's just a baby." He could see it so clear how much it meant to know that he had defended not only her, but her child as well. A child that everyone but her and Rosalie wanted destroyed. "You said it yourself, it's a part of you. And If you love someone you should love every piece of them."

"Oh, Jacob." And then her arms were around him, her stomach pressed against the valley of his abs.

Surprised, Jacob didn't wrap his arms around her right away, but after a second to adjust to the feeling of having her in his arms again he was holding her as close as he could get her. She seemed even tinier than she had been before when he danced with her at her wedding. He felt the baby move against his stomach, but as odd as the feeling was he wasn't revolted by it, remembering the sound of the baby's heart and it's soft kicks against his hand. Most of all he remembered how happy Bella had been when he had, the way she had held his hand and moved it with the baby's every move.

In those moments she had treated him as if he were her husband and not Edward, trusting him and confiding in him in ways she couldn't with the leech. Somehow the sound of the little monsters heart had triggered his paternal instinct to protect. Who else would, what other male figure would even attempt to care for it when Edward wouldn't. All it had was Bella...and Rosalie, but he didn't trust her. He still wasn't sure that she wasn't just after the kid.

That wasn't saying there weren't things about the baby he still didn't need to overcome, questions that he needed to be answered about it, but for Bella's sake he would try to care about it as much as he could care for anothers mans unborn child. At least it was more than Edward was attempting. If this was what Bella needed from him, he would give it to her. It was going to be really weird and awkward, but he would give it a was his imprint after all.

"I'm glad you came back, despite the circumstances. I didn't think I would see you again" she said into his chest, and Jacob tried to keep his cool as he felt her warm breath on his skin.

"Yeah, me, either." he said in that soft, husky voice that made Bella feel warm.

"They told me what you had to do, not just about Sam wanting to…"

"S'okay. It was probably only a matter of time till I snapped over something Sam wanted me to do," He lied.

"What about, Seth?" she asked, hugging him tighter. "Esme said he came to see me last night but I was asleep. I can smell him on my pillows, he kept me warm. I have to thank him."

"That's good, I would have come in myself, but he really wanted to see you and one of us had to keep patrol. So far he's really happy to help."

"Is Seth out on patrol now?" She asked, letting go of him to look around him for the younger wolf, as if expecting him to appear.

"Yea, and Leah's taking a nap." he told her, his face a deep frown as he remembered Leah.

Bella's face paled a little when he mentioned her, something he didn't miss. Then again he didn't blame her, Leah wasn't exactly her number one fan.

"Why, is she with you?" she breathed, her eyes a little wild as she looked for the she-wolf, shrinking into Jacob.

"She's here keep an eye on Seth." he explained short and simple rather than give her the entire novelization. "Big sister you know."

"But, doesn't Leah hate me, and the Cullens?" he could see that she was afraid and he rubbed at her back, trying to get her to relax.

"Hate is such a strong word, she strongly dislikes you is more accurate." he said, trying to make light of the situation.

"'Strongly dislikes' is just a nice way of saying hate." she glares up at him, not buying it for one second.

"Are you sure I can trust her," she frowns, getting that little wrinkle between her eyebrows, her hands going protectively to her stomach.

"You're scared of Leah, who's in my pack," He looked at Rosalie. "but you're best buds with the psychopath Blonde?"

He didn't want to fight with her, but it was just so damn hard.

Rosalie hissed at him.

Bella frowned.

"Jacob, don't...I told you already, Rose….understands." she sighed. "And to be honest, when it comes to words, Leah is much more...hurtful."

"So Leah will hurt your feelings, you'll get over it but if your pregnancy does get worse and you die or something goes wrong, Barbie gets your kid out of the deal. Which is worse?"

"Stop being a jerk, Jacob, I don't want to fight with you." she said, her cheeks puffing a little.

"You say that likes it's possible not to," he tried to smile. "But seriously, Leah will be fine, she's going to steer clear of the house. She can't stand the smell."

"I don't want anyone to die for me, Jacob. If it comes to a fight, I'll find a way to run, I don't want any of you to get hurt….including Leah."

"How exactly do you, a heavily pregnant woman, plan to our run a group of wolves?" he asked, trying not to laugh.

"I'll take a car. Have you seen the Cullen's garage, I'm sure one of those things can outrun you guys." she shrugged.

"You just have it all planned out don't you." he smirked, shaking his head in astonishment.

"Kinda," she said with a secretive smile.

"Bella, your food is going to get cold." Rosalie reminded her.

"Well, are we going to eat inside or outside," she asked Jacob, looking at him the way he hated. Like he was her favorite person in the world.

"Let's go inside, it's warmer." he said when he noticed her start to shiver. She only nodded, sticking close to his side as they went in.

He didn't see any of the other vampires as they walked through the house towards the kitchen. He guessed they were all holed up stairs, at least that was where all the noises were coming from. He was also certain he heard the familiar sounds of someone playing _Halo._

The scent of the food almost overpowered the stench of the vampires, and Jacob's mouth watered the closer they got. When they turned into the kitchen/dining room, the entire table was covered with plates of food from end to end.

"Dang, Bells, you've cooked enough to feed a small army. How long did this take?" he couldn't help but ask as he went to help Bella sit down at the head of the table, but Blondie beat him too it, glaring at him all the while and talking sweetly to Bella. Too bad she couldn't read his mind like Edward, she would have found some pretty colorful words about herself in there.

"Not as long as you would think, plus I like to cook. I also know how much you guys eat, I've seen it first hand. Do you think this is enough for all of you." she asked, concerned more about the rest of our appetites then her own.

"Trust me, this is enough" he said, admiring all off the food. Plates of bacon and ham, BLT's, bowls of scrambled eggs(They must have gotten more when Esme and Carlisle went out), mountains of pancakes and waffles, and pyramids of sausage.

"Have I told you I loved you today yet?" he asked, still staring at the food with his mouth hanging open.

"Not yet," she blushed.

"Well, I do. I love you so freaking much," he said before picking up a fork and picking things from the table and piling them onto his plate. Bella laughed, happy to see him so energetic over her food. And since she couldn't lean as far over the table because of her stomach, Rose helped her make her plate.

As they ate and they talked more about the situation, just to get it all out on the table, Bella made sure she monitored how much food was left, so that there would be enough for Seth and Leah.

The entire time Jacob and Bella ate, Rosalie watched them. Lucky for Jacob he was slowly becoming a master of ignoring people and tuning them out.

"So….Leah?" Bella suddenly said as, nibbling at the corner of a piece of toast smeared with peanut butter.

"Uh huh..Leah?" Jacob said slowly, not trusting where this could lead. He hated fighting with her just as much as she hated fighting with him,

"You never told me how she's been handling Sue and Charlie's relationship," she said not looking him in the eyes as she took a big gulp of her glass of milk.

"She doesn't like it. Thinks it's too soon after Harry died for her mom to be dating again." he told her, putting more pancakes on his plate and drowning them in syrup and butter.

"Oh," she bobbed her head absentmindedly. "That's a shame, they seem to make each other really happy."

"They do." Jacob assured her.

"That's really good. I'm sure Leah will come around eventaully. It was really weird when my mom started dating again. Or at least it was once I was old enough to realize what was going on." she mumbled.

"Renee didn't exactly wait too long after she left Charlie to jump back on the wagon, you know?" she said, cutting a piece of pancake.

"Do you know what she likes to eat?' she said after a peaceful amount of silence between them. They didn't always need to speak aloud, their eyes and smiles did just as much talking as their mouths.

"Who?" he looked up, a piece of bacon hanging between his teeth.

"Leah," she clarified, not looking at him. She felt so awkward talking about the other woman.

In a strange way she was more jealous and envious of Leah's beauty, her spirit than she was toward Alice, Esme or even Rosalie. She might ruin it all with her bad attitude, but Leah was so beautiful, and she got to spend her days with Jacob, inside his head, as if she was one with him. She was jealous of her, and it made her stomach turn to realize this. She had no right to feel this way, not when she had chosen Edward.

"Uh, just curious, Bells, but why d'ya want to know?" he asked.

"I get that she's only here because of Seth, if it wasn't for him she wouldn't bother even making an effort to help me, that she probably resents me for putting Seth in danger during the fight with the New Borns." she poked at her food, miserable about the whole thing, past and present.

"The point is, she hates me and I'm not exactly her biggest fan either. I get what she's been through, I know what she's been through, and I feel for her so I rather not have her completely miserable and pissed off while she's here. If I can make it a little bit easier for her, I will, starting by making her favorite foods." was her long explanation, stabbing the yoke of her sunny side egg and watching the yellow goo bleed out over the rest of her food.

"What animosity," Jacob whistled, surprised, impressed and a little annoyed that out of all the people that Bella didn't like, Leah, one of his pack, was one of them.

"Yeah, well I have enough people who don't like my baby, and I really don't need another one to add to the list." she shrugged.

Jacob wisely said nothing.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"Any improvement with Edward? Seth pretty much said he looked like shit earlier." Jacob knew it was mistake to ask, he knew before he said, but there might be something he needed to know that Bella wouldn't tell him otherwise without a little probing on his part to get it out of her.

Watching her face fall, he gave a sigh, not a normal sigh, a sigh that clearly said he knew he was an idiot for asking.

"I'm sorry, Bells, you don't have to tell me." he assured her, feeling like an insensitive ass. He was only going to piss her off and then they would get into another fight and despite that seeming to be their thing, he really didn't want to put her through that.

"You really should call for Seth to come in. He's been out there all night with you, I know he's slept and Esme made him some chicken last night but I know how big your appetites are and a little chicken won't keep him full for long." she changed the subject herself.

"I feel bad for him, please." she begged him, reaching over to squeeze his hand and batting those big eyes at him, knowing he was a sucker for them.

"Alright give me a second." he sighed and stood from the table, he made quick work of shifting letting Seth know to switch with Leah. The runt was more than happy to run back to the house, Leah meeting him halfway to take his place on patrol around the property, he barely managed to pull on his pants in his excitement before getting in the house, still bare chested as he followed Jacob to the kitchen.

"Bella!" he called for her, running around the table. He stopped a few feet away, catching Rosalie's glare.

"Can I hug her?" he asked, hesitating with Rosalie around.

"Don't be silly, Seth, you don't have to ask. Come 'ere," Bella didn't stand back up, afraid she might stumble and worry everyone, so she just pushed her chair out and turned in her seat to face Seth. She held open her arms to him, welcoming him.

With the same beautiful grin she had once been a constant on Jacob's face, her bent over and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her a little from her chair in his excitement. Bella giggled at his enthusiasm. He seemed to snuggle his face into her hair, taking in her scent, her body warmth. Maybe it was because he spent so much time in Jacob's head that he felt this connection to her, this protectiveness and fondness towards her. He didn't mind what the reason was, he liked Bella, she was nice to him, cared about him and didn't treat him like a kid all the time. And she smelled nice.

"So, how's the baby, still kicking." he made a joke, one that had Jacob rolling his eyes at how cheesy it was as he sat back down, already making a plate for Seth.

Bella immediately lit up at the question.

"First sit down and eat something, and then I'll tell you all about him." she compromised.

"Deal!" He agreed, pulling out a seat across from Bella and Jake.

She watched him eat happily for a few minutes, glad to see him enjoying her warm, home cooked breakfast, scarfing it down without too much thought yet all the same finding the time to enjoy the taste of it.

"The baby is doing ok, he's as lively as ever, and he's still kicking but somehow it's seems like he's become more gentle, as if he knows now that he can hurt me…...I guess that's stupid, he's too young to realize any of that." she trailed off, this smile on her face and look in her eyes as if she were in bliss. She was so girly, it was strange, because Bella wasn't that type of person, she wasn't wired that way. But it seemed being pregnant had brought out her feminine side full force.

It wasn't a bad thing, it was nice, like she was coming into herself in a way. She was still only eighteen after all, they still had a lot of growing to do.

"Anything else?" Jacob pushed, Seth's mouth too stuffed to get any words out. There was something about the way Barbie was lurking even closer over Bella's shoulder that set his alarms off.

Bella bit her lips, her eyes shifting, looking everywhere but at him.

"What is it, honey?" he felt his eyes narrow, his body tense as he dropped his fork, reaching for her.

"Apparently I woke up with a fever this morning." she explained in a nervous.

"How bad of a fever?" she had looked fairly ok when he peeked in last night, and despite the layers of blankets she had been wrapped in and Seth curled up next to her, she hadn't appeared to be sweating.

"104." she mumbled.

Jacob clenched his teeth and pinched shut his eyes. For him that was nothing, that was close to what he ran all the time, but Bella, thing, pregnant Bella that was bad. He didn't like the thought of her running a fever that high, or the thought of her sick at all. He wondered if it had been because of the baby, he couldn't think of any other reason for her to get sick like that.

"Were there any other symptoms, I know you already get the chills but did you feel worse than usual," Seth piped in.  
Bella looked at him stunned, not having expecting such line of question.

"My mom's a nurse remember," he told her then took a huge bite of some sausage. "Plus, I want to be a doctor."

"That's great, Seth, you would make an amazing doctor." she could picture him too, always friendly to each and every patient, attentive and kind.

"And answer your question I felt a little fatigued on top of the fever, but no cough or headache and I'm completely fine now," she adds quickly not wanting anyone to worry too much.

"But what about the baby?" Jacob wasn't too aware of the symptoms of pregnancy besides the obvious, but it probably wasn't a good thing if you ran a fever.

"Well…"she frowned, and glanced up at Rose.

"Well, what? He's ok, right?" Jacob wasn't sure if he felt panic for the baby, or if it was for Bella. Maybe both. Bella wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she somehow let the baby get sick or if something went wrong. It would kill her. He didn't want to see her that way, didn't want to see her broken again.

"The only way to know if he's alright after the fever, or anything for sure is if we did an Amniocentesis, and…"

"But you said that amniotic-whatever-thing was too hard or something, it didn't work." he interrupted her.

"We never actually tried." she admitted, and he noticed the way she glanced at Rosalie. It was a quick, barely noticeable look, but he caught it and so did Rosalie. Vampire Barbie, narrowed her eyes at Bella. "I mean we have once, but Carlisle barely poked me the needle before-"

"Bella." the tone of Rosalie's voice was a warning, she didn't want Bella to say anymore.

"Let her talk," he glared at Rosalie, already sensing that she was somehow behind the reason.

"Rosalie won't let me." Bella answered, speaking fast as she stole her courage. "And neither will Edward, he stopped Carlisle from trying last time."

"Why the hell would they stop him if it means you can find out if the baby is ok, or even what it is? This might be enough to get the pack off your back, if it works, and we can find out more about the baby. This could solve all of our problems." he wanted to rip Blondie's head off for being so thick headed.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, pushing her plate away. Rosalie took a step forward, glaring and hissing at Jacob.

"Maybe." he told her, knowing there was no guarantee when it came to Sam.

"Carlisle could hurt the baby, Bella!" Rosalie said, stepping up to the table, one hand gently on Bella's shoulder, and the other flat against the table as she continued to glare at Jacob.

"Then we'll make sure he doesn't. If Bella feels like she's in any pain, or feels like something is wrong we'll stop him." he says, putting his own hands flat on the table as he stood, pushing his chair back with the force of his rising, Rosalie and Jacob's voice deadly calm despite the mood. You could cut through the animosity like a hot knife through butter.

"Stop it, you two fighting won't solve anything." Seth broke the two of them up.

"Either way, getting a fever while pregnant can be a serious thing, If your body goes from 98.6 degrees to the temperature of a fever, it could keep the proteins that the baby needs from working properly and contribute to a miscarriage. In rare cases, it can cause birth defects." he continued, remembering some of the things that this mom had been going over with Emily after she got the good news that she was pregnant.

"An Amnio can tell us if the baby has developed any abnormalities or even if there is a fetal infection. I'm sure Carlisle already knows this."

"Well, since you already know all of that you should also know that choosing to have such an invasive test also carries a risk of miscarriage."

"A _small_ risk," Seth corrected her. "Carlisle also has a steadier hand than any human doctor, meaning that chance becomes even smaller.

"You little-" Rosalie began to snarl, annoyed at this know it all runt that had come prancing in, filling Bella's head.

"I'll do it, Rose. What if something's wrong with the baby?" she put her hand over Rosalie's and looked at her. "Wouldn't you want to know? I would."

Rosalie stared at her for a long time, her eyes softening only slightly as she thought out what to do. Not that it was really Rosalie's choice, but she had a deep hold over Bella, that was obvious.

"We have to at least try, Rose….for the baby." she said. Jacob wanted to grin in victory but before he could his face stretched all on it's own into a huge yawn, and Bella's eyes turned back to him.

"Since you so blatantly said I looked like crap the other day, Jake, then you should also know that you look even worse. When was the last time you slept?" she said ruthlessly, but their was a softness there as she combed her fingers through his hair, pushing some of it back and curving her fingers around his ear. A thrill went through her when he gave an pleasurable tremble from the touch before he gently pulled her hand away.

"You noticed, huh?" he said, looking at his plate. He didn't want her too worry about him, she had enough to worry about.

"Of course I did!" she snapped at him. "You have to sleep, Jake."

"I can't," he said, taking another bite of sausage.

"What do you mean you can't?" she narrowed her eyes.

"I have to make sure that-"

"Stop!" she raised a hand. "I don't want to hear your excuses. After you've finished your breakfast you are going to take a nap on the couch while me and Rose talk to Carlisle. You can't protect anyone if you're exhausted." she told him.

"And don't think about arguing with me. I'm not exactly giving you a choice." she told him, her hand squeezing his as tight as she could, her knuckles going white as his fingers squished together under the pressure.

"Bella?" he said, looking down at her hand.

"Oh!" she suddenly let go, her hands going to her stomach.

"What's wrong?!" Rosalie was at her side in less than a second, Jacob slowly following as he stood with such force it knocked his chair back. Both of them were at her side, searching her face and looking back and forth towards her stomach.

"He kicked again," she answered, sounding out of breath as she rubbed at her stomach soothingly.

"Can I feel, can I feel!?" Seth jumped from his chair, getting on his knees beside Bella, hands hovering over her big belly.

"Go ahead, he's right over here." she smiled and placed his hand where the baby had kicked last. The moment the baby moved again his entire body seemed to perk up, his face lighting up with excitement as he nearly squealed.

"Did it hurt? Be honest, Bells." Jacob asked her, one hand over hers.

"Yeah, but the pain is going away. It's always like this, sometimes he'll kick too hard or move around too suddenly but right after the pain is gone almost immediately." she explained to him, knowing full well she couldn't lie to him and didn't want to.

"I think it's more the shock of it that makes it hurt so much sometimes." she shrugged

She turned back to boy at her feet, petting Seth's head as he pressed his ear to her belly, listening to the baby in wonder.

"He seems to get so excited when you guys are around," she told them both. "As long as you guys are around, I'll never have to worry about him begging me for a puppy."

"That's true, he can play with us all he wants, I can show him all sorts of things, teach him things too." Seth said, clearly very excited at the notion of taking on the role of 'big brother' for once.

"I would really like that, Seth." she encouraged him. She would need someone outside of this family to care for her baby, who genuinely liked her son. She knew Jacob was trying, for her, because he loved her still. She appreciated that, but Seth just liked everyone naturally, that would be good for both her and her baby to be around.

"Seth, you should really finish eating, you'll have plenty of time after to feel him kick." she finally told him, pointing to his still half-full plate.

"But-" He tried to protest but Bella gave him the same scary look his mom made when she asked him to do the laundry.

"Alright," he whined, moving back into his own seat and gobbling up everything on his plate before filling it up again. Bella herself finished what was left on her plate, and downed her glass of orange juice.

"I'm done, Rose, let me push my dishes in the sink and then I want to talk to Carlisle." but Rosalie was already grabbing her plate and glass, delivery them to the sink and returning back in an instant to help Bella out of her chair.

"I'll go with you." said Jacob, standing too, his hand resting Between Bella's shoulders, Rosalie's hand on her lower back, both of them supporting her.

"No." she said firmly. "You are going into the other room and you have your pick of the couch or the bed in there, either way you are going to sleep for at least a few hours."

He opened his mouth to argue but she held a hand up, her face stern.

"Just-Please, Jake, you'll make me worry if you don't get some sleep." he wanted to fight her, wanted to scream at her that he was fine and would rather spend as much time with her as he could. But then he thought about her worrying, stressing herself out over something so little.

"Fine," he sighed. He was about to turn to Seth, to tell him to wring out some food to his sister when he was done, but Rosalie said something then that he was more worried about.

"Your legs are practically shaking, Bella" Rosalie pointed out to her, her tone soft, trying to appeal her to take her advice. "Maybe you should use the wheelchair?"

"I'm fine, it's just that I still haven't gotten use to carrying so much weight," she blushed embarrassed and a little insecure. "Give me a second and I'll be fine to walk again."

"Are you sure, honey?" said Jacob, his thumb tracing a warm circle at the top of her spine, the warmth already making her feel stronger and more relaxed than she had before. Jacob had the healing touch that was for sure.

It was then that Edward had chosen to make an appearance, his expression like that of an inquisitive dead fish.

"Get out of our way, Edward, we're going to see Carlisle?" Rosalie practically hissed at her brother.

Jacob was surprised when Bella suddenly grabbed his hand, tugging him closer to her side as she eyed Edward wearily. Jacob was so confused, he figured she would have thrown herself his way, tell him about what they had been talking about, how having an amnio could solve everything, show him proof that the baby wasn't some devil spawn with a pointy tail. He started to think that there had to have been more than just the baby to create such a huge rift between them.

"Bella, love?" Edward said, his voice flat as ever, but this time his eyes finally gave a little, softening as he took a step towards them. "Is everything alright?"  
"We really need to talk to Carlisle, Edward," she told him, her own eyes softening, looking at him almost apologetically as if she had done something wrong. Jacob frowned. She shouldn't feel guilty about anything, shouldn't feel she needed to apologize to the creep.

"About what?" he asked, taking another step closer to her.

"My fever last night. I'm worried that it might have affected the baby somehow and I want Carlisle to examine me, just to make sure he's ok." she said, a few loose strands falling from her braid and into her face.

Edward was in front of her then in 'whoosh', tucking the dark strands back in place, ignoring Jacob and Rosalie's hands on both of his shoulders, holding him back, worried he might try to do something incredibly stupid. Either vampire or werewolf trusted the guy around Bella anymore, husband or not.

"If it's sick, it would be a mercy to put it out of it's misery." he said coldly, his voice and eyes frigid. "It would be for the best really, it'll finally show you that it's not meant for life."

Before they could stop her, Bella had slapped Edward, her brown eyes burning with deep fury at her husband. Her hand should have very well been broken, like she had done so when she punched Jacob, yet she seemed to be in no pain and continued glare at Edward. Either it didn't actually injure her hand, or the adrenaline and anger rushing through her veins was temporarily numbing it. Those in the room assumed it was the latter.

"Bella, your hand-" Edward was stunned by the fact that she had hit him, concerned filled him Edward to the brim, worried she might have broken her hand not even noticing that she appeared to be in no pain. For him it felt as if a fly had landed on his cheek, but for the impact of his hard skin and her fragile bone should have had an instant reaction of pain. The sound of her hand hitting his cold stony face was enough to gather the rest of the house's attention, all of them slowly filling the room. Just watching for now as a concerned audience.

"This is_ your son,_ Edward, and I am tired of you talking about murdering him like it's nothing." she was so incredibly infuriated she was shaking, the hand she hit him with now an angry fist. "It sickening."

"I don't understand why you hate him so much. He's not hurting me like we thought in the beginning, I'm getting better now worse, I am not withering away and dying like the legends say, and still you can't accept your own child. Why?! Just tell me that!" she screamed, angry tears gathering in her eyes, Rosalie and Jacob holding her upright, so afraid she might drop.

"BECAUSE IT'S MINE!" Edward didn't shout, he _roared_.

"Because it's mine I am incapable of loving it." he said in a much lower, calmer, but still distraught and pained voice. "As long as some part of it is also a part of me it will always be monster in my eyes."

There was a long, long moment of silence as everyone absorbed the weight and meaning of Edwards confession.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Bella shouted, her voice as loud as his roar, as she expressed her disbelief at his pathetic explanation.

"You can't love your son because you can't love yourself?" she growled, angry tears brimming in her eyes,

"Yes-"

SMACK! Another slap across his face.

"I can't _fucking_ believe this!" more than the slaps, it was Bella's use of language that had the room gasping, even poor Seth who was still sitting at the kitchen table, looking terrified that mommy and daddy were fighting.

Emmett whistled in the background.

"I have fought to be with you, I have done nothing but let you know how perfect you are too me, and how much I love you and your family has done the same. We have given you every reason to believe you are both capable of receiving and giving love, yet you still can't love yourself?" she threw her hands up in the hair, then sunk them into her wanting to pull every strand of it out in her frustration, mostly because she rather be pulling out Edwards hair, clawing at his eyes and tearing him apart in her rage. She had married a complete idiot.

"I know you think your monster without a soul, but I thought I had finally gotten through to you after we got married," she said, her voice softer. Most of all she just sounded tired. "I thought maybe you would even see this as proof. That you're not only capable of bringing death like you think, but also giving life to the world."

She blinked and her tears came trailing down her face in hot streams."I thought you would have been happy when we found out that I was pregnant, I thought you loved me enough to love our child too-"

"I do love you-"

"Then you can love our child. Remember that our son is half of _me_. If you love me, you have to love him too." stepping out from between Jacob and Rosalie, Bella reaches for Edward's hand giving him a hopeful and pleading look as she slowly began to bring his hand to the swell of her stomach.

"Just feel him, listen to his heart." she smiled, wishing he could see into her head, see how much of a good thing this was, how much she loved both of them and the picture she had in her head of the perfect family that they could be.

"Remember that he's a part of me, that's he just as good inside as I am and-" just as Edward's fingers were about to touch her stomach he roughly pulled his hand from her, a look of pure disgust warping his face.

"I can't, I'm sorry" he closed his eyes tight, unable to look her in the eyes. Ashamed of himself, of how weak he was, how much his self loathing had taken from him.

"I'm sorry too, Edward," the look of absolute defeat on Bella's face was heartbreaking, those in the room could almost hear the shattering of it.

Bella took a deep breath, wiped her eyes and began to speak again.

"I can't do this anymore, I can't be selfish, because I have someone else to think about now and what's best for him," she cradled her stomach. "and you made it abundantly clear that's not you."

"Bella, what are you saying?" Edward's face was one of terror, as if he knew what she was about to say even without having to read her mind.

"Bella, please don't do this." he begged her, looking ready to fall to his knees to beg her not to say what was coming next.

"I have given up everything so that I can be with you. Charlie, Renee, Jacob, my friends, my future, everything so that I could have forever with you. Because I love you," she smiled at him in that starstruck way she always did, reaching to touch his face while her other hand rubbed soothing circles over her belly.

"We're supposed to be partners, but you've decided this all on your own!" he raised his voice, shouting again.

"Not when it comes to my body!" she screamed back at him. "You have no right, married or not, to tell me what I can do with my body and that includes keeping _your _baby."

"Getting married was a mistake from the start. It was something I never even wanted...All I wanted was you, and I couldn't have_ all_ of you unless I agreed to marry you. So I made one last sacrifice for you, but that was the very last one." she promised him, her voice still loud and angry, becoming hoarse from her shouting.

"We've been having problems ever since the honeymoon, ever since you wouldn't-" she blushed, remembering everyone in the room with them.

"I've given you every chance to try and fix us, to make this work again and you've run away each time. You haven't even tried and it's killing me, why can't you see that!" she sobbed. "You keep thinking it's the baby, but it's not, it's you!"

She fell forward, hands gripping Edward's neck, pulling him close one last time and feeling the way he stiffened up when her stomach pressed against him, the way he tried to subtly move away from it. But she wouldn't let him get away, she forgot everyone around them, pulling him by the neck to kiss him as passionately as she could, trying to get them to both feel what they had before they got married, what they had felt the night they made love for the first time, the perfection of it all, the feeling of rightness.

But just like before, Edward wouldn't yield to her, wouldn't let himself hold her and though he kissed her back, it wasn't the same. It would never be the same from him, reaching behind her for Rosalie she stepped away from him as Edward stood their, eyes longing and apologetic.

"I love you so much, but if you can't love yourself enough to love your son or even _love me_ enough to love him, than this marriage is over." as the bomb dropped from the sky, it was if Edward hadn't even heard her until it finally exploded in front of him when she took off her rings and put them in his hand.

_Over. _

"No matter how much I regret getting married, I will never regret loving you, being with you. All the fighting, all the sacrifice, it was worth it. I just wish you could love yourself as much as I love you." she smiled at him then, a smile that broke his unbeating heart, because it was a smile that said goodbye. "How I will always love you."

"You are my wife, I won't give up on you and I will not get a divorce. I told you once I was old fashioned, I meant it. I don't believe in divorce, and if that's what you want, it is the one thing that I will not give you." he spun on his heels then and with a whoosh was gone. Not long after they could hear the slam of a door and the breaking of glass as he proceeded to destroy his room.

It was Emmett who said something first.

"Holy shit," he cursed, staring wide eyed where Edward had once stood.

"I think I need to lie down," Bella said weakly, the confrontation leaving her feeling completely drained, her heart aching as she tried to keep it from crumbling. She had to be strong, she had to for her son.

"Are you sure? Why don't we just sit you back down. It's closer." Rosalie said, guiding Bella to the closest chair.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Bella breathed, letting Rosalie help her.

Jacob just stood there with the rest. Shocked. He hadn't really thought this would happen, he had expected Edward to come around eventually, for Bella to keep clinging to him no matter what. For some reason, he knew he should be happy about all of this, it meant he could have a chance again. But when he looked at Bella's face, and the burning man that was Edward, he felt almost ashamed. Bella was hurting, she didn't want it to come to this. He knew how much she loves the vamp, and for awhile he had made her happy. Jacob always wanted Bella happy, and right now she wasn't happy.

To comfort Bella now, felt wrong, like he was taking advantage of her. That he was happy about this, even though he was a little bit, but he knew it wasn't right. He shouldn't be happy over something that made the woman he loved miserable. He knew the best he could do is give her space, let her figure out if this really was the right thing to do without his influence. So while Rosalie and the other woman soothed Bella, he worked on putting the leftover food away for Leah, knowing that once Bella was calmer she would be worrying about it. Carlisle tried to help, but Jacob explained as nice as he could that Leah might not eat if she knew a vampire had touched her food. Carlisle didn't take offense, instead he helped by showing Jacob where everything was in the kitchen.

"You should go see how he is. He might destroy more than his own room soon if no one goes up and stops him." Jacob said so softly that if Carlisle wasn't a vampire he wouldn't have heard him. The vampire smiled. He was wise enough to know not to say anything. Jacob was already feeling embarrassed and ashamed for even caring about Edward even a tiny bit.

With a whoosh, Carlisle was gone, having gone upstairs to comfort his distraught son. Jacob missed his own dad. At least Rachel was around to take care of him while he handled things here.

Breathing in slowly he closed his eyes and leaned against the counter, so close to falling asleep right there standing up. Maybe he would take the couch, for just a few minutes. He would have just slept outside but with Edward in a rampage upstairs and Bella near hysterical herself he thought it best not to go too far just in case. Jacob hoped the vamps could calm them down. Right now Jacob felt like more of an outsider than ever before in the vamps mansion.

"I'll bring this out to Leah, you should stay with Bella." Seth said from behind him, so tired he actually managed to startle Jacob from his dozing state.

"Thanks, kid, that would help a lot." he gave Seth a tired grin, missing his hair and handing him all the containers. He watched as Seth made to leave, stopping only to say something into Bella's ear, and kissing her cheek in comfort before running out to bring his sister her share of their breakfast.

"Does this mean Bella's not going to be a vampire anymore?" Emmett broke the silence and pouted, god damn full on pouted like a kid who had his favorite toy stolen from him.

What the hell was that about? Jacob thought.

The other blonde one, Jasper, had also disappeared. Knowing what his power was over emotions, Jacob had a feeling he was upstairs with Carlisle trying to calm Edward down.

The female vampires had started to move a very sleepy looking Bella to the living room to lie her down on the bed. She had only woken a few hours ago, but she was as much on the verge of conking out as he was. Giving Emmett a sympathetic pat on the shoulder he followed them. The guy looked just as messed up as Bella and Edward. He didn't comment on why that was.

They were just laying Bella down, propping up her feet, when Bella gave him that smile and becocked him over.  
"Come on, Jake, you can take a nap with me." he didn't argue, not wanting to upset her anymore.

Striding over the bed, not caring about the glaring female vampires around him, he slid in beside Bella so that they were spooning, Bella's back to him with her body pillow on her other side, hugging it close to her. It was Esme who threw the blankets over them before Jacob had a chance to pull them up over their shoulders. She smiled at both of them, and kissed Bella's forehead before she ushered Alice and Rosalie to leave with her, letting the two of them sleep in peace and give them what semblance of privacy you could have in a house filled with vampires.

"I know you might not believe me, but I have to say it anyway," Jacob said, his eyes already closed as he rested his head on the armrest, his feet dangling off the other end as Bella hummed sleepily in recognition. "I'm sorry about you and Edward, I mean it."

"I know, Jake, but let's not talk about it. Right now I just want to sleep." she mumbled, her own eyes closed as she snuggled into him as much as she could with her back to his chest. He had his arms around her shoulders, and one of her hands played with the fine dusting of hair on his arms.

"Sure sure." he had no problem with that at all. Kissing the crown of her head, he inhaled her amazing scent before letting himself drift to sleep with Bella in his arms.

They didn't get to sleep for long before two howl pierced the still morning air. There was no mistaking the urgency of the tone. No misunderstanding this time. It was the real deal.


	6. Chapter 6

So with this chapter we are officially caught up to all the chapters so far that needed to be re-written.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

They had probably been asleep, at the most, two hours when the howls sounded through the air. Jacob awoke immediately, cursing under his breath as he was forced to unravel himself from Bella and the sheets securely tucked around them. Where he had woken immediately at the sound, Bella only stirred just slightly, hugging her body pillow closer. He did his best not to wake her as he left the bed, nodding at Rosalie who was once again back in the room, ready to defend the pregnant woman. Esme and the others, all but Edward and Jasper were there as well.

Running out of the house, he cursed again as Bella mumbled his name in her sleep just as he hurled himself off the porch, letting the fire of his phase rip him apart midair. There was a sharp tearing sound as his clothes shredded. _Crap. _He thought. Those were the only clothes that he had. Didn't matter now, he supposed. He landed on paws and took off toward the west.

_**What is it? **_I shouted in his head. _**Is it the pack?**_

_**At least three,**_Seth answered._** They are**_ _**incoming fast**_

_**Did they split up? **_It would be a harder fight if they split up, Jacob would have to divide Seth and Leah to cover all sides to make sure they didn't make it to the house.

_**I'm running the line back to Seth at the speed of light,**_Leah promised. Jacob could feel the air huffing through her lungs as she pushed herself to an incredible velocity, revitalized from the food Seth had brought out to her. The forest whipped around her.

_**So far, no other point of attack. **_Seth reported. That was good.

_**Seth, do not challenge them. Wait for me. **_

_**They're slowing. Ugh-it's so off not being able to hear them**__._Leah complained.

_**I think….**_Seth began to say, noticing something.

_**What is it, Seth. **_

_**I think they've stopped.**_

_**Maybe waiting for the rest of the pack? **_he threw out there, feeling his hackles rise, his fur standing up in aggravation. He didn't like this.

_**Shh. Feel that?**_Jacob absorbed Seth's impressions. The faint, soundless shimmer in the air.

_**Someone's phasing? **_That didn't make any sense at all, what purpose would any of them have to be human unless they thought it would be easier to sneak by, that they would be reluctant to attack them in such a form.

_**Feels like it,**_Seth agreed.

Leah flew into the small, open space where Seth waited. She raked her claws into the dirt, spinning out like a race car. She was ready for a fight, almost looking forward to it.

_**Got your back, bro. **_she promised him, ready to defend and attack.

_**They're coming,**_Seth said nervously. _**Slow. Walking.**_

_**Almost there,**_Jacob told them. He tried to fly like Leah. It felt horrible being separated from Seth and Leah with potential danger closer to their end than to his. He should be with them, between them and whatever was coming.

_**Look who's getting all paternal,**_Leah thought wryly. _**That's what happens when you spend so much time with Rosemary.**_

_**Head in the game, Leah. **_He growled. He didn't need her shit right now, they needed to focus on only one thing.

_**Four, **_Seth said, after focusing his hearing, getting an exact idea of how many there were now. Kid had good ears._** Three wolves, one man.**_

He finally made it into the clearing then. moving immediately to the point. Seth sighed with relief and then straightened up, already in place at his right shoulder. Leah fell in on his left with a little less enthusiasm.

_**So now I rank under Seth**__, _she grumbled to herself.

_**First come, first serve, **_Seth thought smugly. _'__**sides, you were never an Alpha's Third before. Still an upgrade.**_

_**Shut up, both of you. **_Jacob complained. _**I don't care where you stand, just get ready.**_

They came into view a few seconds later, walking as Seth had thought. Jared in the front, human, hands up. Paul, Quil and Collin were on four legs behind him. There was no aggression in their postures. They hung back behind Jared, ears up, alert but calm.

It was strange that Sam would send Collin rather than Embry. That wasn't what Jacob would do if he were sending a diplomacy party into enemy territory. He wouldn't send a kid, but an experienced fighter. There was more going on behind the scenes, that he was sure of. Embry was one of his best friends, even closer to him than Quill was, it was probably tearing at him to be fighting against him.

_**A diversion? **_Leah thought.

Was that it, was Sam, Embry and Brady making a move alone? No, that didn't seem too likely.

_**Want me to check? I can run the line and be back in two minutes, **_Leah offered.

_**Should I warn the Cullen's? **_Seth wondered.

_**What if the point was to divide us? **_Jacob asked. _**And the Cullen's heard your howl, they know something is up and are ready to get Bella out of here the moment we give the second howl.**_

_**Sam wouldn't be so stupid,...**_Leah whispered, fear in her mind. She was imagining Sam tracking the Cullens with only two others beside him.

_**No, he wouldn't,**_he assured her, though he too felt a little sick at the image in her head.

All the while, Jared and the three wolves behind him stared at them, waiting. It was eerie not to hear what Quil, Paul, and Colin were saying to one another. Their expressions gave away nothing.

Jared cleared his throat, and then he nodded to Jacob.

"White flag of truce, Jake. We're here to talk." he promised, hands raised high in the air.

_**Think it's true?**_Seth asked, unsure himself.

_**I'm not sure**__…._They didn't relax. _**We can't trust them like we used to.**_

_**Yeah, **_Leah agreed, eyes narrowed on the wolves in front of her. It wasn't too hard to see them as the enemy, she's been dying to rip a chunk out of half of the packs asses anyway.

Jared frowned, easily sensing that they were conversing with one another.

"It would be easier to talk if I could hear you, too." he pointed out to Jacob.

Jacob stared him down. He wasn't going to phase back until he felt better about this situation. Until it made sense. Why Collin? That was the part that worried him the most. Where the hell was Embry and Sam?

"Okay. I guess I'll just talk, then," Jared said. "Jake, we want you to come back."

Quil let out a soft whine behind him. Seconding the statement.

"You've torn our family apart. It's not meant to be this way." his voice was a low, sad sigh.

Jacob wasn't exactly in disagreement with that, but he had another family right now that needed him more. Bella and the baby. On top of that there were still a few unresolved differences between him and Sam at the moment that would make coming back extremely difficult and uncomfortable for everyone.

"We know that you feel….strongly about the situation with the Cullen's. We know that's a problem. But this is an overreaction." Jared ran a hand through his hair, his brows pinching together.

Seth growled, picturing Bella sleeping last night and again this morning, smiling and sweet as they ate breakfast, as he felt the baby kick. _**Overreaction? And attacking our allies without warning with the intent to kill a pregnant woman isn't? On top of the fact that she's an imprint!?**_

_**Seth, have you ever heard of a poker face? Cool it. **_Jacob understood what the kid was feeling, but he needed him calm, needed him to be able to think straight.

_**Sorry. **_He said, lowering his head, embarrassed to be scolded.

Jared's eyes flickered to Seth and back to me. "Sam is willing to take this slowly, Jacob. He's calmed down, talked to the Elders. Considering this involves an imprint they've decided that immediate action is in no one's best interest at this point."

_**Translation: They've already lost the element of surprise, **_Leah thought.

"Billy and Sue agree with you, Jacob. They don't want to see her hurt, or you. We can wait for Bella to be….separated from the problem. Killing her is not something any of us feel comfortable with." he admitted, and Quil gave another whine of agreement, his head low as he moved a little closer.

Though he had just given Seth crap for it, he couldn't hold back a snarl of his own. So _now _they didn't feel comfortable with murdering Bella, his imprint? They had his head spinning with their turn of mind. There wasn't even a problem, not really. The more time he spent with Bella, saw the change in her, her strength, the way she had slapped Edward without a flinch of pain, the more clear it became that this wasn't a bad thing. They had no real reason beside the paternal heritage of the baby to have any reason to think it was a threat to its mother or anyone else.

Jared raised his hands again. "Easy, Jake. You know what I meant. The point is we're going to wait and reassess the situation. Decide later if there's a problem with the...thing."  
_**Baby! **_Jacob snarled again. _**Not a thing, a baby.**_

He just wished they could see what he and Seth saw. At least Leah had an idea , though it was through him and Seth's minds. She still saw it, saw how Bella glowed, saw the healthy shine of her hair, felt the grip of her hand, the way she seemed to have filled out overnight, looking healthier. She was happy and human, and if this went right she could stay that way like they all wanted.

_**Don't listen to him, Jake. **_Leah though.

_**You don't buy it? **_he asked her.

_**I know what they're thinking, Jake. What Sam's thinking. They're betting on Bella dying anyway because they don't know what we know, they only remember the images of how frail and sick she had looked. They figured that if she does die you'll be so mad…. **_she shook her head, her fur ruffling.

_**That I'll lead the attack myself. **_He finished her sentence, his ears pressed against his skull. What Leah was guessing sounded pretty spot on. And very possible, too. If….If the baby was killing Bella. If it did, it would be easy to forget how he felt about Carlisle's family. They would look like enemies, no more than bloodsucking leeches all over again. But that wouldn't be the case.

_**You should tell him about the amnio**__. _Seth whispered. _**Like you said, if they know what we could learn from it they might change their minds about all of this. **_

_**Maybe.**_he huffed a sigh.

_**Leah, make a run just to be sure. I'm going to have to talk to him, and I want to be positive there isn't anything else going on while I'm phased...that they won't attack Bella. **_He ordered, but not really ordered her.

_**Give me a break, Jacob. You can phase in front of me. Despite my best efforts, I've seen you naked before-doesn't do much for me, no offense.**_she rolled her eyes.

_**I'm not trying to protect your innocence, I'm trying to protect our backs. Now, get out of here. **_

Leah snorted once and then launched herself into the forest. He could hear her claws cutting into the soil, pushing her faster.

Nudity was an inconvenient but unavoidable part of pack life. They had all thought nothing of it before Leah came along, after that it got awkward. Leah had average control when it came to her temper-it took her the usual length of time to stop exploding out of her clothes every time she got pissed. They had all caught a glimpse. And it wasn't like it was anything worth looking at; it was just that it was so not worth it when she caught one of them thinking about it later.

Jared and the others were staring at the place where she'd disappeared into the brush with wary expressions.

"Where's she going?" Jared asked, taking a step back.

Jacob ignored him, closing his eyes and pulling himself together again. It felt like the air was trembling around him, shaking out from him in small waves. He lifted himself up on his hind legs, catching the moment just right so that he was fully upright as he shimmered down into his human self.

"Oh," Jared said, surprised that he had turned back so suddenly. He had been sure that he wouldn't. "Hey, Jake."

"Hey, Jared." he grumbled, glaring at the other.

"Thanks for talking to me."

"Yeah." he grunted

"We want you to come back, man" he repeated, smiling at Jacob, arms open in a invitation.

Quil whined again.

"It's not that easy, Jared." he shook his head, thinking of Bella still asleep back at the house.

"Come home," he said, leaning forward. Pleading. "We can sort this out. You don't belong here. Let Seth and Leah come home, too."  
Jacob full on laughed. "Right. Like I haven't been begging them to do that from the start."

Seth snorted behind him, a confirming sound. He lifted his head too, like he was proud of such a feet.

Jared assessed that, his eyes cautious again. "So, what now?"

Jacob couldn't help but sigh. "You tell me to come home, but have you ever considered that my home is wherever Bella is?"

"I can't just so easily forgive all of you for jumping on the 'kill Bella band wagon' when you know the laws, know she's my imprint. You've always respected that before, no matter what." he was hurt by their choice, by their lack of hesitation to at least think things through to consider what it would mean.

"By so quickly choosing to kill her, you betrayed me more than I have by leaving the pack for her, for the Cullen's."

"Jacob…"

"Even if that wasn't the case, things wouldn't be able to go back to normal anyway, Jared." he said. "I don't know how it works, but it doesn't feel like I can just turn this Alpha thing off and on as the mood strikes."

"You still belong with us." Jared was practically begging him to come back, to see reason.

Jacob shook his head.

"Two Alpha's can't be in the same place, Jared. The instinct is too competitive."

"So are you all just going to hang out with the parasites for the rest of your lives?" Jared demanded to know.

"You don't have a home here. You're already out of clothes." he _literally _pointed out."You gonna stay wolf all the time? You know Leah doesn't like eating that way."

"If it really bothers you so much, then I'll let you know that Bella made us breakfast this morning. We won't starve. And Leah can do whatever she wants. She's here on her own choice. I'm not telling anyone what to do." he explained to him, almost begrudgingly as if he wanted Jared to take Leah back, maybe Seth too. It would be better that way.

"Bella is _cooking _for you?" he asked incredulously, both shocked and disturbed. Now he was being an asshole, he knew Bella cooked.

"Yes. Because despite what you might think, she does care about us. She doesn't want anyone on either sides to get hurt because of her." Jacob said, thinking back to Bella this morning, how she asked about Leah favorite food and made sure he brought Seth in to eat breakfast, how he pressured him to get some sleep.  
Jared scoffed.

"Yeah, right. She should have thought of that before she chose the leeches over us, the ones who had been protecting her, the ones who had accepted her and taken her in when that leach left her in the forest to freeze." Jacob hadn't been the only one hurt when Bella chose Edward over him.

"Edward and her are over. He won't accept the baby, so she ended things with him." he hadn't meant for it to come out, honestly. But he still felt the need to defend Bella, to have them accept her like they once had. She was his imprint after all, and she was probably the first imprint they didn't like. Emily and Leah's rocky relationship didn't count.

"So what? It's not like she going to go running into your arms. Don't kid yourself, Jake. She's never wanted you the same way she's wanted him." Jared rolled his eyes, feeling bad for his brother.

"You don't know that." he growled. "Things could turn out different this time. She's my imprint, that has to mean something for us."

"She's having it's spawn, Jacob, get your head out of your ass already and come back to reality." Jared shook.

"Baby." said Jacob, correcting him. "It's just a little baby. It's a part of her, not just _him_."

"We're also going to do an amniocentesis, to see if we can figure out more about it. If it works we can give you proof if it's more vampire than human or vice versa. That he's not some horrible, ravenous monster that will eat the towns folk once he's born." he rolled his eyes as he spoke the last part.

"Just give us time to run the tests and give you the results. You can decide if you still want to kill him after we give you the information." he tried to compromise. "Just know, no matter the results, I will still protect Bella and her child."

Jared thought for a minute.

"How will we know when you have the results?" he asked.

"They do have phones here," Jacob snorted. "I'll call you."

"Really think, Jared. What if you're wrong about the baby and you kill it not knowing whether if it really was human or not? You would have helped murder an _innocent _child." this time it was Jacob doing the pleading.

Jared thought some more.

"You could easily lie about the results." he pointed out. Jacob wanted to pull his goddamn hair out. He had really hoped he would have taken the compromise. At least run it by same first before outright rejecting the idea.

"We wouldn't do that, and you can even have Sue look it over." he recommended, tired of all this back and forth fighting.

"Otherwise you're just going to have to wait and see for yourselves what it is after he's born" he shook his head, he had hoped he could end this sooner than later if he could gather some evidence that the baby wasn't a danger to them.

"Fine, call us when the results are ready and we'll give you Sue's fax for her to review them, otherwise none of us are going to know how to read them" Jared frowned.

"You'll see, Jared, you'll all see that you're wrong. I know it deep down inside me." he pressed his fist in between his ribs.

"I wish we could trust that gut feeling." Jared shook his head,

"It's not that you can't trust me, it's that you don't want to be proven wrong. You _want_ to believe it's a monster, because it's easier than just accepting it." Jacob shook his head.

"We're not murderers, Jacob. If it turns out as you think it is, human, we'll walk away without a second thought." he defended them, disgusted that Jacob thought them so savage.

"Why is it, that now I don't trust _you_?" he narrowed his eyes.

"I wish things had been different, I wish Bella chose you, Jake. We all do, we loved Bella in that short time she was with us, when she was one of us before she chose _them_." Jared stepped forward, waving a hand in the direction of the Cullens house.

"_She was a wolf girl, an imprint!"_ he shouted. "It's not you, or her, that we can't trust. It's them, and what they are!"

"Believe it or not we're also thinking about Bella, what this must be like for her, the pain and the fear! We hate that we're the ones she's scared of and it makes us feel sick to our stomachs." he confessed to Jacob.

"You know that by the off chance she chose all of a sudden we would accept her. It would be fucking hard to do it all over after everyhing, but we would. Because we know she's what makes you happy, that she completes you, that's she meant for you and we care enough about you to get over our own pity shit and be happy for you." Jared told him.

"But this!?" he pointed back to the house. "Is this making you happy, watching the woman you love carry that things spawn?"

Jacob swallowed. "But it doesn't feel like he's Edwards. I'm the one who felt him kick, I'm the one who listened to his heartbeat and worried about him. He could have-_should_ be mine."

"But it's not yours, Jacob. Don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise." Jared said softly, almost sympathetically, like he felt bad for him. "Don't hurt yourself like that."

"You should go." Jacob said, stepping back, his eyes cold and dangerous. He would protect what he felt was his to protect, Bella and the baby.

Jared frowned and turn to face Seth, concentrating on him now. "Your mom asked me to tell you-no, to beg you-to come home. She's broken hearted, Seth. All alone. I don't know how you and Leah can do this to her. Abandon her this way, when your dad just barely died-"

Seth whimpered.

"Ease up, Jared," he warned him.

"Just letting him know how it is." Jared shrugged.

Jacob snorted. "Right, Sue's known about this for how many hours now? And most of that time I'm sure she was with Billy, Old Quil and Sam. Maybe even Charlie know what a mess he's been"

Sue was tougher than anyone gave her credit for. Tougher than his dad, tougher than him or the entire pack combined. Tough enough to play her kids sympathies if that what it took to get them to come home. But he knew her a little bit better than that. She and Harry raised their kids right, to do the right thing. She was also dating Charlie, and knowing how much she cared for him she knew she wouldn't agree to the slaughter of his daughter and grandchild. It would hurt him too much.

"Yeah, I'm sure she's just perishing in loneliness." he rolled his eyes at the end.

"Of course, you're free to go if you want, Seth. You know that."

Seth sniffed and shook his head.

A second later, Seth cocked an ear to the north. Leah must be close. Jeez, she was fast, he thought. Two beats later she was trotting to a stop in the brush a few yards away. He barely noticed the person on her back until Leah took point in front of Seth and laid down on her belly to let the person off. Both Jared and Jacob gave a surprised gasp as they watched Bella sling her leg over and slide down off of Leah, almost losing her balance as she waved her arms at her side and teetered forward. It was Leah who caught her, twisting her head and catching the fabric of the jacket Bella was now wearing between her teeth, tugging her back so she was upright. She didn't let go until Bella was steady on her feet.

"Thanks, Leah." Bella said looking insecure as she looked over her shoulder at the she-wolf. Leah gave a snort before standing and circling her brother.

"Bells, what the hell are you doing?!" Jacob shouted, rushing over to Bella and moving her behind him, shielding her from Jared and the others. "Do you know how reckless riding Leah was. I can't believe she even let you. And what about the baby, or the vamps?"

"Alice told me what was going on when I woke up. I want to talk to them, Jake." she explained, brushing a little fur off of herself. It was so soft, like hair.

"Hell no! I'm taking you back to the house before Blondie comes out here and makes things worse." he glared at her over the shoulder, glancing warily back and forth between her and Jared.

"I want to talk to them," she repeated, touching Jacob's arm and looking around him to Jared. "If they plan to kill my child, then I at least deserve to say my peace."

"Bella-"

"No, I get this much." she choked on tears as she looked at the wolves behind Jared, her arms going around her stomach. Fear coursed through her veins and made her heart pound, but still she found the courage to move around Jacob so that Jared could see all of her.

"Please, Bella-" they all heard the roar of the vampires from the house. Edward and Rosalie. They would be there any second.

Bella took advantage of Jacob's distraction to march over to Jared, her ugg boots leaving imprints in the moist earth. He took a few steps back, as if she was the one they should be scared of. Before he could get far she snatched his wrist in a vice grip, startling him with her strength as he tried to break free of her hold. She wouldn't budge.

"I'm sorry, I didn't choose him, I am sorry I hurt you, that you felt that I betrayed you. I loved all of you too, I still do." she told him her big brown eyes swimming, her cheeks pink with the moment.

"But I can't help that I love Edward, it just happened. I didn't make any of my choices with the intent of hurting people, it's torn me apart from the start to know that no matter what I chose I was doing just that: Hurting people I care about." she wanted him to know this, let the pack know this.

"You guys healed me, helped me to move on when I thought I couldn't. You made me laugh, most of all, something that not a lot of people can do and I will be forever grateful to all of you for caring about me as much as you have." she smiled, remembering the days spent at Emily's with all the boys.

"But just like you have to protect your families, I have to protect mine." she told him, and using both hands she forced his fisted hand open and pulled him forward, laying his hand on her stomach.

"_This is my family!" _she nearly growled, not letting him get away. "And I will protect it to my last breath. If you plan to wait until he's born before you kill him, then you are going to have to pry him from my arms and look me in the eyes to do it."

"Then, when it's over, you better at least have the balls to go to Charlie yourselves and tell him what you did. Tell him how you murdered his only grandchild, and daughter. Because if you want to kill my son, you best be prepared to kill me because I won't just lay there and watch you rip my child apart."

"Let me go!" Jared finally roared, right in her face. Bella didn't even flinch. She let go of his hand then, so suddenly that Jared fell back on his ass from the momentum of trying to pull away.

She looked at Quil.

"I want you to picture, Claire, Quil." the wolf growled at the mention of his imprint, but Bella didn't back down she was not afraid to play dirty if she had to."Now picture a little boy her age with her. A little boy with my brown eyes and hair, and Charlie's nose and chin. His face round and cheeks rosy, playing on the beach with Claire."

"Think of what Claire's mother would feel if suddenly Claire was _murdered_ because some idiots jumped to the wrong conclusion about her." she hissed. "Think of your own mother, and how she would feel if one of your enemies came and killed you as a child because they assumed you would phased but never knowing for sure."

He whined.

"Don't listen to her, Quil." Jared barked at him, glaring at Bella.

"None of you can know for sure what my son will turn out to be, just the same as no one could have been sure that any of you would have phased before the Cullen's came here." she said, her emotions running high as her face turned even redder.

"You don't know what he is or will be. No one can no until he grows up, until we see what type of person he grows to be. You can't judge a baby and go on a guess that he'll become some psycho murderer!" she shouted, taking a step towards them. It took Jacob grabbing her arm to stop her from getting right up in Jared's face.

"Before you go back, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I still talk to Emily and too Kim and I know for a fact they would never approve of any of this." she told him, and Jared was clearly taken back my this information.

"That's right, Buddy, I even have them on goddamn speed dial. You know that roast beef Kim cooked you last week for your birthday? That was my recipe I gave her. She knew I could cook, and wanted to make your favorite but wasn't confident so she called me and I talked her through it." she told him

"And all those shorts and pants that Emily bought for all of you? I told her about the sale they were having and let her use my discount at Newtons." she explained.

"No matter who I chose to be with it never stopped me from being their friend, from going to them for advice, to talking to them when I felt that I couldn't talk to anyone else. That will never change, and that includes all of you." she told him, remembering the days at Emily's at the beach, in Jacob's garage, all the fun times, all the happy times. Those days meant so much to her.

"BELLA!" Rosalie and Edward finally arrived and were caging her between their arms in seconds, glaring at every single one of the wolves present. Even the ones on their side. The other Cullen's arrived soon after.

"It's fine, Jared was just leaving. They didn't hurt me." she told them, feeling suffocated between them.

"And If Sue wants to talk to Leah and Seth, she is free to call the house or my cell at anytime of the day and the same applies to them." she promised Jared.

"Now, I think it's best you run back to Sam." and that's exactly what they did. Turning tail they ran back into the forest and took off towards La Push to report back to Sam.

"Bella-" both Rosalie and Edward started to say, but it was Jacob who grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING SO RECKLESS AGAIN. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!" he shouted, his eyes furious and frightened, his grip on her shoulders never rough but still firm, strong.

He ignored Rosalie and Edward's arms around Bella and pulled her too him, his arms wrapped around her shoulders and his face in her neck forgetting that he was naked ."What's the point of me protecting the both of you if you're just asking to be killed?"

That's when she felt the warm tears on her skin.

"I'm so sorry, Jake, I didn't mean to put you in this position after all you've done. But I had to say my peace. I had to try something, I couldn't just-" she started to go off. but he shushed her.

"Please, just...just don't scare me like that again. I know nothing would have happened to you, I would have protected you of course, but…."

"Shh, I know, Jake, I'm sorry." she whispered, running her fingers through his hair, her own arm around him, rubbing line up and down his back. "It's ok, I'm alright. No one is ever going to hurt me, because you're always going to be there for me, right?"

"Sure sure," he whispered, kissing her shoulder.

"Jake and Bells, right?" she asked him.

"Jake and Bells," he promised her. "Always."


	7. Chapter 7

**First new, new chapter. It's a bit shorter than I had originally planned, but I hope the contents make up for it. **

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

She had woken up a few minutes after Jacob had left, her breasts aching. She had noticed they had gotten larger, filling with milk to feed her baby, something that gave Carlisle a little hope that the baby's diet would be more mundane if her body was producing substances for when he was born. She hadn't started lactating yet, so she was extra sensitive and they hurt a lot. Hugging Seth and Jacob was pure hell, lucky for her her huge belly helped to keep from her boobs from pushing to much against them. Carlisle recommended massaging the nipples or to start on a breast pump to realize some of the pain of building up so much milk. The entire conversation had been entirely way too uncomfortable and had her red as a tomato for the rest of the day.

After she woke up and realized Jacob wasn't there, she felt a surge of panic inside of herself. Rosalie had been there, telling her nothing really, just that he had to run out and check something. It was when she asked her for a glass of water that she pried Alice to tell her what was really going on. She told her that some of the wolves had come to talk, and all she could think about was getting the chance to rip them a new one for the way they were acting. She was so disappointed in the pack. It might be selfish to think that way, but she believed them to be better, to be human and merciful and caring about all human life, her baby included.

So she had made a plan to get out of the house and see them. She asked to be taken out for some air, taking a seat on the deck before asking to be left alone for just a little while. It was long enough to notice Leah in the tree's, wave her down and beg her to take her to Jacob and the others. As grateful as she was to Leah, the she-wolf seemed a little too eager to help her out. She was sure the other woman was hoping her head would be torn bitten from her shoulders and spat at sometime during her conflict with the pact. Then, with Leah's speed, they were off, leaving the vampires behind to fret and freak out when they realized she was gone.

And now she was standing in the arms of one very naked and steamy Jacob Black, the moment both beautiful and incredibly awkward for a number of people.

"Bella, love," Edward whispered into her ear from behind, his hands on her shoulders his voice even more broken then Jacob's as he tried to pull her back from the naked wolf who arms she was wrapped in. She was scared to turn around and face him, knowing the expression that would be waiting for her on his angelic face. It was instinct to comfort him, to choose him, so she hadn't thought too much of it when she let go of Jacob.

Edward didn't hold her, not anymore since she started showing, not once he could feel the difference from here once flat stomach. His eyes were haunted, filled with fear and worry and she was sure if he could he would cry. He looked incredibly distraught, and a bit angry. He opened and closed his mouth a few times as if not sure what to say. She hated seeing him like this. She missed the light in his amber eyes and his crooked smile. She missed his arms around her and the feel of his cool skin against her own warm exterior. She could never deny that she would always love him. She loved him so deeply it left a pit in her stomach, a dark void. It took everything she had sometimes not to just give him what he wanted from her, so that she could be with him, so that he would smile again.

A part of her still hoped, despite everything that when the baby was born and he could see him, hold him, that Edward would change his mind and they would be a family. She wanted to believe he could get past this and love their baby. They were supposed to be forever. They had gone through so much to be together, fought and cried and struggled, going against everyone they loved to be together until everyone else had no choice to accept that the two couldn't survive without one another, that they needed each other on such a level that if one died so would the other. Two halves of one whole. But the baby had changed all that. Her priority was no longer just Edward, it was her child, a child she had been so happy to be having with him. After all it was just another part of Edward for her to love.

"I'm ok, I'm sorry I scared you. But there were things I needed to say, things only Jared could get back to Sam and the rest of them." she told him, her arms rubbing his rigid shoulders. She wanted to kiss the pain away, but that was gone.

"Please think more of your fragile state, I don't want to lose you any sooner than I have to. You could have been hurt, fallen off…" the rest fell on deaf ears. He still thought she was going to die from the pregnancy and it was ridiculous, she wanted to roll her eyes at him.

She knew the thought of her death killed him inside, but she was beginning to realize that maybe he was so obsessed with the possibility because he wanted to continue to have any other reason to hate the baby. Her heart broke a little bit more as she realized once again how much of a distance had grown between them since they came home.

"Are you kidding, Edward? That's really all you have to say?" Rosalie turned on him, pushing his shoulder hard enough to make him stumble back away from Bella. Then she turned on said woman.

"What if you hurt the baby, Bella, by riding this mongrel? We have to get you back now, Carlisle will check to make sure the baby is ok." Rosalie stepped in, grabbing Bella by the elbow and gently as she could began to pull her towards the house.

Seth whined, and Leah of all people growled as they watched Rosalie drag Bella away. Jacob too, much calmer than he had been before took a last glance into the forest before looking to Seth and Leah.

"Seth, do a sweep, just in case they've decided to linger, then come back to the house. Leah, you come with me." He said to them before jogging to catch up with Bella and Rosalie, glaring at the blonde. Edward was right beside them. Jacob didn't like the way she had talked to Bella, or the way she was touching her. But what got him really mad was that Bella wasn't fighting back, she just took it, her head down and one hand caressing her stomach. She had so much fight when it came to the pack, to others, but when she was with the Cullen's she went docile though he noticed she had gotten bolder lately with them. So where was that now?

Jacob wanted to growl right along with Leah, but he restrained himself as he followed the others back to the house as Seth took off for a quick loop around the perimeter. As they walked, Carlisle who had also come out of the house as well was asking Bella a dozen questions about how she felt. If the baby was moving more than usual since she came outside, if she ached anywhere. She didn't. In fact she felt strangely full of energy.

"Will you guys stop fussing, both me and the baby are more durable than you think." Bella said, finally putting up a fight as she swatted at Rosalie probing hands as she dared to push Bella's own hands aside to feel the baby. It was a possessive touch that didn't go unnoticed by Bella, and she clearly didn't like it.  
"Stop it, Rosalie, you're stressing me out." Bella bravely spat, her temper flaring the more the vampire touched and felt at her stomach to the point that Bella slapped her hand away. Hard.

"Just...stop touching me." she snapped.

So surprised by Bella's outburst, Rosalie let go of her arm and just stopped walking. She almost looked hurt, but more than that there was a anger being concealed behind her eyes, so much so that even Jasper moved closer to Bella as if he was afraid the other might attack. The entire family stopped to stare at her, looking cautiously between Bella and Rosalie.

"I'm sorry, Rose, I….just need little space is all." she stopped to apologize. They had grown so close during her pregnancy and Bella never thought they would ever have such a relationship as they did now. She didn't want to lose that. She wanted to trust and believe in Rose, that she wasn't just using her to get her baby, but it was getting hard. Really hard.

"Of course," Rosalie gritted through razor sharp teeth. "But if you need anything, please tell me."

"I will, thanks for understanding, Rose." she tried not to feel to bad as she forced a grateful smile.

The others understood as well. Other than Carlisle, everyone else kept their distance from Bella the rest of the way to the house. Alice and Edward hung in the back just in front of Leah and Jacob. The two spoke in rapid whispers that Jacob couldn't keep up with, they spoke too quickly to make out a single word. But the others could, and more than once did Jacob catch Rosalie looking back at them with suspicious eyes. The blonde already wasn't happy, she was probably just waiting for an excuse to tear into something at that point, even her own family were open game to her rage.

Getting to the house Leah stayed phased outside, but Bella stopped, turning to walk up to Leah, Hesitantly reaching out to caress her long neck and under her jaw, The wolf didn't react but she didn't move away either which was a really good sign.

"Thank you, Leah, for taking me to them and for everything else. I know your only here to watch out for Seth, but I really appreciate it. I think you and I have more in common than you think," she gave a sad, knowing smile then.

As she turned back around to go back in the house, she felt it, the strange power in the air as Leah phased back.

"Soup," Leah said, her voice gruff as if she didn't want to say what she was saying.

"What?" blushing as she turned around, knowing the beautiful naked body she was going to see, Bella tried to steal herself and keep eye contact with Leah's face and not any part of her lower.

"You wanted to know my favorite food. It's soup." she glared at Bella, but there was something softer there, though she did her best to disguise it under a million other things.

"Oh, alright then, any specific type of soup?" this was good, this was amazing. There was still some type of dislike between the two girls, a rivalry almost, but for the time they could find a truce to tread on until everything was over.

"French onion." she told her.

"Then that's what I'll make for lunch." Bella promised her and turned around again, this time intent on going back into the house with interruption.

"And can you get, Jake some pants, I've already seen enough of his junk and ass to last me a lifetime." she could hear the smirk in her voice, envision her arms crossed, the challenge in Leah's eyes. She had said it to get a reaction out of Bella, to see if she could get her jealousy to rise to the top.

"I'm sure we can find him something." she did her best to say it flippantly, like really she couldn't care less about his impressive body, that he had a very nice and pert but or the fact that Jacob was bigger than Edward, not that she had noticed that at all.

"Great," said Leah. Jacob just glared at her.

Once Bella was inside, Carlisle was helping her to his office turned hospital room so he could do a full exam of Bella just to make sure both she and her baby weren't injured from riding Leah. Esme had also been waiting with a pair of fresh washed jeans and shirt for Jacob, so they didn't smell to much of leach except for where Esme had to touch them taking them from the dyer.

Jacob thanked her and quickly slipped the clothes on, going commando underneath, He wasn't sharing any of the leaches boxers or briefs.

"If pregnant women can have sex, doc, I don't think a little ride on she-wolf's back would hurt her. After all, she survived having sex with Edward and I'm sure that was a lot rougher." Emmett said, a perverted smirk on his face. He winked at Bella, sticking his tongue out and waggling his brows, even bumping shoulders with Edward trying to get some rise out of him.

Nothing.

"Emmett" Bella gasped in horror, her entire face red. "Just-Just get out!"

With a shrug the giant vampire did as he was told.

"Will you still be able to do the amniocentesis, Carlisle?" Bella asked, the blush still on her cheeks.

"I can't find anything wrong with you to say no," he told her with a smile. "So yes, I can still do it if you're still sure this is what you want."

"It is." she nodded, her hand hanging off the hospital bed twitching towards Jacob. He didn't hesitate to take one large step towards her and take her hand in his, twining their fingers. He could sense that despite this being what she wanted, she was a little nervous.

"I'll be right here for the whole thing." he assured her.

"So will I...that is, if you want me," Rosalie piped in, doing her best to smile despite the lingering aggravation she had felt earlier.

"Of course, Rose." Bella smile, giving Rose a soft expression, one that was too trustful to Jacob's liking. "You've been with me every step so far, I want you here until the end."

"I don't know what came over me earlier." she frowned through her own lie, knowing why she had gotten upset,

"It's alright, Bella, your hormones are all over the place with your pregnancy. I know you didn't mean it." Rosalie smiled sweetly, so much so that Jacob was sure he would get a cavity just from looking at her too long.

"Will it hurt, Carlisle?" asked Bella, watching at Carlisle began to prepare his instruments.

"I'll be giving you an anesthetic for any pain, as most you will feel a pressure, because of the effort I'm going to have to put in to piece the amniotic sack," He told her.

"If you would now please lift your top, Bella?" he asked her, his voice calming, patient and she could so clearly picturing Seth in the same position but with a much more encouraging and brighter smile on his face.

She did as she was asked.

"I'm going to inject the anesthetic now," he told her, walking back to the table after having prepared the first initial needle. "You are going to feel a pinche now, Bella"  
And she did. It hurt, a lot and she squeezed Jacob's hand hard giving a little whimper. Before anyone could say anything, she assured them it was ok, that it was natural for her to flinch and feel something.

"We'll wait a few minutes for the medication to kick in." Carlisle told her, pulling back and putting away the small needle as he got the much larger one prepared

"There's no chance that this might hurt the baby, is there. That you might poke to deep?" the question was expected out of Bella or Rosalie but strangely enough it was Jacob who asked the question.

"I'm very precise and quick, I would stop the needle before it could even graze it's skin. I promise, the fetu-"

"Baby." Rosalie quickly corrected before he could even finish saying the forbidden word.

Carlisle stared at Rosalie. "The _baby _will be perfectly safe from any harm."

"I'm trusting you, Carlisle." said Bella, her voice and expression completely vulnerable, her eyes big and wide as she swallowed.

"I give you my word, Bella, no harm will come to your child. Not by my hand." she wasn't too happy with that 'not by my hand' comment, but she didn't bring it up and neither did the other, but Rosalie did shoot him a suspicious look.

Bella took a deep inhale and let it out, repeating over and over again as she rested her head back on the bed, holding tightly to Jacob's hand as she stared at the ceiling.

"It's gonna be okay, honey, don't think too much." Jacob said, bending over her to whisper into her temple, kissing her head. "But promise me, if it hurts too much at any point you'll tell me, ok?

"I will, I promise." she smiled, looking up into his dark eyes. "And, Jake?"  
"Yea, Bells?"

"Thanks for being here with me. I can't imagine how hard this is for you." she spoke low and soft, just for him even though she knew the others would be able to hear.

"I can handle it, it's not as hard as it was when I first saw you. Plus, nothing is that bad when I'm with you." he told her, giving her that smile that she loved so much, the one that made him look his age.

"That was really cheesy, like something from some rom-com or teen romance novel." Bella giggled.

"Yea?" he asked, still smiling.

"Yea."

"Bella, if you're ready the anesthesia should have kicked in. I just want to do a quick test." said Carlisle walking over to her, needle in his hand. Pulling out a smaller needle he gently poked at the spot he would be puncturing. "Can you feel that?"

"No," she shook her head.

Putting the smaller needle down he used his gloved hands to pinch and probe at the skin as he applied and antiseptic, asking multiple times if she could feel any of it. The answer was always no, her stomach was completely numb. "Then if your ready, I'll begin."

"Go ahead, Carlisle." Bella took another deep breath as she felt the pressure of the large needle pierce her skin. So far it didn't really hurt besides the pressure of the needle pushing through her, but she still held tight to Jacob's hands, breathing in and out feeling the needle pierced through the uterine wall to the amniotic cavity.

"This is where you might feel some pain, Bella," said Carlisle, stopping the needle. "I've reached the amniotic sack, I will have to increase the pressure to pierce it."

"It's ok, I can take it." she nodded her head, taking another deep breath.

"You promised," Jacob reminded her, his hand at her head, his thumb caressing her hairline.

"I know, but I'm fine right now." she said and then looked down at Carlisle. "Please, Carlisle, do it."

Increasing his pressure, he pushed harder down on the needle, the unrelenting under the needle's tip. Pushing harder he felt it give just a little, continuously checking on Bella's pain level during the process and listening to any difference in the baby heart rate. She was beginning to have a harder time, but she insisted that he keep trying, so he did since her condition didn't seem to worsen physically, and the baby's heart rate kept even, steady as if he were sleeping.

"Talk to her, the distraction will take her mind off the pain." Carlisle advised Rosalie and Jacob, as he carefully applied more pressure.

"Have you thought about names yet?" Jacob quickly asked, cutting off Rosalie before she was just about to say something similar. "I know you mentioned Charlie before."

"Yeah, few others." Bella said, her breathing a little ragged, and she caught sight of Edward in the doorway. She quickly averted her eyes and focused on her breathing. She knew how much it hurt him to see her in any pain but she was glad he wasn't stopping Carlisle like the last time they tried.

"Well, what are they?" her pushed. He was genuinely curious.

"I like Heath for a boy, or maybe Christopher or Beau." she gave a little grunt. "That is if I don't go with Charlie."

"What about if it's a girl?" Jacob quickly asked, glancing down at Carlisle who had a look of pure concentration as he worked the needle.

"Catherine, Edythe and Vanessa. I had another name but-" Bella's hisses, tensing as she gripped Jacob's hand with all her strength.

"Carlisle!" Edward barked from the door, stepping into the room.

"I'm in." Carlisle announced almost immediately after Edward spoke. "It's almost over, Bella."

Carlisle made quick work, moving with inhuman speed as he took the sample of the amniotic fluid that he needed to finally answer their most important questions. It had been difficult and took longer than he hoped, but Bella had endured and because of it she would soon be assured of her child's health, species and even gender. After removing the needle he wiped away the antiseptic and bandaged the puncture he had made, despite the process it was a small mark, the needle thin but strong.

Jacob grinned, letting out a sigh of relief as he kissed Bella's head again, whispering praises into her hair about how great she had done, how brave and strong she was while Edward watched wordlessly from the was a sense of rightness when he saw Bella and Jacob together, even a glow around them. They had their differences, but the two shared a connection, a spark of chemistry that Bella and he never had. He could see it in the way they touched each other, the smallest gestures or the way they glanced at each other in the corner of their eyes. If Bella had never met him, she would have surely at some point found her way to Jacob, living an everyday human life filled with family and friends. She would have been happy with Jacob.

But she had also been happy with him, and he wasn't selfless enough to let her go again despite what he had promised Jacob if he was able to convince her to get rid of the _thing_. All he needed was her, all he wanted was her, forever for eternity until the end of this earth. And just as he could see what could have been Bella's future with Jacob, Edward could still see her future with him. They belonged with each other and to each other. They would have their forever, he knew just knew they would.

Carlisle had been surprised in the end, he had thought the amniotic sack would have been made of a harder material than what it was. It was strong, but he was relieved to know that he was able to pierce through it. If his needle could break through the sack, there was a chance that the child wouldn't have to tear through. Bella may be able to deliver naturally or through a normal c-section. And he told her as such.

"Really?" she was both surprised and relieved. She had been under the impression this entire time that giving birth might kill her, that to give her baby life it would have to take hers. And though she was willing to make that sacrifice she was relieved she wouldn't have to at the same time.

"Yes, the fact that my needle was able to penetrate the amniotic sack is incredible. From how far you seem to be along, you could give birth any time in the next week. The amniotic sack may be able to break on it's own and you can deliver naturally, if not I can induce your labor. And if their is any complications I will be able to perform a C-section." he reassured her.

"Did you hear that, Edward?" Bella looked around Jacob at her husband, hoping that this news could change things, that he would come to her side, take hold of her hand and kiss her like he used to. This was such a good thing, she wanted him to see that, to rejoice with her. But instead he seemed to stiffen, as if the news upset him.

"I did," he answered coldly, not even smiling at her before turning and leaving the room. Bella's entire face fell, and she could feel the sting of tears. All fear that this pregnancy might kill her was thrown out the window by Carlisle himself. Edward no longer had to worry or panic anymore, so why had he walked away from her?

"I thought he would be happy," she whimpered.

"Shh. It's gonna be ok, Bells." Jacob wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she struggled to sit up. "Don't worry about him, honey, I'm here if that helps at all."

"It does, it really does," she sobbed into his bare chest, wrapping her arms around him for comfort. Her heart hurt so much, a deep abyss forming in it's place. She didn't want to give up on Edward, even after she had given him his rings back she still had hope that things could change, that he would come around and see their child as the gift it was.

"I would like to start the test right away if you don't mind, I am sure you are very eager for the results." said Carlisle, labeling the vile of the amniotic fluid.

"Of course, Carlisle," Bella managed to get out. "Please, I want to know that my baby is ok."

"I'll do what I can to expedite the process. Would you like for me to test for the gender as well."

"Sure, go ahead." she nodded, as long as she knew that her baby was healthy that was what mattered the most.

"I like the names you've picked out by the way." Jacob gave her a grin, doing his best to try and cheer her up.

"You do?" she asked, her voice nasally from crying.

"I do, there good names." he said, still smiling as he leaned close to her, his nose in her widow's peak as he took in the scent of her shampoo, his lips against the warm skin of her forehead.

"I really do recommend that you use the wheelchair in this last week, Bella." Carlisle was clearly just as worried for her well being as all the others. The chair would be a precaution from overworking and stressing her body.

"It's normal for the mother to be kept off her feet during the last month or so of her pregnancy, Some even keep to their beds during this time until delivery. If you want to move around, I do recommend using the chair for the sake of the baby." he told her, making sure to use the right word in fear of irritating Rosalie and being corrected again.

"You should listen to him, Bella" Rosalie butted in, having tried to get Bella to start using the chair since Carlisle had brought it back from his last run out with Esme.

"I don't like it, makes me feel….." she shook her head, it didn't matter how she felt. What mattered was the baby. She sighed, giving in. "If that's what you think would be best, Carlisle."

* * *

**I know I made you guys wait a long time, but I hope you like what I have to offer. Will be working on the next chapter and hope to have it up as soon as I can. Really hope to get some good reviews, need the confidence that I am doing a good job.**


End file.

Twilight, Family, Romance