Babies, Babies, Babies

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-set at beginning of BD. Wrote this while listening to Natasha Bedingfield's song Babies, Babies, Babies….

Prologue

Babies, they were everywhere Bella looked. It was as if Forks had suddenly had an explosion of fertile mothers who had decided to procreate all at the same time. Just strolling along Forks small high street she had already passed at least three families with big, bouncing babies, full of life, smiles and cuteness. Some of them would make your ovaries explode just looking at them. One family she had observed from a discreet distance had twin girls, they were both dressed in bright pink coats to ward off the cold, their little button noses and wide blue eyes had gazed up at their parents, full of trust and love. And the same look was reflected on the faces of the young mother and father, who appeared both overwhelmed and on top of the world at the same time. It had hit Bella in that moment that she would never get to experience that feeling. She was never going to be a mother, ever.

It was like an electric shot to the heart. Being a parent was something she had never really considered. She was days away from getting married, married to the love of her life, Edward Mason Cullen, even saying his name in her head conjured up his image. Her heart fluttered in her chest when she thought about him, he was her whole world, her dream lover, her soul mate. She was ready to give up everything so she could be with him, she was ready to sacrifice her very life to join him in their happily ever after. It would be just the two of them, just them forever, alone, with no chance of ever being able to have children of their own. Bella felt her heart constrict and she became breathless….no children….ever….just her and Edward and the Cullen family, none of them blood related, all strangers drawn together through differing circumstances to create a fake family. No! Bella pushed that traitorous thought aside, not fake; their family was as real and as any human equivalent. She was letting her hormones override her good sense.

The sound of crying pulled her out of her musings, the same young family with the twin girls that she had observed earlier passed by her. One of the babies was crying. The young mother held the little infant in her arms and rocked her gently. The look on the mother's face captivated Bella, it was something she couldn't quite define or put into words, but it was a look she suddenly longed to be able to wear herself someday, but it was never going to happen. She tore her eyes away and hurried back home. She couldn't bear to gaze at the happy family unit any longer.

The next morning Bella found herself at a loose end. Edward would be gone for the entire day, he needed to hunt and all of the Cullen's had decided to go together. It was a bright, sunny day, so as all of them would have had to stay indoors otherwise, they took advantage of the weather and left to hunt further afield than they normally would do. They did not want to come across any prying eyes or risk being seen. They were heading deep into the forest, Emmet was boasting that he would finally get to kill a bear, they were his favourite food. Bella hated hearing about the Cullen's eating habits, generally they never talked about it in front of her, but of course one day she would be joining in their games, as they termed their hunting activities.

Secretly Bella was pleased to have a break from all the wedding talk, Alice's enthusiasm for all things designer could be a little hard to take. Clothes, shoes and anything to do with shopping bored Bella, always had done. She had literally handed the reins over to Alice as far as the wedding arrangements went. All she had to do was stand there occasionally like a mannequin while her future sister-in-law pinned different materials to her slim body as she tried to choose the best design for the wedding dress. Bella didn't know why Alice bothered. With her visions she must already know what dress Bella would be wearing on the day itself.

Bella decided to take advantage of the sunshine. Soon she wouldn't be able to enjoy the warm rays any longer, just another downside to the new life she would soon be living when she joined the Cullen family permanently. Bella pushed that negative thought aside; she didn't know what was wrong with her. It had to be wedding jitters; all these thoughts of babies had addled her brain. None of that mattered, only her forever with Edward. Wanting to clear her head she decided to go out for a long drive. She had missed driving her old truck, Edward loathed it and had loaned her an expensive Mercedes Guardian. Bella hated the thing, it was built like a tank and she felt overexposed and stupid when she was forced to drive it. No today she was going to ride in her old Chevy just for old times sake. She climbed inside the red monster and switched on the loud engine. It roared to life and she found herself smiling at the familiar sound.

It was if the Chevy had a mind of its own, or as if it was trying to take her back to the place it originally came from. Before she realised where she was heading Bella found herself on the road to La Push. It had been a few weeks since she had been this way. She loved the reservation but had been forced to avoid it because of her last meeting with her best friend, Jacob Black. Thinking about him made her chest hurt, he was more than her best friend, and she loved him but not enough to leave Edward. The hardest thing she had ever done was walk away from the wolf boy who had stolen a piece of her heart. She had been missing Jacob badly, but had respected his last wish that she give him some space. But how much space did he mean? She would be married soon and then there would be no chance to see him…ever. The thought scrambled her brain and she found herself slamming her foot hard on the accelerator as she continued on her way. Surely enough time had passed so they could spend some time together before she married and left Forks forever. She knew he must miss her as much as she missed him. Bella hoped that he wouldn't reject her once she turned up on his doorstep unannounced. All she knew was that she had to try; otherwise she would always regret it and she didn't want her last memory of him to be the one where he was lying injured in his bed as she broke his heart.

Bella parked up the truck. She killed the loud engine. No one came running out of the house to greet her. No one opened the door. She knew if anyone was inside they would have heard the ancient Chevy pull up. The only other reason would be that if anyone was inside then they didn't want to see her. Bella sat still for a while as she looked over at the Black's redwood house. She loved it here; the small one-storey house had been her sanctuary through the dark times. She loved the simplicity of the place with its dark red paint and wrap around porch with the porch swing. How many times had she and Jake sat on that very porch putting the world to rights?

Bella eventually decided to knock, just in case. If no one answered or Jake or Billy asked her to leave, she would abide by their wishes, although the thought of Jake pushing her away hurt her heart. She rapped on the door tentatively only to find that it swung open of its own accord. Bella was startled when she saw a little girl with silky black hair done up in bunches and a dummy shoved firmly in her mouth, toddle up to her. The child could be no more than eighteen months old. Her chubby cheeks were rosy under her tan skin as she suddenly smiled up at Bella. She sucked furiously on her dummy as she held up her arms to be picked up. Bella instinctively knelt down and scooped the cute little girl up in her arms. Whose child was this? She smiled down at the child only to let out a surprised yell when the little girl grabbed a fistful of her long hair and yanked hard. She burst into giggles when Bella screeched.

Suddenly Jacob appeared in the doorway, he looked shocked to see Bella standing on the front porch. He was holding a newborn baby in his muscular arms. The infant began to wail at all the noise. Bella's ovaries did indeed explode as she watched Jacob tear his eyes away from her and begin to rock the baby in his arms. "Hush now." He murmured. Almost straight away the baby calmed down.

Immediately the little girl giggled again and yanked on Bella's hair for a second time. Bella bit hard on her lip to stop herself crying out. Jacob looked at Bella, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "I see you've met my niece, Jet. If you don't want all your hair pulled out by the roots I suggest you put it up."

"Your niece?" Bella was stunned. That would mean the children were either Rebecca or Rachel's. Jake had never mentioned them before.

"Yeah, a surprise from Becca and her husband. Dad was never told. They suddenly turned up on the doorstep last night with Jet and little Marlon here." He grinned down at the baby and rocked him gently again. "They got chucked out of their apartment and had nowhere else to go. Dad was pissed to say the least that he was never informed he was a grandfather, but you know Becca…"

Bella felt Jet begin to grab her hair again. She hurriedly put the child down and quickly twisted her hair into a loose bun. She had to smile when she saw Jet's dark eyes widen in disappointment. It looked like Bella had put an end to her fun game. "I can't believe you are an uncle." Bella glanced at Jacob again. He didn't seem to be angry with her, but perhaps he was hiding it because of the children.

"Neither can I. I offered to babysit so Becca and Solomon could recover from their jet lag. Dad had to go to a tribal meeting." Jacob's eyes roamed Bella's face. "I've missed you." He said softly.

"I've missed you too." Bella whispered as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Do you want to come in?" Jacob offered. "I could use some help if you're up for it."

Bella felt her ovaries explode for a second time as she nodded and followed him inside.

A/N-thanks for reading! Don't worry The Alpha Wolf is already written so I will still be posting updates! LOL ;)