A/N: I wrote this for the Valentine's day ficathon over at Sort of Beautiful on Livejournal.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters.
Ever since she had moved to La Push, Bella had gotten into the habit of walking on First Beach when she wanted to think. It was usually crowded on Saturdays, but that morning, it was so early that not even the surfers were out yet.
Bella had slipped out of bed while Jacob was still sound asleep, feet tangled up in the covers he had kicked off. She had learned that his werewolf supersenses were not so sensitive once he'd settled in to sleep, or as she jokingly called it, "hibernate."
She fiddled with the rings on her left hand as she walked up and down the beach, the water brushing close to her feet, but never quite touching. The fog was still heavy, hovering above the sand and the water, and she felt a little bit like a ghost haunting its old stomping grounds.
But I'm not dead, she thought, smiling down at the hands that had fluttered to her stomach. I'm so alive.
That thought reminded her for the reason she was pacing anxiously-- how was she going to tell Jacob her big news? She told him most things without even thinking twice, blurting them out as quickly as she thought them, but this was different. This was special. You were supposed to tell your husband in a cute way, weren't you? She'd never been that creative.
Before her mind could enter another feedback loop of worry, the cell phone that she had shoved into her jeans pocket started to vibrate. She jumped a little and pulled the phone out, checking the screen before she answered. Leah? she thought, feeling a little puzzled. She and the female werewolf had become friends, but she still didn't call her much, especially not at six o'clock in the morning.
She flipped the phone open. "Hello?"
"Hey," Leah answered easily. Before Bella could say another word, Leah got to the point. "Emily's water broke. My mom went over there a few minutes ago and told me to get the word out."
Bella grinned. "That's great! I'll go over as fast as I can. I'm out on the beach right now."
"OK, good. See you there!" Leah was already hanging up; she wasn't much of a phone talker.
Bella snapped the phone closed and took off back toward La Push at a jog. She'd known that Emily was due any day now, but she had temporarily forgotten about her friend's pregnancy as she pondered her own issues on the beach that morning.
When she reached their little house, Bella's heart started to pound as she saw Jacob in the kitchen, wide awake and eating a huge bowl of cereal, shirtless and rumpled as usual.
"Hey, Bells! Where ya been?" He hopped up from the table, smiling widely, and Bella automatically smiled back. She wondered if she would ever stop smiling every time she saw him. She hoped not.
She accepted his good morning kiss and took a deep breath before she answered. "I was just walking on the beach."
"I figured." He tilted his head down, trying to look her straight in the eyes. "Something wrong, honey?"
"Oh! Leah just called. Emily's having the baby. I know she wanted me over there to help out. I'm kind of nervous about seeing a birth, to be honest." Not to mention eventually having one of my own, she thought guiltily.
"Yeah, I'm glad Emily didn't ask me to be in there," Jacob laughed. "I might go over with you to sit with Sam, though. You know, we can smoke cigars, pace outside the delivery room, pass out when we hear Emily screaming..."
"Jake!" Bella reprimanded, but he just laughed. "You can go with me if you don't say anything like that while we're there!
"Sure, sure." He leaned down and kissed her again, then kissed her forehead, and she sighed happily as she wrapped her arms around his slim waist.
"We better get going," Bella sighed, reluctantly slipping out of his arms. "I don't know how long this 'having a baby' thing takes."
"Me, neither. I've never been so glad I'm not a woman!"
Bella rolled her eyes and swatted at her husband's retreating back as he slipped past her towards the bedroom.
I can tell him later, she thought, trying to appease the insistent voice in the back of her mind. This is Emily's day now.
*~*~*~*
A few hours later, Bella wondered what she had gotten herself into. She was sitting on the edge of Emily's bed and wincing as Emily nearly cracked every bone in her hand by squeezing it tightly in the midst of yet another contraction.
Bella really wasn't sure why Emily had decided to have a homebirth with just Sue in attendance. Sure, Sue was a nurse and had some midwife training, but Bella had always been taught by Renee that childbirth was something that should be experienced in as much of a drug-induced haze as possible.
Still, the whole thing was more peaceful than Bella had expected. It was just Emily, Emily's mother, Sue, and Leah in the room, besides her. Bella had been honored that Emily had asked her to help out; she'd known that they had a close "wolf girl" friendship, but she hadn't expected Emily to actually want her there for something so personal as her first birth. Since she and Leah were inexperienced at this whole thing, their main role had been saying comforting things and taking turns letting Emily give them carpal tunnel syndrome as she held their hands during her labor pains.
Emily's contraction ended and her deathgrip on Bella's hand loosened. "Phew!" Emily said. "That was a tough one!" She smiled shakily up at Bella, and Bella wondered if labor really wasn't too bad, or if Emily was just extra-cheerful as always.
"Bella, what's wrong?" Emily asked suddenly.
"What?" Bella jumped. She had spaced out for a moment, imagining herself in Emily's position, panting and sweating and swollen and hurting...
"Something's wrong. I can tell."
"Me, too," Leah piped up from across the bed. "What's your deal?"
"Nothing! Nothing's wrong!" Bella protested hastily. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"Bella," Emily said sternly. "Stress and annoyance are bad for the mother during labor. I will be very stressed and annoyed if you don't tell me what's going on!" She was kidding, but her gaze was unsettlingly intense and focused for a laboring woman about to start pushing.
"It's nothing!" Bella didn't want to steal Emily's thunder. Even if it hadn't been for that, she hated being the center of attention. She was wincing just imagining all four pairs of eyes in the room boring into her.
"Cut it out, Bella." Leah rolled her eyes. "We can all see something's wrong, so just tell us before Emily's contractions come back."
"Yeah, it'll happen any minute!" Emily said, dramatically puffing her breath out as though preparing.
"OK, OK, fine!" Bella blurted out. "I'm pregnant, OK? I just found out, and I don't know how to tell Jacob. I wanted to tell him some cute way, but I just don't know how, and I don't know how he'll react, and I'm really just nervous watching you knowing I'm going to have to do this in about eight months..." She trailed awkwardly to an end, looking down to avoid all the gazes that were surely focused on her.
Everyone spoke at once.
"Congratulations!" Mrs. Young and Sue blurted out.
"So that's why you were walking around at six in the morning!" Leah exclaimed.
"Ah!" Emily gasped, and everyone's attention flew back to her as her next contraction hit. Leah hastily reached over and grabbed Emily's hand, giving Bella a break. "That's great, Bella!" Emily panted, smiling even as her eyes winced. "It's the greatest experience you'll ever have... ooh, ouch!"
*~*~*~*
An hour later, it was over. Emily was dozing, exhausted, but smiling proudly even as her eyes slipped closed. The baby was a girl, not yet named, and the men that had been waiting outside the room had come in to be introduced.
Sam was, of course, all smiles, hogging the baby and rocking her in his arms as everyone else crowded around trying to see. Leah and Embry were sitting next to each other on the edge of the bed, and Bella silently noted that those two seemed to be together all the time lately. Seth and Jared were standing in the doorway, a little freaked out by it all, but smiling bravely.
And Jake, her Jacob, was standing behind her, his arms around her waist and his cheek resting on her hair.
"So how was witnessing the miracle of life?" he whispered teasingly.
"It was... scary. But amazing." She smiled, thinking of Emily's strength and serenity and her happiness when she was finally through and holding her baby in her arms.
"Bella!" Bella jumped at the sound of her name, and realized that the sharp voice had come from the apparently slumbering Emily. "Tell him!" Emily's dark eyes had snapped open and were staring at Bella with a fearsome aura of command. Maybe Emily had already gained some bossy parenting abilities since officially becoming a mother.
"Hmm? Tell who what?" Jake murmured. Bella sighed, mustering up her courage.
"Can I talk to you outside for a minute, Jacob?" she asked bravely.
"Sure, hon. Come on." He took her hand and led her out to the porch of Sam and Emily's little house. "What's wrong?" He was now holding both of her hands and looking down at her seriously, looking worried. Bella smiled at his concern.
"Don't be scared, it's good news. I think. I mean, I think you'll think. I hope. Hope you'll think..."
"Just spit it out, Bells," he said gently.
"I'm pregnant!" she blurted all in one breath. "I just found out a few days ago. My period was late and I took a test and I wanted to tell you some special way but I couldn't think of how. I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Jacob was laughing. "Why are you sorry? This is plenty special. And it's definitely good news." He broke into a sudden laugh and scooped Bella up into his arms. "Bells! This is amazing!"
"You're not annoyed I didn't tell you right away? You're not worried?" she said into his shoulder as he spun her in a little circle.
"No, silly. I'm happy, of course!" His laughter was contagious, and she started giggling as he refused to let her feet touch the ground, still hugging her tight.
"Oh, wait, are you OK?" he asked suddenly. "I'm not giving you... morning sickness or something, am I?" He cautiously set her down, as carefully as though she was made of china.
"No, Jake, I'm fine," she laughed, squeezing his hands. "I feel great so far. Just... nervous."
"There's nothing to be afraid of," he whispered, pressing their foreheads together. "This is going to be perfect."
"The greatest experience I'll ever have," Bella echoed, remembering Emily's words.
"Nope. The greatest experience we'll ever have. We're in this together, remember?"
"Always." She stood on tip toes to kiss him, but he stopped her.
"I think we have an audience."
They both turned their heads and saw Sam, Seth, Jared, Embry, and Leah pressing their faces to the screen window, all of them grinning out at Jacob and Bella on the porch.
They both burst into laughter.
"Damn werewolf hearing!" Jacob joked, hugging Bella close and waving proudly at their cluster of friends.
This wasn't quite how Bella had pictured telling her husband she was pregnant...
It was better.