I blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. Then I cursed. Renesmee looked up at me curiously and I grimaced, apologizing for my colorful vocabulary.
Everything had been so easy - effortless - since I had become an immortal but this was going to be neither easy nor effortless. I sighed deeply, inhaling the sweet scent of my young daughter as she sat reading Edgar Allan Poe. Born almost two and half years ago, Nessie could easily pass for a child of ten with the mental capacity beyond that of most adults. She was my miracle - my last act as a human.
But as I stood there, staring down at the utterly human contraption held in my hand everything else faded into the background. I don't know how long I stood there, lost in my disbelief, before Edward entered.
His warm golden eyes danced to my quaking hand, then to my face, then, reflexively, toward Renesmee.
"Bella," he said softly.
My golden eyes met his.
"You're not human, that…thing has no ability to measure the chemical makeup of your body." he explained evenly, sounding as if he were attempting to convince himself of the same.
I remained still. "But,"
"I know, Bell. It's strange, but your body is no longer capable of…that. Last year was a fluke - a blip on the radar. Carlisle agrees. Strange, but unrepeated."
I nodded once absently. Last year, out of no where, I had gotten a period. Once, and then never again. Carlisle had been stunned into silence when I told him and Edward and had then insisted on examining me immediately. At Edwards assistance I had reluctantly agreed and my agreement had landed on a steel table, my legs in the air, with my father-in-law between them. It had been mortifying to say the least.
Since then I'd thankfully had no repeat performances, giving Carlisle to reason to go rooting around down there again.
But now, here I stood, positive pregnancy test in my hand - no matter how rudimentarily human it was.
"Bella," Edward began slowly and I laughed in response. A high tinkling sound.
I turned toward him slowly, and pushed the fabric of my t-shirt up gently. There in the center of my hard flat abdomen was an undeniable bump. I felt a tiny flutter there, and I laughed again at the absurdity of the situation.
Edward's face was gray. "Let's go see Carlisle." he whispered, reaching for my hand.
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I had stunned him to silence again. He looked between me and Edward, gaping. "No, impossible." he whispered.
"That's what I said," Edward groaned.
I crossed my arms across my chest, annoyed. "Impossible, and yet here I sit - knocked up. Again. By a vampire."
Carlisle shook his head, the fog in his eyes clearing. "Would you object to me examining you, Bella?"
I sighed, remembering the embarrassment last time. "I don't suppose I've got much of a choice," I sighed.
Edward snorted quietly and took my hand as Carlisle led the way up the stairs.
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I sat, my legs crossed tightly, on the sofa wrapped in Edward's arms as Carlisle flipped through the pages of notes in his hands before us.
"Well, you're pregnant, all right Bella. Your HcG registers as does your estrogen and progesterone. Which," he continued looking absolutely bewildered. "should be impossible as your not human. But they're there." He flipped a few more pages and mumbled. "You're uterus and ovaries look perfectly functional and healthy…which again is impossible."
If I could blush, I'm sure my face would have resembled an apple.
"But the most interesting thing, Bella, is that you have the most amazing chromosomal makeup." Carlisle went on as if he hadn't just been discussing my uterus. "Humans have twenty three pairs of chromosomes. Shape shifters and werewolves have twenty-four, vampires have twenty-five, Renesmee has twenty-six, you have twenty-seven."
I shook my head, not understanding and looking toward Edward for an explanation but he looked just as confused.
Carlisle sighed and set the papers down on the table between us. "You're not human, but your not a vampire. You're not a hybrid in the sense that Renesmee is - you're something else entirely."
I blinked out of instinct. "Come again?"
"Wait," Edward breathed. "are you saying…"
Carlisle beamed and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I think so. I'll need some of Charlie and Rene's blood to be sure, but I think so."
Edward let out a great rush of air and smiled down at my confused face. "There's a legend, Bella, that once a great vampire existed. She was the most powerful in the world, born with the dawn of time. The Alphega Vampire. The mother of the race."
"Ok…and," I prompted.
"She was a hybrid of sorts between human and vampire - able to bear children. An exquisite gift. It is believed that a direct descendent of hers would come into being and would serve to save the race." Carlisle babbled.
"Wait, I, huh? Oh no!" I cried, putting my hands up. "No way, not me!"
"If the legend is true, it would explain…" Edward whispered.
"No!" I cut him off. "Not me."
"Fine. We'll talk about it later." Edward conceded, then turned back toward Carlisle looking serious. "Right now I'm not concerned about the how or why." he explained, scooping my hands into his absently. "I'm more worried about how it's going to affect Bella. I remember last time," he trailed off with a shudder.
"I was human then," I snapped.
"Regardless," Edward pressed, circling the palm of my hand with his thumb. "It was so fast - so violent,"
"It won't be like that, this time around, I can assure you." Carlisle soothed.
"How do you know?"
Carlisle smiled and took the top page of notes from his stack and handed them to Edward. "Because Bella is already four months pregnant."
"I'm what?" I stuttered, shaken.
"Four months along, judging by your hormone levels." Carlisle repeated. "Though," he added as an afterthought. "I don't know how viable those results are, as you shouldn't have hormones, period."
Edward squeezed my hand in what I'm sure was supposed to be a reassuring gesture, but it hurt. I flicked my eyes toward him and smiled ruefully at his grimace.
"You married what you thought was a human, then got yourself what was supposed to be a vampire, and now it turns out I'm the most mutant-y mutant there is!" I laughed at the absurdity of the situation.
"You're not a mutant," he snapped, dropping my hand and narrowing his eyes in annoyance.
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, buddy." Old habits die hard. Edward gave me a confused look and opened his mouth to speak.
"I know," I laughed. "you don't sleep. It's a figure of speech." I placed my hands gently over the bump on my stomach and sighed. "Here we go again."
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I was really dragging today, which is decidedly odd because I don't require sleep. And yet, today, that massive wrought iron bed looked so inviting. Maybe I just needed to be still, to allow my marble body to become motionless.
"Edward," I called, crawling in the downy softness of the bed. He appeared, casting a concerned look in my direction as I settled beneath the covers.
"Bella, what are you doing?" he asked carefully, Renesmee peering around he legs.
I glanced at him innocently, through my slowly closing lids. "Edward, I'm really tired."
He swallowed hard. "Bella, you can't sleep."
"I think," I began quietly. "that I can." Then I yawned.
Edwards face crumpled. "Oh," he breathed, pushing Renesmee behind him gently. "I'll get Carlisle."
Fear tugged gently at the edges of my brain as the darkness closed in. This was impossible, unfeasible, and ridiculous - vampires don't sleep. This shouldn't be happening, but then again, I thought, I usually failed at most things I tried. And so, though it was an abomination, I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me.