Author's note: I-I don't know why—I just- um. It... urgh —FIGHT ME.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Twilight.
Bella had dreams of a beautiful baby boy, with an angelic face, all of Edward's features, and none of her taint. She had protected and loved and conversed with her Little Nudger, a boy in mind. The one dubbed EJ. Her son. The boy she placed with a name, face, and claim.
And yet, with all of that considered, the sight of him seemed less believable than that of her scarily beautiful and otherworldly perfect daughter, Renesmee.
Renesmee was nothing of the boy from her dreams. She was better, much better than anything she could have possibly imagined. She favored Edward and had traces of her own genetics, which Bella had feared would soil her beauty but only enhanced it. She was the perfect balance of her and Edward, of human and other. She was strong and healthy, with flushed cheeks, a dimpled smile, a head of hair and-
-The complete opposite of the baby before her.
He was small. Much smaller than Renesmee and smaller than the average newborn baby, curled up on his side and tiny in the big expanse of the incubator he laid in, with IVs, monitors, and ventilators all hooked to him.
She had wondered why everyone had been so hesitant for her to see him, more so than they had been with Renesmee. With her, they had been wary. With him, they had all seemed perfectly content with delaying their inevitable meeting for as long as possible, even as Bella's patience waned.
Before, she had at least gotten a glimpse of her daughter, reassured that the one she had been fighting for (dying for) had made it out okay. Foggy as the memory may have been after her transformation, when Bella saw her for the second time, it felt as though they were simply continuing their stalled off meeting.
The boy in front of her, on the other hand, could have been a complete stranger to her for all their lack of contact. She couldn't possibly associate the tiny, frail being with the Little Nudger who sent ripples across her stomach. And she had never even gotten the chance to lay eyes upon him. He had come after she blacked out, as much as a surprise to everyone then as he had been to her upon her awakening, the news delivered to her with bewilderment and concern creeping at the edge.
Edward's lips were drawn tight, eyes making brief contact with the others still present in the room. Carlisle had left after a few rapid fire questions concerning her transformation.
"Twins?" Bella asked in disbelief.
He gave a sharp nod.
They weren't much alike.
"W-what's wrong with him?" Bella hadn't realized she had taken a step towards him until a pair of hands clamped down on her shoulders to hold her back. With all of her new found speed and strength, watching the tiny babe whose condition she was unaware of and who she wasn't able to help washed her with a sense of helpless. A hiss of irritation bubbled from her. "Wh-"
"Bella," Edward whispered into her ear, nose buried into her hair. Though he spoke hurriedly, he seemed to have to force the words out. "He's... He's not like Renesmee. He's more human than anything else, and a month in the womb wasn't enough time to develop fully-"
"If he's human then he shouldn't be here at all," she muttered, more preoccupied by the horrifying thought of this baby sharing such an enclosed space that was her womb with a stronger, more active Renesmee. "How..."
"We don't know. There's a lot about this entire situation that we just don't know," Edward said, arms circling Bella's waist as she made to move again. She felt the way his mouth was curving into a frown against her ear. "What we do know is that he isn't strong enough to breath on his own, not strong enough to feed on his own, not even big enough to regulate his own body temperature-"
Bella let loose something resembling a whine.
"Why won't you let me see him?"
She felt Edward's body stiffen against hers.
"Bella," he said slowly. "He's human."
And that was when, instead noting every beep made on the monitor, she heard the faint thudding of a heart beneath his chest, much slower than Renesmee's. And through the smell of sterilization that permeated the room, she caught his scent, carrying no trace of any sort of vampiric buffer.
She could hardly find the infant before her appetizing.
"I'm fine," Bella said confidently, trying to relax her body to prove her point.
Edward broke away from her, hands still resting on her, and measured her up. He looked skeptical.
"Please."
And they were moving.
Edward didn't completely let her go, not really, one hand pressed lightly on the curve of her back. Good too, she thought, because the more uneasy she felt the closer they approached the incubator.
She was soon looking down at the boy, tiny and helpless...
She crouched, now eye level with the him, whose eyes were closed, taking in every fold in his wrinkly, vulnerable skin, every vein through sickly shade, and felt the same rapture she had for the glowing, bouncing baby. She thought of the girl of a different gender, of different looks, and much bigger than the boy of her dreams. And of the boy, much smaller, more worrying than bewitching in his health, with the old man face and underdeveloped body. He wasn't resembling much of either of them- any of them.
And she took him for what he was.
Her son, first and foremost.
"Edward Jacob Cullen," she murmured. "EJ."
He gave no movement of response.
•author's notes•
Lol. Medical knowledge? What medical knowledge? Pfft, sorry, Edward. Tried to be as vague as possible. And sorry, Carlisle, for your lack of an appearance. Let's just say he wanted to give them some alone time before he resumed his doctorly duties, and was measuring Renesmee in the meantime.
*******A few warnings that I think you all should be aware of if we are to continue on this journey together, buds:
-Ed not filling in the role of "Older Brother"? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Tragic.
-As Ed gets older, his language shall get foul. Slightly because of his character, mostly to satisfy my own juvenile sense of humor. Maybe Emmett will add his two cents. Heck, it might even get foul in the Quileute pack full of rambunctious teenage boys. Hell, may even spiral out of control in the author's notes.
-Uuuh, I'm not sure how much sense I'm going for story wise here. So, as we move farther along, there may or may not be plot holes that pop up that may or may not get resolved.
-If my writing seems shady, that's because it is. I'm really trying to avoid going back to reread anything I write for this. I'm doing this solely for my own amusement and to get this (STUPID) idea out of my head that's been pestering me for months. The amusement's gone if I'm squirming over how appalling I think my own writing is. It'll even stop me from putting it up.
-That said, feel free to still offer constructive criticism as I back out on my own word, cave in, and reread and edit like a lil' bitch. Any offer of improvement is greatly appreciated.
-Punctuation is not my strong suit. Or emotion. Or flow. Please help. :'D (Can you tell who has been rereading?)
-There will be more warnings.
Anyways, thanks for reading, thanks for finding this, and thanks for clicking. I know the process. And, if you feel like reviewing, that'd be great and be met with thanks as well.