The next morning, Emmett carried me downstairs and Esme tried to feed me breakfast but it all came back up not twenty minutes after I'd eaten. Everyone was worried; it was all they would think about. Sighing, I watched Carlisle walk down the stairs and come towards the couch where I was sitting. There was an apologetic expression on his face.
"Good morning Edward. How are you feeling today son?" he asked.
I shot him a wary look and answered slowly, "Fine…."
Carlisle shook his head, obviously knowing that I suspected something was wrong and his next words proved me right. "We have to tell the pack today. I already talked to Sam last night; we're meeting at the treaty line this evening."
His words shocked me, but I didn't know why they should. All the breath whooshed out of me and I sat there gaping at him like a fool. For some reason I couldn't quite form, I didn't want them to know about the baby. Just the thought had me breathing faster in a panic.
"What? No, no we can't tell them! They can't know; I don't want them to know." My thoughts wandered down the dark path of destruction where everything bad that could possibly happen happened. What if they didn't accept it? What if they hurt my baby? They can't hurt my baby! I won't let them hurt my baby.
Carlisle's eyes softened and he rubbed my arm soothingly. "Son, one of them is the father. They have a right to know." I agreed with that but for some reason, I didn't want the father of this child to know. Shaking my head, I placed a hand on my stomach but I knew I was fighting a losing battle. So that's how I ended up in the back of Carlisle's Mercedes watching my family and the wolves face each other off before discussing my predicament.
"What's this about?" Sam, standing in the centre between Jacob and Seth asked. He sounded as impatient as Jacob looked. Standing behind Jacob was Paul, a scowl on his face.
The sight of him made me panic and I started to shake all over. Because I suddenly remembered what he had done to me. How he had followed me out to the woods after Bella's funeral and…did that to me. Taken by surprise, I couldn't stop him, and so he had his way with me. More than once. Then, he had poured a foul liquid down my throat, telling me not to worry because I wouldn't remember this at all when I woke up. But I remember now. And then it hit me. My baby was a product of a…rape.
This revelation could only have taken seconds but already my whole world seemed to have shifted yet again. Carlisle had yet to answer Sam's question but already, I wanted to go home. I whimpered quietly but no one heard, too intent on listening to Carlisle speak.
"My son Edward is pregnant and the father is someone from the pack."Carlisle stated seriously.
There was a loaded silence, followed by loud laughter from every single person on the other side of the line. Then, Sam spoke, doubt in his voice. "Someone from the pack mating with a vampire? You're joking and the last time I checked, wasn't Edward a guy?" Again, more laughing. Carlisle sighed and shook his head.
"Emmett, help Edward out of the car. They need to know we're not joking." Emmett nodded and headed over to me; opening the door and holding his arms out in invitation. I pouted lightly and scooted closer to him, locking my arms around his neck. He scooped my up and kicked the door closed. As soon as I got outside, the stench of the mutts assaulted me, and it was so much worse than before. I stopped breathing and watched their reactions as the wind carried my scent to them.
They recognized immediately that I carried one of them inside me. All of their thoughts were shocked and they were all thinking something along the lines of "How is this possible?" and "Who's the Dad?" Everyone except Paul. I couldn't bring myself to look directly at him but I could feel his stare boring into me. His thoughts stung like bees and I clung to Emmett whimpering slightly but even then, I couldn't escape his thoughts.
So he's pregnant. Well what do you know? Never knew he was such a freak. It doesn't matter anyway does it? I'm not going to have anything to do with that monster spawn. They can do whatever they want with it.
His thoughts were so hurtful and I gasped, the scent of the wolves flooding my senses. I gagged and leaned over to throw up on the grass at Emmett's feet. Esme came over and stroked my hair soothingly, sympathy in her eyes.
Once I had stopped vomiting, Carlisle spoke again. "I would like to find out who the father of the baby is. Is there a way to do that?" He directed his question at Sam but I told him instead.
"It's Paul." My voice sounded feeble, frail and it broke on his name but I knew everyone heard me. Carlisle came over and took my hand in his asking me if I was sure, which I was. Somehow, his skin didn't feel as cool to me as it did this morning and an alarmed expression crossed his face. He rubbed my hand, trying to warm me up but just then, a cool breeze blew through and I shivered violently. Emmett hugged me tighter to him while Carlisle squeezed my hand trying to find a solution.
Sam spoke up, mild concern lacing his voice. "There isn't a way to determine the father before the child is born but we can confirm Edward's suspicion. Bring him over here."
Emmett handed me over to Carlisle, who carried me to the treaty line directly in front of Sam. Paul had a disgusted look on his face due to my close proximity and I didn't like it either. It made me jumpy being this close to him and the cold fury I could see in his face scared me.
"Okay Paul. I want you to tell me if you feel any sort of connection to him. And don't lie to me because I will know when we phase and I'll have access to your thoughts." Sam ordered with a slight threat in his voice.
Paul scoffed and gave Sam a withering look. "I'm not going to lie to you Sam. Yes, I slept with the leech. Why do you think I've been avoiding phasing with you guys lately? Let me just say, the leech is a good plaything." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him leer at me and I shuddered, burying my face in Carlisle's shirt. His words earned growls from my family and my father held me tighter to him, in response to my distress as well as the shivering, which had increased during the short period we were standing here.
"I have to get him home, he's freezing out here." Carlisle said quickly. He turned to go back to the car but Paul stepped closer to him, being careful to stay on his side of the line. His scent was my undoing. I would forever associate that smell with pain. His hand was an inch from touching me and I panicked, struggling against my father in an attempt to get away from the threat.
Carlisle backed away quickly and rocked me like a small child while glaring daggers at Paul. I grabbed his shirt, looking for something to ground me and felt his chest vibrate as he spoke. "You will not come near my son ever again." His tone was cold and final, and the next thing I knew he was placing me in the backseat of the Mercedes, Jasper and Alice climbing in on the other side.
All of my family's thoughts were angry and incredulous, mirroring my own, but suddenly, it all stopped. I gasped, my ears straining to hear something, but that familiar buzzing was gone. "Carlisle, I can't hear anything." My voice sounded scratchy; it was just a whisper.
My father glanced at me in the rear view mirror, alarmed. "Edward, what do you mean you can't hear anything?" He asked, panicked. Probably thought I'd gone deaf or something, and it was my own fault. I should've been more specific.
"Can't hear thoughts…anymore…" I was exhausted and talking was taking a lot out of me. My eyes closed and I rested my heavy head on Jasper's shoulder, his arm came up to wrap around me, giving me support.
"Edward, Edward can you hear me?" Jasper asked, his lips right by my ear.
"Mmm."I opened my eyes slowly. "Want to sleep." At this point, I was too tired to keep my eyes opened and Jasper squeezed my shoulder gently.
"Go to sleep, son. I'll figure this out for you. I promise." Carlisle vowed; his soothing voice helped to lull me to sleep. A wave of lethargy swept over me and I let it carry my away.
This time, when I woke up there were blankets piled on top of me and Carlisle was sitting on a chair by my bed. But the biggest difference was the silence. There were no voices assaulting me, no thoughts telling what was going on, nothing.
"Carlisle, why can't I hear anything?" I asked, struggling to sit up. I realized it was slightly easier but not so easy that I refused when Carlisle reached forward to help me.
"I don't know Edward. " He sighed, sounding tired. "All we have to go on are myths and legends as something like this has never happened before. They tell us that if a vampire and a werewolf...sleep together, the one who is…receiving…may become impregnated whether male or female."Carlisle sounded uncomfortable and I hated to make him more uncomfortable but I just didn't understand. What was that about receiving? And how could the receiver become pregnant? I mean, what did they receive?
"I…don't understand… What do you mean the one who is receiving?" I cocked my head slightly to the side, staring at him completely confused. My father looked so uncomfortable I knew he would've blushed if he could've. Downstairs, I heard Emmett guffaw loudly and I knew I was missing something.
Carlisle cleared his throat and when he looked at me, he had his doctor face on. "The bottom Edward. In a heterosexual relationship, this is the female. In a homosexual relationship, this is the person who allows – " My eyes widened as I understood what my father was trying to explain to me and why it made him so embarrassed. If I were human I would've been beet red.
"Oh." The sound passed my lips as barely a whisper and Carlisle patted my hand sympathetically. Downstairs, Emmett was laughing harder and even Jasper was chuckling quietly.
I pouted and Carlisle laughed, kissed the top of my head and helped me lay back down. "Get some sleep son. You need it." With that, he left, leaving the door open.
After a couple of hours of laying on my bed thinking about my baby and how much I loved it already and about my pregnancy and how impossible it was, I struggled up to join my family in the living room. Honestly, I was content to lay there on my bed all day but the longer I stayed there, the more times thoughts of Paul and what he did to me kept popping up, and I didn't want to deal with those.
Considering my luck so far, it would be a smart idea to ask for someone to come help me down but I didn't want to bother them with my problems. Besides, the stairs weren't so far from my room and I could probably make it down two flights of stairs. I mean, I wasn't an invalid.
Throwing the covers off and getting ungracefully out of bad, I prayed that my legs would support me, and thankfully they did, although they were shaking like a leaf in the wind. I walked at a slightly slower-than-human pace, as I couldn't manage anything else, to the stairs but by the time I got there, I was exhausted. My body swayed and I leaned on the railing for support. Downstairs, I could hear Emmett and Jasper playing the X-box, Alice and Rosalie discussing clothes, and Carlisle and Esme talking about having a grandchild and how amazing it was.
Everyone sounded so happy and carefree, and this made me feel sad, isolated, alone. Rejected. A wave of dizziness hit me and I gripped the railing harder, hoping to keep upright. The sound of the X-box cut off and Emmett asked Jasper where he was going. Then, there were footsteps, getting closer to me, and Jasper was standing at the top of the stairs, calming waves spreading through me. Letting go of the railing, I took a step towards him, which was a mistake because as soon as I let go of the railing, the floor was rushing up to meet me. Before I could hit the ground though, he caught me and picked me up, shaking his head at me like I should've known better, which I should've.
"You shouldn't exhaust yourself Edward. Why didn't you just ask for help?" Jasper asked.
I closed my eyes and rested my head against his chest. "I didn't want to disturb anyone."I responded, feebly. Downstairs, all conversations stopped as Jasper sighed, exasperated.
"Edward, you wouldn't be disturbing anyone if you asked for help. Everyone knows you are in no condition to be walking down two flights of stairs and we're all willing to help." I opened my eyes and looked up at him, trying to thank him silently. "Where were you going?" His voice was softer this time, more soothing.
"Downstairs." I tried to hide the self pity in my voice but I don't think I succeeded much. He started down the stairs and I closed my eyes, knowing everyone else was staring at me. Me who couldn't even get down two flights of stairs. How pathetic.
I would really appreciate it if you guys took the time to review *hint hint* I like knowing what other people think about my writing. Constructive criticism is always welcome too! Really, I just wanna know if you guys were surprised this chapter?
