When Bella arrived home, her plans to go straight to bed were blown out of the water by the appearance of none other than Jacob and Billy Black.
"Hi, Bella." Jacob greeted, seeming pleased about something.
"Hi Jacob, Billy." She replied politely, wanting nothing more than to be left alone.
"I heard about what happened with the Cullens, Bella. Believe me, it's for the best." Billy said, with an air of smugness about him that seemed to scream 'I told you so'. Charlie shot Billy a scathing look, whereas Jacob seemed to agree with his father.
"Excuse me?" Bella whispered angrily.
"Well...he's right, Bella. It's the truth." Jacob agreed.
"Hey, come on." Charlie glared at them. Bella still wasn't back to normal, and their careless comments would only serve to make matters worse. Bella looked furious.
"It's none of your damn business!" Bella fumed, "You're nothing but a bunch of goddamn gossips who should keep their opinions to themselves. It's not your place to say anything about my life. You barely know me, and know Edward-" Bella's eyes flashed with pain as she said his name, "- even less!" She glared at them irately. All three men had looks of shock on their faces, Billy and Jacob looking particularly offended. Charlie looked angry, whether he was angry with Bella for her outburst, or Billy and Jacob for their careless words, Bella did not know.
"Billy, Jacob. I think you should leave." Charlie intoned quietly. Billy looked at Charlie in shock, and Charlie nodded, still looking furious.
"Fine. Come on, Jacob." Billy shot one last look at Charlie, and a glare at Bella, before wheeling out of the living room. The front door shut with a resounding bang.
"Bella?" Charlie questioned gently, standing up. Her eyes pooled with tears of anger.
"I'm sorry, dad. I just got so mad...they had no business saying that to me." Bella apologized, and Charlie nodded.
"None at all." He agreed, patting her back gently.
"So you're not angry?" Bella questioned.
"Oh I'm angry. But not with you." Charlie affirmed, giving Bella a gentle hug. She returned it, sniffling slightly. She pulled back from his embrace, with a laugh.
"That was a hell of a mood swing." She observed. Charlie laughed also.
"But not without reason."
As the weeks passed, Bella grew more and more emotional.
The only person she could stand to be around outside of home was Angela. Angela was a genuinely nice person, who had no ulterior motives, and not a bad thing to say about anyone. She hadn't set Bella's temper off once. Angela eventually became Bella's only friend. Mike Newton had eventually gotten the message after he had asked Bella to dinner three times in one lunch hour. Suffice to say, Bella had dealt with it. After the Mike incident, Bella had ceased to sit at her regular table at lunch, opting instead to sit at a smaller, empty table with Angela and her boyfriend Ben.
Bella and Angela had become quite close, and Charlie was grateful that Bella was socialising once more.
"Do you have a tampon?" Angela asked quietly, sounding embarrassed, from her small cubicle. They both had a free hour due to their English teachers' absence, so when Angela had needed to use the bathroom, Bella had accompanied her.
"No. Actually I haven't had the need for one, I haven't had my period for a while now.." Bella trailed off.
Angela exited the stall a moment later.
"Don't take this the wrong way...but do you think you might be pregnant? I mean...the mood swings, your odd food choices," Bella looked down at the honey-covered slice of pepperoni in her hand, "and you've…grown a bit.." Angela said delicately as she washed her hands, wanting to avoid another mood swing.
Bella weighed the possibilities in her head. Nah. Her and Edward had never had sex, and even if they did it wasn't possible for her to fall pregnant, he was a vampire.
Wait. He was a vampire.
Could it be possible?
But no, Edward hadn't seemed to think there was a possibility. He hadn't mentioned anything.
But maybe he didn't know.
How many vampires kept romantic company with humans?
Oh, crap.
"Oh god." Bella whispered, face turning stark white as she looked at the forming bump on her belly.
"It's alright, Bella. Stay calm." Angela advised, placing her hand on Bella's arm.
"Calm?" Bella breathed incredulously. Angela nodded.
"Do you want to go to the doctors, or get a home test first?" Angela questioned, dealing with the situation much better than Bella. Of course, it was practical to see if their suspicions were warranted before freaking out.
"Home test, definitely." Bella answered.
"If you don't want your dad to know, we should drive to a pharmacy out of town." Angela warned.
"Port Angeles, then." Bella answered.
"Okay," Angela placated, "after school?" Bella nodded in agreement.
The next few hours couldn't pass fast enough.
When they arrived at Port Angeles after the hour-long drive, Angela directed Bella to the nearest pharmacist, on the boardwalk. They entered the small store, and headed straight for the aisle with the pregnancy tests. Bella blushed furiously as she picked up the closest test. It was just her luck, that she'd be buying a pregnancy test for herself before she'd actually had sex. What a warped, unusual life she lived.
"I feel so sleazy, buying a test at my age.." Bella whispered quietly. Angela had an epiphany.
"Hold on, let me deal with this." She said, walking up to the front counter. The middle-aged woman looked up at her pleasantly.
"How may I help you?"
"Hello, my name's Angela. My mother sent myself and my sister to get her an early pregnancy test - she missed her period, and has been throwing up, see, - and my sister and I have no idea which one to buy." Angela explained convincingly. The woman seemed to believe her explanation, and walked from behind the counter, to the aisle where Bella stood.
"There's quite a few options, but I'd suggest First Response. It can tell as early as a week after conception, and comes with three tests, if the first comes up negative, then you take a test two days later, as if there is HCG - the pregnancy hormone - present, it becomes more detectable as time passes." The lady - Donna, her nametag said - held the box out to Angela, and Angela smiled brightly.
"Thank you so much for your help. We'll just get this one, then." She thanked the lady, and they made their way to the counter to pay for it.
"You're a genius, Angela." Bella thanked her when they exited the shop.
"Don't mention it," she smiled, "now let's find a bathroom so you can take a test."
They found a McDonalds with a public bathroom, and decided to take the test there. Bella would have laughed at the humor of taking a pregnancy test in a McDonalds, had she not been so scared of the result.
Angela waited outside the stall as Bella took the test, and when Bella set it on the back of the toilet, next to the flush button, she let Angela in to wait with her. Angela kept an eye on her watch, all the while trying to keep Bella calm.
"Okay, it's been about three minutes." Angela said, after checking her watch for the last time. Bella picked up the box, reading the instructions on the back once more.
Two lines, positive. One line, negative.
She picked up the test, almost to afraid to look. Curiosity outweighed her desire to remain oblivious to the result, and she finally looked at the test.
Two lines.
As she looked from the test to Angela, and to the test again, she realised she had got her wish. Her proof of Edward's existence. Her reminder of their relationship.
She was carrying Edward's baby.
