Thanks for the response, guys, as always. :) Hope you enjoy this 2nd chapter - I've decided there's gonna be three total. I kinda like trilogies... but anyway, that doesn't mean I'll still post if I don't get any reviews. :D So basically, it's up to ya'll.
This one's a little short (sorry!) but the third one is gonna be pretty big, so you guys can deal. And besides:
There's Emmett in this chapter. :) YAAAY!
Just when I thought things couldn't get any more complicated, I heard my window slide open. Emmett crawled through, squaring his broad shoulders to fit through the comparatively narrow opening. He had to be avoiding the situation downstairs, or he would have come in the front door like a normal person. Heaven knows he probably heard it from a mile away. Also, from the downpour outside, he was completely drenched.
So basically, he was going to make a mess of my room and my moral convictions. Fabulous.
The really adorable part is that I was so happy to see him that I didn't even care.
"Oh Emmett!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around his neck. "I'm so confused!"
As my husband, and the one person who could even begin to understand every aspect of who I was, he was the only one in the world to whom I could admit any doubt or insecurity. He held me close for a few moments, but then gently pushed me away to arm's length.
"Rose, tell me what's going on," he said evenly. "I heard the madness downstairs. Something's wrong – I know it is. I'm scared, baby."
"Bella's pregnant," I whispered, breaking our eye contact. Even though I was focused intently on my closet door, from the corner of my eye I could still see his expression change to utter bewilderment.
"That's impossible," he whispered. I shook my head.
"I thought so too, but then I talked to her. She actually convinced me."
"Tell me everything," he said, leading me over to my antique sofa and sitting down beside me. It occurred to me suddenly that we were both so wet we'd ruin the silk embroidery, but that was a stupid thing to care about in this moment.
"Alice saw something odd and called them. Then Bella was talking to Carlisle, and I guess he told the rest of the family. I only overheard bits and pieces; I was upstairs when it happened. I didn't feel like going down and getting into the middle of all the insanity – especially when I thought they were all delusional anyway. When Alice came to tell me, I exploded at her."
"Well that's understandable," Emmett replied, his eyes narrowing. "That was kind of a heartless thing of her to do – she knows as well as any of us how you feel about babies and everything. And how you feel about Bella, for that matter…"
"Yeah. It didn't help either when she told me that they were coming back here to have Carlisle perform an abortion."
"Bella's going to allow that?" Emmett demanded, his eyes growing wide with horror.
"Well, I certainly thought so when Alice told me," I replied. "But then… Bella called me."
"That's what I thought you told me, but it's so weird. Why you?"
"I wasn't sure at first either," I said, laughing humorlessly. "Pretty weird, huh?"
"Very. Does anybody else know about that part?"
"No, Alice had just left in a fury and everybody else was still running around panicking downstairs. Bella hung up when Edward got back into the room, so he's none the wiser."
"This is getting stranger and stranger," Emmett said softly. "Bella keeping secrets from Edward, calling you… What did she say, anyway?"
"That's the craziest part of all," I replied. "Basically, she's told me that Edward wants her to get an abortion, and naturally, she won't allow it. It's not that simple, though. Evidently Edward's gone crazy, and Bella thinks he and Carlisle would overpower her if necessary."
"This is psycho. Why the hell does Edward want so badly to get rid of the baby?" Emmett demanded. "I mean, it is his, isn't it?"
"Yeah, they're pretty sure," I replied, laughing again, but this time sarcastically. "I mean, according to them, it's some crazy mutant half-vampire baby."
Emmett didn't laugh.
"Bella's pregnant with a vampire?" he asked quietly. I shrugged, suddenly feeling a little guilty for making a joke out of a potentially deadly situation – even if Bella was the one in question. Ugh. Emmett was the only one with the power to make me feel that.
"Don't tell me you're Pro-Choice now too," I groaned. Emmett shook his head.
"I haven't even heard the whole story yet. But it's beginning to make a little more sense now, as much as I hate to say it. I see why Edward is so worried. If it's a vampire, it's pretty much going to…"
"Eat her from the inside out," I finished for him. He nodded, still hardly taking everything in.
"Isn't she worried?"
"She's an expectant mother, Emmett, vampire or otherwise," I sighed. "All she cares about is her baby. And rightly so. She's so afraid they're going to take it away from her. She called and made me promise to protect it – at all costs."
Emmett sucked in a deep, slow breath.
"And what did you say?"
"I agreed, of course," I replied. I had made eye contact again after I told him the news, but now I was definitely staring at the floor.
"There's another catch, too," I added quietly.
"What?"
"In the event of Bella dying, which is increasingly likely – she admitted it herself – I promised to take care of the baby. Just think, Emmett. Us – parents. Isn't that what we've always wanted?"