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Chapter 4 begins in 3...2...1... and go!
xxx
"This is unbelievable..." Rosalie sighed, leaning back in her chair at the diner.
Bella said nothing, just picked at her nails nervously, "What do we do?" She whispered.
Rosalie studied her for a moment before answering, "I'll tell Emmett today.. this is unplanned but nothing I can't handle. And Emmett's a good guy, he'll be okay.."
Bella just nodded, her face pale. She knew she was in for a world of pain if this news got out. What would her parents think? She'd be sent away again without her consent if they had anything to say about it. On the other hand, this could be her chance. She could be free again.
Rosalie reached across the table and put her hand on Bella's. "I can tell your mind is moving a mile a minute. Tell me. Talk to me. I know I'm not in your situation, but tell me what I can do, what you plan to do."
Bella bit her lip, holding back the tears, "I don't know..." she whispered, "It was twice. That's it. And I hardly know him.."
Rosalie nodded, "But he sends you all of those messages. I've seen the way you smile when you read them.. And Emmett says he's waiting for you.."
"Can you imagine him wanting a baby with a 'two night stand, wham bam thank you ma'am'?" Bella hissed, twisting her bracelet around her wrist.
"Is that what you think of yourself? Is that what you think it was?" Rosalie snapped, "What have they done to you, Bella? What have they said? So help me God, if they..."
"It's nothing. Nothing I can't handle." Bella stood up after dropping a few bills on the table for her coffee.
"Bella, you're 26 years old. They can't have any claim on you anymore." Rosalie grabbed her arm and whispered to her, "Your parents made their bed. Let them lie in it... come with me today. We can tell them together."
Bella looked out the diner window and nodded, "I'll go with you. I just don't know if I want to yet..."
Rosalie nodded and led Bella out to the shiny blue sports car in the parking lot.
A few moments into the drive, Rosalie spoke up, "Just how far along do you think you are, Bells? I'm just far enough to be late, but I saw Emmett after you stopped seeing Jasper. "
Bella shrugged her shoulders and opened up her phone to access the calendar, "It goes back to your last cycle, right?" She whispered.
Rosalie nodded, "Yes..." She saw Bella scrolling through the weeks and her eyes widened, "Bella..."
Tears brimmed Bella's eyes, "12 weeks? Maybe 13?" She sucked in a deep breath, "I don't know for sure..."
"Are you showing? My God, Bella! You need prenatal care... have you seen a doctor? Are you taking vitamins?"
Bella said nothing, just put her head in her hands and sobbed, "I'm so fat... I can't hide it for much longer. I don't know what I'm going to do..."
Rosalie pulled over to the side of the road and turned to her, "Show me..." she commanded gently.
Bella wiped her eyes and sat up straight, pulling her shirt up to expose her expanding stomach. Rosalie gasped and reached over, gently placing her hand on the small bump.
"Bella..." she sniffled, tears exposing themselves, "That's a baby in there. That's your baby. That's his baby too. You need to do the right thing and tell him."
A loud beep of a horn made them both jump and Bella whipped her shirt down.
Emmett's wide grin appeared in the drivers seat of the vehicle next to them, "Hey ladies..." his smile faded when he took in Bella's tear streaked face, and Rosalie's tortured expression, "Everything okay?"
Rosalie gave him a pleading look and bit her lip, "We'll follow you back to the ranch, okay?"
Emmett just nodded and pulled ahead of them, maintaining a slow pace until they caught up. He picked up the phone and dialed Jasper's number, "Code Red, man... something's going on.."
xxx
Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months since Jasper had seen Bella in person. The texts and calls were scarce, but he waited for them all the same.
When he got Emmett's call, his heart began to race and he nearly wore a hole on the porch with his pacing. Jasper thought he was going to go crazy waiting for them to show up.
Moments later, a cloud of dust coming down the road signaled their arrival and he made his way down to the driveway to greet them. Once Emmett's truck was in park, he flew out of it and opened the driver's side door for Rosalie. He pulled her into his arms and began to stroke her face lovingly, "is everything okay?" She just shook her head and looked over to Bella.
Jasper opened her door and squatted down next to her, "Hey... Bella..." he whispered and she turned to him slowly. He took in her gaunt features, had she been ill? Her cheekbones were protruding more than before, and her eyes had lost any sign of the sparkle that they once had.
"Hey..." she whispered back, not making any attempt to move.
He grabbed her hand and studied the lean fingers, noticing that she no longer wore any of her rings.
"Come inside with me. Let's get you something to eat and drink. Are you hungry?" He prodded gently.
She shook her head no, but held his hand tighter as she made the attempt to get out of the vehicle. He braced her and stood with her, shutting the car door. Sending a terrified look to Emmett and Rosalie, he walked her into the house, leaving them standing alone outside.
xxx
Rosalie leaned her head onto his shoulder and nuzzled his neck before whispering, "Can we go somewhere to talk?"
Emmett looked at her quickly, "are you leaving me? I can't take that right now, so if you are, just say it and get it over with..."
She put both hands flat against his chest, "Babe... stop..." she laughed a little, "I'm not leaving you. Let's just go talk..."
He nodded and took her hand, leading her to the patio and sitting her on his lap.
"Whats going on?" Emmett asked quietly, rubbing her back.
Rosalie hesitated then looked him in the face, "Do you see a future with me? Honestly? This is important."
Emmett stared into her face and held both sides of her face in his hand, "Ro... I think I fell in love with you when I first saw you getting out of your car the night of the bonfire. I can't imagine a life without you..."
Rosalie sniffled a little and wiped her eyes, then laughed, "Sorry, I guess I'm a little hormonal..."
Emmett nodded slowly and then stopped, his eyes as wide as saucers, "What did you say?"
She bit her lip and nodded, "I'm a little hormonal. Because I'm pregnant..."
Emmett's jaw nearly became unhinged and he stood up, nearly dumping her onto the ground before he caught her again, "did I hear you right?? You're pregnant??" He shouted happily before wrapping her in his arms tightly. "I'm going to be a dad.. holy shit... I'm going to be a dad!" He let out a whoop and pulled her into a deep kiss.
xxx
Jasper sat her on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island and placed a ginger ale and a sleeve of crackers in front of her. She just chewed her lip nervously and sipped the soda.
Finally after several moments of silence, he turned her stool to face him so that he stood in between her legs.
"Bella, you're killing me here. Please tell me what's wrong.. I haven't seen you in over 2 months and not once did you tell me that you were ill. You're practically a skeleton with skin. What's happening? I'm scared, Darlin."
"Me too." She whispered before breaking into a sob. Her cries nearly broke him as he wrapped her in his arms, lifting her to sit in his lap instead. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. She cried forcefully into his shoulder.
When her sobs subsided, he stroked her hair and whispered, "When did you plan to tell me that you're pregnant..."
She jerked back and looked at his face, her mouth dropped open, "How..?"
He gestured between them at the bump pressing into his stomach. "I think I would remember you having half a basketball glued to your stomach."
"Jasper... I didn't know how. We hooked up twice. We don't even know each other. I'm not in a good place right now and... and I'm pregnant."
He used his thumbs to wipe away her tears, "I can't say that I'm surprised. I didn't use a condom... it was reckless but, I promise you that I'm clean. I've never done that before. You just make me do crazy things..."
"My life is complicated. I don't know if this will work out well for either of us..."
"Explain to me why it's so complicated? What can be so wrong that you've nearly starved yourself and made yourself ill over finding out that my child is growing in your womb?"
She flinched at the hardness in his voice and he saw her, his heart breaking, "is it because it's mine?"
"No!" She sobbed, "I'm their slave, Jasper... their trophy piece..."
Jasper stopped speaking, just staring at her.
"They aren't my parents. Not my biological ones. My real parents owed a lot of money to some very bad people, so they sold me to Charlie and Renee to get the money to clear their debts. They took me away from my home at 10 years old, and I've been with them ever since. They don't love me. I'm their Cinderella. And as you learned that day at the church, their beliefs are old school. They don't believe in homosexuality, fornication, and especially not bearing a child out of wedlock. They'll insist that I abort it to keep from shaming them, or they'll send me away to give birth and put it up for adoption. I may be 26, but they own me." She ended with a whisper, unable to bring herself to look at him.
She hesitated and spared a glance in his direction, only to see that his face was red with rage and his jaw muscles ticked. "That's my child. There is no fucking way that you're killing it or giving it away.. they can't make you. Abortion is frowned upon too, right? How could they-...?"
"It is... but If they are really angry..."
"How much did they buy you for?" Jasper barked.
"I... I don't-..." she stuttered at the tone in his voice.
"How. Much?"
Bella dropped her head, "$15,000." Jasper stood both of them up and nodded, "Fine. I'm buying your freedom back."
xxx
What did you think? The root of the problem surfaces! What would you all like to see coming up? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks for reading, and as always, review review review!
-K