Chapter Four

Bella

I knew something was wrong the moment I heard Carlisle's phone ring, saw Alice go blank and noticed Edward staring at Carlisle, all at once. I listened intently to the one-sided conversation, and felt my breath catch when I heard Carlisle say, "What happened, Jacob?"

I could have leapt over the couch and ripped the cell phone right out of Carlisle's hand, if Edward hadn't held me back at the last second. It was as if he had read my thoughts.

"Yes… let me speak with her…. Renesmee, are you alright? What's wrong?" Carlisle asked and then waited for a reply. I looked to Edward for some explanation to what was happening, but he looked just as dumbfounded as Carlisle did.

"What makes you think so?"

Again… more silence. Not just on Carlisle's part; the whole house had gone silent. My mind was frantically racing… a million possibilities running through my head... But how bad could it be? If Renesmee was still talking, meant that she was still alive – and nothing was more important than that.

"Alright… I'll get ready for your arrival," said Carlisle before he ended the call. At that moment Alice snapped out of her daze, and grabbed Jasper's hand, "We have to leave, now."

I turned to face her, "What? Why? What's going on?"

Alice frowned, "All I saw was blood…"

"Blood?" I repeated, just barely above a whisper. I stared off into nothingness… my mind whirling… the possibilities were endless… each one more horrible than the last…

Edward squeezed my hand.

"Renesmee is bleeding…" he explained, "Her and Carlisle both believe that she maybe menstruating… she'll be home in less than fifteen minutes."

Okay, so I hadn't considered that as a possibility. I snapped out of my stupor and looked at Edward, his expression serious.

"What…? How…?"

"I don't know… but it does make sense, what with Alice's vision. This is most likely the beginning of her puberty phase." He looked thoughtful and unhappy at the same time. I knew that he didn't like making guesses into the health of our daughter.

Minutes passed by like seconds… we were both lost in thought…

The sound of five separate sets of footsteps floating down the stairs reminded me of the others. I wasn't surprised when I saw that Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and Esme were all standing by the front door, carrying backpacks. I turned to Edward, "Should we leave too?"

His eyes burned into mine, "Do you want to?"

I thought about it for half a second.

"No. I don't think I can." It was the truth. Even if Carlisle told me to leave, I didn't think I'd be able too. But could I be strong enough? Could I smell the blood of my daughter… so tempting and warm, and not want to drain her of it?

Edward must have read the fearful expression on my face. "You'll be fine." He reassured me as he placed his hands on my shoulders and gazed into my eyes.

At that moment, Carlisle entered the room with a grocery bag in hand. I hadn't even noticed that he had left. It looked as though he had just run to the local supermarket and back. He glanced at Esme and nodded, "You'd better get going. They'll be here soon… I'll call you when it's over."

Esme smiled a little my way and then left with the others; they all looked as worried as I did. Edward dropped his arms and we made our way to the other side of the room where Carlisle had dumped the contents of the bag out on the table; he didn't seem surprised that we had chosen to stay behind. I made a face at the all too familiar products.

Dispersed across the oak table was a box of Tampax, a container of Midol, a heating pad, chocolate bars and…

"Rubbing alcohol?" I asked as I rotated the bottle in my hand.

"To clean the blood off and to get rid of the smell." explained Carlisle.

I raised an eyebrow in questioning, but Edward seemed to understand,

"Is there a lot of blood then? Like on her body?"

"I think so… the way they were going on about it leads me to believe that like everything else with Renesmee… this is coming on mighty fast."

The conversation was halted by the sounded of Jacob's car roaring into the driveway. I returned the bottle to the table and sprinted to the front door. Edward beat me to it.

By the time I got there he was already walking towards the mustang, his pale skin illuminated by the bright head lights, when Jacob shot out of the driver's seat… bare chest, eyes wild, and cut Edward off.

"Stay away from her! She's bleeding!" Jacob yelled in Edwards face, ten feet away from the car. Edward ignored the comment and tried to move past him.

Jacob moved and blocked his path, "Are you DEAF? I just told you that she's bleeding, and you want to get near her? Where's Carlisle?"

"Get out of my way Jacob before I take your head off!" growled Edward, as he tried to move past. Jacob extended both arms out and shoved Edward in the chest with so much force that he nearly fell backward.

I was in between them by the time Edward steadied himself.

"Stop it! Stop it right now!" I yelled; my arms extended out, my finger tips touching both of their chests. I turned to Edward first,

"He's just worried about her, Edward… you have to understand that. And Jacob-" I turned to face him, trying to control the tone of my voice, "You have to trust that we are not going to hurt our daughter."

Both men seemed to relax - just a little - and I dropped my arms and headed slowly for the car. I could feel both of them staring at me from behind.

I reached the passengers side and bent down. There, curled up into a ball was my daughter… tears streaming down her cheeks as she gently rocked her body back and forth.

"Mom?" she asked just above a whisper, her face hidden behind her messy curls. I nodded and opened the door to get her out, but Edward suddenly appeared and with his arms outstretched, lifted her out of the car and into his arms with ease.

I followed them into the house, when Jacob approached me, his face full of worry. I knew what was coming, and I knew that it was hard for him. But Jacob was going to apologize for being rude to Edward; something I never thought was possible before, when I was human.

Many years ago, when I was still tied to Jacob, I used to distinguish between his two personalities; Good Jacob, and Bad Jacob. My Jacob verse the other Jacob. I had put up with the two before, and so had Edward. We had both endured his out bursts and rude comments because I was still tied to him… and as long as I still wanted to see him, Edward couldn't, wouldn't complain.

But something had changed in Jacob Black. Ever since he had imprinted on Renesmee he became calmer. His attitude got better, and he was no longer always on the offensive. He was my Jacob again, or should I say her Jacob. He was the ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, always smiling and joking. Whether it was to impress Renesmee or Edward and I, I didn't know. But it didn't really matter. It was just nice to have my old friend back again.

So I wasn't surprised to see him approaching me, cautiously at first. His forehead creased as he searched for the right words.

"I'm so sorry Bells… I completely overreacted… I'm sorry. Please tell Edward that I'm sorry. She's just bleeding so much and…" he trailed off, his eyes to the ground.

I sighed.

"Don't worry Jake. It's fine; we understand. I'll get her to call you once she's feeling better…" I then took notice to his bare chest and gave him a look.

He blushed, "I didn't want to get my leather seats dirty…"

"Oh." I said, and I would have blushed too. If I could.

Jacob looked up at the house hesitantly.

"Go home Jacob. She'll call you later. Go."

He turned to leave and I entered the house. Edward was still holding Renesmee in his arms, probably waiting for me. "I'm going to take her upstairs to the bathroom… there's a lot of it." He headed up the stairs.

And that's when I noticed the smell. It was strong but unpleasant. Not the mouthwatering aroma that I had been expecting. I followed them up the stairs and into the bathroom, where Edward finally set Renesmee on her feet. I now knew why he hadn't let her down earlier; she was covered in blood. Her jeans were drenched and so were her shoes. I forced myself to look away… and looked into her eyes… my old eyes… full of tears and worry. She let out little whimpers of pain.

"I'm going to get the supplies," said Edward, as he cupped my chin with his hand, pulling my eyes away from our daughter and into his eyes. They burned into mine, "You can do this Bella. You'll have to get her into some new clothes and clean her up… you can do this."

I stared back blankly. Of course I could do this. I knew I was strong enough - I knew I could resist the temptation, for it wasn't temptation that stiffened my body. It was embarrassment. Embarrassment that I felt for Renesmee as human memories of my experience with my period rushed back.

I nodded and he left.

"Mom?" said Renesmee quietly as she reached out for my hand. I grabbed it and was suddenly flooded with the vision of her memories of earlier that day… and her emotions of it. As I expected, embarrassment colored her memories and thoughts. I half-smiled her way, trying to reassure her that I was just as embarrassed as she was. She nodded once.

Edward returned with the items Carlisle had bought, plus a change of clothes. It was then I noticed that his shirt was covered in Renesmee's blood. He didn't seem to care.

He set the items down on the vanity, gave Renesmee a supportive smile and left, closing the door shut behind him. I grabbed the bottle of Midol and ripped the cap off.

"Here Nessie, take two of these. It should help with the pain." I said as I dropped two pills in her hand and filled a glass with water from the tap. She swallowed the pills down, as I reached for the rubbing alcohol. "Um… maybe you should get in the bathtub…" I helped her step into the tub and then helped her peel off her clothes. Her inner thighs and calves were covered in thick crimson blood. I tried not to concentrate on it, as I tugged down her wet pants.

"Does it bother you?" she asked, in a whisper, as I ripped off her sock.

"Not as much as I thought it would… does it bother you?"

She thought for a moment. "It doesn't smell good… it's too full of iron, and well… it is my own, so maybe that has something to do with it."

I nodded and then took a step back, focusing on her face. "I think you'd be best off to take a shower… there's just so much." I picked up her soiled clothes and threw them in the sink. I emptied the bottle of rubbing alcohol on them, opened the medicine cabinet to grab a set of matches, and set them on fire. I then headed to the window and through it open. Behind the closed curtain I heard the water begin to run. The bathroom quickly steamed up.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

She didn't reply right away, which made me wonder if she heard me over the running water, "The hot water feels so good."

I smiled absent mindedly… remembering old human memories… and then got worried again. I picked up the box of tampons and read the instructions. I never liked these things. They always felt a bit uncomfortable. But they were better then feeling like you had a diaper on…

"Do you think you'll be able to figure these out?" I asked, not wanting to say the actual word out loud. Luckily I didn't have too, she knew what I meant.

"Um… yeah… I think I should be okay…" I could hear the uncertainty in her voice, but I also heard the stubbornness to do it alone.

"All right… I'll just leave to go get your bed ready…" And with that I left the bathroom. Edward was pacing down the hall. He looked up at me, with worried eyes. I tried to smile, but I knew that I failed. He was by my side in an instant.

"Was it hard for you?" he asked.

"No… not hard… just uncomfortable,"

He nodded in response, "She's horribly embarrassed about the situation. Not only does she feel dreadful that she needed your help to undress, but also that this all happened in front of Jacob."

I sighed, "Jacob apologized, after you took Renesmee inside."

He repeated my sigh, though his was heavier, "Yes… I heard. And I do know that he had a valid reason to be worried… but why is Jacob Black always trying to keep me away from my girls?" The corner of his mouth tugged up in a thoughtful smirk.

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Half an hour later and Renesmee was sitting up in bed, staring out the window, silent as ever. She hadn't said a word since she had stepped out of the bathroom after getting dressed into her tank top and shorts. Edward had helped her get into bed, for it seemed that she was still crippled by the shooting pains in her stomach. Carlisle then left for the hospital to grab some morphine.

I tried not to stare at her as I stood against the bedroom wall, but since it had been recently cleaned out, there was not much else to look at. The expression on her face was hard to read, but it was obviously one of discomfort. I was tempted to ask her if she was still in pain… but thought better of it. Renesmee was too much like me; she liked her privacy as much as I liked mine. Unfortunately I couldn't bring myself to give her any at the moment, and I was thankful enough that she was merely ignoring my presence than telling me to get lost.

"I feel so horrible!" she suddenly groaned and then threw the covers over her head, hiding her face from me.

"Are you still in pain?" I asked, hesitant.

"Yes… but it's not just that." She replied from underneath her covers. "I feel so bad for forcing all of them to leave!"

"You didn't force anyone to leave, Renesmee." I interjected.

"You know what I mean, Mom! They can't come home until I'm done bleeding, and who knows when that will be!" she cried, obviously frustrated. "I thought I was done changing… I thought it was all over…"

"It will be over, very soon!" I rushed to her side and ripped the covers off of her face. Her cheeks were red and wet with tears. She looked up at me, disbelieving, "You don't know that for sure."

I sighed, "You're right… I don't know that for sure. But Carlisle and your father have done as much research as possible, and it looks like this is the last stage. It will be over soon." I tried to make my voice sound as reassuring as possible. It didn't work. I could tell.

I heard Carlisle's car pull into the drive way, and was very grateful. I smiled down at Renesmee, "Carlisle is here… you can talk to him."

A minute later and Carlisle was knocking on the bedroom door. He entered with a large paper bag in his hand and smiled our way.

"Feeling alright?" he asked gently.

"I'm still in pain… it really hurts. Is it supposed to hurt this much?" Her anger had dissolved away in a matter of moments, and I knew why. She loved Carlisle and felt the same kind of esteem for him that Edward and I did. That everyone did.

Carlisle softly smiled and moved closer to the bed, as I moved away from it. "No, human girls don't usually need to take morphine to ease the pain. But then again, your father and I were never really able to get many answers from Nahuel's sisters. They seemed very reluctant to talk to us, even about less personal things. I can't imagine that they ever would have told us about their one and only menstrual experience, even if we had thought to ask them."

During this speech, I quietly made my way to the door and let myself out.