Chapter 9: Shoulder to Lean On

Bella was working when Emmett walked in. "Hey," she said smiling.

"Hey," he answered.

He tapped his fingers on the counter. "I need a favor," he told her.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Can you get me to the clinic? My car battery's dead," he replied.

"What's going on?" Bella asked as she looked over at Mrs. Newton who nodded.

Bella grabbed her bag to leave the store with Emmett. "I need to stop Joanna from getting rid of a kid that might be mine," he replied.

When they got to the clinic, Emmett walked in to find the girl in question sitting on a chair. "Joanna, have you lost your damn mind?" he demanded.

"It's my body," Joanne replied simply.

"It's a baby!" Emmett exclaimed.

"It's a dot," she replied.

Emmett reached into his pocket, handing her something. "Legally, you can't do a damn thing," he told her.

"What is this?" Joanna exclaimed, standing up.
"A court order that I have parental rights," he told her.

Her grey eyes grew wide in shock. "Hot off the press, you can't have an abortion because as the father of that kid I have rights too," he added. Joanna glared, flicking her black hair over her shoulder.

"What you're forcing me to carry this kid?" she demanded.

"It's mine too," he replied.

Joanna huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and stormed out of the clinic. Emmett couldn't help but feel like he had won a huge battle. Bella smiled, rubbing his back. "Thanks for racing me here Bells," he told her.

"Yeah, no problem," she replied as they left the clinic.

Sighing, he rubbed his hands together. "Well, I guess I have to get home and start planning the baby's room," he commented.

"I'll help," she answered smiling.

"Thanks," he answered smiling.

Bella smiled as they walked back over to her truck.

Two days later, Bella arrived at the Cullen house with Eli in tow. The toddler had a hold of his mother's pant leg with his thumb in his mouth. Knocking on the door, she smiled when Esme opened. "Hi Mrs. Cullen, is Emmett home?" she asked.

"Yes, yes he's upstairs working on the baby's room," Esme replied smiling.

Smiling back, Bella walked in while lifting Eli up into her arms. "Em, Em," the boy said around his thumb.

"Yep, we're seeing Emmett," Bella replied as she climbed the stairs.

Walking over to one of the spare rooms, she saw Emmett standing on a ladder painting. "This yellow is a bit bright don't you think?" she asked as she set Eli down.

"Yeah mom said that too," Emmett replied as he climbed down the ladder.

Laughing, she shook her head slowly. "I might end up changing it, I mean I have seven months," he commented.

"Plenty of time," she answered.

Walking over to her friend, she held up a bag. "Here, got this for you, well actually it's for the baby," she told him.

"You didn't have to do that," he told her.

Taking the bag, he pulled out a light green teddy bear. "It's unisex so it can go in the baby's room whether it's a boy or a girl," she commented.

"It's great thanks," he answered before putting the bear back in the bag.

She noticed that he seemed trouble. "What's wrong?" she asked. Letting out a sigh, Emmett rubbed the back of his neck.

"Something bothers me about this whole thing," he told her as he sat on the ladder.

"What's that?" she asked as she pulled up a stool to sit on.

"Honest to God, Bells, I don't remember ever sleeping with Joanna," he replied.

Bella stared at him, tapping her chin. "You think she's lying?" she asked.

"If the kid wasn't mine she would've laughed in my face when I handed her the court order," he replied.

The young woman pulled her knee up to her chest. "So…do you have any theories?" she asked. Emmett shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe I partied too much one night. I have no idea," he replied.

The young man rubbed his temples with a heavy sigh. "A lot of thoughts are going through my head," he told her.

"What's that?" she asked.

Walking over, she rested her hand on his shoulder. "I'm confused on how this happened when I don't even remember anything. I'm also terrified because what if I'm a really bad dad?" he asked.

"Impossible, you're great with Eli," she replied.

"I'm great with other people's kids. It doesn't mean I'd be a good dad," he told her.

"I don't think that's true," she replied.

Bella hugged her friend tight around his torso. "You're a great guy. This kid is going to be the luckiest kid on the world to have a dad like you in his or hers life," she murmured. Emmett sighed as he rested his hands over hers, moving his thumbs in circles over her arm.

"I don't know," he said softly.

"It's okay to be scared, Em. You're a young guy going to be a dad. Edward was the same thing when I told him I was pregnant," she answered quietly as she let him go.

Emmett watched as she sat back down on the stool. "How did Edward take it?" he asked curiously. Bella bit her lower lip at the memory.

"He was shocked, I thought at first he had a stroke because he was quiet for so long. Then what startled me the most was when he suddenly dropped to one knee and proposed," she replied.

The young man couldn't help but laugh as she blushed at the memory. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I told him I didn't want him proposing because I was pregnant," she replied.

Emmett nodded his head slowly. "Sounds like something you would say," he commented. She smiled a little, letting out a sad sigh.

"I miss him, every day," she said quietly.

"I'm sure you do," he murmured.

Bella bit her lower lip as she sat in silence with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry," Emmett whispered, hugging her. She hugged him back, letting out a shaky breath. "I'm here for you Bells," he told her.

"I'm here for you too, Em," she answered.

Emmett rested his forehead against the side of her head as they stood in silence, hugging each other.

Author's Note: sorry the next update will be delayed because I have a family reunion. Please review! Thank you everybody for loving this story so far!

Arwennicole