Chapter Ten
Paul sits on the edge of our bed with a cup of Chai tea in his hand and a big smile on his face. He runs his hand down my cheek, over my hair, and moves a piece of my hair our of my face. My eyes open slowly to look at the handsome man before me with the sun glowing on his back, making him look like an angel. Paul puts the cup on the nightstand to lean down and kiss my softly. He places his hands on the sides of my head to keep his body weight off of me so as not to squish our baby and he smiles softly when I moan into our kiss.
"My goodness, mommy, are you feeling a little frisky this morning?" Paul teases. He kisses my neck softly and I arch my back a little.
"I want you since you fell asleep last night before I could have you inside me," I moan. Paul chuckles while giving my neck open kisses now, making my toes curl and I grip his shoulders. Our wonderful moment is ruined when the baby gives me a sharp, swift kick in the ribs. Paul rears back and looks me over to see if he hurt me. "It is nothing, the baby was telling us to take it easy."
"Goodness, our little one is wanting you to rest for a little longer," Paul chuckles. I sit up against the headboard to let Paul spend some time with the baby. He leans down to kiss the baby and talk like he does every morning. There is a knock on the door and Sue sticks her head into the room.
"Good morning, I made some breakfast," Sue says.
"Thanks, Sue, we will be down in a minute," I say. Sue leaves us and Paul nuzzles my belly softly. "Hey, let mommy up so she can get dressed."
"Yes, mommy," Paul chuckles. He takes my hands to help me out of bed and I groan for a moment as I stand up on my feet. It takes me a moment to get my balance before I make my way to the bathroom. Paul keeps an eye on me while I go to do my morning routine and to make sure I do not collapse or anything. Sue told him the other day that I am progressing through my pregnancy faster then most women and that scared Paul to the point that he keeps a close eye on me now. I spoke to Billy about it and he thinks it has to do with my shifter genes making the pregnancy go faster. My baby has shifter genes on both sides of the family and has a chance of phasing when the baby is of age. But, I know my baby will not grow as fast as Nessie did when she was born. My baby will be human until the time is right. Paul is on the bed reading something the university sent to him before he is to start school when I come back out in his shirt and a pair of pregnant woman's jeans. He is lost in reading when I crawl up behind him to massage his shoulders and kiss his neck.
"What are you reading, daddy?" I ask sweetly. Paul chuckles, takes my left hand, and kisses my palm a few times.
"We need to go feed you and our little one," Paul says. He puts what he was reading down and helps me off the bed again to take me to the kitchen. I grab my cup of tea before leaving and we walk together to see Charlie, Sam, Jacob, and Sue there eating and talking about something. Jacob and Sam smile when they see us walk out and chuckle a little.
"What? Is there something in my nose?" I ask, covering my nose quickly.
"No, they are just being boys," Sue says. She hits Jacob's shoulder and he goes to sit at the table to eat. "We are all heading back home around lunch. Are you sure you two don't want to come up with us before the wedding?"
"We want to settle in a little and spend some time together," Paul says. "This is the only honeymoon we are going to get with me starting school after and then the baby due to arrive soon."
"Speaking of, how come you two don't want to know whether it is a boy or girl?" Sam asks.
"Because we would like to keep our wolf heritage hidden from humans, no offense, dad," I say. Charlie shrugs with a smile as he eats his breakfast. "I want it to be a surprise anyways. Knowing mom, she is going to be too excited about being a grandma again and will buy too much baby clothes when we learn the gender of the baby."
"Oh boy," Jacob says.
"What?" Paul asks.
"Your mother is due to arrive in the next week or so," Charlie says. "Also, she is staying until after you have the baby."
"What did you tell her?! Does she know about my rapid pregnancy?!" I panic.
"No, she thinks you and Paul had a one night stand before you two got together," Jacob says. I throw a spoon at him when he starts to laugh and begin to panic. My hands go to my belly reflexively and I take deep breathes to calm myself down. Sue and Paul walk over to calm me down when I whimper at the pain I begin to feel.
"Now look what you did, Jake," Charlie says. I grab Paul's hand when the pain does not stop.
"Breathe, baby," Paul says. "You need to relax or you may go into labor early."
"I am trying," I say. The doorbell rings, making us all look around to figure out who it could be. Sam goes to answer the door when the bell goes off while Paul walks me over to the kitchen table. Renee runs in with her arms in air and I panic even more. Paul stiffens, not feeling me gripping his hand to point I could crush it.
"Lilly-bug!" Renee says. Phil walks in behind her with their bags and a sheepish grin on her face. "Bella said you were at home and I wanted to see you before the wedding and before you have the baby."
"Mom, it is good to see you," I say. Renee walks over to give me a hug and she rubs my belly with a big smile on her face. I look at Charlie to save me, but he says he is sorry silently.
"I cannot believe that my little girls are both going to be married with children of their own. Why was I not told about your graduation date?" Renee says.
"I thought you were busy with something in Jacksonville," I say.
"Well, I was not and I wanted to be able to see you graduate from college. I am sure you will be going back to school again once the baby is older," Renee says. Paul keeps his hands on my shoulders while Renee continues to marvel at my belly. She stands up and looks Paul over from head to toe. "Who are you?"
"I am Paul Lahote, Liliana's fiance and the father of our baby," Paul says. He extends his hand out to Renee and she takes it with a big smile. "We met a long time ago, but it was just a brief moment."
"Well, it is really nice to meet you. Thank you for taking responsibility in marrying my daughter after getting her pregnant," Renee says. I stiffen and try not to growl at my own mother.
"Renee, take it easy," Charlie says. "She has been under some stress lately and it is not helping her and the baby."
"That is why I am here to help with the wedding plans and for when the baby comes," Renee says.
"Mom, I do not need help with the wedding. Paul and I planned a small and simple wedding on the reservation," I say.
"Baby, you should do a big wedding and have it in Forks. You need to have a big wedding like your sister did or even out do her wedding," Renee says.
"You know Bella and I were never those girls to have the big wedding. I want it to be simple and I really want it on the reservation," I say.
"Sweetie, you need more time to plan the wedding instead of just a month. I know you want to be married before the baby is born like your father and I were, but I want you to have a perfect wedding like your sister did," Renee says. I stand up quickly when she begins to being Bella up again like she did when we were kids. Growing up, she was always talking about how Bella would do the things that Renee wanted us to do, but I refused. Renee seemed to bond better with Bella than me and I was never one for our constant travel. When I got the chance to be with Charlie, I took it and she was upset for months when I made my choice. After Bella got married, that all she talked about for months. Bella's dress, the reception, the food, how handsome her husband was, so on and so forth.
"Mom, I said no and I want to have the wedding the way I want it. If I had wanted to have a big wedding, I would have not be carrying another person in me and I would have been married near Christmas like I have wanted for years. I am happy and I want to have a small wedding with Paul. I love him and we are okay with this because we want to save what money we can to take care of our baby! If I had wanted to be married just make my child feel better before the baby was born, I would gotten married like you and dad did before Bella and I were born! I would have gotten married by a judge at a courthouse!" I say.
"Liliana," Charlie says quickly. I push my chair away and storm to my room to hide my tears and be away from my mother. Paul calls out my name as he runs after me and he chases me to the bathroom where I try to hide in. He holds me in his arms as I begin to cry and try not to want to continue yelling at Renee.
"Baby, relax," Paul says. I bury my face into his chest and I take deep breathes. "It is going to be okay."
"No, it is not going to be okay. She has been like that for so long that it is driving me crazy. I never did what she wanted me to do. I never did ballet or want to go on trips and act like I was having fun. I rarely saw her when I left and she was mad that I left her to begin with to be with Charlie. I cannot take this and I do not want to be badgered about how I have my wedding and where I have it. I want it to be simple and perfect where we wanted it because that spot is our special place," I sob. Paul pulls me back and he kisses my face while wiping my tears.
"You need to calm down or the baby is going to panic too," Paul says, with more worry in his voice. I push him back and take deeper breathes at him only caring about the baby right now.
"In my tears and anger to my mother all you care about is the baby?!" I exclaim.
"Baby, you are going to hurt yourself and the baby if you do not calm down. I am afraid you might phase and we could lose our baby," Paul says. He holds out his hand to me and I cover the baby with my arms. Renee appears behind him, making me step backwards, and I stiffen a little.
"Paul, let me handle this," Renee says.
"No, get out! Get out of my house right now! Get out both of you!" I scream. My belly begins to hurt as I scream and I gasp a little. "Get out of my house! Get out and stay away from me!"
"Liliana, calm down, the baby is going to be in distress soon," Renee says. I grab a hairbrush and chuck it at them with a scream. Soon more things are flying minutes before I freeze and scream out in pain. Paul runs over to me when I bend over at the waist, holding onto the counter. I grip his arm when the pain continues a bit and a trickle of water falls down my leg.
"Someone call an ambulance!" Paul shouts. He takes me to the bed to lay me down and I cry at the pain and that I am terrified at what is about to happen. Renee sits next to me, takes my hands in hers, and looks at me with a small smile.
"Lilly, breathe and relax," Renee says.
"Mom, I am so scared right now. I am scared to be a mother," I sob. Renee kisses my knuckles and shushes me sweetly like she did when I had a nightmare as a kid. Sam runs in saying the ambulance is on it's way and to see how I am doing. Paul goes to grab a few things for our trip to the hospital when Charlie walks into the room. I reach the hand Renee lets go out to to Charlie and he takes it with a big smile on his face.
"It is going to be okay, baby girl. Your mom and I will be here through it all and I called to let Bella know. She is coming as quickly as she can to be here for you," Charlie says. I continue to sob with a nod and close my eyes. It it too early for me to be having this baby and the nursery is not even done yet and we do not have much money saved for everything. I am not ready for all this and so is Paul, but we have to do this to have our baby in our arms and in our lives.
Bella walks into the room with more ice chips and she places it on my side table. The hospital is quiet today and I am very glad since it will be filled with both packs and many people from the reservation. Even Paul's dad is coming down to see the baby since Paul's mother will be here later. I groan while Paul massages my back after my last contraction. The doctor said that all the stress that has been building up in me has caused an early labor and it is not common for this to happen for pregnant women, even for those that are having their first baby. Sue and Charlie are on the phone with a few people at the reservation and in Forks. They are spreading the word about the baby coming soon.
"Deep breathes, baby," Renee says. She has my hands in her hands when I begin to stiffen at the climb into another contraction. Paul kisses my shoulder when I begin to whimper in pain and I bite my lip to keep from screaming.
"You are doing great, sweetie," Paul says. I gasp when the pain is gone and I look at my feet dangling off the bed. "Do you want to go a walk down the hallway?"
"Please?" I beg. Paul walks around the bed to help me into my house slippers and the onto my feet. I lean against him as we make our way to the doorway, but we stop when another contraction comes and I frozen in place. "Please just get this child out of me! This baby is being a pain just like their father."
"Well, at least I know you still have your sense of humor," Paul chuckles. He has been a trooper these past few hours and has not been to close to losing his temper. Once I am ready, we begin our descent down the hallway for a little. Everyone is waiting in the waiting room patiently, they have been there for almost six hours now. "Slow and easy, Liliana, slow and easy."
"I am so scared, Paul," I say softly. "What if we screw up and our baby hates us growing up?"
"Liliana, we will be great parents and our baby will not hate us. Our baby will love us and we will be a family forever," Paul says. He places his hand on my belly and the baby kicks his hand to agree with him. Another contraction comes when we make it to the end of the hallway and I have to stop for five minutes before making it back down to my room. We walk back together just like we will from this day forward.