Alright, I'm back from vacation, and I managed to upload three new chapters. Hope they are okay.

Chapter 10

"Quil, I think that Claire is going to be pregnant."

"Claire…Is going to be pregnant?" I asked, dumbfounded beyond words. Claire had already had one kid, and with her new life I thought that was all I would get. "Wow…Claire…" I sat down, hard, in the nearest chair. Claire's newest scream snapped me out of it very quickly. "Now that we think that we know what it is, can Bella come block her? I can't bear this anymore." I asked him, begging really.

"Quil, I think that we should leave her like this, so that if the pain increases, we will know. Otherwise she could still die without us knowing if I-"

"Not really, Carlisle." Jenna broke in. "Carlisle, I am content to stay here with Claire, monitoring her progress, all of that stuff. I think it will be okay if Bella comes." I breathed a heavy sigh, relieved that Claire's pain would be over soon.

Bella walked in almost immediately, walking towards Claire at a normal, human pace. She merely looked in Claire's direction, and the screaming ceased. "I'm sorry, Quil, but I think that we should keep her entirely unconscious. If she is awake, there is a huge chance that she will do something dangerous, and she won't be able to feel any pain if it hurts her."

"But, she's a vampire. How could she hurt herself?" I wondered. It made no sense! How could Claire hurt herself when she's a vampire?

"Claire is becoming part human, Quil." Carlisle said. "The skin is already warm and very soft, although with no blood, I don't see how. I don't completely understand how she is going to manage to keep part of her body human, while the rest of her is vampire. She is going to need…" I stopped listening at that point, the explanation going beyond my minor health education. I really need to go to med school. I thought as I slid into unconsciousness.

xXx

The past two months had been torture for me. Claire had spent nearly two weeks screaming in pain from the semi-transformation, and there was nothing I had been able to do about it. Even now, a month and a half after the main change was finished, she still cried out frequently. Claire's vampire side keeps trying to restore her abdominal area back to crystal, but it needs to remain human for the pregnancy to progress. This means that the human cells need to be renewed frequently, and that is what is causing her the pain. I remembered Jenna's words when I had asked about it, and I had hated the answer.

My head hurt from all of this thinking. I had even left for almost an entire day, but my imprint bond pulled me back before sunset. Claire, how long is this going to go on? I wondered randomly, not meaning for Edward to hear. "It should be finished in around seven more months, Quil. But during that seven months, it will probably get worse." My face probably became the meanest scowl anyone had ever seen when he said that, as he immediately began to explain why. "Quil, normal pregnancies cause pain and all sorts of problems in humans. The fact that Claire needs to be burned every few hours to keep the pregnancy up, will add to the normal pain of pregnancies.

"Let's just hope that she won't need any special food, like she did during the first one. I don't know what we are going to do if she does. Perhaps Jenna will be able to help us out this time, but I would not count on that."

Alright, Ed. I need to go chill out before I explode here. I thought at him as I walked off. I had been losing control more frequently lately, probably due to the now-permanent state of pain that Claire was in. I swear, I'm going crazy. I thought as I phased.

No you're not. We all go through crap, it's just a way of life. I hadn't realized that Seth was here, and I was grateful for his presence. I immersed myself in his thoughts and feelings as I ran, finding it much easier to live with his outlook in my situation.

As the sun went down, I found myself running back towards the house. Seth had left a short time back, leaving me to stew in my own problems again. Well, it was a nice little vacation. I thought grimly as I shifted back to enter the house. I saw Claire sitting at the table, Jenna's hand on her shoulder with her eyes closed in concentration.

"Hey, Quil. How was your run?" She asked as I sat down. She had a small sandwich in her hands, and she grimaced as she took another small bite. "It was fine. I got to talk to Seth a little bit. Claire, why are you eating human food?" I asked as I reached into the refrigerator for some leftovers.

"I need to eat a little bit so that the human part of me survives. I hate it, since it still tastes like dirt and ashes, but it makes me feel a little sick if I don't eat every few hours." She said, taking bigger bite, a disgusting scowl on her face. "Why can't Carlisle just put an IV into your stomach? Then you wouldn't need to eat, and you would still get the little nutrition that you need." I suggested, feeling proud that I had remembered what an IV could be used for. "Well, he suggested that but, it turns out that instead of blood running through my stomach, it is a type of venom. I don't really get it but-"

"The venom is merely a transporter." Jenna interrupted, pulling her hand away from Claire's shoulder. "It takes nutrients around her system, but it doesn't have the capacity to change Claire back to a full vampire. I guess it is handy, since it will be what keeps the kid healthy. Well, if the kid ever grows." She said the last part very quietly so that we almost missed it. "What?" Claire gasped, dropping her sandwich back onto the plate.

"Well, the egg cell was fertilized around a month ago, but it still hasn't even formed a bundle yet. At this point, there should be close to around sixty-four cells that make up the embryo, but right now there are only eight.

"The fetus is growing at an extremely slow rate. If it continues like this, it will take…around three years until it can be delivered at the proper size." She was growling at the end, clearly not liking having to spend so long watching out for Claire's second child.

Carlisle came dashing down the stairs just then, shock being erased from his face. "Jenna, I don't think that time is exactly a problem. Go get ready for school or you'll miss the bus today." She grumbled about being happy to miss school, but left without making an actual argument.

"Carlisle, is she right? Will it really take three years for Claire to have this kid?" I asked, worried about Claire enduring the constant pain that she had for three whole years. "Quil, as soon as I heard Jenna say the rate that it was growing, I calculated it myself. She is right. It will take somewhere between two years and one hundred-thirty-six days, and two years and two hundred-seventy-three days."

Claire had not said a word during this time, so I knelt down beside her chair and grabbed her face gently. "Claire? Are you okay?" I asked as I traced random patterns into her icy-smooth cheek. She nodded slightly, then I felt her enter into my mind.

Her brain was a tornado of confusion and pain, happiness and sadness, jealousy and smugness. I was glad that we were linked in a supernatural way right now, or my own brain would have melted. Claire? Are you okay? I asked again. All of her emotions melted apart until they were distinct, and she shoved each one at me until I understood the reasons behind them all.

I pushed them into a small corner of her mind, filing and pushing until all that was left was an empty space for clear thinking. Thank you. She thought at me. I felt body slump against mine, and I had to focus a little more to catch her. She then started grabbing parts of my day from my mind, watching them like a movie, then putting them back to grab another.

Claire spent the entire night doing this, continuing even after I had carried her up to our bed and fallen asleep. My dreams were images and clips of parts of my life, ranging from when Claire was only four, all the way until a year ago. I dreamed perfectly all night, not waking once, enjoying this night with no pain.