Chapter 11: Awaiting the Blow

Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns Twilight.

It was late in the evening when Bella's plane landed in Port Angeles. With all the stresses and worries, she was one whipped kitten. She dragged herself off the plane.

Charlie was unusually touchy-feely this night—he was so glad to have her back. He had never given her a hug this big since she was a little girl. It felt nice.

By the time she got home, she was sound asleep. Charlie had to help her into the house and up to her bed. She climbed under the covers without changing her clothes and in less than five minutes, was dead to the world.

When Charlie checked the phone messages; seven or eight of them were on there from you know who.

He was yawning himself, but still had to get the luggage out of the cruiser. On the way back inside with the last bag, the phone rang. He knew who it was before picking up the receiver.

He answered before Jacob got a word out. "Jacob, yes, we're home—just got in."

Jacob was nearly bouncing in anticipation. "Hey, chief, can I talk to Bella?"

Charlie stretched and let out another yawn. "Good luck with that. I had to practically carry her up the stairs. It would take a cannon firing to wake her up. You'll have to try again tomorrow, when she's rested."

Dammit—he'd been waiting all day to hear from her. "Crap, I was hoping I could talk to her tonight. Jeez, Charlie, I wish I could have gone with you to pick her up at the airport. At least then, I could have seen her for a while. Now I have to wait a whole other day." He hoped he didn't sound too whiny.

Charlie answered in kind, mimicking the poor kid. "Jeez, Jacob, I wish you would have come with us too. You could have carried my daughter up the stairs and saved me the back strain. I ain't as young as I used to be."

Jacob was aware he was pressing his luck, but what the hell . . . "You sure I can't talk to her?"

"Sorry, son, no dice. You've got the whole day tomorrow. Well, I'm going to hit the hay myself, so see you then."

"Okay, Charlie. Good night, I guess."

"Same to you, Jacob. Bye."

Jacob knew he was being unreasonable, but damn, he hadn't seen his Bella all these weeks and now he was still waiting. He made up his mind to drive over there in the morning because as luck would have it, he couldn't get out of patrolling tomorrow afternoon. Quil was out of town, and Sam was adamant that Jacob take his place. What a sorehead. He had his lady love. You'd think he could make an exception for this one time, but noooo, the almighty Sam laid down the law. The tribe came before your love life.

Oh hell, he hadn't had a good night's sleep since the day Bella left. Looked like he'd be awake all night—yet again. He let out a mournful groan, and hauled his tail to bed.

Bella woke up early the next morning, and scrambled out of bed. She had a million and one things to do to get ready for school. She also wanted to get to the drugstore, and definitely not the one in Forks. She wanted to know for sure if she was pregnant.

Jacob intruded on her mind—that constant drip, drip, dripping everpresent in her head. She struggled with whether or not to call him. Her first instinct was to run to his arms, but he would be able to tell that something was amiss. Darn him, he could always tell. It was torturing her to decide what to do. In the end, her decision was to wait and see him after the fact was confirmed. It would only hurt him for a little while, and there was no sense making him crazy if it wasn't true.

Tomorrow was Monday, so after Charlie left for work, she would run the test, then let Jacob know, one way or the other. That would give her some time to really think about what she would say—I mean, how did you tell a seventeen year old that he was going to be a father anyway? Oh god, what would his reaction be?

This was her fault. She was ruining both their lives. He warned her that he didn't have any protection, but did she listen? Of course not. None of this would have happened if she had just watched the stupid movie, like he suggested.

Why did loving someone have to be fraught with such complications? She just wanted to love him with her whole being. Was that so wrong? Why did it have to be Jacob? And why did he have to be so darn irresistible? Why did this have to happen? For Pete's sake, they only made love once, but my gosh, once apparently was enough. Ugh! This inner conversation was going to drive her insane.

She went downstairs after showering and getting dressed to tell Charlie that she would be gone for hours buying school books, going to the bank, shopping for groceries, etc. The list was endless.

Charlie poured himself some orange juice, and put a slice of bread in the toaster. His head swiveled as Bella stepped up behind him.

"Sleep okay, kiddo?"

Smiling sheepishly, she replied, "Uh, yeah. I don't think I moved an inch the whole night." She noticed Charlie taking another slice of bread from the bag on the counter. "Don't put that in there for me. I'll get something to eat later on." Not to mention the smell is going to make me hurl any minute now.

Bella grabbed her hoodie from the peg on the kitchen wall, scooped up the keys to her truck and started toward the door. "I've got to get my school supplies over at the college this morning. There's a bunch of other errands I need to get to also. I'll be out for quite a while."

Frowning, Charlie was having difficulty understanding her logic. There was a week before her classes started. Shouldn't she be in a hurry to see the boy? They were practically inseparable before she left for Florida. Did something happen while she was down there?

Not that it was his business, but he had to ask. "Aren't you going to call Jacob before you leave? He phoned last night, really anxious to talk to you. The boy was frantic."

Jingling the keys in her hands, she retorted, "It's early dad. I don't want to wake him up. I've got a lot to do. I'll call him when I get back."

This wasn't at all like her, and Charlie began to worry. That poor boy was going to suffer at her hands, as he did once before. He had been ecstatic that she had finally chosen Jacob. He had never seen her happier since they had become a couple. Jacob was good for her and he didn't want anything to mess up their relationship. Sighing, he got the eggs and bacon out of the fridge, silently praying that everything would work out okay.

Billy rapped on Jacob's bedroom door.

"Son—you up?"

Jacob shot out of bed, he'd fallen asleep after all. He looked at his cheap little alarm clock. Sh**, it was 10:30.

"Yeah, Dad."

Jacob slipped on a white tee shirt, and changed his cutoffs for a pair of jeans. Yelling to Billy, he asked, "Did Bella call yet?"

He didn't want to disappoint his young son, but he couldn't lie. "No, not yet. She probably just woke up herself. Give her some time."

Time was something he didn't have to spare. There wouldn't be much time to spend with her as it was; he had patrol duty at two o'clock. Coming out of his bedroom, Jacob announced, "I'm goin' over there right now. I can't wait another minute."

Sailing out the door, he ran to the Taj, and keyed the ignition to the Rabbit.

The road, the trees, the traffic signs—all were just a blur as Jacob single-mindedly hurtled the car toward his destination.

There was a churning in his gut as he pulled up to the house. Where was her truck? Well, maybe she just ran a quick trip to the store and would return in a short time. But, why didn't she call then? Was she purposely trying to avoid him?

He knocked on the door, nervously, a hundred possibilities racing through his overwrought mind.

Charlie came to the door, leaning his elbow against the frame. "Hey, Jacob. Good to see you. I wish you would have called first, though. Bella's not here—sorry. She went over to the college to buy her books and whatnot. I guess she had a lot of errands to run too and won't be back until this afternoon. She promised she would call you then. It was too early to phone this morning; she didn't want to wake you."

Jacob stood there in disbelief. All this running around for nothing! What was goin' on? His eyes lost their luster, his worries mounting. If his face had fallen any further, he would have been stepping on it.

"Could you just tell her that I stopped by?"

Noticing the worried look on his face, Charlie retorted, "You got it, kid." His smile disappeared and a serious expression replaced it. He added, "Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but there's something going on with Bella. If you find out anything, let me know, huh?"

"Sure, sure. I'll try to see her tomorrow. I won't be able to come by this evening, tribal business . . ." he sighed.

Instead of going home, Jacob hung out at the beach, turning things over in his mind. Did she fall for that guy in Jacksonville? Was that it? Is that why she couldn't bring herself to call him last week? And what about this morning? She should be here with him, her body glued to his, her lips being warmed by his lips. Didn't she love him anymore?

Bella had vehemently denied any blossoming relationship with that Derek guy, but Jeez, he was older. Older—nearly twenty, in fact, and he was more experienced, a college student for Pete's sake. Her letters didn't give a hint of a budding romance, but maybe she just wanted to tell him face to face. Right—that would be soooo much better—in a pig's eye.

A couple of hours later, he drove back home, depressed. He picked up the phone and dialed her number one more time before he had to head out to meet with his assigned pack members.

The voice on the other end was the one he'd been waiting to hear, even tho' it sounded kinda funny—guarded even.

"Hello?"

He ran a hand through his dark hair, in relief. "Oh, Bells, finally! I've been trying to reach you now for over twenty-four hours."

"I know, I'm sorry. I had too much to do today. Can we get together later this afternoon?"

He was pacing, now, as far as the phone cord would allow him. "Didn't Charlie tell you? I have to patrol—Sam's orders."

"That's right, I forgot."

Like hell she did. He could tell she was lying.

"Look, I've gotta see you, Bells. My heart can't take too much more of this. Tomorrow, promise me." Absentmindedly, he had leaned against the wall, his arm out straight, his foot kicking at the baseboard. He stopped to listen for her answer.

"Of course I'll see you tomorrow. I want to see you too, you know." She hoped that sounded convincing enough. But really, she had to see him; she had to tell him the truth. "Can you meet me at First Beach at 11:00?"

He breathed out, "I'll be there! Okay, gotta go. I love you Bells."

"I love you too," she said. But did she mean it? He'd find out—tomorrow.