Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
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Chapter Ten: The Phone Call
Over the next two days, I spent my time doing homework and talking on the phone with Alice; I figured that I would let the Cullen's reunite with Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie. I still hadn't managed to talk to Edward, and by the time Wednesday came, I knew that if I didn't tell him soon, I would chicken out, and he would probably end up watching my stomach grow bigger and bigger and still not know that I was pregnant; he would probably think that I was putting on a lot of weight, which I still had yet to do.
The night I told Renee, Charlie came home from the station saying that he had faxed the picture over to all the police stations and that they would begin searching for the guy. When he told me that, I only nodded my head blindly.
Ever since the night I had told Charlie the news that I was pregnant, Charlie had been trying harder to make conversation with me. We had never really been great talkers and we had both been okay with it. Things were bound to be a little awkward for a few weeks. He had finally managed to tell me congratulations, which brought tears to my eyes as I hugged him and told him thank you.
Wednesday afternoon, I was sitting on the couch finishing up the little homework I had left. I had been staring out the window for a couple minutes and it had taken me a while to realize that it was snowing. Snowing! Forks, Washington, probably the rainiest little town in the whole of United States, was having snow fall down, instead of rain!
I got up from the couch, putting my textbook beside me on the couch. I went to the living room window and sure enough, it was snowing! And really hard, too.
I heard my phone ring from the coffee table and I went to pick it up. "Hello?"
"It's snowing!"
"Hi, Alice," I said, going back to the window. "Yes, it is snowing. I just noticed it like one minute ago. And I've been staring out the window for the past five minutes."
"Isn't it exciting? If it keeps snowing like this, we'll be able to have a massive snowball fight!" Alice's voice was filled with excitement and I could tell from the shrill sound of her voice.
"Snowball fight?" I asked. My voice sounded hesitant and nervous from the prospect of having a snowball fight. I could land flat on my face with the amount of klutzness in me. I wasn't sure klutzness was actually a word, but who cared? It had the word klutz in it.
"Yes! First snowball fight in three years!" Alice squealed.
"It snowed here three years ago?" I asked, going back to the couch.
"Yes, and it was the most awesome fun we'd had with snow in a long time!" Alice said. "Think about it! Jasper, Emmett, and Edward on one team, and then Rose, you, and I on the other team. Maybe we'll manage to convince Carlisle and Esme to join us!"
I laughed sarcastically. "Yeah right, Alice. Can you see me being in a snowball fight? That would spell catastrophe. Maybe I'll just watch you guys play."
"Why? Us girls would be outnumbered by the boys," Alice said. "We were last time."
"Sorry, Alice. I think I'll just stay home."
"Why?" Alice asked.
"All the running and stuff. Who knows, I might fall flat on my face," I said.
I heard Alice laugh. "You won't fall flat on your face. Well, then again, maybe you might. No one ever knows with you when it comes to sports. Oh, I know. You could be the referee."
I rolled my eyes. "Okay. That sounds a lot safer."
"Any other reason why you don't want to join in the snowball fight?"
"Alice, you don't know if we're actually going to have a snowball fight, because chances are that the snow won't even last the afternoon. It'll probably get washed away by the rain, anyways. Have you or have you not figured out after all the years of living here that this is the rainiest place on the earth?" I asked, feeling a little annoyed about a potential non-existent snowball fight.
Alice giggled. "Yes, I've figured it out. But I think that you should join in the fun. I don't think it will endanger your b – EMMETT!"
I held the phone away from my ear. "Alice?"
In the background I could hear a booming laugh that I recognized as Emmett's laugh. Next, I heard Alice say, "Emmett, out!"
"Okay, little sis," I heard Emmett's voice say.
Then I heard a door shut and Alice breathe a sigh of relief. "Sorry. That was Emmett being just Emmett. I gotta go. I bet you five bucks it snows through the night."
"Alright. Five bucks to me if it doesn't snow through the night and it's gone in the morning," I said. "Bye."
"Bye!"
I snapped the phone shut and turned back to my homework. I managed to finish the rest of my homework by the time Charlie came home.
I was in the kitchen after supper, at about 7:00, making myself some caffeine free tea, when the phone rang. I picked it up from where it was laying on the counter and said, "Hello?"
"Is this the Swan residence?" asked a deep male voice that had a Mexican accent to it.
"Yes, may I ask who is calling?" I asked politely.
"This is Chief Lonzorio Galliano calling from the Phoenix, Arizona Police Department. Is Chief Swan available?"
"Yes, hold on a moment," I said. I walked into the living room and handed the phone to Charlie, saying, "It's for you. Someone from the police department in Phoenix." I walked back to the kitchen to finish making my tea. I kept my ears strained to catch any of the conversation between Charlie and whoever was on the other end of the phone. But I managed to only catch the word "found".
Fifteen minutes later, Charlie walked into the kitchen. I had given up trying to eavesdrop and was now sitting at the table, reading my copy of Wuthering Heights, and drinking my tea. I had never liked tea, but it always helped my stomach.
I noted that Charlie had an expression on his face that I couldn't quite make out. "What did the guy want, dad?"
Charlie sat down at the table across from me, and I could tell from the expression on his face that if he drank, he would be taking swigs from a bottle of whiskey. "They found him."
I felt my stomach churn slightly. "When did they find him?" I asked quietly.
"Yesterday. They found him trying to do it to another girl. They arrested him and brought him in. He matched the description you drew. They're going to put him on trial in a couple months. His fate will be decided there. They're going to be doing it here, so you can testify your side of the story," Charlie said.
I was looking at the table top when Charlie was speaking, and my head snapped up at the word 'testify'. "Testify?"
"Yes. Testify."
I could only nod quietly.
"I swear, if I'm allowed to get my hands on whoever did this to you, I swear they will pay," Charlie suddenly said. He slammed his fist down on the table at his last words, making me jump.
I got up from the table, grabbing my book and mug of tea. I left the kitchen and walked up to my bedroom, so Charlie wouldn't see the tears that were building up in my eyes.
After setting the mug of tea on my bedside table, I sat on my bed against my pillow, knees up to my chest. I let the tears flow down my face in quiet sobs, my shoulders shaking from the crying. I cried for the safety of my unborn child. I cried for Charlie, and my mom and Phil. I don't know why I cried for the Cullen family, but I cried for them. They had found the guy who had gotten me pregnant, and he was supposedly going to jail, to be kept away from me and my baby. My baby. Not his.
After crying for an hour, I finally found myself to manage to change into some pajamas. After doing so, I crawled back into bed and laid there until I fell asleep.
The next morning, after my daily trip to the bathroom, I looked out my bedroom window and realized I would have to pay Alice five bucks, along with the ten bucks I owed her from coming out alive telling Renee.
I went back to the bathroom and took a shower. When I looked in the bathroom mirror, I saw that I had red rims around my eyes from crying for an hour. I got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
When I looked out the window, Charlie's cruiser was still in the driveway, so I guessed that he had the day of or something, as there was about a foot of snow on the ground. I looked at the clock on the stove and saw that it was almost ten o' clock. My stomach grumbled slightly and I cooked a couple pieced of bread and sat down at the kitchen table with them.
As I was eating my breakfast, Charlie came downstairs, tying his tie around the collar of the shirt. "Good morning, Bells," he said as he came into the kitchen.
"Morning, dad."
As usual, we ate in silence. Charlie left for work after he finished eating. I had offered to shovel the driveway, but he said that he wasn't going to allow me to shovel any driveway until the baby was born. I thought that that was really sweet.
A few minutes after Charlie left, I was on my way back to my bedroom when I heard my phone sing out the ring tone it was set to for calls from Alice's cell phone and the Cullen's home phone. I picked it up from my dresser, and flipped it open. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Alice. You owe me five bucks."
"Good morning to you, too. Yes, I see that you were right," I said.
I could hear a smile on her face as she said, "Get on over here, missy. We're planning a snowball fight at noon sharp. So you'd better be here by then. Jasper, Emmett, and even Rosalie are dying to see you. Oh, and it kind of slipped out."
It took my mind a few seconds to register what Alice had just said. When it did, I said, "What?! How did it just slip out?" Well, I actually said it partially yelling, but still. I was surprised that Alice had actually let that secret slip!
"It was by accident! I'm really sorry! But I'm really excited about this!" Alice said.
I sighed. "It's okay, Alice. But please tell me that Edward didn't hear."
"It was this morning. He was in the shower when it accidently slipped. We were all eating breakfast, and it kind of slipped. I'm really sorry. I told them not to tell Edward, or they would get it so bad during the fight," said Alice.
"Okay. Thank you, Alice. I'll be over soon. Bye."
"Bye."
I snapped my phone shut and slapped my hand to my forehead and went to get my boots and coat.
Thirty minutes later, I parked my truck at the side of the driveway. I walked up to the front door and knocked. The door opened almost immediately, and I was pulled into the house by the pixie arms of Alice. "Whoa, slow down, Alice. You're going to make me lose my breakfast," I said.
"Oh, sorry," Alice giggled. She pulled me into the kitchen, where my nose caught the whiff of something cooking in the oven. I felt the nausea sweep over me and I struggled to not vomit all over Alice.
I had to force a grimace into a smile as Esme came forward to hug me.
"Hello, Bella dear," she said as she wrapped her arms around me. When she pulled away from me, I could tell the she had caught the look on my face, which I assumed was pale, as she said, "Are you alright, Bella? You look a little pale."
I could only nod. I managed to say, "May I use your bathroom?"
Esme nodded, and gestured toward the door.
I turned to go out of the kitchen and stumbled to the nearest bathroom. I managed to lock the bathroom door before I fell to my knees in front of the toilet.
A few minutes later, I heard a soft knocking on the bathroom door. "Bella? Are you alright?"
"Hmhm," I managed to mumble out.
I managed to stand up and be stable and I walked over to the sink. After I washed my face, I saw a tube of toothpaste so I squeezed some onto my finger. I brushed my teeth hurriedly with my finger and opened the bathroom door. Esme was standing outside, a look of worry on her face. I felt a massive blush creep up into my cheeks. "Sorry about that."
"That's completely alright," Esme said. "Morning sickness?"
I merely nodded, and Esme said with a knowing smile on her face, "Ah."
As we walked back into the kitchen, Alice was taking something out of the oven. I could distinctly smell oats and the sweet smell of honey. She turned around as we entered the kitchen. "Hey, Bella. Alright now?"
"I guess," I said, sitting down on one of the stools at the Island. It was then that I noticed the house was nice and quiet. "Where is everyone?"
Alice grinned. "Everybody went out back about ten minutes ago to scout out the boundaries for the snowball fight. Rosalie's up in her room, finding something to wear for the fight."
"Oh. So, Alice, about the little secret that slipped out at breakfast this morning?" I asked. I would have glared at her, but I wasn't feeling that up to it.
Alice smiled at me a little innocently. Too innocently in fact. "I said I was sorry. But at least you have three less people to worry about telling."
I looked at her. "They don't know what happened do they?"
Alice shook her head no.
That reminded me. I got the fifteen dollars that I had stuffed into my jeans pocket earlier and gave held it out to Alice. "Here's your fifteen dollars."
Alice looked triumphant as she took the money from my hand.
"Alice, I thought I told you years ago that you shouldn't do bets. Especially with pregnant woman, because you always win," Esme said, looking at Alice with a stern look.
Alice smiled at her mother innocently. "Sorry, mother."
Just then, the front door slammed and four men came into the kitchen, blowing on their bare hands. All of a sudden, I was blocked from all light as I was engulfed in a big hug.
"Bella!"
It was Emmett that had his arms around me.
"Emmett! Let the poor girl breath a little," said a voice. I barely recognized it, but I made it out as Jasper's voice.
"Emmett, I can't breathe," I said, and my voice came out all muffled.
I was able to see the light a second later as Emmett let me go. He was grinning broadly at me. "Hi Emmett, Jasper. Hi, Carlisle, Edward."
"Hey, Bella," Jasper and Carlisle said at the same time. Edward stood there, smiling like he had just seen someone he really liked. When I looked at him, I could feel a blush creeping up into my cheeks. Jasper came over and gave me an awkward, one armed hug.
Rosalie came down a few minutes later, when everybody was eating a piece of bread. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she looked as beautiful as ever. "Hey, Bella," she said as she entered the kitchen.
"Hi, Rosalie."
For the next fifteen minutes, we sat – or stood – in the kitchen eating the bread that Esme had been baking. The bread was nice and easy on my stomach, and it tasted really good, with the oats and the honey mixed in.
All the time that we sat there, I could feel Edward's eyes on me. I knew that he knew something was different about me. There was something different about me. I was going to be a mother soon. But I knew that I couldn't put it off not telling him for much longer. He knew something was up and that I was hiding something from him. I had to tell him, and soon. I couldn't put it off for much longer.
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Author's Note: I hope you all liked this chapter. I can't tell if it's shorter than the last chapter. Sorry about the brief appearance of Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie. I needed to end the chapter. If I added in the snowball fight, this chapter would have been really long. I decided that I would end the chapter on a good note, instead of on a bad note, like a really good cliff hanger. I'm not that evil.
I noticed that in the prologue, Bella said that she had taken two weeks before she got up enough nerves to tell Charlie, and I realized that in Chapter Eight, I made Bella tell Charlie, and that was only a few days after she found out she was pregnant. Sorry about that. Next Chapter: Snowball Fight. All I will say. Remember to Review! I'm going to post this chapter and then possibly start on the next chapter. Hasta Lavista! Adios! NerdyGuRu2
