12. Strength

I would owe Jacob for the rest of my existence, just for thinking negatively about the thing Bella was carrying. Because him thinking about the thing wanting blood was what had given me the idea that helped my love. The human blood had made her stronger, and she was almost completely back to being herself again. But now she was running a fever off and on. At the moment, she was swathed in a couple of thick quilts to keep herself warm. Her bodyguard sat on the floor at the end of the couch where her head was, while I sat on the other end of the couch, with her covered feet in my lap.

Jacob came into the front yard. I could tell he was exhausted.

Everything's cool, he thought.

Then he caught sight of the clothes Carlisle had put out for him. He took them between his teeth and went into the woods to phase.

Just in case this is some joke by the blonde psychopath and I have a bunch of girls' stuff here. Bet she'd love to see the look on my face as I stood there naked, holding a sundress.

I chuckled.

"Something funny?" Bella asked me.

"Jacob found the clothes we left for him outside. He thinks Rosalie's playing a joke on him and it's a dress," I told her.

"Wish I'd thought to do that," Rosalie muttered. "But it's too late now. He'll be on his guard."

Then I heard my favorite sound in the world: Bella's laugh. Not the weak cough that had become the norm over the past week. This was a full-bodied laugh, the one that sent a surge of joy through me every time I heard it. I had to laugh with her, but not because I thought Jacob's thoughts were particularly funny. Just because I was so glad to hear that familiar sound again.

When he phased, Jacob discovered that the clothes were Emmett's and put them on. I've gotta admit, I feel better with some clothes to my name, even stinky ones that don't quite fit. It's hard not being able to just jet back home and grab another pair of old sweatpants when I need them. The homeless thing again—not having anyplace to go back to. No possessions, either. That'll probably get annoying soon.

I looked up and smiled at Jacob when he came in. Just a small twitch of my mouth, enough to show my gratitude for his thoughts. Bella looked up and smiled at him, too. A lot more than just a little twitch of her mouth. She was beaming, thrilled to see Jacob again.

What's with her? Jacob thought. For crying out loud, she's married! Happily married, too—there's no question that she's in love with her vampire past the boundaries of sanity. And hugely pregnant, to top it off. So why does she have to look so damn thrilled to see me? Like I made her whole freakin' day by walking through the door. If she would just not care…Or more than that—really not want me around. It would be so much easier to stay away.

I frowned in agreement with Jacob's thoughts as I read Bella's face while she beamed at him. I was beginning to wonder why it was that Bella wanted Jacob around so much. More than before she got pregnant. It was…strange. I wished, too, that she would get over whatever attachment she felt to him, but I wasn't going to tell her that. I wasn't going to make her life harder now.

"They just wanted to talk," Jacob mumbled. He was exhausted. "No attack on the horizon."

"Yes," I answered. "I heard most of it."

"How?"

"I'm hearing you more clearly—it's a matter of familiarity and concentration. Also, your thoughts are slightly easier to pick up when you're in your human form. So I caught most of what passed out there."

"Oh." That bugs me a little, but I don't know why. Oh well. "Good. I hate repeating myself."

"I'd tell you to get some sleep," Bella told Jacob, "but my guess is that you're going to pass out on the floor in about six seconds, so there's probably no point."

It's amazing how much better she sounds. Oh, she's drinking more blood. How much blood will it take to keep her going? At some point, will they start trotting in the neighbors? Jacob headed for the door, counting off the seconds for Bella. "One Mississippi…two Mississippi…"

"Where's the flood, mutt?" Rosalie muttered.

"You know how you drown a blonde, Rosalie?" Jacob asked without pausing or even looking at her. "Glue a mirror to the bottom of a pool."

I chuckled. That joke was more perfect for Rosalie than Jacob knew. Rosalie was so vain.

Jacob trudged out the door and headed for the woods, exhausted. But then I remembered what Esme had asked me to tell Jacob, and I wanted to tell him before I forgot about it. I carefully lifted Bella's feet out of my lap and stood up, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Bella asked me.

"There was something I forgot to say to him," I told her.

"Let Jacob sleep—it can wait."

Yes, please, let Jacob sleep, Jacob thought.

Maybe I should let him sleep. He probably hadn't slept in almost two days. But maybe he'd be more comfortable in a bed. I'd offer him that option before he passed out on the forest floor.

"It will only take a moment," I assured Bella.

I headed quickly out the door, hoping to catch Jacob before he reached the trees. He heard my approach and turned around.

"Jeez, what now?" Jacob asked, annoyed and exhausted.

I hesitated. Maybe I should let him sleep before I talked to him. Maybe our offer would be better received then, when he wasn't irritable from the exhaustion.

What's on your mind, mind reader? Jacob thought when I didn't speak.

"When you were speaking to Sam's delegates earlier," I murmured, "I was giving a play-by-play to Esme and Carlisle. They were concerned—"

"Look, we're not dropping our guard. You don't have to believe Sam like we do. We're keeping our eyes open regardless."

"No, no, Jacob. Not about that. We trust your judgment. Rather, Esme was concerned about the hardships this is putting your pack through. She asked me to speak to you privately about it."

What? "Hardships?"

"The homeless part, particularly. She's very upset that you are all so…bereft."

Jacob snorted. Vampire mother hen—bizarre. "We're tough. Tell her not to worry."

"She'd still like to do what she can," I told him. "I got the impression that Leah prefers not to eat in her wolf form?"

"And?"

"Well, we do have normal human food here, Jacob. Keeping up appearances, and, of course, for Bella. Leah is welcome to anything she'd like. All of you are."

"I'll pass that along," he told me.

"Leah hates us."

"So?"

"So try to pass it along in such a way as to make her consider it, if you don't mind."

"I'll do what I can."

"And then there's the matter of clothes," I continued.

He glanced down at the hand-me-downs from Emmett's wardrobe. "Oh yeah. Thanks." It's probably not good manners to mention how bad they reek.

I smiled a little. "Well, we're easily able to help out with any needs there. Alice rarely allows us to wear the same thing twice. We've got piles of brand-new clothes that are destined for Goodwill, and I'd imagine that Leah is fairly close to Esme's size…"

"Not sure how she'll feel about bloodsucker castoffs," he interrupted me. "She's not as practical as I am."

"I trust that you can present the offer in the best possible light. As well as the offer for any other physical object you might need, or transportation, or anything else at all. And showers, too, since you prefer to sleep outdoors. Please…don't consider yourselves without the benefit of a home," I said. All of a sudden, I felt just as bad as Esme did about the wolves' plight. They were homeless because they'd made the choice to protect us. Well, to protect Bella, really, but in doing so, they were protecting us, too.

Jacob stared at me for a second, blinking sleepily. It took him a long second to remember how to open his eyes. "That's, er, nice of you. Tell Esme we appreciate the, uh, thought. But the perimeter cuts through the river in a few places, so we stay pretty clean, thanks."

I snorted silently and smiled. "If you would pass the offer on, regardless."

"Sure, sure."

"Thank you."

Jacob turned away from me to head into the forest and pass out from exhaustion, but just then we both heard a cry of pain coming from the house. It was Bella. I turned around and rushed with inhuman speed back to the house. I was vaguely aware of Jacob following me.

It doesn't feel like I have a choice. Something's wrong. I'll go see what it is. There'll be nothing I can do. And I'll feel worse.

Bella was doubled over in pain, and Carlisle, Rosalie, and Esme were hovering over her.

"Bella, you need to let me look at it," Carlisle said anxiously.

"Give me a second, Carlisle," she panted.

"Bella, I heard something crack. I need to take a look."

"Pretty sure"—pant—"it was a rib. Ow. Yep. Right there." She pointed to her left side, careful not to touch it.

So the thing was breaking her bones now. It wasn't enough just to beat her black and blue. No, it had to break her bones, too.

"I need to take an X-ray," Carlisle told her gently. "There might be splinters. We don't want it to puncture anything."

Bella took a deep breath. "Okay."

Before I could even reach out, Rosalie had Bella in her arms. I started to argue, but Rosalie bared her teeth and growled at me. "I've already got her."

Bella was stronger now, but the thing was, too. There was no way to win. You couldn't starve one without starving the other, but healing worked the same way. If we tried to get Bella stronger, the thing would get stronger, too. My hope from last night disappeared as I followed Rosalie and Carlisle up the stairs to make sure there were no splinters in the fracture.

So they have a blood bank and an X-ray machine? Jacob thought. Guess the doc brings his work home with him.

I snorted silently as Carlisle warmed up the machine, but my worry was still plain on my face. What if this thing broke Bella apart before we could get it out of her?

"It's okay, Edward," she whispered.

I tried to smile as Carlisle took the X-ray. He sighed in relief.

"It's a clean break," he told her. "We'll tape it up."

Bella was relieved now, too. "Thanks, Carlisle."

When he finished taping her rib up, we headed back down the stairs. Jacob was passed out on the floor, and Alice was sitting next to him.

"Is she all right?" Alice asked, agonized.

"It was a clean break," I told her.

"Well, I guess that's good," she said grudgingly. I wish she'd let us get it out of her. I can't stand this. I can't stand not knowing if she's going to be okay or not.

That made two of us. Well, really, more than two. Carlisle was, of course, on the side of keeping Bella safe, and so were Alice and Jasper. Emmett was siding with us now that he saw how much the monster was hurting her, but he wasn't going to admit it out loud because Rosalie was so adamant about Bella keeping the thing.

Jasper and Emmett had thrown themselves into research, trying to find out anything about the old legends of these creatures that humans conceived with vampires. We knew, because of Kaure, that there were legends of them. We just had to figure out what the legends were. Then, maybe, we would be able to know how to get this thing out of Bella safely.

Alice couldn't see the thing, and Bella's future was hazy now because her future was so wound up with its future. So, much as it pained her, Alice tried to stay away from Bella, because it gave her a headache to see Bella's hazy future. I felt horrible for her. She loved Bella as much as I did, albeit in a different way. It pained her to watch this thing hurting Bella just as much as it pained me.

Jacob slept all day and through the night. Alice had gone and gotten a pillow for him, but let him stay on the floor. Early the next morning, Seth came to find out what had happened to Jacob. Bella was having another of her cold flashes, and I suddenly had an idea for how to keep Bella warm. I asked him if he'd be so kind as to sit next to her. Of course, Seth obliged. He was really a good kid. He had one of the kindest, most sincere minds I'd ever heard. And he was genuinely worried about Bella.

I moved to the end of the couch and sat next to Bella, sitting a bit of a distance away from her so she wouldn't get colder.

"Why don't you stay for breakfast, Seth?" Esme asked. "We do have human food here. We can cook something for you."

"You don't have to cook just for me," Seth said. "I'll live."

"It's okay, Seth," Bella told him. "I have to eat, too, you know. I'm pretty hungry myself."

I kissed Bella's forehead. "I'll make you two some breakfast."

She smiled at me, one of those smiles that knocked the breath out of me every time. "Thanks."

"Make enough for Jacob and Leah, too," Esme told me.

"Of course, Mom," I said. Did she really think I'd forget about the other two people who needed food?

I brought plates of food, omelets and cinnamon rolls, to Bella and Seth, and then went to sit on Bella's other side, taking her hand. Alice and Rosalie sat on the floor on the same side I was on. Since the wolves were here, Alice couldn't see anything, so she was able to be with Bella.

"Hey, I'll be back," Seth said. "I want to take some food to my sister."

I smiled at him. "Of course. Good idea."

Seth was back in record time and fixed himself a mountain-sized plate of food. He sat back down next to Bella, putting his arm around her again and picking at the food with his other hand.

"Hey, Edward, can I ask you something?" he asked suddenly.

"Of course, Seth," I told him.

"Why haven't you guys taken off yet? Gone up to Tanya's place or something. Somewhere too far for Sam to come after you. You don't have to answer if I'm being rude."

"Not at all, Seth. Mostly, I don't want to take any risks moving Bella. Yes, she's doing better, but we don't want to chance anything. She still can't move around much, and the…fetus is beating her black and blue, and now breaking her bones."

"And it takes some time to build up the kind of medical access that I've gained here," Carlisle interjected. "I have all everything I need to take care of Bella here, and the credentials to get more. That wouldn't be the case if we went to Alaska. I'm actually a bit anxious to make a hunting run, not only because we need to hunt, but also because I need to buy some more blood for Bella. The stock is getting kind of low, and I don't like cutting it this close."

"You can buy blood?" Seth asked curiously.

Carlisle laughed. "Yes, if you're a doctor with the right credentials."

Jacob started to stir. He was awake.

"About time," Rosalie mumbled. "The chainsaw impression was getting a little tired."

"Hey, Jake's coming around!" Seth exclaimed.

Jacob took in Seth's position critically. Seth was lolling on the couch, with one arm wrapped casually around Bella's shoulders and the plate of food I'd just given him in his lap.

What the hell? Jacob thought.

"He came to find you," I told Jacob as he got to his feet. "And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast."

Seth turned to look at Jacob. "Yeah, Jake—I was just checking to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I told her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang"—he turned to me—"man, you can cook."

"Thank you," I murmured.

Jacob was still annoyed by Seth's arm being around Bella.

"Bella got cold," I told him quietly.

Right, Jacob thought. None of my business, anyway. She doesn't belong to me.

Seth heard my comment and took in Jacob's expression. Jeez, it's not like I'm making out with her or something. But suddenly, he needed both hands to eat. He took his arm off Bella and dug in.

Jacob walked over and stood a few feet away from the couch. "Leah running patrol?" he asked Seth. He was still groggy.

"Yeah," Seth answered, mouth full. "She's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours." He was proud of himself for that.

"Midnight? Wait a minute—what time is it now?"

"'Bout dawn." Seth glanced at the window.

Well, damn. I slept through the rest of the day and the whole night—dropped the ball. "Crap. Sorry about that, Seth. Really. You shoulda kicked me awake."

"Naw, man, you needed some serious sleep. You haven't taken a break since when? Night before your last patrol for Sam? Like forty hours? Fifty? You're not a machine, Jake. 'Sides, you didn't miss anything at all."

Nothing at all? He glanced at Bella, taking in how much better she looked, and the fact that there was no longer an IV connected to her. Bella saw him appraising and grinned at him.

"How's the rib?" he asked.

"Taped up nice and tight. I don't even feel it."

Jacob rolled his eyes and I gritted my teeth. She wasn't fooling either of us.

"What's for breakfast?" Jacob asked sarcastically. "O negative or AB positive?"

Bella stuck her tongue out at him. "Omelets," she said, but glanced down at the cup of blood that was wedged between her leg and mine.

"Go get some breakfast, Jake," Seth said. "There's a bunch in the kitchen. You've got to be empty."

Jacob's stomach growled, but he made no move to head for the kitchen. "What's Leah having for breakfast?" he asked Seth critically.

"Hey, I took food to her before I ate anything," he said defensively. "She said she'd rather eat roadkill, but I bet she caves. These cinnamon rolls…" He was at a loss for words.

"I'll go hunt with her, then," Jacob said.

Seth sighed as Jacob turned to leave.

"A moment, Jacob?" Carlisle asked before Jacob could get out the door.

"Yeah?" Jacob said, turning to face my father.

Carlisle approached Jacob, but stopped a few feet away from him, a little farther away than two normal humans having a conversation, trying to give Jacob his space. Jacob appreciated the gesture.

"Speaking of hunting," he began in a serious tone. "That's going to be an issue for my family. I understand that our previous truce is inoperative at the moment, so I wanted your advice. Will Sam be hunting for us outside of the perimeter you've created? We don't want to take a chance with hurting your family—or losing any of ours. If you were in our shoes, how would you proceed?"

Jacob was a little surprised. What would I know about being in a bloodsucker's shoes? But, then again, I do know Sam. "It's a risk," he told Carlisle. "Sam's calmed down some, but I'm pretty sure that in his head, the treaty is void. As long as he thinks the tribe, or any other human, is in real danger, he's not going to ask questions first, if you know what I mean. But, with all that, his priority is going to be La Push. There really aren't enough of them to keep a decent watch on the people while putting out hunting parties big enough to do much damage. I'd bet he's keeping it close to home."

Carlisle nodded thoughtfully. So we'll go farther away than normal, I guess.

"So I guess I'd say, go out together, just in case," Jacob continued. "And probably you should go in the day, 'cause we'd be expecting night. Traditional vampire stuff. You're fast—go over the mountains and hunt far enough away that there's no chance he'd send anyone that far from home."

"And leave Bella behind, unprotected?" Carlisle asked critically.

Jacob snorted. "What are we, chopped liver?"

Carlisle laughed, but then was serious again. "Jacob, you can't fight against your brothers."

Jacob narrowed his eyes. "I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard, but if they were really coming to kill her—I would be able to stop them."

Carlisle shook his head anxiously. "No, I didn't mean that you would be…incapable. But that it would be very wrong. I can't have that on my conscience."

"It wouldn't be on yours, Doc. It would be on mine. And I can take it."

"No, Jacob. We will make sure that our actions don't make that a necessity." He frowned. "We'll go three at a time," he decided after a second. "That's probably the best we can do."

"I don't know, Doc. Dividing down the middle isn't the best strategy."

"We've got some extra abilities that will even it up. If Edward is one of the three, he'll be able to give us a few miles' radius."

Did Carlisle actually think I would leave Bella? I glared at him.

Carlisle backtracked quickly. "I'm sure there are other ways, too. Alice, I would imagine you could see which routes would be a mistake?"

"The ones that disappear," Alice said, nodding. "Easy."

Bella stared anxiously at Alice. She liked having Alice around, but knew that we couldn't all stay behind with her. I was sure she wanted me to go hunting too, but she knew I wouldn't leave her, so she didn't even bother suggesting it.

"Okay, then," Jacob said. "That's settled. I'll just be on my way, Seth. I'll expect you back at dusk, so get a nap in there somewhere, all right?"

"Sure, Jake," Seth agreed. "I'll phase back as soon as I'm done. Unless…" He hesitated, looking at Bella. "Do you need me?"

"She's got blankets," Jacob snapped.

"I'm fine, Seth, thanks," Bella said quickly.

And then Esme came in the room, carrying a covered dish of food. "Jacob," she said quietly. "I know it's…unappetizing to you, the idea of eating here, where it smells so unpleasant. But I would feel much better if you would take some food with you when you go. I know you can't go home, and that's because of us. Please—ease some of my remorse. Take something to eat." She held the food out to Jacob, her expression pleading.

"Uh, sure, sure," Jacob mumbled. "I guess. Maybe Leah's still hungry or something." He reached out and took the food with one hand, holding it at arm's length. I'll go dump it under a tree or something. I don't want her to feel bad. And then he remembered me, and turned to stare at me. Don't you say anything to her! Let her think I ate it. He didn't look to see my nod. He'd better be in agreement, he thought to himself. Bloodsucker owes me.

"Thank you, Jacob," Esme said with a smile.

How does a stone face have dimples, for crying out loud? "Um, thank you." This is the problem with hanging out with vampires. You get used to them. They start messing up the way you see the world. They start feeling like friends.

"Will you come back later, Jake?" Bella asked.

"Uh, I don't know."

She pressed her lips together. "Please?" she begged. "I might get cold."

He inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to calm himself, and winced at the smell. "Maybe," he said.

"Jacob?" Esme asked as he was backing toward the door. She took a few steps toward him. "I left a basket of clothes on the porch. They're for Leah. They're freshly washed—I tried to touch them as little as possible." She frowned. They probably still smell horrible to them, though. "Do you mind taking them to her?"

"On it," Jacob muttered, and then ducked out.