A huge thank you to Atti2ude for editing this chapter for me, you're the best x

14. Dream

Brooke's POV

The past two weeks had been unbearable. Everyone was on edge and a sense of hopelessness had begun to hover around us.

Alice still hadn't seen anything regarding the so-called shield and we were all about ready to give up on ever seeing Gino and the Denali's again.

Although this hung over us like a dark cloud, life still went on. Nessie and Jake spent almost every day with Joshua and me. Leah still refused to speak to either of them and although they hid it well, I could see how much pain it was causing them.

Nessie's pregnancy now measured at twenty-four weeks and it was becoming increasingly more difficult for her to move about. The baby was active and strong but not as strong as Joshua was. The movements the baby made did not cause Nessie pain but it was uncomfortable for her.

Carlisle continued to check on Leah every day and he had informed us that Leah's baby was growing more rapidly than Nessie's baby was. Her pregnancy now measured at thirty weeks. The baby was very strong causing Leah a great deal of pain but she repeatedly told Carlisle that she was fine.

From the little that I knew about Leah, this did not surprise me. It was evident that she was stubborn and more importantly, she was a fighter. I prayed that she would survive the birth, for the sake of the baby as well as Jake and Nessie.

"Momma, look," Joshua called.

He was playing with Jake near the river while Nessie and I watched from the patio. He was pointing up to the sky where a beautiful rainbow glittered over the mountains. The sun had escaped the whispery clouds that floated above us, causing my skin to sparkle like a thousand diamonds - creating rainbows of my own.

"It's beautiful," I called back to Joshua.

He continued to play with Jake, evidently satisfied with my response. I looked to my right to see Nessie sleeping beside me and I sighed.

I longed for the days when I could sleep to escape my worries. In this life there was no escape from anything. I began to think about how my family was coping without me. Did they discover what had happened to me? Did they assume I was dead? Or are they still searching for me?

I hoped that they were all well and that they had managed to move on with their lives. I hated the thought of them searching for me, knowing that they would never be able to find me.

Joshua was my life now but it still didn't feel complete. It was missing something, something important. I sighed, realising what that something was… It was love. Having that special someone to love me, to hold me, to cherish me forever.

Will I ever have that? I have forever to find out, I suppose.

"Who are you?" Nessie whispered, capturing my attention.

I turned to face her and was surprised to find her still sleeping. What is she dreaming about? I wondered.

"What do you want?" She whispered, slightly louder.

I thought about waking her up to ask her what she was dreaming about but I realised I didn't need to. I carefully reached for her hand and then dropped it in shock when I saw her dream. Nessie's eyes flashed open immediately but all I could do was stare at her in shock.

"Brooke? Are you okay?" Nessie asked, confused by the look on my face.

I tried to compose myself before I replied. "Yes, I'm fine," I lied. "Can you watch Joshua for me? There's something I've got to do."

"Of course," Nessie replied with a bewildered expression on her face.

I got to my feet and walked quickly into the house. I noticed Edward staring at me but my mind was too muddled for him to understand any of my thoughts. I climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to my bedroom. I felt sick, but not in the human way, in a strange way I didn't understand.

Once I was in my room I fell onto my huge black couch and tried to process what I had seen.

Nessie's POV

That was strange. I wonder what is wrong with her. I didn't have time to wonder for long as Josh and Jake came running towards me.

"I win," Josh declared, jumping up and down.

"You cheated," Jake replied.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Okay, enough," I said, giving Jake a sharp look. Sometimes he could act more like a child than Josh.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"You know what," I replied, sounding just like mom.

Josh carefully climbed onto my lap and placed his tiny hands onto my baby bump.

"Just because he's a kid, doesn't mean I have to let him win all the time," Jake complained. "He has got to learn that he won't always be able to get his own way."

I sighed heavily, causing the baby to move and kick out.

"It kicked me," Josh cried excitedly.

Jake fell to his knees beside me and placed one of his huge hands onto my bump, evidently not wanting to miss feeling our baby move. We waited in silence for the baby to kick but to Jake and Josh's disappointment the baby only moved slightly.

"Where did Momma go?" Josh asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know, she said she had something to do. I'm sure she will be back soon," I replied.

Josh jumped off my lap and grabbed my hand.

"Come," he said, pulling on my hand.

Jake got to his feet and took my other hand in his, helping me up from the chair. Josh led the way into the house, still pulling on my hand.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"To find Momma."

I had a feeling that Brooke didn't want to be found, but I couldn't say that to Josh so I let him pull me into the sitting room.

Mom and Dad both looked up as we entered. They were sitting on the sofa casually but Dad's face looked too composed.

"Nessie, can I ask you something?" Dad said.

"Sure. What is it?" I asked, surprised by the intensity of his voice.

"What were you dreaming about just now?"

I had no recollection of having a dream but I could guess at what it could have been. I had been having the same dream for weeks, never being able to understand it.

"Well, it's more of a vision than a dream. Two faces… well three but one always changes." I explained.

"Will you show me, please?" Dad asked.

I still couldn't understand why he was so interested in my dream but I thought about it anyway. I thought about the two faces - Gino's cute boyish face distorted with anger and Nahuel's angry stare. I then concentrated on the way Gino's face changed into the man I didn't recognise with blood red eyes.

Dad was very quiet as he watched my thoughts and his expression remained composed.

"Do you know him?" I asked Dad.

He shook his head and then sighed.

"What is it?" Mom asked him.

"I think Brooke knows who the man in Nessie's dream is," Dad explained.

"What? How?" I asked, shocked.

"Hold on. Can someone please tell the rest of us what the hell is going on?" Jake demanded.

I was suddenly aware that Carlisle, Esme, Jasper and Alice had joined us in the sitting room.

"I've been having this dream where I see Gino and Nahuel's faces but Gino's face always turns into a man I don't recognise with red eyes." I explained, hoping to soothe his irritation.

"And you think Brooke knows who it is?" Jake asked Dad.

"Yes."

"Momma," Josh cried, pointing to the stairs.

We all turned towards the stairs, where Brooke stood motionless.

"Is it true?" I asked her.

She nodded gently before slowly descending the stairs.

"Who is it?" I asked when she stopped beside me.

"My dad."

I heard the whoosh of air as everyone exhaled in a gasp.

Leah's POV

The pain I could deal with, the sleepless nights I could deal with, but the loneliness was killing me. Seth had been great and I loved having him around but I knew he didn't really want to be stuck with me all day.

I loved to see him happy but all the Jenny talk was starting to grind on me. I knew everything there possibly was to know about her, yet I had never met her. I wasn't sure why that was and I didn't care enough to ask.

I told Seth to spend his free time with her, promising him that I would be fine. It was easier to lie to him that it was to lie to myself. He believed me easily and practically ran out the door with a cheerful, "Call me if you need me."

Unfortunately that left me alone with nothing, bar my thoughts and worries - something I could do without. My thoughts were a mixture of all the emotions I felt: hate, regret, embarrassment, sadness, jealousy, love, joy and anger.

I never thought it could be possible for one person to feel all these emotions at once, but I did. I hated Nahuel for leaving me and I hated the way I treated Jake and Nessie. I regretted telling them to leave and refusing to talk to them. I felt too ashamed and embarrassed to apologise to them though.

I was angry for ever believing that Nahuel loved me and wanted to be with me. I felt jealous of the love between Nessie and Jake and their adoring admiration for their baby, and sad that I will never have what they have.

On the other hand I felt love and joy for my baby. It was hard to feel anything else where my baby was concerned; she was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I was happy to suffer to protect her, no matter what it cost me.

I slowly sat up on the sofa, feeling the ache in my entire body. I was huge and could barely walk but I was fed up of sitting around; I needed to stretch my legs. I carefully placed my feet firmly on the floor and used my arms to push myself off the sofa.

I stood still for a moment, ensuring I could feel my feet - it had been a while since I had seen them - before taking a step forward. I took the necessary steps towards the kitchen; aware that I waddled like a duck.

I pulled the refrigerator door open and grabbed a bag of blood. The white plastic cup sat on the counter, waiting for me to pour the blood into it. As I opened the bag, the scent of the blood caused my mouth to water. I carefully poured the blood into the cup, eager to taste the delicious scent.

I still couldn't believe that the thought of drinking blood used to repulse me. It was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted in my life.

I placed the lid onto the cup and then turned towards the sitting room. I had only been standing for a few minutes, yet I felt exhausted. As I turned, the baby moved causing me to double over in pain.

I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to breathe through the pain in my stomach. As the pain eased I walked - more like waddled - to the sofa. I tried to sit down carefully but my arm gave way against the weight of my body and I fell back onto the sofa.

"AHH!" I screamed as a sharp pain hit my left side.

I tried to keep my breathing steady but the pain was excruciating.

Should I call Carlisle? No, it's probably nothing, just the baby stretching.

I decided to stay where I had fallen to avoid any more sharp movements. Fortunately, I had managed to keep hold of the cup of blood and brought the straw up to my lips. It tasted even better than it smelled and I began to drink heavily. I could feel the cold blood flowing through my body and shivered involuntarily.

Too soon I was dragging on air as the cup was empty. I carefully placed the cup on the floor beside the sofa and adjusted my position. I felt exhausted and I knew it wouldn't be long until I fell asleep, so I made sure I was comfortable, and then closed my eyes.

Nessie's POV

Brooke's revelation had us all anxious for a new reason.

Isn't it enough that we are worried about the Denali's and their kidnapper, in addition to Leah's pregnancy and how she was coping without Nahuel? How much more upset can we take? I just want to be happy. I want to be able to enjoy my pregnancy and to feel excited about it. Is that too much to ask?

"Nessie?"

I turned to see Jake staring at me with anxious eyes and I realised I had my hands clenched into fists. I relaxed my fingers and Jake's anxious stare turned to one of concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

We were on our way home after spending a long day with my family. We had discovered that once again my dream was not just a dream.

Brooke's father, John Ryan, had been reported missing only a few hours after Brooke. He had gone to our home in Astoria to search for his daughter and like Brooke he never returned home.

As much as we all hated to admit it, there were only two conclusions we could come to: either the Volturi had killed her father or they had taken him. Since his body had not been found, the latter seemed the most plausible.

"Sorry Jake, I'm just fed up with all this drama. I thought once we had destroyed the Volturi our lives would be full of happiness, but it's just been one thing after another and I'm not sure how much more I can take," I admitted.

"Me too," Jake agreed. "Things will get better Nessie, I promise. Once we get this mess sorted we can go away somewhere if you like; just the three of us with no disturbance from anyone else."

I could see it now… Jake and I relaxing on a deserted beach, while our baby played in the sand. The sun dancing above us in the clear blue sky…

"That sounds perfect," I agreed.

Jake smiled at my enthusiastic response as he pulled up outside our home.

When Jake began to cook our dinner a new thought occurred to me - something I hadn't thought about until now. Earlier today I had heard Carlisle discussing the possibility of leaving with Dad. Leah was using up Carlisle's blood supply quickly and he was in danger of running out if he didn't replenish his stock soon.

This brought a new thought to the forefront of my mind. Why don't I need to drink blood? After all I am a half vampire; it would make sense for me to crave blood, but I don't. The thought of drinking blood now actually makes me feel sick even though my throat still burns at the smell of human blood. Is there something wrong with my baby?

"Jake…"

He turned to face me, his hands red from the blood of the beef he was chopping. My stomach churned, I looked away from his hands into his questioning eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I think… I think there is something wrong with the baby," I choked out.

He was immediately panicked, running around the counter in a fluster.

"What is it? Has he stopped moving?" Jake cried.

"No… no he's fine." I said, wishing I hadn't said anything.

"What is it then?" he asked, confused.

"Well I was just wondering why I don't need to drink blood. Both Mom and Leah needed it, so why don't I?"

Jake grabbed a dishcloth off the counter and wiped his hands before placing them onto my face.

"I'm not sure, but your pregnancy is different from your mom and Leah's in many ways. Our baby is not as strong. He isn't growing as quickly and Carlisle was able to get a reading from the scan. If that much is different then it's not surprising that our baby's diet may be different too."

I stared at him in awe and embarrassment. He had obviously already considered this and possibly discussed it with Carlisle. How could I be so stupid?

"You already thought about this didn't you?"

Jake smiled, "Yes. When Carlisle was able to get a reading from the scan I asked him why you were different from Bella."

"What did he say?" I asked, eager to know more.

"At first he thought it was because you're not human. Your body is already strong enough to cope with an inhuman child; hence no protective barrier. When he realised the baby was not growing as quickly as you or Leah's baby he wasn't sure what to make of it. He assured me that you and our baby are both healthy and that there is nothing to worry about."

"Do you believe that?" I asked, skeptical.

I had no reason not to believe Carlisle, but how could he be sure when he knew no more than we did?

"Yes. Carlisle has always told me the truth whether he thought it would hurt me or not. I have no reason to distrust him."

Jake stroked my face soothingly as he spoke and I felt my body relax. Maybe I am just being paranoid.

I sighed and leaned into Jake, wrapping my arms around him.

"There is nothing to worry about sweetheart, our baby is going to be perfect." Jake said, before kissing the top of my head and holding me close.

"Thanks Jake. I guess with everything else going wrong, I'm just expecting the worse."

"Everything is going to be fine, Nessie. Why don't you go and lie down while I finish cooking dinner?" Jake suggested.

"I think I will," I replied, pulling away from him.

Jake leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips before returning to cooking our dinner. I wandered out of the kitchen and up the stairs to our bedroom, praying that I would have a dreamless sleep.