All recognizable characters are the intellectual property of Mrs. Stephenie Meyer. The plot and the other characters are the intellectual property of ME. No part of this fanfiction may be reproduced without my permission. No monetary gain is being made from this work.
(A/N): I apologize that it has taken me so long to update. Epic real life fail. My husband lost his job, my son was sick, and I've been trying to pull the financial wagon for the last several weeks. I've been kicking ideas around for some time now, but just haven't had the time to put them down to print. And now, of course, I'm home sick-there's my time to write. So here I am enjoying the quiet rain fall, while "Ghost Hunters International" plays in the background. I'm going to be enhancing some of the very first chapters, and reuploading them within the next few weeks. The story line will remain exactly the same, though I will be adding a few more in-depth paragraphs. Think "Star Wars" Special edition. No major plot change, just a few deleted scenes. *wink*
BPOV
Gentle morning sunlight streamed across my cheeks, and warmed my face. I rose from my bed smiling.
"Good morning, wife." He appeared to be the picture of ease, perched upon a lavish armchair, which now sat next to my lavish new bed. King Size with a canopy, of course.
No one had told me that marrying into the Cullen family meant that they would replace all of my existing furniture!
I grinned at him as he sparkled in the sunlight. "Good morning yourself, Edward. It is a Sunday, after all! No school for you!" Becoming a teacher had been difficult for him, seeing as he was approximately the same physical age as his students. Alice had completely redone his wardrobe and given him glasses, all to make him look older. There was no hint of those horrible black plastic frames when I stared at his lovely face. I stretched, purposely causing my chest to stick out. His gaze seemed to burn a hole straight through my nightgown as I swung my legs over the edge. I leaped from the bed with an ear to ear smile, as I flung myself into his eager arms. His cool temperature filtered through me, and I barely suppressed a shudder of absolute bliss. His cool fingers brushed against the outline of one of my breasts, and I bit my lip.
Word of our hasty wedding had spread through this nosy little town like wildfire. Out of everyone, Charlie probably took to the news the worst. He swore up and down that I was at least one, or perhaps all, of the following: pregnant, coerced, brainwashed, bribed, or kidnapped. Edward had mentioned, on more than one occasion, that my father's partially veiled thoughts had been borderline murderous. He also said that it was only Sue that kept him in line.
Edward and I picked out a gorgeous Lalique crystal vase for her that very day.
Our duties in school remained mostly unchanged, though we both let the principal know that he should begin to search for replacements. It was nearly impossible to get out of our teaching contracts, but somehow Edward had managed. I was almost positive that Edward had thrown a large sum of money at our administration to make those contracts go away. I wondered if there would be a new branch of the library, in honor of our wedding.
Alice had foreseen that we would be on the move within the next six weeks. Seeing as we've only been married for four, it was no time at all!
Thankfully, being married to Edward had been everything that I'd never dreamed of.
Regretfully, I pulled on a robe, and we strolled down our newly refinished stairs. Edward had a massive piping hot breakfast of bacon, eggs (both scrambled and sunny side up), farina, and a fruit salad spread elegantly on the table before me. I turned to face him, and nearly roared with laughter when I noticed he was wearing his 'Kiss the cook' apron. It was his favorite.
He placed a steaming hot bowl of cereal before me first, before it could harden. I gladly shoveled the first few spoons in. Alice's sounded behind me, and Edward answered just as the cereal began to turn to sand in my mouth. I began to sputter my breakfast all over the table. Somewhere, in the background, Edward spoke frantically to Alice. Something had gone horribly wrong in New Orleans; something that require our immediate departure. I began to vomit cereal back into my bowl. Suddenly, Edward was at my side, checking my temperature.
His hissed something over the phone, and clicked it closed. "What's happened, Bella?" His cool fingers brushed through my tangled hair. There was a great 'whooshing' in my ears, and I felt the last remnants of my breakfast begin to rise. My stomach muscles clenched ferociously as green fluids began to leak from my mouth, my nose.
"Yes. Bile now." I heard him say. "No, she hasn't a fever, Carlisle." I hadn't heard him dial any numbers, and his speaking took me by surprise. "The last time she fed? Well, she was having breakfast just now." There was an awkward pause while he listened to Carlisle's response. "She hasn't hunted any more recently that I have...It's been four weeks, Carlisle. Do you think?"
His cool hands touched my forehead, and he held me until the nausea passed. After a while, I opened my eyes, "How are you, my love?" He asked, as he helped me to a sitting position. I noted that there was an ice chest packed with several bags of blood, resting on my coffee table.
"I'm fine." I said, shaking my head, and nearly laughing. "I wonder what that was all about."
A look crossed Edward's features as he perched himself on the arm of an overstuffed chair. "I, uh. Well, Bella, Carlisle came by while you were sleeping." Edward's expression reminded me a bit of Charlie, and the thought made me laugh. "He took a blood sample with him, but I don't think that we'll need it. Not anymore." He searched my face for any signs of anxiety, but likely, saw nothing but confusion.
"I could tell you what we weren't sure about even as recently as an hour ago." He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if unsure what to say. I held my breath until my lungs burned-thank goodness, he started talking. "A child has taken root inside you, Isabella. I can hear its heart beating as clearly as if I were sitting next to it." His fingers gripped my cheeks tightly, as unrestrained panic laced through him. "It's softer and gentler than a butterfly's wings." He murmured so very quietly that I scarcely heard him. My heart filled with love, and I pulled him close to me. He let me bury my face into his clean shirt, and I greedily inhaled his scent.
"You look worried, Edward. Wasn't this all part of the plan?" I asked him, not sure how I felt about the situation myself. I'd never wanted to be a parent, but I felt the urge to protect the child growing inside me. I tried to remember how I had felt this morning, but didn't notice anything different. If I were truly pregnant, wouldn't I somehow feel a bit different? Don't women just know?
"We're on the point of a knife now, Bella." He stated as his face twisted in agony, "You could live through this delivery, but I could also lose you." His cool lips brushed against my forehead. "The thought of going on without you, Isabella, is terrifying."
My front door opened, and clicked softly closed. Elizabeth entered our living room, carrying several large, and seemingly empty suitcases. Vampires had super human strength—who knows; they may have been full! Edward's eyes shifted from mine, to his mother's, though his fingers did not loosen their grasp on my cheeks.
"Hello, Mother." Edward greeted congenially, as she zipped up the stairs, and returned empty handed.
Mrs. Masen stepped directly in front of me, and pressed her ear curiously above my abdomen. Her ocher face held a sense of wonderment, as her eyes met Edward's.
"Absolutely marvelous!" She breathed, as her cool fingers caressed my stomach. "Even with modern technology, the heartbeat is not so quickly discernible. Clearly, the child is more human than vampire." She mused as she rose from her place and placed her hands on Edward's shoulders. I could see something pass between them, though neither moved so much as a centimeter.
"Steady, son. Steady, my love." She kissed his cheeks, and he grasped her hands within his. "I have always wanted to be a grandmother, you know?"
"I never dreamed that I could be a father." His eyes bore into mine as he continued, "Though now that it is a possibility, I have never wanted anything more." Quickly, he was down on one knee, with both of my hands in his. His normally golden eyes had gone pitch with emotion, "I vowed from the moment I first saw you, Isabella Cullen, that I would protect you. That I would never let any harm come to you, and I meant every word.
"I will watch over you even more diligently, knowing that my child is growing within you. Knowing that our peaceful time of waiting has come to an end. I will do everything within my power as both a human medical physician, and a vampirical husband to ensure that you survive from this delivery with your life fully in tact, if not your humanity." I needed a break from Edward's intense stare, so I looked to his equally intense mother.
I noticed that though her clothing was more contemporary, she still wore her Victorian mourning pin. I also saw the unrestrained pain in her every facial feature. She wore a pair of loose black slacks, and a black blazer. The black collar of her shirt peeked from beneath her jacket. Her gorgeous coppery curls were pulled into a very loose, wild bun. It was the opposite to her usually strict hair style. Her face was uncharacteristically bare of all cosmetics, though she was lovely enough that she hadn't any need of it.
For the first time, I noticed a very heavy chain about her neck, hanging low, evenly spaced between her breast and her naval. This heavy rope was unusual in both its make and style. A very large black pearl dangled below a deep purple, oval amethyst, which was embedded into a Chevalier-style fleur de lis. The only word to describe it was 'old'. "I will help you thorough this, child." She said soothingly, as she stroked my cheeks. The frigid metal of a ring stung my warm cheek, and I turned her hand over to see what she wore.
On her middle finger she had a delicate ring which featured a snake, wrapping itself around a small glass. Inside the glass was a honey-blonde lock of perfectly woven hair. She did not let me study the ring long, as she pulled me from my place on the couch. I could hear tires pulling into the driveway, and instantly, Jane and Alice joined us inside our now crowded living room.
"Are we ready?" Alice asked, and unusual trace of anxiety colored her tone, and I stared confused in her direction.
"Nearly, Alice. Has her truck been towed?" Edward asked, as his mother gingerly wrapped her arms around me, and carried me up the stairs.
My truck? Towed?
"Why is everyone so stressed, Mrs. Masen?" I asked her as she placed me gently on the floor of my bedroom, and pulled out a pair of heavy traveling pants, several pairs of thick socks, an undershirt, a thick white t-shirt of Edward's, and a flannel shirt. "Are we going hunting so soon?" I recalled that the entire family had hunted just a few days prior, though I thought of Edward's eyes, black as pitch, and thought that this might be the case. It might explain the heavy clothes, as Edward favored the cool climates of Alaska.
"Not in the sense that you think, my darling." She said as she dressed me carefully. Her fingers lingered over my stomach. Distractedly, she asked, "Have you thought of names?"
I chuckled, "Well, it's not something we've discussed, no." Her eyes held a hint of sadness, as she placed a pair of very heavy boots on my feet and carried me down the stairs.
"Elizabeth, what's happened?" I asked her with more than just a little pleading in my tone.
She sighed a very heavy sigh as she placed me at the foot of the stairs. Edward placed his hands on my shoulders as his mother opened her mouth to speak. "There has been some...activity... in New Orleans, Bella." She rubbed her face with her delicate hands, as she continued to explain. "Abby's father suffered a massive heart attack, and he fell through his bedroom window." Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat, as if she might cry. "Abby jumped after him, shouting that she couldn't go on without him. But before she could fall, she was struck by lightning." I felt her hands tremble slightly in mine, and I wondered how much she had cared for the two humans that had lived in the house with them.
I also felt a terrible pang of sadness for my new friend. I was very sorry indeed that she'd decided to follow her father in death. "Marie was forced to change her early, and we must collect her much sooner than anticipated."
"So that is where we're going? To collect a new-born Abby?" I asked, feeling slightly better that my friend had not perished.
"Not entirely, Bella." Golden eyed Jane explained, "We're going to help protect your mother's home from invasion."
"We won't make it in time." Alice said with certainty. "It has already begun; we are far too late. Marie of Chevalier has been kidnapped."
"What of Abby?" Elizabeth cried, as her face crumpled in pain. I had the distinct feeling that she wasn't speaking of Abby at all-that her question was for her mate.
"Abby has been safely stored." Alice's voice trailed off at the end, and Edward gasped.
"No..." he whistled disbelievingly. I felt his grip on my waist tighten. "Alice, are you certain?"
"I saw it two nights ago, though the vision was very disjointed, and I couldn't make sense of it."
"How can I take Bella there? It could endanger both Bella, and the child. Alice, we must think of the baby!" Edward yelled as he began to pace the floor of the living room.
"Decide that you'll go there, Edward. Decide that you're taking her." Edward concentrated as hard as he could, and Alice's eyes went flat.
"Where am I going, Elizabeth?" Her haunted features turned distractedly towards me, and her voice was barely above a whisper. I had to strain to hear her.
"Soren has taken Abby to France. They are both hiding in the Underworld."
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