Bella's POV
In the car Alice's joyful singing has been amplified into a concert. She sits beside me and rubs my stomach in gentle strokes as she kick's the back of Edward's seat to force him to join her. She makes Jasper go the long way to my old house, she makes him go slow. They sing to the songs on the iPod, Edward shy and Alice unapologetically, and I wonder how I had never had a chance to hear their duets before.
"Please, Edward! One more! Just one more!" Alice begs as she kicks Edward's chair gently.
"No, Alice. We are almost there," Edward protests softly with his eyes focused on the road.
"Jasper," Alice smiles and suddenly we are turning down another street at the heart of Forks. I can't help but to laugh as Edward and Jasper get into a mental battle and Alice grins triumphantly.
I wonder how I had never seen this version of the three. I wonder how I had never seen this version of Edward. All in the car, all together, they almost seem human with their manner of joking and teasing. This version of him is much different from the moping, wandering Edward I had seen through the corners of my eyes. This version of him is much different from the last I had left.
A new song rolls on through the speakers and before Edward can say no yet again Alice begins to sing another three octaves higher.
"Waiting by the mailbox, by the train. Passing by the hills,'til I hear the name. Looking for a saw to cut the chains in half and all I want is someone to rely on this, thunder comes a roaring down, someone to rely on this, lightning comes a-staring in again."
All through the verse Edward had been mumbling objections to Jasper but as soon as Alice finished he stopped and began to sting.
"I'll wait to be forgiven, maybe I never will. My star has left me to take the bitter pill. That shattered feeling well the cause of its a lesson learned. Just don't know if I can roll into the sea again. Just don't know if I can do it all again, she said, 'it's true.'"
As I listen to the words Edward sings I begin to feel a soft blush form against my cheeks. Alice strokes my stomach absently and I force myself to look down at her hand and not up and around the car.
"Went into my room and I locked the door. Watched the colored animals cross the floor. But I look on from a distance and I'm listening to the whispers and oh it ain't the same when you've fallen outta feeling and you're rolling in and caught -a-aught again."
Alice leans into me as she sings "ca-a-aught again," making sure to tickle me with only the faintest of pressures from her fingertips.
"I'm caught again in the mystery. You're by my side, but are you still with me? The answers somewhere deep in it I'm sorry that you're feeling it, but I just love to tell you that I love you so much these days, have to tell you that I love you so much these days, have to tell you that I love you so much these days, it's true."
As Alice plays with my stomach I can't help but to peak up at the rearview mirror and as I had suspected Edward's eyes are on me. Watching me as the words leave his mouth.
"My heart is an economy, due to this autonomy rolling in and ca-a-a-aught again. Ca-a-a-aught again."
The song finishes but they let out a last line together.
"Ca-a-a-aught again."
"We're here," Jasper smiles and my heart begins to beat so fast I can feel it jumping out of my chest. They turn to me and with concern Jazz asks, "Would you like me to help you calm down?"
I shake my head as I open the door, "No...I'm fine. Alice?"
She's by my side before her name leaves my mouth. She takes my arm and gingerly escorts me with Jasper at my other side. Edward trails behind as we slowly make our way up the steps of my old home, the home I had loved so much. Before we even reach the door it slams open and Jasper stiffens again with his uncomfortability in front of humans. There is no werewolf scent to protect my father, it's just him. But Edward takes the lead and Jasper steps backward to compose himself. My father doesn't have that luxury.
"B-Bells..." his eyes water with fright as he looks down at me with shock and despair. His eyes reach up to Alice's face and Edward's questioningly but all he can do is cover his mouth and shake his head, "Come...Come inside..."
He turns around but I am stuck in place. His shoulders are shaking as he walks into the kitchen but for some reason I can't follow him. I realize now that I have no explanation for him. I have no idea what to say. But instead of running Alice wraps her arms around my shoulders and guides me further inside, step by step.
She presses her lips to my ear and whispers in her quiet voice, "It's okay, Bella, we'll help you. He's just so happy to see you, he misses you. That's it."
It's her words that encourage me to enter but at the sight of Charlie attempting to make coffee with his shaking fingers I've lost my will again. He wipes his face and turns to Edward and Alice, "C-Can I have a second, alone, with my daughter?"
"Of course," Alice smiles as she lets go of my arm and turns but not before whispering, "Pretty smile."
Once they shut the door to the outside Charlie shouts, "Are you back with him again? Is thi- Is this what all this is about? The absence? Billy calling me left and right and Jacob sniffing around all the time? Is it because of them?"
"No!" I shout, feeling suddenly so uncomfortable and so desperate and helpless, "It's Jacob's! Alright! The Cullens have been helping me figure somethings out, dad! Just...Just calm down and let me explain!"
"Explain? Explain that the last time I saw you, you were as skinny as a toothpick and now look at you! Can you explain that?" his face is red and I'm shrinking away.
"Dad...Jacob...Jacob's been abusing me Daddy...the Cull-," the look on his face makes me crumble into tears and I can't continue.
"Jacob?" he asks in disbelief.
I set my jaw hard to get through the tears, to get everything out at once, "Yes! There's...there's something wrong with him and Dr. Cullen and Alice and Rachel and Paul and EVERYONE has been helping me to figure it out and has been helping me with this! Okay, dad! I haven't talked to you because...Because it just started getting physical recently and before then...I don't know...I didn't know who to tell..."
"That night...when he came storming here?" he can't look at me. He's not looking at my face but he looks so old. From one second to the next I've changed him so much.
I nod my head softly, pushing my tears away, "Yeah...it started then. But dad, listen to me, everything's going to be okay. I came here to tell you that. I came here to tell you that we're going to help Jacob and he's going to be okay, and you can tell Billy that too, in fact, go over there and talk to him. Don't be alone, don't be alone until all of this is blown over. Alright?"
He opens his mouth to speak but he stops and nods his head quietly, still unable to look at me. All I want is him to look at me but he can't even do that. He can't even stare at me, "Alright."
"Dad...what did you say about Jacob being here?" I ask softly, feeling myself begin to shake.
"I saw...I saw Jacob this morning walking past here...I tried to talk to him but by the time I went outside he was gone...That son of a bitch."
"No! Dad, it's not him! It's not! There's something wrong with him. It's not Jacob, alright. It's not my Jacob," I plead as I throw my arms around him because I know that look in his eyes. It's the same look Carlisle had when he stitched me up. It's the same look Alice gets when I talk about him. It means that they've stopped make excuses for him. It means that they blame themselves.
"Bella..." his voice is soft but I don't let go, I cling to him as he trembles, "Bella...there's...there's something wrong with your stomach Bella...it's hard as stone."
I pull back slightly and look down at it, "Yeah...it's...it's a condition that some women get in cases like mine. It'll fade by the time the baby is born. It's my skin...it's something the body does to protect the baby inside."
"One?" he asks, looking down at my stomach again.
"I don't know...maybe more," I say in the faintest tone I can use.
He looks up into my face finally and his arms reach forward and embrace me so tightly I feel I'm going to be crushed. But I melt into it. This is the one thing I've been missing. I've been missing his support and his protection, even though I know he can't protect me. His arms are strong castles that lock me inside like his little princess. No one can hurt me here. Not even my husband. Not even Jacob.
There is a knock on the door but I don't pull away. Alice calls in, "I'm sorry Bella but it's time for your appointment with Carlisle."
"You're not staying? Can I come?" Charlie asks in his voice that says he's crying but he's trying not to.
I shake my head softly, knowing the answer I'll get, knowing what they'll tell me. He wouldn't want to hear that, not at all. I smile softly, "It's something I have to do on my own. I think he's going to tell me the gender. I want everyone to be surprised."
His face still has that heartbroken tint to it. He feels weak. He feels like a failure, "Bella...Bella keep in touch with me...Bella please? Please...?"
I wipe at my eyes and smile, "Of course. I'll come by later tonight."
"Do you promise?" he asks, still holding onto me, not yet letting me go.
"I swear," I smile, leaning into his hug again.
"I'll get dinner," he smiles.
I nod my head, "Good, get a lot of it."
He helps me to the door and looks deep into each set of eyes waiting for me. I don't need to be a mind reader to know he's begging them to take care of me. I don't need to be a mind reader to know he's forcing them into submission. And they're accepting it.