Chapter 25: Coming Full-Circle

I sat lazily on my bed munching on the sweet and sour chicken that Jacob had just delivered, "Whatcha thinkin' bout?" I said with a half-full mouth.

A smile grazed Jake's perfect lips. He was so sexy when he smiled. "Um... besides how much I love you?"

"Yeah, well naturally," I smiled back at him.

"I think your family is taking everything pretty well," he said jamming an entire egg roll into his mouth. "You know, I was expecting to have had several near-death experiences since you found out about the imprinting and there have been surprisingly few."

I looked up at the ceiling casually, "I guess that's true, I thought my dad was going to kill us both when he found out I was pregnant."

Jake nodded furiously and laughed as bits of food spilled from his over-stuffed mouth, "Yeah, I can't believe it, he didn't even throw the usual Edward temper tantrum. I guess you aren't the only one growing up..."

I couldn't help but laugh as I nudged his shoulder in my father's defense, "And my mom, she's so, well, so happy. We couldn't have hoped for a better response," I fained an English accent to make my statement sound more proper. Jake laughed and moved in close for a Chinese food kiss. He put his hand on my stomach and leaned forward to deliver a kiss to the twins as well.

"Feewing better wittle babies?" he said to my stomach. "You wuv won tons, don't you?" he said in an utterly embarrassing baby voice.

I rolled my eyes, "Stop it Jake, they're going to think their daddy is a retard." He gave a hearty laugh and continued eating.

We made it through the rest of the little white boxes with out too much more interruption. I started to clean up when Jacob grabbed my hand and held me still, locking his eyes into mine. "Hey, I want you to know, that whatever happens, I love you and I love our babies."

I pulled away, a little uncomfortably, "I know that, Jake." I looked down for a second, "Its going to be okay, you'll see. Whatever is happening, well we'll get through it."

"I know that," he said seriously, "I just want you to know that I support you and our family. Whatever the babies... however they turn out... they will have parents that love them."
I stared back into his eyes, watching the light shimmer in the vastness of his pupils. "What if they're human?" I bit my lip, not wanting more of my fears to escape. I could feel the tears pulling from inside of me.

He didn't answer right away, the pause was unbearable. "Are you worried about it?"

I nodded, "I don't want to outlive our children." He clearly didn't know what to say. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in close.

"Don't get upset, sweetheart. We'll figure it out when we know for sure. And them being human may be the best thing. Let's not get too worked up over this okay? You need your rest and you don't need to be worrying about things that you can't control. We'll talk about it more and figure out how we both feel about this one thing at a time."

I pressed my face into his chest, taking in his scent. It crashed over me, sucking me into the delicious aroma of his blood. My teeth sank in, opening his flesh. The blood poured hot and thick into my mouth. I heard him moan and lost myself in the visions dancing in his blood. First came lust-- hot bursts of vibrant red with flashes of our love making, passionate kisses and the out of control moments beyond them. Then came love and protection--devotion, swirling blues delicately entwining with jade marked by fear and anxiety. The blood was sweetened with the luscious flavors of his thoughts and feelings. It was a bittersweet swirl, like dark chocolate and fine wine.

I broke our union, pulling back from him with a gasp for air. I licked the blood from my lips taking in the last of the stolen emotions. I peered up at him, he was a little stunned, but still coherent. He smiled dreamily down at me. Without cognitive thought I pushed my teeth into my wrist watching as the blood seeped from the gash. I pressed it to his mouth. My head fell back as he pulled the blood from my veins. I moaned in ecstasy, a kind of lustful bliss caused by the mixing of pleasure with pain over-took me. I knew that he was feeling and seeing the erotic images that were tantalizing my mind. The thought of him knowing my thoughts and desires turned me on so much. I could feel my body pressing suggestively against his. With my wrist still held fast to his lips, I pulled myself up, finding his neck. I bit into the soft skin just above his collar bone. A burst of blood filled my mouth. We moaned in unison as the circuit was completed. I had never experienced a more perfect feeling. Our lust, our love, all of our emotions joined together, thumping rhythmically through our veins. The blood sang as it circulated through the joining of our bodies. Ripples of pain and swirls of the purest form of happiness I could never had imagined overtook me. My body pulsed in response. All of our lives together were being poured into one riverbed, speeding recklessly toward the ocean that would be our future. I felt my clothes ripped from me and the heat of his flesh nearly seared my skin. Our bodies twisted together. In one dynamic thrust he pushed inside of me and together we exploded in the most amazing orgasm. Tears tricked down my cheek as we released each other. My chest heaved and my heart threatened to stop instantaneously if I didn't sink my teeth back into this pool of indescribably pleasure. I felt as if the whole world had died all around me. All I wanted was to be back in that single moment. I had to fight to keep my body from thrashing as we pulled away from each other. I found his eyes. His whole body twitched, and just as before, he erupted into a mess of massive muscles and fur.

We had managed to separate enough so that the phasing did not harm me. The giant wolf before me took a deep breath and closed its imploring eyes. I ran my hand lightly over the silky fur as I regained my breath and my sanity.

"It's okay, its okay," I didn't know if I was saying it to Jake or to myself as I closed my eyes slipping into a fragile sleep riddled with dreams of wolves-- milky white and seeming to disappear and shift into the stars above me in the night sky.

I awoke to the muffled sound of voices. It sounded like a humming bird buzzing outside of a window in the early hours of the morning. I blinked a couple of times, focusing my vision. The afternoon sun was nearing its resting place behind the mountains outside my window. The murky grays of the Fork's sky were dull and empy against the soft billowy throws of my lavender walls. Jake's human form lay out-stretched on the bed with me. His enormous arms wrapped around my body. Suddenly, all I could think about was how bad I needed to pee. I twisted free of Jake, pulled his over-sized shirt over my head and swiftly made for the bathroom. I emptied my bladder quickly, amazed at how much pressure was relieved by this. I stood up, tossed my hair in the mirror and turned to head back to my room, but something caught my attention as I turned to the side-- my profile. I slowly lifted Jake's shirt up to reveal my rounded belly. I lovingly ran my hands over my stretching skin. I turned back and forth examining my new shape in the reflection. This was the first time that I had really looked at myself since it happened. I lost myself in the wonderment before me. Had all of these events really transpired in this short amount of time? Waves of anxiety crippled me, how much longer would I have before I had the answers to everyone's questions? Panic prickled over my skin as I stared at my altered myself.

The door swung open. "Are you okay?" Rosalie's voice pulled me back from my momentary paralyzed state.

"Um yeah, I'm okay," I said as much to her as to me, still staring into the mirror.

"You don't look okay," she answered cautiously. She came in and shut the door behind her. Her eyes fixed on my belly, "You look big," she added, her eyes bulged, emphasizing her thoughts.

"I know, right?" I said nervously. "Aunt Rose? Can I ask you something?"

"Of coarse, Nessie, what is it?" her eyes were soft and nurturing, an expression she only really shared with me. She ran her hand over my face, pulling back the strands softly and for once I wasn't annoyed by it.

"Do you think... " I hesitated, trying to say it right, "What would you think if... if the babies were human?"

Her statuesque hands flew over her mouth, "You don't think?" she stammered, "You don't think they are human, do you?"

The tears spilled before I could stop them, "I don't know," I sobbed.

She took no notice of me crying, she only continued her thought, "Oh, could you imagine?" her eyes dazzled like a million tiny flowers blooming in a meadow. "How amazing that would be. Human babies," she nearly squealed like only Alice would do.

I was confused by her reaction, she must not have understood what that would mean. "But Auntie, they will die," I whispered in between my gasps. Her joyful face broke. It was almost more beautiful, if that was possible, when she was sad.

"Oh baby," she said, hushing me, "Don't cry," her voice was soothing, filled with longing and angst. "If they are human, they will have what we all want. How lucky would it be for them to be mortal, to belong here in this world." If she could have cried, the tears would have been gushing. "I would give anything to be human," she whispered in sorrow.

"But, but..." I fought to get the words out, "I, we will have to watch them grow old and die."

"Oh Nessie, I sometime forget that you never knew what it was like to be human. You are truly blessed by your form. You really have the best of both worlds, my beautiful girl. You are able to survive without having to take life, you can bare children, and you don't have to long to be what you cannot-- you don't have to remember what it was like. Being human, well compared to this," she said lifting her arms in reference to herself, "Well, I can't describe it, but being alive, truly alive-- trust me, it is worth dying for in the end."

I shook my head, not understanding how she could possibly want to trade immortality for a human death.

"I know it doesn't make sense to you," she said, her gaze shifting from mine, "but being human is something that you should want for your children." She settled on her last words, lost in her own broken dreams.

"Come on, honey. Go get dressed David has just woken up." She shuffled me out the door and left me standing in the hallway as she descended the stairs like a ghost, in between worlds, searching fruitlessly for its purpose.

Short one, I know, but I'm tired... You'll get more tomorrow. Thanks for reading... and reviewing ;)