CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

BELLA POV

A couple of weeks had passed since the meeting with the Cullens, and they had kept their promise to move away. Today was the day of Quil Ateara's 21st birthday, and Jake and I had planned a big party for him involving the whole pack. Emily and I had prepared a typical wolf pack feast at the diner, and the boys had organised a bonfire on the beach for afterwards. I knew it would mean a lot to Quil for Claire to be there, so Emily had offered to look after her for the day so that her brother and his wife could spend some time alone together.

Sure enough, Quil was over the moon when he arrived at the diner to find all his favourite people, and all his favourite foods, waiting for him. He was particularly pleased that I had made him some of my now famous pancakes; he came to the diner every morning for his breakfast and always requested an extra-large portion with syrup.

We all stayed at the diner until it had gone dark outside, eating every last crumb of food and chatting and laughing together. I noticed that Jacob seemed to be spending a lot of time with the others and had rarely even looked at me, which was odd. I put it to the back of my mind and tried to enjoy Quil's party, but I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

When it was time for us to go to the beach, Kim volunteered to go home with the kids so that they could all go to sleep. Quil's eyes lit up when he realised the 'adult only fun' could begin.

We made our way to the beach armed with enough of Old Quil's wolf liqueur to get the boys drunk, as well as several crates of beer. The party games instantly got underway, starting with 'I've Never'. It didn't go unnoticed by me that whilst the other girls cuddled with their wolves around the fire, Jake once again avoided me. I decided to ignore him, taking a seat next to Quil.

Thanks to my newly discovered sexual appetite with Jake, I ended up getting really drunk during the game, much to the delight of Quil.

"I've never had sex in a public place" Seth said, and everyone looked shocked when I took yet another drink.

"I'm starting to think that we must be a bad influence on you, Mrs Black!" Quil laughed as I swayed a little. "A few months ago Bella was practically a virgin, now she's the kinkiest one out of all of us! Except maybe Paul." He added when he noticed how much alcohol Paul had got through too.

"OK, new game before Bella passes out!" Emily laughed, steadying me as I swayed again. Usually Jake would have been at my side keeping me warm now it had gone dark, but he was sitting at the other side of the fire next to Sam. He was watching me with a concerned look on his face, and I was surprised he hadn't demanded for me to stop drinking and go home yet. We hadn't spoken all day.

"What do you want to play, Bella?" Quil asked me, still seeming shocked at what I had revealed about myself so far tonight.

"Let's go swimming!" I yelled, knowing that would piss Jake off. He looked as though he was going to protest, so I quickly stripped down to my bikini and ran to the sea before he could stop me. To my disappointment though he didn't even attempt to stop me, returning to his conversation with Sam instead. Everyone else copied me and followed me into the cold water, leaving Jake and Sam alone by the fire.

We all splashed about for a while, wrestling and dunking one another until it was too cold for Emily or me to stand it anymore. The two of us walked back to the fire to get warm, and I noticed Jake and Sam had both vanished. Emily didn't point it out, so I didn't comment either. We sat in silence for a while, watching the boys still wrestling in the water.

"What's wrong, Bella? I can tell there's something on your mind tonight." She asked quietly, turning to face me. I thought about denying that there was anything on my mind, but I really needed to speak to someone about it.

"Jake's being off with me. I know everyone says your relationship changes once you're married, but we've only been married for three months for God's sake! He can't be sick of me already, can he?" my voice broke on the last word and I felt hot tears begin to fall down my face.

"Oh sweetie, I didn't know you were feeling like this! I'm sure Jake doesn't realise he's acting different with you because I know he still loves you. Have you spoken to him about it?"

I shook my head. "He's been avoiding me all day, we haven't even said a word to each other. It's like he's keeping something really bad to himself, but I don't understand what can have changed so much in a day!"

Just then Paul started to head up the beach, instantly noticing that I was upset.

"Shortie, what's up?" he asked, running up to me and putting an arm around my shoulders. I didn't answer for a few minutes, but I noticed him sniffing me. I ignored it at first, but then he began to do it again even more obviously. Even Emily was giving him a strange look.

"You see I'm upset, so you make out that I stink? Is that supposed to cheer me up?" I asked him angrily. He looked shocked, but then a strange expression crossed his face.

"I know this is a really private question and it will sound weird coming from me, but do you and Jake use protection?"

I felt my face turn bright red, and got even angrier. "So what, I smell like sex with Jake? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"No, that's not what I'm trying to tell you." He said, not seeming to feel any of the embarrassment that I was consumed by. "Just answer the question."

I stared at him for a long moment but he didn't back down. "I'm on the pill." I mumbled quietly, turning away from him to see if anyone else was listening to our conversation. They all still seemed preoccupied in the water.

"And you don't use any extra precautions?"

"No, why should I?" I asked angrily, turning to face him again. Suddenly a thought struck me. "Shit, I haven't got some sort of disease from Jake that you can smell have I?" That would explain why Jake was avoiding me.

Paul laughed at that. "Wolves, remember? We don't get sick."

"Then what is it?" I asked, feeling frustrated.

"It's not really my place to say, you should wait till Jake gets back. He'll tell you."

I snorted in annoyance, turning away from him again and shrugging away from his arm. He took the hint and walked back to the others, and I saw him grab Rachel and kiss her deeply. He threw a smile over in my direction, which irritated me even more. His eyes then moved past me, and I turned to see what he was looking at. Jake and Sam had appeared at the edge of the forest, both grinning ear to ear. Why was everyone suddenly so happy? I hadn't seen Jake crack a genuine smile all day, and all of a sudden he looked ecstatic! I didn't know whether to feel relieved or pissed off.

JACOB POV

I had been worrying about it all day. I barely paid attention to anything during the party I had helped plan for Quil; it was all I could think about. How could I tell Bells? How could I tell anyone? Everyone loved Bells, so this would hurt them all almost as much as it hurt me.

I had tried to avoid Bells as much as possible since I had first noticed the change this morning, but it was killing me to be away from her. I didn't want to worry her with the things I was thinking, so I did my best to stay with the guys so she could enjoy the party with the girls.

She had looked so happy all day, but only I could tell it was forced. I could tell she was angry and confused, not knowing why I was staying away from her, so at the bonfire I realised I couldn't keep it to myself any longer. When Bells suggested swimming I wanted nothing more than to pick her up and take her home to bed, but I took the opportunity to speak to Sam instead.

"What's worrying you, Jake?" he asked when everyone was out of earshot.

"That obvious?" I tried to joke, but it didn't help ease my tension. "It's Bells." I admitted, unsure how to explain to him what had happened. "I think she's ill. Like, seriously ill." His face remained a calm mask, but I saw the glimpse of panic that flashed in his eyes.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, showing no sign of emotion.

"I know this sounds crazy, but she smells different. I noticed this morning when we were in bed." I told him, avoiding his gaze for fear of what I would see there.

After a few minutes of silence my curiosity won the battle against my fear, and I looked up to finally take in his expression. I definitely wasn't expecting him to be smiling.

"What?" I asked, irritated that he wasn't taking me seriously.

"Come with me." Was all he said in reply, as he stood up and walked towards the forest. I glanced back at Bells and, satisfied that she was safe with the others, followed Sam into the trees. As soon as we were out of sight he pulled his shorts off.

"What do we need to phase for?"

"I need to show you something, and I can only do it in wolf form."

I was annoyed at how vague he was being but quickly stripped off and phased, hoping that whatever he was showing me would help Bella.

A few years ago, I went through a similar thing with Emily. All of a sudden her scent changed, and it scared me to death. Does this scent remind you of Bella's new scent?

He sent me his memory of a scent, which I instantly recognised as Emily's. Emily and Bells usually smelled very different to me, and although I could smell Emily's usual scent, it was strangely familiar to Bella's new scent.

Yeah, it smells similar somehow. It's like, Bella's normal scent is still there but there's something extra there too. What the hell is that? It's not… cancer is it?

I started to panic at the thought of Bella seriously ill in a hospital bed, but then I realised that Emily had never to my knowledge been in hospital apart from when Sam had accidentally hurt her, and when she had Sammy.

That was Emily's scent when she was pregnant with Sammy. It's actually her scent at the moment, too. He told me calmly, giving me a minute to get my head around what he had said.

You mean… Bella's pregnant?

I believe so, but I won't know for sure because I don't know Bella's scent well enough to notice the slight change. Obviously I'd get her to do one of those tests, but we should be able to hear an extra heartbeat soon enough.

I quickly thought about what he had said, and realised I hadn't picked up on something.

You said that's Emily's scent now?

Yeah, she's pregnant again. We were going to tell you all in a couple of weeks before you could hear the heartbeat.

Wow. Congratulations, man.

Thanks. I think congratulations are due to you, too! How do you feel?

I didn't even need to think about my answer, and I was sure Sam could already see all the images of Bella holding a baby going through my mind.

Over the moon. I told him, feeling the wolfy grin stretch across my face. I've gotta get back and tell Bells…

Yeah, let's get going. He agreed. We both quickly phased back, got dressed and walked back out onto the beach. I was still grinning like an idiot, until I noticed the glare Bella was giving me from her seat by the fire. She had been crying.

"Honey, what's wrong?" I asked, sprinting to her side and pulling her into my arms. It had been far too long since I had touched her, but to my shock she pulled away from me.

"Like you care!" she yelled, gaining the attention of the rest of the pack who were still in the sea.

"Of course I care Bells, why would you say something like that?" I asked her, glancing quickly to Emily for any explanation of Bella's sudden anger. She was looking at Sam, seeming uncomfortable.

Bella snorted, dragging my attention back to the angry glare I was receiving from her beautiful chocolate eyes. "Do you really need to ask after the way you've behaved around me today? You've been acting like I have some disgusting infectious disease or something."

Pain hit me like a bullet in the chest when I realised I had been neglecting my imprint. "I have something I need to tell you." I told her, taking a deep breath. I was unsure how she would take this news in her current angry state.

"No shit!" she shouted sarcastically, looking if possible even more pissed off.

"I think you're pregnant." I blurted out, watching her face closely. She looked shocked briefly, then hurt.

"And you don't want it?"

"Of course I want it! I want you to have my baby more than anything!" I told her, grabbing both of her hands in one of mine and stroking her face with the other.

"Then why have you been so distant?"

"I thought you were ill Bells, and I couldn't handle it. I didn't want to worry you until I knew exactly what was wrong, but I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

We sat and stared at each other for a long moment while she processed all the information I had just given her, and she started to laugh.

"That's what you could smell?" she asked, turning to Paul who had joined us at the fire. He laughed and nodded, and she turned back to me. "I thought you'd given me an STD!" she told me, still laughing. I laughed with her, glad that she was back to the usual happy Bella.

"We can't get diseases-" I started, but she cut me off.

"The wolf thing, I know." She stopped laughing and looked at me seriously for a moment. "So… we're going to have a baby?" she finally asked me, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Yep," I told her, grinning again. "At least, my wolfy sense of smell seems to think so. We'll still have to get you a proper test."

"Oh please, when are your wolfy senses ever wrong about anything?" she laughed, pulling her hands away from mine to wrap them around my neck.

"Wait a minute, how come Paul knew but I didn't notice?" Quil suddenly interrupted from somewhere behind me.

"Because the change in the scent is so discreet that only those who know the original scent particularly well will notice the difference. None of you ever noticed Em was pregnant, but Paul and Bella have spent a lot of time together." Sam told him, making sense of the situation. "The protective nature of the imprint made Jake instantly think the worst, whereas Paul realised straight away what the change was."

"What does she smell like?" Quil asked, still sounding confused.

"Like Bella, with a hint of Jake." Paul laughed, and I saw him move towards us to pat me on the back and kiss Bells. "Congratulations, guys!"

The rest of the pack joined in, and I gave Sam and Emily a meaningful look.

"I'm pregnant too!" Emily blurted out, turning to grin at Bells. "I can't believe our babies will be born nearly the same time!"

"They can be best friends!" Bells laughed, looking happier than I had ever seen her. When everyone had calmed down, I sat down in the sand and pulled her onto my lap.

"I love you." She told me, kissing my nose sweetly.

"I love you, more than anything."