All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Jake POV

The due date for the twins was now less than a month away, and Bella was driving me mad with her stubbornness. Her bump was much bigger than last time, yet she still insisted on going to work. Not only that, but she made me go to work too so that I wouldn't be watching over her all day. My most powerful wolf instinct was to keep my mate and offspring safe, so I was finding it really hard to be away from my girls so much.

"For fuck's sake man, get yourself to the diner!" Embry suddenly shouted, pulling me abruptly from my thoughts of Bella. I quickly realised I had been persistently tapping a wrench on the hood of the car I was working on, which had clearly been irritating Embry.

"You sure?" I asked, although I was already halfway to the exit.

"It's not like you're getting any work done while you're moping, is it!" he called after me as I let the door swing shut behind me, breaking into a run to get to the truck quicker. Luckily for me Embry had been through the same thing when Kim was pregnant with Justin, so he understood my struggle.

I was so desperate to see Bella that I thought about phasing so that I could get to the diner quicker, but I was supposed to be trying to give up as there had been no vampire activity since the Cullens had left, and I wanted to age with Bella. Sam, Embry, Paul and Jared were doing the same thing, but we were all having a tough time trying to control our urges.

So after what felt like a lifetime I burst through the diner doors, hearing the familiar tinkling of the bell. Bella and Sarah were in their usual spot at the wolf table which made me smile, and they both looked up as I approached.

"Dadda!" Sarah squealed, standing on the seat and raising her arms for me to pick her up.

"Hey, princess." I replied, kissing her soft cheek before leaning over to kiss Bella. "I missed you both."

"Why aren't you at work?" Bells scolded, but I could tell by the smirk on her lips that she was happy to see me.

"Can't a man take his wife for a romantic stroll on the beach during his dinner break?" I asked as innocently as possible, although I knew it was only just after 10:30. Bella rolled her eyes, clearly knowing my true intentions, but held her hand out to me with a smile.

"OK, help me up."

"Can I come, daddy?" Sarah asked, tugging on my pants leg as I pulled Bella gently to her feet.

"Sure you can, princess." I replied, scooping her up with one arm while holding onto Bella with the other.

"Just heading out to the beach for a little while, Em!" she called out as we made our way to the door.

"OK sweetie, have a good time!"

Once we were out on the beach Bells became visibly happier, and I was glad to see her smiling as we strolled along the shore watching Sarah collected pebbles.

"So, you ready for our two new arrivals?" she asked me, biting her lip in a way that told me she was nervous.

"I honestly can't wait, honey." I answered with a grin. "What are you thinking?"

She paused for a moment in thought before replying. "It's going to be hard, looking after three kids. But I'm excited."

"Well if these babies are anything like Sarah, it will be a piece of cake."

"Yeah, Sarah's an angel." She agreed, looking a little more confident.

"Momma, I want to show auntie Em my rock!" Sarah suddenly yelled, running towards us with her hand outstretched, showing us a perfectly round blue pebble.

"OK honey, we'll head back now. I bet daddy's hungry too." She added, looking up at me with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression.

"You know me so well." I grinned, kissing her before picking Sarah up. "Are you looking forward to meeting your little sisters?" I asked her as we made our way back along the beach.

"My brothers, daddy." She replied, taking me by surprise. I raised my eyebrows at Bells, but she shook her head.

"I haven't said anything, but she's convinced they're boys."

"Like mother, like daughter." I chuckled, but didn't say anything more. There wasn't a shred of doubt in my mind, but it was no use arguing with stubborn pregnant Bells.

We walked in a happy silence for a few minutes, until Bella stopped suddenly and clutched her stomach.

"Bells?" I asked, but I knew instantly what was wrong when I saw the wet patch forming on her sweatpants, just like I had seen a little over two years before in Paul's memory. She looked at me with sheer panic in her eyes, and I knew that I needed to take control quickly before she started to freak out. Luckily we weren't far from the diner. Setting Sarah down on her feet, I knelt in the sand and brought my face level with hers.

"Sarah, I need you to be a big girl now for mommy and daddy, OK?" She nodded in reply, looking scared. "There's nothing to be scared of," I reassured her, "but I need to carry mommy back to auntie Em. So I need you to walk next to daddy. Can you do that?" she nodded again, looking slightly more confident. "Good girl." I told her, kissing the top of her head before scooping Bella up in my arms. "Hold onto my pants… that's it, good girl."

With that we set off once more in the direction of the diner, much more slowly than I would have liked. Bells looked terrified but stayed positive for Sarah's sake, praising her for being such a good girl as we walked awkwardly across the sand. Finally after what felt like an eternity we made it to the car park, and Emily came rushing out of the diner as she saw us through the window.

"What happened?" she asked with a concerned look as her eyes travelled from Bella in my arms, to Sarah still clutching at my leg.

"Waters broke." I responded quickly. "Can you watch Sarah?"

"Of course."

"Sarah, mommy and daddy need to go to the hospital now, so can you do us a really big favour and be a good girl for auntie Em?" she hesitated, so Emily stepped forward to pick her up.

"You're always a good girl, aren't you sweetie? Let's go find Lily." She said, turning and heading back to the diner. "I'll let everyone know." She told me over her shoulder, and I nodded before quickly heading for the truck. "Good luck!" she called after us.

Hours later I was forced to admit how wrong I had been as I made my way into the crowded waiting room to announce our new arrivals.

"A first has happened for the Black family. I would like to welcome my sons, Charles and William, into the world." A group of shocked but happy faces filled the room: we had all prepared ourselves for the arrival of two girls. Although I had expected to have two new daughters, I was overjoyed at the thought of now having two sons.

"That's great man, but what will it mean for the tribe? Will the eldest just automatically become Chief?" Jared asked the question I knew would become the most important debate for the tribal elders.

"Honestly, I have no idea. But I think we can sort that out when my sons are older. Much older."

"So can we go check out the mini Alphas?" Quil asked, making everyone laugh.

"Sure, sure. Just be quick about it; Bells is exhausted but you know what she's like, she'll never tell anyone to leave so she can get some sleep."

"Two at a time please!" The nurse shouted as the whole pack pushed past me to get to the babies, but gave up when she realised no one was listening. I chuckled to myself as I followed them all into Bella's room, sitting down on the bed beside her while the guys shoved each other to try and get a better look at my sleeping sons.

Once the pack had cleared out, the grandparents came to see us with a very excited Sarah.

"Momma! Dadda!" she cried, wrestling her hand away from Charlie so that she could run towards us.

"Hey, honey! Come meet your new brothers!" I told her, scooping her up so that she could give Bells a kiss while Charlie and Billy inspected their new-born grandsons.

"They look just like you when you were born, son." Billy said, smiling up at me with tears in his eyes.

"Except the eyes," Charlie pointed out as Charles woke up, somehow alerting William to do so too. "They have Swan eyes."

"I want to see!" Sarah chirped up, wriggling in my arms in an attempt to get nearer. I stepped up to the babies, holding her up so that she could see them.

"This is Charles, and this is William. They are your new baby brothers, Sarah."

She stared at the boys for a moment while they stared back, before she turned to look at Bella.

"Can they play?" she asked sweetly, making the room erupt with laughter.

"Not yet honey, they're too small." She answered, making Sarah's excited grin drop. "But soon they will be big enough, then you'll be able to play all the time."

This appeared to satisfy her, as she quickly turned her attention back on the boys. Ten minutes later when I tried to move her she began to cry, so in the end I had to pull a chair up right beside the crib to allow her to keep watch over her little brothers.

As I studied my sons' identical faces for the hundredth time, a thought popped into my head that had never occurred to me before that moment. I stayed awake all night worrying about the fact that in years to come, my boys may be forced to watch over the whole tribe as leaders of the new pack; a role that I had never wanted to accept.