Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Gabe is from my imagination though. BTW…until I read the thank yous at the end of Twilight the other day, I hadn't even remembered one of Stephenie's sons name is Gabe. She also has one named Seth too. Go figure. LOL.

Author's note: This is another short one that I got in before the vacation begins. Hope you enjoy.

37. Sickness and Shifting Futures

We made our way into the pediatrician's office with a very sick little Gabe cuddled to Seth's chest. I wished I could carry and comfort him, but since this pregnancy was more difficult and I was having issues with my blood pressure and other similar issues, I was ordered not to carry or pick up my poor baby boy. We checked in at the front desk and moved to sit in the waiting room for the nurse to call us back.

I reached toward Gabe and Seth maneuvered him so his head was resting on my chest while his body was still cradled in Seth's arms. I stroked his hair and tried to comfort him as tears continued to flow down his tiny face. I knew for sure he had an ear infection and I suspected strep throat as well. His fever was quite high and I was anxious for the doctor to see him and begin whatever treatment they suggested ASAP.

We only sat for about ten minutes, but it seemed to drag on for an hour before our favorite smiling nurse, Mary came out and called Gabe's name. Most of the Parents in La Push came to Forks in order to take their kids to see Dr. Gubin, the only specialized pediatrician in the area unless you wanted to drive all the way to Port Angeles. Mary, started working in Dr. Gubin's office only a few weeks before Gabe was born and had been there through those rough early weeks of his infancy. Mary was beautiful with a dark olive like complexion and long soft curly light brown hair and dark eyes. She spoke with a slight accent that we had never quite figured out and yet never felt brazen enough to ask.

Mary had a very good rapport with Gabe and he trusted her implicitly. If there were directions the doctor would give that Gabe would crinkle his nose at, Mary would sit down with him and explain how important it was to listen to the doctor's directions and follow them or else he would only feel worse, and eventually he would relent and do as the doctor had asked.

Mary led us to the green exam room and took Gabe's temperature and other stats as she asked us to detail what was troubling him. She nodded along with a scowl as she took notes in his chart for the doctor to review.

"Yes, yes, this has been a very big problem lately. Gabe is too young to attend school yes?"

We nodded. "I just asked because we have seen quite a few of the reservation children this last week with the exact same symptoms. Most of them picked it up from school, perhaps Gabe plays with some of their younger siblings. It is most likely another case of strep throat as the rest."

She got up and smiled running her hand lovingly over Gabe's hair as he lay on his side on the exam table with his head near the chair I observed from. "Don't worry my sweet Gabriel. The doctor will give you medicine to make you all better. You'll be back out playing with your friends in a few days."

"Thank you Mary," I replied with a smile before she winked and closed the door.

Soon the door opened and the short plump elderly doctor shuffled in with Mary following right behind carrying a tray with a long white cotton swab inside of a long clear tube and a dropper bottle on top. She smiled over at us and stayed out of the way as the doctor examined Gabe and asked him questions with Gabe quietly answered in a tiny gravelly voice.

After asking him about the baby he turned to me with a knowing smile. "So your dreams turned out to be true after all?"

I smiled and nodded and I heard Mary ask behind him what he meant by the dreams, so I went on to explain to her about the dreams I've had since I was a teenager about my children and that the older was a boy and the younger was a girl, leaving out, of course, all of the less pleasant portions of my dreams. She listened intently with an interested gleam in her eye as she nodded along.

After a bit more examination the doctor turned to us and sighed. "I'm ninety nine percent sure he has strep and a very bad ear infection. The strep is causing the throat pain of course, and I'm pretty sure his nausea is due to an inner ear infection giving him vertigo and nausea. I will go ahead and swab his throat to test for strep to be sure, but I'm fairly confident considering it has been going around out there on the reservation that's what he has."

He began to scribble on his prescription tablet as he continued. "I'm giving you an antibiotic for the strep and the ear infection, along with ear drops for his ears. We'll give him a dose here to help ease a bit of his pain. Continue giving him the children's Tylenol for his fever and throat pain, but since he's gained a bit more weight I want you to give him the larger dosage that I have written on your paperwork. If he seems to get worse or has any more new symptoms or his fever gets higher than one hundred and two I want you to call the office and we'll get him back in here."

We nodded as he rattled off his instructions and asked if we had any questions. Seth and I both shook our heads in unison and the elderly doctor made his way back to the table and patted Gabe's arm sweetly. "You get to feeling better soon Mr. Gabe. I want you to be sure to rest and drink lots of fluids and eat soup for your parents to help make you feel better. I know it hurts, but you need to do your best…and if you're extra good about it I told your mommy that you can have some ice cream and icy pops to help make it feel better too." Gabe smiled a bit and nodded quickly looking at me for confirmation to which I smiled and nodded slightly.

On our way back to the house we stopped in at the pharmacy to fill the prescription and then Seth ran into the grocery story while I sat in the car with Gabe to pick up some juice, soup, ice pops, and ice cream for our sick little man.

When we got home Seth carried him up to his room and got him settled in while I relaxed back onto the couch and put my feet up. Technically I was supposed to be on partial bed rest thanks to my borderline high blood pressure, but there was no way anybody was going to keep me home when Gabe was so ill. I was determined to go to that doctor's appointment, and everyone knew better than to try to stop me.

Seth made his way back down shortly after and settled on the couch next to me laying his head back on the couch. The poor guy was exhausted having been up most of the night with a cranky toddler who spent half the night crying and the other half snoring. I reached over and directed him to lay down on the couch with his head in my lap as I played with his hair.

"Take a nap honey, you deserve it. You've had a long night, and I'm awake for now. Mom said she was going to come over this afternoon and stay to help out and give you a chance to rest tonight. Not like she can sleep anyway," I said with a smirk. He smiled up at me and reached up to hold my hand with a sigh.

"I always knew you did a lot around here, but it wasn't until you were put on bed rest that I realized EXACTLY how much you do. I don't know how you do it all…I'm struggling here."

I chuckled. "You forget honey, I'm not doing it all alone. I have you there to help me. You're taking it all on yourself right now. Don't worry though. Once my mom comes through that door you're going to be hard pressed to keep her and the rest of the family from pitching in so much you'll probably start running out of things to do!"

He smiled and then his eyes darkened as he pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the back. "Are the dreams getting any better?"

I shook my head as I closed my eyes to hold back the tears I felt prickling there. We never talked about my dreams or what was to come. It was too hard and we were both trying so hard to live in the now and enjoy it and not let the shadows of what is to come get in the way of us enjoying what was happening in front of us.

"I know you've been right about so much so far, but I hope to God you are wrong this time. I can't bear the thought of anything happening to you or the kids. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you Angel." His voice broke at the end of the sentence and I pulled him closer as I felt the tears trickle down my cheek.

"I know baby. I know." For the first time in a long time we just sat together and cried for the unknown we were facing and the things we stood to lose. In every one of my dreams Seth was safely behind my family with my kids in his arms. I held onto the hope that if everything did come to pass as I had dreamed that somehow my family could be spared. As long as that could happen then I could handle anything that came my way.

Finally after a long time sobbing in each other's arms I felt Seth's breathing level off and deepen as he relaxed onto my legs with his head perched on my stomach listening to our baby girl. My mother and Bella showed up just in time for Gabe to wake up from his nap and they rushed off to go take care of him.

Seth slept in my arms for a long time until I was forced to wake him up when I could no longer take the pressure that had built up in my pea sized bladder, at which point he carried me up to our room where he climbed into bed and I joined him after I had taken care of my personal needs. I surrounded myself in my cocoon of pillows, letting Seth support me from behind and sank into his comforting embrace.

I opened my eyes to find I was, as usual standing in the middle of the Volturi guard as my family stood sentinel across from us on the far side of the field. I began once again to turn an appraising eye at the scene looking to make sure everyone was in their usual places when my eyes fell on Seth standing behind my family with the rest of the pack parents. I started to hyperventilate when I realized Gabe was gone. Seth was holding our daughter who was younger than the nine to twelve months old that she had appeared to be in my last dream, and Gabe was no longer with him. Seth looked panicked as his eyes met mine and then I felt a tug at my pants leg and looked down to find a sobbing Gabe wrapped around my leg taking in the scene with horror stricken eyes.

I sat straight up in bed screaming with tears flowing down my face. I couldn't breathe and I felt like my chest was going to cave in as I gasped for breath and yet felt as though my lungs were not filling with air. Seth was sitting next to me trying to soothe me while rubbing my back as I looked at him with panicked eyes clutching my chest and desperately trying to take a breath. A moment later my mother, Bella, and Edward burst through the door and I felt a bit relieved that Edward was here with them and could explain my panic while I tried to recapture my breath and calm my body down.

He looked at me with wide eyes as he sucked in a breath that he really didn't need. "Something has changed. The dream changed and Gabe wasn't safe with us, he was with Lina in the middle of the guard."

All of the eyes in the room turned to gaze at me in concern as I finally managed to regain a steady breath, only to be replaced by my sobs as I collapsed into Seth's chest. I didn't know what had changed or why, but it was the worst changes possible. Things were going to happen sooner than I had hoped and now it seemed my son was going to be in even more danger than before.

Author's Note: Hi everyone. The last chapter got a little bit better response, but I promise you guys that this stuff is going somewhere. I know some people are feeling like these chapters are filler chapters, but I promise you it's not simply filler. The last two chapters and this one actually all have pretty major significance to the story line. Don't give up!!

A special thanks to my beta Mel for being so sweet as to take time to work on this while fighting off the flu.

This was a surprise update I didn't expect to make, but now I can pretty much guarantee you won't be seeing another one until after our vacation. In the mean time thanks for reading and have a great two weeks!