Chapter 53- Bella's POV

I stand in the bathroom, my hair tied back messily and my face pale.

I've just thrown up, retching for twenty minutes before feeling well enough to move away from the toilet. Will is already out diving- he's found a really good sponsor and we're actually making a fair amount of money with that and his part-time job at the harbor. I'm glad he's not home, he would only get worried. Percy slept through my vomiting, thank god, so there's no one to fuss.

Except me, that is.

This is the third day in a row I've woken up sick, and I've been sick off-and-on for almost three weeks now. I am freaking out just a little, because, even though I know this is crazy, Percy brought me very bad morning sickness.

Calm down, I tell myself, you got pregnant last time because you and Will forgot to use a condom and you weren't on very birth control … now you take the pill everyday. You're fine.

I can't deny the tenderness of my breasts, however, or my increase in appetite. Or the fact that my period is a few days late … You're not pregnant, I think unsurely, but just get a test … just to be sure.

Almost shaking, I go into my bedroom and put on a pair of jean shorts and a white tank top. I'm probably psyching myself out, but the clothes feel the tiniest bit tighter than usual.

I hear Percy start to whine, grab my bag and head to his room. "Hi," I say, "hi, little man."

I scoop him into my arms and check his diaper, before giving him a bottle and walking to the car. My baby is warm and soft and perfect-smelling in my arms and he giggles at something, pointing as we walk by. I laugh.

Strapping him into his carseat, I pull out of the driveway, trying to ignore the nervous flutter in my stomach. You're on the pill, I remind myself.

I pull into the pharmacy and get Percy out of the back. He throws his arms around me tightly as if we'd been apart for years and I absentmindedly kiss the top of his head.

Walking into the store, I head quickly to where the tests are and buy the highest quality ones I can find. I don't look at the cashier because I feel her judging me- who needs pregnancy tests when they have a baby under a year old?

Percy is turning eight months in a few days. If I am pregnant- which I'm not- that means he'll be about a year and seven months old when the baby is born. I mean, I guess I must be at least a month along if I'm pregnant, so then he'd be a year and a half. That's not awful … I mean, it could be worse, I guess …

But I'm not pregnant, so who cares?

I rush back to the car and get everything situated before driving home, trying to be fast but also as cautious as ever. I go upstairs and run into Rikki on the way.

"Hey, Bells," she says with a grin. I smile but hope she doesn't talk for too long. "And hello, Mr. Percy."

Percy claps his hands and extends his arms towards Rikki. He loves her. Besides me and Will, Rikki is the only person whom Percy will be held by.

"Oh, sorry, little dude, but I gotta run," she says, and I internally sigh in relief. "You okay, Bella? You look worried."

"Oh, I'm fine," I say a little too quickly. Rikki looks unconvinced but leaves anyway. I finally get into my apartment.

"Okay, baby, everything's okay. We're good," I tell Percy, putting him into his crib.

"Why wouldn't things be okay?" I hear from behind me, and spin around, clutching my chest.

Will is standing in the doorway. "Will!" I breathe, "when did you get home?"

"A few minutes ago. Training ended early," he explains, running a hand through his hair. "So … why wouldn't things be okay."

I let out this airy little laugh, hiding the tests behind my back, and say, "No reason! I just always talk to him like that … he gets worried sometimes, poor little guy."

Will, like Rikki did, looks unconvinced, and so I blurt out, "I've got to go to the bathroom!" and rush past him.

In the other room, I sit on the toilet and stick the test between my legs. I can't pee for a long time, and every second gets me a little more nervous. You are not pregnant! I think harshly, but then a tiny little voice inside me argues, But what if you are?

When I'm done, I stand and wait the required time, and then about a minute more.

Finally, I look at the test.

There, right on the stick, is a little pink plus.

The breath is knocked out of me. No, I think desperately, this can't be happening!

"Bella?" Will knocks on the door. "You okay in there?"

I try to remain calm but I'm getting light-headed and sit on the toilet. Breathe, I remind myself. But my mind is spinning. How can you be pregnant?! You take the pill everyday! God, oh my God, how are we gonna afford this? Is it even worth it? Can I keep this baby? Oh, Lord …

I begin to cry, the tears spilling over onto my red cheeks. The door opens.

"Bella, honey, what's wrong?" Will exclaims, kneeling on the ground in front of me upon seeing my tear-ridden face.

I can't tell him, instead I just hold out the positive test and bury my head in my hands.

Will is silent for a long, long time. Eventually, he whispers the question, "You're pregnant?"

I nod, not looking up. Again, there is quiet.

"Bella," he says after a minute, and I look up. He is crying, too. I don't know what is going to come next. I have literally no idea what he could say.

"Bella."

He repeats my name and I stare at him, beginning to cry harder. "I'm on the pill," I say tearfully, "I take it everyday! I don't know why this happened!"

Will stares at me, his blue eyes wide and scared. I feel awful. "I'm so sorry," I choke, wrapping my arms around myself.

Taking my hand, Will gently brings me off the toilet so that we're kneeling next to each other and brings his arms around me, stroking my hair. I feel him shaking.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he breathes, his voice nearly a whisper. "You take the pill everyday. This was a medical fluke. Nothing you could have done."

I shake my head against his chest and try to catch my breath.

"What happened, though, Bells? Do you have any idea? I mean, I don't know, honey …" Tears begin to fall freely from his eyes. "We don't make that much money, and Percy is so, so young … I don't if we can keep this baby …"

He looks like it's breaking his heart to say these words but I agree. How can we keep it?

The next day, Will and I are sitting in the doctor's office. It is the same obstetrician who I saw while I was expecting Percy.

"Bella, Will, come in," she says, ushering us into her office. "So, you're expecting again? So soon?"

I stare at her. "Dr. Ly," I begin, "we have some questions to ask you."

The tall, Vietnamese woman sits down, smoothing some of her hair behind her ear. "Go ahead," she says.

"Well, as you know, Percy is only eight months old. And, I've been taking birth control every day, so we were not planning this pregnancy. I mean, how could this have happened?!" I'm trying to remain level-headed.

Dr. Ly raises her eyebrows. "Well," she says, a little taken aback, "you did have a lot complications with your first pregnancy. That probably released some unusual hormones, and, as birth control is just a mixture of hormones that prevent ovulation, imbalanced hormones would make for faulty birth control."

Will gets a little red in the face. "Why did nobody tell us about this?!" he exclaimed. Dr. Ly remains calm.

"Well, Mr. Benjamin, it's rare for the birth control to get neutralized completely. And even more rare for Bella to be able to get pregnant again after the damage to her uterus last time around."

I look down into my lap. I do remember being told I probably wouldn't be able to have more children in the hospital, but I was so out of it.

"Bella, may I give you an ultrasound?" I nod blankly and walk to the table.

After the gel and everything, the little picture of our baby pops up on the screen. I try not to look at it.

"Well, your uterus is still pretty damaged, Bella," Dr. Ly says. "I know this is hard to hear, but this baby will probably result in miscarriage. It looks like the DOC was about a month ago, so if this baby doesn't make it, it will probably occur within the next two months. Even if you do make it through that period, however, it could still be delivered stillborn. On top of this, the baby will probably be really hard on your body. You're already very weak from Percy. Now, if you chose to have an abortion, you'll have to chose before you hit twenty-four weeks. Right now you are three and a half weeks along, so you have a while to decide."

I'm trying to digest all this information when Will speaks up. "Can Bella have anymore children, after this?" he asks. Dr. Ly looks at us sadly.

"I'm afraid that there is about a 95% chance she won't," she says.

I slide off the table and walk back to Will. He takes my hand. "Okay," he says, "I think we just need some time to think about all this."

They exchange some more words but I don't really hear. All I can think of is the tiny baby inside me that is already in so much danger. And the fact that it is my last chance.

Hey guys!

I wrote a lot today, since it was a snow day and I wanted to get up to where I had planned. Please please PLEASE let me know what you think of all the plots in the reviews!

Yours as always

DA