Chapter Sixteen - Part One

/ I hope everyone is safe and healthy. This virus is unprecedented, devastating, and terrifying. I hope that this update can give you all something to keep you busy while we weather this storm together. So far, there have only been a handful of confirmed cases here in my Canadian province, but social distancing and self-isolation for travellers are imperative actions to beat this virus. Please, please, please, think of your and everyone else's health and safety and listen to the advice of your local health care professionals and government. Let's come together, make the right decisions, and (hopefully) come out of this with the minimal amount of destruction possible. My husband and I are safe and well, but I have definitely been struggling with my own mental health during this time as I'm sure many others are. Stay safe, reach out, communicate, and try to find any little bit of positivity that you can right now in this crazy world. My inbox is open and I encourage anyone struggling to reach out to initiate a conversation, or even just let me know how you're doing and if you're safe and how you're coping. We are in this together and I love you all. Hopefully this brightens your day a little and considering my impending end of employment in the upcoming weeks (if not sooner), I'm hoping to really kick-start the rest of this story and provide some temporary entertainment to you all during this and try to immerse myself in writing to try to cope with my own feelings right now - there's a hell of a lot of them struggling to win-out at any moment of the day and I find Leah's own peril right now like a ray of sunshine to focus on in attempts to ignore the rest of the world and I hope you do, too.

STAY SAFE. SPREAD LOVE. SUPPORT EACH OTHER. OBLIGE WITH ORDERS FROM HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS AND GOVERNMENT FOR YOUR AREA.

LET'S BEAT COVID-19. TOGETHER.

Sending all of my love, prayers, and thoughts your way.

For the Nessie/Jake conversations in this chapter/upcoming:
I Hate This by: Tenille Arts
Girl Crush by: Little Big Town
Happier by: Ed Sheeran

Leah felt so sick that she thought that she may throw up again. She put a hand over her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. She didn't know how to feel. A part of her was excited that she wasn't a genetic dead-end, but the majority felt terrified. She was in the worst situation ever to bring a baby into the world. This wasn't happening. She couldn't be pregnant with Jacob Black's baby. Not when he didn't finish high school, she didn't have any post-secondary education, neither of them had a job, and they both still lived at home – not to even mention their recent rocky relationship status considering they had only just finally solidified themselves as a couple.

"Leah?" She heard a knock on the door, not realizing how much time had passed. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be out in a minute," she choked out. She inhaled sharply, trying to calm her pounding heart and uneasy stomach.

Her mom didn't say anything else, but Leah opened the door a few moments later, and she went back out into the living room. She didn't have to ask; she could tell by Leah's face that she was right - and that she needed her mom.

Sue went over to her daughter, hugging her tightly, wishing she hadn't of been right. She rubbed her back as Leah pressed her face into her mom's shoulder. She felt like she should cry, but there were no tears - just shock and confusion. "How did I let this happen?" She said, to no one, but hearing her mom reply anyways.

"It's going to be okay," she said, looking down to the test in Leah's hand as she held her, confirming her suspicion of two, pink lines.

Whether the words were true or not, she wasn't sure, but she suddenly heard the front door open and close and looked and Jacob was gone. Leah went to move - to find him, but Sue shook her head.

"Just sit down and breathe, okay? I'll go talk to him."

Leah obliged, still feeling as though this was an out of body experience - only barely capable of recognizing Jacob's own shock through her own. He hadn't needed to see the stick when he saw the look on Leah's face upon emerging from the bathroom – he knew it was true; she was pregnant.

Sue found him on the patio, both hands clutching the wooden railing, shoulders slumped, eyes closed, head tilted toward the ground. "Jacob?"

"I'm so sorry, Sue," he said finally, unable to look at her - he had gotten her daughter knocked up, after all.

Sue reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't move, and she frowned. "It's okay, there's nothing to be sorry for."

"Seriously?" Jacob finally turned to face her; his eyes filled with confliction. "My dad literally gave me condoms, and I was too stupid to use them." His head was reeling with the news that it was hard to really consider what he was saying through his obvious state of shock.

"What's done is done," she said as Jacob turned away from her, pacing the small wooden deck. Her feelings right now were insignificant compared to the two, scared kids before her, who had just realized they were having a baby in less than ideal circumstances. Did Sue endorse it? No, but it was already done - there was nothing she could say to turn back time, but in hindsight, she did wish desperately that she had pushed the birth control issue back when she found out about their activities. At the time, she assumed Leah would make the right decisions - and well, her body wasn't supposed to be able to change while phasing, but that was a moot point now.

"Can you tell her that I'll be back inside in a second?" Jacob asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I need a minute." It had felt like the Clearwater's living room was closing in moments ago and he couldn't breathe - he needed fresh air. He was stricken with guilt and shock and his body reacted accordingly. Pregnant. No, Leah couldn't be pregnant, right? Maybe the test was faulty.

"I'm going to stay with you if that's okay?" Sue asked, knowing there was a war waging in Jacob's mind. "Would you like me to call Billy?"

"No," he said strongly. "I don't want to deal with him right now."

Sue nodded understandingly but sighed. "He's your dad. He isn't going to-"

"I need to be with her," Jacob cut her off, unable to process anything except the immediate concern at hand. "I just… What am I even supposed to say?"

He leaned against the railing and sighed, feeling defeated. He couldn't find the words to comfort Leah if he couldn't find them for himself, right? He didn't know what he could say now to fix this or put her mind at ease over the whole situation. She was going to hate him - especially after everything they'd been through the past few weeks. And now, he had gotten her pregnant. They were a bad soap opera.

Sue went over beside him and reached over, taking his hand. Jacob wouldn't meet her gaze, and she frowned, knowing her own feelings in this moment needed to come last to her daughter and Jacob's. "You don't have to say anything. Just be there for her. She's going to need you, Jacob. I know that you both love each other. Focus on that - on being there for each other, and you'll get through this, I promise." Jacob didn't seem too convinced, though, and Sue sighed.
"When I got pregnant with Leah, Harry and I were newlyweds. We planned it, but I was still terrified. When I told Harry how scared I was, he took my hands, looked me in the eye and told me that we were a team and we could get through anything – and that we would be good parents because we had to be and that he would never abandon his family." Jacob finally met her gaze and watched her tentatively, knowing it must be hard to talk about Harry, but knowing that she was trying to reassure him. Admittedly, he had a fleeting thought of being glad Harry wasn't there because Lord knows he would already have his hunting rifle out and ready to go. Jacob was fast, but Harry had always been a good shot. Sue continued, breaking him out of his inner monologue.
"I knew that he was just as scared as I was, but just something as simple as telling me we were in this together helped significantly. It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to us, of course, but I still remember how scared and uncertain I was. Even with Seth, I was still scared. Babies are scary, whether they're planned or not. If you weren't scared, I think I'd be even more worried, but you both have such a strong support system."

Jacob felt his confliction break and he nodded. "Thank you, Sue."

Sue reached out and placed her hands on his shoulders before she pulled him into a motherly embrace. Without his mom around, Sue always felt a little more responsible to be a strong womanly presence in his and the twin's lives – much like Billy tried to do for her kids once Harry passed. They had always been a family, but well, now there would be more of a solidifying bloodline between the Black and Clearwater roots. She knew that Jacob was a good man and that he loved her daughter. Likewise, Harry would be proud of Jacob as a suitor to Leah – he had always loved Jacob, and that made Sue's heart swell. They still had a lot to work through, but her freaking out right now wasn't going to help the situation – though she was on the inside. Jacob took a deep breath and hugged her back, wishing this was all a dream and he didn't have to go in and face Leah's wrath next, but he had to man up.

He pulled back and took another deep breath, letting it out slowly before he walked toward the door, Sue following suit, and he was once again faced with Leah.

She was on the couch, clutching the small white stick between her index finger and thumb, studying it, tears still in her eyes but not spilling over. She only looked up when the door opened to see if Jacob had come back - and felt relieved when he had.

He went over to her slowly, preparing for her to yell at him. "Lee…"

"I'm going to give you both some time," Sue said before slipping back out of the room, to deal with her own feelings, trying to be strong in front of the kids and give them some privacy to talk. As a mother, she realized how unequipped her daughter and Jacob were to deal with this. Unfortunately, babies always seemed to come at the most unexpected time, and this was definitely that, but she had faith that they would figure things out.

"I'm sorry," Leah choked out.

"That's my line," Jacob tried to joke, but his voice was deadpanned. Admittedly, he hadn't been expecting an apology from her; she had nothing to apologize for.

"I didn't think…"

"I know. Me either."

He sat beside her on the couch, trying to test out how she was feeling, finally deciding anger may not be high up on her emotional gauge right now. He slowly reached over and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. When she didn't pull away, he sighed, relieved.

"What are we going to do. We can't do this…"

Jacob, taking Sue's advice, squeezed her hand. "We'll figure it out. Together."

He looked down to her stomach, but much like when he found out Emily was pregnant – it looked the same, unchanged, despite a human growing inside of her. Jacob stood up, pacing the room, barely able to stay still. A baby; his baby; their baby. Although he hadn't felt much emotion when he found out Emily was pregnant and saw her flat tummy, Leah being pregnant hit him like a transport truck, belly or not. The only thing he could even think to tell her was how sorry he was, and he could barely deny the sick feeling building in his own stomach at the news. He was the reason she was so sick; she was housing his child. No, this had to be some sick joke. He had to be dreaming.

Jacob looked over to Leah again and saw her watching him, blinking back more unshed tears, he knew he had to be a man now. He finally went back to sit by her and take her hand, though every muscle in his body felt like bolting. He thought becoming Alpha was his defining moment, but he felt it with every inch of his body – this was it. This was his paradigm shift. He met her eyes, her waterline filling up with more tears. She tried to blink them away, but as she saw the terror in his eyes, too, she felt a couple slip down her cheeks and she released his hand and wiped them away quickly with the hand not clutching the stick that was about to change their lives forever.

"Don't cry," he said softly, feeling his own eyes welling up. He was too young to be a father; only seventeen. Despite his heightened maturity because of his Alpha title and being thrown into shapeshifting and a supernatural world so young, he felt childish right now – young and scared. He still lived in Billy's house and teased his sister. He could barely figure out how he was feeling a few weeks ago and now, just after realizing, Leah was pregnant. Talk about zero to sixty. This was the inevitable catch-22 that he imagined the night of Sam and Emily's wedding when he chose to be with Leah and he was right that it not only affected him but also everyone in his life, including Renesmee.

He pushed Renesmee from his mind, though, trying to focus on the scared girl before him. A few more tears slipped down her cheeks and Jacob reached up to cup her cheek in his hand, wiping them away with his thumb. "You're going to be okay, alright? I love you." He loved her - he had chosen her, and he knew at that moment that he would for the rest of his life, from thereon out, love her and only her. Imprinting had been a powerful force; an undeniable one. But finding out you're going to be a father? Unimaginable. He didn't fall to his knees like he did when he imprinted, but his entire body filled with this terrified bliss that he had never experienced before. A baby. They were having a baby.

Leah could barely formulate words – mainly because her body was still trying to process the shock. "This can't be happening."

Jacob took a deep breath and tried to choke the bile in his own throat back. Right now, he was terrified, but it wasn't about him at that moment. He was scared, but Leah? The look on her face made his chest tighten. She still held the white stick in her hand and Jacob finally saw the two, strong lines, and felt like they were mocking him at this point. Suddenly, she reached up and put a hand on her stomach. There were absolutely no visible signs, as Jacob previously noted, and Leah didn't feel any physical change, but it felt like her entire body was housing something that she was unable to fully comprehend at the moment; she was a vessel for life.

A minute later, Jacob's phone rang and he answered it instinctively.

"I'm about twenty minutes away, do you want to meet me at the mansion?"

"We'll be there," Jacob hung up the phone as Sue stuck her head out.

"Do we have to go?" Leah said finally, looking up to her mom's face as she grabbed her coat.

"It's not safe to go anywhere else," Sue said. "Not until we know… well, how this works. What you said earlier… about the attraction, you felt toward Jacob, and how it disappeared? If it's correct what Carlisle said, maybe it had less to do about some kind of mating season-ending and more to do with the fact that the night before was the night that you actually got pregnant, but you shouldn't be symptomatic yet if it was only three weeks ago. We need bloodwork to see how far along you are."

"Can't a Clearblue test tell me that?" She asked. "I really don't want to deal with the vampires right now. The smell makes me sick," Leah blurted.

"I'll get Carlisle to open the windows," Jacob promised.

Begrudgingly, she nodded and got back out into the car mechanically. It felt like a dream. No, this wasn't real. It couldn't be. She watched as familiar homes and trees passed out the car window, everyone quiet, lost in their thoughts, and suddenly, she started laughing - and couldn't stop.

"I'm glad you find this amusing," Sue said quietly as she drove.

Leah could barely stop laughing long enough to get words out, but she managed, "This is just a dream."

Sue frowned, realizing Leah was still in shock - rightly so. "It's going to be a very real dream soon enough."

Jacob stayed quiet in the back, not knowing what to say and kind of freaking out himself now that Leah couldn't see his face. They pulled up to the Cullen's finally and Jacob got out, seeing Carlisle's vehicle in the driveway. Sue and Leah got out, too, reminding herself to breathe through her mouth and not her nose, and Jacob took her hand again as if he was trying to prove to her how annoyingly monogamous that he could be with her. She kind of felt soothed by his presence, though, so she didn't mind, and they went inside. Even with her mouth-breathing technique, Leah caught the scent right away and really tried to block it out.

When they got inside, Carlisle emerged from his study, Edward and Alice also coming out of the study with Renesmee in tow. Lovely. Leah almost turned to leave, but Jacob held her hand tighter. The last thing she needed was to see Renesmee right now.

"Ness? Can you give us some privacy?" Edward asked. "I promise you'll get to see Jacob after."

"I'm sorry," said apologized. "I know you're not feeling well, I just… well, I thought that it would be a good chance to come and soothe the imprint."

"That's all, huh?" Leah grumbled.

Jacob sighed, running his free hand through his hair. He looked down at Leah, the vampire's eyes on them, and he squeezed her hand. "I'm here with you, for you, okay?"

She rolled her eyes, only vaguely aware of her distaste of Renesmee with everything else going through her mind and the smell making her stomach turn. "I need some fresh air."

"Get her in my study, I have the door open, there's a nice breeze." Edward, Alice, and Renesmee went into the living room, Edward giving Jacob a knowing glance that he ignored.

Leah breathed painfully slow through her mouth, trying to focus on not throwing up on the Cullen's white-tiled floor as Jacob led her into the study. Sue followed and met Carlisle outside the door before handing him the small, white test with two pink lines in a plastic bag. "I'm worried," she said gently. "If there's something… supernatural about this, I can't take her to my work. Thank you for coming back to see her."

Carlisle stared at the small test for a moment before giving Sue a convincing smile. "We'll take care of her."

Carlisle and Sue entered the room, shutting the door behind them for some privacy even though it was kind of pointless considering the vampire's hearing. Jacob had led Leah over to the stretcher that was there from when Bella was pregnant and she got up, appreciating the air flowing in from the open door and the ceiling fan above. At least the smell was bearable.

"Why are they all here?" Leah asked.

Carlisle approached her, trying to make her at-ease. "I thought that Edward may be able to help me diagnose you - and Alice, of course. I didn't realize you were already, well, aware of what was going on. I apologize for springing Renesmee on you, we just thought it would be a quick visit to satisfy the imprint." Leah nodded deftly as Carlisle shared a glance with Jacob, who looked a little nauseous himself and tried to give him a reassuring smile. Well, this was a change of events for sure. "I'm going to hang some IV-fluids and anti-nausea medication first if that's okay? It will make you feel better very quickly."

Leah nodded, needing some relief from her nauseous stomach and some nutrients. Carlisle did it very quickly, and then came back with a syringe. "I need to take some blood if you're okay with that?" He knew Leah was very skeptical of them, regardless of the protector role that she filled before.

Again, Leah nodded. The fluids going into her veins actually soothed her, and Carlisle took three vials of blood while she focused on the coolness of the IV fluids entering her body and trying not to throw up or think of Renesmee's face.

"I've got a machine that can register your bloodwork very quickly," he said, going over to the long desk on the opposite side of the room. "It'll be about ten minutes. Would you like anything in the meantime?"

Leah shook her head, "I'm fine."

"Me, too," Jacob said as Carlisle left.

"Can I speak with you, Sue?"

She nodded, trusting Carlisle since they worked together before and knew he wasn't a vampire to be feared - by her, anyways. She went out into the hall with him and down into another room, answering some routine questions about what she knew about Leah's symptoms.

"I'm sorry for Renesmee, I wasn't aware that she would be here."

"You can go talk to her if you want. Then when this is over, we can go."

"I'm not leaving you."

"As much as I hate it, I know the imprint needs to be satisfied. Go spend the next ten minutes with her, I'll be fine."

Jacob didn't know if it was a test or not, but he sighed, and leaned down, kissing her forehead. "I'll just be outside, okay?"

Leah laid back, needing a moment to herself and when she heard the door shut, she felt a sob escape her lips. This entire thing felt more and more real with every passing second. What had they gotten themselves into?

Jacob found Renesmee in the living room. Alice was beside her, holding her hand, and Jacob knew that she already knew. Supernatural hearing wasn't forgiving, and he could hear Sue and Carlisle talking about it with his increased hearing from down the hall. "Ness, can we talk?"

Renesmee met his gaze sadly and nodded, getting up from beside her aunt as Jacob led her out of the house and into a familiar rock in the woods. It was night, but with their heightened senses, it wasn't an issue to push through the trees quickly. Admittedly, Jacob felt the fresh air was extremely refreshing right now.

"Pregnant," Renesmee said the word nervously as she leaned against a nearby tree.

"I'm sorry-"

"This changes everything," she cut him off. "I knew when I left that I pushed you toward Leah, I just… didn't think you'd become so serious so quickly. I definitely didn't expect a baby. I guess a part of me thought if I let you explore things with Leah, someday you'd come back to me. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't my motivation – I stand by my decision to have let you go and for you to be happy I just…"

"Thought that I'd realize at some point it was you?"

"It was wishful, but yeah," she said softly, avoiding his gaze.

He didn't realize how honestly heartbroken Renesmee had been over him choosing Leah until now, and he felt terrible. Terrible for being the reason Leah was scared, sick, and confused. Terrible for hurting Renesmee, especially when he had been blind to her true hope of him someday changing his mind. Terrible that he had ultimately thrown all their lives into an unknown, scary place just to avoid using a condom. "Renesmee, this is killing me."

"I know," she said softly, her own pain showing on her face. "I'm sorry, I really am. This is unfair of me, I just… I thought Leah had a flu or… was, I don't know, suffering from some weird phasing side effect when I agreed to come. Her having your baby didn't cross my mind," her voice broke, tears visible in her eyes.

It crossed his mind that although he felt the pull to comfort Renesmee as his imprint, he felt like he wasn't supposed to be doing this with her right now. There were still so many unanswered questions, and Leah needed him. Jacob reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but she stepped back, away from him, seeing the confliction in his eyes. "I get it. Go be with her. She needs you more than I do right now."

"Can we talk later?"

She nodded, "Come get me before you go."

He nodded, but hesitated before leaving her in the woods, alone. He figured she needed a minute, but he had somewhere else to be right now. He went back into the room where Leah was, looking at the clock. It was just under ten minutes, and she was still alone, tears streaking her face and she hastily reached up to wipe them away as he came in, trying to soothe her laboured breathing.

"Leah," he breathed, feeling terrible for leaving her seeing how upset she was. This was going to be a rollercoaster of emotion and they needed to be a rock for the other.

"I'm fine," she said, trying to be strong as her voice wavered.

He went over to her and sat on the bed beside her. The top of the bed was inclined so she could sit upright and immediately, he pulled her against his chest as more tears sprang to her eyes. As bad as he felt for Renesmee moments ago, it didn't compare to how much his heart was breaking seeing Leah cry – again, because of him.

His hands ran gently up and down her back and he held her tightly until she stopped crying. He pulled back, resting his forehead against hers. They were quite for a long moment before she broke it, "She knows?"

Jacob hesitated and looked into her eyes, "Yeah – vamp hearing is pretty good, too. Not as good as ours, of course," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

She sighed, "What did she say?"

"Honestly, we didn't really get into it. She's hurt, but she understands that I need to be with you and that you're my priority. I promised we'd talk before we leave, but only if you're okay."

Leah gave him a small smile, and hugged him tightly, burying her face into the crook of his neck. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

The door opened then, and they pulled back as Carlisle and her mom came back, wheeling a machine in behind them.

"Your hCG levels are certainly elevated," Carlisle said as he set up the machine. "That's the hormone responsible for pregnancy - and your morning sickness. I'm going to use the ultrasound to compare it with your hCG levels to determine how far along you are and make sure everything is alright."

Jacob stayed beside Leah, taking her hand in his. Leah laid back once Carlisle got there and Sue stepped back so that she could see the monitor. Jacob watched intently as Carlisle lifted Leah's tank top and put the blue goo on her he watched him do with Bella – when she was pregnant on Renesmee.

After a couple moments of moving the small wand over her tiny abdomen, Carlisle found the heartbeat – and the shape of a very small seahorse appeared on the screen and he smiled, "A healthy baby – a good, strong heartbeat."

Jacob studied the small image on the screen. He tried to take in every detail as Carlisle moved the small wand to try and get a better picture. He felt like he couldn't breathe in the tiny room and as the fresh air from outside blew through the open area, he took a deep breath to refill his deflated lungs.

Leah didn't know what to say as more tears fell from her eyes. She always imagined this day much differently – with a different man, and her fear only amplified. She always wanted to be a mom; she and Emily used to talk about it all the time, but she never thought when it happened, she would be this scared and uncertain.

Carlisle let them linger on the picture and the sound of the heartbeat for a little longer before turning off the machine, cleaning off the gel, and printing off two sheets of three, tiny black and white images for them. Her mom's eyes were filled with tears seeing her grandchild for the first time, but Leah's attention was pulled back to Carlisle when he started talking.

"It seems like you're pretty close to six weeks along. Does that sound accurate?" Carlisle looked between the two. "It would put conception roughly around February 20 and make you due early December."

Leah hesitated, and shook her head. "No, that's not right." Jacob was just about to jump on the same train of thought when she felt her mom and Carlisle's eyes on her. "Jacob and I weren't sleeping together then." She looked to Jacob, seeing the question that he didn't want to ask swimming through his mind – Jeremy. "I wasn't with anyone then," she said firmly, meeting Jacob's eyes, who looked relieved, but confused. He trusted her, and never thought her and Jeremy had been intimate, but the timing wasn't adding up. "We were intimate February 7th and weren't together after that until March 13th." She felt a little embarrassed to have remembered the dates, but knew it was just over a month that they had been apart and she had missed their proximity everyday.

Carlisle hesitated, but nodded, "You're sure?"

Jacob nodded in agreement, "Positive."

"The fetus is definitely in alignment with your blood panel for six weeks…" he trailed off, lost in thought, remembering Sue's earlier words about the supernatural aspect to this. They would be the first alpha male and female to have mated, as per his theory, though he hadn't exactly expected it to play out like this back when he told Jacob about his idea. "You told me about Leah's feelings changing, what, three weeks ago?"

"She hasn't phased since," Sue said pointedly. "And she had some bleeding, too. Implantation, maybe? It still doesn't make sense for dating, but I'd be willing to bet with the feeling change, not being able to phase, and the bleeding, that conception was three weeks ago."

The night she told Jacob she loved him. It was a nice omen, but her head was spinning. "I wouldn't be six weeks already, though. Or symptomatic."

"Unless, like Bella, your pregnancy is… heightened for a timeline because of the shapeshifter gene. Could also explain why you've been so sick – your hormone is rising extremely quickly because you're progressing faster than a human pregnancy."

Now her head was really spinning. "So, I'm only three weeks?"

Sue sighed, "But registering at six."

Carlisle hesitated, "You'll need to go on a prenatal vitamin as soon as possible, and I want to put you on medication for the morning sickness. If you're not getting any nutrients, the baby isn't either. I'm going to keep a very close eye to you until we can figure out how fast you're progressing to make sure you and the baby are healthy. The only way to confirm it will be close monitoring."

The baby.

Leah still felt like this was a dream.

Carlisle went on to complete a full pelvic exam after she changed into a hospital gown – much to her dismay, but her shock didn't allow her to think too much into it as Sue looked over the pictures and Jacob held her hand unwaveringly.

"Now, Leah, you have options-" Carlisle stated as he went over, washing his hands. "I am required to inform you that you are not required to carry this pregnancy if you decide that it is not something you want to pursue. Of course, given your… supernatural abilities, adoption isn't a practical option."

"What?" Jacob asked suddenly, looking at Leah. "No, we're not going to..." He never felt surer of anything in his entire life – his duty to step up compelled him to want to make this work. This was his child; his responsibility; their baby. It felt weird to immediately want to defend something he didn't know anything about, and he flashed back to Bella's determination to keep her child and suddenly understood for the first time ever.

"Thank you," Leah responded to Carlisle. "We'll discuss it."

"I'll leave you both alone for a moment," He said, stepping out after handing Leah a prescription for the medication she needed and names of some over-the-counter prenatal vitamins. Sue followed him out, wanting to give them some time together, but stayed outside the room in case they needed her. They had a lot to figure out, and they would need her and Billy considerably.

"You're really considering not having this baby?" Jacob asked, feeling anger bubble in his stomach at the thought of anything happening to the small image in the pictures.

"I want this baby," Leah's voice broke, not realizing how badly she did want it until the option to terminate was given. "I'm just scared. There is a lot to figure out."

"I'll build us a house, Leah – the guys will help, and you can use the rabbit since I can still shift and I have the motorcycle. I'll work on cars on the reservation to make some money, and I'll talk to Renesmee and make sure she understands without a doubt that we're done - I want you. I've been telling you for weeks that I want you. What else do you need from me? I'm in. I was in before we got here - before there was a baby to be in for. I won't abandon you." Jacob was getting worked up and he felt his blood pressure rising, trying to figure out his place here, but also not wanting to make any rash decisions. He had a lot of time to think on the way over here about what to do from here, and he had a tentative plan.

Leah frowned and sat up, seeing the wolf threatening to emerge. She hesitated before she brought his hand under the gown, onto her belly, wanting to calm him down – needing him to keep his cool and, not knowing how else to do it. She couldn't tell him the things he wanted to hear - because they were stuck in her throat, but she saw him center a little as soon as he touched her belly and was glad. Honestly, it calmed her, too.

Jacob's anger slowly diminished, his hand feeling the warmth of her skin against his – against the flesh and blood that they created together, growing in her stomach. Just the thought of their baby in her stomach, remembering the small picture, overwhelmed him in every way possible. It was surreal.

"Are we having this baby? No matter how many obstacles are thrown at us?" Leah asked softly as she watched Jacob's breathing even out.

"Yes," he said quickly, looking up to meet her eyes. "We're keeping it."

Leah smiled, amusement filling her eyes for the first time in hours. Despite their current situation, she had to admit, his persistence and desire to do this made her feel better – and a little turned on. These hormones were going to be fun, she realized. "It's not a puppy, Jacob."

"I know," he said strongly, the determination to make this work radiating off him; his confidence in them. "I want to make this work. I'll feed it and take it for walks and love and play with it."

Leah laughed despite the horrible situation they were thrown into. Right now, she wasn't going to get all the answers she needed, so she focused on stomaching this news and trying to wrap her head around it as her shock dissipated slowly.

She took a shaky breath and Jacob sat beside her, pulling her into his arms again. She inhaled his scent and found he soothed her entirely. "I think the baby likes your cologne," she said softly, her words muffled by his shirt.

Jacob chuckled, "My cologne?"

"It's one of the few things that doesn't make me feel sick," Leah explained, thinking back to them at the bridal studio, too, and how soothing it was to her.

Jacob pulled back to look at her – and studied her face before kissing her. She kissed him back feverishly, feeling like her entire center was back together now, despite the rocky road they had ahead of them and the decisions they had to make like boulders crashing down on them. "Let's go home."

Leah hesitated at his words. As much as she wanted to go home and get away from the Cullen's, the fluids she felt going into her body finally gave her a little strength. "Do you think we can take this thing," she gestured up to the bag.

Jacob nodded, "I can't see why not. How are you feeling?"

"If you ask me that every ten minutes, I swear I will punch you in the face – and it will hurt, unlike when Bella tried her luck."

Jacob smiled at the familiar Leah he knew and loved. "I don't doubt that. I'll be right back, okay?"

She nodded, with a good indication that he was going to see about taking the IV fluids – and clue things up with Renesmee. She tried not to think about it, though, as her mom came back in and hugged her tightly. She had a lot to discuss with her daughter, but right now was not the time.

"I love you, Leah," Sue whispered.

"I love you, too," she returned, feeling her eyes well with tears again.