*A/N: A major Trigger Warning for this chapter. Please read with caution and PM me before proceeding if you have any concerns. Thank you.
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Chapter 26 – Miraculous
I honestly had no idea how much bigger I could possibly get, but it seemed every day I continued to surprise myself by growing.
"Ow!" I cried out when the baby gave me a particularly hard kick to my ribs.
"Are you okay?" Edward asked concerned. He and the others were on high alert when it came to any little ache or pain I felt. We weren't sure how much longer I had left, but it had to have been getting close.
"Yeah, it just feels like this kid is trying to break its way out of me, one rib at a time," I said as I rubbed my tender stomach.
"I think you're overdue for a backrub," Edward told me sweetly. He really was the best partner I could ask for during that time. No matter how tired or achy he was from working all day outside, he was always quick to rub my back or feet and make sure I was as comfortable as possible.
Of course, his massages usually ended with me horny, which I think he secretly always planned for. It didn't matter how big and uncomfortable I got, we still had a hard time getting enough of each other, and I hoped we never would.
After less than two minutes of his back massaging, I was already practically convulsing just from his touch. As good as it felt, just couldn't take it any longer.
"What are you doing?" he asked amused as I pulled away from his rubbing so I could spin around and go for his pants. Thankfully, it didn't take much for him to be ready for me and I was able to climb into his lap and sink right down on him.
My organisms only seemed to get more intense the bigger I got, and I was craving them more than ever, but all that hard thrusting that I was so desperate for, left me a little sore.
After I reached another amazing climax, I needed to collapse on the bed besides him to catch my breath. My entire body felt like it was vibrating, and the throbbing between my legs was both painful and painfully erotic. I just craved more and more, and no amount of soreness could detour me.
"I think I need a vaginal massage now," I joked as I continued to pant for air.
Edward didn't take it as a joke, nor did he hesitate. He just went right for it, and fuck it was amazing. His fingers just knew right where to go, and despite my poor tired flesh, another orgasm hit me fast and hard.
"Babe, this is supposed to be a massage, stop making it sexual," he teased me as his skilled fingers continued to work.
I meant to respond to him with some kind of witty comeback, but I couldn't think beyond that incredible feeling and I didn't even want to try.
"You know, I read that 'What to Expect' book, and it said that I should be massaging you down here a few times a day to prepare for birth. This is a medical thing, but you can't stop coming," he laughed playfully.
I still couldn't focus enough to care. As long as he kept moving his fingers in that way, he could say whatever the hell he wanted.
That afternoon was a blur of ecstasy. We probably had sex a few more times but it started to run together in my mind. It was before dinner, but I couldn't break myself away from him long enough to go eat, and I wasn't hungry for food anyway.
We didn't leave that room until the following morning, and by then my empty stomach was growling at me so loud that it didn't even bother me that the guys were making fun of us.
"Damn, are you satisfied yet, Bella?" Seth teased.
"No," I said casually as I grabbed a tub of peanut butter and tossed in a few chocolate chips to eat it right out of the container.
"Add peanut butter to our next shopping list," Rosalie told Emmett.
"And we should probably try to shoot some more rabbits today. Our meat stock is getting low," Edward told them.
"You sure you're up for a hunt, bro?" Emmett asked him. "I don't know how you're still walking with how much Bella's been working you lately."
Edward sneered at him. "You know, jealousy isn't a good look for you," he retorted with a slap to his shoulder.
"Yeah, okay, maybe I am jealous. Seth never looks at me the way Bella looks at you," Emmett said facetiously.
"In all seriousness, sex is really good for Bella at this stage of her pregnancy," Rosalie defended us.
"Yeah, what kind of husband would I be if I didn't tend to my wife's needs?" Edward asked Em playfully.
I just giggled at them and poured some more chocolate chips into my peanut butter.
…
All of us were eagerly waiting for any signs of my labor. We were as prepared as we could possibly be and I was more than ready, but the little nudger seemed perfectly content right where it was.
"Thinking about coming out soon so we can finally meet you?" I would ask as I rubbed my belly. "You have to be just as uncomfortable in there as I am. And we're rolling!" I nearly shouted as I felt like the baby did a complete somersault inside of me, kicking just about every major organ as it went. "Oh man, we talked about that," I said when it finally settled again. "That hurts mommy. You're just getting too big in there."
Suddenly I heard some sort of commotion outside, and because the guys were out there working on the addition, I worried someone got hurt. So I pushed myself off of the couch and waddled as quickly as possible to the front door. To my utter surprise, there were four Amish buggies parked in front of the house.
"Ah, we have made it in time for the birth," one of the Amish women said as I made my way out to them. "We were concerned that you wouldn't have a midwife and thought we could be of some assistance to you."
"Oh," I said while looking at Rosalie.
"That's great, because I've never actually delivered a baby before," Rose said to them. She and the Amish women had been greeting each other and conversing, while all the men were already walking towards the house addition.
"They're going to help with the build too," Rose said to me excitedly. "And…." She took my hand and pulled me around the back of one of the buggies where I was surprised to see two cows and four goats tied to the hitch with a rope. Inside the buggy was another surprise of a large cage with about a dozen chickens inside. Then the women produced large buckets of fresh fruit. My mouth began watering.
"Wow," I said amazed. "You brought all of this for us?" I asked one of the women who followed us over.
"Of course. We had an abundance, and it is the neighborly thing to do," she replied. "Plus, it's the least we could do after your men saved us from our captors. If the old bishop was the Godly man he claimed to be, he would have done the same right away."
"Well, that's incredible of you," I said graciously.
"Our current bishop would have sent us sooner, but he wanted to wait until the sun was brighter in the hope of the demons becoming more dormant."
"You guys certainly came a long way," I said, still astonished that they were there at all. The gift of the animals was pretty much a miracle in my book.
"It was a long journey, but we kept to the countryside and were able to avoid any former settlements," the woman explained. "I'm Siobhan, by the way. That's Margaret, and over there is Mary." Each woman curtsied a hello as she introduced them.
"I'm Bella, and this is Rosalie," I told them.
"We have been so eager to come meet you since we learned of your impending birth," Margaret spoke up.
"Really?" I asked surprised. "I wasn't even aware that anyone knew I was pregnant when we last left your community."
"I believe your husband mentioned it at some point," Siobhan explained. "We have so few women of breeding age left, we just know how important each and every little babe is."
I nodded in understanding. "Well, we are grateful for your visit, and for the animals of course."
"Bella," Edward said as he came to join us. He quickly took my hand and locked our fingers together as if he was concerned that they were going to try to steal me away from him. Not that they gave in indication they would want to do so, but after being ripped apart too many times, both of us felt a little uneasy being away from each other. "Are you okay?"
"Of course," I told him with a smile. "Um, have you met Siobhan, Margaret, and Mary?" I asked him.
"Yes, we met before you came outside," he told me with a friendly smile directed towards them.
"I will have the men build you a corral straight away," an Amish man said as he approached us.
"Um, that would be amazing. Thank you," Edward told him. "Liam, this is my wife, Bella. Bella, this is Liam."
"Nice to meet you," I said, to which he nodded his greeting before turning back to Edward. "We would like to stay until the wee one is born. There are so few children left in this world and each one is a blessing. How is your demon activity here? We have tents to make camp outside, but I'm afraid they will not keep us safe in the event of an attack."
"We haven't had any infected come here at all," Edward told them. "That's not to say they won't, but our local town seems to be vacant now."
"That's good," Liam said with a nod. "But we did see some caves not far back. Perhaps it would be wise to take shelter there instead of camping outside."
"The caves are inhabited by a canine family," Seth told them as he joined in the conversation. "But they're pretty friendly. I'm sure they will be okay having some guests."
"The pups are getting big now, they rarely stay there anymore," Rose told him.
"You have puppies?" one of the other men questioned. "Our livestock has been difficult to manage since we lost our dogs. Are the puppies of the herding variety?"
"Um," Edward and I looked at each other again. "The sire is a German Shepherd, but the mother is just a mutt," he told them.
"German Shepherds are good workers. Are they old enough to leave their mother? We would be greatly indebted to you if we could have a pair of them," Liam requested.
"You can't just take babies from their parents," Seth said defensively.
"Don't be silly; people always gave away puppies before the world ended," Rose told him.
"I think it would be good for your community to have a little extra protection," Edward decided after I nodded my agreement. The truth was, they could really use a dog or two, and since Sam refused to stay with them, and I wouldn't allow it even if he wanted to, giving them a couple puppies was only right, especially since they brought us animals as well.
"But you're not going to beat them into submission or anything, right?" Seth asked concerned.
"We treat all our animals with respect," Liam assured us.
As thankful as we were to have the cows, goats, and chickens, Edward was still wary of our guests. He had a hard-enough time even trusting our own friends with me alone after my kidnapping.
"You really think they're here out of the goodness of their hearts?" Edward asked after they left for the caves that evening.
"The Amish are supposed to be gentle, caring people," Rose offered. "It really is in their beliefs to help their neighbors. That's what my host family said when I stayed with them briefly."
"Yeah well, they also had me chained up and forced me to work in their fields for hours at a time," Emmett argued. "Super caring of them."
"That was the bishop's doing. Most of the community must have believed him when he told them it was your choice," Rose retorted.
"I was working with a chain around my shoulders," he reiterated. "Who would choose that?"
"Those who actually saw it were probably too scared to speak out against the bishop. That's their belief system. But the new bishop might really be just a good virtuous man, and they could really be here without any ulterior motive," she said, surprising me. Rose was the most untrusting person I knew, but she seemed pretty convinced of their innocent intentions.
"It is a little weird how interested they are in Bella's baby," Seth interjected. "They risked their lives and came all this way and brought us a bunch of animals that their people were probably using. Seems fishy."
"What reason could they possibly have for wanting the baby?" Rose asked getting irritated. "They weren't all bitten so they're not all sterile. They can have their own babies, so there is no need to take ours."
Seth shrugged. "They said they plan to be here until its born. Just seems fishy," he repeated, probably only further fueling Edward's overprotective paranoia.
"The women are midwives!" Rose vehemently disagreed. "They are extremely religious, and they feel it's their duty to help people when they can. They knew we don't have a doctor or fresh food. They just want to help."
"I sure hope you're right," Emmett told her.
"But to be cautious, I'm not letting you out of my sight while they're here," Edward told me.
"Oh, so basically nothing different," Seth sprouted out his smartass comment.
We were all slightly on edge with our guests around, but we couldn't deny how amazing it was to have their help. The men did the construction work faster and more efficiently than we could have possibly done without them. The women were eager to teach us the best way to make butters and creams from our cows' and goats' milk, and they showed us more efficient ways to help our garden grow and even added wheat so we could eventually make bread. Then they showed us how to can some of the fruit for jam. We had already stocked up on baby clothes and diapers from the town, but the women were also eager to teach me how to make baby necessities from shreds of fabric as well.
In just two weeks' time, our house addition was nearly complete, our garden was thriving better than ever before, and we had a fridge full of eggs, milks, creams and butters. We even were treated with some freshly churned ice cream.
All and all, it was nice to have the help and new knowledge, and I found myself really enjoying their time with us.
"Well, I'll be damned," I heard Seth say one afternoon, which captured my attention. I had been out in the garden with Rose and Margaret, but Seth's awestruck tone made me drop what I was doing to go investigate.
"Don't say damned around them!" Rose hissed at him after she followed me to where Seth was. "Wow," she added when she saw what he was referring to.
Liam had all five of the puppies herding the chickens, and it was just one more amazing skill they were sharing with us.
"They have good minds," Liam said approvingly.
"They sure do. They're like super-pups," Seth agreed.
With so many people around, the pups' mom, Emily, seemed to have disappeared. She was no longer in the caves and she stopped hovering in the shadows as she watched her pups protectively. Sam was still always around, but he seemed to sort of lose interest in his puppies as well. Like the ever-dutiful companion he was, his focus returned to me and he rarely left my side, which made Edward feel slightly better.
"I kind of think they should take all the puppies," I said as we watched the magical way they responded to Liam's commands. "They have a lot more people to protect, and a lot more livestock that need herding."
"I can't believe you would even suggest such a thing," Seth said appalled. "Would you give away your baby?" He turned to Rosalie. "I'm starting to think she is in cahoots with them. They had to have had a motive for coming here, and she is just feeding into it "
Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Oh stop, Bella is right. They need those puppies more than we do; Emily already abandoned them, and Sam could care less. Let them have the puppies."
Seth shook his head incredulously. "Fine, let them have them… except for Wolfe. That's my puppy."
"You named one of them Wolfe?" Rosalie snorted.
"Yeah, the one that looks like a wolf."
"They all look like wolves. German shepherds look like wolves," Rose argued.
"But their mom is a mutt and some of them look like mutts. I like the big sandy colored one that looks like a wolf, and he likes me too. Watch…"
Seth gave a little whistle, and we turned to look at the pups. They all paused at the sound, but Liam was able to refocus all of them quickly – all of them, except one. Sure enough, the sandy colored pup came running right over to us and jumped into Seth's lap.
"That's right, Wolfe. Who's a good boy?" Seth cooed at him while rewarding him with scratches all over his body.
I sighed with a smile. "Okay Seth, that's your pup."
Rose rolled her eyes again, but Seth celebrated with a big "Yes!"
Seth's pup, Wolfe, continued to do puppy training with Liam, but we informed him that we would be keeping that particular pup and the rest were theirs to take when they left. Liam was appreciative and said that each dog was worth ten livestock, and that they were, once again, indebted to us. I disagreed. Between the animals they brought us, help with our house addition and garden, plus their midwives helping me birth my baby, I said we were more than even.
The following day brought us to an official completion of our house addition. It was two rooms, both small, but we were all incredibly grateful. Rose would get one room, and we installed bunk beds in the other room for Seth and Emmett. It couldn't have been more perfect for our family at that time. We would eventually add one more room for the baby, but that could wait a while; we were just satisfied that everyone finally had a real place to sleep.
Perhaps my body was waiting for everything to be ready and complete because that afternoon, my water broke.
"Um, I am not peeing," I said, somewhere between excitement and absolute terror. I had been having what Rose described as "mild contractions" for the last few days, but I certainly wasn't expecting a gush like that. The book I had been reading about birth said that the dramatic water breaking was usually only in the movies, but there I was, flooding the damn living room floor.
"Oh my god, it's happening! I'll go and get Edward and the midwives," Rose said in a rush.
Usually, if I went into the house, Edward came with me, but this time I had just gone in to use the restroom and assured him he didn't need to follow since he was busy helping with the final touches of the house. I guess he should have followed after all.
"Bella!" Edward said as he raced inside and looked just as excited and scared as I was.
"It's time," I told him, surprising myself with my ability to keep my voice calm.
"Okay, you can do this. We have it all planned out, and Rose will be ready if the baby needs any extra help after," Edward said, reciting everything we had already tirelessly discussed.
"Babe, we got this," I assured him.
.
"I CAN'T DO THIS!" I screamed after a few hours of hard labor.
"Yes, you can. You are so strong. You can do anything," Edward tried convincing me as I just about broke his hand from squeezing it so hard.
"How is she coming?" Seth asked as he peeked into the bedroom where I was laboring.
"No men allowed," Siobhan told him, shooing him away. The Amish midwives didn't even want Edward in there, as that was their tradition, but he and I both put our foot down with that one. There was no way he was missing the birth of his child.
"I know I'm not supposed to be in here, but I was just needing to point out the time," Seth said apologetically.
"Time?" Rose questioned him irritated. "What are you talking about?"
"It's like, almost dusk. I know we don't usually have any zombies around, but if we could hurry this along, all of us outside here would really appreciate it."
"You can't hurry a birth!" Rose snapped at him before slamming the door in his face.
Not that I could really focus on any of it, but I did notice Edward look out the cracks in planks covering the window. He was concerned about the night as well, but he was trying to hide it from me.
"Not much longer, babe. You can do this," Edward told me after one of the midwives said we were close.
It was the single most physically painful experience of my life, but somehow, I was able to think through it enough to know the possible danger that the night brought. As much as I wanted to scream out, I managed to keep it inside, and when it was time, I pushed without making a sound.
In fact, no one made a sound when the baby finally came out. It was absolutely silent in the room. Too silent, and I knew something was horribly wrong.
"The cord was wrapped around the neck," I heard someone whisper, but it sounded like shouting in the sudden heaviness of the room.
I looked up at Edward, and the expression on his face was pure horror. The baby wasn't crying, and from the slight glance I saw of it before the midwives all crowded around, was that it was completely blue.
My heart stopped, and apparently, so did my baby's.
"I'm sorry," Siobhan said to me. "Sometimes these things just happen."
"No…no," I said in shock. I vaguely noticed Rosalie's face, which was all puffy with tears and heartache, but then she ran out of the room. "No," I said again in denial. "Where is he? Let me hold him."
"It is better if you don't. We never have the mother hold the baby when this happens," Siobhan told me.
"NO!" I shouted at her. "Give me my baby!"
Edward's hand tightened on mine, and his head dropped to my shoulder. I knew he wanted to console me – I knew he needed consolation himself, but it wasn't time for that, and I refused to allow it. "Edward, please bring him to me," I begged.
He looked at me for an excruciating moment, and with tears in his eyes, he said "Okay."
The moment he let go of my hand, even just to cross the room to where our baby was lying on a table, I was hit with an intense feeling of emptiness. There was an immediate hole ripped deep inside my chest, as if my body was trying to tell me something that my mind refused to believe.
I watched Edward's shoulders drop when he reached our baby, and even though I didn't want to accept it, as much as I couldn't let go, that was the moment I started sobbing.
I watched through my tears as Edward took the baby carefully into his protective arms. I could see his grief, but I knew he was trying to be strong for me. He turned towards me, and from that position, I could see the little blue legs and the top of our baby's head resting on the crook of his elbow, and I cried even harder.
Edward was only able to take two steps towards me, when suddenly Rose charged back into the room.
"Put the baby down!" she shouted at Edward. He didn't understand what was happening, but he didn't question her either. He quickly set him back down on the table, and Rosalie got to work doing whatever it was that she had been trained to do as a NICU nurse.
I felt horribly weak, but I wasn't about to lie there when my baby was being worked on, so I forced myself up. The midwives didn't want me to do it, but because I refused to stay on the bed, they helped me get stable, and then I hobbled over to the table where Rose and Edward were huddled.
When I finally saw our baby for the first time, I had to fight off a new round of sobbing. Rosalie had a little breathing mask over the baby's puffy blue face, and she was doing tiny compressions on its chest. Edward was actually holding one of its tiny hands and kept whispering something, but I couldn't hear any of it. It honestly felt like I was in a daze or listening to everything from underwater. None of it felt real, and at one point, I wondered if it was all just a horrible nightmare.
Suddenly the room started spinning, and the last thing I heard before everything went black, was the miraculous sound of tiny baby screams….