Chapter 28: Mending

I stayed at the Cullens' house with Alexandra and Paul for next couple of weeks. I was too weak from the birth to be cleared to go home and Paul was unwilling to leave my side as I mended. Luckily my healing process wasn't nearly as difficult as when I'd changed from a vampire back to a human, so I found myself getting stronger much quicker than I'd anticipated.

On my last day there, Carlisle examined me once more before giving me the okay to go home. He said I still needed a lot of rest, but other than that he assumed that I'd be fine.

As Paul drove us home, he grasped my hand like he always did and Alexandra was sound asleep in her car seat. The morphine had completely worn off within a few days of waking up and I was easily able to hold her on my own now. My ribs still hurt a little bit when I moved around but Carlisle had given me pain medication to help with that.

Other than that, though, I felt pretty much like myself again.

I was still a tiny bit shaky on my feet, but I could feel myself growing stronger. Carlisle was pleased with my progress and I was finally able to understand what he'd meant when he told me that I'd be stronger than the average human.

Paul was taking some time off from work so that he could stay with Alexandra and me. I couldn't believe how naturally taking care of her had come to both of us. I'd been terrified of making mistakes with her but so far everything had gone completely smoothly.

Sue was absolutely enamoured with her. She visited very often and every time she saw Alexandra it looked like she was seeing her with brand new eyes. Emily and Sam visited us at the apartment a few days after we'd arrived back home and both of their eyes had lit up just at the sight of her. It seemed that she'd charmed her way into everyone's hearts.

I still felt like I needed to pinch myself every single day to prove that I hadn't dreamt this whole thing. The fact that Paul and I were actually parents still blew my mind despite how comfortable we were taking care of her.

My extended family had sent numerous gifts for Alexandra and there had been multiple video calls with them so they could see her. My aunt Sarah promised to come visit and made me promise to give her details about the wedding so she could make her arrangements to come to Forks for it.

I'd barely even had time to think about the wedding, but I was sure that Alice already had everything planned perfectly. She was probably just waiting for me to tell her a date and everything would be settled. She'd hinted a few times to me that she was deep in her plans for it, despite me threatening to elope with Paul without her knowing. She'd given me the look of death at that threat and I knew I'd have hell to pay if I even tried that.

A few weeks after we arrived back home, I was home alone with Alexandra while Paul went grocery shopping and the apartment buzzer rang. I furrowed my brow and went to answer it. My stomach jolted as I discovered who was waiting in the lobby and I played with my hands anxiously as I waited for them to arrive at the door.

Despite anticipating their arrival, their gentle knock at the door made me jump, and I braced myself before opening it.

"Hi Kim," I said as brightly as possible.

She was holding a yellow gift bag and looked the tiniest bit tense, but she returned my smile and said, "Hi, Mel. Jared and I got a gift for the baby and I thought I'd bring it over."

"Thank you," I said. "You didn't have to do that."

"It's my pleasure, really," she said.

"Here, come in," I said, stepping out of her way. She entered the apartment and I noticed her wringing her hands nervously. "Is…is everything okay?"

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Alexandra crying in her crib. I told Kim that I'd be right back and went into Alexandra's room to calm her down. I carried her back into the living room and grabbed one of her bottles and warmed it for her, before settling myself on the couch with her to feed her.

Kim perched herself on the chair next to the couch and peeked over at Alexandra and smiled warmly at me. "She's beautiful, Mel."

"Thank you," I said.

She reached forward and grabbed the pink gift bag off the floor, reaching inside and puling out what she and Jared had got for Alexandra. It was a light purple onesie with a cartoon wolf across the front.

"I guess Jared has a sense of humour," she said, chuckling quietly.

I laughed. "Yeah, of course he'd pick that out. Thank you so much." We were quiet for a few moments and I felt the tension hang in the air between us. "What did you want to talk about earlier?"

"Something's been bothering me for a little bit," she began and I had a bad feeling that I knew what was coming. "How did Jared know?"

"How did Jared know what?"

"That you were going into labour."

I hesitated but played it off like I was checking on Alexandra's progress with her bottle. This was not a conversation that I wanted to have. "I think I might've called him. Paul was at work and couldn't get to his phone on time. I'm a little hazy on the details from that day."

"No you didn't," she said. "He and I were at Emily's and then out of nowhere, he jumped up saying that he had to go. Twenty minutes later he called Emily's house to tell us that you were having the baby. He didn't check his phone at all before he left."

Shit. "Look, Kim, I—"

"I just…I need to know what's going with you two," she said.

"I promise you that it's nothing you need to worry about," I said. "Obviously you know that he and I used to date but that's all in the past."

"I'm not stupid, Mel—there's clearly more going on there than what either of you are trying to play it off as."

"I don't think I'm the one who should talk to you about this," I said as gently as I could. "I really think you should ask him about it instead."

"I have asked him," she insisted. "He just never wants to talk about it which made me think it was a nasty breakup, but then he was the one who came to your rescue when you were having the baby."

I was quiet, trying to figure out what to say to her. I completely agreed with her—she deserved to know what was really going on, but Emily had specifically told me that Jared didn't want her to know about imprinting. I couldn't be the one to tell her that—it was his place to do it.

"God, Mel, what is it?" she demanded, frustration clear on her face. "Is…is your baby his?"

"What?! No!" I said immediately. "She…she's definitely Paul's."

"Then what?" she asked. "Do you still have feelings for him? Has he…has he cheated on me? I just need to know that my boyfriend isn't sneaking around behind my back."

"And you deserve to know everything," I said. "But Kim…it isn't my place to tell you. It's…it's wolf related."

"Are you one of them too?"

I considered lying and saying yes, but I couldn't bring myself to. Plus, I wasn't sure if Jared had told her that Leah was the only woman to ever phase and she'd potentially just asked me as a test of my honesty. "No, I'm not."

Alexandra finished her bottle so I placed it on the coffee table and shifted her onto my shoulder to try and burp her. I anxiously chewed on my lip, hating the conversation that I was having and knowing that it would likely end in me ruining what Jared had built with her.

Luckily though, I was saved by Paul returning home. He picked up on the tension in the air immediately as he looked between Kim and me but he didn't say anything. Kim and I stayed quiet, both of us pretending to be preoccupied with Alexandra. He put away the groceries quickly and within minutes of his arrival home, Jared was knocking on the apartment door. I thanked Paul with my eyes, assuming that he'd sneakily texted Jared and asked him to come over to diffuse the situation.

Paul let him in and he went straight for Kim. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd bring over the gift we bought for the baby," she said, voice tight. I avoided meeting Jared's eyes—this was the first time I was seeing him since I'd had the baby.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him looking between us, also picking up on the tension in the air. "What happened?" I felt his eyes on me so I finally looked up at him. "Did you tell her?"

"No," I said. "But I think you should."

Jared pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "I disagree, Mel, she's completely separate from all—"

"She deserves to know," I said, cutting him off. "This isn't fair to her, Jared. You know that."

Jared turned back to Kim. "Can we talk about this at my place?"

She nodded tightly and rose from her chair. They were just at the door when I stood as well and told her to wait, handing Alexandra to Paul. Paul took Alexandra back into her room and I asked Jared to let me talk to Kim alone. I waited until he was down the hall before turning back to her.

"I just…I want to tell you something," I said. "I've known Jared a long time and I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you, myself included."

"I'm just so confused," she whispered. "He's so reluctant to tell me whatever it is and it's making me fear the worst."

"It's going to sound worse than it actually is," I warned. "But when he tells you, just have an open mind, okay? He really loves you, Kim, and he's scared of losing you."

"But—"

"Kim, I used to have a direct line into his head," Paul said, surprising me. I hadn't even heard him come back into the room. "I saw how he thought about you even before the two of you were together. The situation with us is messy but it's something that we've all worked through at this point."

"You have nothing to worry about," I assured her. "Like I said, when he explains it, it's going to sound worse than it actually is, but at this point he's like a brother to me—nothing more."

"Thank you both," she said. "I…I'll try to keep an open mind."

She left the apartment and joined Jared down the hallway. I turned back to Paul and took a deep breath. "Thank you for that."

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "I didn't expect her to bring it up to me like she did. I hope they'll be able to get through this."

"I'm sure they will," he said. "You were right when you said that she deserves to know." I was quiet, wringing my hands nervously, so Paul approached me and grasped my face in his hands. "It's out of your hands now; it isn't your fault she picked up on something more going on. Plus you avoided telling her anything drastic so now it's up to Jared how he handles it."

"Yeah, you're right," I muttered. "I just don't think I'll be able to live with myself if this drives them apart."

"It won't," Paul assured me. "It might just take some time for her to wrap her head around it. It's wild enough dealing with the fact that he's a wolf, I can't imagine learning about imprinting the way she will."

A smile quirked at my lips. "Remember when I found out?"

He chuckled. "I thought you were going to faint."

"I thought so too," I said. "I also distinctly remember considering screaming and running away from you but I'm glad I didn't."

He pressed a soft kiss against my lips. "I was scared I'd never see you again after you found out."

"I considered it," I teased.

He lifted me up and then fell onto the couch with me, peppering kisses along my cheeks and jawline as he did it. I giggled and snuggled close to him before pulling his head up to eye level so I could meet his eyes. I pressed my lips against his, trying to pour all of my love for him into the kiss.

"I love you so much," I whispered once we'd broken apart.

"I love you too," he said, stroking my cheek gently.

We sat curled together on the couch for the rest of the afternoon until Alexandra woke up again, needing another bottle. I watched as Paul fed her, knowing that there was nothing that I would ever love as much as I loved the two of them.