A/N: Because I couldn't leave you on Christmas with that terrible Edward chapter...here's another one for today:
The morning sickness was getting worse. I didn't know if it was psychosomatic now that I knew that I was pregnant, or if it was actually getting worse. I put the muffins in the oven and whisked the eggs for Charlie's omelet. I couldn't say that I was surprised by Edward's reaction, as harsh as it was. And as painful as it was, I couldn't say that I wasn't relieved. I was struggling maintaining my own sanity living with his controlling nature. I couldn't imagine having to worry about a child in that kind of home.
Halfway through making the omelet a wave of nausea hit me so fast I barely made it to the sink. I turned the water on between heaves. It was so painful because there was nothing in my stomach to throw up. When I straightened up and turned back around I found Charlie watching me.
"You okay, Bells?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "I can't finish your omelet unless you want me to do that again."
"I got it," he said, moving to the stove. He flipped it over. "No bacon today?" Just the thought of cooking bacon sent me back to the sink again.
"You are not okay!" he exclaimed. "We need to get you to a doctor."
"I've been, dad. I'm okay." I took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."
"Really?" he said, putting the spatula down and taking a step towards me. "I'm gonna be a pappy? Really?" his smile was big and he moved quickly to hug me.
"Yes!" I laughed. He tried to pick me up but groaned in pain.
"OW!" he howled. "My sternum usually clicks, that was a clunk!" He rubbed his chest in pain.
"You should have known better," I laughed. The oven timer went off and I pulled the muffins out of the oven while he dished up his omelet. I was relieved that muffins didn't make me wanna hurl.
"Is Edward excited?" he asked, still looking happy as he dug into his breakfast.
"Umm, not so much," I said, timidly. I picked at my muffin, but I knew I wasn't going to eat much of it.
"What does that mean?" he asked, putting his fork down.
"Well," I said, taking a very small bite of a muffin, "he said I have to choose him or the baby." I took a very small sip of orange juice.
"What?" he asked a little louder. "What did you tell him?"
"Well, I'm here and not there. What do you think I told him?" I asked getting irritated. I got up and walked to the door to the living room.
"Bella, I'm sorry." I heard his chair scoot back. "I'm angry with him not you. I'm sorry he made you choose. That was wrong of him and me."
"Dad, I don't know what to do," I said and the tears came unbidden to my eyes.
"Oh, Bells, come 'mere." He pulled me into a hug and let me cry a bit. I hadn't cried since I left the apartment in Seattle. It felt good to get it all out. Again. When I was finished, I pulled back and wiped my eyes with the palms of my hands.
"It's just the hormones. I'll be alright," I sniffled. "I knew that I could come back here if Edward reacted that way. That's what's getting me through this hard part."
"That's right, Bella. There is always a place for you here," he said. "Let's sit back down."
"I'm not hungry. I need to go talk to Rachel," I said. "She was the one who made me take the pregnancy test and I need to tell her how things went. Do you mind cleaning up?"
"Not at all. Bells, tell you're happy about this," he said, his eyes worried.
"Oh, dad! I'm thrilled. I just wish little blip's father was, too," I replied. "But that is his choice. And as sad as that makes me, I'm not going to let that ruin my joy."
"Good," he said. "Because I am thrilled even if your husband is an asshat."
"Dad!" I exclaimed, but I couldn't repress my smile. He never said stuff like that.
"Well, he is being an asshat. I hope, for the baby's sake, he comes around." I couldn't disagree. "And take this muffin with you and finish it one the way. You're eating for two, now!"
Charlie sat back down and I headed down to La Push.
"Rachel!" I yelled as I came in the front door without knocking. No one ever answered the door anyway.
"Bella? Is that you?" she called and heard her steps running down the hallway. "What happened? How'd he take it? I've been going crazy wondering. You should have at least texted me!"
"I'm pretty sure Edward is monitoring my texts. Or was when I left. When I went by work yesterday to tell them I'd be up here indefinitely I removed my phone number from his bill so he couldn't cut it off."
"That bad, huh?"
I nodded. "He wanted me to get an abortion."
"You suspected he might. That's why I asked you that before you left. Look, I texted Jake and told him you might need his help."
"You did what? Rachel!" I cried. I couldn't believe her. He'd finally decided to give someone else a chance and actually had a date! It did not escape my notice that the exact night he had a date was the exact date that I was available again.
"I didn't tell him anything. Just you might need some help. Then I told him not to ask me anything else because I'm terrible about keeping secrets and you told me not to tell. But I have to be loyal to both of you and that was the best choice," she explained.
"I get it," I said, flopping down on the couch. "Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving!"
"I have just the thing!" she said and ran into the kitchen. She came back with a spoon and a carton of chocolate ice cream. "If you throw this up, it tastes good coming back up. And it's coconut milk ice cream. I have a problem with lactose," she explained. "Bella, I'm so happy we're going to go through this together." I'd put a large spoonful in my mouth and swallowed it. The cold felt good sliding down my irritated throat.
"Me, too. I'm going to need some help. Paul may be an asshole, but at least he's excited to be a father," I said.
"Yeah. God, I love that asshole. He's been a big help, too. But back to why I said something to Jake. He interned in a law office that specialized in high dollar divorces. That's why I texted him." When she paused, I looked up and gave her an appreciative smile. "If Edward is going to go that route, you're going to need someone who knows how that works. And Jake's contracts are iron-clad. If it comes to that," she added.
"Oh, Edward's there. He told me to choose him or the baby. He told me that I will get nothing, not even my car that he bought me. Truth is, I don't even care. All the clothes that mattered to me I brought with me and, even though I love my little mini, it would just remind me of too much…I guess I'll have to find a new car."
"Why? Don't you like the truck?" she asked.
"I love the truck, but it's Jake's," I said.
"Bella, he never changed the title. It's yours. It has always been yours," she said. And the tears hit me again. "Oh, Bella!" She moved over to sit next to me and put her arm around me for support.
"Fucking hormones! I've been crying almost non-stop since I found out. Will this ever stop?" I asked. If I was being honest with myself, I was really crying because I kept picturing Jake falling in love with the faceless Maggie. And I couldn't be angry with her for being wonderful enough to catch Jake's eye.
"I don't cry, but I get angry. I think it just exacerbates what we're feeling the most. Bella, what Edward did is inexcusable. You have every right to feel this way. You just let the emotions out so they're not stuck in there, okay?" she advised. I sobbed few more times and nodded. It did feel better to get them out, exhausting as it was.
"Okay," I said. "Help me figure out what to do." She got up and left the room for a moment and came back with a pad of paper and a pen. I ate more ice cream while I listened to her rifle through a drawer.
"What have you done already? Let's figure out what you've done so we can figure out what you need to do," she said as she positioned herself on the couch, tucking her legs under her.
"Okay, I've changed my cell phone plan. Talked to my boss. He says I can continue to work remotely if I can come in every few weeks for meetings which isn't a problem. I changed the routing for my primary pay check from my joint account with Edward to my personal one."
"You have a personal checking account?" she asked, looking up from her scribbling.
"Yeah, Edward doesn't know about the freelance work I've been doing for a literary magazine. I thought it best to just keep that money separate instead of fighting about it. I was going to surprise him with a trip for our tenth anniversary. Not marriage, but of being together."
"So you didn't leave with nothing, Bella, how much do you have?" she asked.
"I don't know," I answered. "I haven't checked in a while. I've never used any of it because I never needed to." It was true. I guess that sounded very cavalier, but I hadn't checked. "That's what I made the donation with, you remember, to the scholarship fund." I pulled out my phone and checked the app and realized the amount was substantial. I showed it to her.
"Damn, Bella. Whatever prompted you to divert that money was spot on. If you didn't want a fight, you could walk away, not taking anything from him and be just fine. You have a job, plenty of savings, and a secure income. You're going to be just fine."
"But my baby will never know his father," I said. I bit my lip and she raised her eyebrow at me.
"You know it's a boy?" she asked. "How?"
"I don't know. But I can't keep calling the little blip 'it' can I?" I asked. I realized I started doing that when I was arguing with Edward.
"Hey! We're here!" called a strong voice from the front door. I looked over and saw two faces I hadn't seen in so long I almost didn't recognize them.
"Embry! Quil!" I squealed. I jumped up and ran towards Embry who opened his arms and picked me up and swung me around.
"Bella! It is so good to see you!" he said as he set me back down. I turned to Quil who was grinning and he gave me a side hug.
"Jake was right," he said. "You still look just the same. Sorry we didn't make it back for Charlie's surgery, but Jake said he was doing great and we had some things to do."
"It's all good. How are you guys? Jake told me you have a girlfriend, Quil. When do I get to meet her?" I watched the blush rise up his neck as he smiled sheepishly. He was always awkward around girls and I was glad to see that someone could see past that and into his sweet heart.
"We'll set something up. How long are you gonna be around?" he asked.
"Oh, probably for a while," I answered before another wave of nausea washed over me. I ran for the bathroom and made it to the toilet just in time. Rachel was right, the ice cream tasted just the same the second time and I was grateful for the advice. I repeated the process I'd gone through just two days before when I found out and was grateful that Rachel had the mouthwash on the basin. She must use it regularly. When I walked back into the sitting room Embry and Quil looked livid.
"That motherfucker's been poking around our history. Well, his lacky has. Jenks says there's been numerous hits on several of our credit histories. If he didn't know who owned A, B, & C before, he does now and it might not be pretty," Embry said.
"What's A, B, & C and who's a motherfucker?" I asked.
"Your husband is the motherfucker and A, B, & C is our company. Atera, Black, & Call. He's checking up on you," Embry said. "Does he think the baby is someone elses?"
"Rachel!" I shrieked. She really was bad at keeping secrets.
"What? I thought the cat was out of the bag since you ran out of here to barf. What else was I going to tell them?" she defended.
"That I have food poisoning?" I exclaimed. "I don't know what I'm going to do yet, so I don't want to tell everyone!"
"No, it's good that she told us. I got an odd call from Fred in the land office the other day saying you'd been in there to change the contract for the Second Beach property. I didn't know what that meant," Embry explained, "that's why we came back. We knew he put it in your name. What did you change in the contract?"
"I told him I didn't mind if you guys found out, but to hold off telling Jasper. I put in a provision that no improvements could be made to the land without consent of the majority of the Elders of the tribe. He wants to build a resort, which could be good, but I don't want anything done to the land that isn't approved by you guys. I did that before I told him about the baby. The land is in my name, but there is a clause in there in case I ever become 'incapacitated.' I'm sure that is to protect him in case I ever leave him." I said.
"How is 'incapacitated' defined?" Embry asked.
"It was unclear so Fred enumerated them and none of them included pregnancy or divorce. But he's the one who chose this. There are several other properties in my name. I'm sure they have the same clause. Is that helpful?"
"Hells yeah!" Quil said. "That gives you leverage. Look Bella, who is Tanya?" That caught me off guard.
"His assistant. Why?" But I knew why. I was pretty sure I knew what he was going to tell me.
"We've got some, ah, evidence on your husband that might be helpful if he gets ugly," Embry said carefully.
"Why do you have evidence?" I asked. My mind was spinning and I had to sit down.
"Well," Quil said, "when we discovered that it was Edward's company that poached that land from us, we started doing some digging. It's standard practice, but Jake told us to tread lightly because he didn't want you to get hurt." They explained what they had been doing for the last two and half weeks and all the shady practices that Volturi and Sons have been involved in. And while putting those properties in my name wasn't illegal, it didn't look good for me or the company. That was the last I heard before I passed out.
When I woke up I was laying in a clinic with an IV in my arm. I looked up and Sue was standing over me looking worried.
"What happened? Where am I?" I asked. My head ached and I was drenched in sweat.
"You're in the clinic because you haven't been able to keep anything down. When is the last time you ate and kept food down?" she asked, concerned.
"I don't remember. Two days ago? No." I searched my mind. I'd thrown everything up two days ago. "Three days ago."
"Well, we're rehydrating you and giving you some vitamins. You're father has called Dr. Cullen to prescribe some medications to help with the nausea."
"What? He called who?" I shrieked. Who else was going to know before the end of the day? "Why Dr. Cullen, he's a heart surgeon, not an OB/GYN! Damn it, dad!"
"I didn't know who else to call?" came Charlie's voice from the corner. He looked tired and worried. "And he was so helpful with me, it was all I could think of." Quil, Embry, and Rachel were there, too, but they stayed silent.
"Dad, Edward already sees my pregnancy as a betrayal. Calling his father, that's going to be a complete deal breaker!" I explained. Any hope of reconciliation left my heart. I hadn't realized there was even a shred left, but there was.
"Bella, he already broke the deal. Would you really take him back after all that?" he asked.
"He's my HUSBAND!" and I broke down in tears all over again. "For once in my life I'd like someone to not be scared shitless to try something new with me! Jake dumped me because he thought I'd find someone better. Well, jokes on him! I ended up with a control freak who'd rather believe that I got pregnant by another man than accept that the baby is his! Zero for two Bella. Let's see who I can attract next. Maybe I can attract someone with homicidal tendencies and give your father something to do."
"Bella, you need to calm down. This isn't good for the baby," Sue said. I lay back against my pillows knowing she was right. Tears flowed freely down my face. I was feeling the full extent of being abandoned by the two people who promised to love me forever. Would my baby do the same thing? End up resenting me in the end?
"Maybe Edward is right. Maybe…" but I couldn't finish the sentence. I knew I couldn't get rid of this baby. Something awoke in me when I discovered that little blip was there.
"Maybe what?" Charlie asked, hesitantly. Rachel stepped forward and almost said something but stopped herself. They were all leaving the decision up to me. I thought about my own mother. She was flaky and inconstant. She sent me to live with my father so she could focus on her new marriage before she was killed in a car accident. I still loved her. I actually thought that was the best decision she ever made once she figured out I was more like Charlie than I was like her. And I loved her for it. I didn't resent her.
"Nothing. He's not right. I just had to try it out. I'm keeping this baby whether he wants to be in the picture or not. Rachel, you're right. If Quil and Embry say Edward is digging, he's going to find that I dated Jake and that is not going to be pleasant. We need to call Jake and get his help," I admitted.
"Already done," Embry said.
"Fuck. Do I get to tell everyone my own business?" I moaned.
"I didn't tell Jake what was going on, he's worried about some other stuff, but we're all headed to Lake Charles as soon as Sue says you're good to go," he clarified.
"What?" I asked. I still had people making all my decisions for me.
"That's if you want," Quil added astutely. "It turns out that Jake's friend Emmett is getting married and Jake is throwing his wedding in Lake Charles at the resort. What Embry didn't mention," he gave Embry a pointed look, "is that Jake suggested you come and clear your head if you're having a hard time. I was on the video conference with him. He doesn't know anything, but he's worried because of Rachel's text and he suggested we bring you along."
That did sound like Jake—worried and trying to get my mind off of things. And it would easier to discuss all the information we all had individually together in a group. And a face-to-face meeting couldn't be traced electronically. I remembered right before I passed out that Embry said he had Jasper doing the digging. He didn't mention Jasper's name, but I knew who would be doing it. Jasper was a good man, and thorough. He probably had my prom picture by now with Jake's goofy grin because he knew what was happening later that night.
"Oh," was all I managed to say.
"Bella, honey, I want you to get away from Edward. I won't deny that," Charlie said. "But I want you to make your own decisions. I'm sorry I called Dr. Cullen. That was wrong of me, but I was scared. I'll call him back and explain the situation, I'm sure he'll understand. And know that whatever you decide, we'll all be here to support you." I looked at Charlie and nodded. He was under enough physical pain and pressure, he didn't need to worry about me.
"I'd like to see one of your casinos," I said. "And I've never been on a private jet." Embry smiled. "But who will take care of you, dad?"
"I've been takin' care of myself for years," Charlie defended.
"And look where that's got you," Sue interjected, with a wink at me. "I'll look after him. And Rachel will help." Rachel nodded vigorously.
"Sue? Will she be alright to travel?" Charlie asked, making that a closed issue.
"Let's see how she's doing after that IV drip is done," she said to Charlie and the boys. She looked at me, "and I'm going to give you a list of foods to try that will be most nourishing even if you only keep a little bit down. You can't live on chocolate ice cream," she added looking at Rachel.
"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath. "I can do this." Everyone was looking at me with a different expression on their faces, but love was behind each. How had I left my tribe for so long?
It had been Edward. He'd pulled me away from them and I'd severed my connections one by one without even realizing it. But here they all were in one way or another. Just waiting to help me now that I was back in their lives.
What more did a girl and her baby need?
E'erybody off to Lake Charles!
Thoughts?
