Bella POV
Everyone stopped moving and stared at Seth. I felt like I was eavesdropping on a private conversation I had no business hearing.
"Are you serious?" Quil asked. "Like, for real?"
"Yeah," Seth answered.
"Damn, you lucky bastard!" said Embry. He stepped forward and clapped Seth on the back in approval.
Jake was quiet for a beat longer than everyone else, but he had a genuine smile when he finally answered.
"That's great, man. Congratulations," he said.
"I should go back—"
"No! You can't," Jake told him.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Seth asked. "Everything in me is telling me to go back to her. What do I even say?"
Quil spoke up.
"You wait. We play the game. I promise, we'll find some excuse for you to talk to her as soon as we finish, but it's going to look batshit insane if you go back through that door right now. What are you going to do, say 'Oh, I'm sorry. I changed my mind about playing because I've just realized you're my soul mate. Wanna hang'?"
"I know, I know. Did you see her, though? Isn't she perfect?" Seth looked miles away. I had never seen someone look so lovestruck in my life.
"Yeah. You hit the imprint jackpot. She'd have been too old for you any other way," Embry teased.
Jake punched him in the shoulder, hard.
"Give the kid a break, Embry. It's not his fault you got shot down," Jake said.
"For the record, it's definitely his fault I got shut down. Like, literally. But I'm just messing, Seth. I'm sorry. I'm happy for you, I swear." said Embry.
"Thanks. Now if we have to get this over with first, can we please go ahead and start the game?" Seth begged.
We got in one whole game before we lost Seth to the challenge of pursuing Anna without creeping her out. Quil, Embry, and I took on Seth and Jake. I actually ended up being better than I expected, at least for a girl playing with a bunch of guys with superhuman capabilities (which is totally cheating in my book, but what can you do?). It turns out being a tiny female in a hide and seek game isn't such a bad thing. I didn't shoot anybody, but I made it harder for them to tag me out, at least.
Our team won by a landslide.
"Congratulations on having teammates that weren't actively trying to sabotage you so he could hook up with a girl faster," Jacob teased.
Apparently Quil wasn't the only one that didn't like to lose.
I excused myself to the restroom so the guys could talk with Seth about how to handle himself with Anna. By the time I came out, Seth was standing at the prize counter talking to Anna, and everyone else had conveniently disappeared into various parts of the arcade. I found Jake in a corner swearing at Mrs. Pacman.
"What did she ever do to you?" I asked over his shoulder.
"She keeps running right into those stupid ghosts," he said.
"Right. She's the onedoing that."
"Yep, totally her fault," he agreed. The "game over" screen flashed, and he turned to look at me.
"So, how about a little birthday present?" I asked.
"Bella, you didn't have to get me anything," Jake said, rubbing his neck uncomfortably.
"Don't worry; it's not anything big. Just thought you might need it for today," I told him. I sat my backpack on the floor and dug around for his gift. I finally pulled out the ziplock bag full of quarters with a tiny red ribbon tied around the top and handed it to him.
"I thought you could use some cents," I joked.
Jake laughed out loud at that.
"Ha ha, very funny. Thanks, Bells. Now I can lose to Mrs. Pacman as many times as I want."
"Maybe give some of these other games a try before wasting it all on her," I suggested. "She doesn't seem worth it."
"Fair enough. So…do you do air hockey?" he asked.
"Well, if you want to risk getting nailed in the face or having to chase the puck across the floor, then sure."
"Considering how much damage you inflicted with a direct punch to my face, I think I can handle a loose puck," Jake teased. I winced a little at the memory of Jacob kissing me that resulted in my sprained hand and his unscathed face, but at least we could joke about it now. That felt like a lifetime ago.
"Fine then, you're on." I grinned.
Jacob POV
We played three games of air hockey before Quil and Embry came and stole the table from us. Bella actually won the first round, which was pure luck if we're being honest, but I showered her with praise anyway. She was a good sport for agreeing to come play games with a bunch of competitive werewolves. And she didn't nail me in the face with the puck, but she did end up accidentally letting go of her mallet and sending it flying into the back of Embry's neck, causing him to swear loudly and lose his current round of Galaga, which in my book was worth more points than scoring all the goals anyway.
About an hour into it all, I noticed Seth had somehow gotten Anna out from behind the counter to show him some Skee Ball tips. Maybe the kid had a little bit of game in him after all.
I was happy for him, but I couldn't help but be a little irked for myself. It felt like I'd been suffering in romantic hell for years, begging for an imprint to either force Bella to see the truth or save me from my own stupid obsession, and here was Seth, a cheerful 15 year old without a day of heartbreak in his life, all set. He'd never have to live through being the wrong side of a triangle.
I guess it felt like he got to take the "easy" way out, but I didn't envy Seth's current situation, not really. I knew he'd have a long road ahead of trying to act normal with Anna until things inevitably got serious enough for him to tell her everything. Sam and Paul's imprints were close enough to the pack's families (a little too close, in Paul's case) that spilling the beans was almost a relief to everyone rather than a terrifying task. And even with Kim being further outside of that circle, at least Jared already knew her and she already secretly had the hots for him. But Seth was now tied to a complete stranger who lived three hours away and might look at him as just a cute kid with potential for someday. She looked at least a few years older than him, and I knew how touchy Bella used to be about the two years between us when we were 15 and 17. Not that she cared about the hundred or so between her and her husband…but still. I hoped Seth wouldn't have too hard of a time sharing the truth with Anna when the time eventually came.
"Did I mention she's on a roller derby team? How hot is that?" Seth gushed. The five of us were crammed around a circular table at the hole-in-the-wall pizza place next door. He'd already told us that she was 19, going to a local community college, and that she wanted to be a writer. Her favorite food was ice cream, and she didn't have any siblings (much to Embry's disappointment). How he'd gotten that much out of a perfect stranger under the guise of Skee Ball direction was beyond me. Maybe the freaky imprint thing was already working on her end, too.
I reached towards the pizza in the middle of the table and added two more slices of pepperoni to my plate.
"Slow your roll there, Romeo," Quil said. "How'd she react to your age? Did you tell her the truth?"
Seth's eyes flashed a brief moment of anger I'd never seen from him before. "Of course I told her the truth! You think I'd lie to her? It's only four years, anyway. And if she doesn't…" His voice trailed off, hopeful. "I can wait for her. We can be friends first."
I noticed he had only eaten two slices of pizza, and the rest of us (minus Bella) had already had five each. The kid had it bad.
"So what are you going to do? We have to get back on the road soon. Did you give her your number? Email?" Embry asked.
"About that…" Seth trailed off. He had guilt etched all over his boyish face. Uh-oh. "I may have told her we were in town for a couple of days."
"Ugh, Seth," I groaned. "Sam's expecting us back in a few hours."
"We need to go ahead and tell him, anyway," Quil added. "He'll have our hides if we get all the way back home without telling him. Seth, we can go find a place to phase and let him know and then report back to the others."
"Okay, yeah. You're right. You think maybe he'll let us stay?" Seth's face brightened at the thought.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Quil said.
We polished off the last of the pizza and breadsticks, and then Quil and Seth disappeared in search of a secluded place to inform Sam. The rest of us went back into the arcade to kill time until they returned. I don't think I was imagining it when we opened the door and Anna's face lit up at the sound of the bell, then immediately fell once we'd all come inside. She was clearly disappointed Seth wasn't with us.
"Thought we'd come back and play a few more games until our friends get back from running an errand," I explained. She smiled back and looked…relieved?
"Sure, have fun," she said.
Over the next half-hour, I beat Embry in Mortal Kombat twice and he sulked off to play some shooting game called "Operation Wolf," which didn't seem to have any actual wolves in it as far as I could tell. Bella figured out she wasn't half-bad at Donkey Kong, and I spent the rest of the time picking easier games to win more tickets. I had an idea.
By the time Quil and Seth got back, it was getting dark.
"So? What's the verdict?" I asked. We all huddled in the corner furthest from the prize counter where Anna had disappeared back into her book.
"Sam was surprisingly cool about it," Seth explained. "He said we can get a hotel room and we have until tomorrow night to get back. And don't worry, he was very clear about what I should and should not say to her yet. Right now it's just important to start getting to know each other."
"I should probably still get Bella back tonight. Will you guys be okay if we head out soon?" I asked. Edward had been a surprisingly progressive husband, but I doubt he wanted Bella spending the night with a bunch of guys.
"Yeah, dude, that's fine. Embry, you cool with that?" Seth asked.
Quil gave him a pleading look that clearly said "don't leave me alone with the love birds." Embry shrugged.
"Fine. But I get the solo bed," he agreed. Quil and Seth looked at each other, obviously thinking about being stuck together in the other bed.
"I'll arm wrestle you for it," Quil told Seth. "Loser takes the floor."
"Whatever," Seth said. "You're on."
Bella, Embry and I followed them to the air hockey table and watched them join hands. I took the position of ref.
"All right, elbows on the table. On the count of three. Ready?" I said. "One, two, three!"
They started battling each other immediately, both going a little red in the face. Quil was more muscular than Seth, but Seth had filled out more in the last year since his transformation. He also looked pretty determined not to lose in front of Anna, and I knew he wasn't going to go down without a fight. They continued to struggle for a bit, and I turned and noticed that Anna was watching, too. Seth looked up and caught her eye, then winked. She flushed and looked back down at her book at the same time Quil slammed Seth's whole arm onto the table.
"Owned you!" He shouted.
"Worth it." Seth grinned.
Bella and I had been back on the road for about an hour. I left Seth with some words of encouragement and a pocket full of the tickets that Bella and I had won so he could pick out a prize and give it to Anna. It was a cheesy idea, but if nothing else, it would give him an excuse to talk to her.
"Are you okay?" Bella asked.
"Yeah, fine. Why?" I asked. She hesitated for a moment.
"I just thought the whole imprint thing might be weird for you to watch," she admitted. It was a little weird, but this really wasn't something I wanted to talk to her about.
"It's fine. He deserves to be happy," I smiled at the road and hoped she'd let it go.
"So do you, Jake."
"Look, I'm over it. Really. I know I used to have some strong feelings about imprinting, but it is what it is. Either there's some mystery girl still out there for me, or there isn't. I can't live my life searching or waiting for something that probably doesn't even exist, you know? So I figure screw it. She can come find me if she's out there. I'm not wasting my time worrying about it," I explained. "Besides, I really don't think it's going to happen for me."
She gave me a look full of pity. I needed to change the subject before we wound up in some weird territory that left me talking about getting over Bella to Bella herself. And she really didn't need to hear my theory of how I was so sure I'd never imprint on anyone because it hadn't worked out with the one person that had felt right. We were finally past that now, and neither one of us needed to go back there.
"Can I ask you the same question? Are you okay, Bells?"
She stared out the dark window without answering, and I drove on in silence for what felt like a mile before I tried again.
"I really am sorry about what I said, you know. I just don't want to see you get hurt," I told her.
Bella sighed and turned to look at the road ahead. "It's okay, Jake. You don't need to be sorry. The truth is I think it upset me so much because I knew you were right."
"As much as I like hearing that I'm right, Bells, maybe I wasn't. Not all the way. I should have at least been there to listen to how you were feeling. If you want to talk about it, I promise I'll try to be calmer this time," I offered.
I started looking for exit signs as soon as she began talking. This wasn't a casual road trip conversation, and I wanted to give her my full attention. I also didn't want to be operating a car if the conversation got heated again.
"I just…I never thought much about having a family before. And then when I fell in love with Edward, it was pointless to even think about, you know? It was just never a part of my dream, so it never bothered me or felt like I was giving something up. Not until…" she trailed off, and I was sorry for making her think about all of this after I'd promised her a day to escape it. "Once I found out I was pregnant and let myself get used to the idea of having a family, even if I only got to believe it for a little while…I don't know, it just felt right. For that little bit of time, things felt perfect in a way I never even thought to dream of."
Bella was facing the window again, but I knew if she turned my way I'd see tears in her eyes. I reached past the gear shift and grabbed her small hand in mine. "I'm sorry," I whispered, and I meant it down to my core. For the first time, I wondered what her life would have been like if she had been able to have that baby. How happy she would have been if things had turned out differently and nature had allowed her to have some weird, totally messed up but completely loved hybrid kid that would have been safe in that house.
"Maybe if I'd never gotten pregnant, I wouldn't feel this way. Who knows? It's like finding out that that was even possible opened up some horrible Pandora's box and I just can't let it go. I know everyone thinks I want a baby, Jake, but that's not the full truth. I don't just want a baby; I want a family. MY family, and that includes the Cullens." She paused and wiped her eyes with her free hand.
"I've never told anyone this, Jake, but sometimes I think about trying to have a baby with Edward again. I know he'd never go for it and I know there's no way…but I can't stop thinking that it's the only possible solution. I'd rather risk my own life than a baby's, because you were right, Jake. I can't bring a human baby into our home. It's selfish."
The wheels turned in my head, and I was shocked by the thought that led to what came out of my next.
"What if you didn't have to?" I asked her.
"What do you mean?"
There was a sign up ahead that said "Next Rest Stop- 1 Mile." I drove in silence the whole mile until I pulled off into the empty rest stop parking lot and turned off the car. I turned and stared at Bella, hard, and questioned my own sanity before I spoke again.
"What if it wasn't a human baby?" I started.
"I know, that's what I'm saying, Jake. What I want more than anything is to have Edward's baby because I know it would be safe and suited for our environment. But I don't know how to convince him, and there's a good chance I wouldn't survive," Bella explained.
I took in a deep breath.
"I meant...what if it wasn't Edward's baby?" I barely spoke the words, but there they were. Out in the universe. I couldn't suck them back in if I changed my mind.
"What are you saying, Jake? You can't mean—"
"I'm saying I'll be your donor."
Bella gasped and stared at me with wide eyes. "Jake! No, you can't! That's not…That's crazy."
"Is it any crazier than bringing a human baby into a house full of vampires or trying to have one yourself and dying in the process?"
As soon as I said it, I knew it was true. It was still every bit as batshit insane as it had been when Edward suggested it months ago, but in the grand scheme of things, it was the least insane idea of the whole fucked up bunch. It gave both Bella and the baby the highest chance of survival.
"But a werewolf in a house full of vampires…Jake, that can't be safe either. It's guaranteeing a transformation. I know how much you hated having that forced on you."
"Bella, I'm the rightful Alpha of our tribe. As long as vampires exist, any child of mine is going to be a wolf whether they're raised in your house or not," I told her.
"But being raised with vampires? Since birth? What if that would mean changing sooner?" she asked.
She was asking good questions, but the fact that she was asking questions at all told me that she was desperate enough to consider it.
"No wolf transforms before puberty, Bella. We aren't physically developed enough and don't have all the right hormones ready to go until then at the earliest. You'd have at least that long," I told her.
"And then what?" she said. "When he or she suddenly wakes up wanting to kill Edward one day? What then?"
Okay, so I hadn't considered that part.
"So you raise him with the truth. You tell him what he is and what his family is and explain what's coming one day. You tell him that one day he might have some instincts that go against what he knows in his heart, but he'll learn to control them and reign them in just like I do. You're the most stubbornly caring person I've ever met, Bella. And you're the only person I know that could get mortal enemies to work together for a common good—that common good being you. If anybody can do this, it's you, and when that time comes, I'll be there to help."
I didn't know where the speech even came from. I hadn't given any of that a second thought before this moment. It kind of freaked me out how clearly it all came tumbling out of my mouth, and how convincing it sounded, even to myself.
Bella looked dumbfounded. "It's just so…"
"You're not saying no," I pointed out. "And we know Edward already agreed."
"Okay, let's pretend everything you've said so far makes some sort of crazy sense. It doesn't account for the Volturi. They're going to come looking for me at some point and make sure that I've been turned, or they're going to kill me." She had a good point.
"We can take them," I told her. She responded with a glare that said we definitely could not.
"All right, that's officially even crazier than anything else you've said in the last 10 minutes, and that's saying a lot," she said.
"Okay, fine, then we deal with that when the time comes. You can still…the baby won't smell like a human baby to you. You can still turn after the baby is born if this is what you want."
What the hell was I saying, and why was I trying to talk her into this?
"And if the Volturi shows up sooner than that? How do you think it would go if they showed up and I was not only still human, but pregnant? With a wolf baby." She argued.
A lightbulb went off in my head.
"They have no standing in pack affairs," I explained. "Being a pregnant human may be punishable, but being pregnant with an Alpha's heir would be out of their hands and none of their fucking business."
"No offense, Jake, but I don't think they'd just butt out and let it happen if they show up and find me with the Cullens planning to raise a werewolf child," said Bella. "The Volturi doesn't do Happily Ever Afters."
"Bella, do you really think the Volturi are going to 'let' you have any child? Human, vampire, or otherwise?" I asked. If anything, it was a pretty damn good reason not to do this at all, forget batshit plans A, B, and C, and pick D, none of the above. But what came out of my mouth instead was, "Some things are worth fighting for."
We were both quiet for a while until Bella finally broke the silence.
"You'd really do that for me?" She asked.
It felt like a punch to the gut, and I wasn't sure why.
"Yes," I told her.
"Why?" she asked. I knew I probably needed to ask myself this same question, but I didn't even have to think about the most important reason. It was an easy answer.
"Because you need it."
"I can't let you do this for me, Jake." Bella looked down at her hands in her lap, and I suddenly knew that she wanted this, but she wouldn't let herself have it. I needed to convince her that it was okay.
"You're my best friend, Bells. I can't stand to see you hurting like this. I want to do this for you," I told her.
"God, you're only seventeen. I have no right to put you in this position," she argued. "It's too much. You should be worrying about prom dates and college applications. Not this."
The idea of stressing about prom or school was almost comical. Neither of us lived in a world that simple anymore, and we hadn't for a while.
"And you should be worrying about what sorority to join and how many shots you can stomach, but here we are." I reached out and held her hand in mine again. "Bella, it's not like I'm offering to give my life up to be a teenage parent. I'm just offering to be a donor, and a friend. Let me do this for you. I can handle it."
Suddenly, wordlessly, Bella leaned across the seats and threw her arms around my neck. We stayed like that for a long time just clinging to each other, and I could feel her cool tears running beneath my shirt collar. "Thank you," she whispered.
We drove home in a strange, peaceful silence the rest of the way. I had no idea what had come over me, and I had certainly never given any real thought to actually going through with Edward's insane plan so many months ago. I had never been so confused about what I was doing in my entire life, but no matter how many arguments I tried to form in my head for why this was a terrible idea, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was somehow right.
A/N: Friendly reminder that if you're feeling confused or displeased by the direction this chapter is headed, please go back and check out my original A/N from the beginning of chapter one. I had a very specific goal in mind when I started writing this story, and I do intend to continue with that challenge. I hope you'll buckle up and enjoy the ride!