Jake did as I'd asked and drove toward the clinic. By the time we arrived I felt close to puking. I didn't have much in my stomach though and puking hurt so much worse on an empty stomach. I rushed into the clinic and straight to the bathroom. When I came back out, both Jake and Sue were looking at me with concern. Luckily no one else was in the waiting room.
"Well, I guess I have an idea why you'd like the ultrasound. And don't worry dear, I'd never tell anyone what is going on without your permission."
Sue lead us into the office and rolled over the ultrasound machine. "Do you know when your last period was? Depending on how early you are, we may need to do a vaginal ultrasound. It's a bit unpleasant but gets a clearer image during the earlier weeks."
"Actually I never got my period back after my last Depo shot but uh, well Jake and I, we… well I was due for that appointment back at the beginning of September and uh Jake and I kind of started things back up about a week later."
"How do you even remember that?" Jake asked.
"I didn't. I checked my phone to see when Angela text me the next morning after the mall."
"Alright, so that would mean…" Sue pulled out a little round disc and spun another disk that was attached to it. "If you had gotten pregnant immediately, it would put you at the latest nine and a half weeks. This would work with a regular ultrasound though you likely didn't get pregnant immediately and any earlier would risk being too early to see much without the use of the vaginal ultrasound. Are you okay with that?"
I shook my head, at a loss for words that I could be as late as that. I felt more irresponsible that I had my entire life.
"Okay, I'm going to need you to undress from the waist down then cover yourself with this sheet."
Sue gave me some privacy and when she returned had a few more requests and questions. After about 5 minutes and a ton of discomfort later, I was looking at a blurry screen that I couldn't fully understand. Jake was holding my hand in a seat next to me staring intently at the screen as well. After a moment and some adjustments, a smile appeared on Sue's face. I bit my lip as I tried to see anything that resembled a baby and while I couldn't, I did see a little flicker like a teeny light was turning on and off. I knew instantly what it was.
My baby had a heartbeat.
I started to cry and no matter what I did, I couldn't seem to control it. Jake was confused but when Sue pointed to the screen to show him, his face was full of amazement and wonder. He didn't say anything but I could see the pride on his face.
Sue did a few things on the computer including printing a tiny wallet sized photo off for us, let us listen to the heartbeat, which was Jake's undoing, bringing him to tears and made some lines across the screen.
"Your baby is 8 weeks 1 day which would put conception at…" she spun the little wheel again. "September 17th and would put your due date at… oh. June 10th."
Sue glanced at me then back at the computer.
"What is it?"
"Nothing to do with your baby. Everything looks right on track. Congratulations. So you have a couple options here as to care. I could follow you through the pregnancy and delivery or if you'd rather an obgyn from forks, I would understand."
"You! Of course we want you." I blurted, hoping Jake felt the same.
"I'm glad to hear it. If there is ever a problem though. I would have to transfer you to the hospital since we are not equipped to deal with issues during pregnancy or childbirth beyond the basics."
"Ok."
Sue finished up and we were on our way. She gave us a list of resources for pregnancy and more specifically teen pregnancy since this was far from planned I and while I was technically an adult, I was still very young and Jake was still a teen and they had things for the father's as well.
We did end up deciding that we'd wait a little bit to tell everyone but considering how many weeks I was already, we didn't plan to wait long.
/JPOV/
The last few hours somehow went by in a blur while simultaneously taking a whole ass year. I woke up early this morning, ready to start my day and head in to school. I was taking an extra credit class that started before regular classes went in. Technically it was just extra help for some of us in the pack so we could graduate sooner but it was well worth it. I also had extra classes at lunch. When everything happened and a good chunk of the tribes teenagers changed into giant wolves, the tribe was let in on the secret. It was a huge risk but also it isn't like anyone would believe it if someone told.
All tribes had an origin story and ours just involved wolves instead of other animals so it wouldn't look too crazy to the outside world if someone spilled the beans. We came up with a plan to just deny it and say we dress as wolves and dance around a bonfire when telling the stories of our people. So far though, none of the people in the tribe were willing to risk losing us as protectors. Many were closely connected to at least one pack member. Not only would they lose their right to live on tribal lands, they would also be harming the people they love if they couldn't keep quiet.
There are few things that would get a person kicked out of the tribe, but my father made it perfectly clear that it was right up there with some of the worst crimes because it would be harming the entire community, not just the tribe, but also the residents of Forks that unknowingly were saved by our battle.
So the teachers understand that we have worked hard to keep this place safe and in doing so have accepted our request to do extra work. If I kept it up, I would be set to graduate as early as May and now that I've had this news thrown at me, I HAD to graduate by May.
I handed in my homework to my teachers, asked if there were any sheets to work on and left school at noon, explaining that I wanted to check on my sick girlfriend to make sure she was ok. The teachers all knew of Bella and what she risked to save my life and protect the tribe from Victoria's wrath should she have succeeded. They were grateful to her and allowed me to leave without question. Not that they really could stop me but I didn't feel like intimidating the people who were helping me finish high school.
I walked home, grabbed a container of soup then headed toward Sam's and by the time I got there, Leah was just getting back. She hopped out of Sam's truck with a paper bag in her hand. It had a symbol on it that I knew as the local pharmacy.
"Is Bella okay?" I asked, worried that there was some prescription inside because she started feeling worse.
"Oh!" Leah glanced down at the bag then back up at me. "yeah no, she's great. Feeling much better. I just ran to the store to grab a couple things. Come on in."
Something felt wrong, I knew Leah almost as well as I knew Bella and she was definitely hiding something from me. Of course I had thought it was that Bella was doing worse and that she didn't want to scare me or something. My mind never once went to the possibility that Bella could be pregnant. Bella… carrying my baby.
I walked inside with Leah and found Bella who looked dumbstruck. What the fuck is going on? I thought, and nothing could have prepared me for what she said. Of course what she said was half an hour later after she woke up from passing out.
If I had to be honest, I was terrified. Of course I was happy because it's Bella and I knew it would happen eventually but I was scared shitless. I was 16, almost 17 and was nowhere near ready to be a father. What the hell was I going to do? But as Bella sat in that bathroom taking test after test, all I could do was think about the reality of it. It was Bella. My Bells. Nothing in my life would ever be able to prepare me for being a dad at 17 but I was suddenly excited. Bella might be carrying my baby inside her.
Then I heard her cry and my heart broke for her. How stupid could I be to think that she would be happy about a pregnancy? She was fresh out of high school. We were just starting our lives. Then she gasped and the little intake of air afterwards I knew. Well. When Bella gets happy, she has this shocked gasp followed by a quick exhale inhale before her lips start to quiver. I could hear it. The little quiver of her lips as I sat there, and I thought she was happy because the rest were negative and the first was a faulty test.
When she came out of the bathroom I just knew she'd tell me it was negative, all but the one, faulty, heartbreaking test. She handed me a test and when I flipped it around, the word PREGNANT stared back at me. I was ecstatic. My heart was racing. I'd never felt more alive. I was going to be a father. Bella and I'd created something made up of a little bit of her and a little bit of me. But her happy cry… I didn't understand.
We talked and eventually we went to see our baby. Our baby. I don't think I'd ever get used to saying that.
Sue pointing out the hands and feet. The eyes and the heartbeat. The beautiful heartbeat which we were able to hear. She printed off a little picture for each of us, though the little gummy bear didn't look like much, it was the best photo I ever saw.
/BPOV/
"What was it we were going to Port Angeles for?" Jake asked me, taking my hand in one of his as we started to drive.
"Something I've been thinking about a lot, but now it seems even more like a good idea."
We decided to stop for some food first. Sue told me that I needed to eat high protein meals to keep from puking so that's what I would try, as well as smaller more frequent meals to keep myself from getting too hungry which would also trigger nausea. So far the rest of the drive was done without nausea so it seemed to be working. A short while later we were at our destination.
"Welcome to Ruddell Auto. I'm Hank, what can I help you with today? We do trade-ins if that interests you. This beauty looks like it was well taken care of."
"Jake." He said, taking the man's hand and shaking it, with likely a bit too much force based on the man's face. I had to hold back a laugh. "She's been completely restored. We're here to buy though."
"Ah, I see. You fixed her up yourself then?"
"I did. And I know her worth."
Jake and Hank continued to talk about Jake's Rabbit and there was no way the man was willing to pay what it was worth, or he wouldn't make a penny trying to sell it again. We looked at cars for the rest of the day but only one fit Jake's height requirements. A 1967 Chevrolet Impala. He could sit in it with ease and the man was only asking $600 for it. Jake paid cash and walked away with keys in his hand.
I was preparing myself to drive the Rabbit back to the Rez when a man approached us. He told Jake that he didn't see anything he liked in the dealership but couldn't help overhearing that Jake was willing to sell. I didn't overhear how much Jake sold it for while I emptied it of our belongings and said a silent goodbye, but Jake had a huge smile on his face as the man drove off in it.
"Cash?" I asked and he nodded. We hopped in the Impala and headed home for dinner.
"Five thousand."
"What?" My heart started racing at the thought.
"He paid five thousand. I guess he knows his cars because he said that if I sold it to Rudell's that I'd get maybe a thousand for it and Rudell would sell it for seven because it was so well taken care of. So while he knew it was worth a bit more, I wouldn't get a better offer. He's right, I was thinking three thousand. I told him to stop by the garage if she ever needed any work done."
"That's amazing. What are you going to do with the money?"
"Well, lots of things will be changing soon. Figured I should save it for anything we might need."
I smiled then leaned into his warm body as we drove back.
Just as she'd promised, Leah was setting the table with her takeout haul when we got back. I was feeling much better after a few recommendations from Sue.
"Hey!" Leah greeted us. She looked as though she were trying to hide her smile and failing. She glanced at Sam whose back was turned and the smile wavered slightly. I guess what might be the problem and decided since I was living in their home it was best that I didn't cause any issues between them. Plus Sam was like a big brother to me.
"Hey. So uh, we kind of have an announcement." I began, glancing at Jake to make sure he was on board before I fully committed to the conversation. His smile alone told me that he wanted Sam to know as well.
Sam brought over the plates and forks as Leah brought over serving spoons for the Chinese food she'd purchased. It all looked so good. I hoped I could keep it down. Sam looked at me with a single raised brow as if telling me to continue. I obliged.
"Well you probably heard about the E. coli being the cause of everyone getting sick." He nodded, his mouth already full of Chicken Fried Rice. "Well it turns out that's not why I was sick at all, and actually it's because I'm pregnant."
Sam's eyes went wide as he took a shocked breath in then immediately started coughing and stood up from his seat. When he managed to get the single grain of rice out from his lungs he wrapped his arms around me and Jake. We hadn't sat yet and he successfully pulled us both in.
"Congratulations! Man that's… wow. A baby! This is exciting. Wait… how do you guys feel about this. Everything ok?"
"We…" Jake started then looked down at me before continuing. "We're happy. We just have a lot to figure out in the next few months."
"Leah," I got her attention before continuing. "We went to see your mom. I wanted to know everything was ok and she figured out that I'm 8 weeks and 1 day into this. Which she ended up explaining is really like 6 weeks but that the 2 weeks before l… um… conception is added on. I didn't realise at the time but after getting into the car and looking at my calendar well… I'm due 3 days before your wedding."
"What? I…" Leah looked panicked for a moment before taking a deep breath "It's ok. We'll just have to take it one day at a time with the dress assuming you still want to be my MOH?"
"Of course I do."
"What's a MOH?" Jake and Sam both asked at the same time.
"Maid of Honor." Leah and I both said. We all laughed.
"Ok so the only thing would be if you went into labor and couldn't be there and… I wouldn't feel right getting you to make my cake with either a newborn or super pregnant. Do you mind if I get Ashley to make the cake?"
"Oh. I didn't even think about that. Yeah I completely understand. I probably would not be up for that anyways."
Jake and I sat down to eat dinner and I took it slow but managed to keep it all down. Sue was right. I pretty much sat at the table for 3 hours taking a bite every now and then to not overfill or over empty my stomach while Leah turned on a movie.