So, this is a long chapter, but, I'll admit that it may be a little boring. There is waayy more information in here then I wanted. Oh well, stuff happens. I hope you enjoy it though. I really do! Please enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen

Jacob walked downstairs wrapped in a towel, "Bella, I don't have any clothes."

"Oh," I said blushing, "Don't worry, I'll run over to your house and get you some clothes."

I quickly walked out of the house and to his. I should've gotten clothes for him last night. I walked into their house, searching for Jake's room.

I noticed now how simple their house was. It was small, really only big enough for two people. The main room included the kitchen and living room, a small table was pushed against the wall in the kitchen. I couldn't believe they were adding another body in this mix.

But, it wasn't for me to judge. Outerrian's weren't crazy about personal space like earthlings were. I found his clothing drawer, pulling out several variety items. Jake usually wore just a pair of loose pants and a loose shirt, something I knew the country dwelling Outerrians favored.

I walked back into my house and tossed Jake his clothes. He looked down and nodded.

"Thanks, Bella." He said before running upstairs.

A few moments later he walked back down, tying the string to his pants.

I smiled at him, "I'm going to take a quick shower, then we'll head into the city to see your parents."

Jake nodded, looking around for something to do.

"I have some books and stuff in the living room." I said before walking up the stairs.

I took as quick a shower as possible. I knew Jake was dying to go see his parents. We hadn't heard anything. I myself was very curious to see the condition of Emily and her baby. I was truly hoping they were both alright.

I dried off and changed into a blue tunic with white pants. My hair was still wet, so I ended up wrapping it in a blue scarf. I'd picked up on the Outerrian style, favoring my hair being out of my face. (Look is inspired by beautiful Hijabs, in the most respective way possible).

I found Jake sitting on the couch looking through one of my medical books. I looked over his shoulder and found that he was scanning through Earth's birthing section.

"Our birthing methods are very different from Outerrian's, huh?" I said.

He nodded, "It seems safer though," he said solemnly.

I frowned, "Yeah, but, less intimate."

"But, safer," he said, "How many babies died in these A.W. pods?"

I sighed, "Jake, it'll be okay."

He nodded and closed the book, "Are you ready?"

A small smile spread across my face, "Yeah, let's go."

We walked down the long path towards Islo; Jake wanted to take the long way. He was unusually quiet the entire way to the hospital. I tried to entice him into conversation, but, he wasn't interested.

When we arrived at the hospital, I stopped him before we entered. Placing my hands on his shoulders.

"Jake, I know you're afraid and upset, and if it's too much for you to handle, I'll take you back home immediately."

He nodded, "Thanks Bella," Then he rubbed his stomach, "I feel kind of sick."

"It's probably from your nerves. I was the same way when my dad was sick."

He grabbed my hand when we started walking into the building.

I looked at the list of patient's names in the nurse's station. I had brought my I.D. and was probably abusing the status but, it was for Jake.

"Bella, hey," someone said behind me.

Edward was standing at the nurse's station, looking over the shoulder of a typing medical receptionist.

"Hey, Edward," I smiled.

"I just saw Emily and Sam. Want me to take you to their room?" He asked.

"Oh, yes please, thank you."

"Hey Jake, how are you doing?" Edward asked, smiling down at him.

"I'm okay," Jake said.

We followed behind Edward as he lead us to Emily's room. He used his doctor's badge to unlock the door.

We walked into the room. Emily was sleeping in the bed, while Sam was sitting beside her, dozing in the chair.

"Hey, dad," Jake said.

Sam sat up, then smiled at Jake once he realized it was him. Jake walked over to him, Sam gathered Jake in his arms and hugged him tightly.

"How are you doing buddy?" Sam asked.

Jake nodded, "I'm okay, how's momma doing?"

"She's fine. She just needs to rest," Sam said before looking up at me, "How's Jake been?"

"He's been excellent. A wonderful houseguest." I smiled.

Edward put his hand on my shoulder, "Let's give Jake some time with his parents."

I nodded and followed Edward out of the door. He shut it behind him.

"How's everything been since the last time I saw you?" He asked.

I smiled, "Everything's been good. Jake's been worried about everything though. But, that's to be expected," I said, "So, how's everything doing here?" I asked.

He sighed, "Emily's going to be fine, but, when the baby came out breech, it took a great toll on her reproductive system. The chances of her having another baby are slim, as well as dangerous."

I frowned, "Aw, that's too bad," I sighed, "How's the baby?"

He inhaled, "Well, the baby is upstairs in intensive care. I haven't heard word on how she's doing."

"Jake is really afraid. I hope that the baby pulls through."

Edward nodded, "Me too. It's always a very sad day when such a young patient is lost."

I nodded, "It is. Worst part of the job," I sighed, "How long before Emily will be able to leave?"

"Eh, probably not for a few days. Will you be keeping Jake for that time?" He asked.

"Yeah, I told Sam I would," I leaned against the wall, "So, Alice and Jasper's ceremony is coming up soon."

He nodded and smiled, "It is…"

"You're going right?" I asked.

"I was invited. My whole family is going to be there, you'll be able to meet the crazy bunch." He chuckled.

"Do you have a really big family?" I asked.

"Well, when my brother married my sister-in-law they had three kids, they have another two on the way. And Jasper's family has always been really close to ours. My aunt and uncle live next to my mother and father. It's a lot of people."

"Wow, that is a lot of people," I said, "I don't think there will be that many people on Alice's side."

He nodded, "It doesn't matter how many people are on either side, Alice is becoming family."

"What a nice way to look at it," I said, "But, I was wondering, if maybe you'd like to go wi—,"

"Bella," Jake said, appearing beside me, "Can we go see my sister?"

"Oh, yeah," I said blushing, "Um, is that okay?" I asked Edward.

"Yeah, just let me go let the staff know." Edward said before walking off.

I frowned slightly; just when I finally worked up the nerve to ask. Jake put his hand in mine, squeezing it slightly.

I looked down at him, "Everything okay?"

He nodded, "Dad said that Leah looks very tiny, and not like a normal baby."

"Well, that's because Leah is a premature baby. It's perfectly normal for premature babies to be very small."

Jake took a shaky breath, "I know. I just hope it doesn't scare me."

"It might be a little frightening, but, it's not anything to be afraid of."

Edward reappeared, "Okay, you two follow me."

We trailed behind Edward, walking to a very quiet floor above the maternity ward. This was the intensive care unit, the lights were dimmed lower, the voices quieter. It slightly reminded me of the 'dying' floor back on earth.

"Okay, the baby is in here, no loud noises and try not to touch anything, okay?" Edward said, more to Jake then me.

"Okay," Jake nodded.

I leaned closer to him, "If it gets to be to much for you, just tug my arm and we'll leave, okay?" I said. He nodded again.

Edward unlocked the door with his badge and held it open for the two of us. The room was darker then the hallway, and a blue light was slowly pulsing throughout the room. I wondered what the light was for.

There was a single glass bassinet with several tubes running from it to a bigger machine. I could see the baby's heart and everything else being monitored through that machine. Jake paused at the door, looking slightly afraid.

"How are you doing, Jake?" I whispered.

He shrugged, "I-I don't know, the room is kind of scary…"

I stroked the top of his head, "It's okay, this room is going to help her get better."

He inhaled, "Okay. Can we walk over?"

His hand tightened around mine as I lead him to the bassinet. I could see the baby, she was extremely tiny and her skin was translucent, all of her veins visible under her thin skin.

I was used to seeing underdeveloped babies; in nursing school back on earth, it was required of our training to see the tiny babies progress in their pods. It was a little strange to see a premature baby not in a pod.

Jake's hand was tightly holding mine, his tail wrapping around his leg. He was staring at his baby sister with wide eyes and an unreadable expression. I placed my hand between his shoulder blades.

"Jake, are you doing okay?" I asked.

He took a shaky breath, "I-I want to leave."

"Okay, let's go." I said, lifting him up and carrying him out of the room. His legs wrapped around my midsection, his arms around my neck.

"Is he okay?" Edward asked.

"He's just a little overwhelmed is all." I said.

Edward frowned and put his hand on Jake's head. Stroking it a little.

"Why don't I take you two to lunch?" Edward said, "I'm on my break now."

"You don't have too, I know you're busy," I said.

"I want too," He smiled, "And, why don't I take Jake, you seem to be struggling."

I passed Jake over to him, my arms dropping to my side, "Thanks."

We walked to the cafeteria downstairs. Edward couldn't really leave the property until his shift was over. But luckily, there were several restaurants to choose from.

After we got our lunch we sat down near the fountain.

"How's work going?" I asked.

"It's going fine. Just the usual," he smiled, "But, I had a meeting today with the board of doctors, and there was an issue that I wanted to get your opinion on since you are from earth."

"Of course, what's the issue?"

"Well, what we didn't know about earthlings, is that your reproductive systems are blocked." He said.

I nodded, "Yes, that's normal for humans."

He sighed, "The whole point of the integration was expanding the population. But, how is that supposed to happen if earthlings can't exactly reproduce then how are we to—,"

"Okay, I see," I said, "On earth, when someone was ready to have a baby, they'd have the blocking mechanism surgically removed. The surgery is minor, and it can be removed easily."

He frowned, "But, the issue is a bit deeper than that. The medical board, as well as the Outerrian-Human integration agency want the humans to have the blocking mechanism removed."

I frowned, "Why are they so bothered by this? Why is it such a big deal?"

He sighed, "Because it's causing a concern. We're worried that the blockers might cause reproduction problems, and aren't you a little concerned that you've had that blocker on for a hundred years?"

"I guess when you put it like that it's a little frightening. But, by the time I was born, my planet had perfected the blocking system."

He nodded, "Why is there a blocking system? It seems… well, to be honest it's unnatural."

I could see the uncomfortableness on his face. It made sense, Outerrians were all about everything natural.

"The system was set in place a few years before my parents were even born," I said, "humans use a pod method for the incubation of children. The blockers are placed on our reproductive organs before we're in our seventh month of incubation. So, we're born with it. The reason they started implementing this was to prevent any 'natural,' births from occurring and the populating being overwhelmingly large. And, I guess it was also a way to keep the 'undesirable,' class low."

"Wait, wait, wait," he said, his brows scrunching, "So, not only do you have blockers, but, you used pod births? Earthlings haven't had any, 'natural,' births?"

I shook my head, "No, it was just our way of life."

"But, how can we be assured that you female earthlings can even handle the birthing process? A female experiences puberty to prepare them for pregnancy. It sounds like you've never gone through puberty." He said.

"Edward," I reached across the table and grabbed his hand, "I know it seems strange and your panicking, but, there's a simple solution for this. Have the blockers removed. That's fine, the bigger issue, is the humans agreeing to removing the blockers. Benefits from the blockers were the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and the spread of STD's. I know Outerra doesn't have the same problems that earth does, but, you and everyone else have to understand that earth had to do some things that Outerrian's might find… unnatural."

Edward took a deep breath, "No one knows how to preform such a surgery. I mean, we could learn, but, there are risks involved. And how do we prepare the humans for such a change? I've read up on human females, your cycles are very different from ours."

I nodded, "The surgery isn't so intensive. Recovery time is less than four hours. It's just a simple opening and retrieving operation. And, I don't know much about human cycles because I've never had one and it wasn't required for me to learn it. So, there'd be some reeducation that'll need to be done."

He frowned, "See, that concerns me. You don't know anything about your reproductive system," he said, "I have so many questions."

I couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, look, I'll answer as many questions as I can. Come over tonight and we'll look through my earth medical books. Maybe you can teach me something about my reproductive system."

He chuckled, "Alright, after work I'll come over. I have another meeting in a week, which I want you to come too but, before I go I want to explore all the possibilities, so I can hopefully bring an idea to the table."

I nodded, "Got it, I'll be there." I smiled.

He smiled back, "Thanks."

I put my hand on Jake's back, "Are you ready to go?"

He nodded and took our plates back to the kitchen.

"I'll see you later," Edward said.

"See you," I smiled and waved as we left.

How did you all enjoy chapter seventeen? Fun? Boring? TMI? Let me know in a review.