Chapter 9:

Bella's POV:

When I woke up. I was in my bed and the dull light coming through my windows slanted in from a strange angle. Almost like it was afternoon. I yawned and stretched, my fingers searching for him and coming up empty. "Jacob?" I mumbled. My seeking fingers encountered something hot and smooth. His chest.

"Are you really awake this time?" He murmured.

"Mmm," I sighed in assent. "Have there been a lot of false alarms?"

"You've been very restless - talking all day."

"All day?" I blinked, and looked at the windows again.

"You had a long night." He said, reassuringly. "You'd earned a day in bed." I sat up and my head spun, and Jacob pulled me back down." Relax." He whispered. I looked at him, and ran my hand through his hair. "Hungry?" He guessed. "I'll get it for you. What does my son want?" I smiled.

"Do we have fruit?" I giggled. He smiled.

"Yeah, just give me a sec." He said, getting up and leaving the room quietly. I sat up, and looked outside again. A minute later he returned with a bowl of fruit. He climbed in the bed with me again, and handed me the bowl of fruits, and I immediately began eating. They were so fresh, and they tasted amazing.

"Thanks Jake." I said, after I finished. "It was really good."

"You welcome... Thirsty?"

"I'll get it." I groaned, stretching again. "I need to get up and move around. He held my hand on the way to the kitchen. While I was pouring myself a glass of water, I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflective chrome. "Ugh, I'm a mess."

"It was a long night." He said, again. "You should have stayed here and slept."

"And miss everything. You know you need to start accepting the fact that I'm part of the family now." He smiled.

"We are a family." He said, while I drank the water. I put the drink down.

"I know that Jake." I chuckled, rolling my eyes. "I mean I'm part of the pack familly too."

"I can get used to that idea." Then Alice appeared in the kitchen doorway with a sour expression.

"You're going to miss all the fun." She grumbled.

"Hey Pixie." He greeted her. He put one finger under my chin and tilted my face up to kiss me goodbye. "I'll be back later tonight." He promised me." I'll go work this out with the others, rearange things."

"Ok... I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered, back, kissing me one last time before he left. Then he ran out the door, past Alice. She groaned.

"Go clean yourself up." She ordered me. "I invited Charlie over to have dinner with you and I just like before... he'll be home in fifteen minutes, and if you look this ragged he's not going to want to let you out again." I was entirely presentable when Charlie got home - fully dressed, hair decent, and in the kitchen putting his dinner on the table, Alice sat in Charlie's usual place, and for some weird reason, this seemed to make Charlie's day.

"Howdy Alice! How are you hon?"

"I'm fine Charlie, thanks."

"Hey Bells..." He said, hugging me.

"Hey dad." I said, hugging him back.

"Where's Jacob? Patrol?"

"Yes." I said.

"And what's your family up to?" He said, turning back to Alice. Alice sighed, and her face turned tragic. It was probably an act, but it was too perfect for me to tell.

"Their planning their weekend."

"Hiking again?" Alice nodded, her face suddenly forlorn.

"Yes. They're all going except for me. We always go backpacking at the end of the school year, sort of a celebration, but this year I decided I'd rather shop than hike, and not one of them will stay behind with me. I'm abandoned." Her face puckered, the expression so devastated that Charlie leaned toward her automatically, one hand reaching out, looking for some way to help. I glared at her suspiciously. What was she doing?

"Alice honey. Why don't you stay here with Bella and Jacob." Charlie offered. "I hate to think of you all alone in that big house." She sighed. Something squashed my foot under the table.

"Ow!" I protested. Charlie turned to me.

"What's wrong?" He said, concerned. Alice shot me a frustrated look. I could tell she thought that I was very slow tonight.

"Stubbed my toe." I muttered.

"Oh." He looked back at Alice. "So, how 'bout it?" She stepped on my foot again, not quite so hard this time.

"Er dad, you know we don't really have the best accommodations here. I bet Alice doesn't want to sleep on your bed or the floor..." Charlie pursed his lips. Alice pulled out the devastated expression again.

"Oh, would you Bella?" Alice smiled at me radiantly. "You don't mind shopping with me right? We could go baby shopping!" She squealed. "Oh, and Jacob could stay with us too."

"Sure." I agreed.

"When are they leaving?" Charlie asked. Alice made another face.

"Tomorrow."

"When do you want me?" I asked.

"After dinner I guess." She said, and then put one finger to her chin thoughtfully. "You don't have anything going on Saturday, do you? I want to get out of town to shop, and it will be an all-day thing."

"You'll like that Bella." Charlie was cheerful with relief. "Go get your fill of the city, while you can still see your feet." He said, laughing.

"Yeah dad. It'll be great." I said, sarcastically. With one easy conversation, Alice had cleared my schedule for the battle. After Charlie left, Alice explained everything. I looked at her. "So... what's the real plan?" She chuckled.

"Well... for starters, I'm not the one who's going to be staying with you at the house for the night... Jacob is. Were all going hunting." I looked at her confused. "Powering up for the battle?!" She laughed. After she left, Jacob returned not much later.

"Hey beautiful." He said, picking me up in a twirl, and spinning me around.

"Hey." I giggled, and hugged him. Then he looked at me and picked me up kissing me, and took us upstairs. I was a little surprised, cause it was unexpected. And put us on the bed, gently pushing me to the mattress, with his weight. All the while our passionate kisses, had turned into urgent ones. I ran my fingertips over his broad shoulders, and his back, and he moaned, taking off my shirt. And what surprised me next, he just... stopped. He marvelled, at my baby bump and rolled onto his back pulling me on top of him. And he just kissed gently, and caressed my bump. I smiled adoringly. And laid my head on his.

"I love you Bella." He said, looking at me seriously. In that moment I saw love in eyes, but I could tell there was something wrong. He was worried about something.

"I love you too Jake." I said, running my hand across his cheek. "What's wrong?" He froze.

"Well... I guess you can't hide things from your imprint can you?" He chuckled.

"I guess." I mumbled.

"Bella... you know, I love you more than anything in the world, right?"

"Yes..."

"Bells... I don't know how to say it?" He fumbled. And I kissed him, before he could continue. It was a soft and warm kiss, one that would calm him down.

"Shhh... just tell me Jake... it's fine." I whispered. He looked at me, with fright his face, he sighed.

"Bella... the reason I'm scared is because... I'm scared that we'll lose him. I'm scared that if... we make love-" He choked. "That he'll get hurt. I know it hasn't happened yet. But it could. And I... I can't lose you two... It would kill me." He said. For a few minutes neither of us said anything. I was too shocked. I finally looked at him, hurt. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. And I hadn't even realized I had started to cry, before Jake pulled me back underneath him, and kissed me frantically. "No, no, no, no... Bella. Damn it." He growled, lightly. "This isn't coming out right. I'm sorry." He pressed his forehead to mine, and wiped the tears from my face with his thumb. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." He mumbled. He closed his eyes.

"Jake..." I somehow managed to get out. He opened his eyes. "Why?"

"I don't know I've just been really stressed lately and a lot of bad thoughts have come to my mind about losing him, and... it's really scaring me Bella. But I really don't want to upset you either." He sighed.

"Jake... nothings going to happen to him. If we make love Jake... were not going to lose him. Everything's going to be ok." He looked... comforted, but I could tell he was still worried. I looked at him, and kissed him, but he gently pushed me away. I looked away, and got up, and put my shirt back on.

"Bella..." He started.

"No Jake, its fine. I'm just gonna sleep on the couch tonight. I need space." I said, I walked to my dresser, and grabbed shorts and a tank top, then walked downstairs. He didn't follow, or argue. I got changed in the bathroom downstairs, and washed my face. I grabbed the blanket beside the couch and brought up a small couch pillow, and curled up in a little ball. I cried, quietly. Jacob didn't want to make love with me again. It wasn't just sex, like all the other normal teenagers had, and I wasn't sex crazy like everyone else. It felt different, more special, we were Imprints. I never felt more connected to Jacob, when we were together. Of course, it felt amazing. But he was taking away, a part of being... apart of him. It probably was stupid to cry over something like this, but I couldn't help it. I didn't have much control over my emotions lately, and something special was being taken away from me. I didn't know what to do, except for try and cry myself to sleep.