A/N: So ... hi. Sorry that it's been just over a month with no update. I really want to change that, but I want these chapters to be of really good quality, and that takes some time.

Anyway, I made this as long as I could, and I'm satisfied with how it turned out. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or any of the characters. However I do own the first three books and a copy of the movie on my iPod. And I would like to own Robert Pattinson, just as a side-note.

Chapter 4: Motion Sickness

The sound of my alarm clock was the worst sound in the world right now. I groaned as I shut it off, forcing myself to sit up. The first day of school after winter break was dreadful, even though it wasn't nearly as bad as returning after summer vacation.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, thankful that I had showered the night before, and began to get ready for the day. I couldn't bring myself to dress up for the day, so I just put on a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt. I pulled my waves into a simple ponytail and deemed myself ready for the day.

My stomach began to churn impatiently, and I didn't know if it was from nausea or hunger. I guessed the latter and went downstairs to fix myself breakfast. The only thing that seemed to agree with my stomach was toast. I made some as fast as time would allow, because these stomach pains were getting more and more uncomfortable.

I collapsed into a chair at the table as soon as my breakfast was ready and ate slowly. Maybe I caught the flu or something, but I couldn't say where it came from. The toast was making me feel a little better, so maybe I was just overreacting.

I finished my breakfast and went out to start my truck. It was cold, of course, being early January in Washington, so I let my engine warm up a bit before driving off to school. It was still kind of early – not even seven yet – but it's not like I had anything else to do before school.

Nervous butterflies invaded my insides and I started to feel sick again. Seeing him today was inevitable, as he was in at least two of my classes, but I wasn't ready for this yet. I was doing better; only breaking down every other night or so, but it was still much too soon for me to handle being around him.

The parking lot was nearly empty when I arrived, so I got a good spot near the building before going inside. I was starting to feel sick again, but I figured that it would pass once I started my day. The school was nearly empty, not a huge surprise. I went to my locker to retrieve my history and English books before I sat myself in homeroom.

The room was vacant aside from the teacher. My desk was in the back corner that was closer to the door, a seat I chose from the beginning of the year. I wanted to isolate myself, which I wanted even more so now, so I really loved that seat. There was still another twenty minutes before we would be dismissed for first period, so I took out a random book I had with me and started to read.

I couldn't say what the book was about for the life of me. Something about sparkling vampires that Alice said I should read, but I just wasn't sure. I really wasn't paying much attention to the novel. Another wave of nausea hit me as more people started filing in. I guess it was because I really wasn't ready for today, or something.

Voices were weaving in and out of my mind. There were too many to concentrate on reading anymore, so I put my book away and tried to drown out everyone. One of the popular girls near me – Jessica, Jaime, something like that – was rambling to one of her airhead friends about some New Year's Eve party. I didn't care until I heard Edward's name, then I couldn't stop myself from subtly eavesdropping.

"And I heard that Tanya kissed him at midnight!" she said. My heart dropped at her sentence, even though it was probably just gossip.

Why should I care, anyway? It's not like Edward and I were dating or anything. We just – never mind. But the point was that I did care, even if I didn't want to.

"Oh please, Jess," So her name was Jessica, "Edward and Tanya aren't on again yet. That's not supposed to happen until around Valentine's Day, you know that."

I didn't want to hear anymore about Edward wanting someone else so I forced myself to stop listening. Just because I couldn't have him doesn't mean that I'm okay with hearing about him being with some other girl. The last thing I heard before the bell rang and I sprinted out was Jessica trying to defend what she saw. I hoped that she was wrong, but the logical part of me told me she was right, and I felt even worse.

I was the first one in my history class, as I nearly ran here to escape from hearing about that damn New Year's Eve party. As much as I didn't care for learning about world history today, I pulled out my history book and started reading about early European civilizations. Maybe it would be a distraction from the pain in my abdomen.

A few minutes later, desks were filled as the bell rang. I tried my best to pay attention to the teacher but nothing she was saying was interesting to me today. All that was going through my mind was trying not to think about Edward and Tanya and trying not to lose my breakfast in the process.

But I never did promise myself to keep Tanya Denali out of my mind.

She was everything a guy could ever want in a girl: strawberry blond curly hair, big blue eyes, size 0 jeans. She was a cheerleader, the kind that was a perfect angel by day but a sex goddess by night. That was only a rumor, of course, but I wouldn't be too surprised. Edward did seem to know what he was doing that night –

I squeezed my eyes shut as my stomach started churning again. Thinking about that night surely wouldn't help this pass. The clock said that there was only five minutes left in this class, then I would leave and go to English. Second period.

And oh shit – that was a class that I had with Edward. That was something that my stomach surely wouldn't agree with, and already wasn't, but it was just one little fifty minute class. We even sat on opposite sides of the room – I could get through this.

The bell rang after probably the shortest five minutes of my life, and I paced myself as I walked to English. My body was protesting, but I wasn't about to let a mistake with a guy ruin my academic future. Maybe he was the reason I was feeling like this; I was never sick. I doubt it, though.

One step inside that classroom caused everything I had been working towards to come crashing down. I saw him sitting on top of his desk, talking to one of his friends, and I felt bile creeping up my throat. I muttered to the teacher about a pass to the nurse, and with one look at my face she quickly obliged. Out of the corner of my eye I swear I saw him give me a concerned glance, but that couldn't have been right.

I didn't make it to the nurse right away; I did manage a stall in the girl's bathroom, though. After rinsing my mouth of the disgusting taste I felt a little bit better, but it would be best for me if I took the rest of the day off. My limbs were kind of shaky, and my stomach still ached a little.

When I did reach the nurse's office I explained my predicament, and she let me go home after my face started to turn green again. My truck started a bit rough – I might have to get it checked soon – and I drove straight home. The moment of feeling better was long gone and I thought I would be sick again at any moment.

Both of my parents were working right now, Charlie was at the station and Renee was a kindergarten teacher, so I didn't have to explain anything to them yet. But unfortunately for me, I was sick again when I got home. Maybe it wasn't just because of this whole situation with Edward. Maybe I really did catch something, somehow.

Nonetheless, I changed into a pair of old sweats and drifted off to sleep, hoping my nausea would pass.

- - -

Something was shaking me. I groaned in annoyance; I wasn't ready to wake up yet. I didn't feel sick to my stomach anymore, but I wanted my sleep. I pulled my covers over my head and tried to let sleep take me again …

"Bella, sweetie, wake up!"

I sighed and sat up, attempting to rub the sleep out of my eyes. "I was trying to sleep Mom," I whined, meeting her eyes.

She looked worried, probably because I never missed school. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it was just a stomach bug," I replied. "I should be fine by tomorrow, I just need to rest.

Renee sighed and ran her fingers through my hair. "Just let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"I will," I agreed, settling back down under my covers.

I heard my mom get up and exit my room, leaving me to my thoughts. Honestly I felt a lot better than I did earlier, but I didn't want to risk getting worse. Maybe I had just eaten something last night that didn't agree with me. If I did have the stomach flu, I'd probably still feel awful.

Or maybe, I was feeling sick because of everything that happened over winter break. Stress can cause illnesses, I think, and that actually makes a lot more sense than anything else. But just thinking about that in general, especially that night, didn't really affect me right now.

Of course there was one more option; one that would completely change everything.

No – that wasn't it. It couldn't be. I shook the thought from my head, not even wanting to let it cross my mind again. That was the absolute last thing it would be. I could easily be dying before that was what this was.

There was no way I would be able to go back to sleep now, so I got out of bed. I hadn't checked my e-mail in a few days, and Emmett went back to college around that time, so maybe he had sent me something. We usually kept in pretty good contact, although we did slip occasionally.

I didn't share my e-mail address with very many people; I just used it for friends that moved away like Emmett and my old friend Angela and for job applications. So there were only a bunch of college e-mails in my inbox, even though I already knew I wanted to stay in Washington, and one from Emmett that I opened right away.

Bells,

I hope you're starting to feel better about what happened between you and my idiot cousin. My offer to kick is ass is still good, if you change your mind.

Seriously though, I really hope that you get over him, and soon. You don't deserve to be hung up over someone that doesn't return your feelings. Anyway, stay in touch, and by the way, Rosalie says hi.

Your big brother,

Emmett

I responded right away, being honest about how I wasn't over him yet but I was trying my absolute hardest. I left out the part about being sick and my constant crying, because I didn't want to worry him. Plus if I mentioned that he would be even more willing to beat up his cousin, and I didn't want that.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Mom insisted that I stay in bed, so she even brought my dinner up to me, a modest meal consisting of chicken noodle soup and saltine crackers. She didn't believe me when I said that I was fine now, but she was just worried.

I read more of the book that Alice lent me, but eventually I had to stop reading because it starting turning into a romance. My chest became tight and my eyes watered, so I gave up on it and decided to sleep, since I had nothing better to do and I should be well-rested for school tomorrow …

I was in a white room, on a white bed. I felt exhausted, like I had just gotten back from an extensive jog or something, and my lower area was in pain, like I was being unnaturally stretched out. I let out a moan of pain, and with that I felt a light pressure on my hand.

"You can do it Bella, you're so close now."

I knew that voice – Edward – but why was he here with me, and why was he holding my hand? I started to open my mouth to question him when a jolt of pain sent a scream out instead. What was hurting me so much?

That was when I looked down. My legs were spread apart, but that wasn't what shocked me. What shocked me was the mountain that took the place of my stomach. I gasped, the hand that wasn't holding Edward's traveling to stroke my abdomen, an action that somehow felt right.

There was a doctor with her face between my legs, telling me to push. Without thinking I obliged, and I was met with the worst pain of my life. She and Edward were providing me with praise and words of encouragement. My eyes filled with tears from the agony, but I had to keep going. I couldn't stop now, with the end being so close.

With a final burst of energy, most of the pain was gone, and it was dead silent for a moment. Then, a small cry echoed through the room, a sound that made my heart leap. I reached out for the source of the sound, and soon a warm bundle was placed in my arms.

My baby – our baby …

My eyes shot open, and the first thing I did was run straight to the bathroom. My stomach quickly felt empty, and I couldn't help but look down to see if I was as big as I was in that dream. It was flat, of course, but that dream just felt so real. Like it was actually going to happen …

No, that wouldn't happen. It was just a dream. I had considered the option of being pregnant as why I was sick, but that wasn't true. There were lots of reasons for me to still be sick. And that just wasn't a possibility. I would know if I was going to have a baby.

But nonetheless, I was not going to school today.

A/N: Haha, I hope you liked the Twilight reference and the dream. I added that dream at the last minute, by the way. I never had that in any of my planning, but I thought it would be interesting.

If I had any grammatical or spelling mistakes, let me know so I can fix them.

Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will write the next one hopefully within the next month. Please review, favorite, add to your alerts, whatever you like to do.