It was April tenth, four days before my due date and I was huge—absolutely huge. I was undoubtedly going to have a bad hunchback when this was all over.
Since I lost Gabriel, I'd tried to not be completely miserable. Rosalie and Emmett were back to stay, so that definitely shone some light on life. The fact that this was the warmest spring the Olympic Peninsula had ever seen also helped a bit.
Emmett pestered me every single day. He was still dying to know the details of my private life, which I hadn't shared with anyone voluntarily. Edward, though, got his fair share of information using his mind reading skills. I tried to be careful with my thoughts around him, but occasionally something would slip in. He'd already promised me he wouldn't tell Jasper, but I was sure Jazz could feel the disgust coming off of Edward whenever he read my thoughts. He hadn't confronted me about it yet, and I prayed that day wouldn't come soon.
Bella was still upset about the whole Switzerland war, and I decided that I really didn't want to know why.
Alice, Bella, and Rose had insisted on taking me shopping for baby clothes even though I told them that the trip would go much faster without me holding them back.
"But we already decorated her entire room without your help!" Alice had whined. "We want your input on something!"
Did I think it was a good idea to spend a day out when I was due so soon? No, but I trusted Alice. She obviously knew what she was doing.
"Jasmine, we've got to go!" Rosalie said, pulling me out the door of my bedroom and down the stairs. Nessie was in the living room watching Brady Bunch reruns with a cup of blood—probably AB positive, her favorite—in her hands.
"You sure you don't want to come with us?" I asked her.
She took another sip from her cup. "Nah," she said. "My week's been overactive anyway. I need some time to just relax."
"All right," I said. "Don't empty out the blood fridge, though, someone might need it."
I smiled and she laughed. Rosalie pulled at my arm and dragged me to the garage.
"See you later!" I called, hopeful that Ness would hear me. Rose threw me into the backseat of Alice's Porsche before sitting down next to me. I buckled my seatbelt as Alice backed out of the garage.
"What took you so long?" she asked me as she adjusted her mirrors. "We'd been waiting for you forever."
"Sorry," I said sarcastically, "but it's hard to move quickly when you can't see your feet."
Alice cracked a smile as she sped in the middle of two cars on the freeway, ignoring the honks behind her.
"Do you never worry about going to jail?" I muttered.
"When I'm with you, sort of," she answered. "I can't see my future very well when I'm with you. When that little wolf baby is out, I'll be glad, because then I can stop asking Edward what your plans are. I'm starting to think that boy is just trying to disgust me. I doubt your thoughts are that explicit."
My face flushed and I coughed falsely so I could have an excuse to cover my face with my hands.
"So where is it that we're going to, Alice?" Bella asked much to my relief.
"Olympia," she answered automatically. "They just opened a new Babies 'R Us there. Maybe stop in Port Angeles, too."
The only sound in the car for the rest of the drive was the music that the radio was playing and my occasional whistling. When we finally pulled up to a parking spot in Olympia, I decided my sweater wasn't necessary. The sun was out and no clouds threatened to ruin the light. I slung the sweater over my purse anyway, just in case.
Alice practically flew to the store and Rosalie was half a step behind her. Bella stayed behind with me.
"You're not all that into this are you?" I asked her.
She sighed. "Not exactly," she said. "I would've rather stayed home with Ness, to tell you the truth, but I like to be here for you. A person can only take so much Alice alone." She laughed.
"I know she means well," I said, "but sometimes she just goes overboard. She shouldn't spend all her money like this."
"Oh, as if Alice would ever need to worry about money," Bella said laughing. "If she ever needs more, she'll predict another trend in the stock market and boom; hundreds more!"
I chuckled. "True, true," I said. "Frankly, I'd really like to stay home this week. I'm feeling exhausted."
Bella's face was a mask of concern. "Well, are you okay? Do you need to sit down?" She tried to push me down onto a bench.
"No, no, Bells. I'm just whining," I assured her. "I'm fine."
"Alice is crazy taking you out when you're so near you're due date," she commented as we continued to walk. "If you feel something hurt and you're suddenly standing in a pool of water, please tell me."
I laughed. "I will, Bells. I'm sure Alice knows what she's doing, though. She's Alice."
"Well, we'll see," she muttered. We walked through the doors of the large, white building Alice and Rose had gone into.
"Jasmine, Jasmine, Jasmine!" My name was squealed into my face by both of them and I was pulled forward by Alice.
"You have to see what we found!" she said. She led me through racks and racks of baby clothing until we came to a shopping cart already piled high with dresses, shirts, and other small garments.
"Oh, you must be Jasmine," a woman with curly brown hair and light tan skin said, walking toward me.
"Oh, Jazzy, this is Jocelyn. She was helping us while you and Bella were outside," Rose said, motioning toward the tall woman. We shook hands and a series of completely unexpected kicks started within me.
"Oh!" I gasped, one hand automatically flying to my stomach.
"Is something wrong?" Jocelyn asked, clearly alarmed and turning to Alice. Alice smiled.
"Oh, no, I think it's just the little girl kicking," she said.
Jocelyn smiled. "May I?" she asked, motioning to my stomach.
"Of course," I said. To be honest, I didn't like the idea of a woman I barely knew touching my stomach, but I didn't want to be rude. She put one hand on my belly and her eyes widened at the immediate response.
"Well, she certainly is quite the little kicker, isn't she?" she mused. "How many months are you?"
"Actually, I'm due in about four days," I said.
"Four days!" she gasped. "Let's hope your water doesn't break while you're out of the house." Obvious translation: Make sure you don't get this carpet wet, because then I'll have to clean it. It was practically written all over her face.
"Anyway," Bella said, trying to change the subject, "Alice, you said you had some things to show Jasmine?"
Alice's face brightened. "Uh-huh!" she said, nodding rapidly.
Jocelyn brought over a chair for me since my legs were getting tired and Bella stood behind me. Both Alice and Rosalie took one outfit after another out of the cart to show me. I shook my head when I didn't like something and voiced my enthusiasm when something beautiful was shown to me. Alice and Rosalie had done a good job picking things out, so shaking my head hadn't been necessary more than once.
The hours passed quickly, and before I knew it, we were at the register paying for practically half the store.
"Where are we going to put all this?" I asked Alice when we were loading the bags into her car. Esme had even driven the Jeep over because all of it couldn't fit in just the trunk of the Porsche. She'd left before Bella and I had made it to the parking lot.
It was an unnaturally beautiful evening, so we went to the nearest Starbucks and sat outside on a table while I nibbled on a cookie.
"So, Alice," I started as an attempt to make conversation. "What are we going to do with everything we just bought?"
"Haven't you noticed the closet in that room?" Alice asked. "It's as big as yours! I'm sure we can store it all in there."
I took another bite of my cookie. "If you say so," I muttered, accidently spitting several chunks out. I flicked them off the table with my solid purple nails. We sat in silence for no more than three minutes before a rain drop landed on my hand. Another one followed, then another, then another, then another. Soon, it was pouring.
"Crap," I muttered, laughing. I slipped my sweater on and pulled the hood over my head. Bella, Alice, Rose, and I ran to the car—squealing and laughing like little girls the entire time. When we were all safe inside, Alice shook out her pixie hair.
"That's going to need a fix," she giggled, fluffing her hair out with one hand while looking in the rearview mirror.
We all continued joking, laughing, and singing loudly to the songs on the radio as Alice pulled out of the parking lot, and for a second, I felt like we were a bunch of high school girls again, on their way home from a weekend shopping trip with the trunk filled with bags of new clothes that we were going to show off at school on Monday. But one look at my bulging stomach, and I knew that wasn't the case—and I really wouldn't have had it any other way.
Nessie was waiting on the front porch—her knee length auburn hair soaked from the rain, along with the rest of her body—when we arrived. Her brown eyes were cast down on a puddle in front of her and she was tracing an unknown pattern in it with her finger. She looked up when we pulled into the driveway.
"Thank God," she said when she saw me and my usual hugeness. "When you guys didn't get home, I was worried Jasmine might've popped."
I laughed. "Not yet, Ness, not yet."
I put my hand over my head to shield me from the quickly falling rain.
"I'd hate to spend this beautiful weather inside," I said sarcastically, "but can we go into the house?"
Alice laughed. "I second that."
We all rushed inside and locked the door behind us. We were all soaked to the bone and we were leaving a dripping mess on the new carpet.
"Crap," Rose muttered. "Esme's gonna kill us."
"Eh, you're right," Bella said, wringing out her hair. "I suggest we go take showers, then come back and clean this up."
We all nodded in agreement and went our separate ways to our rooms to get new clothing. I decided to take the bathroom right across from my room and saw Bella heading downstairs and Rose, Alice, and Nessie taking the three other bathrooms on the second floor.
I turned the temperature up on the shower water as high as it could go and let it heat up as I undressed. The water burned my skin, but I ignored it as best I could. The water undid the knots in my back and relaxed my muscles. I tilted my head back and let the steaming water wash my face. The burning on my eyelids was almost unbearable, so I didn't remain like that for long.
Once I was dry and dressed again, I stepped outside the bathroom door and let all the steam evaporate. The television was on downstairs so I imagined I was the last one out. Alice looked up and smiled when she saw me.
"I see you're finally wearing that shirt I bought," she said, scrutinizing me. "You look nice."
"Thanks," I said as I descended down the stairs. I'd been wearing a blue and black boat-neck shirt that Alice had bought me a while back. I'd found it at the back of my closet that I was almost afraid to go into.
I sat on the couch, wedged between Alice and Renesmee. Nessie was holding a tub of popcorn.
"Want some?" she asked, tilting the bucket in my direction. I grabbed a handful. She chucked several popcorns into her mouth. Rosalie was crouched in front of the DVD player.
"What are we watching?" I asked as I started on my second handful of popcorn.
"Interview with the Vampire," Bella said with a smirk. "Then, when that's over, we thought watching Dracula would be a good idea."
"And we also have Thirty Days of Night and Kiss of the Vampire," Alice said as she laughed.
"Wasn't that last one supposed to be terrible?" I asked, unable to suppress my smile.
"All the more reason to watch it," Nessie said. I stopped her from shoving more popcorn into her face.
"Ness, easy on the popcorn," I said, giggling. "The movie hasn't even started and you're almost done with it."
"We have more," she said.
"But aren't you worried about that stuff going to your thighs?"
"Nope," she said, eating more. "Half vamp, remember? This stuff can't hurt me. Besides, I wouldn't be talking, Miss My-Stomach-Is-So-Freaking-Huge-I-Can't-Even-See-My-Feet."
I took a kernel from the bottom of the popcorn bucket and chucked it at her. She caught it in her mouth and after a few loud crunches, she swallowed it.
"Yum," she muttered sarcastically, immediately chugging down her water. "Ugh, I hate the way those things taste."
I laughed as my eyes wandered around the room. They fell on the coffee table that was loaded with different DVDs.
"Goodness, guys, what did you do; rent out all the vampire movies from Blockbuster or something?" I laughed.
"Yes," Alice, Bella, Rose, and Nessie said at once.
"You just love seeing how they make fun of your kind, don't you?" I asked.
"We find it extremely entertaining," Alice said.
"As entertaining as it may be," Rosalie said, standing and fast forwarding through the opening commercials of the movie, "but I can't wait until a vampire film comes out that actually does us justice. I mean, really, look at me." She flashed her teeth with a smile. "Does it look like I have fangs?"
I chuckled. "Nope," I said. "Looks like you're not afraid of garlic either," I joked.
"Of course I'm not," she said, tossing her golden hair over her shoulder and taking a seat as the movie started. "The smell of garlic is simply intolerable, and I'm sure I can find hundreds of humans that agree with me."
"Shut up, Rosalie," Bella said, just in time for the first line of the movie to start.
I actually paid attention to the things happening on the screen. Bella had turned off all the lights and drawn the blood red curtains together that had been hanging on the windows. The only light was coming from the television, as well as the only sound aside from mine and Nessie's breathing and the occasional gasp or two. I jumped at several scenes.
It had been so quiet in the room that Nessie's voice frightened me so badly that I jumped so high, I fell off the couch. I scrambled to get back up.
"Out of popcorn," Nessie muttered. "Of course."
I stood up and took the bowl from her hands.
"I'll get it," I offered. She smiled.
"Want us to pause the movie?" Alice asked, her hand inching toward the remote.
"Nah," I said, shaking my head. "You guys can keep watching it. Making popcorn can't take that long."
Alice moved her hand back to her lap.
"All right," she said. "If you're sure."
"I'm sure," I said. She shrugged and turned her attention back to the growing flames on the screen.
I made my way into the kitchen with the few kernels rattling around in the bowl with every step I took. I placed the bowl on the table as I searched the cupboards for popcorn. I searched and searched for a bag, but my efforts led to no avail.
"Ness," I called. "We have no more popcorn!"
"Aw, what?!" she screamed back. Seconds later, she was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, taking her first step over to me.
"You're kidding me," she muttered. "There has to be some—ah-ha!" She pointed to the very top of the cupboards. "There's some up there!"
"Don't expect me to try and reach that," I said. "Can you?"
"Um," she hesitated. "Here, I think I got it." She hoisted herself up onto the counter and stretched up on her knees to reach the box. She knocked it down with the tip of her finger and it fell on my head.
"Ouch," I muttered as I rubbed my head and picked up the box.
"Sorry," she said apologetically as she hopped down onto the floor. "My bad."
I handed her the box. "Here," I said.
Renesmee opened the cardboard box and pulled out a packet. She shoved it in the microwave and pushed several buttons before slamming the little door closed. She stood crouched down in front of it and watched it.
"Ness, you're gonna get skin cancer," I teased
"Ha, ha," she said, rolling her eyes.
I rolled my eyes as well and turned to the window, completely unprepared for the pain that shot up my spine. Before I knew it, I was standing in a puddle of water.
Shit…
"Ness." My voice came out as a strained whisper. Nessie turned around to find me crouched over, holding my stomach.
"Oh, my God," she gasped. "Alice!"
Alice came running into the room, followed by Bella and Rosalie.
"What's—oh crap." Her eyes widened and her jaw drop.
"Bella, get Jasmine to the car," Rosalie said urgently. "Alice, get Seth on the phone! Jasper and Carlisle are with him."
"On it," she said, pulling out her cell. I was doubled over, trying to breathe calmly.
"Breathe, Jasmine, breathe," Bella said as she scooped me up delicately in her arms. "In, out, in, out."
I tried to do as Bella said while keeping my hearing focused on Alice.
"Seth! Oh, God, she's going into labor! Please, get to the hospital as soon as you can!" Alice was screaming into the phone. Her pale little body was shaking as we went outside. Bella laid me in the front seat of the Porsche and closed the door. Alice climbed into the driver's seat and rolled down my window. I was still breathing quickly.
"We'll follow in the Jeep," Bella said. "Just go!"
Alice put the car in reverse and we zoomed out of the driveway.
"Yes, Seth, she's doing fine… I think," she was saying into the phone.
"Let me talk to him," I breathed. She passed me the phone.
I summed up all the energy I could. "I HATE YOU FOR THIS!" I yelled. I threw the phone onto the floor of the car and Alice stared at me with reproach for a few seconds before returning her attention to her driving.
"I can get another one," she muttered.