Though we all knew how unecessary it was, Alice just couldn't keep her excitement to herself and kept loudly calling everyone to the living room. She didn't stop until she was sure the family had moved every inch of themselves into the spacious room. Edward had gingerly placed me on the couch with the trash can on the floor near my head. I looked up at my future family then for signs of understanding, but the only one who fed me back any kind of reaction was Rosalie. Everyone else was just gaping. I wish I hadn't looked up.
A twinge of guilt filled me as I stared at Rosalie's pained expression, and I had to get sick in front of everyone. I looked up again, this time to find faces filled with pity staring back at me. All except one, that is. I noticed a different kind of expression on Carlisle's face. Grief, yes, but it had been accompanied by panic as well. Both him and Edward seemed to understand eachother's confusion at that point: Edward gave Carlisle a nod and his father turned away. I was sure that Carlisle had already realized what was happening, leaving the others clueless for another moment. He turned away in shock to ponder this realization so as not to ruin the moment for everyone else.
Edward had taken a place near my head on the floor, resting his lips against my hand, silently signaling to me that it was time to talk. I felt the panic rising inside of me again, and he had obviously felt it, too. I felt my head resting in the soft net of his hand now, and he turned my eyes toward his. One look into his deep amber gaze told me that it was going to be alright. Willingly, I believed him, and I was comforted by this.
"Edward," Esme interjected as we continued to stare at eachother. He turned at the sound of his name and I mimicked him. Edward and Bella were practically the same name now. "We would all like to know what is going on please, dear. Bella looks dreadful."
"Bella is quite sick, Esme, but despite that, the situation we have here is quite the opposite of dreadful."
I began to calm down at the sound of his voice. I couldn't believe the amount of confidence that existed in his tone. You could compare the situation to talking about a sports game, I guess-he was that relaxed. The fact that he wasn't going to be ashamed of this or try to hide anything gave me some reassurance, and I was ready to come out with the truth. How had I been afraid? These were the people I loved. Surely, there was nothing to worry about. He had already assured me of that.
"Esme, everyone," Edward continued. I could here pride building in his voice as he anticipated his next sentence. "Bella here is-"
"Pregnant," I finished confidently. "Edward and I are going to have a baby."
There. I said it. It was over. We heard a few gasps shorty after, and a grunt, which I knew had come from Carlisle as he discovered that his assumptions were right. Edward leaned backwards to kiss me. A short kiss, but I knew what he was trying to say. I had been brave, for once. I could have just as easily made him spill it for me, or made up a lie to try and hide this all together. Glad that was over.
"I'm proud of you, love," he quietly whispered to me. I felt his hand carressing my face then, and I put my own around his, following it around the curves of my face. We had forgotten about the family again, too absorbed in ourselves, but we came back to reality as soon as Alice remembered to let out a shriek. It seemed like she had been putting forth a tremendous effort to hold it back before we told everyone, so the loud noise startled everyone in the room back to reality. Was that a window cracking somewhere?...
"Oh, Bella, Edward! I'm so happy for you," exclaimed a sweet voice. Esme glided toward us with open arms. The news had overwhelmed her, and she seemed to forget her strength against my weak human figure as she crushed us together with a hug. It wasn't until I began to stuggle with breathing that she let go, quickly apologizing with a much softer kiss on my forehead.
Smiles had spread over the faces of the others, too. Jasper and Emmett seemed to be excited about being uncles already, slapping a high-five that would have easily shattered a normal person's hand. Of course, Alice was excited still, running over to us for another kiss and a million choruses of "congratulations." The only person who had not caught up with the all-smiles trend was Rosalie, who was standing perfectly still in her place and wearing an extremely sour expression. I wasn't sure about Carlisle, who had his back turned to us still with near-silent mumbling rapidly leaving his lips. Edward and I seemed to be the only ones who had noticed amidst all the excitement, and I saw Edward getting up, to see Carlisle, I was sure.
"This can't be happening!" Carlisle had beat him to the punch. Edward sat back down with a thud and a defeated expression. The room had grown utterly silent at his words, and everyone turned a confused facade toward Carlisle, eagerly waiting for an explanation.
"Not possible!" he continued. "This has never happened in all of history, yet here we stand in the midst of a young woman carrying the child of a vampire! A human! A human impregnated by a vampire! Nonsense!" A long pause lingered before Calisle finished. "Edward, my office. Now"
Edward stood and followed the whisp of Carlisle that had quickly ascended the stairs. My panic returned, and once again, it proved to be too much for my system. After I lifted my head from the trash can, I felt the stares of five vampires piercing me. I sat up slowly, guided by two short arms that had found their way around the couch to help me. I reached behind me only to find Alice's face there, wearing a depressing frown like the others were. She released her grip around me and hopped over the couch, assuming the position of baby-guard as she rested her head against my stomach. I stroked her hair, trying to erase the sadness that had so suddenly overwhelmed her along with the rest of us. We all knew what it meant when Carlisle became tense. Extremely unusual. Nothing good followed, usually...
"Don't worry, Bella. I'm sure you would be a lot sicker if anything was wrong. You're going to have a beautiful, healthy baby," Alice assured me quietly. Emse nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, Alice," I whispered as a tear trickeled down my cheek. Now that I knew for sure that I was pregnant, my motherly instincts began to kick in, and the thought of anything happening to my baby threw me into a pit of grief.
It seemed like hours before Edward and Carlisle came back downstairs. I must have fallen asleep, because I felt a shake on my arm as Alice and Esme were gently trying to bring me back to conscienceness. Had it really been so long that I had to sleep? I craned my neck to see out the windows over the couch. Darkness was settling over the woods around the Cullen house. It had been that long. Panic again. It was almost instinctive to lean over the trash can now.
I looked up to find Edward's face inches from mine, smiling my favorite crooked smile. Smiling? Wasn't this supposed to be bad? Apparently not anymore. I was relieved instantly, and I could feel everyone else's relief, too, without even looking.
Edward assumed his place next to me on the couch as Alice got up for him. He mouthed something to me, but I couldn't decifer it. I assumed it had been something good, with all of the smiling he'd been doing. He looked at me again and nodded toward Carlisle, who was standing at the foot of the stairs, waiting for our attention. I quickly gave it to him, meanwhile moving my hands back to my stomach automatically, trying to protect the baby from the news we were about to get.
"Bella," Carlisle began, addressing me personally even though this seemed to be a family issue now, "from what I have gathered from Edward about his and your...experience, I have an incredibly good feeling about the situation. Your baby is going to be perfect, Bella."
I couldn't help but smile at this. Instant relief! I would have jumped in the air of course, but Edward held me down as I shifted forward, obviously feeling my joy as well, but cautious. I probably couldn't have gotten up anyway. Well, this was good news of course, but I was still curious...
"How, Carlisle?" I questioned. "How did this happen? I'm so happy, but are you still sure that this will be alright? You were so sure that Edward couldn't-, that we couldn't-"
Everyone else became rather uncomfortable at this point and left the room quietly, leaving Carlisle, Edward and I to discuss the matter alone. Good, so we didn't have to talk about Edward getting me pregnant in front of everyone after all. Relief again.
"I was, Bella. Was. After I talked with Edward, though, it seems that this was quite a human experience for both of you. Being human Bella, you are naturally able to concieve a child, but of course, Edward should not have been able to help. I'm speculating that because he shared himself with a human, that parts of his human self temporarily resurfaced, which could have very well have caused the pregnancy.
What? I was lost. Edward sensed this and took over for Carlisle, taking extra care to dumb things down for me. He turned and faced me with a serious but relaxed stare.
"What he's trying to say, love, is that while we, um...you know, I was so overwhelmed by the new human emotions that some of my human functions began to work again, and feelings began to come back, allowing you to become pregnant with our perfectly human child."
"Exactly," Carlisle stated. "Bella, you're going to have a completely normal pregnancy. If you don't mind, though, I'd like to have you and Edward come upstairs with me so we can sort over a few things. Do you feel well enough, Bella?"
I didn't answer him. A baby, I kept thinking. A perfectly wonderful, beautiful human baby was growing inside of me this instant. I was speechless. Words could not describe the sense of joy that had overcome me just then. Edward seemed to understand, and again, he lifted me into his arms, making sure to kiss my stomach as he did so. we followed Carlisle up the stairs, and I was surprised at the human-like pace Edward used to climb after him. He carried his perfectly human wife and his unborn human child with such tenderness, it was almost like there was already an extra somebody there.