Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer. I do not own Twilight.
Chapter Three
Paul's POV
The sunlight through the bedroom window woke me earlier than normal the morning after the pack get-together. Rolling over, my arms reached for Bella to find the bed empty. I sat up in bed, franticly scenting the air for her.
"Swan?" I called, eyes darting for her as I threw off the thin cover.
"Be right there!" Bella called back from the kitchen.
Instantly, my wolf relaxed and I fell back into bed.
Jesus, but he'd been jacked up ever since she told me she was pregnant.
Flashback
I was chopping carrots and potatoes for the stew Swan was making for dinner, watching as she stirred the pot on the stove carefully. Her color wasn't looking too good and she kept swallowing, her head turned away from the pot.
"What's wrong with you, Swan?" I asked, trying to hide my worry.
"I just… don't feel very good," Bella mumbled, covering her mouth and nose with her hand.
"Well, hell, sit down or something," I instructed, moving to take over the pot.
Instead of moving to sit at the table, she ended up running down the hallway and into the bathroom. Seconds later I heard her emptying her stomach into the toilet, the heaving noises making me tremble.
"Swan!" I shouted, abandoning the pot.
I rounded the doorway to the bathroom to see her hunched over the toilet, dry heaves continuing to shake her body. I fell down on my knees beside her, pulling her hair back as she sobbed.
"Just breathe, Swan," I encouraged, rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry," Bella rasped, leaning against me.
"Don't be stupid. It's not your fault you're sick," I snorted, nosing her hair.
"Can you help me up?" Bella requested shakily.
I stood, bringing her to her feet with me. My arm stayed around her as I flushed the toilet and took her to the sink to brush her teeth. Her hands shook as she cleaned her mouth of the vomit taste and my wolf began to twitch nervously.
Something was wrong with our mate.
"You should go rest. Right? I mean, are you tired?" I asked, unsure of what to do.
"Yeah. It's probably just a twenty-four hour thing," Bella sighed as I led her down the hall to our bedroom.
"It's not that flu thing you had earlier?" I asked.
"No. I can't still have that. It's been over a month since I jumped," Bella denied.
I wasn't so sure, but didn't want to upset her by voicing my concerns. Instead, I helped her into bed before going to call Charlie.
"I don't like the sound of that. Has she been throwing up much before today?" Charlie asked after I explained the situation.
"No, not really. Today was the first time I've noticed in a while. She was making stew and suddenly just looked really sick. When I told her to sit down, she ran to the bathroom," I told him, running my fingers through my hair.
"It could just be a twenty-four hour bug, like she said, but if it keeps up I'd take her to see the doctor. It could be something else," Charlie suggested, ramping the wolf up even more.
"God, what do I do if she's really sick?" I groaned, agony ripping through me at the thought.
"Then you deal with it. Listen to me, son. Bella's always been a pretty healthy kid, apart from the clumsiness. She was the only kid in her class to avoid strep in elementary school. Trust me, she'll be fine," Charlie assured me.
Three days later, she still wasn't feeling well. Nothing I fixed for her would stay down, not even crackers and ginger ale. I was frantic with worry, sure she was dying.
"Let me take you to the doctors," I pleaded as she hunched over the trash can, throwing up what little she'd managed to get down.
"No," she mumbled as soon as she could.
"Bella, you're sick. We need to take you to the doctor," I insisted, sitting by her side.
Sighing tiredly, she looked at me. The dark circles under her eyes from a few months ago were back, attesting to her lack of sleep. Her skin was dry, her lips chapped from dehydration.
"Okay. Call the doctor," Bella agreed finally.
"Thank you," I breathed, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.
She gave me a tired smile, closing her eyes in an attempt to catch up on sleep. I left her, hoping she would be able to sleep for a few hours at least, but knowing she'd be lucky to catch an hour.
Minutes later, she had an appointment the following day with the local doctor's office.
"Here you go," Bella smiled, jolting me from my thoughts.
"What's this?" I asked as she set down a tray over my lap.
"Breakfast in bed," Bella answered, crawling in beside me.
"I see. Any particular reason for it?" I asked, grabbing a piece of toast.
"Just because I love you," Bella grinned, kissing my cheek.
"I love you, too," I murmured, turning to meet her lips.
Flashback
I paced the waiting room, frustrated that I couldn't be back there with my Swan. The nurses had requested I stay away so they could do a full examination. Apparently, my presence would hinder them.
Fuck that.
I wanted to be with my mate, not standing in a room full of sniffling children and hacking old men. But, of course, Bella had looked at me with those big brown eyes of hers and I had caved to staying in the smelly waiting room.
"Damn it, what's taking so long?" I grumbled under my breath.
She'd been in there for almost an hour now and I was starting to lose my shit. One snotty nosed kid kept screaming about candy or something and I was quickly developing a headache. My wolf was growling, wanting our mate with us, but I fought him down, knowing I couldn't lose it in a room full of humans.
"Mr. Lahote?"
I turned to the voice immediately, practically bowling the woman over as I stormed towards her.
"Yes?" I bit out.
"Uh… Dr. Thomas r-requests your presence in the exam room," the nurse stuttered out.
I nodded sharply, moving past her and following Bella's scent towards the back of the building. The nurse followed behind, offering directions though they weren't needed. I could find my Swan anywhere, scent or no scent.
I tensed as soon as I walked into the exam room, gritting my teeth against a growl when I saw Bella crying on that raised plastic bed.
"P-Paul," Bella sobbed, holding her arms out for me.
With a muffled growl, I launched myself across the room towards her, gathering her into my arms easily. I sat in a nearby chair, my mate cradled in my arms. My fingers tangled in her hair, holding her head to my shoulder as the other wrapped possessively around her waist. She clutched me tightly, her tiny hands gripping at my t-shirt.
"Ah, you must be Paul," a voice said from the doorway.
I almost roared at the woman for intruding on my mate and me, but kept the sound inside as Bella rubbed my chest. I couldn't completely contain my growl, though, as the doctor walked into the room. I read the name on her jacket, recognizing it as the name the nurse had given me in the waiting room.
"I assume Bella hasn't told you the news, yet?" Dr. Thomas asked, grinning widely.
"No," I gritted, tightening my hold on the girl in question.
"Bella? Would you like for me to tell him?" Dr. Thomas offered gently when it became obvious Bella wasn't going to speak.
She nodded against my chest, her tears quickly soaking my shirt.
Dr. Thomas reached behind her to pull out a bunch of papers before handing them to me. I took them with one hand, frowning down at the top page which had "Test Results" written across the top and "Positive" written towards the bottom, underneath a chart.
"Congratulations. It looks like you're going to be a father."
Holy shit!
Charlie's gonna kill me.
"What are you thinking about?" Bella asked, laying her head on my shoulder.
"The day we found out," I answered, moving my hand down to cradle her barely rounded stomach.
She smiled up at me, her entire face lighting up as she snuggled closer.
"You were so cute, worried about Charlie's reaction," Bella giggled.
"You scared the shit out of me with all that crying," I accused.
"I know. I'm sorry," Bella pouted.
"Eh, I forgave you a long time ago," I told her, nipping at her jaw.
"You're gonna be a great daddy," Bella sighed.
God, I hoped so.
Alright, so some people mentioned wanting to see Paul's reaction to finding out about the baby. I hope you guys liked it!
Now, I won't be able to update again for a few days. I'm going to visit family out of state and, sadly, they don't have wireless. And, even sadder, my USB drive got soda spilled on it last year, but kept on chugging along until a few days ago when a water bottle drowned my entire purse. A tragic loss, truly. So, no way to transfer files from my laptop to their desktop to update. But, I will try to write while I'm there so you guys can get chapters once I return!
See you guys next week!