Paul

"Here you go, fiancé." Rosalie smiled at me as she slid a plate of food across the table to me. She made it a point to remind me every morning that she wasn't my wife yet, but she knew that would be changing very soon.

It had been about six months since the fight with Victoria and life was really looking up for the pack. Most of my brothers had taken some time off from pack life and working to focus on their families and their mates, but I felt busier than I was before. Emmett and Leah were left without a home after the fire, so we had worked to rebuild one for them. Rosalie and I had decided to renovate my parent's house for the two of us, and between both projects I barely had time to breathe. This morning I was meeting with the contractor to finalize the plans for the addition we were putting on our house. That contractor was Sam.

I was quickly eating my breakfast when I heard my cell phone ringing in the bedroom.

"Can you answer that, babe?" I called out to Rosalie.

"Hello?" I heard her pick up and she started walking toward the table I was eating at. She stretched her arm out, handing me the phone. "It's Jake." She told me.

Jacob and Bella had grown close to me and Rosalie once the girls had come to understand each other. Rosalie had become very protective of Bella, even more so than I was. She was really excited for her baby to arrive.

I took the phone and kissed her hand, thanking her for bringing it to me.

"What's up, Jake?" I answered.

He was breathing heavy and didn't respond immediately. "Can you take Bells to the doctor today?" He said between breaths. "My dad is... my dad is sick, something is wrong. I can't be there with Bella today and she can't go alone. He's finally agreed to see Carlisle."

Billy hadn't been taking care of himself well lately and Jake was constantly panicking. After Rosalie returned, Quil let it slip that his grandfather had told Billy she was still alive the night of the fire. The entire pack had confronted the two of them, and Billy had been complaining of feeling sick ever since. He refused to see the doctor, saying it was punishment from the spirits for keeping me from my imprint. We all knew how ridiculous he was, but he was too stubborn to listen to us.

"Of course I can. I was supposed to meet with Sam about the remodel but I'm sure my alpha can work something out with him."

Jake chuckled. He had stepped up so Sam could take some time off from the pack. "I'm sure that can be arranged. I'll tell Bells to be expecting you. The appointment is at 11. You'll need to pick her up at Charlie's."

"Sure thing, boss." I replied and ended the call.

I walked in to the kitchen where Rosalie was washing the dishes. It was just after nine, so I had some time to kill before I needed to go get B. I was really happy with where Rosalie and I were after everything. We'd had some difficult conversations lately, but everything seemed to be coming together. She was cleaning quickly and her hair was tied back in a high ponytail. I admired her as I watched her hair swoosh back and forth while she worked.

"You know, I can meet with Sam today if you want me to." She said without looking up from the dish she was scrubbing. "Or I can take Bella, if you trust me with your other imprint."

I chuckled at her. The imprint used to be such a sore subject for us, but now it was something we joked about regularly.

"I'd trust you with my life, babe, you know that." I kissed her forehead lightly. "I do think you'd have more fun with Sam, though." The baby was a sensitive subject for Rosalie. She was happy for Bella, but sad that we would never have our own.

She turned and wrapped her arms around me, even though her hands were still wet from the dish water. "You know me so well. I'll invite Esme too since she's designing the inside."

I nodded and kissed the top of her head. "Let's go by Leah and Emmett's place first since we both have to go that way anyway."

"Good idea, I have some wedding plans to go over with Leah anyway. Let me just change clothes." She ran at an inhuman speed of the bedroom and emerged a few seconds later fully dressed.

We walked out to the car hand in hand. I had bought a truck, I needed something big enough for the pack to fit in comfortably. We still drove her car sometimes, but I decided on the truck today since I was picking B up for her appointment.

Rosalie hadn't asked for any of the money from her estate back. Carlisle had divided Edward and Alice's assets between the five remaining Cullen's, and my portion of Rosalie's money alone was enough to support us for a very long time.

When we turned down the Cullen's drive, we noticed that most of the pack was here. Sam, Jared, and Embry were all parked out front. We didn't have a pack meeting scheduled and it was odd for all of them to be here at once. I parked and we went inside to see what was going on. All of the girls were in the kitchen, and the guys were sitting around at the dining room table. The entire pack was here, except for Bella and Jake. Rosalie went to the kitchen to see Esme and I joined the guys at the table.

"Did I miss the memo about a pack meeting?" I asked them.

Jared laughed at me. "Yeah, a meeting that our alpha wasn't invited to either."

"No, Emily and Kim drug us over here. Seth, Embry, and Quil were already here when we got here." Sam told me.

Embry shoved him lightly. "Not nice to talk about your imprint like that. Carlisle offered to let me and Seth shadow him today."

Seth and Embry had their sights set on going to medical school. Carlisle would hopefully always be around, but it couldn't hurt to have a few more doctors in the pack or on the reservation. The council had allowed both of them to graduate early by testing out of the classes they had left to finish. They were going to start college in the fall in the pre-medical program and Carlisle had vowed to pay their tuition.

Carlisle had been monumental in helping the pack secure jobs, or get in to college if that's what they chose. Jared had decided to stay on with the police department in Forks and was going to school online to study criminal justice. Esme had purchased a house for him and Kim in Forks so they would be closer to his job. Sam had started a contracting business, and Quil was taking some time off to figure out what he wanted.

The girls were all doing well too. Leah was going to school in the fall for nursing and Rachel decided she wanted to become a lawyer. Emily and Bella decided to open a bakery on the reservation together. They both loved to cook, and Esme was going to work there with them a few days a week.

"I wish the girls would tell us why we're here." Jared groaned. "My shift starts in an hour."

"Do you guys need any extra help?" Quil asked him.

Jared's jaw visibly dropped. "You want to be a cop?"

Quil laughed. "It's not like I'm doing anything else."

"I'll ask Charlie about it on our shift today." Jared replied.

"What do you need to ask me?" Charlie asked as he walked in the dining room. He looked over at me. "Emily called, told me to drop Bella off here and that you were taking her to the doctor."

I knew the girls were up to something, but I wasn't sure what. The only one that was missing was Kate; she hadn't taken the imprint as well as we thought she had.

"Quil wants to join the force." Jared told him.

Charlie smiled. "Always happy to have another wolf around, as long as it's okay with Sam."

"That's all Jake now." Sam replied. "But I'm sure it'll be fine."

Charlie nodded. "Just come by and pick up an application. You still have to go through the process, but it's my call."

"I can bring it back to you tonight." Jared offered.

It was odd seeing my best friend as a cop, and picturing Quil as one was even stranger. I couldn't blame Charlie for wanting the pack to work for him, though.

We heard squeals coming from the kitchen and all of us left to was going on. The girls were all hugging each other and Kim and Emily were both crying.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

Rosalie ran over to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"We're getting two more pack babies!" Bella yelled. Kim and Emily both pulled out their ultrasound pictures and showed them to us. They both had sizable baby bumps, and I had to think for a minute about how long it had been since I'd seen either of them.

I pushed my head down to Rosalie's ear and whispered softly to her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded against me.

Sam was smiling smugly while everyone else ran to the girl's congratulating them both.

"You don't look surprised." I commented.

He chuckled. "I knew about Kim a long time ago, before she did even. And Emily told me as soon as she found out. They're both due shortly after Bella, so really soon."

Rosalie pulled away from me and hugged Sam. "Congratulations, brother." She told him.

It was good for Rosalie that she didn't sleep, because she barely had enough time as it was. She spent her nights hunting with her brothers and Bree, and her days were divided between all of the pack it seemed. She made plenty of time for me, but all of my brothers insisted on their own time with my mate. I knew she understood how important she was to all of us now.

B walked over to me and spoke softly. "Should we go now? My appointment is soon."

She seemed nervous and I didn't understand why. Maybe it was because Jake wasn't coming with her.

"Sure, B." I responded.

We said our goodbyes to the pack and walked quickly out the door. I helped her in to my truck as she was struggling a little more these days. She sat as far away from me as possible with her arms wrapped around her stomach as if she was holding herself together.

"Is there something significant about this appointment or is it just a check up?" I asked her.

She turned away from me to look out the window and I heard her sniffling. "I just wish Jake was here." She told me.

I reached across and grabbed her hand. "It's going to be okay, B. He wanted to be here with you. What's this appointment for?"

"They're telling me the sex of the baby today. We had been waiting but Jake decided he wanted to know, and now he won't be here to hear it with me." She squeezed my hand as tears rolled down her face.

I chucked at her. "B, you're worked up for nothing. We'll just have them write the gender down in an envelope and give it to me. You and Jake can still find out together." I was baffled that she hadn't heard of a gender reveal.

She nodded but didn't say anything else. I held on to her hand for the rest of the drive to Forks.

Carlisle was Bella's doctor, but Sue was involved in her care as well. The baby would have to be born on the reservation to be part of the tribe, but we didn't have the equipment at the reservation clinic that was needed for her check ups. Carlisle had assured us he'd have whatever we needed when the time came for the baby to be born.

We parked at the hospital and I walked around to Bella's side of the truck to help her out. She grabbed my hand when she stepped out of the truck and she didn't let go again. We sat together in a small waiting room and I could feel Bella's discomfort as she looked around at the couples sitting around us.

A nurse walked out to the waiting room holding a clipboard and she slammed the door. "Miss Swan."

Bella stood and I walked closely behind her. The nurse smiled at me. "And you must be dad."

I understood how it must look that way, but I knew her comment would hurt Bella and that made me angry. "Bold of you to assume that. Where is my mother? Sue Clearwater? She is Bella's nurse." I didn't often call Sue my mom, but she never seemed to mind when I did.

The nurse's smile faded and she looked annoyed instead. "Sue would've told us if Seth, her only son, were expecting. Name dropping and an attitude isn't going to get you anything here."

Sue came around the corner just as she finished speaking. Sue wasn't just a nurse at the hospital, she was actually a nurse practitioner and she supervised all of the other nurses. "Where exactly do you expect having that attitude with my son to get you?" She asked the girl as she took B's chart from her hand.

"Sue, I-I'm sorry.. I didn't know you had another son.." the nurse stumbled over her words as she spoke to her supervisor.

Sue glared back at her. "We will discuss this later. You didn't know about my other son because it's none of your business."

Sue led Bella and I back to the exam room. I could hear the nurse already gossiping with the others and insinuating that Sue or Harry had an affair. Carlisle must have heard them too because he broke up the conversation almost as soon as it started. He asked the nurse which room Rosalie's fiancé was in with Bella and that seemed to shut them up.

As soon as Bella sat down on the bed in the room she started sobbing. Sue rubbed her back gently as she took her vitals. I grabbed her hand again and she squeezed it as her crying intensified.

"I'll be right back, sweet girl." Sue said to Bella. "Carlisle may be in before I get back."

I stood up and wrapped my arms around Bella. She sobbed in to my chest and I couldn't bite my tongue any longer. This couldn't just be about Jacob missing an appointment.

"What is going on, Bella?" I whispered. "This can't all be because he's not here." I ran my hands through her hair, trying to calm her down but it wasn't helping.

I felt her grip on me tighten before she softly spoke. "Billy has cancer. Jacob doesn't think I know. That's why he couldn't be here. He had to bring Billy to the hospital."

I held her tighter because I didn't know how to respond. My heart dropped. I hadn't ever been very close to Billy, and I resented him for not telling me Rosalie was alive, but I certainly didn't want anything to happen to him. I understood why she was so hurt now. Jacob would likely miss the rest of her pregnancy and her child may grow up missing both of their grandparents on Jacob's side. She had been close to Billy since she was a small child, so this had to hurt her as badly as it did Jacob.

We didn't speak, I just held her and she sobbed against my chest. I heard the door open behind us but I didn't move until I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Jacob there and I stepped back so he could hold his imprint. Billy was sitting in his chair in the doorway.

"Thank you for bringing her." He told me. "We'll get her back home."

I nodded at him and walked out the door. I didn't know what to say to any of them. I wanted to talk to Rosalie. I didn't know what kind of cancer he had, but she could tell me about survivability and how to support him.

I drove toward the Cullen house, assuming she'd be there with Sam and Esme. It was possible that they'd gone back to La Push but I doubted it. If they had, I'd at least go see Emmett and Leah before I left.

Nobody was at the Cullen's house when I got there. I walked back to Leah and Emmett's place and they weren't home either. I didn't like being near the old house, but I walked back there anyway. The burned house had been completely torn down but the garage still stood. Emmett and Leah hadn't rebuilt in that exact spot, they were a little closer to the Cullen's than our old place had been. I usually avoided the spot I'd thought my love had died in but I felt at peace here now. Rosalie had survived, even if our old place hadn't.

I heard footsteps behind me, but unlike the time before the war I had no reason to feel uneasy. I heard two feet so I knew it wasn't one of the pack. I glanced over and saw Kate at my side. She had been toying with Embry constantly and I was growing tired of her games, but I tried to be civil for Rosalie's sake.

"Couldn't find any puppies to torture?" I asked her.

She scoffed. "Thought you were staying out of my relationship."

I shook my head. "You wouldn't want to hear my thoughts on your relationship, Kate."

She sat down on the ground next to me. "Imagine if you found out Rosalie had been in love with your brother after you imprinted."

I sat down too. "Seth? He's a kid, Kate."

"Fair." She nodded. "What about Jared? What if she was in love with Jared?"

I laughed. I didn't mean to, I knew Kate wanted me to sympathize with her, but it was funny. Rosalie and Jared bickered too much to be in love.

"I see what you mean, but you can't hold it against him. He didn't know you existed. I may not be the best person to talk to about this though, because I am close with Emmett who happens to be my imprint's ex husband." I told her.

She shook her head. "You just don't get it. I resent Rosalie. He chose to love her. He didn't choose me, the spirits did."

"It would break his heart to hear you say that." I told her. "Please Kate, you've got to stop playing with his feelings. If you can't make up your mind while you're here you should get some space. This isn't good for either of you."

She stood back up. "Maybe I'll go home for a few weeks. Get some clarity."

I nodded. "That's a good idea. And don't resent Rosalie, she never accepted any of his advances. She cared for him the same way she does for Sam and Jared."

She pulled me in to a quick hug and before I could blink she was gone. I felt a twinge of guilt at what I'd done, sending an imprint away from her wolf. I felt even more guilty that I couldn't tell Rosalie what I'd done. I worried that she'd think I was still angry with Embry and sent Kate away to hurt him, even though that couldn't be farther from the truth.

I sat there alone for a few more minutes before I walked back to my truck. I wanted to do something with the space. It was too far from the Cullen's place for us to build anything for the pack babies, but maybe we could plant a tree there. I wanted something here to help us remember what had happened and how we'd grown from it.

Sam was standing outside my house next to Rosalie when I pulled up. I loved how close the two of them had grown. I got out of the truck and they waved me over to go over their plans. They both stopped quite a few times to ask for my input, but I told them I was fine with whatever they wanted to do. I didn't think we needed the addition on the house but Rosalie had insisted that we have it so she could have all of the pack babies over when their moms needed some help. I was proud of her for volunteering to help as much as she had, even though it had to be hard for her. Esme had set up a large nursery at their house now that most of her children had moved out but Rosalie insisted on having space here for them too. I hated that I'd never be able to have kids with her, I knew she'd be an amazing mother if she had the chance.

I had only been awake for five or six hours but it felt like two days had passed. I left Sam and Rosalie outside and went in the house to rake a nap. Esme was in the kitchen making lunch for me and Sam, so I politely took a sandwich from her and retired to our room. I had barely shut my eyes when I heard my phone buzzing on my nightstand. B had texted me.

Thanks for driving me today. Sorry for my breakdown. Love you.

I laid my phone back down without responding. She knew she didn't have to apologize to me for having feelings. Billy's diagnosis was devastating, but everything else was finally looking up for our family. I knew that no matter what happened with him, we would get through it together.