His Gift
Chapter 3:
It had been about a half an hour since I told Jake I was pregnant. Honestly, he took the news just like I thought he would, no surprises at all. What surprised me, however, was Jacob's pledge to take Edward's place and help me though this. That was a shocker.
Right now, Jake and I are walking up and down the beach, not speaking at all. We had been engulfed in a calm silence since we started walking, a good silence…not an awkward type of silence. I turned my head to look up at Jake, to try and figure out what he was thinking about in that head of his. His expression, as usual, was unreadable, but I could tell he was worried by the way his eyebrows came together. That narrowed it down, I decided, to him either being worried about me or something else. And anyone with a brain could figure out he was probably worried about me.
I, however, felt thousands of emotions running around me. It was like I couldn't choose how to feel, so I just decided to let them roam around and consume me for short periods of time before another emotion racked my body. I was worried, then confused (How the hell did I not see this coming?), then scared shitless (I'm too young to have a baby!), then embarrassed (I'm going to be huge!), then guilty (did I really have to involve Jake into this?), then excited (I'm having a baby! My own baby!), then sad (Edward won't be able to see his child), then overjoyed (I'm going to have a little piece of Edward with me forever!), then depressed (Did Edward leave because Alice saw I was going to have a baby?), then angry (How the hell could he leave me now!?), then completely freaked out (How is Charlie or Renee going to react?), and then back to worried again (What if I'm not a good parent?). And, after all this, I was still trying to convince myself that it was true: I was pregnant.
"Bella?"
I turned back to look at Jake, seeing he was looking down at me this time. He had surprised me by starting up another conversation after a long a quiet half an hour.
"Yes, Jake?" I replied.
"Have you told anyone else yet?" Jake started; "About…well…you know..." he trailed off. I instantly knew he was talking about me being pregnant, having had sex with my not-here-anymore boyfriend, etc.
"Nope. You're the first person I've told." I answered truthfully instead of lying because Jake was known for being good at reading people's thoughts and emotions by their expressions and body language, something I wasn't very good at.
"You're going to have to tell someone sooner or later. You're going to have to tell Charlie, you know." Jake sighed. I nodded.
"I know, but I just don't know what to do. He'll freak out, that part is obvious, but he'll also freak out even more when he finds out the baby is Edward's. He'll think that Edward left me because he found out I was pregnant, something that I don't even know yet." I paused, taking a deep breath to steady myself, "Honestly, Jake, I have no idea what to do anymore."
"How about you don't tell anyone?" Jake started, "You could just runaway!"
I rolled my eyes, "Jake, seriously, I'm not just going to pack up and leave. Where would I go? What about Charlie?"
Jake nodded, "Good point." He thought for a second, "How about you don't tell Charlie, but tell Renee and then move back in with her. She'll probably be more understanding than Charlie would, right?"
I shook my head, "Wrong, Jake. She would bust a gasket. She has always been warning me about not getting married or having children too early, so I don't ruin my life. She'll go insane if she finds out I'm pregnant and my boyfriend is gone."
"Then tell Charlie and don't tell Renee?" Jake's statement was more like a question.
"That wouldn't work either, Jake." I sighed, "Charlie would either (a) Tell Renee or (b) blow a bigger gasket than Renee would when she finds out, tell Renee, make me get an abortion, and then send the FBI out to kill Edward. He wouldn't take it anymore than Renee."
"Oh." Was all Jake said.
There were a few more minutes of silence. After about five minutes, I looked back up at Jake to try and figure out what was on his mind, again.
Jake was deep in thought, something I probably could have guessed. He was probably thinking of another way for me to tell my parents.
Jake sighed, then smiled brightly, then blinked a few times, a grin on his face, and then answered, "Well, I think I have an idea. A pretty kick ass idea, if I do say so myself. Please hear me out, kay?"
I nodded, motioning for him to continue.
"Well, since Charlie and Renee will freak out when they find out, no matter what. I was thinking we could…" He stopped to search for the right words, "…we could soften the blow a little bit, understand, Bells?"
"I have no idea what you mean, Jake, honestly." I sighed, feeling very confused as to what he was trying to say.
Jake instantly became self-conscious and embarrassed, fiddling with his hands as he stuttered out the explanation, "Well, it's o-obvious that Charlie didn't like E-Ed-Edward, so, I was thinking we could…that we li-lie to them and say the b-b-b-baby is mine, not Edward's."
I blinked, "What?"
"You heard me." Jake said simply.
"That is…" I double thought my decision before answering, "…that is not a bad idea, actually."
Jake smiled, "When was the last time you and I hung out alone?"
I counted the days in my mind before smiling, "Two weeks."
"Perfect timing." Jake's face instantly light up as he started to go over the plan of telling Charlie.
"You see, I was thinking we both could go over to your house later today and tell Charlie we needed to tell him something. And then we could sit him down and tell him that 'you and I' are having a baby. Of course he'll flip out, but he probably won't feel so bad since it's not Edward's child but mine. I mean, you've gotta admit he likes me more than that bloodsucker, right?"
I nodded, a small grin on my face. For the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I was sure everything was going to turn out okay.