Options
I sat there in stunned silence for what felt like forever. Pregnant?! Slowly, sensing that the transformation would be nothing if not postponed, and not wanting to find themselves embroiled in the middle of this situation, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme turned and trickled out the door of Edward's bedroom, leaving just Edward, Carlisle, and myself. My jaw was dropped to the floor, my mouth open- yet I couldn't will myself to say anything.
It was Carlisle who broke the silence. "Does this news surprise you, Bella?" Astoundingly, he managed to not sound even a bit judgmental.
I gulped. "Uh, sort of, but not….exactly," I said, my voice sounding hoarse. I coughed. "But….you can tell….this early?" God, I felt like a horrible person. I was speaking to my husband's father, for crying out loud. I shot Edward a sidelong glance. He was staring towards Carlisle, a pained expression on his face. I wanted to disappear into the bed. It was gigantic; I could probably try.
"Yes, HCG levels can be elevated within a week or so. I'm not sure how I should say this, Bella, but as your doctor, at least right now, I feel obligated to inform you of what your options are," he said seriously.
I nodded stoically. Carlisle continued. "I don't know what you're thinking about all of this, but you need to know that as far as I am concerned, besides these elevated hormone levels, you are in perfectly good condition to undergo this transformation. I don't foresee any complications, and, as Edward may have mentioned, there are several reasons that we believe your transformation may go more smoothly than most." He lowered his voice, spoke more softly: "However, I need to state the obvious and say that if you decide to be changed, you will not be able to carry your pregnancy to term. Granted, it is extremely early, and miscarriages can happen anyway, even in staying human. And that is, of course, assuming that you wanted to keep the baby. But unfortunately if you decide to proceed with your transformation we can only change you, we can't change the embryo at the same time. I wish we could." He looked wistful.
I nodded slowly, numb. "Bella, do you have any idea what you want to do?" Carlisle asked me gently.
I shook my head, looked down at the floor. Tears welled up in my eyes. "I need to think about it," I whispered. And then, I did what any normal pregnant girl who was trying to decide whether she should be a vampire would have done. I ran.
I ran. Down the hall, the stairs, through the foyer, out the front door, down the sidewalk, to the car. I jumped into the Guardian, threw it into gear, and sped off. I drove straight towards La Push reservation, as fast as I could go, which, in this car, was pretty damn fast. I refused to look down after I saw the speedometer hit 110. My driving record is spotless, I thought. Plus, I'm the chief's daughter. Surely if I got pulled over for speeding I could get out of it somehow. But then, I thought of the–embryo- as Edward said, slowly developing in my body. I couldn't believe I was pregnant. I slowed down. I had to think about more than myself right now.
What Jacob and I shared was…special, but never in a million years could I have possibly imagined how meaningful it still was. If nothing else, this new development entitled me to a few minutes of Jacob's time. He deserved to know. And he needed to know, he was going to know, whether he wanted to or not. My overwhelming shock slowly transformed itself into gut-wrenching anxiety as I started getting closer and closer to the Quileute boundary. What if he didn't want to talk to me? What if he didn't even care?
As I approached La Push, I wondered if I should go to the Blacks' or to Emily's. Since Emily's was closer, I figured that perhaps I should swing by there first. I had been there before; knew how to navigate my way to the tiny house. Sam was the last person I spoke to, and all of the events Jacob had to attend this past week seemed to take place there. Thankfully, there were cars parked in the driveway. Momentarily relieved, I got out of my car and approached the cottage. Sam met me outside- obviously he had seen me coming.
I wasn't intimidated by him. I walked straight up to him. "Where the hell is Jacob?" I asked angrily. I needed to speak to him, and I wasn't going to take any of Sam's feeble explanations this time.
Sam raised his arms in surrender. "Bella, don't be mad. Please. Let me explain." His dark eyes took in my anger, tried to refract it in an entirely different direction.
"I'm not interested in hearing it, Sam. I want to talk to Jacob. I have to tell him something extremely important. Where is he?" I pressed. I put my hands on my hips in a no-nonsense kind of way.
"Bella, he's inside. But wait, don't go!" He grabbed my wrist as I tried to push past him towards the front door. I glared down at his hand until he sheepishly released it. "Bella, I have to tell you something about Jacob…" Sam began. "About his….imprinting," he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"What, Sam? What do I have to know about it? Besides how awful it is for me? Trust me, I already know that. I keep picturing it- seeing Jacob with someone else, tall, dark, tan, beautiful. Don't worry; I realize how hard this is going to be. Jacob won't ever be the same to me anymore. I know. He won't ever look at me the same way, or feel the same way about me, again. I get it. But I'm having his baby, Sam. I'm pregnant, and I need to tell him. Let me see him, talk to him. Now."
A look of amazement covered Sam's face. "So that explains it," he whispered to himself, nodding his head, drifting off for a moment. He then looked at me earnestly, returning to the real world. "Bella, you're right. Jacob won't ever look at you the same way again." He slowly gave me a massive grin. "Bella, Jacob imprinted on you."