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Chapter eleven.

Waking in the arms of Leah this morning, was a gentle experience, without any odd dreams, racing hearts or wild orgasmic reactions.

I sighed and felt relaxed and well rested. So protected and warm. Leah slept on, while I smiled to myself.

The girl had really managed to freak me out last night, and the whole warning from her granny was a little hard to believe now, in the hard light of the early morning.

I sighed.

Well I guess I could just chill, and see what happens. Stressing about something I couldn't control wasn't worth it. If I really was pregnant like Leah and her ghost of a granny said, it was important to be as laid back and calm about the whole thing as possible.

It was doubly so if there were twins involved!

God, how the hell do I take this stuff she said seriously?

But then again, strange stuff does happen... but there may be a rational explanation for it all. Although at the moment, I have no idea as to what kind of explanation that could be.

I had to keep up with my saliva monitoring, although until my period arrived I wasn't sure if monitoring the hormone levels in my saliva would be of any use at all. I had to take my vitamin supplements though, they were important.

Marcy came up to the bed and looked at me, I reached out to pat her and felt something else. I propped myself up on my elbows, and who did I spy hitching a ride on Marcy's back? Rufus!

I shook my head and chuckled, trust Rufus to piggy-back on top of Marcy!

I wished I had my phone so I could take candid photos of the two of them together.

"Are you two hungry?" I whispered. "Come on guys."

I edged carefully out of bed and got up. Stretching and moving around slowly, so that I don't trip on Marcy or any of the clothes strewn all over the floor.

While I fed Rufus, Marcy didn't want to leave his side, but I opened the back door for her and she scooted out quickly, poor thing must have been busting for a leak.

I stuck the saliva do-hickey in my mouth while I put water in the kettle and started to heat it up. I needed extra for my thermos and for some tea, I was feeling really thirsty this morning.

Rufus finished his business in the tray and came smooching and rubbing around my legs, meowing loudly. I huffed and picked him up...whoa! What a head-rush! I felt as if I was about to faint, I held onto Rufus, but he was unnerved by me looking and acting odd. I sat down on the floor, so as to not fall down and hurt myself. I placed him on my shoulder, while I took some deep breaths. He meowed and nudged my neck and raced back down to the floor, meowing and looking for Marcy all around the house.

Marcy raced back inside and the two of them reunited, she lay down and Rufus jumped around on her head. Marcy raised her head up and Rufus held on, balancing like he loved to do on my shoulder, well that was before Marcy came along and replaced me as his favourite new plaything.

I picked up my phone and snapped some great photos. I could start a little picture book about the adventures of Rufus, or a calendar of him posed like this, perched on top of Marcy.

I emailed the photos of the comedy duo to Leah, as well as Esme and Angela.

Leah made me promise that I would give her regular updates and let her know when I got the very first confirmation of my pregnancy. She said then she could start being excited to be a proud support-person for me, the Cullen's surrogate, and she could start planning ahead for the big day, when they came into the world.

I surprised myself at getting more comfortable with the idea of a spooky, all-knowing granny, who helped Leah somehow. I still wasn't ready to accept the whole concept as the truth, or anything like that...just yet anyway!

We loaded up the truck, hugged and I cried a little...while Leah started to laugh and picked me up, swinging me around in the air.

Damn crazy, strong, Amazon woman! I was really going to miss her!

Leah held Marcy's collar while I drove away, Marcy howling in distress at the loss of her new, furry playmate.

I waved goodbye, sniffling as I drove off towards the highway. Rufus settled down with his toy mouse and slept in his carrier.

"Bella! Bella! Look at you!"

"Professor you're looking good!"

"It's so good to see you! You must come in and eat something!" Pia said to me.

"Oh Pia, thank you! Is it ok for me to bring in my kitten first?"

"Oh, yes bring in the bambino, oh my look at him he's so sweet! I've got the perfect thing for him, come here piccolo...you have such a beautiful face! Aro look at his face, have you ever seen such a sweet kitten?"

Prof Aro and I laughed as Pia made a huge fuss over Rufus.

She insisted we eat immediately, because we were obviously starving.

I was happy that some things never seem to change; Aro and Pia were both the same joyous souls, Pia fussing, making us eat copious quantities of food, and Aro was wanting to pull me away from Pia, in order to catch me up on all of the dramas going on within his department.

After Pia was completely sure that Rufus and I weren't famished. Aro dragged me off to walk along the cliff to watch his birds and talk.

He had spent many decades following the rookery's population. Aro studiously detailed the rookery's welfare, population, numbers and the creation of each new generation that hatched and grew into adulthood. Returning to the same place they were born to repeat the cycle.

It was one of the longest running bird population studies in the world, I was proud him. Prof Aro was a wonderful lecturer and I was blessed to have him as my mentor and inspiration. In the ornithological world, Aro was at the top of the pile, along with only a handful of others.

"Bella I'm really happy that you're going to be working with me, you have no idea! I've had a lot of pressure from those awful bean-counters in the admin building. They keep hassling me constantly, about my slow marking, and the online education market...well that area has suddenly grown like mad..." he waved his arms around in an effort to get his point across, Italian style.

I just let him talk.

"I really don't see the reason why people don't want to come right into class and attend a lecture. It's sad that they are sitting there alone in their living rooms or bedrooms, just looking at a screen. They sit there on line, instead of getting into the whole social scene at uni, interacting with other real life humans, engaging in all of the great conversations and debates!"

Aro had a point, but lots of students had to fit their study into their real life, work, kids, disability and remote distance. These things often made it hard to come in person and attend a class physically. Being on-line was an excellent way to study, especially if the support services were in place, to assist the students to get the most out of the experience.

"Environmental science is really big right now! Not to put any pressure on you or anything, but I can't wait for you to get all of this done for me."Aro stated finally.

I nodded and smiled.

"Bella, I have an incentive for you, to assist you in your work with me and make your life a little easier."

"What's that Prof?"

"I'll have to show you the incentive right now, before we go back inside; come this way."

I followed his path back to the side of his beautiful house, wondering where we were going.

He opened the door to his garage and entered.

Turning on the light, he smiled at me. "Here it is!"

I looked around, "what?"

"Bella, the car!"

"What do you mean?"

A gorgeous convertible, sat looking impeccable in Aro's garage. It was midnight blue with a high gloss polish, and absolutely perfect paint job, not a scratch or dent anywhere.

"The car, it's my incentive gift, to encourage you and to thank you for being my favourite student, someone who makes me wish that Pia and I had had children."

"Oh professor! You can't just give me a car! You are already paying me to do this work!"

"Ah Bella mia! You would be doing me a most important favour, if you took this car; please... it's important that you do!"

"Professor Aro, please tell me exactly why you are doing this? This gesture is more than generous...it's kind of extreme!"

"Can you keep a little secret?"

"Sure."

"Come closer and sit down in it, see how it looks and feels with you right in the driver's seat."

I sat down on the luxurious leather seats; they were so soft and beautiful.

The dashboard was full of gadgets and dials I had no idea about. The car even smelt new! There wasn't any dirt or mess inside either, obviously! The detailing was perfect, unlike Bertha my dear old truck. This car looked like it had just been driven out of the showroom.

"This looks new car Prof, why are you doing this for me?"

He was quiet and looked a little sad.

"This car is actually ten years old, but it never gets driven, apart from when I take it to be serviced at the workshop."

"Really? It's so new looking. I never knew you had this car, I've only seen you drive that red Alfa-Romeo of yours."

"This is Pia's car. Her brother bought this for her, but she never drives anymore, her eyes aren't so good. She hasn't gotten her license renewed in the last five years, she's lost her all her confidence behind the wheel. So her poor car...it just sits here, gathering dust and never being driven. So believe me, you would be doing me and Pia a really big favour taking this car off our hands and making good use of it."

"Well, Prof. It's beautiful. I don't know what to say!"

"Just say yes Bella! I know your old truck; she's just about ready to die."

"I know, poor old Bertha is over fifty, I guess she should really retire. Maybe I could find someone who would like to look after her, a collector of antiques perhaps?"

"So you like this car?"

"Sure, what's not to like?"I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "It's beautiful!"

"Well here are the keys, take her for a spin and see how she drives!"

"Really?"

"Go on! Try her; she handles like a dream, especially in the bends."

I bit down on my lip, feeling nervous. What if I do something to damage her? She was so different from Bertha the beast!

"Ok, but I need you to sit beside me Prof. I'll need you to give me some tips on what to do, and where everything is. This car is completely different from the truck. What sort of car is this anyway?" my sad lack of knowledge in the wide world of motoring was really showing.

"It's a Mazda MX5. It's a great car for a single girl like you, to use for zipping around and being seen as a hot young girl about town." Aro waved his hands about.

I shook my head and snorted in amusement.

I was the woman who would be voted least likely to ever be described as a 'hot young girl about town'.

I started her up and she came to life. I didn't need to let her sit idling while she warmed up; there was no spluttering, or straining. The engine sounded like a smooth purr, Aro pushed a button and the garage door automatically opened.

I laughed and put her into first, applied a little gas and once we were on the road, I let her out a little and she roared into life. Gripping the corners, this beauty was so low to the ground, and so wonderfully responsive to my movements. It was a revelation at how much fun I had been missing out on with driving, it was in sharp contrast to all of the years I'd spent battling with Bertha to make her behave on the road.

Power steering was fantastic! I could see why drivers around the world just loved it! My upper body strength wasn't going to be needed so much any more. Having to handle Bertha was always a bit of a struggle, so much so, that I often broke out into a sweat just getting her fitted into a parking space.

This little car had all of the bells and whistles too! Even a fancy sound system and cup holders! Wow! My life was full of excitement today!

Feeling like I'd won the lottery I drove and drove. Aro watching me like a hawk, as I got comfortable with driving something so small, light and zippy. I finally turned her back and headed to the beautiful house on the cliff, overlooking the endless sea and the bird rookery.

"So what was the secret you wanted me to keep Professor?"

"I wanted you to not tell anyone at the department about this car, ok? They might get jealous, or start making the wrong assumptions. You have an incentive, and Pia and I have a way to thank you. As well, we can make sure this car goes to someone we know...someone who will need it and enjoy it. Especially since your old truck, she is dangerous, expensive on fuel and hard to park, this Mazda is much better for you Bella."

"You know what Prof? I think you're absolutely right. This is a way better car for me. I kept the truck only because I didn't have any other options. What you and Pia have done for me, has been ...simply amazing, I just don't know how I'm ever going to thank you."

"Well the best thing you can do for me, is to do all of the work I give you, and then come back here and study your honors year with me. After that, you must enrol in the PhD program and become a professional researcher! You have a great future ahead of you and I believe in you Bella mia!"

My time in California didn't last long enough!

Maybe this time next year I would be back for here with the Prof. for good, studying and working hard, and following my dreams.

I'd gotten of the undergrad marking started, Aro carefully supervised me to see if I was fair with my marks. We talked about strategies, involving how to tackle the layout and contents of his curriculum, and how to make the most of it, once we started on loading it up on the website.

Pia and Rufus had paired up, and made each other very happy. He was growing like crazy, especially as Pia insisted on feeding him six times a day.

I found a classic car collector who gave me some money for Bertha. He promised me that he'd send photos showing me her restoration.

My crazy, orgasmic dreams hadn't returned, but I was feeling quite hot all the time and really bloated too. My system felt constantly wired and on edge.

My boobs were sore and lumpy. And I often wanted to suddenly stop and take along nap in the middle of the day after one of Pia's meals.

I felt really, badly premenstrual.

Maybe that's what it was... maybe and there was no pregnancy after all?

Maybe Leah was delusional and I needed to get a grip on reality!

I packed up the new car, getting a kick at how amazing the whole thing was. I'd registered the car in my name and updated my insurance too.

It was all mine, and such a pretty car. She needed a name, something to reflect her personality, zippy, light, fun and most of all Italian in honour of Pia and Aro ... there were so many nice girl's names ...Bianca, Lucia, Sofia, Stella...yeah Stella was great. This little car was my star, sparkling and twinkling, especially when I finally got back and drove around the streets of Forks, in the dreary, grey gloom.

I had to get the garage cleaned out too, in order to protect my baby from all the weather.

I'd laid down some protective sheeting along the small backseat for Rufus so the carpet and upholstery wouldn't be damaged by his food and litter tray. He cried a bit at the loss of Pia and her warm hands, before settling down in his carrier.

Pia cried too, I think she and Aro will need to get themselves a kitten soon too.

I promised to return as soon as I'd finished all the marking.

What a trip! I'd even gotten addicted to eating Vegemite on my toast every morning, which Pia thought was just disgusting. I laughed; I couldn't get enough of it! Perhaps I should drop into the shop again, and buy up more so I don't run out before I returned in a month's time?

Driving along Lucia was a breeze. I knew I should have stopped for the night somewhere. I made great time, and after our last short stop I decided to give, Rufus another feed and what-not while we stopped and relaxed in a quiet park. I thought it was time for a snack too and settled down for a nice long nap.

I lay the seat right back, and closed my eyes. Waking up two hours later, feeling so refreshed, that I decided that it would be good to set off and take in the whole, remainder of the return journey in one big go. I would never have attempted to drive over one thousand miles in Bertha without having to stop for the night, but with Lucia it seemed so easy! Lucia, was incredibly light on the fuel too, for which I was very grateful for.

Coming back after midnight, through the wet streets of Forks, was more than a little strange. The place was positively spooky after dark. Not a soul stirred.

Parking my little Lucia outside of the house and looking at my life here, was a shock. I'd only been gone for a couple of weeks, but it seemed like a lifetime.

Rufus and I crashed in bed. Sleeping heavily, as soon as our heads hit the pillow.