Chapter 31
Incubate
All the things I loved to do on the boat I'm now doing because I'm almost completely confined to bed. I was allowed to walk around for about four days, but the baby turned and compressed a nerve in my spine and I couldn't feel my legs for a few days. I try not to be upset by the way things have turned out, but I've only got a couple more weeks until Carlisle will deliver the baby. I'm already sticking out like I'm carrying a baby elephant, and I've lost count of the stretch marks since my skin hasn't had time to adjust. Stefan rubs cocoa butter over my stomach so often I feel like a greased pig.
I watch a lot of videos, and we sing to the baby whenever we can. I feel sorry for Vladmir since he hovers helplessly, watching me expand like a soap bubble about to burst. I've got the laptop computer to keep me busy, but I only use it when Stefan has to hunt, since he sticks by me any other time. I hide my online activity since he would be angry with me if he knew what I've been up to.
I'm planning my funeral. I've got a place picked out where I want to be buried, as well as a coffin to put me in. I picked the songs I'd like played and I've noted that I want to be buried in a nightgown not a dress. He will hate that I've done it, but I know if I don't survive he won't be in any shape to plan.
I don't want to die, but I want to give our baby as much of a chance as possible. I know Carlisle's scheduled a c-section on my adjusted due date, but I really hope to get closer to the actual date than a week. I can feel the baby moving all the time now, and it's so real! Just this morning I saw a foot glide over my stomach from the inside! Stefan hopes the baby will be a girl, 'beautiful like her mother.' But Vladmir thinks it's a boy. I really don't care since I'm just worried sick that it will be born healthy and normal.
I've had a chance to meet the little Renesmee, and the child is enchanting. She insisted her mother bring her to visit, and she eagerly placed both of her little hands on my stomach and tried to send the baby a picture. When she placed her ear against my tummy she giggled and told me she could hear it. Bella insisted on taking her away after only a few minutes visit, and told her that she should stay away so I could rest. It surprises me that the little girl is only a few years old even though she looks like she's five. Carlisle has explained that our baby will grow very fast, but after it's born the growth will gradually slow down, and eventually it will be almost normal. It will be fully mature in about 8 years. It makes me happy to think that if I survive the birth, I'll probably get to see my child fully grown before I die of the disease. It's one of the things that makes me certain I'm going to live through this.
The other is the baby itself. I can hear it singing to me every time I close my eyes. It has the purest, sweetest, most beautiful voice I've ever heard. I know it doesn't intend to hurt me, and it's song of apology is so sad. I almost feel like I can tell what it's thinking or at least what it's songs mean. It loves hearing us sing to it. It loves listening to the sounds of my visitors. And I think it even loves when Stefan and I make love.
It's one of the things that has surprised me; the way I still crave my husband. Carlisle wants to advise against it, but he can see the look in my eyes and he knows better. We've had to be creative with our positioning to accommodate the baby. As surprised as I am for the desire I feel for him, I'm surprised he still wants to be with me. If I ever had any beauty to brag about, it's clearly fading now, not to mention I'm cumbersome and clumsy. Still he eagerly takes me into bliss any time I ask him to put the sign on the door.; which has been more frequently than it was before the baby.
If my desire for him has come as a pleasant surprise, other things have not been so pleasant. I remember watching friends of mine go through pregnancy, and some of the things they experienced are missing from mine. My breasts have not gotten larger like most women experience. It's a reminder that I'm not supposed to live long enough to nurse our baby. In fact they're actually getting smaller, like the baby wants it's feedings now. I've lost weight all over, and except for my stomach, I would be model thin. In two weeks I'm likely to look like a skeleton; a skeleton with an exercise ball under my shirt.
Of course I'm eating. I've got the nutrient solution going into my veins at all times. Carlisle's also talked about putting a tube in my stomach to give me a constant supply of blood, or I should say give my baby a constant supply of blood, which it seems to need. I've been trying to hold out on that option for purely selfish reasons; it will make it almost impossible to make love with my husband. Instead I drink it – all the time it seems, with someone almost constantly filling my glass. I've got a couple cut crystal glasses that make the dark red fluid look a little like wine. Of course I'm not trying to fool myself that I'm enjoying a fine Merlot, I actually like thinking about the person who donated it. I'm so thankful for those who've tapped a vein for my child, I would thank each one personally if I could.
Of course the other part of my diet isn't nearly so uplifting. I've been eating meat. It hurts my soul to think of consuming the animals, but Carlisle seems to think it's a good idea to get my baby used to the idea of animal flesh while it's still a captive. The cut doesn't matter since it's put through a food processor and pureed for me. More animal blood is added to make it the consistency of thick soup, and someone usually feeds it to me since my hands shake when faced with this daily meal. Not that I don't love the flavor, heaven help me, I do. I'm just always filled with an image of cattle being lead to slaughter, with fear and panic as they'e forced to walk into their own execution.
The golden eyes of everyone around me save for Vladmir, tells me that they are all used to this type of diet. Stefan has continued as a "vampire vegetarian," and I love him even more for it. I suspect that if I die, he'll go back to his human prey like Vladmir. Dr. Carlisle actually helped steer Vladmir to what he considered an acceptable human meal. A visit to the hospital and a man who for years was in a persistent vegetative state, and now his eyes are a refreshed red.
It's Vladmir and Stefan's presence that brings an unusual trio of visitors. I can hear the noise coming down the hallway, and know there's obviously some kind of disagreement about their presence. They barely knock before my door is roughly pushed open. Stefan lying beside me, looks as if he's ready to attack, and I grip his arm as tightly as I can. Two young men and a woman glare at us from the doorway. Edward, Bella, and Vladmir follow closely behind, slipping past them to take up a protective stance in front of me. It takes a few moments for the things to become clear to me. The youngest man is dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt. But the other man is wearing a thin pair of shorts, and the woman wears shorts and a bathing suit top. They're all so tall they dwarf Vladmir, Edward and his wife, though they look wary enough I'm sure they understand what they face.
Bella comes to me and takes my hand, the one that's not clutching Stefan. "Summer, Stefan..." She looks to include us all in her introduction. "...these people are from the Quileute tribe." She looks down at me almost apologetically. "They're shape-shifters."
"Werewolves!" The other woman interrupts her, almost snarling. "You don't get to rename who we are just because one of your leech friends says different!" She seems so angry, even the other two men with her are trying to calm her. "I can't believe you actually thought you could hide another mutant baby from us! Just because Jacob's given Nessie his lick of approval, don't think the rest of us are going to roll over and allow you to start a monster nursery right on our border!" She 's livid, and it looks as if she's ready to explode. The man in shorts takes hold of her and physically muscles her out of the room. The other man looks almost embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, Leah's a little upset" It's kind of like saying the Titanic hit a little iceberg. "She's mad because I didn't tell her what was happening, and she heard it second hand from Seth. Sam wants to make sure the terms of the treaty hold. Bella, you know she can't be changed if she has the baby here. Not without violating the treaty." He looks from me to her, clearly worried. "I was here when you had Nessie. No one can live through that. Are you going to take her to the hospital, or is she going somewhere outside our territories?" He looks like he's afraid to look at me.
"I'm having my baby here, and no one's going to change me!" I make sure my voice is heard, hopefully out to the hall as well.
Bella and the werewolf/shape-shifter lock eyes. 'Jake, you can't expect us to hold to those treaty conditions if it means she has to die! Look at her, she can't go anywhere else!"
From the hall I hear the woman's muffled shriek. "You should have thought of that before you bloodsuckers got another human girl knocked up!" There was more commotion in the hall. "...don't care, and you don't get to tell me to shut up Sam! Where the hell's it end? Let's just put out the welcome mat and invite all the killers and blood drinkers to bring their monster incubator's here!" Her voice carries above the others.
"I don't give a shit if she dies! Maybe they'll learn their lesson if they have to put a couple in the ground – better yet they should make sure everyone gets a good look at what's left of her after it tears it's way out!" I'm shocked at the anger she seems to feel at me even though we've never met. My baby seems to understand there's something wrong, and it's moving so actively it takes my breath away. "Just in case you forgot, this is why I can't have babies, Sam! You know, real human babies that don't kill and eat people! Get your damn hands off me!"
There's a sound in the hallway of tearing, followed by growls and snarling. The one called Jake hurries from the room and Stefan looks frightening as he leans over me, both predatory and protective. It sounds like there's some kind of fight going on in the hallway, but I can't even follow it since my baby is doing crazy things inside me. I yelp at a sudden pain along with the sound and feel of a crunching, grating sensation. Suddenly it's hard to breath and Stefan goes instantly from ferocious to overwrought with concern.
"Someone get Carlisle, she's in pain!" He puts his ear to my stomach, and I have to remind myself that his hearing is so good he might actually be able to know what's happened. "I think it's broken a rib!" Even through my shirt I can see the movement of my baby, and even with two weeks to go, it looks like it could tear it's way out. The room and even the hallway fall into silence, and I'm embarrassed to hear my own pitiful, weak crying.
Carlisle comes, and I'm carried to the x-ray machine, which confirms what Stefan predicted; my baby has broken one of my ribs. The sad thing is, there's really not much to be done about it. A pressure wrap would be the normal treatment, but he's afraid it would restrict the baby's growth and movement and make it want to be free sooner.
Back in bed once more, Carlisle waits while we're visited by the one I assume is called Sam. He too doesn't look at me, fixing his eyes on Stefan as he goes over the term of some treaty. Apparently if any of the vampires kill a human, the werewolves will hunt and kill them.
Stefan looks angry – furious even. "I signed no treaty! You dare to come to me while my wife and child are fighting for their lives and speak to me of ultimatums! Do you have any idea who you're threatening? Stefan stands, and though he is a foot shorter than the other man, he stands tall. I catch my breath as Vladmir appears beside him and shoulder to shoulder they face the potential threat.
"I was born twelve hundred years before Carlisle drew his first breath! I've commanded armies when your people were still fighting with sharpened sticks and stones! Alone I could wipe your tribe from existence, even if they all had your ability." I can hear his particular talent at work, and it scares me how powerful it is; almost a living thing in the room. "Your interference here has already caused my wife harm. It is only my friendship with the Cullen family that keeps me from exacting my revenge." He steps forward, nose to chin with Sam. "Make no mistake, no harm is to befall my wife or child by you or your people. It would be a grave mistake." He comes back to my side, but Vladmir is not so quick to let it go.
If I didn't know him so well, I'd likely think he's relaxed and calm the way he casually leans against the bed. But I can see the wary look in his eyes, and I know I wouldn't want to be standing where Sam is, even if I could become a werewolf. He laughs and pats Stefan's shoulder. "You forgot to tell them that the older we get, the stronger we get." He's lying! I know what he's saying isn't true, but I doubt my own thoughts as he chuckles and fixes his eyes on Sam.
"You want to challenge me and my friend, you should know what you're getting yourself into. Maybe you and your pups have had some luck in destroying a few young vampires. But my friend is fifteen hundred years strong, and I am over three thousand. We have not survived this long because we're weak. If you want to try to enforce your little treaty because she becomes one of us, you will start a war. Even without the Cullens, it is a war you cannot hope to win." He smiles as if he's just commented on the weather.
"Enough!" I struggle to sit up, but it hurts so bad I fall back against the pillows and wipe the sweat from my face. It's hard to draw enough air with my broken rib, but I have everyone's attention. "There isn't going to be any war." I gasp. "Sam... tell your people that... if Carlisle can't deliver my baby before it... demands to be born... they're not going to change me. I'm going to die. They're not to change me. I don't want it. If they do, you can kill me yourself." I can feel the shock of those in the room, even through their silence. Sam meets my eyes with his grim unreadable, native stare, then he turns to leave.
Stefan clears the room, hangs the sign on the door, then collapses into the bed with me. He tries to hold me, but seems unsure of how, with my broken rib and protruding stomach. I snuggle against him and he buries his face in my hair while his hands move over me as if he's trying to memorize my features.
"Why are you trying to kill me?" His words are full of pain and whispered against the side of my head. "You're making it impossible to save you. Let me take you away from here. We can go to Oregon, or California – anywhere where the natives don't know us. Carlisle can deliver our baby without the pressure of some old treaty hanging over us. I can't do this Summer. I know what I promised, but I lied. I can't let you die." He's hurting me with his hold on me, but not so much I can't take it.
"I'm not going anywhere. My... our baby will be delivered here, and I'm going to live through it. I'm not going to be a vampire, Stefan." I feel his lips, his teeth on my neck, and I know he's thinking about changing me even now. "If you do that, our baby will die. Probably slowly and painfully as it fights to get what it needs from me. If you did that, I would know you never loved me."
"I could command you. I could make you accept the change. I would hate myself for doing it, but not as much as I would if I let you go." His voice is small and timid,unlike I've ever heard. "Don't leave me Summer. Love me enough to stay with me."
He knows my weakness, and I know it's desperation that makes him use it. "Your command would eventually wear off. Would you leave me like Sulpicia? Would you have me wake up after years, in a situation I can't stand? How many would I have killed before I remembered you commanded me to become a murderer? I love you enough to always be the woman you love. Change me and you change who I am. The Volturi don't love like we do, and who's to say the Cullens won't become as cold and heartless over time? I don't want to find out in fifteen hundred years that my life is nothing more than a few fragments of memory and thousands of murders!" I've never made it so personal. I love him so dearly, but I couldn't be him. "Stefan, I'm in love with the man you are. And even though I can accept the monster within you, I'm not strong enough to take that on myself. If this kills me, you have to let me go. Our baby will need you."
He moves, quickly getting out of bed. I catch a glimpse of his face contorted in pain and rage and fear. He tears out the door, and I hear him from a distance screaming, wailing wordlessly, and all I can do is cry. I'm alone in the room, and I expect that soon Vladmir, Carlisle, or even Bella will be in to babysit me. A small knock precedes one I've seen only glimpses of – Jasper. He slips in and closes the door. With his hands shoved in his pockets he wanders around the bed and takes a seat on the far side, away from the door. I look at his blond curls and his pale face with full, sensuous red lips. He smiles then and I feel suddenly calm.
"Your husband is quite distraught." His southern accent is evident in the way he says just those few words. "Vladmir and Edward are trying to calm him. Bella went to try to smooth things over with Jake and the Quileutes, and Carlisle has been called to the hospital on an emergency. Esme and my wife are entertaining the little one at the cabin. Nessie really wants to come and spend time with you and 'talk' to your baby." His smile seems infectious, and I smile a little myself even though I'm worried about Stefan and all the drama of the day. He looks from my face, down to my protruding stomach, where the baby is still doing it's best to get comfortable again.
"May I have your permission to touch you?" The way he talks is enchanting, giving two syllables to the word I, and drawing out the other words like fluffy cotton. I nod, even though I'm not really sure I want him to put his hands on me. He stands again and leans over my stomach, reaching out tentatively, he places his hands at the highest peak. He laughs. "Your young'in wants to protect it's mama! It's all fired up in there wantin ta take a big ole bite outta some werewolf hide." His cool hands caress over my stomach, and I watch as the lumps and protrusions calm. It feels good, and the baby settles as his hands pass over me.
He looks at me, even as his hands caress over me. "It's my gift that lets me feel the emotions of others. I can influence them as well. I think you've got a similar ability to mine. I can feel that pull you have, it's so strong when you're upset. Just keep it nice and calm darlin, you don't wanna upset this little one in here." He bends and places his lips on my stomach, kissing it in an oddly loving gesture. "The one you carry has a strong spirit. I feel courage and patience, and so much love for you and it's daddy. Shh, time to sleep little one, let your mama rest." He whispers right to my stomach, as if the baby can hear him.
He presses his ear to me and his smile is angelic. "You're baby's singing. Not with words or voice, but with soul. It's beautiful! I can't wait to meet this one. Can I come back and spend time with your little one?" He looks like he requires permission when no one else ever bothered to ask.
"Any time you want, Jasper. I think the baby likes you; it feels like it's resting. I think I need to do the same now that I don't feel like I'm being used as a soccer ball." He walks back around the bed, then places his hand again on me.
"So sweet... so precious." He then runs his cool hand over my forehead, brushing the hair back and looking down at me. "I'm almost glad y'all don't want to become one of us. You already have such a strong pull, if it got any stronger, no man would be able to resist you." He kisses my forehead and looks at me as if he'd like to do more. "Your husband's coming back, y'all take care." He pats my stomach lightly and is out the door before I can say anything more.
Almost on cue, Stefan comes back in. He hurries to my side and wraps his arms around my head and shoulders. "I'm so sorry. I don't want to fight with you, and I don't want to upset you. He presses little kisses all over my face.
"I'm sorry I said such horrible things to you too. You're not a monster, and I should never have said anything about your life before. I think the restlessness is making me mean; and listening to that woman today didn't help. I love you so much. I don't want to fight either." His hands, his scent, and the calm Jasper left behind are working on me. "Put the sign up and close the door, please."
He looks confused. I look up at him, making my wishes known with my eyes. "We can't! You've got a broken rib, it could hurt you!"
"I want you, my love. I need to feel you. Don't worry about hurting me, the baby likes it too." He looks like he isn't as comforted as I am thinking about the baby being aware of us making love. "I'm sure it feels like being rocked to sleep while all my hormones make us both feel good. If I feel good, the baby feels good, and there's nothing that feels better than making love with my husband." He undresses. He is slow and careful, but I don't want slow and careful. I move against him, urging him to be the passionate man I love. When I feel our beautiful release, it's a little harder drawing in the panting breaths, but it feels so good I don't care. Almost immediately afterward, I fall asleep.
It surprises me how long I sleep. I'm out for two days. I remember hearing my baby singing such a happy and joyful song. Once awake I'm almost immediately shocked that Carlisle has put a feeding tube down my nose. I didn't even wake up for it, but now that I'm up it's got me feeling almost panicked. Stefan moves to comfort me and explains that it was necessary since I was sleeping through meals.
"Your blood pressure dropped dangerously low and you haven't even been up to use the bathroom. Either the baby's taking everything you have, or your kidneys are shutting down. Summer, this isn't normal, even by vampire standards. There's something happening here and we just don't know what it is."
"I'm fine, Stefan. I actually feel... pretty good. The baby sang to me the whole time I was asleep. I feel really good. I feel like I could make love to you again." He looks shocked at that.
"Summer..."
"I know, I know, all the tubes are a turn off, I'm not going to pressure you, I look like a beached whale wrapped in an octopus, I'm sorry I mentioned it."
He groans. "You are the most beautiful, alluring, sexy woman alive, and I would gladly make love to you. But we need to find out what's wrong. We still have ten days, and you look ready to pop now."
There is a tiny tap on the door, and it reminds me of Jasper coming to visit. Instead it's the little one, looking over her shoulder as if she's sneaked away. "I wanted to see the baby before it comes out to play." She brazenly climbs up into the bed to sit beside Stefan who gazes at her in wonder. It's finally getting through to him that he's going to have a child just like her. She turns and wraps her arms around my stomach and hugs me, like hugging a beach ball. She giggles and kisses it, like Jasper had days ago. Her little hands move over me as if she's trying to locate a part of the baby, and when she's satisfied she concentrates.
She mimics Jasper again when she places her ear against my belly and grins. "I like them very much! Your babies sing so pretty! I'm going to play with a little girl, but I'm going to marry Jake so I can't play with a little boy." I hear someone calling her name, and she kisses my belly twice, hops off the bed and runs out the door. Stefan looks like he's been charmed, and he puts his own ear to my stomach to listen.
"I'm not sure, but I think I hear something. It sounds like chords played under water."
"Stefan..." I'm feeling just a little bit bewildered as I think about the little girl's chatter. "Stefan, did she say she likes them very much? And did she say baby's singing, or babies singing?"
"She's just a little girl, what difference does it make?" He places his ear back on my tummy and grins. "I think I really do hear something."
"Stefan, she heard the singing days ago. She's better attuned than anyone else seems to be. What if she's not just messing up her esses, what if there's more than one baby?" His eyes meet mine over my mountainous belly.
"My God! Carlisle!" The loudness of his voice isn't much more than normal, but I know the doctor will easily hear him. In seconds he's here, and suddenly we all have to take into account the idea that we could be having twins.
"It would explain a lot of your problems. And it also messes up the due date and the delivery date. Twins almost always come early." Carlisle has his hands on my stomach as if he could feel what was going on inside. I guess since x-rays and ultrasound don't penetrate, it's as good as anything else he could try. "I probably need to get an x-ray just to see if there are two separate chorions and amniotic sacs. Not that an absence means anything, but even if we can't see what's happening inside, we should be able to see if there's two."
They carry me to get the pictures, and I hate exposing the baby, or babies to radiation, but Carlisle assures me that it will have no affect on our child. "Nothing is getting through that shield, and even if it did, they could take it." Once I'm finished I'm carried back to bed. I have two visitors, and Jasper and Edward stand on either side of my bed, while Stefan cradles my head and shoulders against him.
They ask permission to touch me, and I giggle as it looks like I'm part of an old Star Trek show where Spock does a mind meld on some kind of creature that looks like a giant meatball. Thanks for the memory dad. Jasper smiles and speaks in his soft southern lilt. "I'm sensing a lot of happiness. There's calm and peace and a lot of anticipation. It feels different than the last time I was here after the Quileute visit."
Edward looks suddenly serious and pulls his hands away from me. He looks at Stefan and nods without saying a word. Carlisle comes in and we wait for the official word. "It's twins. I can't believe I missed it, it's something I always look for in any pregnant woman. Either it was hidden or I confess I could have been distracted. But we know now, and I'm moving up your delivery date by two or three days. I'm going to be checking you every hour when you get closer, to decide. "
He pulls out the x-ray and holds it up. "I did find something very unusual. You had a broken rib in this one, and in this last shot, you don't. You can see where it's healed, but it's not broken. This should have taken at least six weeks. I've seen this kind of healing among the Quileuts, but I can't explain what happened here."
I don't know how it happened either, maybe the first x-ray was wrong. All I know is that I feel good. Stefan has my head cradled in his lap and I look up at him and smile. "Two babies! This is better than I ever imagined. I love you so much!" He looks worried, but he kisses me and strokes my hair. For a few minutes it's absolutely quiet.
I don't expect the disturbance that happens next. In fact I think it takes us all by surprise. He comes around the bed, past everyone congregating in the room. Stefan moves almost protectively, obviously sensing something is wrong. I've never seen anything like it and I hope I never do again. He's crying! But of course they can't cry, still the tears of blood run down his face. We all stare in shock as Vladmir comes to my side.
"What are you thinking?" He looks right at me; not past me or through me like so many others; right at me through his bleeding red eyes! "One for you and one for him? This isn't a cause for celebration! Two babies means twice the destruction when they're born. How can you be happy about this? Summer, get them out of you now – Please." His deep, rich voice is broken and ragged. "It's one for him, and one for me, to hold as we stand over your corpse. Don't do this... please." He quickly takes my hand in his cold grasp as his bloody tears run down and stain the collar of his peach shirt.
He cries – sobs actually, in front of all the witnesses who are too stunned to intervene. He collapses to his knees and stares at me eye to eye. "You married my brother... my partner... my best friend. He loves you more than his own life. But I love you too!" He kisses my hand. "We are family. We are bonded; joined together and united permanently. You can't expect to tear yourself away from us and have us continue like it never happened. You're tearing us apart. Take them out of you... let us save you. Stay with us – forever. We love you and we need you – I need you. Nothing has ever hurt this badly – nothing. How can I watch someone I love; someone so good, and compassionate, and loving, and funny, and talented, and... pure...how can I watch you go down this road and never come back? It's not a fair trade, even if there are two. I'm begging you, let us take them out now. They're like us, they'll be fine. Please Summer... don't die... I can't do this." He falls back on his knees, still clutching my hand. He kisses my palm.
All hell breaks loose when Edward leaps at him, tearing my hand away. Stefan moves quickly to guard my body with his own. Edward slams Vladmir into the wall so hard it crushes the plaster. "He wants to turn her – now!" He holds Vladmir effortlessly off the floor.
"Enough, you caught me... let me go, you're scaring her." He looks helpless pinned to the crumbling wall. "I'm sorry... I lost my head for a moment. Please, just let me go, I won't hurt her, I promise." Edward relaxes and Vladmir visibly struggles to straighten himself. He wipes his bloody face on his ruined shirt and smiles apologetically. Stefan moves slowly, laying my head on the pillow and putting his feet on the floor. When Vladmir pushes Edward aside and lunges for me, Stefan's ready and they collide before he can reach me.
Stefan is stronger and he uses that strength to shove him at the window with enough force to shatter the glass like an explosion. He glances my way before leaping out after him. I'm horrified and I stare at the window. I may be stunned, but the others are not. Carlisle barely raises his voice. "Emmett, guard the house, don't let Vladmir come back unless Stefan and Edward say it's okay." He works to gather the tubes and cover me. "Come on, we have to move her out of here."
"She can have my room." Edward helps to push the bed toward the door.
"No, your room has too much glass."
"Wait!" It's Jasper, and they all stop to listen. "Don't move her. There's really no place where she can be that we can't hear her and get to her. Glass, wood, or plaster, it's all the same to us, and all the rooms have an outside wall that can be breached. We can board up the window for now, and it won't be any problem to fix the wall. But you chose this room because it has a bathroom and it's close to the x-ray machine. Let's not panic, this is the best defensible spot. Keep her here and we'll guard her." He looks around the room. "Since you've already moved the bed, put it against that interior wall, just in case." They moved my things and soon I was facing the window as Jasper and Edward boarded it up. I was going to miss the sunlight.
"Let's leave the top panes uncovered since they're not broken." Edward smiles my way as they lower the plywood barrier. I think a 'thank you' to him as I gaze at the view of the gray clouds outside. Even before Stefan or Vladmir return I close my eyes. The noises in the room disappear, even the pounding of the nails to hold the plywood in place. I hear their voices instead, the voices of my twins, blending in perfect harmony as they sing to me of their love and joy. I know everything's going to be okay.