Lunar Ascension

Chapter 18: Now What?

Disclaimer: All things in the Twilight universe belong to Stephenie Meyer and her publishers. The song and lyrics belong to the band and their representatives. Any other copyrighted material included in this story belongs to their rightful owners. Cheers ma dears! Rated M

I throw this to the wind
But what if I was right
Well, did you trust your noble dreams
And gentle expectations to the mercy of the night?
The Night Will Always Win by Elbow

"Why?" Travis asked as I finally pulled off the highway and onto the hidden drive that led to the Cullen's home. "Why do you want to tell them alone?"

"Not them, just Jacob. We can tell the Cullen's together."

I think I'd known that he'd want to be part of being the bearer of good news, and I was fine with that. I just needed to tell Jacob alone, he was my alpha, he'd have questions, and there was the small issue of not being able to phase that had to be addressed. I didn't want Travis to have to hear the downside.

"That makes a little more sense."

"Glad you approve," I snorted, flashing him a smile.

"Just hurry, you know that one look at me and they'll start in on getting it out of me. I don't think I can hold it in for long. Especially if they set Nessie on me; that kid has the ability to make you talk with just one look."

"Just remember they're vampires. It always helps me." I lied, knowing full well I couldn't deny Nessie a thing.

"Easier said than done, beautiful."

"I know, had you told me six months ago that I would BFF's with the Cullen's I would have laughed at you and probably given you a smack for the effort."

Travis laughed, but it was the truth. While I was living in La Push I resented them. They'd moved and taken Jacob with them, which had once again left me under Sam's supervision. I knew Jacob hated leaving me behind, but after I'd left their new home in a less than dignified tantrum after accusing Carlisle of making me his guinea pig, it seemed like the only option.

It was almost terrifying seeing how different I was now. My whole life had changed. The Cullen's had welcomed me back, and I was actually starting to consider them an extended family. I was on speaking terms with Sam and Emily, I was in love with my imprint and I was pregnant. And all that was without noting the considerable personality transplant I'd endured.

I knew I was still me; I was just a little more tolerant and outwardly friendly now. When I said something sarcastic these days I got laughs rather than glares wondering whether I was being serious or not. It was actually kind of interesting to see people's perceptions of you change. Who knew that being more tolerant meant people would accept you for who you are? I sure has hell didn't but it would have been good to figure it out sooner.

It wasn't some miracle cure though. I still had my faults, and I still had some trust issues, but I was adopting the time heals all wounds theory. With each passing day I was beginning to trust them more and more, and that was all I could ask for.

"Okay, there's Jacob. I'll distract Bella and Nessie with the dogs, you do your thing."

"You're not familiar with the concept of patience are you?" I laughed, pulling up to the front of the garage, and eyeing him in my peripheral. I didn't think I would ever get used to just how excited he was about this.

"Well, it's not like we don't all need some good news about now."

"True."

Maybe he was right; maybe it would help. The mood in the house had been edgy, as we'd waited for something to happen. It was all we'd been doing for weeks. Waiting for word of this larger vampire group storming the grounds in an attempt to abduct Bella and I, waiting for the Volturi to send someone as their messengers because they'd figured out we knew, waiting for any sign that our lives were about to change drastically.

Not knowing was killing us, and poor Alice had been searching for anyone making decisions. She would often wander into the forest away from us to get a clearer look, but no one was making a decision, which meant her radio silence was making her a little more irritated than usual.

"You're right. Let's do this," I finally said, leaning over the console and pressing my lips against his. "Just remember Edward and Carlisle know, so don't let them trick you into saying anything."

Travis laughed jovially and climbed out of the Jeep. He met me on my side and walked with me as the dogs took off toward Nessie and Bella who were picking wildflowers and linking them together to make the worlds longest and most varied flower chain known to man.

Nessie's laughter could be heard clearly as Greg danced around her and tried to lick her cheek. She immediately discarded her flowers and set off letting the dogs chase her around. How they'd had the energy for it was completely beyond me. I was exhausted after our afternoon running along the beach.

Travis gave me a chaste kiss, slapped my ass, and took off toward the frolicking fun, leaving me on the sidelines with Jacob who was reclined on the field, his eyes on the only two women he'd loved in his short life.

"Hey, Jake," I offered dropping down into the grass beside him and leaning back on my hands. "Can we talk?"

"If I said no would it stop you?" he teased.

"Probably not," I mused sarcastically, smiling over at him. "Would you still say no?"

"Yes. But it just so happens I have nothing to do, so you're in luck. What can I do for you?"

Once again, I was unsure how to lead into the whole topic. When I just announced it, I felt like I was dropping a hot potato into someone's hands and watching them flounder. I just couldn't think of a more delicate way to approach it.

"Jake, I'm pregnant."

I saw his eyes go wide, before he turned his head slowly to look at me. His eyes flickered from my face to my stomach and back again, and he still didn't say a word.

"I know you have some wise crack in that repertoire of yours."

"I thought . . . You've always said . . ."

"That's all you've got?" I teased, pushing him gently. "Come on, I know you've got it in you somewhere."

He gave me his usual grin and shrugged.

"Holy shit, I've rendered you speechless. That never happens."

He rolled his eyes and let them move back to Nessie who was already on Travis' back with her arms wide open and eyes closed as though she was flying. She liked human speed sometimes.

"I'm really happy for you, Leah. It's actually kinda nice to see you this content."

If only it was that simple. Unfortunately, now I had to explain the small circumstance of not being able to phase. I wasn't as excited about the riposte for that little gem.

"Thanks, Jake, but there's something more."

"It's twins?"

"God, no!" I sputtered, panic closing my throat enough to make me struggle to draw in breaths. "At least I don't think so. Why would you say that?"

"Travis is a twin."

He was absolutely right, but I did know that twins skipped a generation. Well they normally did, this wasn't exactly a normal situation.

"Yeah well, we'll see I guess. Thanks for that, I hadn't even considered it," I said sarcastically bumping shoulders with him.

"So, what's the more then?"

I plucked some blades of grass and sat up running them along my finger. I was stalling and we both knew it. Jacob was actually showing some restraint and patiently awaiting my response as I thought of how to spit it out. It was actually harder with him than anyone else, because there was so much I needed to say, and I couldn't get past feeling like I was letting him down.

"Well . . . shit, I'm just gonna say this and I need you to hear me out before you say anything."

Jacob nodded, his interest obviously piqued.

"I can't phase. My body won't let me and from what Carlisle said, it's gonna stay that way until I have the baby. I feel utterly useless, because I also know that I need to be out there with you protecting our family, and I will only be a liability because I can't protect anyone from vampires in my human form. I'm so happy to be pregnant but I can't help feeling like I am sending you guys out there one man down. If anything happened to you guys I would feel responsible. I don't know what to do or how to help."

"You finished?" he grinned.

"I think that's about the crux of it, yes."

"Stop panicking. One wolf isn't going to make a difference, and I was debating even letting you fight to begin with . . ."

"But . . ."

"Let me finish," Jake said, with his hand up. "You're important to our pack, you're second in command and you're damn good at it, but you're also my friend and all this has become personal to you. I would rather you and Bella stayed away from all of this so we'd know you were safe. Yes, it blows that you're out of the game, and yes you're good at what you do, but this isn't going to be the deciding factor. There are plenty of us out there. You can't save everybody, Leah."

"I hate when you get all Alpha and logical on me," I sighed. "I'm just used to having that power behind me."

He gave me a chuckle and finally let his eyes gravitate back to Nessie. In all honesty that complete look of adoration he had when he looked at her used to freak me out a little, but having a deeper knowledge of what it all meant finally helped me understand. There were times when I would just look at Travis or watch him sleeping, completely in awe of who he was and that he even existed, and my heart would swell with the love I felt for him. It's how it worked, and I would never give that up.

"Do you want me to tell the pack? And Sam?"

"No, I think it would be better coming from me. Especially with Sam, but I appreciate the offer. Travis wants to break it to the Cullen's today. He's really excited."

Jacob laughed gently and stretched his arms above his head. He'd obviously found the hidden message in that statement. He hopped to his feet and offered me his hand, which I slapped away with a smirk.

"I'm not that pregnant," I mused, hopping to my feet with as much grace and dexterity as he had. "Try again in a couple months, I'm sure I'll be glad of the help then."

"And that'll take some getting used to."

"Sure will. So if you don't mind I think I'll enjoy me proficiency while I can. Oh and do you know how to call a family meeting in this place?"

Jacob raised his eyebrows, but pulled out his phone without argument. He sent out one text, and within seconds most of the Cullen's appeared from their corners of the house.

"Color me impressed."

"It's not what you know, it's who you know."

I shook my head and made my way around the group to where Travis was stood wide eyed, obviously as impressed as I was about the immediate appearance of the Cullen's in the yard. When Jacob gave me a nod I responded in turn as did all of the Cullen's.

"You're up, handsome," I whispered, wrapping my arm around his waist and smiling at the Cullen's who, other than Carlisle and Edward, looked completely confused as to why they were outside.

"We just wanted to let everyone know what's going on," Travis said proudly, after a deep breath. "Leah's pregnant."

If I thought my mom had been excited, she had nothing on the Cullen's. Bella and Rosalie were the first to approach me. They asked endless questions while the guys just seemed to slap Travis on the back as though it were a job well done. It took us hours to get free of them, and I was actually reconsidering Jacob's offer to tell the packs. I didn't think I could handle any more of this. We finally got to explain my body's reaction and the fact that I wouldn't be fighting, and like everyone else, they didn't seem to think anything more of it.

It turned into a celebration of sorts. Rosalie and Bella were happy to speculate on whether I was having a boy or a girl, and where we would stay, or where I would put the nursery. For a while it was nice getting lost in the girliness of impending motherhood. Unfortunately, the war brewing on the horizon continuously reared its ugly head. By the time it was over, I fell into bed fully dressed with my shoes on.

"That went well."

"Exceptionally," I muttered into my pillow.

"Are you happy?"

I rolled onto my side and looked at him. He was sat next to me, his long legs out straight and his back against the headboard. His eyes were trying to get a read on me. I wasn't sure what had given him the inclination to ask, but I knew he was serious.

I moved my body and let my head rest on his thighs as I drank in the view.

"Exceptionally," I said again grinning. "You?"

I watched him watch me; I could see the answer in his eyes. He was happy, but there was something there behind it, something he was worried about bringing up. I sat up slowly and straddled his thighs as I took his face between my hands. He'd silently watched my progress without so much as a twitch, but the moment I was close to him his arms circled my waist, and his bright blue eyes held mine.

"Talk to me, Trav."

I knew this change in mood wasn't about the baby. This was something he felt he needed to say but wasn't sure that I would like.

"I need to tell my parents, and – Zach."

"I know," I answered, leaning my forehead against his. It wasn't going to be easy telling Zach this happy news, and there was no way we could show excitement in our revelation, which was going to be difficult. The truth was, he didn't even know we'd progressed into being a couple. The last time either of us had spoken to him, the being just friends was still standing. In all truth I hadn't thought about him all that much since I'd stopped going to college. I felt terrible about it.

"You too, huh?" he asked.

"What?"

He gave a halfhearted laugh and pulled me against his chest, before burying his head in the crook of my neck.

"You haven't thought about him much either."

"No," I admitted. It had been over a month since I'd seen or even talked to him. I'd been so caught up in my bubble and waiting for all of this vampire crap to kick off, I'd been a little preoccupied.

"How the hell are we going to do this? It's too dangerous to go to Seattle, and I really don't want to do this over the phone. I don't mind telling my parents on the phone, but Zach . . . he wouldn't take it so well."

"You're not kidding," I agreed. I knew what could potentially happen should he find out any way other than face to face. "We could invite him out here. Give him directions to my mom's and pick him up there. It's not like any of this vampire stuff would be a shock to him."

"No, true. But he'd be kind of stuck here, no way to escape."

"Yeah and the last thing we need is all hell to break loose while he's here."

"But it's our only viable option right now."

I crawled off his lap and rolled to the side of him, he pulled me under his arm as we both stared at nothing. We didn't know how long this could go on. There was no way of knowing how long we'd be living out here or whether the danger would pass. The last thing either of us would want was for me to have the kid before we even got the chance to explain it to him.

"Your call," I said quietly. "We know what we can't do, now it's down to what we can and what's the easiest way of doing it."

"I feel like such a schmuck. I haven't called him in over a month."

"In our defense, things have been a little wild around here, between the vampires and the freaking out . . ."

"And the amazing sex."

"Yes. That too," I smiled. "We haven't had much time to think about anything."

Travis sighed so deeply I actually moved with the expansion of his lungs. I knew how he felt, I wasn't exactly excited to explain to my ex that I'd fallen in love with his brother and was currently carrying his child. When Travis shifted his weight, I looked around to see his phone in his hand.

"You're doing it now?"

"No time like the present. We'll tell him, then I'll call my parents, we don't want them doing it for us. They won't understand, and it'll be a huge mess. I learned my lesson about that a long time ago."

He was right. The sooner this was out in the open, the better. I stayed silent as he spoke with Zach, and it wasn't hard to hear the clipped tone that both of them used with one another. There was none of the camaraderie there'd been the first time I'd met Travis. I hated that I'd been the one to drive a divide between them.

Zach agreed to meet in La Push the next morning. He'd wanted to talk to me so he'd made a condition that I picked him up alone so we could talk on the drive. Travis didn't like it but agreed anyway and I could see that he was frustrated. When he finally hung up the phone, he curled around me and let his hand rest on my stomach.

I had so much I wanted to say to him, to apologize for, but I couldn't bring myself to say any of it, because to say it out loud was like apologizing for everything that had happened between he and I. I wasn't sorry for loving him, I couldn't be sorry for getting pregnant, and I wouldn't apologize for wanting to be with him for the rest of my life. It didn't leave me much else to say.

He fell asleep a little easier than I did, but it still took him a while. When I finally closed my eyes and let myself relax into him sleep took over, with a promise of a difficult day to follow.

A/N: So the Cullen's know, now all that's left to do is inform the Packs . . . And Zach! As you can imagine, Leah is a little worried about this. Not that I can't blame her. I can't imagine it would be a pleasant experience. ;)

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