Chapter Five

Ella's POV

"What do you mean 'there's a problem?'" I heard my husband growl from the seat next to me.

"Shh, calm down, Collin." I said, rubbing his arm comfortingly. "I'm sure Carlisle was just about to explain any minor problems he's detected." I tried to sound brave, but in truth, I was terrified.

My baby bump showed up seemingly overnight so the first thing we did was tell our family and come to the vampire doctor for a check up. We didn't really know what to go on so I wanted to make sure that the good doctor was informed right away.

We only have a few wolf girls to base my pregnancy on, but none of them were helpful.

Nessie's pregnancy had been two months with the triplets, but she is half vampire so I'm not sure if that affected it. Not to mention the fact that the two of them phase and the other is vampire-y.

Leah had only been pregnant for seven months with Madison Sophia Call (who shows no werewolf tendencies) and was pregnant for three months with their son Harry Lane Call who has already phased despite the fact that he's two. We rarely get to see the children though because Embry is a super overprotective parent.

As for Sam and his wife Emily, well, no one really knows because they left town right after the show-down with the School. They sent post cards of their four girls, but I can't ever tell them apart, so I just call them One through Four.

"Well, where do I start?" Carlisle said mainly to himself.

It was funny to see the human traits that the Cullens kept from their former lives.

Rose still flips her hair to be flirty. From what I've noticed of the vampire women, their hair will stay perfectly in place if they don't mess with it, so there is definite effort put into it.

Carlisle mutters to himself even when no one is around.

Edward pinches the bridge of his nose when irritated or annoyed.

Esme hugs like crazy, whether it be with humans, vampires, or werewolves.

Alice bounces up and down in excitement like a little child.

Emmett, well, he flexes his muscles whenever he passes a mirror or a pond of water. I'm not sure if this is a human tendency or he is proud of his vampire strength, though.

Jasper hasn't really shown any tendencies, but then again, I never really see him and when I do, he's trying not to attack the human-ish people in the room.

As for Bella, well, the girl would blush if she could. Still, its easy to notice when she's embarrassed because she looks down at the ground slightly.

"You could start with what you saw on the sonogram?" I half asked, trying to get the good doctor on the right path again before Collin phased in impatience.

"That's a very good place to start." Carlisle said with a genuine smile in my direction. Whatever the news was, it mustn't be good.

Dr. Cullen cleared his throat and pulled the x-ray like picture closer into the light so we could see it clearly.

"Wow." was all that Collin could say.

Our little baby was half grown. It was in a distinct shape that was fit for possibly a five month old fetus (I couldn't be sure though because I had taken Anatomy so long ago that I was merely guessing on the physical age of the baby inside me.)

"A boy?" I asked, not sure if I was seeing it correctly or not. Collin grinned in response to the news, though I knew that he'd be equally as excited if it had been a girl.

"That's where it gets complicated." Carlisle said with a frown.

"I don't understand." I said slowly, knowing Collin was too shocked to say anything. I usually did most of the talking for us, and as his imprint, whatever I wanted I got.

"See this little blob, right behind the fetus that you recognized?" Carlisle asked, pointing to a blotchy alien looking thing. "That is another fetus."

"Twins?" I asked, knowing that the pictures didn't match up, but knowing that my mind wasn't creative enough to come up with any other explanation. The second fetus was barely two months along, and I was surprised to be able to even recognize it at all.

"Fraternal twins." Carlisle said slowly, trying to see if Collin and I were following what he said.

"How…how is that possible?" My husband asked, finally recovering from his shock.

"One of your sons is already six months along due to his werewolf accelerated birth rate…" Dr. Cullen paused and I knew there was a 'but' coming. I was right. "But the other one, which may be another boy or could end up being a girl because right now its too early to tell, is only two and a half months along."

"Why are the children who phase accelerating the pregnancies?" I asked. It had happened with Nessie and with Leah, and now it was happening to me. "From what I know about the current wolves, they all had traditional nine month pregnancies."

"A wolf's job is to protect its' people from Cold Ones. Imprinting, and the children that occur because of it, is meant to create stronger future wolves." Carlisle said logically. "But, since the Cullens still live so close and we weren't around when the current wolves were born, they weren't affected, but their children are."

I frowned in confusion, glancing at Collin to see if he understood what this meant. His expression was blank, but I could see the fire in his eyes. Uh-oh.

"So this is the bloodsuckers' fault?" Collin growled. "Or mine?"

"So one twin will phase and the other one won't?" I asked, trying to keep Carlisle talking so Collin wouldn't go off and phase angrily in his confused state.

"Yes, but that's not the part I'm worried about." Dr. Cullen said, addressing the two of us as if we were small children. "Baby One will be delivered in roughly about a month, probably less."

"And Baby Two?" I asked, afraid for the answer.

"I'm afraid he or she will only be three and a half months along at that point." Carlisle said slowly and a tear slid down my cheek when I got what he was implying. He continued anyways, mainly for Collin's benefit. "In order to deliver the first baby, we'll have to deliver the second one as well."

Dr. Cullen hesitated and left the inevitable conclusion hanging in the air above our heads.

I gripped Collin's hand and he stared at me frantically, finally understanding what Carlisle meant. Another wet tear slid down my face and I wiped it away before I could actually start bawling.

"Just say it." I begged. "Please, I need to hear it out loud."

"The second baby won't make it. He or she will be too premature to survive and will die the second we cut the cord." Carlisle stated, confirming my fears.

An idea occurred to me, but I knew it was too dangerous to even consider…still, I couldn't help but wonder.

Collin saw my expression and growled. "Don't be stupid, you come first Ella."

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle asked, noticing the expressions on both our faces and Collin's little outburst.

"I'm not letting my children die." I said stubbornly. "Either one of them."

"You don't actually plan to carry the second child to full term, do you?" Carlisle asked, his mouth gaped open in surprise. It took a lot to surprise a vampire as old as him so I felt special.

"I do." I stated. "Just be careful when you take out Baby One so you don't take Number Two with him." I said calmly. "Its easy enough to do."

"As your doctor, I can't recommend this, Ella." Carlisle warned sternly. "The risks to you and the fetuses is too great for you to even consider it…"

But I wasn't listening. My mind was already made up. I was going to save my babies if it killed me.