I'm going to be updating all my stories around this time :)

Fresh Meat

It's what we've been calling moving day. All of us were moving into the big house today to carry out with the plan we made. To say that the family was on edge was an understatement and things were just about to get worse with the lot of us being under the same roof.

There were still many other things we had to do before fully moving in. Esme and Rose were working hard on fixing up the small guest room for Lizzy right next to Rose and Emmett's room. Carlisle was working on fixing his office as a hospital room for my delivery. He, along with Edward, has immersed himself in research and methods that might help make my pregnancy and delivery much smoother.

Lastly, Edward and I had to fix up and restock our house to accommodate the pack coming to New Hampshire. Jacob had gotten in touch with Sam to explain the situation and request that a few pack members come to help out. Sam himself was unable to come, but he assured us that he would send us four special people. Jake wouldn't say who they were, and I'm not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

All of the guys helped out in building a couple of guest rooms in our basement and making the living room into a spare room. Edward put a padlock on our door, not that it would stop the wolves, but it would send them the message to keep out. They probably didn't want to go in there anywhere knowing what went on in there. Jacob and Emmett went to pick up the wolves after school and we were all waiting for their arrival.

"Hey, Esme." I walked, more like wobbled, into the kitchen. "Do you need any help with dinner?"

She gave me a warm smile. "No, Bella. But please try to eat this, you are looking paler than usual." She handed me a cut up apple.

"I'll try." I sat at the island in the kitchen and watched her as I took a small bite. She eyes me warily, but continued about the kitchen. She was making a huge feast for the pack as a way to thank them. They were having steak and potatoes.

Watching her cook, being a normal mom and wife, I was reminded of something I've been meaning to ask her for a while now.

"Uhm, Esme?"

"Yes, Bella dear."

"Edward told me that when you were human, you were pregnant at a point. I know you lost the baby, so if this bothers you at all, please stop my intrusion." I bit my bottom lip.

"Oh darling, that was only something that lead me to a bigger opportunity. In no way, shape or form will this bother me at all. Please, ask away."

She gave me a small smile for encouragement.

"Were you ever… scared when you found out you were pregnant? Or during your pregnancy?"

"I believe that all women are scared during some point in their pregnancy. I had a friend named Carrie who always wanted to be a mom and was looking forward to it when she finally got married to a good friend of ours, Curtis. Never did I think she would be scared to death when she found out she was pregnant." She smiled a little. "She was scared Curtis would leave her, or that he wouldn't be happy about her being pregnant earlier than they had planned. And she had nothing to worry about. Elizabeth was a beautiful baby."

As much as I loved the story, it was not the answer I was looking for. My face must have shown my discomfort, because Esme quickly called me out on my thoughts.

"Is that what you meant, Bella?"

"Not really." I took a deep breath. "I know that there is no problem with Edward, because he accept the baby, but I meant being a mom. Did you think you would ever screw up, or be a bad mother?" My voice closed up a little bit and it made my words catch in my throat.

"Oh dear…" Esme embraces me and I allow her to. As she hugs me gently, I let a few tears fall. Maybe I'm just being hormonal, but this was something that has been bothering me for a long time. I wasn't sure if I was up to being a mother.

"Bella, you need to trust in your own instincts. You need to trust in yourself, that you will be a great mother and that your child will love you. It's only a matter of time before you begin to feel that immense pull towards the little creation you have inside you." She kissed the top of my head. "You'll do fine, I know it."

I smiled and hugged her with all my might.

Not a good idea.

I automatically felt sick to my stomach. I pulled away from Esme suddenly, running as fast as I could around her to the sink. I chucked up my almost empty stomach and slumped to the floor. Esme was there, pulling back my hair and rubbing my back with assurance. I wasn't sure how long I would be able to last until the baby was ready to be delivered.

"Bella?" Oh no. It was Edward.

Esme moved to the side and Edward took her place. He wiped the tears from my eyes and carried me to the couch. He laid me down and let me put my head on his lap. He flitted his hands over my hot and sweaty face.

"Bella, I'm not sure about-"

"Please. Let's not have this conversation now." He sighs, but doesn't press the subject.

Lately, Edward has been opposed to the idea of me actually having this baby. Rosalie told me that he has been looking into research to get rid of it and when I asked him about it, he didn't exactly deny it. I know he doesn't want to see me hurt, but I don't want to not let this baby live. He is too important to me, they both are.

When Carlisle came home, he put me on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy. I know t will just suck for the rest of these three weeks. I've been avoiding Edward's eyes the entire afternoon and I was just looking forward to some distractions when the pack got here. I was due for a checkup with Carlisle in a couple of days and I was too nervous to think of anything else.

Edward was coming back from getting me some water when the mob of people came in.

The pack was loud and rambunctious as usual, but the faces I saw put a huge smile on my face. They all said hello to all the Cullens before laying their eyes on me. Quil was at the front of the line, with his little bush of curly car on the top of his head. He gave me a huge smile after gawking at my huge stomach. Seth came in as well, with Embry and two new kids I didn't know. They were the only quiet ones, which didn't matter because the others made up a good amount of noise.

At first, I was nervous at them seeing me how I was. I wasn't at all dressed for any guests, with sweats and an oversized t-shirt to fit my enormous belly. Would they be angry? Would they be disgusted? Would they not want to help? All of those questions quickly disappeared from my mind, thanks to Quil, Embry and Seth.

"BELLA!" They all shouted at the same time and began to hurl themselves at me with their open arms. I laughed and shook my head when I felt a pain in my lower stomach. I clutched it and looked up in time to see Edward gently stopping their advances.

"I don't think Sam or Jacob told you the whole story yet." He chuckled a little giving them all a small hug and shaking the hands of the other two we didn't recognize.

Jacob cleared his throat awkwardly as Lizzy's bus. "Uh, I'll be right back." He ducked out the door and out of sight. I wonder what that was about.

"Well Bella," began Embry, "we've missed you down in Washington." He smiled.

"I've missed you guys too." I saw the three of them cringe at my voice, and I looked down, embarrassed.

"These are fresh meat," said Quil. I tried so hard to hold back my laugh so I wouldn't feel pain, but I couldn't help it. I had to giggle a little at that.

The "fresh meat", as Quil called them, were looking around anxiously, their eyes darting to all the corners of the room. One of them was tan skinned, just like all the other Quiletes, with short hair and lots of muscle. The other was a little lighter skinned, taller than the first, and no hair at all. The second looked a little too old to be hanging out with this crowd, but I don't judge. The first was younger looking, probably 14 or 15.

"Guys, this is Tyler," the younger one, "and Vince," the older one. Tyler gave us all a shy wave and Vince gave us a serious nod. I can see how these two will work already.

The attention was quickly taken away from the two after the door opened and in walked Lizzy and Jake. Everyone's eyes flitted to them, including the pack, Lizzy automatically took refuge behind Jake's leg. I smiled softly, but then I noticed Jake's huge forehead breaking out in sweat. What is his problem? Emmett interrupted me before I could ask.

"This is my daughter Elizabeth," he patted her head. "Lizzy, these are Jake's friends from where we used to live."

"Hi," she said softly and buried her head back in Jakes leg. He looked down at her with a loving expression.

"No way!" Quil started jumping up and down like a lunatic, with a huge smile on his face like he just found out we're hiding candy in the kitchen. He pointed at Jake and opened his mouth to say something else.

Jake looked up and all the color drained from his face. He looked as if he saw a ghost, but it didn't stop him from giving Quil the death glare. Soon all the others had smiles on their faces as well.

"Yes! I imprinted. Get over it." He huffed, picked up Lizzy and sat next to me on the couch to watch TV. All the other guys snickered silently and sat around the floor with us.

Embry quickly grabbed the remote from my hand and changed the channel to some random baseball game. I gave him a glare that he didn't see, but let it slide. I wasn't really watching the boring sitcom anyway. They all started hooting and hollering at the game in no time.

This is going to be an interesting few months.

During a commercial, they all seemed to come back to business. "So will someone please tell us why in the Lord's great name we are here?" Quil turned his whole body to face me and the others quickly followed his lead.

I looked to Edward across the room. He gave me a little smirk and a reassuring nod. I took a deep breath and dropped my feet to the floor. I didn't look up from the floor as Jacob helped me to stand up.

I let the blanket fall from my body and I finally looked up at the pack.