Chapter 24: Seeing Double

"I'm sorry Alice," I said as we walked into the house. Athenadora was slung over Jake's human-form shoulders, weakened from the blood loss. Apparently, I had taken more of her than she had anticipated. Alice looked up from the computer screen, her fingers still furiously typing. She flashed me a sympathetic smile, "Me too, I should have understood why you were mad. Carlisle!" she yelled, as if she needed to, "She's here."

"You told them already?"

"Yep," she answered, still clicking away. "Not about the vision though. It wasn't coming in very clear to me. You should show them."

Jake placed her gently on the couch. It was lucky that she was so out of it, I'm sure that she would have objected thoroughly to a wolf carrying her, not to mention the smell. Carlisle came swiftly down the stairs carrying a couple bags of blood from the storage upstairs. He came to her side, in doctor form, assessing his patient. Her body lay limp, her eyes glossed over, but still responding to stimulus. "Athenadora, due to our dietary habits and our treaty with the wolves, I cannot allow you to hunt here, but I do have human blood," he said holding up the bags for her to see. She didn't seem to object. He punctured a small whole in the plastic and let the blood drip on to her lips. Her tongue darted out to catch the droplets and she was soon through the first bag and on to the second. Her stony face began to show signs of animation and her eyes were flashing crimson and clear again. She seemed unaware, or maybe she just didn't care that we were all staring at her. She was indeed beautiful, not like Rosalie, but more of a natural beauty. She looked older than the rest of my family. Her human form appeared to be more around the age of forty. Her auburn hair cascaded in shiny waves flowing down her back. The color oddly complemented her vampire shade of blood-red eyes. Her skin was, of coarse, the standard eerily white capturing the light as if hoarding if for itself. Her features were of the old world style, a more pronounced jawline and large, expressive eyes. Her eyebrows were slightly thick for her face and her lips were a little exaggerated as well. Her frame was strong for a woman. Her shoulders were angular and proud, allowing her curves to fall effortlessly below her torso. She sat up, taking down the third and final bag on her own.

"Are you feeling better?" Esme said kindly.

"Yes, your hospitality is quite gracious," Athenadora said without smiling. She seemed oddly stern for someone who expressing gratitude. She was forcing herself to try to appear confident, but was in fact nervously scanning the room, her eyes lingering hatefully on Jake. "Where is he?"

"To whom are you referring?" Carlisle inquired.

"You know, the other one," her eyes still darting on high alert.

"Ah, you must be speaking of our friend, David," Carlisle said, a delicate smile graced his lips, "Surely you must know of his sleeping habits?"

She seemed slightly insulted by his tone, "Yes, I am aware of their inability to be in the sunlight. I was curious as to where he was resting."

"Yes of coarse," Carlisle replied with a slight bow of his head, "We have prepared a space for him in the wine cellar beneath our home." She seemed satisfied with this answer. And rose cautiously to her feet.

"I have delivered a message to the young half-breed," she said coolly, "I do not have much time to remain in your company."

"Of coarse," Carlisle said, stepping to the side to allow her passage to the door. "I'm sorry to see you leave so soon, I'm sure that David will regret missing a chance to formally meet you."

She stopped short of her destination, her eyes twinkled with curiosity, "Is that so?" Her mind was winding in thought. "Well, I suppose that Cauis will not miss me until morning..."

"You are welcome in our home as long as you would like to stay," Carlisle said with a wave of his hand, casting a quick look to Jacob who was standing on full alert in the corner. Athenadora seemed tense, herself. She weighed the options for a moment and sat back down on the couch. The room fell silent, she didn't seem to notice, her gaze was lost on the wall opposite her.

My parents entered the room from the back door, my father obviously ahead of my mom, in a protective stance. I saw his eyes assessing the situation and possible danger. I rolled my eyes, "It's okay dad, she came to help us."

"Help you?" her voice was thick. Alice's clicking stopped abruptly. She was instantly by my side. "Warn you, yes, but not to help you," her voice was hard and cold. "I thought it only pertinent that you realize the danger that you are threatening to unleash with mingling with the other species."

"But you, you," I stammered, confused by her standoffish tone, "You let me drink from you and showed me what happened to that vampire with Aro, I thought, that you understood what was going on?"

Her expression did not change in the least, "I do not seek to understand you, or your unconventional family."

I exchanged glances with my father who was scanning her thoughts. "Well then," I said in an equally cool tone, "If you do not wish to understand us, then why, may I ask, have you come? And more importantly, how did you know that David had joined us?"

Icicles could have formed beneath the frigidness of her jaw. Her eyes narrowed, "That, half-breed, does not concern you," her teeth snapped at the completion of her sentence.

My father moved to interrupt, but I was too quick, "Why did you chose me then? You know, to deliver your little message," I said snidely, matching her inflection.

She hesitated as if deciding if she was going to answer or not, "Since your father will surely be able to pull this from my mind anyway, there is no use fighting it. You were the only one accessible to me, I only have the ability to possess human minds, not those of our own kind. It seems that your human half is susceptible to my talents," a thin smile coiled on her over sized lips. "And, I also used you as my medium because I was sure that I would be able to easily destroy you in the even that you attacked me."

I was fighting back the anger. She was so pleased with herself, so haughty and proud. The possession had not bothered me before I realized that she was doing it maliciously and with only her own well-being in mind. I snarl escaped my lips before I could stop it.

"Temper, temper," she taunted, "I was, after all, only trying to help." An evil grin stole the beauty from her face, replacing it with hideous undertones. Jacob moved to my side. Sandwiched between Alice and Jake, my anger trickled down, weakened by my company.

"If you are going to continue to hassle my family, I will be most apologetic to have to ask you to leave," Carlise said calmly.

"I do not wish harm to any members of your family, Carlisle. I appreciate your candor in allowing me to stay. I wish to speak to David and I will certain use the necessary tact to ensure that it happens." Her eyes fell respectfully to the floor.

"Very well, come on Nessie, I need to speak to you upstairs," Carlisle said softly. I followed my grandfather up the stairs, but not with out glaring over my shoulder at the nasty little smile she was casting at me. We reached the hospital room. Carlisle held the door for me and shut it behind us.

"I am interested to see the vision that she showed you," he said gaging my response.

"Oh, of coarse. It will only take a second, it is a little scary," I said reaching for his hand.

"Yes, I'm sure that it is upsetting, its not troubling too much though, is it?" he asked with great concern.

"No, I'm just glad to have everyone else to sort it out with," I answered, "Ready?" He took my hand and neatly laid out the scene that Athenadora had shared with me through her blood. I took care to denote the details of the scenery and to accurately convey Aro's response to the vampire who had exchanged blood with the member of the other species. I left him with a hauntingly vivid picture of the bright green eyes turning to ash.

"Very frightening," he said with a shudder. "It makes sense that Aro is weary of the other species and what could happen if his enemies joined forces with him. They are obviously stronger than we are, despite their inability to withstand the sun. Athenadora may not realize the repercussions of her actions. If she is truly seeking to warn us, she has done her leader a great injustice by giving us this information. I am very curious to understand her motives. I am hoping that when David rises we will be able to sort this all out. It seems that she has some reason to deter Aro from wiping out the other species, but she seems to believe that Aro has the power to do so. I, on the other hand, feel that Aro has greatly overstepped his position. The Volturi stands little chance of survival against these ancients. And now that they have been provoked... I fear the worst."

I sat and listened to his thoughts and ideas on the matter, trying to think of reasons that Athenadora would want to save David. It seemed very unlikely that she knew him or that they had any connection. Before I could get much further in my thought process, Carlisle changed the subject.

"Well, enough of that," he said shaking his head. "We also need to talk about you. Did you feel any effect from her venom? I was concerned when Alice said that you had drank from her."

I shook my head, "Nope, nothing at all, just the vision."

"That is certainly good to hear. I'm happy to know that our venom doesn't hurt you, but I do wish that you would be more careful, who knows what could have happened..." he said gravely.

"I'm sorry," I said truthfully, "It all just happened so fast. I didn't really even consider it." I was a little ashamed of my lack of foresight. Luckily nothing had come of it.

"I also would like to check you out and see how things are progressing," he said, motioning to my belly. My fear and guilt dissipated as thoughts of my unborn child entered my mind.

"Oh good, I'd like to spend some time thinking about something else besides that woman," I said shrewdly. "Can Jake come too? I'd like him to be with me for all of the baby stuff."

"Oh yes of coarse, Jacob!" he called through the door. But there was no need, my imprinter was already on his way up the stairs. Carlisle ushered him inside and clicked the door shut behind him. He motioned for me to get onto the bed, the same one that Alice had occupied during the Marius-induced trance. The sheets were soft and freshly changed. They made a pleasant crinkling noise as I laid my head back. Jacob took the chair beside me, entwining his fingers with mine. Carlise went instantly into doctor mode. He placed one icy hand gingerly over my abdomen, I wondered what his patients thought of his chilling touch. He moved his hand around, pressing firmly and seemingly listening, I imagined that a stethoscope wasn't really necessary. He stuck a thermometer under my tongue and continued to probe my belly. My temperature was at one hundred and two-- two degrees cooler than my normal running temp. He cocked his head to the side while he read the instrument, "Interesting," he mumbled. He checked my pulse, which according to his records prior to my pregnancy, was just a little bit slower. He nodded, and a tiny knot formed between his blond eyebrows.

I was used to him measuring me and checking all of my vitals, so it felt normal. But I was not prepared for what came next. Carlisle went into the storage closet at the back of the room and rolled out a machine with all sorts of wires and a blacked out screen. He plugged it into the outlet and it hummed to life. The screen flashed white once and returned to its blackened state with the addition of a faint glow.

"Lift up your shirt, Ness. I'm very curious to see if we will have the same conditions as your mother's pregnancy," he turned his back to us, adjusting the ultra-sound equipment. I pulled my shirt up and Jacob let out a gasp at the size of my stomach. I ran my hands over my belly, pressing into my flesh trying to instigate a kick or two.

"You're so big already," Jake said astounded.

I smirked at him, "Thanks," giving him a playful smack, "Thanks a lot, I feel huge too."

He chuckled, "You know what I mean."

Carlisle interrupted our banter, "Well Jake, remember how quickly Bella progressed? We don't really have a very clear guide of what's happening in there. I frankly, don't know what to expect. It seems that Nessie is larger than Bella was at this point, but this could be a whole different animal... Pardon my pun, of coarse," Carlisle said with a polite smile as he finished assembling the machine. "Ready?"

I nodded and his cold hands administered a copious amount of icy, goopy and rather disgusting jelly. "It helps with projecting the image," he said reassuringly. Jake stared hard at the screen as Carlisle drug the sensor over my belly. The screen instantly went white. He moved slowly over my skin and the black settled back into the image. "Ah, very good," Carlisle said with a beaming smile. "I was afraid that we weren't going to be able to see anything, like with your mother." I nodded, looking at the screen trying to decipher the blurred picture. He adjusted some of the knobs and resumed his scan. "There!" he said excitedly, "that is the spine." A tiny twist of vertebrae became distinguishable. It curved delicately against the wall of what Carlise said to be my uterus. He moved the instrument over my belly, pressing gently, "That is the head," he said pointing to a round object. "Wait, what's that?" he said, visibly puzzling over the image. He continued to move his arm over my stomach, staring at the screen, not bothering to fill us in on what the cryptic images meant. He frowned, "I don't believe it.."

"What?!" I said, my heart pounding in my chest, "What's wrong?" The anxiety shook me relentlessly as a million horrible thoughts spun through my mind weaving nasty webs.

"Nothing," Carlisle said with a gaping grin, "Nothing is wrong Nessie. You are having twins!" Before I could react, Alice barreled through the door, my parents on her heels.

"Twins!" she squealed in delight. "I didn't see that coming!"

"That's a first," my dad said with an eye roll. I looked to my mom. Her face was glowing.

"Oh baby, this is wonderful," she reached down and hugged me tight. I sent her a vivid image of our first meeting, when I was a baby. "I love you mom," I whispered.

"Oh, I love you too," if tears could have formed, this surely would have been the time. She returned to my fathers side, hugging him close, "Our baby is going to be a mom."

My dad smiled down at me, "All grown up, all ready." I laughed at his mock emotion.

"Shut up daddy," I said with a smile. The rest of the family filed into the room, everyone was oohing and awing over the ultrasound image. Carlisle had found the perfect angle producing a very clear image of two tiny beings wrapped up together. I squeezed Jake's hand, finding his gaze, "Can you believe it?" His face was a little pale, but he forced a smile and a nod.

"Carlisle," Jake said nervously, "Do you think, um... that Nessie, should have a natural, er... I mean..."
Carlisle saved him from his inability to articulate his fears, "We will keep a very close eye on her Jake, the babies seemed to be progressing rapidly, as soon as they are viable, we will most likely preform a C-section. It's standard procedure for twins, and I think it will work out well for Nessie. I would rather be in control of the situation, rather than waiting for it to happen."

Jake breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Okay, that's sounds good." He looked down at me, and ran his hand lovingly over my forehead. I could feel his emotions streaming into me, almost as if they were Jasper induced. I turned my gaze, just to double check, but once again, Jasper was lost in conversation with Alice. I smiled up at Jake. Emotions seemed to be colliding within me at lightening speed. Despite any unpleasant situations I was currently involved in, all I could think about was how much I loved Jake and how amazing it was that I was carrying his children. We sat staring at the screen together, lost in a private moment of awe.

Jacob squeezed my hand, "Are you hungry my love?"

"Come to think of it, I could certainly go for some Chinese..." I said with a smirk. He rolled his eyes, "I'll be right back."

My attention turned back to the screen, the tiny babies inside of me seemed to be squirming happily at the thought of Chinese food. I smiled, adjusting the sensor on my belly to get a better view. Carlisle had just finished taking the necessary measurements. "Well, Nessie, I'm going to give you another ultrasound in three days to try to get an idea of how fast they are growing. Until then, you just get some rest and take it easy-- doctors orders," he said with an authoritative smile.

I nodded, "Grandpa, what do you think they are?" I asked nervously still staring at the screen. I was grateful that Jake had left, I wanted to get a moment in with Carlisle without risking upsetting him.

"I'm not really sure, Nessie," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "I suppose that the measurements may give us some clues. They are obviously growing at an above average pace for human babies, but that doesn't necessary tell us very much. We have to factor in the rate that your body grows as well. The combination of yours and Jake's DNA could produce human babies theoretically. You are both half human, so you do carry the genes necessary for your children to be mortal humans. I'm not sure how likely that possibility is though. The fact that your uterus is visible and not like your mother's was is significant. I'm honestly surprised at this fact. I wasn't expecting that. The substance that your mother's uterus was covered with served as impermeable protection for you, but that was with a human mother, your tissue alone may provide enough of a barrier to safely host the fetuses. I am very curious myself and its more of a waiting game than anything. Only time will tell, I suppose. But try not to form any expectations yet. How are you feeling about the outcome?"

"I'm not really sure, to be honest," I said, "I just want them to be healthy I suppose. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. The thought of having human babies is a wonderful thought, except for..."
"Except for the fact that you would outlive them," Carlisle said quietly finishing my sentence for me.
"Yes. That and being raised by a family of vampires. I can only assume that they would want us to change them, how could they not? Could you imagine being in a family of immortals and knowing that you were the only one that was going to die someday? I mean look at what that did to mom."

My dad was listening to the conversation and a sad look came over his face at my comment about my mother. He looked as if he was going to speak, but I guess he thought better of it because he just turned his attention back to Alice and Jasper.

Carlisle nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, I suppose that would be difficult. I don't have a concrete answer for you Nessie, I guess that we will just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we need to concentrate on keeping you and those babies healthy. Why don't you head back to your room and get some rest. Jake should be back before too long and we only have about two hours before sunset. I'm sure that you will want to be there when our guest speaks with David."

"Thanks grandpa," I said giving him a hug. For a moment I felt like a little girl again, without a care in the world. It was fleeting, I looked into his amber eyes, I knew he could see the fear written on my face. He pulled me back into his arms.

"Its going to be okay, you'll see," he flashed me a gorgeous smile and released me. "Get some rest."

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***Special thanks to Bob who has remained faithful in reading and reviewing