Chapter 16

Bella's POV:

We walked back to a tent that Emmet and Jasper had set up for me. Since I've been here, I've taken two blows to the heart – first Edward and Leah and now Jacob. I had enough and I wanted to go back home. Gabriel zipped shut the tent when we were inside and I was surprised at the size of it. A small bedroom set could fit perfectly in here.

His arms wrapped around mine from behind and I turned around and to look up at him, tears still fresh in my eyes.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" I asked.

The look on his face told me he didn't want to.

"I mean, the Cullens are safe now, and yet, we set camp here? Why?"

"Bella," he murmured softly, "we'll be leaving soon, at the first light of day. The wolves have finished off the vampires and everyone is safe."

I didn't buy it for a minute.

"What happened at the beach?" I demanded.

"I made love to the most beautiful woman in the world" he said, smiling as he pulled me closer.

I pushed myself off him showing him I wasn't fucking around. He took a deep breath and walked to the other side of the tent, taking off his jacket and tossing it to the air mattress. With his hands on his hips, he turned around and raised his head to look at me.

"I came here to help the wolves in battle and we're still here because you're about to give birth, Bella. What I saw in the beach, was our son."

"What?"

"I couldn't leave you alone knowing that you would need me there with you. So I brought you with me."

I was having the baby tonight? Shivers ran all along my spine. I knew it would be soon, considering how fast he's grown but tonight?

He walked up to me, talking hold of my hand and pulling me towards the bed. My thoughts were everywhere. I felt like my life had taken a turn somewhere and I found myself warping through time. Everything moved so fast, ever changing along the way. When would it stop? When would it stabilize?

"Tell me what you're thinking" he whispered into my ear.

"I don't really feel comfortable out here, surrounded by vampires with heightened senses, and extraordinary hearing" I said, and he looked up to the tent's ceiling and within seconds, rain began to fall in a downpour outside, soundproofing the tent inside.

"Is that better?" he murmured.

"Are you sure you're not God and I'm not the Virgin Mary or something?"

He roared in laughter.

"No, Bella. I'm not God and you're certainly not a virgin, he said rubbing my stomach."

"How'd you get the beds and the tents?" I asked curiously.

"Those didn't come from me. I believe they came from a nearby Walmart. You'd have to take it up with Esme and Alice."

I stared ahead at nothing, letting the sound of the falling rain soothe me. My mind went back to Edward. Though time hasn't really had a chance to work its healing, I knew it would be hard, if not impossible to forget him. Seeing him standing there earlier almost made me want to take him by the hand and run off with him, but so much has changed in such little time. No matter whether he wore his heart on his sleeve, to say that he didn't think foul of me was a lie.

I was beginning to feel a dull pain making its way from deep inside my groin. It was tolerable for now but I knew it would get worse very soon. I shifted my weight a little.

"Are you all right?" he asked lifting his hand off my stomach.

"For now" I said.

We laid very still, both lost in thought.

"What do you feel for me?" he asked curiously and I was taken aback by the directness of his question.

"Lie to me if you have to" he whispered.

I turned around, laying flat on my back staring at him. Such a simple question yet such a difficult one to answer. Did I care for him? Yes, I did. Did I love him? I wasn't sure if what I felt for him was love. I wasn't sure if his wondrous abilities are what really captivated me about him. But then I when I looked into those grey eyes, everything seemed all right, safe and in place. I didn't know how to answer this question but I wanted him to know what it was I felt. So I sat up and so did he, looking at me curiously. I raised my hand.

"Give me your hand" said and he raised his hand as I pressed mine against it. His hand was almost twice the size of mine.

I focused on clearing my head, trying to conjure the familiar pull that I felt whenever he was near me. At first nothing happened and he frowned at me quizzically. I forced myself to drop all my defenses, letting my mind go free and then I felt it. Small and seemingly insignificant at first but steadily growing from the base of my hand. Visions flashed by like a slow moving train. A wedding, a cottage, mountains, snow, and us, curled up on the floor, wrapped inside a blanket like a cocoon. We laughed together, kissed each other lavishly, and made love like it was our last. The vision vanished as he pulled away, his grey eyes wide.

"That's what I felt whenever you touched me or came close to me. I didn't know how to explain it so I kept a distance. But I felt it the first time I laid eyes on you. In time, I came to find out that they were my memories… and I knew that I loved you. A thousand years is a long time, but it's all coming back to me now. Slowly but surely. The more I remember about our past, the more I fall in love with you all over again."

I stared at him as tears pooled in his eyes and rolled down his face. Such a powerful man brought to tears over my telling that I loved him. I realized that he didn't have to say that he felt the same.

"Bella" he breathed and he fought with a thought, with his words but then gave up and pulled me to his mouth and kissed me. He was crying harder now, even as he kissed me, his tears rolling down my face. "I love you" he said softly, never leaving my lips. "I love you."

We didn't make love though the thought was clear on our minds. We just lay in each other's arms, awaiting the birth of our son, and the start of a new life. Though my life spiraled wildly out of control, tossing me in a different direction, for the first time in a long time, I felt it was all starting to make sense. Destiny brought me back to him and even though I had sacrificed things that meant so much to me, as I laid here in his arms, I knew that I made the right decision.

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Gabriel's POV:

She loved me and I didn't have to hear her say it, she didn't have to lie … I felt it, I saw it. All this time I warred with my emotions, contemplating whether I should let her go so she could live the life she wanted – she was remembering me. Oh, why has God forsaken me? I was forced to live in purgatory after he took her from me, wandering miserably in lonely eternity, and now I was going to lose her again. How much pain can one man endure? How much more despair could I possibly take? Why was God so cruel to me when all I've ever done was love her? Was it because I worshipped her instead of He? Was it because I failed her? As I lay here, with my angel tucked under my arm, sleeping soundlessly, my heart is breaking, knowing that in just a few hours, my love, my life will come to an end.

Almost there guys, almost there. I think about another 4 or 5 chapters more and I'll bring this one to an end... or maybe cross into a surprise. Bring on your feedback! I'd love to hear what you think so far.

;)

More to follow soon....