Babies, Babies, Babies

Disclaimer all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thanks for the kind reviews, Nikki. Sorry for no updates on The Alpha Wolf, I lost it, the last three chapters have been wiped and I have to rewrite them again! I am so gutted, sighs! Sorry for the whining! :'(

Part Three

Charlie had been delighted to be invited to dinner, mainly because it meant that Jacob and Bella were talking again and in the same room together. It had worried him that Bella had not been in touch with her best friend ever since he had been informed about the damn wedding to Cullen. Charlie grimaced at the thought of it, the whole engagement farce made him sick to his stomach. He had been dropping heavy hints to his daughter that she was making a huge mistake. He couldn't understand the rush and he had hoped that Renee would have warned Bella to wait, but no, his ex-wife was a flaky as ever and had done the exact opposite. She had gushed how much she adored Edward and was looking forward to coming over for the ceremony. Instead Charlie had been trying to make it as unpleasant for Edward when he came to visit as possible, he would never leave his daughter alone with Cullen, he was rude and surly to the boy, but all this had backfired on him. Bella and Edward would just decamp to his home and Charlie saw less and less of his little girl.

Billy greeted him at the door when he arrived. Charlie could see that his old friend was not in a good mood. He supposed finding out that your daughter had given birth twice after rushing into marrying a man she had known for barely two weeks would do that to you. Charlie counted his blessings that Bella had not just eloped with Cullen, although the grandchildren bit would not have fazed him, not that he was going to tell her that anytime soon.

"You alright, Chief?" Billy interrupted Charlie's introspection.

"Sure." Charlie took the can that his friend offered him and popped it open. "You?"

"Hardly." Billy muttered as he turned to look at Rebecca and Solomon who were babbling away in a language he couldn't understand. His daughter's husband could hardly speak English so there was no chance to grill the guy. He was being forced to keep his resentment to himself as they had guests and the children were awake. Billy knew Rebecca had planned the whole thing to take the focus away from what she had done. Not only that but he had come home from an exhausting meeting with the elders to find Bella sitting in the front room. He couldn't believe it. Charlie did not know the half of it.

"Your little girl's home." Charlie replied in low voice. "Be grateful. I know you've missed her. I'm about to lose mine." His mood darkened suddenly and he took a long swig of his beer.

"Maybe so, but Becca has sure brought some surprises with her." Billy glanced at his daughter again as he glared disapprovingly at Solomon who had a blatant hand on her knee. Rebecca was leaning into her husband, whispering intimately in his ear as they both laughed together.

"Cool it, Billy." Charlie warned him. He knew that look his friend was sporting. Billy was gearing up for a fight. "Let's just enjoy the evening. You can lecture Rebecca later when you are both alone and there are no children to witness it. I'm just grateful Jake and Bells have decided to reconnect. It does my heart good to see them together."

Billy sighed heavily as he tore his eyes away from his daughter and looked at his son instead. "I worry about Jake's heart." He murmured.

"What was that?" Charlie asked.

"Nothing. Come in and let's get this meal started." Billy ushered Charlie forward and reluctantly followed after him.

"Well this is fun." Rebecca enthused as she fed Jet in her highchair while the others began to eat the tasty meal her husband had prepared. Billy just grunted as he stabbed at his food with his fork. Charlie nudged him in the side as if warning him to behave. Solomon smiled brightly at them all as he waited for them to praise his cooking. He was immensely proud of his skills and was used to getting good feedback.

"This is nice, Solomon." Jacob tried to make an effort but he was finding it hard to eat the very spicy dish that Solomon had prepared. He saw Bella's cheeks flush as did Charlie's as they both reached for the water jug at the same time.

"It eez ow you say…." Solomon looked toward his wife for help. Rebecca smiled at him and whispered the correct response. His face brightened as his smile widened. "It eez very, very, very tasty, no?"

"Tasty, yeah." Jacob exchanged a bemused look with Bella and the others. The food was awful. How could Becca not tell her husband the truth? Gourmet Chef? She had to be kidding! He forced a few mouthfuls down before even he had to give up. Solomon seemed crestfallen when he saw the others push their nearly full plates to one side. Rebecca glared at her family, especially Billy as he just shrugged nonchalantly at her.

"Um…why don't I help wash up?" Bella just wanted to escape the tense atmosphere. The food was lying heavy on her stomach and she felt a bit nauseated.

"Thanks, Bells." Jacob rushed to assist her. He picked up the still full plates and balanced them easily in his hands as he rushed to the kitchen. Bella was hot on his heels with the rest. "My god, that was awful." Jacob confided to Bella when they reached the sink. He began to scrape the food into the bin discreetly, hoping that Solomon wasn't looking their way. "What the hell was that?"

"I have no idea." Bella pulled a face. Her tongue was still stinging from the hot spices. "Jet is lucky she's still on soft food and so is Marlon. I would rather have drunk a gallon of his baby milk instead of eating that. Do you have a tongue scraper?" She teased Jacob. She was rewarded with a sunny grin. He had been so quiet and down but now their shared camaraderie had united them and lightened his mood.

"I wish I did." Jacob nudged her playfully in the shoulder and she did the same to him. "You know I am only doing domestic duties to escape dessert."

"Me too." Bella laughed quietly, although she did feel a bit guilty about poor Solomon. Rebecca had finished feeding Jet and was now concentrating on baby Marlon. Solomon appeared at a loss. He couldn't really make conversation with either Charlie or Billy as he didn't have a good enough grasp of English. Billy was certainly not helping matters, he was ignoring Solomon deliberately. As for Charlie he was trying his best to include Rebecca's husband but the language barrier just defeated him. "I feel bad though. It must be hard for Solomon to come to a place where he doesn't speak the language very well. He is going to struggle to find work if he stays around here." She pointed out in a whisper.

"Becca should have thought about that." Jacob sounded unusually harsh. So far he had been very supportive of his sister. Bella was surprised. She studied him discreetly as he dried up the plates she handed him. "They have two kids to support. Their hippy lifestyle is not going to put food on the table. It was alright living hand to mouth and surfing on the beach all day when it was just the two of them, but now they have responsibilities. They can't just expect to land here and have dad support them, he doesn't have the funds and I don't make enough yet. I only have a crappy part time job myself." His voice was full of bitterness. "If it was us I would make sure that I worked hard to provide a proper home and…" he stopped as he realised what had just come out of his mouth.

"Jake…" Bella swallowed thickly as she put a hand on his arm. He stiffened at her touch and she dropped her hand back to her side.

"Don't, Bells. Don't feel sorry for me." Jacob whispered fiercely. He threw the cloth down and turned away from her. Everything was going south again and he hated it. Even though Billy was making the atmosphere tense Jacob could understand his father's anger at Rebecca and her husband. Jet and Marlon were adorable children and they deserved the best, it was just a pity their parents were not stepping up. It wasn't that Becca or Solomon were not taking care of their kids, it was the fact that they had no plan, they were drifting. They didn't seem to worry or care about where their next meal was coming from, or where they were going to stay. If Billy hadn't taken them in what would they have done? They had no money as far as he could tell and that would mean that they would be relying on Billy or mainly him for some income to tide them over, and their finances were already stretched. Jacob felt like it was just another burden that was dumped on his shoulders and he was drowning under the weight of it. He felt Bella slip her arms around his waist and he immediately hugged her tightly to his body. "Sorry." He mumbled into her hair as he rested his chin on top of her head.

"Never be sorry." Bella heard his heart beat in his chest and she closed her eyes as she counted the beats.

"Aww…you two are so adorable." Rebecca enthused as she strode into the kitchen. She dumped Marlon's bottle on the counter and leaned back against it as she looked at the two of them. "You remind me of Solomon and me in the early days…" She laughed quietly. "That's how Jet happened and Marlon come to think of it."

Jacob's face was stony as he looked at his sister. "What are you doing, Becca?" He questioned her.

"Talking to you, little bro." She retorted, ignoring the true meaning of what he was asking. "Right I came in here to dish up dessert. Solly apologises for putting a little too much spice in the…"

"Becca." Jacob interjected sharply.

"What?" Rebecca hissed as she dropped all pretences. Bella hovered in the background, she felt extremely uncomfortable watching the family drama unfold. She didn't know why Jacob was forcing the issue right now. Rebecca was glaring fiercely at her brother; her arms were crossed defensively across her chest.

"You know what!" Jacob said firmly as he tried to keep his voice quiet so the others wouldn't overhear him. ""What are you planning to do now that you're here? Is Solomon going to look for work? Are you going to rent a place? Do you even have any money?"

Rebecca's lips thinned. All her playfulness had disappeared now. "You are just like dad, Jake. I knew it wouldn't be long before you started. We've only just got here. I'm sure that dad has some money he can give us until Solly has…"

"And there it is!" Jacob threw his hands up in the air. "You are unbelievable. There is no money, Becca. Dad's welfare check goes nowhere. I am working to supplement it as it is. We bring in enough to scrape by and here you are expecting the money to be stretched to feed more mouths….I just…ugh!" He couldn't take it anymore. The pressure was too much. Jacob strode out of the kitchen and the house, leaving his sister staring after him.

Bella grabbed her jacket and ran out after Jacob, she saw Billy looking at her astutely. He must have overheard Jacob's talk with Rebecca. Charlie appeared uncomfortable. Solomon was just gazing around perplexed. He probably didn't understand a word of what had been said.

It was raining outside; Bella pulled her hood up and hunted around for Jacob. She finally saw him in the distance. He was standing near the forest's edge, his short hair was plastered to his head and his t-shirt was turning see through from the drenching rain, it stuck to his body, defining his muscular torso. Bella wondered whether he was going to run into the forest and phase. She was breathless as she finally reached his side and peered up at him. She drew in a sharp breath when she saw the utter despair and pain written on his face. It about broke her heart.

"Oh, Jake." Bella instinctively put her arms around him again. His pain was her pain and she wanted to erase that look from his face. "It's going to be alright."

"How?" Jacob begged her. "Tell me how?"

"I'll help." Bella vowed without thinking.

"You won't be here." The bitterness was back. "You're getting married in a couple of weeks."

"No I'm not." Bella declared rashly. "That can be postponed. This…you are more important."

Jacob said nothing. Instead he wrapped his arms around her. Bella closed her eyes and hid her face in his broad chest. Jacob stared into the distance, a small glimmer of hope shining in his eyes at her words.

A/N-thanks for reading!