Babies, Babies, Babies

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews, Nikki :)

Part Seven

"I'll…um…take the children outside while we wait for my dad to get here." Bella murmured as she stood up, still cradling Marlon in her arms. She took hold of Jet's hand in hers and led the little girl out of the room past Rebecca and Solomon, who were both standing in the doorway with confused expressions on their faces. They made no move to greet their children and when Bella slipped by them she could smell the alcohol on their breath. They had been drinking! She glanced behind her at Jacob and could tell by the angry light in his eyes that he could smell it too. She sighed and left the house, closing the door behind her so it would block out any raised voices.

Jacob was now left alone with his sister and her husband. Rebecca looked at him as if she didn't have the slightest clue why her brother was glaring at her. She tottered forward in his direction, and then giggled stupidly as she wobbled in her heels. Solomon grinned at her as he caught her arm and steadied her. "Where have you been, Becca?" Jacob demanded.

"Where have I been? Where have we been Solley?" Rebecca laughed again and flopped down on the vacated couch. "We bumped into some old school friends of mine and had a little drinkie, didn't we big boy." She smiled up at Solomon who was still grinning like an idiot.

"And left dad to look after your children." Jacob was livid. The muscles on his arms began to flex as he clenched his fists. He so wanted to wipe that grin off of Solomon's face. The guy was an asshole. "It's lucky Bella turned up when she did, dad was struggling. He can't cope alone with such young children, he is in a wheelchair, Becca, and not very well. He didn't have time to take his medication because you…"

Jacob's harsh tone finally seemed to pierce Solomon's drink addled brain. He frowned and stood protectively in front of Rebecca, whose giggles had turned to sobs. He waved his hands in the air in a placatory gesture. "Ow…you….um…say….um…" He floundered for the right word for a moment before using one of his wife's favourites. "Chill man…chill…"

His whole attitude incensed Jacob, who was on the verge of losing it. It had been a long time since he had felt so out of control, years of trying to rein in his wolf had taught him to be focused and keep calm, but this, this aggravated him beyond belief. His muscles shivered under his skin and his arms shook a little. He was close to shifting. If Solomon didn't back off he didn't think he would be able to.

Bella waited outside, and with every passing moment she became more agitated. She was very concerned about Jacob; she knew how much this had all been wearing him down. He had been under so much pressure during the past few months, she knew she had been the root cause of some of it, but when he had recovered from his injuries after the battle, she had hoped the burden on him would have eased. Now his sister had just added to the pressure again. She should be inside supporting him and helping him to keep focused. But she had to mind the children. Five more minutes passed and it was with relief when she saw her father's cruiser pull up outside. She smiled down at Jet and carefully led the little girl toward Charlie. "Would you like to see a real police car?" She saw Jet's eyes light up and she became so excited that she actually took her thumb out of her mouth. Bella wasn't sure if the little girl really understood what she was saying but it was as good a distraction as any.

"Hey, kiddo." Charlie climbed out of the cruiser and immediately hunkered down and tickled Jet under the chin, making the little girl giggle.

"Dad, I need you to do me a favour." Bella begged him.

"What is it?" Charlie picked up on her worried tone instantly. He stood back up and looked at her curiously.

"Can you take Marlon for a moment and keep an eye on Jet?" Without waiting for a response Bella passed the baby over to her father and quickly ran off back to the house without further explanation. Some internal instinct was screaming at her to get inside and calm Jacob down.

"What did you just say?" Jacob couldn't believe his ears. Had this idiot told him to chill? He stepped forward so he was right in front of Solomon. Rebecca's husband was at least a foot shorter than he was, but the drink was making Solomon feel invincible. He squared up to Jacob and locked eyes with him. Rebecca was still crying, upset at Jacob's accusations. Wasn't she allowed some fun? It wasn't like she had left her children with a stranger, and Billy had offered. It wasn't their fault that they lost track of time. In her mind she thought Jacob was being very unfair.

Bella burst into the room at that point. Her sudden entrance startled everyone. Jacob turned to look at her which took his attention away from Solomon. Rebecca's husband took this distraction as a chance to swing at Jacob, but he was unsteady on his feet and missed Jacob completely. He staggered back and fell onto the couch next to his wife.

"Are you alright, Bells?" Jacob ignored Solomon, throwing him a look of utter disgust. Bella's surprise appearance had done what she wanted it to. It had stopped what could have been an ugly scene. Her eyes roamed Jacob's face as she looked for any sign that he was out of control, but to her relief he seemed focused, and obviously worried that something was wrong with her. "Talk to me, Bells."

"I'm okay." Bella assured him quickly as she put a hand on his chest. She could feel his heart racing in his chest. That was a sign that he had been riled up only moments ago. She was glad she had listened to her gut instinct. "My dad is here. I've left the kids with him. He must be wondering what the hell is going on." Bella glanced toward Rebecca who was still sobbing quietly. Solomon appeared dazed as he rubbed a hand over his sweaty face. "I take it dinners off?"

"For them it is." Jacob's eyes narrowed as he turned his attention back to his sister. "You can go and clean yourself up. You stink of booze, Becca. The kids don't need to see you like this, and as for you…" Jacob grabbed hold of Solomon's arm and hauled him upright. "You can get out of here. I don't care where you go, but you are not staying under this roof." He shoved Solomon out of the house using the back entrance.

Bella was left alone with Rebecca. Jacob's sister seemed unable to do anything coherent. She was staring in the direction of where Jacob had disappeared with her husband. Bella felt little sympathy for the girl but she didn't want to leave her like this. She leant down and helped a confused Rebecca to stand upright and led her toward the bathroom so she could clean up.

When Charlie learned about what had happened he offered to treat everyone to a meal at the diner. He wanted to take everyone's mind off of what had happened, especially Billy's. He could see that his old friend was both mortified and deeply saddened by his daughter's behaviour when he learned about it. Jacob had left Solomon in the garage to sleep off the drink. He was still incensed about what had happened, but he kept his anger to himself. His dad, and especially the children, didn't need to see how livid he was. He hid his dark mood behind a bright smile, and it was only Bella who could tell how tense he really was underneath.

The meal proved a good distraction. Jet amused them all with her antics as she tried some egg for the first time. The horrified expression she pulled on her pretty little face as she shoved in the egg yolk was a sight to see and set them all off laughing. It really did lighten the tension and both Charlie and Bella were glad to see genuine smiles on both Billy and Jacob's faces. Baby Marlon was oblivious to it all. He had his feed and then slept serenely all through the rest of the meal.

Jet was falling asleep herself when they finally returned to La Push. Jacob carried his niece into the house while Bella cradled Marlon. Charlie and Billy hung back as they watched their children talking quietly together as they strolled into the house. "Bella was a godsend today." Billy confided to Charlie. "I don't what we would have done without her help."

"It does my heart good to see them together, Billy." Charlie smiled wistfully in his daughter's direction. "She's been more like herself than I've seen in a long time."

"Has she mentioned the wedding?" Billy asked.

"Not once." Charlie pushed his friend's chair up the ramp and followed behind as they went inside.

Rebecca was up and sitting on the old couch when they returned. She had a sheepish look on her face and she immediately held out her arms for her son as little Jet toddled over to her and cuddled into her side. Bella reluctantly passed Marlon to his mother and stepped back. Rebecca seemed to have sobered up enough since they had left. "Hello Marley." Rebecca cooed. "How's my little man?" Jet tugged on her sleeve wanting to be noticed too. "Been a good girl, sweetie?" Rebecca asked her daughter. Jet smiled before shoving her thumb into her mouth.

"How's the head?" Billy said pointedly to his daughter.

"Dad, please." Rebecca whined. "I'm sorry, okay. We just lost track of time."

"I will talk to you in the morning." Billy kept his tone calm for the children's sake. He bid them goodnight and wheeled his chair to his room.

"I better go and help him." Jacob whispered to Bella.

"Okay. I'm going to head home now. Dad's going to follow me." Bella stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, letting her lips linger on his warm skin before stepping back.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Jacob checked. He didn't want her to go but knew there was little choice. He didn't know how he would have coped without her and missed her badly when she wasn't close. The night in his garage was still fresh in his mind and he wished they were back there again, alone and lying side by side.

Bella winced as she remembered her promise to Edward. It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't thought about her fiancé for hours. In the old days he would have been on her mind constantly. How strange? "I'll call you, okay." She said to Jacob, avoiding making any promises.

"Come on, Bells." Charlie called out to her.

Bella smiled at Jacob weakly before waving at Jet, who was nearly asleep by her mother's side. "Night." She then reluctantly left.

A/N-thanks for reading!