Babies, Babies, Babies

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you very much for the kind reviews, Nikki.

Part Forty Four

Jacob had seen the imprint through the eyes of his brothers who had experienced it. Each feeling was unique to the individual. Sam's imprint was a mixture of undying devotion mixed with a deep sense of guilt over his loss of his first love Leah. He loved Emily now, very much, but his imprint bond with her would never completely wipe out his feelings for his former lover. Jared had a smoother transition. Originally he had never really noticed Kim before, she had sat next to him in his calculus class for a whole semester, adoring him from afar, but he had hardly glanced at her the whole time. It had been like his eyes had been opened the day he locked gazes with her after phasing. She suddenly came to the forefront of his consciousness and once he had looked at her, he couldn't turn away. Other girls became ugly in comparison to the quiet beauty that Kim held, and every time his gaze rested on his imprint, Jared would get that same adrenaline rush, just like the first time. For Quil it had been completely different. Claire was a young child. There had just been a quiet connection when he first saw her. He found himself wanting to protect her, like a young sister. Quil was an only child so had no experience of having a sibling. He became like a proud uncle to her, and was always happy whenever she achieved the smallest thing.

Jacob had experienced none of those things. He had locked gazes with Bella and all he saw was the same, beautiful girl he had always seen. There was no glow surrounding her, there was no adrenaline rush like Jared had experienced, there was just the same deep connection and devotion that had always been there. When she asked him how it had felt for him after describing her own experience, Jacob couldn't put it into words. Did she want him to say his whole word had stopped on it axis when he saw her in that moment? Would she be upset that it hadn't? That in reality she was just his Bells like she had always been, his best friend, his soul mate. Jacob had never needed any spiritual guidance to tell him who his soul mate was, he had always known. He had known since the first time he had met the quiet, shy, and reserved five year old who had tripped over his mud pies when he was three.

In the end he had gone with the truth. He had watched her beautiful face carefully, waiting in trepidation to see if he had upset her. But instead a slow smile had crossed her face as she leaned forward and kissed him gently. "That sounds perfect, just perfect." She had whispered.

That had been a month ago, it had been a month filled with stress and stolen moments of happiness spent with Bella and the children. She was still staying at the Clearwater's as Rebecca's condition continued to deteriorate until it got to the point that everyone knew it wasn't just the drugs that had affected her. Rebecca was suffering a mental breakdown. She was raging at everyone, but her vitriol was mainly aimed at her twin. She didn't want Rachel near her; she would yell abuse at her before locking herself away in her room.

Rachel was devastated, her sister was everything to her, had been her whole life and she was lost without her. "Becca, please. Don't do this?" She begged through the locked door. "It's you and me against the world, remember?"

"You just don't get it do you?" Rebecca yanked the door open, her eyes were wild and her hair was like a stringy mess as it hung around her thin face. She had lost a lot of weight because she refused to eat properly. Her paranoia was reaching new heights; she thought there was poison in her food. "I am sick of you interfering in my life. I fled to Hawaii to escape you. You are so damn suffocating. You want to control everyone; well you can't do that to me anymore. I won't have it. Do you hear me?" Rebecca became hysterical.

Rachel shrank back from her twin as Billy, Jacob and Sue came to see what was happening. Jacob immediately started talking Rebecca down. He was the only one she seemed to listen to. Her eyes became dull again as she retreated inside her old room. "I'm tired." She muttered. "Keep her away from me." She then shut the door.

Billy exchanged a sad glance with Sue. She sighed and knelt down in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's time, Billy. She's getting worse. She needs to go into a hospital. We can't help her anymore."

Billy hung his head and nodded slowly. Rachel began to cry as she leaned against the wall. She covered her face in her hands as she sobbed. "I want Becca back."

It had been a long while since Jacob had felt any empathy for his sister, but seeing Rachel look so broken he fought back his anger at her and pulled her into a hug. Rachel resisted for a moment before relaxing in his embrace as she began to weep in earnest.

Bella rolled onto her side as she lay next to Jacob. He was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling. He had just come back from the private clinic with his father, Charlie and Sue Clearwater. Rebecca had been admitted and would be staying there for the foreseeable future; she was now in a such a bad state that she was deemed a danger to herself. It had been hard seeing his once vibrant sister sink so low. The private doctor had examined her and told him and his father that Rebecca had probably been suffering for quite some time and had probably used the drugs to self-medicate while she tried to deal with the chaos that was going on in her head. Having the children so close together had probably exacerbated the condition.

"It was awful, especially for my dad. I'm glad Charlie came with us, he was a tower of strength today, so was Sue." Jacob felt his eyes moisten with tears. "The doctor thinks that Becca used the drugs to keep herself numb. It must have been horrific for her trying to act normal while she was falling apart inside. I had no idea…."

"Hey, no one did. I would never have guessed." Bella stroked his face with gentle fingers. She didn't want him blaming himself. "If she was dealing with it for a long time she must have become good at trying to hide it. It was a good thing she did coming back here with the kids. I have a feeling she did so because she knew she couldn't carry on anymore. Solomon was no help at all and probably made it all worse for her."

"She hasn't mentioned him at all. When we spoke to her about him she looked at us as if she didn't know what we were talking about." Jacob sighed heavily. "But she seems to blame Rachel for everything. She hates her. We had to stop Rachel coming to the clinic with us."

"That must be awful for Rachel." Like Jacob Bella felt empathetic toward the other girl. Rachel may be selfish and hot headed, but it was obvious how much she loved her twin, in fact adored Rebecca.

"Becca kept saying that Rach used to suffocate her and try to control her all the time. It got worse after mom died. Rach has always been the strongest out of the two of them. I guess she felt like she had to take charge of Becca but went too far and only ended up driving the person she loved the most away." Jacob mused.

"Rachel has been driving everyone away." Bella leaned down and kissed Jacob on the mouth. She hated seeing him so sad and wanted to take away his pain. Her lips lingered on his for a while before she pulled back and studied him carefully. She didn't want to ask but she really needed to know. She was worried about what was going to happen to Jet and Marlon now.

As if he could read her mind, Jacob reached up and cupped her cheek with his warm hand. "Becca wants me to take care of the kids. She doesn't trust Rachel at all. In the times when she was more lucid she spoke about Jet and Marlon, she loves them but knows she is in no state to care for them herself. Maybe never." He shrugged. "I know it's a huge thing to ask but do you think…."

"Yes." Bella said before he could finish. "I love those kids, Jake. You know that. And I love you. I want us to be a family, and when Becca does get better, well she knows we are all here for her."

This time the tears spilled from Jacob's eyes. He pulled Bella closer and kissed her hard on the mouth. She reciprocated at once as his tongue parted her lips as he intensified the kiss. He could feel the love flowing between them and all he wanted to do was hold Bella close and make love to her. He wanted her so much.

"Bells, I really need you." He said huskily when they stopped kissing to catch their breaths.

"I need you too." Bella's eyes softened as she began to slowly undress in front of him. "I love you, Jacob."

"I love you too." Jacob's expression was filled with need as he pulled Bella's naked body onto his.

A/N-thanks for reading!

I know some readers asked about lemons in this story but it is T-rated so I can't really be explicit. I forgot I had used that rating! :/

Well we are coming to the end now. Only the epilogue to go! Bella will get her closure with Esme and Rose and we will get to see a glimpse into her future with Jacob!

Oh and of course what happens between Rachel and Paul.

Hugs,

Nikki :)