Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Chapter 53 Sue

Sue POV

"I know, I know, but it's Charlie's daughter. She's his only child, Sam, and apparently Edward is now a fixture in her life. No. I know that. They have been married for over six months. Well, they do . . . he admitted face to face that they were intimate and he hasn't hurt her yet. I know. Did you ever stop to think that he didn't choose to be what he is, either? No, I know. I'll be careful. No, I'm going and that's that. I'm leaving right now. Yes, I'll call you when I am there. Yes, I'll remember to get him to call you. Bye. Goodbye Sam!", I said exasperatedly as I nearly slammed the phone down.

I put my bag in the car and headed toward Seatac. I wasn't used to flying and certainly not post 911. I had no idea of the security or the wait, and I could only hope I had the right number of ounces in the right number of bottles so that I could take my things onto the plane.

I parked in long term and headed to check in, dragging my overstuffed bag. I was apparently more worried about this trip than I thought as I tended to just keep choosing more things to go with me, unable to decide on which ones.

"Reservation for Sue Clearwater, flight to Atlanta", I told the reservation agent as I handed her my drivers license. She checked in her computer, then motioned for someone to come over. Great. There must be some problem with the ticket and now I would have to endure yet another argument today.

"Thank you Mrs. Clearwater", she said as she handed me the ticket and asked the gentleman that had come over to us to show me to the lounge. Huh. I followed him past the security line to a far shorter line with no wait, passed through it and continued on to a door that said VIP waiting area. There had to be some mistake. He opened the door, gesturing me inside before him and then, turning to me said, "Coffee and snacks are against the wall. Feel free to help yourself, someone will call for you when it is time to board. Enjoy your flight." Well, I guess airport service had improved greatly, I thought to myself. I sat down and opened the ticket in front of me and read and reread it.

"First Class?"

~oooOooo~

Rose POV

"Esme, look there", I pointed to a stand of trees on the top of Satulah mountain, between here and the town of Highlands. "We only pick up her scent around town, so it would make sense that she drives there and has a perch in town to watch us from", I told her.

"She's right", Jasper added anxiously. "We openly smell her in town, so she has to be using a vantage point that is close to there. Those trees are perfect", he said as Alice came into the room.

"I see her, I finally see her and she is perched in a tree! She hasn't decided when to try and get to Bella, she just keeps watching!"

"Alice, do you think you could get us close to that tree without our going there and her picking up our scent?", Jasper asked.

"Let's go see. We probably frightened her off for the day after passing her this morning, but we can stake out the area", Alice suggested.

"Emmett, will you stay here with me so that there are two of us with Bella? I don't want to slip and leave her unprotected and there is no telling when your father and Edward will return from looking for Jacob", Esme said.

"Sure Mom", Emmett responded, "I'm all about keeping my little sister safe, not to mention my nephew! I might get lucky and Victoria could pick now to come and get Bella. I would love a chance at her almost as much as Edward would."

Alice and Jasper took off with me, running through the woods toward Satulah, and hopefully Victoria's vantage point. It was about five miles from the house, and the closer we got, the more confident Alice seemed. We stopped a few hundred yards from the top of the mountain, Alice stopped dead, her vision clouding with the decision she saw someone making.

"She'll be here first thing in the morning. They are not coming in today, they're occupied with getting a different vehicle after we saw the one they were in this morning", Alice told us. "That stand of trees up there", she said pointing to the trees up on the ridge, "that's where she sits. I can smell her from here. She can drive almost to it from town and just go a few hundred yards into the woods. No one pays any attention to her, even if they notice because of all the hikers in the area. We should probably drive up the road there and see what type of car she has in the morning before we try and approach her from this side. Maybe we can block her car with one of ours if we know which one it is, then even if we spook her, she will be on foot!"

"Excellent plan, darlin'. I think my military mind is rubbing off on you", Jasper whispered into Alice's ear as he hugged her to him. "Let's walk through town since we are this close, just to see if there are any new scents or trails", he suggested, "Just make sure we give this place a wide birth. We wouldn't want her to smell too much of us here."

"Great. I have something I want to pick up in town anyway, no time lime the present.", I added as we cut to go around the edge of the ridge towards town.

~oooOooo~

Carlisle POV

I approached Edward's house to find all the bikes parked out front. Esme and Emmett were sitting on the porch gazing out over the mountains toward town. Edward had jumped to the balcony of his room in his haste to get to Bella, but there couldn't be anything significantly wrong if my wife was calmly sitting out front. I knew she could hear Bella crying just as well as Edward had.

"Everything okay, Petal?", I asked as I bent down to kiss her lips before standing beside her chair.

"Bella is just overwhelmed with the day, sweetheart. Sometimes pregnant women just need to cry. She has stopped now that Edward is with her, that's probably all she needed anyway", she told me.

"The other kids are off looking at that stand of trees there, up on Satulah", she gestured towards town. "If Victoria can see us, it stands to reason that we can see her, so they went to check out that stand of trees to see if she had been there. Any chance of setting a trap and getting her before she makes a move would certainly relieve a lot of tension around here and I know Edward would sleep better", she chuckled, "Well, you know what I mean."

"Actually, Petal, Edward seems to be almost able to sleep at will now, and sometimes after an extremely vigorous evening or morning with Bella, he sleeps without meaning to", I told her.

"Vigorous my ass", Emmett immediately chimed in.

"Emmett, language", Esme chided.

"Mom! How can you possible describe anything with a human as vigorous? Seriously", Emmett scoffed, shaking his head.

"Well, son, you might be surprised". I said while I'm sure a smirk came across my face, "Your brother has exceptional control, but he does spend hours at a time exercising that control. It has to be difficult if not straining to him. Bella has some unusual effects on him, as well. I'm sure you and I have never experiences things like Edward has with her."

"Shit, Dad, come on. Who are you even talking to?", Emmett insisted, "Have you met me? You and Mom insisted that Rose and I live at another house we made so much noise and broke so many walls and furniture that first year."

He just would not quit, Emmett had always been so full of himself and he and Rose did have a reputation for 'tearing it up' at all times. I would have to shock him into realizing the seriousness of the situation.

"Petal, I don't know if you have heard this yet, I'm not sure how much Edward has confided in you, but I have been trying to see if it has ever been heard of before to know if there is something we need to do for him, or if he is indeed alright", I explained. "This information is not to be used to tease or harass them with, Emmett, do I make myself clear?", I said, turning slightly to stare him in the eye.

"Fine, But giving me information and not letting me use it is just criminal", Emmett pouted.

"Well, this information is best kept between us. It's extremely personal, but extremely important to determining if your brother is alright or not", I insisted. "Petal, has Edward told you the effects her . . . fluids have on him?", I asked.

"No Carlisle, we have never discussed it. Wouldn't something like that be terribly embarrassing to him to talk to his mother about?", she asked.

"Maybe, but you are the only one that has had any experience with some of this", I said, quieting for a moment. I needed to say this just right. "Let me explain. We all know that she is his singer, her blood calls to him much more than just the normal lure of human blood", Carlisle reflected, "but her blood is also something of an aphrodisiac for him, it seems all of her secretions are. Well, of course we know that blood heightens everything for us, but for him it's much more than that."

I could see that my wife and son didn't know what I meant. I was going to have to spell it out. I ducked my head, looking at my shoes for a moment before I gathered my wits to say the words to them.

"It seems that if Edward drinks Bella's menstrual blood or the secretions her breasts are making to feed the baby, he releases continually for the length of time he is ingesting it", I said quietly. I knew right away from their stares that they still had not comprehended what I was trying to tell them.

"Petal, did you nurse your baby when you were human?", I asked her, knowing the answer.

"Yes", she replied, " . . . oh. You mean that if he swallows the secretions her breasts are making that he . . . comes? . . . continually?", Petal asked with a shocked look on her face.

"Yes. It seems he reacts in some ways like he is feeding, in that he holds her tightly, pen's her with his body and immobilizes her legs with his. The difference is that it is pleasurable for both of them. Either way he apparently takes on the appearance of a predator and growls profusely the entire time."

"Oh my God, Carlisle! Does that not scare her to death?", Esme said exhibiting a complete look of horror for how that must make Bella feel.

I chuckled, "I thought that as well, Petal, but actually he says that his growling just turns her on more and that now he purrs uncontrollably most of the time he is alone with her in any kind of an intimate situation", I told them.

"Dad, let me just get this straight. Are you telling me that my big brother comes continually for several minutes at a time when he sucks her tits or her pu . . ."

"Emmett! Language!", Esme yelled, swatting her son.

"If there is blood from her or secretions for the baby involved, then yes, Emmett. Not just for a minute or two, but so far a bit over an hour at a time. He was quite embarrassed the first time. Your sister, Bella . . . she would have none of that", i shook my head just considering how amazing my new daughter was, "She calls him out anytime he starts to feel any guilt over reacting like a vampire instead of a human male. That girl is absolutely amazing."

"Holy shit! He orgasms for hours at a time! How the hell do you ever even try to top that?", Emmett wailed, "No wonder he sleeps afterwords. That would make even a vampire sleep!"

"What would make a vampire sleep", Bella asked as she stepped out onto the porch.

"I was just explaining some of the unusual phenomena that you and Edward have been experiencing", I answered her. Bella turned a shade of red that I hadn't seen on a human before. Shaking it off almost immediately, she continued to walk towards us.

"Well, for whatever reason, Edward is taking a nap. I hate seeing him so stressed, Carlisle. Can we not set a trap for Victoria and Riley and end all this drama?", she asked.

"That's where Alice, Rose and Jasper have gone now, dear", Esme answered, "I had an idea about where Victoria could be seeing us from and they took off to check it out. Perhaps we can end this game for her a little earlier than she had planned."

"I would love that. I'm so sorry all this followed me here. I never meant to cause you all so much trouble", Bella told us. She was obviously stressed and quite worried.

"Bella, dear, what you have done just by being with Edward is worth a thousand times the amount of so called trouble that you have caused. You have brought him to life, dear. That is worth anything to me and I get a new daughter as well . . . and grandchildren. You need to accept just how much you mean to this family. We would not dream of doing anything without you", Esme told her as she hugged her tight and stroked her hair.

I watched as Edward leaned against the doorway to the house and observed his wife with us. All the stress that he had shown while out with me looking for Jacob and even when we were teasing Jacob and feeding . . . was gone. In front of me was a relaxed man, totally content as long as she was near.

She turned and spyed him standing there, as though she sensed him. He had made no noise. She moved to stand beside him, their arms around each other casually, as though they belonged there. I suppose they did, regardless of the fact that one was human and the other a vampire.

"I thought you were sleeping and would be out for a little while", Bella told him.

He moved his hand up and down her arm, hugging her to him as he answered, "I missed you."

My other children appeared on the driveway heading towards the house. Rose was carrying a large cushion of some form and a silver bowl. As they approached, Emmett asked when Charlie was expected back with Sue.

"Oh, goodness!", Esme exclaimed, "Dinner for the humans! I need to go prepare if we are having them to dinner at the house tonight!" She hurriedly got up and started towards our house, but Bella grabbed her attention as she passed her.

"Esme, why don't you let me make dinner for just them and myself tonight and let's not put everyone through eating again like this morning. It might be better for Sue to just get used to being in the house with Edward first, before we add the whole family", Bella suggested.

"Seriously, lets do that", Emmett whined, holding his stomach, "I still haven't recovered from breakfast."

"I'll help her, Mom, not to worry", Edward offered as his hand continued to rub up and down her arm.

"So, Rosalie, what's the cushion for?", Bella asked as Rose stepped onto the porch.

Edward immediately buckled over laughing, obviously having read what was in Rosalie's mind.

"Rose, I appreciate the sentiment, really I do, but I just don't think Jacob is going to see the humor in having a dog bed and bowl", Edward told her.

"It would be better than sleeping on the dirt", Rosalie said, "or even in the house on the carpet."

"Cute, Rosie! I like it", Emmett roared, laughing so hard he nearly fell over with Edward.

"Kids, how would we explain it to Charlie? If you want to take it out into the woods behind the house, Jacob might appreciate it, but I'm not so sure. He is pretty incensed that he has paws and a tail", I told them, "He's trying to be calm and so far he is friendly, but we need not push our luck. He is brand new to this, and you know how explosive brand new vampires are. I can only guess that werewolves are the same."

"Anyway", Alice said somewhat exasperated, "I had another vision and the area that Mom suggested is where Victoria has been watching us from. We want to go there early in the morning and see if we can't catch her unaware and end this cat and mouse game for good."

"Excellent, Alice. How do we work this?", Edward asked her.

"Well, Edward, you need to stay here and translate for Jacob when Sam calls, as well as dealing with Sue. She knows you better than she knows the rest of us and Charlie will be here as well. Let's just suggest that since it's Sue's first day here, we won't go fishing, we'll put it off till in the morning, that way the household here can sleep in to some extent, Esme can come down under the guise of helping to prepare breakfast and the rest of us can set a watch for Victoria. With Esme and Edward here and Jacob nearby, we won't be leaving Bella unprotected while we try to end this", Alice explained, "Five of us should be able to end two of them with no problem once we find them."

"Well, the baby furniture is in the garage and I'd like to get started on his room", Rose said.

"Rose, Jacob is still here, whether he is human or not and I don't want to move his things to work on the room till he is back and at least knows that we moved his room or he leaves to go back to work. The other two rooms are for Charlie and Sue . . . I doubt they will share a room in front of us", Bella said, "If there is time, the furniture for the room at Esme's arrived as well, let's just get started on that room!"

"I thought you wanted the room here first?", Rose asked.

"I did. Things are just not allowing that right now and it's okay if the one there is finished first. At least he will have his own room somewhere!", Bella laughed.

"Alright then. Since we are all relieved of dinner duty, we can go get the nursery ready there then. Jasper, Emmett, come on and I'll show you which furniture needs to go up to our house", Rose said as she headed for the garage.

"Well, it's settled. Bella, with Esme and I helping, I see you having an absolutely gorgeous nursery by morning!", Alice said as she flitted down the stairs.

"Carlisle, will you stay with Bella for a moment?", Edward asked, "It seems that Rose wants to find a good place for her gifts and I need to go with her, just in case Jacob isn't thrilled with them and needs to calm down. I can at least still read his mind and know if there is danger."

"What? No. I'm coming along as well", Bella chimed in.

"No! You are not going anywhere near a new werewolf, they are too volatile, it's too dangerous", Edward insisted.

"I'm coming", Bella said as she headed down the stairs, apparently walking towards the rear of the house. We all exchanged glances and listened to the huff coming from Edward as we followed her.

When we got to the back of the house Edward suggested that we just place the bed inside the tree line where it couldn't be seen from the house and let it go. He assured us that Jacob would find it there. Rose agreed, finally, and after placing it along with the bowl full of fresh water, we turned for the house. I was staying here, my shift at helping to protect Bella, and Rose was heading to do the nursery at home.

EPOV

"Rose, looks like you will get our chance to see his reaction after all", I said with a smile as we turned back to see Jacob step from the tree line and walk towards us. Rose gasped, probably not expecting the sheer size of the wolf in front of us, her mind was reeling.

"Jake, are you alright?", Bella asked. I stood protectively in front of her so that she had to literally peer from behind me. She didn't object, knowing that I would not be willing to move at this point. The wolf nodded his head up and down, then bowed his head somewhat.

"Jacob wants you to know that he's sorry he upset you, that he was just worried about you ", I translated for Jacob.

"I know that, Jake. It's okay, we all wonder what Masen will be like and I remember what it was like when I first found out that the legends were true, about vampires and werewolves I mean", Bella told him.

Jacob nodded.

I couldn't help but smile at his thoughts. Jacob loved my wife, he accepted her choice, but he was still in love with her and he was doing what I would probably have done had she picked him, he was staying in the wings watching to make sure she was happy, that she was treated well. He was in effect just waiting for me to make a big enough mistake that he could move in. The wolf pawed at the ground, impatient for me to translate what he wanted to say to her.

"He wants to know if he's forgiven", I told her.

"Oh, Jake," she said taking several steps towards him and reaching out to touch the fur on his now bowed head, "of course I forgive you."

His thoughts were docile enough that I allowed her to approach him, but I was by her side with a hand on her, ready to move her away in an instant if the situation changed. Jacob looked over to Rose and I chuckled.

"Rose, Jacob doesn't know if you're making a joke or being nice, he suspects you are being an ass, but either way he actually appreciates the bed", I told her. Jacob stared at me and scoffed, a difficult thing for a werewolf to do.

"Alright, alright. Rose, Jacob hates my translating. I tend to be more polite than he is", I said cutting my eyes to him, "What he said was, 'thanks for the bed, bloodsucker, even if you are being an ass'."

Carlisle chuckled as Rose looked surprised, but her mind told me she was willing to play this game.

"You're welcome, dog. We put it far enough from the house that maybe the wind will keep your stench from getting inside", Rose told him.

Bella looked horrified at the words exchanged between Jacob and Rose. "Don't worry, sweetheart, they are both just playing, although Jacob does enjoy the new terms that Sam used to describe us, like leech and bloodsucker. So don't worry about him being offended by being called a dog and told he stinks, he already commented on how sickeningly sweet Carlisle and I smelled to him."

"Jacob is going to scout around and see if his heightened ability to smell can pick up anything on Victoria and Riley. He'll watch over the house tonight, and", I said turning to him, "he'll be careful not to let Charlie see him."

Jacob nodded, turned, and went to the bed Rose had put behind some bushes and curled up on it, placing his head between his paws.

"Good thinking, Jacob", I said, turning to Rose, "Jacob wants to know if you will take his truck and put it in the garage at your house so that Charlie won't see it. We'll have to tell him that Jake left to tend to business for a few days. He wants to remind us that Charlie is a police officer and trained to observe details, he says just to pack up his things and put them in the truck as well so that it is believable that he left for a short time. Oh, and not to forget to put his bike up - and be careful with it!"

"Yes, of course", Carlisle said, "Thank you Jacob. I hadn't thought of that."

"I got it covered, dog, as long as there is nothing disgusting in your room that you want packed", Rose told him, "no left over bones or anything."

Jacob huffed and turned his face away from us and we continued toward the house so that Rose could pack and get Jacob's truck safely hidden before Charlie and Sue arrived and Bella and I could start dinner.

It had been an eventful day. Thank God that Bella had calmed down so quickly once I lay with her and held her. Her tears slay me. I couldn't help but steal glances at her as she moved to stir and mix the concoctions that she would be serving for dinner.

"I still say my diet is healthier", I told her as she scoffed at me, taking the vegetables from the cutting board where I had chopped them for her. Carlisle looked over from where he sat at the kitchen counter, coffee in front of him, reading his paper and smirked at us.

"No preservatives, no growth hormones and no antibiotics", I continued.

"Yes, it's an excellent diet for keeping the undead in rare form", Bella chided.

"Undead?", I cocked my head and mouthed. Carlisle lost it, he could not contain the laughter at the banter between us.

"I'll show you undead", I said as I chased her around the table, lifting her easily off her feet and instantly throwing her onto the sofa to tickle her. I was so happy to be playing with her and so caught up in her laughter that I paid no attention when the door opened and Sue walked in with Charlie.

"Charlie", my Dad said, folding his paper and getting off his chair to move towards the living room and greet them.

My head popped up from the sofa where all the laughter was coming from, the back of the sofa faced the door and I'm sure all that was seen was my torso visible over the sofa back. "Sue, Charlie, glad you made it back safely", I said as Bella sat up and her head and shoulders became visible.

"Good thing you're here, Dad, you can arrest him", she said pointing to me, "He won't stop tickling me!"

"Hi all! Bells, I'm not sure there is a law on the books about being tickled by your husband, I'll have to check into it", Charlie said with a smile.

"Hi Sue", Bella aid as she held out her hand to me to help her get up off the sofa. She was quite large by now and getting up from a soft low surface like the sofa could be difficult with out a hand.

Sue gasped when she saw her, telling me that Charlie had not told her about Bella being pregnant. A thousand thoughts flew through her mind at once, most of them not so nice, but the majority of them worrying about Bella.

"Come in, Sue. I guess from your shocked expression that Charlie didn't tell you about the baby", I said, putting my arm around Bella and walking towards where Sue still stood by the door.

"No, no he didn't", she said, never taking her eyes off Bella's belly.

"Well", Bella said, rubbing circles on her belly, "Edward and I are expecting".

"Yes", Carlisle said, "It seems Charlie and I are going to be grandfathers at an early age."

Sue's initial thoughts were not so kind, wondering just what in the hell kind of monster we were expecting, but she didn't voice it to Bella, though I know she heard my slight growl.

"Congratulations!", she said to Bella, "Charlie here should have given me a heads up!"

"I wanted to surprise her and it was your news to tell Bells, not mine", Charlie said sheepishly.

"Well, let's get you settled in", Bella said gesturing to the stairs, "Dad will you bring her bag?"

Bella headed up the stairs with Charlie and Sue in tow.

Carlisle looked at me and said, "Well, son, this is going to be interesting."