Chapter Thirteen
Charlotte
Bella was scared about the idea of losing this baby however she had come to be carrying it, so she rested a lot and tried to eat well. I was becoming a fixture in the town grocery store buying fresh fruit, milk, and eggs. She had a craving for apples in batter and I soon learned how to cook them. It made me smile as I imagined my mother teaching me to cook so the family would be fed while she was in bed with the latest addition to the family. I just hoped what I'd learned about giving birth would be enough to get Bella through this. The only person we could have asked for help and information was Carlisle Cullen but we suspected he was the one at the bottom of it all and it would be tantamount to handing her and the baby over to him gift wrapped.
My friend in Detroit finally got back to me a month later with strange news.
"Char those tablets you sent me, were they being prescribed? Because there's no information even in the latest research about them. Where did you get them?"
"Yes they were but I think it was a trial. I can't tell you where I got them"
"Then it was an illegal trial and I don't see what they would do for a human, not really"
"So what are they?"
"They're a kind of anti rejection drug but the make up is really strange"
"What would you take them for?"
"Well if I had to hazard a guess and that's all it is Char I'd say they would be to stop a human body rejecting or reacting to our venom but only very short-term and not to stop a human being changed by a bite. They aren't anywhere near powerful enough for that and if they were they'd kill the patient anyway. Does any of this make sense to you? If you know who's taking them I'd stop now, short-term, really short-term, they'll work I guess but any more than that and you could cause irreparable damage to human organs. Is this Carlisle Cullens work?"
"What makes you ask that?"
"Well he did talk about the possibility of stopping the change of a human to a vampire once but he was laughed down by the rest of us. He's a little weird that way. So is it? If it is he's working outside the establishment and better be careful he doesn't get caught, by the medical authorities or the Volturi. I've destroyed the tablets you sent and my work on them, I suggest you do the same."
"Thanks. If I find out any more I'll let you know"
"Don't, I'm not becoming involved in dangerous work like this. Sorry I couldn't tell you more Char but I couldn't go further without it registering at work."
"OK, thanks again."
I put the phone down and told Bella what she had said.
"Do you think those tablets were a short-term solution to stop my body rejecting the baby before it could get established? Maybe once it started to grow it would be accepted as a part of me."
"Could be but whatever the reason you shouldn't have been given them. They're probably responsible for the headaches and missing minutes".
"No I think that was something else entirely, that was so he could do what he wanted with my body without my knowledge. What worries me Char is Jasper, what's Carlisle done with him? How is he? Or did he keep him prisoner? What if he's dead Charlotte? And this baby is his only legacy? I can't lose it but I feel terrified of the thought of never seeing him or introducing him to his child. Why do I feel this way? Why do I only feel happy when his things are close? I can't sleep without his tee-shirt and photos close? Am I going mad Char?"
"Come with me Bella"
I held out my hand and she took it following me into the other bedroom. As I opened the door I felt her relax and breath deeply. She looked at the walls, at the one picture that hung there, Major the stallion rearing up on his hind legs. Then walked over to the closet and opened it. There wasn't much in it, just a few clothes he'd left as an emergency and an old and very moth-eaten home sewn horse. She picked it up and held it to her chest.
"Its his room isn't it? This was his? How did he find it?"
"He didn't. Peter went back after we escaped, back to his old home. His great-niece still lived there and they got talking, Peter made out he was a historian researching some of the unsung heroes of the Civil War. She took him into the garage and opened a trunk, those photographs you have, the ones in uniform were in there and a couple of old letters he'd written home along with that toy horse. His mother had saved them, all the memories she had of her son who went missing and the girl was getting ready to move. She offered them to Peter and he brought them back here. The Major took the photos and letters but left the horse here to keep his room for him. I guess it belongs to the baby now. We'll give it a clean and darn the thin patch if you like"
I turned to see tears running down her face,
"Thank you Char, could I..."
I interrupted her,
"Why don't you move in here, you might feel more relaxed."
She nodded and I went to get her things while she sat in the window, gazing out much as I'd seen him do, still cuddling the cloth horse.
"Char, does it have a name? The horse I mean?"
"I guess so but I can't remember what it was, I'm not sure he ever said."
She slept so much better the following night and when I looked in she was curled up with the horse and Jaspers photograph looked down on her from the bedside cabinet as if watching over her and the baby. I'd noticed it was growing quite fast and put that down to it being a hybrid child. The drugs had stopped her rejecting it too early and now she looked quite radiant, her face glowed and she had put on enough weight without being a blob. I didn't think it would be too much longer before this baby decided it wanted a look at the world.
Bella
I was feeling hot and sluggish today, the temperature outside was just warm but I was sweating. I guess hauling around baby didn't help and I had no idea if the way I was feeling was right, my first baby was only three months gestation when it died. I'd prayed and made deals with God to let me keep this baby and so far it had worked. My only concern was what it would be like, would it be human like me or vampire like its father if indeed he was the father. Knowing Carlisle it could have been anything, I hated him for what he'd done to me, and to his foster son if he was responsible for all this. I couldn't see another possibility, it had to be him. As I made my way slowly down stairs for breakfast my backache got worse and I started to feel sick. Calling Char I sat down on the stairs, my head against the wall. She ran up looking concerned and helped me the rest of the way down before going to fetch cold water for me.
"You feel hot to me Bella, as if you have a fever"
"No, I can't be ill. I wont lose this baby"
"Calm down, it could just be a chill"
I wasn't convinced and I could see she was worried herself but all we could do was wait and see.