Xxx

I try to make it a habit to make fun of my brother on a regular basis, just trying to get him to loosen up a little. I can tease him relentlessly especially when it concerns something that he's doing that isn't really normal, and for the most part he knows I'm only kidding, but I will admit one thing and even though I make fun of him for it, he knows his way around a kitchen and that fact kind of frightens me.

Seth was hungry, I swear if I didn't know any better I'd say there was a hungry bear in our house the way his stomach was growling. He'd been running patrols and swung in looking for Jacob, that was when his stomach began shaking our house, so Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast and Edward offered to fix him something.

Ever since Bella and him started dating, Edward has this weird obsession with the cooking channels, forget the channels, any cooking show in existence, he watches them regularly; all those cooking shows he never misses, I swear I've caught him watching Top Chef and Chopped, two shows Emmett and I make fun of on a regular basis.

So I wasn't surprised when Edward came out with some fancy steak and eggs, toast, bacon, concoction, Seth's eyes went wide and I swear he was drooling. I'm pretty sure the only reason Jacob woke up was because of the smell of food wafting around our family room, though the loud rumbles from Seth's stomach might have done it too, somehow managing to compete with the very loud snores coming from Jacob.

My human father didn't snore, but my uncle sure did, I swear his snores were famous in the village and probably drowned out the air raid sirens throughout Scotland…let's put it this way, Jacob's snores rivaled my uncle's and that takes a lot of skill.

Rose had taken my spot on the floor near Bella and Alice was also on the floor, as close to Seth as possible, leaving no space for me. So I settled in next to Edward, still within reach of Bella, but not sitting directly next to her.

The armrest of the couch was as close as I could get and I was pretty happy to take what I could get. I knew I'd hear it from Emmett later on, but it was actually pretty comfy sitting on the armrest, mainly because I'm small enough that I was able to sit Indian style on it. Seth had taken up residence on the other side of Bella and was using one hand to chow down on the food, while his other arm was around Bella's shoulders, built in heating pad.

"Hey, Jake's coming around!" Seth pointed out using his fork to gesture towards Jacob's slow moving form.

"Bout bloody time," I muttered with a grin and Jacob blinked a little as his vision focused on the scene before him, he was stunned about the entire situation and looked towards Edward for an explanation.

"He came to find you," Edward explained

"And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast." I added grinning at Seth "you don't say no to mum, it's a dangerous chance to take."

Seth grinned back before he finally noticed Jacob's dumbfounded expression and hurried to explain himself.

"Yeah Jake…I was just checking to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I told her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang," he took another bite of the bacon and a look of pure joy came over his face "man you can cook."

I snorted a laugh as Edward replied softly:

"Thank you."

Seth looked over at me again

"Dude what is that you always say…bloody?"

"Bloody Hell?" I asked wincing as Esme shot me a warning look

"Yeah that," Seth grinned again "Pardon my British, but Bloody Hell is that good."

"Seth," Esme warned and I tried not to laugh as my friend was reprimanded by my mum for an infraction I was famous for in the house.

Jacob's eyes drifted towards Seth's arm, the one that was around Bella's shoulders. Despite all the progress we'd made, she still could not get warm, no matter how many blankets and heating pads we had going, we had even turned on the heat in the house as well as got two fires going in our two fireplaces, nothing was warming her up, so when Seth came around looking for Jacob and technically for some food we decided to put him to good use and it was working, Bella was feeling a bit warmer, it was a start. Jacob however did not seem to thrilled with our decision.

"Bella was cold," Edward explained,

Whatever thought crossed Jacob's mind hit Seth pretty hard because he took his arm back to eat, wincing a bit.

"Leah running patrols?" Jacob asked and Seth nodded,

"she's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours."

I chuckled wondering if Seth could hear the overwhelming pride in his own voice. Bella reached over around Edward and tapped my arm

"What?" I asked grinning

"Leave him be." She reprimanded gentle

"I didn't say anything,"

"I may not be able to read your mind Chris, but I know what you're thinking, be nice."

I rolled my eyes, but stopped when Bella winced a little

"Are you okay?" I whispered and she nodded, putting on a brave face and I held out my hand, which she took, giving it a quick squeeze.

"I'm okay Chris, he's just adjusting a little, must be getting crowded in there," she explained taking her hand back and patting her belly gently. She seemed at ease about it, but it just added to my growing worries.

I know the baby is just doing what babies do, it's testing out its surroundings. The blood that Bella had drank had really helped the baby feel stronger, which technically in turn helped Bella feel better because the baby wasn't basically sucking the life out of her. But it's like that saying 'when it rains it pours,' or something like that, the baby was feeling strong enough to act like a normal baby only clearly this baby had our strength, not a good thing in an already weakened and frail person like Bella..

The further along Bella's pregnancy got, the more we figured that this baby was more vampire than human, if it wasn't already obvious. The blood thing and its overwhelming strength, it made me wonder if this baby really had any human attributes to it at all.

Bella's ribs were all slowly cracking because the baby kept kicking and I wondered how long it would be before more vital parts of Bella's skeleton would be in danger, if the baby could break her ribs, I could only imagine what it might do to her spine and that frightened me a little.

The main thing that was weighing on my mind was the inevitable scenario that was going to play out. Bella would have to give birth at some point, would she as a human survive something like that, if this baby was doing this kind of damage right now, what would the delivery be like.

I shuddered, I'd been trying to keep that thought out of my head, not only for my own sake, but for Edward's as well, but it was like an annoying tune it kept making an appearance in my mind, playing with my ability, tempting me to come up with scenarios for it.

Edward and Carlisle had been discreetly doing research on this type of situation, it's been documented in legends of course, but nothing concrete. Legends can be altered and recreated, look at all the stories about vampires, most of those legends were made up by our kind to deter humans.

Some of the more popular stories, most used by Bram Stoker for his novel Dracula, were rumors spread by the Volturi themselves; things like lack of reflections, sunlight burning us to a crisp, turning into creatures like bats, wolves, and of course my favorite of all the aversion to holy water and holy relics. If that one isn't hilarious nothing is, I still wear the cross my human parents gave me for my first Communion when I was six, I never take it off, it's like my Cullen crest, they're part of me.

My cross was my first fear when I woke up from being turned, it confused me why it wasn't burning me up to touch it, of course Carlisle explained things as well as all the legends about vampires I'd grown up with because of my folklore, horror story, etc genre obsessed human father.

But because of legends, we tend to take things with a grain of salt and this whole thing was no different. I'm glad though, because my father, hoping to get my take on the whole thing and hoping to use my ability, had included me in some of their research and believe me, I'm praying the legends are completely wrong on this one.

There's been a few pretty convincing legends that match this situation fairly accurately, but the end result involves the baby…chewing its way out of the human mother's stomach. Vampire venom is pretty powerful and can work miracles, Emmett, Esme, Edward, Rose, and I are prime examples of this, all five of us were as close to death's door as you could possible get.

Not to put myself on the spot, but I think of the five of us, Esme and I were certainly in the worst shape when Carlisle changed us. Esme had been brought to the morgue under the assumption that she had been successful in her suicide attempt so she must have by all appearances been dead and I've profiled enough on Carlisle to know that if he hadn't started the process right there in the hospital, even the venom wouldn't have saved my life.

So needless to say our venom is powerful, it has amazing properties in the healing department, but after hearing the legends, confirmed by not one or two, but a number of different stories, I knew Bella's life was hanging by a very thin line.

There would be a very, very small window of a chance to deliver the baby safely and save Bella's life. No question about it, Bella's human life has been dying since the baby was conceived. I hated to think otherwise, but I constantly had a thought and a pray in the back of my head that when Bella's human life ended, her life as one of us would have a chance.

Believe me, having this thought weighing on my mind has made me question my position in this whole thing. I sided with Bella's decision not as a way to annoy Edward, like many would think, but because my profile told me it was the right decision. I've always questioned my profiles, they're usually pretty accurate, but it's not an exact science and I have been wrong before. I just hoped I was wrong about the worst case outcome of this whole thing.

I was so deep in thought about this whole thing, I hadn't noticed that Carlisle was standing with Jacob. His movement towards Jacob and Esme leaving the room caught my attention and I glanced over at my father and Jacob to listen to the conversation, just out of curiosity.

"Speaking of hunting," Carlisle said carefully "that's going to be an issue for my family. I understand that our previous truce is now inoperative at the moment, so I wanted your advice. Will Sam be hunting for us outside of the perimeter you created?"

I didn't miss Carlisle's slight glance my way, I guess I had kind of proven that they were willing to hunt us no matter where we were, but I was grateful that Carlisle just left it as a question, without drawing too much attention to me and singling me out.

"Er," Jacob started to say, but Carlisle raised his hand asking for permission to finish his question.

"We don't want to take a chance of hurting any of your family- or losing any of ours. If you were in our shoes, how would you proceed?"

Jacob definitely looked taken aback by the question and I didn't blame him one bit, but Carlisle was right to ask the question, especially of Jacob. My profile can only tell us so much about the security of our property, Jacob knew what Sam would be expecting and what he would be planning. Even if they didn't have access to the pack's mind anymore because of their defection, Jacob was a natural leader, he'd know what the leader of the pack would do.

There was also another issue…Carlisle's mention of hunting made me remember how thirsty I had become in the course of the last few days. I'm smaller than the others minus Alice, I've got I guess it's a faster metabolism than the rest of my family, so I was really getting thirsty.

I'd been able to ignore it because of everything that had been going on, able to focus on what I considered more important issues. I've got a pretty good tolerance even though I technically should be hunting more than the rest of my family. Even with Bella drinking the blood I was able to ignore it and my own thirst. But now that Carlisle had mentioned hunting, it sparked something in my mind and I felt a burn in my throat, one I hadn't felt in a long time.

I clenched my fists tight, trying to act as if I was okay, I couldn't believe how thirsty I suddenly was…Bella glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow, she clearly didn't know what was the matter, only that something was. She reached over and took my hand giving it a squeeze, trying to calm me down.

"It's a risk," Jacob finally said after a few seconds bringing me back "Sam's calmed down some, but I'm pretty sure that in his head, the treaty is void. As long as he thinks the tribe, or any other human, is in real danger, he's not going to ask questions first, if you know what I mean."

"Damn it," I muttered under my breath, Edward was the only one who heard me, he discreetly reached over and patted my shoulder, trying to reassure me.

"But, with all that, his priority is going to be La Push. There really aren't enough of them to keep a decent watch on the people while putting out hunting parties big enough to much damage. I'd bet he's keeping it close to home."

Carlisle nodded, thinking this over, he glanced over at Edward and I, checking with our thoughts on the matter.

Edward seemed to be contemplating how this would work, but my thoughts were on the rest of the family. We all needed to hunt, it had been over a week, nearly two since any of us had gone hunting. If I was in need I could only imagine the rest of my family.

I glanced over at Jasper, he had been doing well with this whole thing considering, he'd made himself scarce anytime Bella drank any blood, but his eyes had gone black, so had Emmett's, even Esme's had grown a dark yellow. We were reaching our limits and we needed to hunt soon.

That left a big issue, some of us would have to go, but we couldn't leave Bella unprotected, even with Jacob, Seth, and Leah here. Edward wouldn't leave Bella's side and I knew for a fact Rose wouldn't either. None of us would want to leave Bella, we would all be doing so because there was no other choice.

Carlisle as much as he would want to stay to treat Bella, he needed to restock our medical supplies, blood included so he would reluctantly join us on the hunt, Esme would feel the same way, she would want to be here to care for Bella, but she needed to hunt as well.

Emmett would hate to leave Rose, but it was clear him and Jasper needed to hunt. Alice would go too, reluctantly, but she would need to hunt as well as get away from the situation for a little while. She was trying to hide it, but I could see she was in pain, or at least our equivalent to pain, she was used to being blocked from seeing the wolves' future, but she was not used to Bella's future being obscured from her.

Somehow the baby prevented Alice from seeing Bella's future, which was not only frustrating Alice, but tiring her as well. She had been using Seth and Jacob as walking pain relievers, preferring the normalcy of their future's being blocked to this new one, but even that wasn't really enough. She needed to get away from the house to clear her head, literally.

That left me, I knew I needed to hunt, but I had made a promise to Bella that I would stay with her. Every time she was in pain it seemed to be my hand she grabbed and squeezed, I don't know why me or if I was actually helping or not, but I didn't want to abandon her.

I also didn't want to be far from her side, Carlisle had done another exam on Bella and was estimating that Bella would probably go into labour in four to five days. He wasn't able to be completely certain which I know was frustrating my father, but the ultrasound wasn't able to get a lock on the baby, it was literally impenetrable, so Carlisle was doing something he hated to do, he was guesstimating.

It would be the moment of truth if we could save her or not, if vampire venom could perform an extreme miracle. I wanted to do what I could to help and knew I wouldn't be able to do that if I wasn't here.

The problem is, I knew Esme and Carlisle would not let me stay, they would insist that I go to hunt, even with this very certain event, I knew I would fight it, I would not give in easily.

"So I guess I'd say, go out together, just in case. And probably you should go in the day, 'cause we'd be expecting night. Traditional vampire stuff. You're fast…go over the mountains and hunt far enough away that there's no chance he'd send anyone that far from home." Jacob explained.

I winced, there was still a chance that that we could be attacked. That made me question my initial decision, if I was with my family I might have a chance to not only profile a coming wolf attack and help us avoid it, but I would have a chance to possibly alter the emotions of the wolves, give us a chance to get a head start from them.

Carlisle must have been thinking along the same lines because he looked right at me and said

"We've got some extra abilities that will even it up. If Edward and Chris go with two of the three, they will be able to give us a few miles radius of safety."

Edward and I exchanged a look, I was still hesitating to abandon Bella, but I wasn't keen on abandoning my family either…but would Edward be able to make the same decision? I seriously doubted it. He clearly did not like Carlisle's plan to go on this hunt, there was no way Carlisle would be able to convince Edward to leave Bella, for any reason.

I would feel okay going…only if I knew Bella was safe, and knowing that Edward, Rose, Jacob, Seth, and Leah were protecting her, I knew she was safe. I had to protect my family, I had to go with them.

Edward looked at me again

"I don't like it," I muttered to him

"I'm sure there are other ways too," Carlisle said, though I'm not entirely sure if he heard what I said to Edward, he looked at Alice "Alice, I would imagine you could see which routes would be a mistake?"

"The ones that disappear," Alice said, nodding "Easy."

"Christian, how far can you sense the pack do you suppose?" Carlisle asked me and I thought it over.

"pretty far I suppose." I said thinking this over "I could feel their emotions last night when the three of them came to the edge of the property line. That's what a good four miles out maybe five? I think it would be fine, we still have to be cautious though." I paused "but if they're in hunting mode I think I'd be able to sense them a lot quicker, it would a stronger emotion, easier for me to single out, even at a good distance."

Carlisle nodded, he glanced over at Edward, before turning back to Jacob. But my attention went to my sister. None of us missed the unhappy look on Bella's face when Alice had spoken.

I knew that Alice had felt hurt that Bella had turned to Rose for help instead of her and I know that Bella among all the other things she was dealing with, felt incredibly guilty about excluding Alice. I felt bad for Alice, I really did. It had taken me a while to figure out Bella and Rosalie's sudden closeness, a lot of profiling the pair of them and it really came down to the baby, something that was confirmed when Bella and Edward came back from their honeymoon.

Alice was on Edward's side, she had already admitted she could no longer see Bella's future because of the baby, Alice is not accustom to being blind like that and I didn't blame her for being frightened about Bella's uncertain future. She didn't blame me for siding with Bella, nor did she try and change my mind, we both know that we rely on our abilities to make decisions, my ability is not obscured by the baby's presence and because I can profile Bella's outlook on the pregnancy and how happy she is.

Do I have reservations about Bella's future? Absolutely, especially as things move further along, but I have to look past the future my ability has profiled and focus only on the fact Bella needs support and supporting her like this felt like the right thing to do.

Jacob turned to Seth and said something about him getting some rest before he was to relieve him for patrols. Seth looked over at me and shrugged as Jacob left. I looked back at Bella and hesitated going back over to her, I knew she was falling asleep, her eyes were drooping.

"Chris you okay?" Seth whispered moving carefully so he didn't move Bella "you seem kind of out of it man,"

I forced a grin and nodded

"Yeah, I'm good," I turned to the hall where Esme had disappeared into the kitchen, "get some rest, remotes on the table if you want it." I looked at Bella "she'll sleep through whatever you put on."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, she's been pretty drained and crashes on and off. It's something we really hope for, she needs it."

"I bet,"

I gave Seth a nod and headed towards the kitchen where I could hear pots and pans clanging together. Esme was cleaning up from the werewolf brunch party, scraping left overs into various Tupperware containers we have never used and stacking the plastic containers in the fridge we rarely if ever use. We don't own a dishwasher, why would we? We have no need for one when we don't have dishes to wash, so all the plates, cups, and silverware were piling on the counter nearest the sink.

Esme had her back to me as she was playing Jenga in our fridge you wouldn't think a family of vampires would have a full fridge, but between the food we had stocked up on for Bella and now the leftovers, there was a chance we were going to need a bigger fridge.

Without saying a word, I walked over to the sink, rolled up my sweatshirt and started to wash the dishes. Esme turned when she heard the water running, she must have been so deep in thought she hadn't realized I had come in.

"Sweetie, are you all right?"

"Fine, I heard the clanging and wanted to give you a hand. Cleaning up." I added, "how much food did you guys make?"

Esme closed the fridge, put the containers on the counter and walked over to me. She reached over and pushed my hair back.

"Sweetie, you are going to go hunting with us yes?" I nodded "Christian?"

"I will, I promise,"

Esme looked into my eyes

"You need it," she explained "you're doing so much for Bella, I know she appreciates it Christian, but you can't neglect yourself."

"I'm not mum, I promise." Esme narrowed her eyes, Edward may be able to read my mind and know when I'm not being truthful, Alice can usually spot my 'fibs' as can Jasper, but Esme without any special gifts aside from being a mother always knows when I'm not honest.

"Christian," Esme warned

"When the time comes for us to go hunting I will go."

Esme reached over and hugged me tight

"Okay sweetie," she smiled "do you want to wash or dry?"

I shrugged

"Whatever you'd like me to do mum, I'm here to help."

Esme smiled, she took the towel and gently whapped me on the head

"What I'd really like is for you to stop being so stubborn,"

"That'll never happen," Emmett said poking his head into the kitchen

I took the towel from Esme, balled it up, ran it under the faucet, and chucked it at my brother's head, some reason he didn't expect it and it hit him with a smack.

I heard a snicker from Esme, it took only a few seconds for that chuckle to turn into a full on laugh, something I hadn't really heard from Esme in a long time. Emmett and I exchanged a surprised look and joined her laughter.

"I think you two should go find something to occupy yourselves, I'm not going to get anything done with you boys around." Esme concluded between giggles

Emmett took the towel and tossed it to me, I put it on the counter and stepped back from Esme, she waved for Emmett to come closer and she reached over to hug both of us tight, before turning back to the sink.

"Come on kid, I've got the football, I need to get out of the house and you're not grounded anymore let's go toss it around okay?"

I nodded

"Sounds good to me." I replied following my brother out, we haven't tossed around a ball just the two of us in a while, it would certainly be nice to focus on something as fun and effortless as playing catch with one's brother.