Disclaimer: Same as chapter 1.

Chapter 20: Phase 1

Day 10

Rian had been right, the rumor had passed around the school quicker than she could have thought. By the middle of second week, everyone was already talking about Rian's condition.

When the plan had been laid out for Carlisle that day they came up with it, he agreed it might be the best solution to the problem. He wanted to examine Rian at least every other day while she was away from his care, and one of the family members would be with her when she was at home to make sure nothing went wrong. So the 'office' he was previously using for her therapy sessions was reconverted (again) into a sterile hospital like office with anything he might need to take care of her. In addition, he had Esme working on plans to evacuate the town if need be; their plan B was running away. And even if they didn't need to abandon plan A, they would be leaving shortly after Rian was changed.

One week had passed since she found out she was pregnant and not much had changed. She still couldn't believe she was in this situation, she couldn't image being a mother either; but she was still here, and soon she would be a mother. Every morning, before she'd get dressed for the day, she'd stand in front of her floor length mirror and examine herself in it. But her body had yet to show any sign (weight gain or morning sickness or unexplained bruises even) that she was pregnant, other than a slowly hardening flat stomach. So she'd put on the fake stomach and her baggy clothes before heading out to the door. It's not like she expected anything to happen so soon, Bella had been much farther along than Rian when she realized she was pregnant.

That morning, Rian woke up with her back aching. She of course looked for bruises in the mirror but couldn't see any. They felt more like cramps than bruises anyway. She wanted to down on her heating pad, it felt like her period cramps but much worse. Instead she went downstairs to grab something to eat from the fridge; some yogurt and fruit. She ate the fruit quickly and was half way through her yogurt before she began to fill it coming back up. Luckily for her, her siblings weren't up yet and they didn't see or hear her emptying her stomach's contents into the toilet. But her guard for the night had, when she returned to her room, Emmett was already standing by the window with a worried look plastered on his face. She gave him a small smile before she jumped back under the covers, she felt like…well like she was on her worst period of her life. All she wanted to do was sleep.

Emmett handed her another cup, she glared at it. She'd just thrown up her regular food, she did NOT want to see what blood tasted like coming back up. So she placed it on her nightstand for a little later. She'd force herself to drink it when she felt a little better. "Drink it, it might make you feel better."

Rian sat up enough to drink some of the blood, not sure if she'd keep it down long enough to make a difference. But as she gulped down the thick liquid, her stomach did in fact settle. And when the drink was empty, she found herself craving more.

With a slightly disappointed attitude, Rian began to change for the day.

When Alice bounded into the classroom, Rian was already sitting in her chair by herself, her headphone lodged in her ears. She'd spent the morning shifting between waves of nausea and her cravings. Maybe covering this up would be harder than she originally thought, she had already ran out of one class thinking she wouldn't make it to the bathroom in time. But by the time she made it to the bathroom, her stomach had settled once again.

Rian also listened to the snide remarks her classmates made about her, either not caring or thinking Rian couldn't hear them. No matter how harsh her classmates were, the twins were worse. They had taken to call her out to her face the last couple of days, Alice had been by her side faster than the twins could comprehend each time they cornered Rian in the hallway.

Alice gave Rian a small smile when she saw how pale the latter girl was. "How are you?"

"Okay." Rian replied, she debated with telling Alice how bad she felt that morning. "I want another drink." She blurted out instead. She hadn't thought of it, or meant to, it just came spilling out of her mouth.

Alice nodded and walked out of the classroom, ignoring the protests of their teacher. Rian was left to sit though the lecture with her judgmental classmates. If there was one thing teenagers loved, it seemed to be drama. And she had given them, and will continue to do so, enough drama to last them the rest of the year.

By the end of class, Rian had begun to worry about Alice. The tiny sprite should have been back by now wither she used her own speed or her car's. Rian knew she shouldn't worry about the girl, Alice was practically indestructible.

Rian opened her locker door only to be bombarded with the tiny paper 'babies' people used as decorations at baby showers. They littered the floor, clung to her shirt, and continued to tumble out of her locker. Rian could only look at the mess, it wasn't threatening, but it was official: if the whole school didn't know about her predicament before, then they did now. She held in the smile that was begging to be let lose. The bimbo twins were laughing rather loudly, as they were obvious behind this prank. Rian forced, quite easily, tears to spill over her checks. And in an over exaggerated emotional outbreak, she slammed her locker shut and ran toward the parking lot.

Running to the Emmett's jeep was partly for show and partly to get away from everyone, her stomach had decided it wasn't happy for the second time that day. As soon as she was sure everyone was gone and she was covered for any possible observers from the windows, she emptied her stomach yet again.

It did not surprise her when she stood back up to wipe her mouth on something she found Emmett standing beside her and his jeep with another concerned expression. What did surprise her was that he was handing her another cup, one that she thought Alice was getting for her. She eagerly snatched the cup from him and took a large slip from the cup. As she drank her fill, Emmett smiled and picked one of the pink baby confetti that was still clinging to her sweater.

"I believe phase one is over." Emmett said amuse, he was more than happy to be able to move onto the next step soon.