Paul

The drive to Forks was agonizing. I didn't know what was wrong with my mom, but I knew it wasn't good. Charlie had been looking for her for me and hadn't had and luck, and I couldn't believe tonight of all nights I'd get hit with bad news.

Rosalie sat silently next to me. This had been a tough night for her so far. She loved Bella and Emily, but I knew a part of her envied them because they could have a child. I gripped her hand and squeezed it tightly and she offered me a soft smile.

We pulled up at the police station and Carlisle was standing on the steps waiting for us. Kim's delivery must have went well, but him being here made me feel worse about my mom's fate. If she was in the hospital Carlisle wouldn't have left her side. Rosalie got out of the truck and ran in to her father's arms.

"Carlisle, she's okay isn't she? She has to be okay." She pleaded.

Carlisle rubbed her hair as he held her and I could feel the pit in my stomach growing. I hadn't moved from the spot I was standing in. I couldn't force myself to walk inside. Someone pulled up next to me but I didn't look to see who it was. I just sat in my truck staring at Carlisle holding my mate. I heard the passenger door open and I didn't look. I felt a warm hand on my arm, and then I felt their fingers lace with mine and I knew who it was. Leah. If she was back, something terrible had to have happened.

"So you know what this is about." I said to her. I looked over at her tear stained cheeks.

She nodded furiously. "We need to go inside, Paul."

"I can't." I responded. "I don't know what happened for her and as long as I'm out here I don't have to."

She audibly sobbed. "You do have to know. You have to be strong, Paul. I can't tell you why but you have to trust me."

My door opened. It was Emmett. I stepped out and looked around the parking lot and I didn't see his car, so I knew they had run back here instead of driving. That meant this was bad.

I walked toward Rosalie and pulled her away from Carlisle. I needed her to go inside with me. She fell in to my arms for a moment before we followed Carlisle inside the police station. Jared was sitting in the lobby in his uniform, sobbing. He saw me walk in and ran to me, pulling me in to a tight hug.

"I am so sorry." He said between sobs. "I was supposed to be working tonight. I should've been there."

"He doesn't know what happened." Leah interrupted him.

He pulled back and led me to the conference room. Charlie and Quil were sitting at the table waiting for us. Both of their faces were bright red and Quil started crying again when he saw me. Jared sat on one side of me and Rosalie was on the other. Leah sat on the other side of Rosalie and the two girls held hands on top of the table. Carlisle and Esme must have stayed in the lobby.

"Somebody has to tell me what happened. I can't take it anymore." I demanded.

Charlie started to speak but Quil cut him off. "I'll do it." He said.

Quil

I knew I wasn't ready to be patrolling with Charlie, but Jared called in to be with Kim and I knew Charlie felt safer being with one of us.

"Heard anything from the pack? How's Kim?" Charlie asked me as he drove down the road.

I shook my head. "Radio silence from the guys." I responded. No sooner than I said that my phone started ringing. It was Jake. "Well, speak of the alpha."

I didn't have a chance to greet Jacob before he started talking. "Are you with Charlie?"

"You know I am." I answered.

"Bella is in labor!" He yelled.

Charlie heard him through the phone. "Tell him I'll be right there."

Jacob must have heard him because he ended the call. Charlie turned around and started to drive toward the res. Bella was having her baby at the reservation clinic. I half listened to Charlie as he talked about the night Bella was born.

We were pulling in to the clinic when we got a call. There was a domestic dispute just outside Forks and Charlie had been specifically requested. He turned the lights on and sped off toward the scene. We didn't have much information, only that the girl was heavily pregnant and her boyfriend had been shot. The assailant was claiming to be her husband. Charlie immediately requested backup. We tried to call Jared in, but he didn't answer the phone. Despite being the farthest away we were the first to arrive on scene.

I hadn't seen Paul's parents in years, but his father's face was one I couldn't forget. Gene Lahote used to be part of the same clique that Charlie, Billy, and Harry were in. My dad was friends with them too, and so was Josh Uley. When Josh left, Gene had a falling out with my dad and the others stopped coming around him for awhile. When Harry found out what he was doing to Paul and his mother Scarlett, my dad had threatened him. After my dad died, Gene told my mother that he got what he deserved and my grandfather told him never to show his face at our store or around any of our family again. He was ostracized by all of his remaining friends and I never spoke to Paul after that until we both joined the pack.

Gene was choking Paul's mother and had a gun pointed to her head. She was in fact pregnant, and I assumed it wasn't his baby. There was a man on the ground next to them with a bullet wound between his eyes and Scarlett was shrieking uncontrollably. I got out of the car and pointed my gun at him. I had a clear shot. My senses were a lot clearer than Charlie's, and I was confident I could kill him without harming Scarlett. Her face was starting to turn blue.

"Well, well, well." Gene taunted. "If it isn't my old friend Charlie."

Charlie grimaced. "I've never been friends with someone like you, Gene. We were friends before you started doing drugs and beating your kid."

"My kid never got anything he didn't deserve!" He screamed and he lost his grip on Scarlett for a moment. Some of the color returned to her face before he started choking her again.

I stepped closer. He could shoot me, but I probably wouldn't die. I could smell the alcohol from here, and the way he was waving his gun told me he'd probably miss. "I've got a shot, boss." I told Charlie.

"Hold on,Quil." Charlie cautioned me.

Gene heard my name and started laughing. " Quilly? Why I haven't seen you since that worthless old man of yours died. I remember you hiding behind your mother when I told her who her husband really was."

It took all of my willpower not to shoot him then. I still had the shot, but Charlie had asked me not to.

"Stop, Gene." Charlie ordered. "Let Scarlett go, it doesn't have to end like this."

"Of course it does!" Gene screamed. "Don't you see, Charlie? This slut is pregnant! I guess one pathetic son wasn't enough to convince her she isn't fit to be a mother."

"Leave Paul out of this." I growled. "He's a better man than you'll ever be."

Gene laughed and gripped Scarlett even tighter, but his gun moved to her stomach. "A better man? Haven't you heard? He's engaged to one of those filthy Cullen's. I should've went to La Push first and shot that no good son of mine for fucking a le-"

Gene didn't finish his sentence, because the shot I'd fired struck his heart before he could. He fell to the ground and Charlie and I ran to Scarlett's side. The backup had finally arrived, just too late to see what had happened or provide the support we'd needed.

Scarlett was barely breathing. We tried to do CPR, but it wasn't working.

"Call Carlisle!" Charlie screamed desperately. "She needs an ambulance!"

Nobody bothered to check on Gene, I was sure he had died before or shortly after hitting the ground. Scarlett still wasn't breathing and I started to sob. The paramedics finally arrived and started working on her.

"Are the babies going to be okay?" I asked them. "Tell me they'll be okay."

A female paramedic I'd never met put her arm on my shoulder. "We're going to do everything we can, I promise."

Two male paramedics loaded Scarlett up, still doing compressions. I followed them in to the ambulance against their stern objections. I could hear the baby's heartbeats, or babies I should say. There were two of them. I didn't need the monitor they hooked up to tell me their hearts were still beating, but it was a relief to hear. I kept calling Carlisle and nobody was answering. I finally called the hospital.

"Forks Community Hospital, how may I direct your call?"

"Dr Cullen, please. I need Carlisle Cullen." I begged.

I could hear typing on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry, it appears he's in surgery. Can I take a message?"

"No, damn it! I need him now!" I yelled.

"Sir, if you raise your voice I'll have to disconnect the call. What is your name?"

I could tell her it was me, but that wouldn't get the answer I needed. "This is his son, Jasper. Tell him it's a dire emergency, my fiancé has been injured and I need to speak to him this instant."

The paramedics could clearly see the name "Ateara" and not "Cullen" on my uniform, but Jasper didn't have his father's last name anyway. I didn't know how else to get through to him.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper, you sound different tonight. I'll get Carlisle now, just a moment dear." The poor receptionist must be so confused. I hated that I was lying but I needed him.

It seemed like Carlisle took ages to come to the phone but only a few minutes had passed. "Jasper? Is Rachel alright, son?" I could hear the concern in his voice.

"Carlisle, it's Quil. I'm sorry I lied but I need you. I just killed Paul's father and we're on route to the hospital with his mother. I think she's gone too but she's pregnant and I hear both babies heartbeats-"

"Both?" The paramedic questioned. "How do you know there are two? Do you know her? We only found one. You shouldn't be in here if you know this victim!"

I didn't think about that. They had only found one, but I heard the other.

"I'm sorry, I misspoke. I knew her as a child, she abandoned her son in La Push over ten years ago and I haven't seen her since. I will not apologize for not letting her die alone."

The paramedic didn't respond, but Carlisle did. "Calm down, son. I will be waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Do not call Paul or Rosalie. She is delivering Bella's baby. Make sure Charlie knows too."

"Will the babies make it, Carlisle?" I asked as I started crying.

"I'll do everything I can, I promise." He assured me. "I'll see you soon."

I hung up the phone and called Charlie to let him know that Paul and Rosalie were at the clinic with Bella. We arrived at the hospital and Carlisle hugged me when I stepped out of the ambulance.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm proud of you, son. Paul won't blame you, you have to believe that." He whispered to me.

I sobbed. "I killed someone, Carlisle."

He hugged me again before running in to the ambulance to get Paul's mom out. I followed them as far as I could in to the hospital and then I sat in the waiting room with Charlie.

I couldn't believe everything that had happened. Paul was going to be an older brother, and possibly an orphan. And part of that was my fault. The pack had blamed my grandfather and Billy for not telling the truth about Rosalie, but I'd known too. Paul was civil towards me, but I could tell he was angry. He still blamed me for the argument I had with her right after he imprinted too, and he was right to.

I needed his mom to be okay. His siblings needed their mom to be okay. We hadn't even tried to identify her boyfriend, he was still at the scene with the other cops that had come to back us up. Jared came bursting in to the waiting room as Carlisle was walking out to update us.

"Charlie, I am so sorry I didn't get your message. Kim had to have a c-section and I just had a chance to check my phone." Jared rattled off quickly.

I ignored him and walked over to Carlisle, tears running down my cheeks already. He wasn't smiling and I knew he would be if she was okay.

"I'm sorry, Quil." He told me. "She didn't make it."

I sank to the ground and started sobbing.

"Who didn't make it?" Jared asked. I looked back and Charlie had tears in his eyes too.

"What about the babies?" I asked Carlisle, ignoring Jared.

"Who's babies?" Jared started crying. "Not Bella. Not Emily. Carlisle, please not one of them."

Carlisle grabbed Jared's hand. "It's not Bella or Emily. It's Paul's mother."

Jared sank to the ground next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we cried. He had been friends with Paul since they were little, and he had known his mother. I remembered her too, and she was always so kind. She had always called Jared son, and I knew they were close. Carlisle walked over to Charlie and went through what had happened. I still didn't know the fate of the babies, but it didn't matter. I should've taken the shot earlier. I could have saved her. I should have saved her.

Carlisle left and Charlie came over to us. "Jared, go back to Kim. We can handle this."

He wiped the tears from his eyes. "No. I'm going with you to tell my best friend what happened. He deserves to know he only has one parent left."

I cried even harder. "N-no, Jared.. he d-doesn't.."

Jared looked back at me. "What happened to his dad, Quil?" He started crying again. "What happened to Gene?"

"Quil shot him." Charlie told him. "I would've if he didn't, I just wish I'd let him do it sooner. He killed Paul's mother."

"I killed her." I argued. "If I had shot him the first time I had the chance he wouldn't have choked her that long."

Charlie looked at me sternly. "This isn't your fault Quil. She died from blunt force trauma to her head. He had pistol whipped her before we ever got there. The choking certainly didn't help matters, but it didn't kill her."

I didn't care. I could've done more. If I'd killed him sooner she would've had help sooner. "Try telling Paul it isn't my fault."

Jared looked at me sympathetically. "He isn't going to blame you. If anything, he'll thank you for being there."

Carlisle came back out and explained that he'd called Emmett and Jasper home. Jasper and Rachel would come to sit with Kim so Jared could meet us at the station. He had to finish up some paperwork and he would be there when Rosalie and Paul arrived. I walked out of the door, still unsure of how to live with myself after making my pack mate an orphan.

Paul

I stood from the table and hugged Quil as he stopped talking. "I could never blame you, brother. Thank you for trying to save my mom."

Rosalie hugged him as soon as I let go. I turned to Charlie. "Where are my siblings? Did they both make it?"

Charlie locked the door and pulled the blinds so nobody could see us in the room. "I don't think I have to say this, but you must know that what has been said can't ever leave this room. I'm proud of Quil for shooting Gene, but in the eyes of the law he had no reason to fire. If he hadn't, Gene would've outed the Cullen's and that was a risk we couldn't take."

This was the part that made me mad. I felt myself shaking. Rosalie's touch did nothing to calm me down. "No reason to fire? He was killing my mother!"

"I didn't say I agree with the law, Paul." Charlie told me.

Rosalie stood taller and whispered in my ear. "You need to be strong for those babies, Paul. Don't do this here."

She was right. I tried to compose myself and nodded at Charlie instead of arguing the way I wanted to. He unlocked the door and we left to go to the hospital to meet them. Carlisle rode over with us and briefed me on the way. They were born a little premature, so they'd be in the hospital for a few days. Charlie had some paperwork that we needed to sign to take custody of them, but he told me we could worry about it when they were released from the hospital. Rosalie needed to be my wife if she was going to adopt the kids with me, so Carlisle assured me he'd arrange for us to be married the next morning. It wasn't what she wanted, but it would have to do.

Carlisle warned me that seeing the babies may be alarming, but that the monitors they were on were just precautionary. Nothing could've prepared me for the sight of two babies with so many machines and wires hooked up to them. One of them was swaddled in a pink blanket and the other was in a blue one, a boy and a girl. They were laying in the same tiny bed, and I swore they were holding hands. I cried as I looked at them through the window to their room.

"Can we go in and see them?" Rosalie asked Carlisle.

"Of course." He responded. He opened the door and we followed him inside.

We each pulled up chairs on either side of them. I was sitting next to my little brother. He looked so tiny and defenseless, but he was gripping his sister's hand tightly. I had the feeling he'd always protect her this way.

"Carlisle, are their hands conjoined?" Rosalie asked.

He chuckled at her. "No, dear. They're holding each other's hands. Do you want to hold one of them?"

She laughed back at him. "Well I did want to hold her, but I probably shouldn't make him angry the first time we meet by taking his sister away."

"Probably a good call." I chuckled. Rosalie always knew how to make me feel better, even when she wasn't trying to.

I stared at the two little babies in front of me while I thought about everything that had unfolded. I was an orphan, and so were these guys. But they didn't have to know that. They would have me and Rosalie, and they would have a much better childhood than I ever had. I wished they could know my mom, but I was grateful they'd never know my dad. Nobody would ever hurt them the way he'd hurt me and my mom.

I looked across at Rosalie as she gently ran her fingers along my sister's stomach. I didn't want the kids to know they were my siblings, not until they were older. They would know me and Rosalie as their parents.

"It looks like we'll get to be parents after all, Rosalie." I told her.

She smiled at me but it didn't reach her eyes. "I didn't want it this way, Paul. I am so sorry about your mom."

"Me too." I agreed. "But this will be much better for them. They will have a better life knowing you as their mom and me as their dad. Nobody will ever hurt them the way my dad hurt me and my mom."

Her smile was genuine now. She looked down at the little girl in front of her. "You're right. I'll protect these babies with my life."

Carlisle came over to me. "I hate to do this now, but we need to fill out their birth certificates soon. You'll need to name both of them."

"Can we do that in the morning?" Rosalie asked. "I think Paul needs to get some sleep, it's been a long night for him."

She was right. I looked over at the clock and it was after 4am. It has been late when the girls went in to labor, and I hadn't been to sleep yet.

"I don't want to leave them alone to go home." I told her.

Sue came in the room in her scrubs. "I guess it's a good thing I'm here then."

I stood and ran in to her arms. Sue had always been like another mother to me, but she was close to my real mother. I knew this had to be painful for her. I could feel her tears on my shoulder.

"I am so sorry, Paul." She told me. "I loved your mother so much. I will sit right here with her babies until you get back, I promise. You need to go get some rest and get married so Rosalie can adopt these beautiful babies with you."

"Thank you so much, Sue." I whispered in to her hair. "I love you."

I left the room with Rosalie following close behind me. I hadn't realized how tired I was until we were leaving the hospital. Rosalie drove us back to the reservation and helped me in to bed. I would mourn my mother later, but I knew right now that I had to be strong for my siblings. There was nobody I'd rather have by my side through this than Rosalie.