Chapter 2: Baby
Nessie
I was thankful that Brian came back when he did because it meant that my grandfather could not ask me anymore questions. At least, not for right now. I would be stupid to believe that he would never ask me the questions that were surely plaguing his mind right now. These were questions that I did not want to answer. My stomach filled with dread just at the thought of having to answer why my family believed that I was dead for the past 18 years.
I tried to avoid looking at my grandfather by instead looking at my son. My beautiful, perfect little baby boy. It was the perfect excuse to avoid making eye contact with my grandfather. I mean, who would not stare at their little bundle of joy? My little Aiden. That was what I had named him. Aiden Jacob. He didn't have a last name since Brian didn't have a last name. At least not a last name that he wanted to give our son. So I was shocked to find out that my grandfather had recorded my son's name as Aiden Jacob Cullen. His reasoning was that he had to put down a last name for the birth certificate. But, I knew of course why he did it, my son was a member of the Cullen family. So he was going to have the Cullen name.
The name Aiden Jacob had been carefully crafted. Brian had an older brother named Aiden. Though Aiden was only two years older than Brian he had been taking care of him, of us really, nearly his entire life. Aiden and Brian had run away from an abusive foster home when they were seven and five years old respectively. I had already been living on the streets for a while when I met them. There was an instant connection between Brian and I and we quickly became best friends. The three of us were friends but Brian and I were inseparable. We would play, laugh, and chase each other down the streets all day long. Our favorite game was tag. Brian would always win because he was stronger and faster than I was. If I hadn't asked that witch to get rid of my half vampire identity I would have had the upper hand. Aiden was the more responsible one that would find food for us to eat and water for us to drink. I was thankful to him for that. But last year everything changed when Brian disappeared unexpectedly.
We never found him and eventually we began to assume that he was dead. So when we were choosing names we decided that if we had a boy we'd name him Aiden in his memory. I chose the middle name Jacob because, even after all these years, I still thought about Jacob a lot. I had nothing but fond memories of my favorite wolf. My Jacob. Of course I could not tell Brian the reason that I had chosen that middle name.
Even though we were homeless we still managed to be happy somehow. Over the years the relationship between Brian and I changed. Our feelings evolved from friendship to love. I don't know how exactly or when exactly it happened but we fell in love with each other. I couldn't imagine not having him in my life. When I told him that I was pregnant he was so happy. We were going to have a baby together.
Now, here he was, our son. He was asleep now. He had fallen asleep at some point while nursing. I was more than a little relieved when my grandfather had to leave to attend to some other patients. When Brian fell asleep my thoughts started racing. I didn't know what I was going to do next. I was half expecting my grandfather to come back through that door and start interrogating me like I was a suspect under investigation. Why, out of all of the hospitals in the world, did I have to end up at the one that my grandfather was working at? He hadn't been working here for long either. Out of curiosity I asked one of the nurses that came to help me how long Carlisle had been working here. He had started here only a week ago.
I had never questioned my life decisions before. But I had truly thought that it was better for everyone to believe that I was dead. None of the mess with the Volturi would have happened if it had not been for me. I took a very nasty hit to the head during the battle. I woke up hours later in an unfamiliar area. Injured but still alive. I decided right then and there that I was not going to be the cause of anymore pain or anguish to my family so instead of looking for them I ran away. They were better off thinking that I was dead.
The very next day I met a very kind witch named Sabrina. She offered to turn me human so that I may be better able to hide in the human world. I agreed. My aging slowed down dramatically after that. From that day forward I lived on the streets.
I missed my family so much but still I was convinced that I had done the right thing. That I had made the best decision for everyone. I closed my eyes. A huge part of me wished that I could go back to this morning to stop myself from coming to this very hospital. Another part of me wished that a hole would just open up in the floor and swallow me whole. I took a deep breath and told myself not to be a coward. My words had no affect on me whatsoever. But at least breathing deeply seemed to be working in calming me down a little bit.
A knock on the door startled me. My eyes flew open. My heart dropped into my chest when I saw my grandfather. But then all of the blood felt as if it had drained right out of my body when I saw that my mother and father were right there with him. Bella and Edward. Mom and dad. Both of them still physically 17 and 18 years old. They both looked at me in shock. I wondered if Carlisle had warned them beforehand about me. My dad shook his head no. Fuck. That's right. My dad was picking my brains apart with his mind reading right now. Fuck. I am in so much trouble right now.