Bella jolted awake to a piercing scream. It took her only a moment to gain her bearings before she was sprinting out of bed and into Annabelle's room. She paused only briefly next to the little girl's bed, watching as the girl writhed and screamed in her sleep, before she dropped to her knees. She quickly brushed her hand along the girl's forehead, surprised to find sweat beading along the girls brow. She leaned close to the girl and instictually began to hum. She did that for several long moments before the little girls movements began to still and she crying died down. Bella then started to sing a lullabye softly in the girl's ear. Word's she didn't understand, but that flowed through her as easy as water. A floorboard creaking behind her cut off the song, and she stared for a moment at Sam. He looked as though he had dressed in a hurry and his face was scrunched in a confused frown.
After several quiet moments, Bella eased herself to her feet and backed towards the door. She hated to look away from the now quiet little girl. Sam and Bella walked silently to the living room, where she dropped onto the couch and Sam surprised her by sitting on the coffee table directly in front of her. He stared at her for several quiet minutes, head tilted as if trying to figure something out. Finally Bella broke the silence. "Does this happen a lot?" she asked
Sam frowned, and glanced towards his daughter's bedroom. "It started about 6 months ago" he said "it's been a while since she had one that bad, I thought she was growing out of it."
"Hmm. Who normally watches her while you're out on patrol?"
Sam glanced back at her and shrugged. "Typically someone in the pack will volunteer to hang out here for a few hours. We try not to change her environment too much."
Bella nodded. "That's good. Have you spoken to a specialist?"
Sam narrowed his eyes at her. "Several." he huffed.
She raised her hands in defense. "I'm sorry, that was not intended to be offensive. I know that you're a good father Sam. I only ask because I was going to ask who she had seen. I've got several connections in the area."
Sam's brow lifted in confusion.
"Oh…" Bella laughed. "I guess we've never actually talked about that. I um.. I work in child psychology. Or at least I was meant to. I was supposed to start my new job in two weeks, but I'm not sure that's going to be an option anymore." she sighed.
She glanced at Sam and found a shock of surprise on his face. "Well shit." he said. "No wonder you're so good with her." he laughed and Bella joined him. "Honestly, I was beginning to think you had superpowers or that I was just way worse at this dad thing than I thought." he said with a sad smile.
Bella smacked her hand against his shoulder and put on her best "mom voice". "I will have absolutely none of that, Samuel Uley!" she scolded. "You are a fantastic father, and that little girl in there adores you."
Sam sighed, and then nodded.
"Anyways, if you're open to it…I'd love to work with Annabelle in a more professional manner." Bella said and she watched as Sam looked away, pensive.
"I…I'm sorry if she's too clingy. If you need to set some boundaries, that's more than fine Bella."
Bella gasped. "Sam! That's not what I meant at all! I only meant that I'd like to set aside a little bit of time each day, just the two of us girls, where we participate in therapy activities that I build around her. My role outside of those times would not change from what it is now, which I quite enjoy if I'm honest."
Sam seemed to study here, as if trying to find any hint of dishonesty, before he exhaled; relaxing his tense form. "I would love that, honestly, she seems to be much more open with you than she was with any of the other therapists, but wont therapy be hard if she doesn't talk?"
Bella laughed quietly. "There are a lot of different kinds of therapy Sam, we just have to find one that works for her." she shrugged.
"I'm not sure how much I can afford to pay you" he blurted out while looking away and Bella again laughed. She placed her hand on his arm, dragging his attention back. "Sam, you've opened your home to me and have offered to help me in this pregnancy. It's literally the LEAST I could do."
She cleared her throat. "Speaking of which, I spoke to Sue earlier…" she blushed and folded her hands in her lap. "I'm due to have another scan next week…would you… do you think…" Sam didn't let her finish. He gripped her chin, lifting it to look in her eyes. "Bella, you don't have to ask, okay. Give me a date and a time and I'm there. Okay? Moral Support Buddies"
She smiled wide, "Alright. Well next Thursday, 3pm at the clinic."
"Wouldn't miss it." Sam smiled. His smile quickly faded. "Oh.. by the way.. That lullaby that you were singing to her. How do you know it?"
Bella's brows drew together. "I'm not really sure. I remember someone singing it to me as a kid, and it must have just got stuck in there." she laughed. "I'm not even sure what it says."
Sam frowned again. "Hmm. Well it's an old Quileute lullabye. A lot of the old timer's used to sing it to their kids. My grandma used to sing it for me a lot."
Bella's eyes widened. "Oh! Well.. what's it about?"
Sam cleared his throat and looked away. "It's about a wolf that falls in love with a girl, but she's trapped in a curse by a trickster. Every sunrise she awakes and can live her life, but as soon as the sun sets she falls into a deep sleep. The wolf, who is tied to the moon, seeks out an old magic man who agrees to turn him into a man so that he may walk in the sunlight with his love."
Bella listened with rapt attention. "Well.." she prodded, "what happened to them?!"
"I don't know. He shrugged. The song ends there and no one knows."
Bella gaped at him. "How disappointing!" she grumbled and he laughed.