PREVIOUSLY-

I took a moment to process his words before sighing. "I just- when I saw that vampire, it reminded me of how weak I am. How I always need protection. I don't want to be weak. How can I be a good mother when I'm so powerless?"

"B, you're going to be a great mother. All of us know that. You're not weak at all. I mean, physical strength-wise maybe, but you have the strongest mind out of all of us. You're here taking care of us all every day. You always know what any of us need. Hell, our pack would probably be half-useless without you. You've got the entire pack in your pocket, so if anything, you're the opposite of powerless."

I was moved by what he said to me. I didn't even have a response. What do you say back to that? I was grateful that he went against their orders to come talk to me though. I think I needed to hear it from someone other than Sam and Jared.

"Thank you, Paul." I murmured to him softly. "Can you go tell them I'm sorry and to come back home?"

Paul nodded and walked out the door, leaving me in silence, waiting for my upset imprints to come home.

A few minutes later, both Sam and Jared walked inside and stood still by the doorway.

I walked right up to them and reached out, grasping them both at the same time, holding them tightly and crying into them.

Their arms encircled me immediately.

"I'm sorry," I cried to them.

After a minute, they both pulled away from me.

Sam reached out and lifted my chin up so that I was looking at him. "Bella, honey, I know you're overwhelmed. I can promise you that Jared and I both want for the danger to be over, just as much as you do. I'd give anything for us to just be able to relax and worry about nothing but our baby. We're trying to make that a possibility. If that means pulling 12-hour shifts for a while, then that's how it has to be. I'd rather do it now and try to take down the threat before it becomes an even bigger threat when you're further along or after the baby is here. My biggest fear is something happening to you or our child. I can't let that happen."

I let out a deep breath and nodded to him. "I know. You're right. I just got so overwhelmed and it got to me. I need the both of you so much. Just the thought of either of you getting hurt by Victoria or this new vampire scares me. I know this is what you're made to do, but you're not impervious and that's been proven already."

Jared spoke next. "We're going to take care of these leeches and then we can live our lives. I promise it won't be forever."

After four whole weeks of 12-hour shifts, it certainly felt like it was going to be forever. I was now 12 weeks pregnant and my belly was starting to show. There was just a slight swell, but it was there and to me it felt like even more solid proof that that there was really a baby growing inside me.

Sam and Jared's minds had both been so focused on getting rid of the new threats that I wasn't even sure if either of them had even noticed yet. They'd chased the new vampire, who we'd recently figured out was named Riley Biers, three times already in the past month. They'd picked up Victoria's scent on him, so we knew the two were connected in some way, which made me even more nervous.

I knew that I would need new clothing soon to accommodate my growing mid-section, so I decided that there would need to be a trip to Port Angeles. Jared was about to get home from his overnight shift and Sam was still sleeping but would be awake any minute.

I had snuck out of the bed and gone downstairs to make breakfast for my wolves. I had just finished when Jared came walking in and Sam came walking down the stairs. I'd decided that I would only wear a sports bra and short shorts to hopefully get both of their attention.

"Good morning, babe," Jared said to me as he walked up to me and kissed me sweetly with one hand resting on my now swollen abdomen. He then looked down at my stomach and raised his eyebrows. "Damn, babe, when did this happen?"

"I've noticed for about a week now…" I said to him with nonchalance.

"You've been showing for a week and we didn't notice? How could we not notice?" Jared turned to look at Sam. "Sam?"

"I don't know how we didn't notice either," Sam replied to him with his hands raised.

"Because you both have been busy. Too busy. All you do is eat, sleep, and patrol. At this point, I'm not sure either of you would notice if I left for the day to go up to Port Angeles to get new clothes that fit." I finished plating their food and placed it on the table.

Sam came over to me immediately. "Bella, honey, of course we'd notice if you left. You're not thinking about doing that, are you?"

I could tell he was worried. They both were.

I sighed. "I need pants, Sam. Mine are starting to not fit and I'm just going to keep getting bigger until the baby comes. I understand that you both are on edge right now with the new vampire but you promised me this whole 12-hour shift thing wouldn't last forever and its already been a month. When was the last time I was able to do anything with both of you together? You're wearing yourselves down so much that you're starting to not notice things and that makes me worried for when you're out patrolling. What if you miss something out there? What if you get hurt?" I argued my point. I needed them to understand that this was hurting them and me and it needed to stop.

Jared ran his hand down his face and looked over at Sam. "She's right. We're not at the top of our game when we're running ourselves down like this. I want this leech gone just as bad as you do but if we're missing something as big as our imprint starting to show, who the fuck knows what we could be missing out there, man."

Sam sighed and pulled me into his arms. "Alright, no more 12s. We go back to the schedule before in pairs. It was just as effective and none of us were running on fumes because of it. I'm sorry, Bella."

I reached up and kissed him. "There's nothing to be sorry for, Sam. I'm just worried about you both. But I do need to go up to Port A soon and get new clothes… I've started to wear Jared's sweatpants more than my own."

"I mean, I'm not complaining…" Jared said with a smirk, and I shot him a look.

"It'll be risky, but I know it's something you need to do. We'll need at least 4 pack members. Jared will go with you shopping while myself, Paul, and Embry scout the area. Jake will stay back to keep an eye on Charlie, and Quil will stay on the reservation." Sam decided. "I'm going to call everyone for a pack meeting. We'll plan on going tomorrow."

Sam kneeled down and kissed my exposed stomach before standing back up and walking out the door.

Jared walked over to me and pulled me in to hug me tightly. "I'm sorry, baby. I should've—"

I shushed him by kissing him. When he pulled back, I could see just how tired he was. "Hey, it's okay. I was just worried about you."

"Come on babe, you need a shirt on before the rest of the guys get here," Jared told me before dragging me up the stairs.

A/N- I know it's not much, but it's... something, right? I apologize for my long absence again. I have been dealing with many health issues, as well as having a (medication-induced) writer's block for the last several months. I am starting to come out of it and hope to get back to writing more and more. A huge thank you to all of you who have stuck by me for so long and continue to read and re-read my stories and check on me, even in my long absences. I appreciate you all more than anything! I hope to update more soon.

-Bex