A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting. I haven't been feeling well.

This is a filler chapter.

No copyright infringement is intended. All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer. I own the plot and mistakes which I know there will be plenty.

ENJOY!

02/05/2024

Rear-view Town

Chapter 8

Two days before the wedding, Bella found herself living with her face over the toilet. She could barely keep anything down. Everything smelled disgusting except pretzels. She wondered if she was going to make it through the wedding without puking all over the place.

Paul entered the bathroom carrying a glass of water and Bella's snack of choice. It was the best breakfast he could think of for her at the time. "Angel?" He sat down on the side of the bathtub. "Maybe we can call my mom. She's been pregnant with twins before. She might be able to tell you what you can do to keep from throwing up so much."

Bella groaned into the toilet. "I know morning sickness is normal, but I'm puking my guts out."

Paul rubbed her back. "She won't say anything to anyone if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not worried about that. I just want my first appointment out of the way before we tell anyone and it's tomorrow." She dry-heaved into the toilet, again. "Can you go with me?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He moved to sit next to her on the floor. "Why don't you go lay in bed or on the couch and I'll bring you a trashcan?"

Bella slid over and laid her cheek on Paul's shoulder. "Please tell me it won't be like this the whole pregnancy."

"I'll tell you anything you want to hear, but I can't guarantee the truth of it." He kissed the top of her head. "Hopefully it'll pass once you get to your second trimester."

Bella decided to lay on the couch and watch some TV. Their bedroom was for sleeping and well, other things. As much as she wanted to be in their bed, she was sticking to the rule of no TV in the bedroom.

Thankfully, her morning sickness eased off enough for her to get some sleep. She was exhausted when she woke up the next morning for her appointment. Paul had called Jake and told him that he would be in late because he had something to take care of for the wedding. "Is that normal?" Paul watched as Bella rummaged through their closet for something to wear. She couldn't find anything that she was comfortable in. Everything felt so tight.

"Is what normal?" She pulled a fourth shirt over her head.

Paul pointed towards her stomach. "That."

Bella looked down. "What?" She was confused.

Paul got up from their bed and made his way over to her. "This." He put his hand on her stomach where there was a small baby bump poking out.

Bella's eyes went wide because she hadn't noticed at all. "Oh my God." She rushed out of the closet and over to the full-length mirror in the corner of their room. "How did I not notice this?"

"Angel..." Paul wrapped his arms around her from behind and placed his hands on her stomach. "There's babies in there and both of us have been so busy that I'm surprised either of us has had time to shit."

"Gross." She sighed heavily. "I can't believe this."

"I know." He kissed her neck. "I'm excited. Aren't you?"

Bella turned in his arms. "Of course, I am. It just seems really fast. We're not even married yet and I'm pregnant."

"You'll be a married woman in a matter of hours." He nibbled on her left ear. "Wear one of my t-shirts. It'll be comfortable for you."

Bella took two steps back and placed her hand on her tiny stomach. "If I already have a baby bump, can you imagine how big I'll get?"

"I can't wait." Paul pulled her back to him and kissed her neck, again. "We're gonna be late."

After another fifteen minutes passed, Bella finally decided on one of Paul's button-up shirts and a pair of leggings. She already felt like a busted can of biscuits, and that made her wonder if all the morning sickness and other pregnancy symptoms were all in the woman's head.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the medical building, Paul switched the truck off and turned to face Bella. "Is your doctor female?"

She cracked a small smile. "Yes, Dr. Reyes is a woman."

"Is she going to, you know?" He wiggled his fingers towards her lady bits.

Bella giggled. "You're such a man."

"I'm definitely no boy." Paul reached down and groped his crotch.

"Definitely not a boy." Bella reached for the handle of the door to get out. "Please put that away. I really don't want anyone seeing how much you truly are a man."

Paul smiled. "Sometimes I wonder how I can walk with this thing."

Bella laughed then giggled all the way to the doctor's office. By the time she was called back, she had calmed down. After her first week together with Paul, she knew he was going to keep her laughing with his quick wit. She really liked it when he would sneak in some fondling along the way. He was such a pervert, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

When all the normal check-in stuff was done, the couple was led into a room where Bella was told to undress from the waist down. Paul had a rush of excitement as soon as the door closed behind the nurse. He dropped to his knees and helped Bella pull her pants and underwear down. His hands and mouth had a mind of their own as he helped her up on the examination table. Thankfully, his hearing was good enough to know when someone was about to enter the room. "You're incorrigible."

Paul's response was to give her a huge toothy grin as he stepped away from her to sit down. He was popping a tent in his pants, and needed to sit before Bella had a coronary.

A knock sounded at the door a minute later and in came a very beautiful indigenous woman. "Hey, you two. I'm Dr. Reyes." She reached out to shake Bella's hand then over to Paul.

"I'm Bella and that's Paul." Bella tucked the paper blanket under her legs.

Dr. Reyes walked over to the counter and opened a laptop computer. She pushed at a few buttons before she was able to read over Bella's chart. "It looks like the urine test we did was positive for pregnancy. Do you know when your last period was?"

Bella gave her a guilty look. "Well, it's been a few months, actually."

Dr. Reyes turned to face her patient with raised brows. "A few months?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah. We've literally been so busy that I didn't notice; buying a house and planning our wedding."

"Newlyweds?" Dr. Reyes asked.

"Tomorrow," Paul and Bella answered at the same time.

"Congratulations," Dr. Reyes said as she reached for some surgical gloves. "Well, I'm gonna do a quick exam. I'll do a vaginal swab to make sure everything is on the up and up down there. Then you'll head over to the ultrasound room. I'm pretty sure you're far enough along that you won't need a transvaginal."

Dr. Reyes proceeded to poke and prod at Bella after checking her nether regions. She pressed on her stomach a little and noticed the small mound already rounded on her lower stomach. "You already have a little pouch."

"Paul noticed before I did. He saw it this morning." Bella glanced over at Paul who was smiling a mile wide.

"Well, you are pretty thin, so it's normal to start showing so soon." Dr. Reyes helped Bella sit up. "Considering you're right around 12 or 13 weeks pregnant."

"Wow," Bella said as Dr. Reyes turned to collect her laptop.

"I'll see you two in my office as soon as the ultrasound is done. I do this with all new patients just to get to know them a little better." She gave them a small wave and headed to her next patient.

"That's cool." Bella hopped down off the table. "At least I won't have to have something shoved up my cooter other than that thing." She pointed at Paul's semi that was very visible from where she was standing.

After the doctor left the room, Bella got dressed. She had to keep smacking Paul's hands away just to get her leggings on. "Angel, I think we need to have a meeting in our bedroom before I go into work."

"Do ya now?" Bella picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder. "Let's go get a peek at our babies, then we'll talk about having a meeting."

Paul growled at her. "There won't be any talking if I have anything to do with it."

"You're so insatiable." Paul smacked Bella's butt as they walked out of the examination room.

They didn't have to wait due to the ultrasound tech waiting for them outside the room where they were going. Bella went straight to the table and handed Paul her purse before climbing up. "I'm Pam," the tech said, introducing herself. "Go ahead and lay back for me and push your pants down to just below your lower stomach."

Paul took his spot next to Bella as the tech got the computer ready to start the ultrasound. Moments later she squirted warm lubrication jelly all over Bella's lower abdomen. The room was extremely quiet as she rolled the wand around and typed stuff into the computer every few seconds. Bella and Paul watched the monitor on the wall as the picture was paused to screenshot it. "Is that the baby?" Paul asked, as he squinted up at the TV. He had perfect vision, but looking at ultrasound pictures wasn't his profession.

"That's one of them," the tech replied.

"One of them?" Bella asked excitedly. She already knew there were two, but the tech couldn't know that.

"Yeah, um, actually, I'm seeing three." The tech froze the screen. "You see the three little pockets?" She moved the cursor around to use as a pointer. "And each of these flutters is a heartbeat."

"Three?" Paul asked sincerely surprised.

"Yup," the tech answered. "And it looks like you're getting a set of identical babies."

Paul plopped down into the chair next to Bella. He honestly didn't expect three. He had already hyped himself up about having two. For five seconds he wondered why he could only hear two until he closed his eyes and focused on the heartbeats. That's when he heard the third. "Three, Angel."

"Three?" Bella really didn't know what to say. She was completely dumbfounded.

"When you come back for your next appointment, we should be able to see what the gender is." She finished the measurements that was needed and ended the ultrasound after printing off two black and white pictures of each baby. "Congratulations. I'm sure you two didn't expect to ever have triplets."

Bella and Paul chuckled. "The pregnancy wasn't planned either," Bella supplied as she pulled her leggings up then hopped off the table. She took Paul's hand after he handed over her purse. The tech led them to an office where Dr. Reyes was waiting on them.

The tech bid them farewell and closed the door as she exited the room. "Come on in and have a seat."

The meeting with Dr. Reyes didn't take long. She went over the do's and don'ts while being pregnant. She gave them pamphlets with loads of info about having multiples and gave them the name of a doctor that specialized in patients having more than two babies. Paul and Bella were still speechless as they left her office.

The drive home was held is silence and smiles. They were beside themselves as they continually envisioned three babies running around their house. "You wanna tell everyone tonight at the rehearsal dinner?" Paul kept his eyes on the road only to glance over every few seconds to look at her.

Bella glanced up at him. "How about tomorrow at the reception?" She placed her hand on her stomach. "I can't believe it."

"I know, Angel. It's all so surreal." He reached over and took her hand. "I don't think I can get anymore lucky than what I am already."

Paul pulled into their driveway. "I'm the lucky one," Bella finally said. "I can't believe this."

"I know, Angel." Paul smiled and gave her hand a little squeeze. "I hate to break up the wonderful news, but are we spending the night away from each other tonight?"

Bella chuckled then stopped abruptly. "Uh, no." She gathered her purse and pulled her keys out. "You can sleep on the couch if you want, but we're not sleeping elsewhere."

"Yes ma'am." Paul pulled her over to him. "Gimme a kiss. I'm gonna head into work. Do you want me to pick up dinner on the way home?"

Bella shook her head. "Nah. I need to go to the store. I'm gonna go now, so I can relax when I get back."

Paul puckered his lips. "Smooch." Bella pressed her lips to his. "Mmm...I won't be too late." He kissed her one more time. "I love you, Angel."

"I love you, more, Amore." Bella loves it when Paul calls her Angel and chose to call him Love in Italian. He's the love of her life and they'll never be without each other.

Bella made her way to the grocery store and got a few things for dinner and snacks. Now that she knew for sure that she's pregnant, she wanted to keep small meals available, so she's not snacking constantly. She already felt like a beached whale, and she was only 13 weeks pregnant per the ultrasound prediction.

After spending more than she wanted to, Bella headed home, only to stop at the gas station on the way. She had just stepped out of her car when a familiar one pulled into the next fuel island. It was a black Mercedes that she knew was Carlisle's only Esme stepped out. "Hi, Bella." She stepped over to give Bella a hug. "It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too, Esme. How are you?" Bella scanned her discount card before swiping her credit card and lifting the nozzle to begin fueling.

"We're doing really good. Trying to keep busy." She looked down to Bella's left hand. "I see that you're engaged."

Bella smiled. "Yeah. The big day is tomorrow. I know I shouldn't be, but I'm nervous."

Esme touched Bella's cheek lightly. "Oh, sweetheart. Everything will work out perfectly." Then her eyes grew wide. "And you're with child."

"Yes," Bella nodded.

"And with more than one. That's so exciting. Do you mind if I share the news with the others?"

"Um...maybe not Edward, but the others are okay." The nozzle clicked when her gas tank was full. "We just found out today that we're having triplets. Two are identical."

Esme's face lit up with elation as she placed her hand over her mouth. If she could cry, she would. "That's so amazing. I'm so happy for you and Paul."

"Thank you, Esme. That really does mean a lot to me. You've always treated me with a kind heart." Bella leaned forward to hug her, and Esme hugged her in return.

"Will you keep in touch?" She touched Bella's cheek, again. "Pregnancy is making you glow."

Bella nodded. "I will." She squeezed Esme's hand. "I hope to see you around."

"You, too, sweetheart. You be careful."

They bid each other farewell before Bella climbed into her car and began to make her way home. She was tired and hoped to get in a good nap before she needed to make dinner. She just wanted a quiet evening at home alone with Paul.

As they were eating dinner later that evening, Bella was flipping through the information that Dr. Reyes had given her. "I wonder if the babies are going to grow faster because, you know, you're a shape shifter."

Paul shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe mom can answer that for us."

"I'll talk to her tomorrow night after we tell everyone the news." She flipped through a few more papers then thought of their new neighbors. "Have you met Jane and her daughter, Renesme? I met them the day after they moved in."

"Not yet." Paul replied. "What the hell kind of name is Renesme, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't ask." Bella sipped on her juice. "I think I'm gonna invite them to the reception. Maybe they can get to know more people on the res."

Paul nodded. "Sounds good. I wonder if Jake knows the daughter from school."

"No clue. Jane said they moved from an apartment into their house, so maybe they know each other. I'm sure Jake would've mentioned her before now if he knew her because she's absolutely beautiful."

Later that evening at the rehearsal dinner, Paul and Bella kept the news of the babies to themselves. They didn't want to deal with any chaos of excitement before they went home. Laying on the couch and watching TV was the only thing on their agenda, and that's exactly what they did.

The next day, Paul woke way too early, kissed Bella and headed out for an early patrol. They strived for an easy day and as much fun as they could have. They were leaving for Seattle really early the next morning to catch a flight to Florida. Years earlier, Charlie had told Bella about where her mom was from, and that's where she wanted to go for their honeymoon. They planned to go to Disneyworld before heading to Miami. They wanted to see as much as they could in ten days.

The ceremony was being held at the beach down from the reservation club house where the reception will be. Just about everyone that knew the Black family was invited. There was only standing available once the seats were full. Emily had helped Cora, and a few others get the flowers and chairs set up for the ceremony. Bella didn't do too much except keep calm and get dressed. Thankfully her dress was stretchy enough around her stomach to keep it hidden until their announcement.

The men were only dressed casually, and Paul looked extra sexy to Bella when she was escorted down the aisle on the arm of her father. Charlie couldn't believe he was giving her away to a man that he truly liked. He knew Paul could protect her with his life if he needed to. He also knew his daughter was pregnant because Renee had the same glow when she was pregnant with Bella. He would wait for her to share the news with him.

As soon as Charlie released Bella's hand into Paul's, he felt the tears begin to well in his eyes. He wasn't afraid to let anyone see him cry. He was happy for his daughter and couldn't believe how beautiful she was in her wedding dress.

Paul gladly accepted Bella's hand in his as soon as Charlie gave his permission for them to marry. His heart was racing. His life had changed so much in a matter of months. He only wished his mother could be there to share their special day with her. Somewhere out there, Paul knew she was looking down on them as they officially became one.

The reception was being held immediately after the ceremony only a few hundred feet away. Sue Clearwater had made their wedding cake, and her daughter Leah had made the grooms cake. She was the only female in the wolf pack and refused to accept special treatment because she's a girl. She loved to bake, and always had treats for the pack after each patrol.

"Mrs. Lahote," Paul says as he danced with his new bride. "You let me know when you're ready to leave and we'll get out of here."

Bella smiled up at her husband. "We can't leave. That would be rude. We still need to announce triple trouble."

Both of the twins had been Bella's maids of honor. She didn't want one feeling left out, so she asked both. They gladly accepted and hoped their speech wasn't too corny. They mentioned the first time they met Bella and wondered if she would marry Jake. Everyone laughed, of course. Then Jake, as Paul's best man, made his speech. He literally made everyone tear up. He was sincere with how much he had grown to love his older brother and wished they had grown up together. Billy's heart twisted a little, but there wasn't anything anyone could do about the past. Going forward was all they could do.

As soon as they speeches were over, Bella and Paul stood as Paul clanked his fork against his glass to get everyone's attention. "I'm pretty sure this won't be a surprise to many of you when we tell you that we're expecting."

Everyone in attendance cheered and yelled out their congratulations. "There's one more thing, though," Bella said, hoping they were all still listening. "We're having triplets."

Cora was beside herself as she grabbed a hold of Billy's shoulders to keep from falling. The reactions from the crowd was priceless.

A little while later, Bella was talking to her mother in-law when she noticed her neighbor and her daughter had arrived. She went straight to greet them. "Thank you so much for coming." Bella hugged Jane then touched Renesme's shoulder. "Help yourself to any of the food that's left. My husband and his brothers can put away some food if it was left unattended for too long."

"Thank you for inviting us. It keeps me from cooking," Jane said with a smile. "Congratulations. We came in right when you announced your babies. That's so exciting."

Bella patted her stomach. "I'll let you know in a few months."

"Bells!" Jake yelled from across the room. "It's time for the garter toss."

Bella turned to wave her brother in-law over. "Come over here."

Jake rolled his eyes, but walked over to where Bella was standing. "What's up? We're wait..."

As if Jake's entire world was tilting on its axis, his body felt like a giant magnet was pulling him down to ground him as he locked eyes with Renesme.

He had finally imprinted.

Thank you!

RTB