A/N: Ok, so every time I attempt at writing romance, I butcher it. So all I'm gonna do is if they kiss, I'm gonna write how much she's enjoying it instead of how it feels, and with other stuff, it's not gonna be all, you know, really romantic stuff. I think everyone would call this 'fluff.' Whatever. So yeah, no romance, or whatever, just what the people on this site call 'fluff.' I think.
We just stared at each other unmoving. It was like time had come to an absolute stop just for Seth and me. Edward and Alice just stared at us in shock, looking back and forth between us like in a tennis match.
"You are kidding, right Seth?" Edward finally broke the silence. After about five seconds, he added, "No, you're not kidding. Erin, do you—?
"Uh-huh," I interrupted him weakly, not wanting the moment to end. "Yeah, I know what just happened."
Awkward silence. "Hey, what's your name?" Seth walked fully through the door.
"Erin Baker," I said, my eyes following him. "And you're Seth Clearwater."
"How does she know that?" Seth turned to Edward. The vampire merely shrugged and muttered, "She knows things."
So I went on to tell him where I came from, how I got here, and how I knew what was going to happen. When I was done, Seth gave me a weird look. I looked down and asked quietly, "You don't believe me, do you?"
"No, no, I believe you," Seth said, and it sounded sincere.
Bella shivered in her sleep, and then started to wake up. "S-Seth? W-what are you doing here?"
"I came here to see what Jacob was doing," He gestured to Jacob's sleeping, snoring form. It sounded like a chainsaw impersonation. "And discovered he crashed on the floor, human. Are you cold?"
"A l-little," Bella said quietly. She still had the IV in her arm, but Carlisle said that it could come off in a couple hours if she's doing ok.
"Seth, would you mind…?" Edward started to ask, but Seth was way ahead of them. They switched places on the couch, and Seth placed an arm around Bella so she would be warm, and another around me.
"So, Erin Baker from the different dimension," Seth started. "How old are you?"
I grimaced. "Twenty. And you're—what? — sixteen?"
"Hey, it helps to look 27 once in a while," Seth joked. "Seriously, though, that a really freaking big age difference."
"Does that bother you?"
"Nah. Does it bother you?"
"Nope," I said, popping the P. Watching football was starting to get boring. Eventually—seven long hours of eating and watching football later—Jake woke up. By then, Bella had her IV removed, and Rosalie was sitting at Bella's feet. Edward sat on the arm of the couch next to her, and Alice was on the floor at by my feet. And Seth was eating like a pig.
"You want some?" He asked me, gesturing to the big plate of breakfast food on his lap.
I took a small chunk of stray bacon of the plate and nibbled on it, turning my eyes back to the TV.
"Hey, Jake's coming around!" Seth crowed, seeing Jake as well. Jake stared at the arm Seth had around Bella, and then at the food.
"He came to find you," Edward said, answering his mental what the hell? as Jake got to his feet. "And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast."
Earlier, we'd made an agreement not to tell anyone about the imprinting. Yet.
Seth took in the murderous expression on his Alpha's face and quickly explained. "Yeah, Jake—I was just checking in to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I told her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang,"—he turned to Edward—"man, you can cook."
"Thank you," Edward murmured.
Jake inhaled slowly, not taking his eyes off Seth's arm.
"Bella got cold," I said before Edward could. Hahaha! I stole your line! I thought to him idiotically, while Edward looked at me like I was going crazy.
Seth hear my comment, looked at Jake's face, and suddenly he needed both hands to eat with. He took his arm off Bella and dug in, while Jacob walked over to stand a few feet from the couch.
"Leah running patrol?" His voice was thick with sleep.
"Yeah," Seth said as he chewed. "She's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours." He was proud of that, and it showed in his tone.
"Midnight? Wait a minute—what time is it now?"
"'Bout seven." He glanced toward the clock above the fireplace mantel, checking.
"Crap. Sorry about that Seth. Really. You should have kicked me awake."
"Naw, man, you needed some serious sleep. You haven't taken a break since when? Night before you last patrol for Sam? Like forty hours? Fifty? You're not a machine, Jake. 'Sides, you didn't miss anything."
Oh, he missed something huge alright, I said to myself. Jacob glanced quickly at Bella, noticing her color was back to normal. Bella saw him looking and grinned.
"How's the rib?" He asked her.
"Taped up nice and tight. I don't even feel it."
Jake and I rolled our eyes at the same time. Then he made a sarcastic remark, "What's for breakfast? O negative or AB positive?"
Bella stuck her tongue out at him. "Omelets," she said, but her eyes darted down, and Jake noticed her cup of blood was wedged between her leg and Seth's.
"Go get some breakfast, Jake," Seth said. "There's plenty in the kitchen. You've got to be empty."
"What's Leah having for breakfast?" Jacob asked Seth critically.
"Hey, I took food to her before I ate anything," he defended himself. It was true, though. "She said she'd rather eat road kill, but I bet she caves. These cinnamon rolls…" He was at a loss for words. In fact, they were good. I'd had about two and a half before I was full and gave the leftover piece to Seth.
"I'll go hunt with her, then."
Seth sighed as Jake turned to leave.
"A moment, Jacob?" Carlisle went up to Jake, and they spoke in low tones so I couldn't hear. It didn't matter; I knew what the conversation was about.
"Okay, then," Jake said, speaking louder. "That's settled. I'll just be on my way. Seth, I'll expect you back on at dusk, so get a nap in there somewhere, all right?"
"Sure, Jake. I'll phase back soon as I'm done. Unless…" he hesitated, looking at Bella. "Do you need me?"
"She's got blankets," Jacob snapped at him.
"I'm fine, Seth, thanks," Bella said quickly.
"Yeah, and I'm falling asleep again," I mumbled sleepily. "Why do I sleep so much? I hate missing stuff, why?"
"It's ok, just rest. You were up all night," Seth whispered to me as Jake walked out the door with a huge plate of food. Reluctantly, I let my eyes close, and I drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
I seriously needed to make sure I didn't sleep as often. I felt like I was taking advantage of everyone by using every piece of furniture they had that was capable to sleep on. I opened my eyes to see I had been moved into one of the bedrooms, and it was late afternoon. I was still in the cloths Alice had made me wear earlier. I huffed, and got up, quickly adjusting my hair when I saw a mirror. When I came to the top of the stairs, down below I saw Jacob sitting next to a sleeping Bella. I walked down the stairs slowly, ignoring their conversation of who know what, and looked out the window. I blocked my mind from Edward so he could see what I was thinking: Bella almost dying. It just kept coming back to me and it made me wonder if I could change something. No! Things happen for a reason, I they should stay the way they are.
"Four days?" I heard Jake ask. That's how long Bella had left—as a human, anyway.
"Approximately," I heard Edward reply.
"Then what?"
"What do you mean, exactly?"
I knew Jake was asking in his head how the baby came out. Obviously, it wasn't a normal pregnancy, so it wasn't going to be a normal birth.
"From what little research we've been able to do, it would appear the creatures use their own teeth to escape the womb," I heard Edward whisper.
"Research?" Jake asked weakly.
"That's why you haven't seen Jasper and Emmett around. That's what Carlisle is doing now. Trying to decipher ancient stories and myths, as much as we can with what we have to work with here, looking for anything that might help us predict the creature's behavior."
Jake presumed that Bella's baby wasn't the first of its kind in his head.
"Then is this thing not the first of its kind?" Edward asked, anticipating the unheard question. "Maybe. It's all very sketchy. The myths could easily be the products of fear and imagination. Though…"—he hesitated—"your myths are true, are they not? Perhaps these are, too. They do seem to be localized, linked…"
"How did you find…?"
"There was a woman we encountered in South America. She'd been raised in the traditions of her people. She'd heard warnings about such creatures, old stories that had been passed down."
"The creature must be killed immediately. Before it could gain too much strength."
Jacob asked in his mind if Sam was right.
"Of course, their legends say the same of us. That we must be destroyed. That we are soulless murderers."
Edward chuckled at something Jake had thought.
"What did their stories say about the…mothers?"
Edward didn't answer. Instead, Rosalie did; "Of course there were no survivors," she said, making Jake seem like she was selfish. "Giving birth in the middle of a disease-infested swamp with a medicine man smearing sloth spit across your face to drive out the evil spirits was never the safest method. Even the normal births went badly half the time. None of them had what this baby has—caregivers with an idea of what the baby needs, who try to meet those needs. A doctor with a totally unique knowledge of vampire nature. A plan in the place to deliver the baby as safely as possible. Venom that will repair anything that goes wrong. The baby will be fine. And those mothers would probably have survived if they'd had that—if they even existed in the first place. Something I am not convinced of." She sniffed disdainfully at Jake. Seconds later, an earsplitting crash sounded throughout the room, making me jump five feet in the air.
I knew it'd been coming, but I'd never expected it to be that loud. It was like the sound of fireworks times ten! I was surprised Bella didn't wake up.
"Dumb blonde," Jacob muttered.
I turned around and saw Rosalie turn around very slowly, and then she growled out, "You. Got. Food. In. My. Hair."
And then Jake busted out laughing, Alice and I joining in a few seconds later.
"What's so funny?" Bella mumbled, awoken by the laughter.
"I got food in her hair," Jake told her, chuckling again.
"It's not funny, Jacob," I said in a firm voice, even though I was trying not to laugh, and stayed by the window.
"I'm not going to forget this, dog," Rosalie hissed.
"S'not hard to erase a blonde's memory," he countered. "Just blow in her ear."
"Get some new jokes," she snapped.
"C'mon, Jake. Leave Rose alo—" Bella broke off mid-sentence and sucked in a sharp breath. Edward quickly leaned over the top of Jake and ripped the blanket on top of them away. Bella seemed to convulse, her back arching off the sofa.
"He's just," she panted, "stretching."
I tuned everything else they said out.
I was dreading the time when the baby was born, considering there was going to be a lot of blood involved. Noticing Edward's horrified glace, I quickly blocked my mind and shook my head at him. I needed to get away from here, go out for a drive or something.
"Erin," Edward spoke softly, and tossed me something. I caught it, and saw that I was holding a pair of keys.
"Thanks," I whispered, barely audible even to myself. I walked through the house and into the garage. Hitting the 'lock' button on the keys, I heard the beeping which told me what car keys I had. Why did Edward have the keys to Alice's Porsche? I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I got behind the wheel. Good thing I knew how to drive this thing. I pulled out of the driveway, and zoomed down the road—going only a little over the speed limit. I don't know where I drove; I just drove, and was in thought the whole time.
I really wanted to prevent Renessmee's birth the way it happened in the book, though I didn't know how. It was a split second thing that would be too hard to intervene with, and I wasn't some supernatural being; just human. And I wanted to prevent the almost-battle with the Volturi, though how I would stop Irena from taking off to Italy, I didn't know. I found myself driving randomly through La Push. I quickly turned around, not wanting the wolves to think one of the vamps had broken the treaty, but before I could go any further, a big black wolf jumped into the path of the car, and I slammed on the breaks.
Breathing hard, I got out of the car with my hands up like I was being arrested. "Alice loaned me her car. I didn't realize I was here until about thirty seconds ago."
The wolf huffed, noticing my heartbeat, and walked into the trees. Seconds later, Sam Uley stepped out of the woods. "Have you come to spy on us for the Cullen's?"
That sounded really stupid. I scoffed. "No. I wanted to get away from the tense drama in the house." I noticed the sun was going down. Uh-oh. Only a few hours from doomsday.
Sam noticed my body tense up. "Are you okay?"
My eyes were wide as I stared at the sunset. "I gotta go." I backed into the car and revved the engine. Sam got out of the way, and I zoomed down the highway exceeding the speed limit more than I ever would in my lifetime. I didn't seem to be getting there fast enough; it was just like in New Moon when Bella started panicking when she thought they wouldn't be able to save Edward. I sure was panicking now. "Come on, come on!"
Finally, I saw the entrance of the driveway and sped through the narrow winding dirt path. Not even bothering to park the car in the garage, I ran full speed into the house. The sun had just gone down.
"Carlisle and Esme are gone, aren't they?" I asked, breathing hard. Noticing my panic, Edward nodded warily.
"Dammit!" I shouted.
"Erin, what's wrong?" Alice asked.
"Wait and see," Was all I mumbled loud enough only so the vampires and Jacob could hear as I sat down on the floor as far away from the couch as possible.
Suddenly, Bella made a face. "Rose?" she asked.
Rosalie chuckled. "Again?"
"I think I've drunk two gallons in the last hour," Bella explained.
Edward and Jacob both got out of the way while Rosalie came to life Bella from the couch to take her to the bathroom.
"Can I walk?" Bella asked. "My legs are so stiff."
"Oh, no," I moaned, sick already.
Edward looked kind panicked at my reaction, but asked her, "Are you sure?"
"Rose'll catch me if I trip over my feet. Which could happen pretty easily, since I can't see them."
I watching, face pale, as Rose set Bella carefully on her feet, keeping her hands right at Bella's shoulders. Bella stretched her arms out in front of her, wincing a little.
"That feels good," she sighed. "Ugh, but I'm huge." She patted her stomach. "One more day."
I whimpered slightly as she said this, taking a throw pillow off a chair and burying my head in it.
"All righty, then." I whimpered again, knowing what was coming, but blocked my mind from Edward, keeping the image away from him. "Whoops—oh no!"
I heard a splash and a clunk—that was the cup. I knew Bella would bend down and try to catch it, even though three hands would already beat her to it. I faintly heard a muffled tearing sound come from Bella's body. "Oh!" she gasped.
I peeked up slightly and saw that Bella had collapsed, and Rosalie had caught her.
"Bella?" he asked, panic written across his face.
Half a second later, Bella screamed. A scream that made me scream and I continued screaming even after hers was cut off. I screamed as she fell unconscious, her body twitching around her belly, and screamed even louder when Bella threw up a fountain of blood.