Sunflower (Embry Call)

Chapter 24

"So it's true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love."

Emilia stepped out onto her balcony, leaning against the rails as she breathed in the fresh air.

She was tired of the stressed atmosphere that the Cullen house had been invaded with, the dark and gloomy mood that settled around the family.

Bella only got worse and worse as time went on and Edward became more and more detached.

Just earlier when the baby hurt her again and Carlisle had to do another body scan, Bella and Edward fought again. He was angry and told her that he could not love the thing that was killing her. Emma and Rose had bathed Bella a little later, closing the door on Edward's worried face.

Bella had cried the whole time and begged for advice. There was no advice, what could they tell her? Emilia had her own relationship problems as it is!

The day before, Emilia had had a pregnancy scare. Her period was late by two weeks and she was feeling nauseous the whole week. As it turned out, her period was late because of the stress and as for the nausea, it was another effect of the imprint bond. Emilia had been close to running outside and looking for Embry until Carlisle scanned her.

Speaking of Carlisle, the family was starving. As the treaty was void in Sam's head, the Cullen's could not head out to hunt. At first, they made do as Esme suggested but as time progressed, their eyes became darker.

They hadn't hunted in weeks before Bella's pregnancy and now, it was almost impossible. The family had come to the conclusion that while Emilia was around, Bella was safe as the pack's number one rule was that imprints were not to be harmed. It would not only injury Embry as well, but would go against pack code.

That being said, nothing stopped the pack from hurting the Cullen's if they tried to leave. They would easily kill them.

Emilia heard the sound of retching downstairs and sighed, exiting her balcony. She grabbed another silver bucket and headed to the family room, where Bella laid.

Bella leaned back as Emilia replaced the bucket, Bella trying to smile gratefully but only managing to grimace.

"There's got to be some way to get nutrients into you." Emilia muttered, sitting next to Jacob.

"Actually, you might be right." Edward and Emilia said at the same time, both looking at Jacob.

"I was making a side comment!"

"What? What did he say?"

"I just thought that the little leech might be looking for something to stick it's fangs into."

"I have some O negative set aside for Bella." Carlisle stood, returning with a plastic cup and a bag full of blood.

Everyone grimaced as he squeezed it into the cup, Jacob scrunching up his nose.

"Jasper, walk with me." Alice commanded, Emmett following behind as they left the room.

"You're going to make her drink that?" Jacob asked as Carlisle handed the cup to Bella. Rosalie stepped away from Bella, holding her nose as Emilia looked away. "I'm going to be sick."

Bella tentatively took a sip, her teeth staining with the thick red substance. "It's good." She confirmed, drinking even more.

Jacob gagged, looking very pale all of a sudden. Emilia jumped off the couch, running outside of the house while holding her mouth. Once outside, she vomited the contents of her stomach, someone holding her hair back.

"Thanks." She whispered hoarsely to Jacob, wiping her mouth once she was done.

Jacob rubbed her back, helping her to sit on the steps. "No problem."

He rummaged through his jean pocket before pulling out a pack of gum, handing one to Emilia.

"You can't handle seeing it either, huh?"

Jake shook his head. "I didn't mean it literally. And the fact that she liked it."

The two looked back towards the house where they could somewhat see Bella. She was already looking livelier as Carlisle refilled her cup.

"But you were right. The baby is half vampire after all."

Jacob looked out into the forest, sighing. "You don't think it's really a threat, do you?"

"Only time will tell." Emilia shrugged. "I won't stand by it if it turns out to be a murderer, worse than regular vampires."

"Alice saw my future, you know." Emilia commented, Jake staring at her.

"Before this all went down, while Bella and Edward were in Brazil. She saw what would happen to me."

"And what happened?"

"I stayed here with Embry. We got married and lived happily together. You were in the vision too, with a girl that had long brown hair. You couldn't see her face but, you looked so happy with her."

Emilia sent him the memory of the vision, his eyes glazing over as he watched what Alice had seen not long ago. "You and Embry look so happy. And me. I want to meet that girl. Who could she be?"

"Don't get your hopes up yet, the vision could change."

"Did yours change?"

Emilia breathed in deeply and let out a shaky breath. "It changed from what it was before I met Embry. And I haven't asked but I'm sure it's changed again."

"What was it before?"

"I got bitten. I eventually became a vampire."

"She hasn't seen anything since it changed, has she?"

"No. The baby blocks her vision. That's why she hangs around us so much. To get rid of her headaches."

"Emilia! You have to eat!" Esme called, Emilia standing.

"I better go. She'll force feed me if I don't comply. "

The two laughed before she ran off, Jacob thinking about the vision.

Who was that girl and why did she look so familiar?