As Edward had suspected, when he arrived back at the hotel and Nichole noticed that Jacob wasn't with him, she asked where he was.
"Jacob's going to be gone for a couple of days," Edward explained in a gentle tone. "He isn't going to be gone forever, he just...wants to think about things."
"Oh..." Nichole put a hand on her stomach, as though she could already sense a baby there. "Edward....do you think that I'm doing the right thing here? Jacob did have a point about these not being the best circumstances-"
"Nichole, I don't want you doing what you think will please the people around you, I want you to do what you think is the right thing for you. But...before we decide anything else, I think that you should take this test." He handed the box to her. "Do you want one of the girls to be in there with you when you do it?"
"Could you maybe see if Alice could come in? She might have one of her visions or something and be able to tell me whether or not I'm actually pregnant."
Edward nodded his head and left the room, with Alice coming in a few moments later. "Are you ready?"
"Not in the least bit, but it's not going to do any good to wait. I don't suppose that you've had any visions about this, have you?"
Alice shook her head. "No, although that could be the fact that your baby, if you actually are pregnant, has a wolf in its blood."
With shaking hands, Nichole unwrapped the test. "Okay...here we go."
Alice gripped Nichole's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "You've got this."
A few minutes later, Nichole was pacing back and forth in front of her bed. "How much longer are we going to have to wait?"
"Only another moment or two. Do you want to look at it, or do you want me to?"
"I would rather that you did it, my hands are shaking so much that I would probably drop the damn thing."
Alice nodded her head before going into the bathroom, slowly walking back out again a few moments later.
"Well?"
Alice looked like she was trying to hide a smile. "Congratulations, you're gonna be a mom."
"Oh, shit...." Nichole sat down on the bed. Now that she was for sure pregnant, everything just seemed so much more real to her, and what else seemed real was the prospect that Jacob wouldn't be coming back.
Alice sat down on the bed, wrapping her arm around Nichole. "You can do this, you're going to be the best mom that there ever was. And besides that, look at all of the people that you have to support you. Even if Jacob doesn't stay, which would be stupid on his part, this baby is going to have grandparents, the best aunts, and uncles in the world. You don't need Jacob to raise this baby."
"Yeah...it would be nice if he were here though."
"If things worked out perfectly, he would be here for you and the baby and the Volturi wouldn't be something that we would have to worry about."
Nichole sighed, laying her head on her sister's shoulder. "Are things ever going to calm down?" She asked her. "Even before all of this shit, we were constantly on the move. Not that I blame you guys for it, I know that we could never stay in one place for very long, but still, it would be nice if we could just settle down somewhere, you know?"
"And who knows, maybe someday you can have that. When all this is over, depending, you and Jacob can go back to Forks, live on the reservation, have the family that you deserve to have. You deserve the world Nichole, and I hope that you get it."
"I don't need the world, Alice, I've got all that I need right here in this building. I have my family with me, and that's all that matters to me."
Eventually, Nichole began to fall asleep on Alice, and she laid Nichole down on the bed, pulling the blanket over her before quietly exiting the room.
"How is she?" Rosalie asked her nervously.
"She's scared, naturally, but I think that once the shock wears off, she's going to be okay. She would be a lot better if Jacob were here though. I wish he wasn't a werewolf so that I could see how this plays out, but if Jacob is any kind of decent, then he's going to come back, if not for the baby, then for Nichole. Besides that, she's his imprint, so he can't stay away from her for very long, but I don't think that he thought of that when he took off."
Rosalie let out a scoff. "I don't know if you've noticed Alice, but the furball isn't exactly the smartest one in the bunch, he doesn't really think things through."
"Well, he better start thinking things through before he comes back. If Aro finds out that Nichole is pregnant, there's no telling what he's going to do, considering his obsession with her and her gift."
"Speaking of, has there been any sign of him?"
"No, not yet, but we better not stick around here for very long."
"Once Nichole wakes up, I'll take her to the house. It may not have all of the defenses set up yet, but it would definitely be a lot safer than here. I might have Emmett come with us too, just in case."
Rosalie nodded her head. "I think that would be a good idea, you could use the extra muscle in case you run into some enemies."
"I'm going to take a look around outside really quick, make sure that everything's okay."
Alice went outside the hotel, and there she stayed, patrolling until dawn rose. In the distance, she could see a wolf watching them. "You better make the right decision Jacob," Alice muttered under her breath before she turned her back on him and walked inside.