"Okay, all set." I finally said after rearranging the refrigerator one more time. The baby wouldn't let me do anything but stay near ground level. Fortunate for me, I didn't need to leave the basement much since, I'd made my home near the couch after Dad came home.
"Bella?"
"Yeah!"
I cursed Charlie a thousand times before making him some dinner. Turns out, he's been asked to be with my Mom again. Dad was practically glowing when he'd returned.
"She asked me to marry her!"
Giving him the stink eye, I just kept on munching my extra rare stake. He didn't know what she was capable of. Unfortunately, I was. I saw the sweet touch of remembrance and absolute heaven reflected in his eyes. This wouldn't end well for him.
"Good for you!"
I didn't have the heart to break the news to him then. I just...kept my secrets to myself and went to school. If he'd ask any more questions, I'd say I was gaining weight. It was better this way since I wouldn't be suspected of having a child which was growing at this swift of a rate.
Knowing my limitations, I just shut myself up and slept away in my room thinking about what was possibly going on at Volterra. I hoped Edward would return to me. But my internals shouted in fear.
He abandoned you!
You're alone with your child!
No one will love you!
"Yeah, right!" I said out loud to myself. "I am loved by me. I survived a bloody vampire attack. I killed Victoria by myself. Who else could do this shit by themselves?"
The voices silenced themselves and I grinned. Ain't nobody got time for them asses. I surely didn't. Absolutely no time. I had to feed my kid. I had to prepare for Charlie leaving again since Renee didn't get remarried to another again.
Life was just getting interesting and there was no way I was going to back down. Fuck it all the way. I was going to screw everything over with my damned sexy personality. Ain't nobody was coming my way. If they did, I'd just mow them over. To hell with 'em. I had me and my kid. Even Edward wouldn't sway me from loving myself. I survived without him before. I could do it again.
Coaxing myself into sleep, I smiled. It was great to be back to myself again.
About time, baby.
****
Highschool Senior Year. Hell, or heaven? God knew but I certainly didn't. All I did know was, I was full fledged pregnant and I was feeling like a bloated bitch with swollen feet. Not a good feeling.
Especially since I was seeing men seething all round me and me seething back at them with a snap unlike any other time. It was like I was in enemy territory and no matter what I did, I wouldn't be safe unless I was home.
First period was English 4th period. We were learning the Scottish play and it wasn't even the fun part yet. Duncan was still alive and damned if I wanted to kill him myself. Knowing it was the hunger talking, I bit off a piece of beef jerky in the middle of class when Jake and Angela came up to read the lines of Lord and Lady Mac. Their voices echoed through my head while I chewed on the fucked-up world's disaster.
Edward is gone.
He won't come back.
He left you.
All alone with your demon baby.
Monster.
"Yeah and I'm a peachy girl with a blissful scar on my shoulder that's not a snake bite." I scoffed out loud when my eyes met Jake's. The world shrank and I felt like I was shrinking into nothingness until I saw...
Wolves howling to the moon...Grey, black, brown, and absolute auburn...
The grey wolf's eyes met mine...the lime-green, warm eyes of a protector...
A family...a friend...a soul mate...
I shivered and accidentally bit down on my finger. With a shriek I saw blood dripping down my finger where I pierced the skin.
Monster...
My vision swam. I smelled the metallic scent of it and my skin crawled. I hated this. Even after all this...I hated it to my core...
The teacher was by my side then. Unfortunately, I didn't notice what happened next since I fainted. When I awoke, my eyes met with someone's I wasn't sure I had ever met before.
Lime-green eyes set in a tawny brown face...
"You."
I said with faint recognition. She smiled. Her seat was beside me and her lips moved without less effort. I, however, didn't understand a thing. The only time I did get a thing was when she mentioned her name—Leah Clearwater—her family—Jake's cousins from the Lakota Tribe—and her true self—
"Wolf." I whispered. The sound seemed foreign to me. Her eyes bore into mine.
"Yes. I'm a wolf. A were-wolf."
"How?"
Leah shrugged. "Genetics." She gave me a smile. "You know, Jake's got it too. He just...hasn't transformed yet."
My eyes widened with horror. "H—He's one too?"
She winked. "Yep."
I steadied my breathing. Any more revelations and I'd hatch a goose egg inside my mind. I shook my head.
"So are you guys—I mean how—what—"
Leah touched my cold hands with her warm ones. It was then I noticed, her skin was boiling hot. Unnaturally warm. She looked into my eyes as if hypnotizing me to her aura.
"You saw me in your vision." She reassured me by patting on my hand gently. "I saw it too. I saw you and..."
"And?"
"I saw your son."
I froze. My eyes met hers which were dead serious. My throat went dry with fear.
"M—My son?"
Leah nodded. "Your son. He's my soulmate." She said with a straight face. I felt my nerves tangle and untangle. My skin blanched and unblanched. I felt warmth and then cold.
My son...
I'm having a boy...
Moments passed by while the revelation hung in the air. The truth...I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what I was seeing, feeling, or even needing right now. But I knew once I understood...once I got through this...I'd find my future. A beautiful future with Edward, me, and my baby boy. Even if Leah is his soulmate, I didn't give a damn because right now...he was still in my womb.
And for whatever reason, I felt like I would persevere. Even if it would take a village of an effort for me to live. I'd live through this. For Edward. For my son. For a future I want to see, always.
Shrugging off the uncertainty, I looked into Leah's eyes and gave her a good hard stare down. She stared back and we were even enough when Jacob and Angela visited us.
"Are you okay?" Jake's voice held pain and fear. "You were out cold for a second there." Angela's face was also stricken with concern which warmed my heart. Maybe, Jake had indeed found someone worth fighting for. I smiled.
"I'm find, Jake. Just guilty because I had to worry everyone." Giving them my best show, I sent them away before lying down inside the nurse's room. Leah was still beside me when I remembered to ask her something despite my mommy brain working overboard to forget it all.
"Don't tell anyone about my baby." I yawned. "His father isn't around. I don't want more trouble for him before he's even born."
Leah gave me a stare saying it all. Like hell she'd tell anyone. She was a lone wolf to begin with—the only female in a pack full of men. What else did I expect? Some secret camaraderie she'd express towards them?
"Nope. I'm not telling anyone. But," She gave me a hard stare back. "You'd better not separate him from me, Izabella. I won't have it. I love him."
"You don't even know him yet."
"I know enough. If any harm comes his way, I'll die. I don't care what happens with your boyfriend. But I'm keeping with you until he's born."
I wanted to laugh at her face but I knew just how serious she could be. After all, I could see myself doing the same for Edward. Sighing I gave her an iron nod before sleep overtook my senses.
"Just remember," I murmured. "I get to name him."
I heard her chuckle. "Don't worry. He's your son, Mother-in-law."
Wanting to protest, I managed a poke to her chest before my darkness settled over my eyes. It would be a hell of a senior year for me and I wouldn't have it any other way.
____________________________________
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