( outfit for
chapter above )
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chapter twelve
the two things at the very top of my things-i-never-want-to-do list.
Christina escaped inside the house, going around to avoid the argument that was still going on downstairs. She jumped on to the balcony and snuck into her and Carlisle's room. She stripped her jeans off and put on a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she walked by.
She stopped, turning her head to look back at the mirror. Her stomach was more noticeable in the tank top. It stuck out past her sweatpants, making her look to be about three months pregnant.
She shook her head as she stepped away from the mirror and to their shared bed. She crawled into the covers, pulling them over her head, trying to block out the voices from downstairs.
"Would you all knock it off?" Bella snapped once she came in from the back. Everyone paused in their arguing, surprised that Bella was the one to tell them off. "You guys are too busy arguing that you didn't even notice the people that are arguing about left the room for twenty minutes."
"Bella's right," Rosalie nodded. "The arguing isn't good for the babies."
Alice opened her mouth to retaliate, but was cut off by Carlisle. "Enough. We'll talk about this more later. It's getting late, Bella should be getting some rest."
Both Rosalie and Bella nodded their heads and walked up the stairs into Edward's room.
Everyone else left to do their own thing, disappearing back into their rooms. Carlisle paused in the kitchen as he looked at the half eaten plate from Bella. He grabbed it before throwing it away and grabbing a new plate.
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Christina sighed as the arguing stopped from downstairs.
She had to give more credit to Bella. Christina was getting more stressed as everyone argued over her. Not only was she battling her own thoughts about the situation, but she had to battle everyone else's as well. It made it different to differ from what she thought was right, and what she actually wanted.
Her undead heart dropped as the bedroom door opened. She carefully peaked out of the covers, watching as Carlisle closed the door behind him. They made eye contact immediately once he turned around towards the bed. He silently held out a plate of food to Christina, making her mouth water at the sight.
"I come barring a peace offering."
Christina sat up in bed as she grabbed the plate from his hands. She furrowed her brows, resting the plate on her lap. "Why would you need a peace offering?"
"Just eat the food," he chuckled shortly.
She cut up the first piece before landing it in her mouth. She could have moaned as the piece of steak slid down her throat; the remaining blood from the cut helped soothe her throat as well as her stomach.
"I'm sorry," Carlisle muttered softly after a few bites of steak from Christina. She looked up at him curiously. "I should be more supportive of your decisions. I didn't even think of the possibility of you wanting to keep," he paused for only a moment, but Christina noticed, "the baby."
"You don't." She didn't ask. Just the way that he worded everything made it obvious.
"I do," he paused again. "I want to have a baby with you, but—"
"But the unanswered questions makes it hard to be excited," Christina finished. She placed the empty plate on the side of her bed before going back to laying down. She rested her hands on her stomach as she stared at the ceiling. "I know. I've been going back and forth all day."
Carlisle lowered himself onto the bed, laying down next to his wife. His eyes lingered on her slightly swollen stomach, warmth filling his empty chest. When he was human, there would have been no greater gift to him than for his wife to be pregnant. When he turned into a vampire, that hope was gone. He didn't know there was a possibility to have a baby with someone— not that he ever tried, or ever wanted to try.
Christina blinked as Carlisle placed his hand on her stomach, only slightly covering her own.
"I just don't want anything to happen to you during this pregnancy," Carlisle mumbled. He continued to stare at her stomach. He almost couldn't believe that whatever was in there, he helped create. It's been four hundred years since he's thought about having kids of his own. Christina comes into his life, and throws everything he's known out the window.
"Nothing's going to happen to me," Christina promised. "Everything's going to turn out okay— with me and Bella."
Christina stayed quiet as he mulled over her words. He wanted to believe her, but it was hard when no one knew what was growing inside either of the girls.
Christina reached out and smoothed out Carlisle's furrowed brows. "Carlisle," she whispered, bringing his attention to her. "We're having a baby."
He cracked a smile. That smile was enough for Christina's nerves to settle down. He wasn't mad, and he wasn't trying to convince her to get rid of it. He wasn't telling her that it was wrong, and what was inside of her was a killer. He wasn't telling her any of this, because it's things that they've both thought of since knowing.
He gently claimed her lips against his as the words settled in the air around them. He was still unsure how well these pregnancies were going to go, but he had to believe his wife knew what she was doing.
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Christina grinned as Carlisle handed her a plate with a burger on it. She leaned over and gave him a kiss as he sat back down on the couch; after giving Bella her own plate.
It's been a couple of weeks since knowing Christina was pregnant. She was back to drinking regular blood, out of the stage of throwing it all back up. The first week was her mostly eating rare steaks and medium rare burgers. Anything to settle the burning in her throat, and the blood from the meat seemed to do that.
Even though Bella liked her meat well done, she was also trying the theory of eating something a little more bloody. It seemed to work, as well as it could. She was still throwing up every other day— less than she was before trying the rare meat.
Both sisters were around the same size, Bella looking about one more month pregnant than her sister. Christina looked to be around seven months pregnant, while Bella was about eight. By the looks of how things were going, the whole pregnancy was only going to last for two months tops. Bella only had about two weeks before she was due; while Christina had about three.
A knock on the front door broke everyone out of their thoughts.
"I'll get it," Carlisle spoke up before leaving the room in a flash.
Christina sighed as she got to her feet. She offered to grab Bella's empty plate, which the brunette appreciated. Christina walked into the kitchen and threw the dirty dishes into the dish washer.
"Is it true?"
Christina heard Jacob ask as movement was heard from the main entry way. The young mother rolled her eyes at the pup as she walked back into the living room. He was referring to the fact that they had to tell Charlie that Bella was sick, and being taking care of by a doctor in Rio. It hurt Christina to have to lie to her father, but the less questions he asks, the better. He wouldn't be able to know about Bella's pregnancy, one part because of how fast it was going; the other part was if Bella didn't actually make it out alive.
"Hello, Jacob. How are you?" Carlisle greeted, closing the door behind the wolf.
"Your best friend is here," Christina mentioned, sitting back down on the couch.
Annie excitedly scooted over on the couch to rest against her mother's stomach. Ever since Carlisle and Christina had told Annie about the mother being pregnant, Annie hadn't left her side. She was even more excited when the baby started to move and kick around. It didn't hurt Christina like it hurt Bella; but some of the kicks had some power behind it, where even Christina hissed from the impact.
"Jacob's here?" Bella asked as she looked towards Christina. She wordlessly nodded back. "Jake, is that you?"
"She's here?" He asked, moving towards the stairs.
Carlisle sighed as he followed the wolf up. "She came home about a month ago."
"Jake, I'm glad you came," Bella said as the wolf came to a stop at the top of the stairs. Carlisle left Jacob's side and returned to his wife as Rosalie stepped in front of Jacob.
"Close enough," Rosalie snapped.
"What's your problem?" Jacob asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Rose, it's okay," Bella spoke up.
The blonde narrowed her eyes before stepping away from Jacob. His eyes immediately landed on Bella, who was sitting on the couch. Everyone watched as his brown eyes widened in shock from the look of her— she actually looked sick. Her usually pale skin was translucent, her face was sunken in, as well as her loss of weight from lack of keeping her meals down. She had constant bags under her eyes from the nightmares that kept her up. She looked like death walking.
He moved closer, sitting on the coffee table in front of Bella. "You look terrible."
Bella's chapped lips cracked a smile. "Yeah. It's nice to see you, too."
"So," Jacob started. "Are you gonna tell me what's wrong with you?"
Bella paused before looking back towards the blonde. "Rose, you wanna help me up?"
Christina looked away as Bella stood up to her full height. She won't back away from her word and tell Bella that the baby was killing her and to get rid of it— she's heard it enough in this house over the course of a month that she wouldn't want to repeat it. But the sight of all the bruises lingering her rounded stomach wasn't a sight she wanted to see.
A growl broke out from the quiet room. "You did this!" Jacob slammed Edward into the wall behind the couch, and no one made a move. Christina has been wanting to do the same for the past couple of weeks because of how he was behaving towards Bella.
"I didn't even know it was possible," Edward muttered quietly.
"What is it?" Jacob barked, looking around the room for an answer.
"Ultrasounds and needles won't penetrate the embryonic sack," Carlisle answered with a shrug.
"I can't see it, either," Alice stated. "And I can't see Bella or Christina's future anymore."
"Christina?" Jacob looked towards the young mother, now realizing her matching stomach. The only different between the two of them was Christina looked like a glowing and healthy mother; while Bella was slowly dying. "That's impossible. You're a vampire. Vampires can't be pregnant."
"Hey, welcome to the repeating conversation for the past month," Christina snapped.
"So, then how is it possible?" Jacob asked, again looking to Carlisle for an answer.
"It has been brought to our attention that Christina has some sort of power over fertility and life. We haven't been able to get more answers about what limits her power," the doctor explained. "We've also been searching legends, but there isn't much to go on. What we do know is they're strong, and fast growing."
"Why haven't you done anything?" Jacob snarled. "Take it out of them!"
"This is none of your business, dog," Rosalie snapped back.
"Rose, all this fighting isn't good for the babies," Christina sighed, leaning her head in her hand.
"The fetuses aren't good for either of you," Alice argued back.
"Say the word, Alice," Rosalie stressed. "They're just babies."
"Possibly," Jasper added.
"Enough," Christina snarled a final warning.
"Carlisle, you got to do something," Jacob stressed as he continued to look down at the doctor.
"No." Jacob turned back to Bella as she continued, "it's not his decision. It's not any of yours."
"Jacob," Edward called out. "I need to talk to you."
Jacob wordlessly followed Edward out the back door. Alice pulled Jasper away from the wall, claiming that they were going hunting before leaving everyone's sight.
Christina rolled her neck as stress started to work into her bones. She wasn't aware that being a pregnant vampire could actually be worse than the nine month pregnancy that she went through with Annie.
"Annie, wanna take a bath?" Christina offered as she got up from her spot on the couch. The young girl smiled brightly as she nodded her head. Both girls disappeared upstairs, Carlisle following after them slowly.
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Oh boy, oh boy. We're getting close to the heat!