Jacob's POV
"We're going to need a bigger house." I said thoughtfully as I rolled onto my side to stare at my beautiful wife. Her dark hair was sprawled out over the pillows, her bare chest rising and falling heavily after our intense love making.
She let out an incredulous laugh, moving onto her side too. My eyes couldn't help but linger on her chest as her breasts pressed together, they seemed to have grown over night, hence the early morning sex. I just couldn't help myself. Ari tapped my arm lightly to draw me out of my daze, a smirk displayed over her perfect lips. "Why?" She giggled as she pulled the sheet up and over her chest.
My eyes flickered back up to her eyes. I swear they held a sparkle in them I had never seen before. She was breathtaking. "We need a yard too." I acknowledged as I brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear that had fallen across her cheek.
"Why?" She asked again, her voice playful as she smiled at me warmly.
"Well, we only have one other bedroom... and a small spare one downstairs as well but I wouldn't like to put the kids down there." They should never ever come across any threats in their lives but obviously I wanted to keep my children safe, I didn't like the idea of one of them being alone on the ground floor.
"Kids?" Ari laughed as she sat up, still holding the sheet to her chest. "Slow down Jake."
"I'm just planning ahead." I shrugged with a smile, moving closer to her so my head was in line with her breasts. "If we can have one, that means we can have more. I want a big family." I stated, looking up into her eyes as she stared down at me with one raised eyebrow. "If that's okay with you of course." I finished quickly as I gripped the sheet in my hand and pulled it away from her body, leaving her completely naked like myself.
I got to work peppering kisses over the tops of her breasts as she sighed blissfully and sunk back against the pillows and cushions. With their increased size came increased sensitivity, I had to be careful with them, otherwise I would end up with another slap across the back of my head like earlier this morning...
"Its okay with me." She grinned, holding my cheeks in her hands to pull my head up to meet hers as she captured my lips against her own.
* * *
"Who's coming exactly?" I asked as I placed another huge bowl of chips down on the bar top in our den. I would have liked to of had a BBQ and spent some time outside but again, we needed a yard. Don't get me wrong, I loved the house, but now that I thought about it, being tucked into a hillside wasn't exactly convenient... god there was so much baby proofing to be done.
"Jake, stop complaining." Aria scolded from across the room, Carlisle was currently measuring her miniscule bump as she held the material of her t-shirt up under her breasts.
"I'm not complaining!" I defended myself as innocently as I could. "I'm just making silent suggestions." I added quietly.
"About what?" Esme asked as she whirled into the room, a tray of mini quiches in her hands.
"The house." I said a little meekly, honestly a little worried that she would scold me like she does with Emmett.
"Oh!" She said excitedly, which completely took me by surprise. Aria grumbled to herself as Carlisle chuckled, she had wanted to get me in trouble. I poked my tongue out at her over the top of Esme's head, she rolled her eyes at me but the tiniest of smiles was playing at her lips. "I have ideas, too. We can discuss them after the party."
"Also, back to your earlier question." Aria began as she lowered her top down over her smooth stomach again. "Our families and the rest of the pack with their families, the Denalis and Uncle Charlie said he would come too."
I nodded as Carlisle began his diagnosis. "You have grown a small 0.29 centimetres in a day. Let's see, if Bella grew a single centimetre a day and a regular pregnancy is about 0.14 centimetres a day..." He drawled off as he did in the maths inside his head. "Right, if my calculations are correct, you seem to be growing twice as fast as a regular, human pregnancy. That puts you at about nearly five weeks pregnant human-wise which makes you about nine weeks vampire-hybrid equivalent." I moved behind Aria and wrapped my arms around her waist ensuring my hands rested perfectly against the tiny bump. "I would say the estimated due date is around the eighteenth, maybe ninetieth, of November." He finished with a wide grin as my heart felt like it was about to burst with joy.
Just over four months until our baby would be here. I had never felt so lucky, so happy, so thankful. All along my father's theory about imprints must have been correct. We imprint on the one person who can make our family line stronger... what's stronger than a human-vampire-shifter hybrid?
"When do we find out if its a boy or girl?" Ari asked as she leaned back against me, her thumbs caressing the skin of my hands and forearms.
"Don't you want it to be a surprise?" Rosalie asked as she breezed into the room, a three tiered chocolate cake balanced securely in her arms. Emmett trailed along behind her, an unamused expression still on his face. His hand was reattached, but only had been for an hour or so, he had been without it all night.
Blondie placed the cake down on the table and danced over to us, a brilliant, white smile on her face. Secretly I had expected her to be closer to Aria, to be by her side constantly, making sure that she was okay, making sure the baby was okay. After all, we had only found out about the baby twenty-four hours ago, there was still time for her to go all psycho... not that there was a need to. Aria wasn't going to get sick. She was strong.
"I don't know. I'm too excited to wait, I think." Aria babbled, her voice all bubbly and happy. She craned her neck to look back at me. "What about you, Jake?"
"I already know its a girl." I said honestly, beaming down at my wide-eyed beauty.
"How?" Ari exclaimed, turning in my arms so that she was now facing me.
"First borns in the Black Family are all girls. Its been that way for generations." I explained with a shrug.
"A boy would be cute though." Rosalie chimed in, her eyes distant. No doubt imagining babies upon babies.
"Oh he would. Can you imagine a little Jacob with Aria's striking eyes?" Esme cooed as she took Rose's hand.
Aria smiled up at me and my heart skipped a beat. "That would be amazing. But I just know that this will be a little girl." I ran my hand over Aria's stomach and rested my hand against the warm skin, allowing myself to listen to my strong little girl's heartbeat for a few moments.
"Places people." Alice's orderly voice called from upstairs as the sound of tyres rolling smoothly over the ground above our heads seeped through the concrete drive. "Our first guests are arriving."
I strained my ears a little, hearing the very light footsteps of new vampires. The Denalis had arrived as early as always. Alice greeted them at the door, all the while the group of them were marvelling at Esme's eye for interior design and architecture.
Just as swiftly as they had arrived they swooped down the stairs into the den in a single motion, the five of them mirroring one another's movements until Tanya broke away from the group and walked toward us with open arms. "Aria, Jacob, the house is wonderful. We were wondering when you were going to invite us here for a housewarming party."
Tanya embraced us both, giving us a kiss on either cheek before she stepped away. "Thank you, Tanya." Aria beamed as Garrett moved away from the group as well to give me a hefty slap on the back.
I braced myself for the impact. "I supposed they wanted to get the honeymoon out of the way first." His golden eyes winked at us as Aria blushed and rolled her eyes and I let the laugh slip past my lips. Delicately, Ari nudged me with her elbow as I couldn't help the many memories of our sexual encounters blur through my mind.
"Oh Garrett, must you be so inappropriate. There are children present." Esme scolded, her eyes looking pointedly to the side in Renesmee's direction.
"Trust me, she hears a lot worse from Emmett." I said with a smirk and side eyed Emmett. His lips were pursed together tightly but from the glare Rosalie was giving him he decided to keep quiet. Maybe the threat of losing his hand again was still in the air.
"Mi dulce Aria." Carmen boasted as she placed her dainty hands on both of Aria's cheeks before extending onto her tiptoes to kiss Ari's forehead. "¡Mira el oro en esos ojos!" I didn't know what she said exactly but her her eyes were always something of a spectacle.
"Gracias. Sospecho que Alice te ha contado sobre mis nuevos hábitos alimenticios." As always Ari responded fluently, though again, I struggled to understand... maybe I should let her teach me?
"Your Spanish is perfect." Eleazar greeted with a nod before extending his hand to me.
"Thank you." Aria grinned from beside me as I clasped Eleazar's icy hand in my own, both of us (through years of practice) restraining from showing the wince that wanted to spread across our faces due to the contrast in temperatures.
"How are you Jacob?" He asked me, polite as ever. "I suspect that this room is mostly for you and your... brothers?" He leaned back on his heels, clasping both his hands behind his back as he took in the room's high ceilings and multiple tv screens.
I smiled at him, albeit a little half heatedly. If we had to move we wouldn't get much use of this room at all. "In all honesty we haven't got to use it yet. Today, is actually our first 'event'." I said sincerely as I heard the familiar shifting gravel as more cars arrived... they must've formed a procession line all the way from La Push.
"Jacob, your mongrels are here! "Alice called from up the stairs, a childish lilt to her voice which cued an eye roll from me.
I huffed out a breath of air as I watched the Denalis' lips turn up into smirks. I released my grip on Aria and turned back to Eleazar. "Excuse me Eleazar... Alice!" I growled through my teeth as I marched towards the stairs, ready to give her a piece of my mind.
* * *
Greetings were shared, children were fussed over and our honeymoon stories were told. Food and alcohol were passed around to the adults, Aria avoided it which did get a little teasing from Rachel but Aria's excuse of being full up on her new diet shut the conversation down quickly. The unfortunate case of myself finding out the blood spread like wildfire through the web of connected minds and partners of imprints couldn't help themselves with keeping the secret from their significant others. The only reason they hadn't found out about the baby yet was because Aria had me on a strict phasing ban until everyone found out.
Every few minutes Aria would cast her eyes down to Kim's growing baby bump. Ari having only been pregnant for four weeks and Kim now five months along, it was now weird to think we would be having our baby at least two weeks before Kim and Jared. God, I hoped they wouldn't get annoyed by that.
The hours passed and soon enough Ari began to gather everyone up in front of the bar and for some reason I began to feel nervous. The reaction to Renesmee was... well, we all know how that went down. Of course Ness is amazing and controlled and safe but this is going to be a vampire-human-shifter hybrid, the shifter part would be from Ari mostly... who knows what would become of our kids when they hit eighteen and the gene kicks in. Would they even have to wait until eighteen, would they be able to shift straight away?
There had been some debate over that this morning before our guests arrived. The reason so many of us phased in the first place was due to the Cullen coven being so large, when we leave with the Cullens one day our child would be surrounded by the large coven, they would be smelling the vampire sent all the time... not to mention that they would have vampire in them themselves. It was a little difficult to wrap our heads around. Would the vampire in them stop the gene from evolving, like with Aria, or would they become a new creature: a vampire-shifter?
Aria's warm hand lacing with mine pulled me out of my thoughts and to her side in front of everyone. "So we have an announcement." Ari began as I pulled her into my side. "We wanted to tell everyone at the same time, all of our closest friends and family."
I settled my eyes on our family and friends, scanning their faces to see who would speak first. I looked upon my father first, his face concerned due to the sudden change in atmosphere, Robert was the same. I could just tell from their expressions that a fear was settling inside their minds.
"What is it?" Tori asked curiously, looking between us with a quick flick of her gaze.
"You're not moving are you?" Rachel snapped a little too harshly, her eyes shifting to the Cullens to see if their expressions would give anything away.
"No, no, nothing like that." Ari defended quickly as she turned into my body and placed her hand on my chest, no doubt feeling my heart beat wildly under her finger tips.
"Well then what, you're scaring me." Scarlett added, looking worriedly between the two off us.
Torturing them wasn't fair and I let a small smile slip onto my lips. "Ari, do you want to tell them?"
Ari looked up at me with a gleam in her eyes. "We have a surprise for you all..."
"Guys you're killing us." Embry complained as his expression became exasperated.
"We need you to be open minded. It may seem scary but you have to trust us." Aria warned, obviously sensing some fear in their minds.
"Oh get on with it." Garrett perked up, his golden eyes rolling back into his head.
Ari took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."
The stunned silence lasted for about five seconds but the next part wasn't the reaction I expected. I thought everyone would swarm around us, all smiles and tears, but they remained stoic.
"Y-You're what?" Tori stammered, her eyes as wide as golf balls, her hands trembling as they reached up to cover her mouth.
Practically everyone's mouths had dropped open, their eyes unblinking. I didn't mean to but I couldn't help but look at Sam. He called forth the attack on Bella and Renesmee, I hoped the thought wouldn't cross his mind again. Ari must've heard me and the arm that was around my torso tightened.
"We're pregnant." Ari repeated, the tone of her voice sending a shiver down my spine. It just hasn't sunk in yet. We were having a baby, we were getting everything we ever wanted.
Scarlett choked on her words. "N-No you're not!"
"Are you serious?" Emily exclaimed as she handed baby Luna over to Sam and took a step closer to us.
"Yes. We're having a baby." I let Aria confirm as everyone's faces morphed into disbelieving smiles and tear filled eyes.
"Oh my god!" Scarlett sobbed.
And then, just like someone had opened the floodgates, everyone rushed forward like a single large wave and enveloped us into their arms. There were tears, congratulations, questions. No one could quite believe it. They were in awe, just like Ari and I still were.
"I-I have no words. I am so happy for your both, congratulations." Rob held Ari close to him and hugged her tightly, his voice breaking as the emotion overcame him.
"Thanks Dad." Ari beamed up at him, her own years in her eyes.
"My first grandchild." Rob admitted as Joy rubbed his back with endearment.
"I'm going to be an Aunt." Tori blubbered as she brought Ari into her arms as Rob hugged me. "I'm so happy for you two... I thought you couldn't..."
"We thought that too." I answered as Ari wiped her tears with the back of her hand before she settled into my side again.
"How did it happen?" Quil asked, his voice unusually high. His question also sparked a lot of laughs.
"I think we know how it happens Quil!" Embry rolled his eyes and slapped him on the arm in disbelief.
"You know what I mean!" Quil stressed as he tried to put the attention back on us.
With a small smile on her face Ari continued. "We had stopped taking... precautions because you know, we didn't think it was possible. Carlisle thinks that even like normal couples, sometimes it takes a while."
"Is everything okay, are you healthy?" My dad asked, watching us cautiously.
"Will you be like Bella?" Rachel blurted out, not adding a hint of sensitivity to her voice. I swear from the corner of my eye I saw Edward flinch. The shadow of the burning man again.
"I assure you Billy, that your grandchild and daughter-in-law are extremely healthy. Aria just needs to listen to her body regarding her new craving but due to that, and being half vampire, there is no reason for Ari's life to be in danger." Carlisle confirmed with a friendly, reassuring smile. My father took that as a good enough response and let the smile take over his face once again.
"Thank goodness." He beamed as he took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I just can't believe it." Kate sighed blissfully as she enveloped us both.
"Another baby for us to love and hold." Tanya added, the same troll of excitement to her voice.
"So how far along are you? How does it work?" Carmen chimed in, her melodic accent shining through her words. "Bella was only pregnant for a month, right?"
Once again all eyes turned to Carlisle, ready to hear his factual and trustworthy assessment. "Aria seems to have been pregnant for just over four weeks now, but due to her growth rate, the foetus seems to be at the nine week stage. She's about twice as fast as a human pregnancy. I've estimated that her due date is the nineteenth of November."
Kim sucked in a sharp breath. "Wait, wait, wait! November! Your baby is due before mine?" She gasped and I hoped it was excitedly.
"Erm." Ari looked unsurely between myself, Carlisle and Kim.
"That's crazy! We're going to have newborns at the same time." Kim sprang forward, the movement almost giving Jared a heart attack, and she flung her arms around Ari, practically ripping her out of my hands. "Oh my god!" She squealed as both girls laughed.
"She'll be catching up with you in no time." Carlisle confirmed, smiling fondly at the two women as the most perfect and excited atmosphere swelled within the room.
Emily cut in then, giving Aria a tight squeeze. "I'm so happy for you."
"Did you guys already know?" Rachel asked the Cullens after she got a second hug in too.
"Ari and I could hear the baby's heartbeat yesterday morning. We just needed confirmation from Carlisle." Bella answered with a bright smile and was rewarded with coos of endearment.
"Al, how did you not see this coming?" Tori asked, surprised like the rest of us were.
Alice paused thoughtfully before she prattled on with lightening speed. "I think I've come to the conclusion that I need to understand the person first if they're something I've never come across before and that I have never been before." She began, her fast words needed a moment for human ears to sink in. "Humans are easy because I was one, vampires are crystal clear because I am one, I had to adapt to Ari and Ness. Ari was easier because she was bitten but it took time to see Ness because I had to understand how her brain worked, how she made decisions."
Sam questioned what seemed to be a collective thought from the amount of nods his words got. "So this baby is slower than Ness so it'll take longer to understand?"
"Precisely." Alice answered with a grin.
"How long did it take you to see us?" Quil wondered enthusiastically, we were all twenty-three now but he still had the inquisitiveness of a child. Perhaps that was Claire's doing.
"Almost a year." She said with a shrug.
Ari piped up then as she settled herself securely back into my arms. Ever since I had found out yesterday she hasn't wanted to let me go, she constantly wanted skin on skin contact... not that I minded. "Scar, considering your occupation, we were wondering if you could do the scans for us?"
Scarlett's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Are you kidding, this is my niece or nephew we are on about! Of course I'll help. Just name the time and place... around my work schedule that is." She boasted, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, the sight bringing a smile to Jesse's face.
"Thank you." Ari beamed at her before turning to Carlisle for his final say. "Carlisle?"
He started talking before she had finished the last syllable of his name. "I'll set the equipment up in your ground floor spare room tomorrow. Is after your shift tomorrow acceptable Scarlett?" He asked, always as polite as ever.
"I'll make my way straight here."
* * *
Time passed and only a few members of the gathering had moved away from the larger group to either munch on some food or tend to their small children.
"So, there is one issue we need to discuss concerning the baby." The seriousness of Robert's voice caused a jolt of tension to rock the group that was now standing around us, made up of the Cullens, myself and Ari's parents and our siblings. The crease in Robert's brow caused me to frown myself, this was a happy occasion, what was the sudden change in atmosphere for?
"Dad?" Ari questioned, her voice showing the same concern as my inner monologue.
"Your mother." He announced guiltily and it was like the air got sucked out of the room. Selfishly we hadn't thought of that yet, what would we tell Aria's mom? Were we to keep our child a secret from her like Renesmee is kept from Renee?
Aria began to shake in my arms. "I-I... what do I do?" With tears in her eyes she looked from her father to me and then to her cousin. "Bella?"
Bella's pale face tightened, her fake brown eyes looking past us and towards her father, no doubt remembering the time he first came to visit after I had meddled with things and the decision they made to keep Renesmee a secret. Bella sighed. "It's up to you... with rules considering."
"Shit!" Aria let her head full into her hands, that wasn't the answer she wanted... but what answer could be given to us. I wanted our baby to be loved, and considering my mother was dead I wanted our child to have a grandmother. Esme was amazing there was no denying that but this was our baby's biological grandmother. We saw how much it hurt Bella each time Renee came to visit, with everything else going on with Lily it would tear Aria apart.
My mind went into overdrive. "Erm..." Telling the Quileute secret was seriously frowned upon, I knew that, I had faced the consequences of that three times, the third being the most serious. I guess I could do it again. We couldn't tell Lily about vampires, there were too many spies. Oh "Maybe we can make an arrangement, like with Charlie?" I proposed as Aria lifted her face from her hands. I squeezed her even tighter.
"She is way too inquisitive, rather than need to know its 'I need to know everything'. If we avoid her she'll know something is wrong, and if she comes here and see's my belly or even a baby what do we do?" Ari's breath began to quicken, her pulse began to race. Alice would know when she decided to visit, there was no way we could be surprised.
"Ari, baby, calm down." I spun Aria around and made her look up and into my eyes, hoping that would help her regain control of her breathing. Stress would definitely not help the baby, not even with its increased strength.
"But Jake-" She began to protest but I shook my head and cupped her cheeks in my palms.
"Don't stress about it for now. We'll figure something out, we won't tell her for now." I stated firmly before pressing my lips to her warm forehead.
"We can't leave it too late, or it'll just damage our relationship." She added and Jesse scoffed.
"Its already damaged." He commented angrily, still completely irritated by the fact that Lily had taken Scott back.
"That might be your best excuse." Esme advised unsurely, tension in the family would keep Lily away for now.
"Or you could just wait until the baby is born and say it was one of those hidden pregnancies." Scarlett interjected, her expression thoughtful and light.
"Hidden pregnancy?" Embry questioned, looking between both Carlisle and Scarlett, the two most educated people when it came to anything medical.
"You know, when the baby grows back into the ribs and if you're on birth control you don't notice missed periods, etcetera." Scarlett continued when she looked to Carlisle to see which one of them would answer. He nodded letting her know she had the floor.
"She might notice when the baby grows twice as fast as a regular one." Alice remarked, always the one to add in a slightly darker view. No wonder she and Jesse got on so well.
"Why don't we discuss this later, we know this baby won't grow as fast as Renesmee, only when they are born can we establish a new growth rate." Carlisle said with the final word, not wanting to draw attention away from what mattered most at the moment, and that was celebrating our miracle. "In terms of telling your mother, Aria, keeping it a secret and saying its cryptic pregnancy is our best bet. For now, enjoy yourself, today is a day of celebrating, let's keep it this way."
* * *
The next day, as promised, Scarlett arrived at the house thirty minutes after her shift at Forks Hospital ended. She was still in her scrubs, her hair a little wild from a day of running about, but she still had a bounce in her step and a broad smile on her face. Aria met her at the door with just as much excitement.
She had been hunting for breakfast this morning and I had accompanied her, watching as she took down a mountain lion and then a small doe on the way home. Her full belly had only lasted a short while, just as she finished her lunch the morning sickness returned and she spent about an hour in the bathroom retching. She no longer wanted pickles in the house.
By the time Carlisle had arrived to set up the room, Ari was back on her feet again, munching on an apple to help settle her stomach with the smile back on her face. She seemed to be glowing again, I'd notice that she would let her fingertips brush against her lower stomach every so often as she tried to notice the difference. Again, when Carlisle measured her miniscule bump, she had grown another 0.29cm but that seemed to be the only change for now, we would get more results from Scarlett's early pregnancy ultrasound.
Once everything was ready, Ari laid back on the bed and Scarlett done her thing. She confirmed that there was in fact one baby, the heartbeat was beautifully strong and based on the size of the baby and the growth rate, the 19th November 2011 seemed like the most accurate date for when our little girl would arrive. The sex had not been confirmed but I knew in my gut it was going to be a little girl, I wanted her to be the spitting image of Aria.
We learnt that the placenta was fully formed to give our little one blood and nutrients but they were still feeding from the yolk sac... it seemed a bit gross but was still amazing to hear. They had arms and legs but no knees, elbows, wrists, ankles or fingers and toes yet and all their internal organs were beginning to form properly.
Carlisle was amazed that we could actually see the baby through the scan, we had got nothing from Renesmee, that indicated to Carlisle that our baby was more human than he originally thought. I sucked up the information like it was water in the middle of a drought. I wanted to know as much as possible, be as helpful as I could. This baby was a miracle and I was going to treat her as such for every day of her immortal life.
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Well, I just want to apologise for no chapters for god knows how long it's been.
I hope you enjoyed this one, it's not my best work I'll give you that, if you want to spout abuse at me for taking so long I am willing to listen to it! I will try to be more regular with updates.
I promise.
Love to you all.
Also, belated Christmas wishes and I hope 2022 brings you all happiness!
💜