Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer
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Emmett's POV
I stopped in mid-stride, staring at the woman standing down the street from me. Her face was tilted down, watching her feet as she walked, but even at this distance, I had no doubt as to who she was. She was the reason our lives had turned to chaos three months ago. And I could not believe what I was seeing: our Bella was clearly carrying a child.
After Bella and Edward married, it seemed like a troubled chapter of our lives had finally closed. I had never seen two people so deeply happy. Bella had agreed to wait a little while longer before her transformation, blushing when Edward insisted she enjoy her human experiences for a few more months of their married lives. They had traveled some, but lived with us most of the time and the whole family shared their happiness. My siblings and I were thrilled to finally see our brother content, and Bella, with her sweetness, infectious laugh, trusting nature, clumsiness and odd sense of humor, was a ray of sun in our family's life.
All that changed when we returned from a hunting trip to find the house deserted. Bella had told us that she would stay with her father while we were gone, but would be home before us. Alice had given Bella a strange look as we left the house, her head cocked to one side as if trying to listen for an elusive sound, but had eventually followed us out the door. We had hunted, and returned, and only a faint trace of Bella's scent remained on the air.
Edward was rigid with fear. He stared hard into Alice's eyes. She could only shrug. I had never seen her look so lost. I could tell she had seen nothing of Bella's future.
Esme was lifting the phone to call Charlie when Carlisle saw the note Bella had left.
Edward,
I love you. Forever. But I need to go away for a while. Please don't worry or do anything stupid. I will come back, as soon as I possibly can.
Don't let Charlie worry.
-Bella
The phone dropped from Esme's hand, Edward sunk to the ground, and Jasper doubled over in agony reacting to Edward's pain.
Alice wrapped her small arms around her body, rocking from side to side.
"Call the wolves," she hissed. "Her future went blank before we left. I thought Jacob was going to return. Maybe she is with him."
We had called, and called again, but the pack claimed to know nothing of Bella's whereabouts, or of Jacob's. Edward paced the boundary line, listening to their thoughts, but was unable to catch any trace of a lie.
Our happy existence was shattered. Edward hardly moved, trying to console himself with the thought that maybe Bella was with Jake, and that maybe she was happy.
Alice was wracked with guilt, upset that she had not been concerned with her inability to see Bella's future. She spent her days desperately trying to get a vision of Bella, however brief, but it was as if a veil had been pulled over Bella's future, and nothing could be seen.
The months had passed, and soon Charlie was asking questions about when he could see his daughter. We had stalled him for a while, with talk of prolonged honeymoons and trips to various locations, but finally it became clear that our family would have to move from Forks to allay suspicion. We told him that we were all going to move to Alaska to keep Bella company in school, and forged a goodbye letter from Bella to him, explaining that she would visit as soon as she could.
And that was what brought me here—we had been visiting old haunts of ours, trying to find a new area to establish ourselves. It was a muggy, overcast day, and I could see the sweat gleaming on the bodies of the humans around me. Bella was dressed in cotton shorts and a light cotton tank top that stretched over her swollen belly. She was getting closer to me, and my mind, usually content to take life as it came, whirled with possibilities. What could explain what was in front of me? How could Bella hurt Edward this way? Had she cheated on him, and then left when she realized she was pregnant? Had she chosen a mongrel over my brother?
Another look at her face showed me the dark circles underneath her eyes, and the hopeless set of her mouth. My figurative heart went out to her. She looked so vulnerable—her small form, her swollen belly, her downcast eyes. No matter what she had done, she was still my little sister. She always had been, since the first time I met her, and suddenly I wished for nothing more than to hear her happy laughter and see the bright flush on her cheeks.
My mind started churning again. Bella would never have cheated on Edward. I knew the way she looked at him, the utter adoration in her eyes. She was so selfless; I knew she could never have put her own pleasure before something that would hurt him. I clenched my jaw. Had some man forced her? The muscles in my arms flexed involuntarily. If that were the case, I would rip him limb from limb.
Before my mind had come to a conclusion about what I should do, Bella looked up and our eyes locked. I watched with amusement as her face registered shock and then lit up with joy. I stepped towards her, and her face fell.
"Emmett, you can't be here," she hissed desperately. "I can't talk to you!"
I could see the panic in her eyes.
"Shhh, Bella, why?" I asked in bewilderment.
"It's not safe," she muttered.
I took another step toward her. "Not safe for who?"
"For me," she whispered, laying her small hands protectively over her abdomen.
My mind stopped whirring. Safety. This was something I was equipped to deal with.
"Bella, are you in any danger right now?"
She shook her head.
"Then why can't you talk to me?"
"They might see. They might find out."
I closed the distance between us in two long strides and wrapped my arms protectively around her. This was not something I had done before. Usually I teased and tormented Bella as my way of showing affection, but her vulnerability had caused something in me to snap.
"Bella, I will not let anyone or anything hurt you, and I will not leave until I understand exactly what is going on. You owe that to us." I said fiercely, looking down at the top of her head.
She trembled slightly in my grip, pressing her face into my chest, but would not look up at me.
"You owe it to Edward," I said finally.
Hearing his name, her body flinched as if I had struck her. She slowly lifted her face up towards mine, her eyes desperate. "Edward," she whispered.
"He needs you," I said, and reached out a hand to stroke the hair back from her face. Whatever she had done, I needed to get her back to him. Bella's reaction to his name showed that she still cared. I watched as pain filled her eyes, and she trembled harder, her whole body tense against mine.
"I need him," she replied in a strangled whisper. Her eyes filled and her face turned red with the effort of suppressing a sob.
That was it. I couldn't stand to see her in this amount of pain. There was clearly more going on here than I had imagined. This wasn't as simple as safety and danger. Bella buried her face in my chest, and I could feel her hot tears on my shirt. Her small frame shook violently.
I had to make this better. I had very little experience with women, other than Rosalie, and felt anxious and flustered. The things I did to comfort Rose would not be appropriate here. Letting instinct guide me, I gently ran my hand in circles over the small of her back. She seemed to calm slightly.
"Bella, where are you staying? Let's get you off the street and you can tell me exactly what has been happening. I am going to fix this for you, and we are going to get you back to Edward, do you hear me?"
She tilted her head up and gave me a weak smile. I smiled back at her in relief and released her from my hold. She nodded her head in the direction of a building about half way down the street, brushing an impatient hand over her eyes, and we set off together.
She stopped me when we reached the door, and looked up at me hesitantly. "I'm not sure if you can go in," she admitted.
"Why not?" I asked in confusion.
"It's for woman," she muttered.
I stared at her blankly.
"It's for pregnant woman," she tried again, "sort of like a shelter."
My jaw locked again. Our Bella had been somehow forced from our home, and was now staying in a woman's shelter in a foreign city. "Do you have any belongings you want from here?" I asked her tightly.
She shook her head, eyeing me curiously.
"Then we are going to find other accommodations for the night," I explained.
She gave me a wary glance. "They need to know where to find me," she said finally.
Now it was my turn to glance at her. "Are they vampires, the people looking for you?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Then they will be able to find you no matter where we go in this city—your scent was quite strong to begin with, and seems to be magnified by the baby. I should have noticed it as soon as I got here, but I was thinking of other things," I explained.
I took her hand, and we walked in silence a few blocks deeper downtown. Here was a hotel we had frequented on previous visits. I left Bella standing awkwardly in the lobby and stepped up to the desk. "A suite," I requested, handing him the credit card. Bella approached me as the clerk entered the card into the computer.
"Emmett, you really don't have to get me a hotel room. It is probably much to fancy—". I gently clamped my hand over her mouth, grinning down at her. It made me happy to see her behaving as she always had when any of us tried to pamper her.
"For you, anything," I teased as I was handed our keys.
I led us to our rooms—a nice suite with a living room, a bedroom and a kitchenette. Bella rolled her eyes at me when I let her in, but I just grinned again. The pleasure of seeing Bella be her normal self was worth her annoyance.
"Bella, make yourself comfortable," I said, turning away from her. "I'll order you some dinner. Do you want to take a shower or something?"
"A shower would be nice," she agreed, and stepped into the bathroom.
As soon as I heard the shower running, I pulled out my cell phone and punched in a number. After two rings, a male voice answered.
"Carlisle? It's Emmett. I need some help."
"With what Emmett?" I could hear the concern in his voice. "Are you in trouble?"
"Well, not immediate trouble," I said with a twisted smile. "But I do need to know how pregnant humans are different than normal ones. Do they need any special care?"
There was a long pause. I could see Carlisle, standing in the house, his calm face masking his rapidly moving thoughts.
"Don't over-think this one, dad." I said, hoping he would understand my meaning. I knew that I could not risk Edward finding out what was going on, before I had figured it out myself. Edward was not one for calm reactions.
"No," he replied slowly. "Pregnant humans need basically the same things as normal humans. They need plenty of healthy food and a lot of rest. It is good if they can be kept calm, as too much stress is bad for the baby."
"Thanks Carlisle," I replied, gratefully. "Stay in cell phone range, please."
"Emmett, I am going to go out for awhile, but I will take my phone. Call me if you need anything."
"Thank you, I will," I promised.
I understood what Carlisle was telling me. His thoughts were not safe from Edward, and if his suspicions about why I was suddenly interested in pregnancy were anything near accurate, he had to get away from Edward, and fast.
I heard the water shut off and I prepared myself for what I was going to say to Bella. I needed to get to the bottom of this, for all of us. I needed to get Bella home.