Enjoy ya'll.

Stronger

I looked nervously at them, waiting for a reaction. They were all in shock, staring at my small frame with a huge bulge in my stomach. But leave it to those boys to make me laugh in a moment like this.

"Damn, Bella!" Quil hollered and a sly smile came on his face. "What did you do, swallow a watermelon whole?"

All the pack boys starting howling in laughter. At first, I was hurt. I didn't know I looked that big. I even looked down at myself to make sure I wasn't at all as big as they made me out to be. However, their laughter is so infectious, that I began to laugh as well. I knew Quil meant nothing by his remark, just a way to lessen the tension in the room.

"Very funny, Quil." I laughed once more, but it was stopped quickly by pain shooting across my lower belly. I clutched at it, my face twisting in pain and doubling over slightly.

Jacob and Edward were at my sides in a second. They helped me sit back down and I laid back, waiting for the pain to ease. It finally did as Edward filled them in on what was really going on.

"Bella is pregnant."

"I knew it!" yelled Embry. "Why else does anyone get married at 18, you were pregnant way before you got married weren't you? Man, Bella, how could you not tell us? We wouldn't judge you. I mean, you're almost nine months pregnant and-"

"No, Embry." Jacob cut him off. "She's only two weeks pregnant."

"And she'll only be pregnant for another three weeks," said Alice, making her appearance in the room. We all gave her questioning glances. "Even with the wolves not around, I begin to see us blurry when we are around someone. It has to be the baby."

Edward nodded, probably seeing it in his own mind.

"So why are we here?" asked Vince. The rest of the pack looked at Jacob expectantly.

"There is another coven threatening the safety of the Cullens. We have to make sure they get nowhere near Bella, the baby, or Lizzy. They are the first priority. We will talk about confronting the other coven after Bella has given birth, but until then, we wait."

Edward stepped in and added, "This means we would ask you to run patrols around our properties and accompany us to places like the grocery store, etc. We will all be staying here, but Jacob and I have transformed our house to accommodate you all. You will have a place to sleep and food to eat without disturbances from us."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say we will give our entire efforts to help you all. You are a part of Jacob's family now, which means our family as well." Seth got up after speaking and gave me a small hug. He placed his hand softly on my stomach and said, "Don't worry, Bella. We won't let anything happen to you or your little one."

I smiled up at him in thanks, as the pack all murmured similar words. Just then, a hard kick went flying at Seth's hand from inside of me. Seth recoiled, out of shock, and stared back at Edward. I groaned in pain and Edward lifted my shirt over my enormous Belly.

"Nothing cracked, but the bruise is already beginning to form." He looked sadly into my eyes and I quickly looked away.

Tyler, the youngest of the pack boys, finally spoke. "I have a question." Everyone looked at him expectantly. "Isn't she supposed to have the pregnant glow? You look sicker than I've ever seen anyone before." He gave me a pitied look.

"There are some complications," said Carlisle from the bottom of the stairs. "I am Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the leader of this coven. Before anything I wanted to thank all of you for coming and helping us in this dire time of need."

"No problem, doc." Quil stood up to shake his hand. "But what are these complications?"

Esme flitted into the room then. "How about we talk over dinner? Is anyone hungry?" The entire back, even Vince, erupted in hoots and raced their way to the kitchen. Jacob followed after them, holding Lizzy in the air like superman. They occupied the table and started serving themselves heaps of steak and potatoes. Lizzy was given a smaller, cut up portion of food, and a slightly larger plate sat awaiting me. I really hoped I would keep it down. It smelled amazing.

"You eat, we'll talk," said Edward as he sat next to me and started cutting up my steak.

Carlisle began speaking then. "Since Bella is a human and Edward is a vampire, the baby has some vampire traits. For example, it has remarkable strength for a fetus, and its strength is causing Bella's body to deteriorate. Her human body is not strong enough to hold the baby for too long."

"So why not change her into a vampire?" asked Embry around a mouth full of food.

"If we change her now, the baby will not be able to be delivered and it will die. She needs to deliver the baby first, and then we will change her. She will not be able to survive the delivery without the change. We are also trying to think of a way to nourish Bella so she will be strong enough to deliver without losing her."

I took a few bites of food that Edward offered me and seemed satisfied with my calm stomach.

"She looks like she's eating well," commented Quil.

"Yeah," began Edward, "but sometimes-"

He was cut off by me hurling myself out of my chair and to the bathroom. I chucked up everything I had put in my body and cried from the burn of the acid in my throat. Alice came next to me, handing me a glass of water and my tooth brush. I faintly heard Edward finish off his sentence.

"Sometimes, that happens."

All the boys were staring at me wide eyed as I came back into the room. Edward placed his hand around my shoulders as I pushed the plate of food away from me. It was quickly picked up and moved by Esme. I rested my head on the table, Edward playing with my hair.

"Bella, are you okay?" asked Seth gently.

I nodded my head.

Edward jumped up. "That's a great idea, Vince!" He quickly disappeared at vampire speed up the steps. Vince looked completely confused.

"Forgive me for not explaining," said Carlisle. "Some vampires gain special gifts during their change. Alice, whom you met earlier, can see the future, and Edward can read minds. You probably thought something that triggered this reaction from him."

Vince spoke up, "All I thought was that if the baby is half human and half vampire, and it won't eat human food, then maybe it would want vampire food." He scrunched his nose as he said it.

"Brilliant!" said Carlisle. "I can't believe we didn't think about that before."

"If that's the case," I said in a hoarse voice, "then why is Edward upstairs and not outside getting me something to drink?"

"We have a couple pints of blood stashed upstairs for your delivery. It will be more effective if you drink human blood."

Alice turned to Jasper at the far corner of the room. "Come take a walk with me." She pulled him out the back door just as Edward reentered the room with a bag of blood.

He dug through the cabinets searching for something to put it in. He finally found a small cup with a lid and a hole for a straw. Filling the cup quickly, Esme handed him a straw, grabbed Rose and Emmett and exited the house as well. I figured this would make them uncomfortable, they hadn't hunted in weeks. They wouldn't even go to hunt now, just getting some air.

"Bella, I'm sorry, but you have to drink this. It might help the baby." Edward pushed the cup into my hands and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Are you sure this will help us both get stronger?" I looked to my husband, and then to Carlisle.

"It is a good possibility." Carlisle patted my hand and urged me to drink.

I took a deep, calming breath. I looked at the straw and contemplated it. Would it taste horrible? Would I like the taste? Would it not help at all? That thought chilled me. This had to work, nothing else would! I couldn't think like that. This will work, this will work. I chanted the mantra in my head as I pressed my lips on the straw and took a long pull, squeezing my eyes shut.

I swallowed slowly.

Everyone waited in silence, the pack boys no longer eating and Edward staring intently at my face.

When I opened my eyes and swallowed down the thick, gooey liquid, I looked straight at Edward with a surprised face. He immediately took the cup away from me and began speaking.

"It's okay, it probably tastes horrible for you. We'll find another way and maybe-"

"Edward," I said quietly. "It's fine. It actually tastes…Good."

All the pack boys pushed their plates away, their appetites ruined for the moment. Edward's face broke out into a small smile, and his hands went up to touch my face. My fever and chills seemed to be absent at the moment, and I could feel a settle in my stomach for the first time in weeks. I laughed weakly when the pack boys stared at me with mouths and eyes wide open. Seth even had some food in his mouth, which was not a pretty sight.

"Here." Edward handed me the cup again. "Drink some more."

I continued to drink the blood in the cup, feeling my stomach settle more and more with every swallow I took.

Carlisle's face broke into a smile, mirroring Edward's. "The color in her face is already starting to return." He pressed his cool fingers against my neck, saying, "Her pulse is stronger." He smiled bigger, if that was even possible. "Remarkable."

"How do you feel, Bella?" Edward searched my eyes.

"I feel stronger, more than I have in a long time."