CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:

Esme finally arrived bright and early the following day, along with Carlisle, Eleazar and Carmen. The two newborns they'd taken in after the battle against Victoria's army had accompanied them; Bree and Fred, I remembered their names being.

Dressed nicely I barely recognized the little female newborn vampire. She was beautiful, of course, all slender and coltish, but now she looked less wild and savage. Her dark, wavy hair fastened in a heavy braid and her slim form clad in artfully faded jeans, ankle-boots and a lavender-colored blouse with a sweetheart neckline. The boy I didn't recognize I assumed was Fred; he was very handsome, even for a vampire, tall and muscular with broad shoulders and thick, curly-blond hair.

And, as I'd prepared myself for, the Denali sisters also joined them; three pale-haired blondes, two who I'd met briefly at my wedding and one who was a stranger to me. Tanya and Kate had apprehensive looks on their lovely faces while the stranger who surely had to be Irina looked straight at me, hard-mouthed and fierce-eyed. Predictably, Edward reacted poorly to this– or to whatever it was she was thinking.

"Enough–" he started to snarl at her, but I interrupted him.

"Edward, forgot about her," I said loudly. "If she wants to be all hung up over that piece of shit then let her– but that's on her, not us." It was not my most diplomatic moment, but her grudge against me was too frustrating at this point; what, would she have preferred I'd let him kill me?

"He wasn't a scumbag!" Irina spat.

"He tried to kill me!" I shot back. "He was a piece of shit and you're better off without him!"

"Are you talking about that vampire you blew up in the clearing?" Jacob asked, with his usual lack of tact. "The one who looked about three seconds from ripping off your clothes?"

There was a moment of dead silence in the room and I cursed Jacob silently. Edward was the first one to speak, a truly dangerous growl to his words.

"What?"

"It wasn't like that," I hastily explained– Edward looked like he wanted to resurrect Laurent just for the sheer pleasure of murdering him a second time and the horror on Esme and Rosalie's faces had me rushing to reassure them that it was nothing like what they were thinking. "Laurent was just being... suggestive and I went along with it, seeing as he was also telling me how he was cheating on his animal diet and was about to murder me and how I was lucky it was him seeing as Victoria would have dragged it out."

"Went along with it?" Edward repeated through clenched teeth.

"He didn't touch me," I said firmly. "The wolves distracted him and I blew his arse up."

"I don't believe you!" Irina snarled, her hands curled into claws at her sides as she glared furiously at me, "You're lying! He wouldn't do that!"

"Oh grow up and get your head out of your arse already!" I snapped at her. "He used you and that sucks–"

"I loved him!" She interrupted me shrilly.

"Really?" Leah (of all people) scoffed loudly, "were you really in love with him? Or were you just in love with the idea of being in love with him?"

Irina didn't answer, seeming stunned almost as she stared at Leah, who glared fiercely back at her, chin high. "Believe me, I know shitty boyfriends– my ex left me for my fucking best friend! Bella and the Cullens aren't lying and you know it; that fucker used you and you can do better."

To my astonishment, it seemed that Leah appeared to actually be getting through to Irina. The pale-haired vampire had faltered, hesitating where before she'd been yelling. "I loved him," she said again, but this time her words were quiet and the grief on her face had me swallowing, wanting to look away. Leah's face softened.

"Maybe you did," she allowed, "but that doesn't change things."

Irina looked away then, her grief sharp enough to cut, and Tanya reached out to gently lay a hand on her sister's shoulder. "I think we need a moment," she said quietly.

"The rooms you used last time are ready for you," Edward spoke up, the aggression gone from his voice and stance. "And Luna has applied silencing charms to each of them so you will have privacy within their walls."

"Thank you," Tanya said with a short nod, before she and her sisters left the room, her and Kate having to pull the lost-looking, grief-stricken Irina after them.

"I really do hope this dreadful mess is over now," Esme said with a quiet sigh, after about a minute had passed– I assumed the Denali sisters were in the privacy of the bedroom by then.

"I think Irina might finally be ready to take the first step towards moving past it," Edward told her and Esme nodded gratefully.

"I'm glad," she said softly. "This is a dangerous time right now. Our family needs to keep together and stay strong to get through it."

There was a solemn silence following her words, one that was broken by Leah this time. "Men," she said, with a dark scowl, "are fucking hopeless."

"Utterly so," Rosalie agreed, "they're ridiculous creatures with the self-awareness of a hermaphrodite snail with multiple personality disorder."

"Ouch," Emmett said. Rosalie just patted his shoulder.

-

After the drama of the Denalis' arrival, things calmed down. This was a good thing, of course, but bed rest when I wasn't feeling like I was dying was actually very boring. That wasn't surprising but it was very annoying and Esme's suggestion of inviting over Katie and Angela was one met with great enthusiasm on my part.

After introducing them to the new arrivals, I was glad to surrender myself to the lighter chatter they brought. I was listening to Angela telling Katie and I the gossip surrounding Jessica and the Newton boy getting back together– "again," she said with a roll of her eyes– and wincing occasionally as Baby shifted around when I heard it, a startling cracking sound. It was followed by a moment of confused silence– and then the pain hit me.

My vision went grey and fuzzy for a moment as the pain lanced through my chest. I'd never broken a rib before; I'd had parts of my skin flayed off, had nearly been cut in half, had been poisoned, had vampire venom in my veins, hell I'd even been tortured, but a broken rib was new.

It wasn't the worst thing I'd ever felt– it was also not something I'd ever recommend.

Air escaped my lips in wheezes as I struggled to breathe properly through the sickly, stabbing pain, struggled to keep from panicking as I failed to get enough oxygen. I felt a bit like I might throw up but the thought of how much that would hurt and the mental image of the fountain of blood that would come up thanks to my currently rather singular diet had me fight back against the rising sensation in the back of my throat.

"Get Qiang!" Someone was shouting and I could feel Edward and Jacob's hands touching me, patting me, could feel Rosalie cradling my face as she calmly told me to breathe in and out and in and out. It took me a few minutes to calm down, but it was more the shock of what had happened then the pain that had taken me off guard. Once that was under control, managing the pain was quick to follow.

"Bella? Bella, are you okay?" Jacob demanded when I managed to pat one of Rosalie's hands in thanks.

"Y-Yeah," I gasped out at the same time as Edward snarled,

"No! It just broke her ribs!"

"N-not this again," I groaned. "F-for Merlin's sake! It was an accident! Baby just doesn't know their own strength!"

Edward looked coldly furious as I cradled my stomach and glared at him and Rosalie hovered protectively next to me, a threatening growl building up behind her dangerous teeth. Esme planted her hands on her hips and gave both her children a very disapproving look.

"Enough!" She said sharply enough that both Rose and Edward turned to her in surprise. "Rosalie, Edward is allowed to be distressed about his mate being hurt. Edward, Bella is right– no, be quiet and let me talk," she scolded when Edward opened his mouth. "I know you feel guilty, that you blame the fact that the baby is half vampire for hurting her. The truth is, even human babies can hurt their mothers. My own mother died in childbirth. Did that make my infant sister a monster, Edward?"

Esme was a champion, I decided as Edward's face shuttered with guilt. "Bringing life into the world is always a risk," Esme said gently, reaching forwards to cradle her son's face with her hands. "But it is a risk we women choose to take, because we know the reward."

Qiang's sudden appearance as she apparated into the room had me hiss in pain as I jolted my newly broken rib. The new arrivals reacted as expected, the Denali sisters all hissing while Bree fell into a defensive crouch and Fred went very, very still. Qiang spared them a brief, dismissive look before sweeping over to me, flicking her wand over my chest.

"Broken rib," she said briskly. "Not unexpected."

"Terrific. Thanks for the warning." I said pointedly. She ignored me, busy pulling a small pink potion from the pocket of her robes.

"Drink," she ordered, waiting for me to take the phial before tapping the point of her wand over where the pain was worse. I swore loudly as a loud clunk echoed through the room, the pain enough to turn my vision white for a moment. Then, the pain was blessedly gone and I exhaled I relief before unstoppering the potion and swallowing it quickly. It tasted like I imagined gravel might taste like in a liquid form– unpleasant and sort of chalky, but not the worst potion I'd ever had the displeasure of sampling.

"That should hopefully strengthen your bones up," Qiang explained, frowning a bit as she continued to cast diagnostic charms. "We did expect for the foetus to grow in strength as you did, but we failed to factor your previous condition into our calculations. The brief starvation caused more damage to your body then expected– far more then it should have. We'll need to be vigilant and cautious."

"Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere." I pointed out, having barely contained the urge to shout 'constant vigilance!' like my third year DADA professor (who'd actually turned out to be a disguised Death Eater) had been so fond of doing.

"A balm on my nerves," Qiang agreed. "The gods only know the trouble you'd be getting into otherwise." I glared at her but some of the others in the room laughed, the dirty traitors. 

"I like you," one of the Denali sisters– Kate– announced, smiling playfully at Qiang. "You're fun."

"And taken, I'm afraid." Qiang said without even missing a beat. Kate pouted. 

"The good ones always are," she complained. "Or straight."

"Tell me about it," Jacob said in commiseration.

"What's the soonest you can get the- the baby out of her?" Edward asked Qiang, ignoring the playful chatter.

"Going by how the foetus is growing, I'd be happy with a twenty eight day gestation." Qiang told him. "November 3rd is the earliest I'd be comfortable performing the cesarean."

"It's only the 27th today," Edward exclaimed, visibly frustrated. "Can we really afford to wait another week if it– if the baby is already breaking her bones?"

"I'll be revisiting my estimate everyday as it is only an estimate, but as of right now that is the earliest date I am comfortable with." Qiang said sharply.

"Son," Carlisle said quietly when Edward looked like he was going to keep arguing. Edward seemed to deflate almost, his shoulders slumping.

"So be it." He murmured and I tried and failed to not feel horribly guilty.

-

-

Mineral de Pozos, Mexico: Alice & Jasper

Alice gasped as the glimpse of the future faded from before her eyes. After taking a quarter of a second to reorient herself, she jerked her head up to meet the worried tawny eyes of her mate. "We need to contact home," she said, not bothering to hide the fear audible in her bell-like voice. As Jasper reached towards her she gladly curled in his arms, letting his Gift soothe the panic that had welled up inside her.

"What did you see?" Jasper asked gently, careful not to let his own concern carry over to his mate as terrible scenarios flittered through his mind. It was rare for her visions to leave her so shaken up and they'd both agreed to contact home as little as possible, the maintenance of their cover more important then checking in with their family.

Alice's eyes met his and there was a grim set to her pointed jaw. "I saw her," she said, her words barely a whisper, a small shudder running through her tiny frame, "I saw Athenodora– she's arrived in Forks."