CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

Bella's POV:

I'd spent a lot of my life bedridden- the unfortunate side effect of been the world's biggest klutz. And it never got any easier. It was boring and painful and I needed help with every little thing.

On the bright side, I feel so different from when I woke up this morning, so much better, that it's honestly a miracle. Unfortunately, that doesn't detract from the fact I still feel absolutely lousy. And, by the looks of it, so did Hermione. She'd only been pouring over the old journal for about an hour before her eyelids grew heavy, and she ended up dozing off, slumped against the couch.

For a long time, I just sat there and watched her. Partly because there was nothing else to do, but mostly because she looked peaceful. Vulnerable. The pure Hermione she was when she didn't have to prove herself to anyone, when she wasn't trying to keep someone alive. It was a rare sight. The ever-present crinkle on her brow of complex thought was gone, leaving her expression relaxed and obscenely lovely.

I thought of waking her, knowing that she'd want me to, that she'd start stressing about time wasted and all that, but I couldn't bring myself to pull her out of her sleep.

So instead I watched her face, the way wild curls of chestnut hair fell in tendrils near her closed eyes, her cheeks the resting place for dark eyelashes and her lips slightly parted. Even at rest like this her hair was untamed. Sleeping as she was, she looked so delicate, and yet she was the strongest person I knew. When she set her mind to something nothing would stop Hermione Cullen.

"The warding she did the other night really took a lot out of her," Alice said softly. I jolted, startled, unaware of just when Alice had entered the room, and how long she'd been standing there, watching me watch Hermione.

"Yeah," I agree, moving my hands to cradle my stomach. I go to shift, to push myself up into a more comfortable position the best I can with my still weak limbs, when a sharp snapping sound breaks the silence of the room. For a moment I'm confused, puzzled at the sound.

And then the pain hit.

I couldn't help my shocked cry, or the tears that sprung to my eyes. The pain was sharp, almost blinding, and I realized almost instantly that at least one of my ribs was broken.

As I tried to control the sharp keening noises escaping from my mouth, my mind spun, shock and, ridiculous as it was, hurt filling me.

My little nudger had just broken my rib.

I was dimly aware of the blur of voices, could feel Edward's cold hands gently pressed across where the pain was worst, the icy coolness soothing, dulling the pain somewhat, and Jacob's hands were almost sweltering hot where they were holding mine, as tightly as he dared.

And then as Jacob's hands tightened further, they started to feel like manacles trapping my wrists in place, and suddenly Edward's hands on my stomach had a much more sinister feel.

"NO! STOP!" I shrieked, fresh tears leaking down my cheeks as the sharp inhale required made the pain in my chest flare stronger. "DON'T HURT HIM!" I screamed, trying to yank my hands out of Jacob's grip.

"Step away from her, you stupid tossers!" That was Hermione's voice, clipped and furious. "She thinks you're trying to hurt the baby!"

Jacob swears, and drops my wrists as if they burnt him, backing away. Edward is more reluctant to move back, but the cold hands vanish and then I'm trying to hold back sobs of relief.

"Shh," Hermione's hand is running through my hair, in soothing, repetitive motions, "they weren't trying to hurt the fe-him," she promises me, "they're just worried about you. One of your ribs is broken, love."

"It hurts," I whimper to her, as her warm fingers gently wiped the tears from my eyes, clearing my vision. The fear, the anger, it's all melted from my body, gone as if it never existed. Jasper must be nearby, some part of me notes. And I'm glad.

"I know it does, Bella, love, but Carlisle and I, we're going to make it all better." Her accent is thicker, richer, as she soothes me.

"This is going to sting for a moment," Carlisle says, appearing beside me. I inhale sharply, fear filling me at the sight of the needle, and Hermione shakes her head in exasperation.

"Honestly," she mutters.

The morphine, once in my veins, works quickly, muting the pain to an almost unnoticeable ache. As long as I don't move, I can forget it's there. "Can you fix the broken bone?" Carlisle asks, and Hermione sighs, running a hand through her hair. She looks stressed again, all the peace, from before when she was sleeping, long gone from her expression.

"I don't know, well yes plausibly I could, but there's certain spells you can and can't use on pregnant witc-women," Hermione corrects herself, before shaking her head again. "But does that even apply here? Merlin, this is so..."

"Messed up?" Maggie suggests, and I crane my head so she's in my line of sight. Jasper's arm is curled around her waist, and the handsome blonde gives me a small smile and nod as I send a wave of appreciation his way.

"I was going to say bollocksed, but I suppose that works." Hermione agrees.

"'S okay. Doesn' hur' 'nymore." My voice is little more then a sigh, the morphine softening my words, making them slur together slightly.

"I'll go get Harry... and pick up Leah on the way back," Hermione said. Someone, probably Rosalie, groaned. Hermione ignored her. I heard the crack I'd come to associate with disapparation, and wasn't surprised when the spot where Hermione had stood was suddenly empty of anything but air.

Edward walked over to me, slowly, his every movement cautious, as if he was waiting for me to flip out and start screaming at him again. Shame made my cheeks burn, and I had to fight the urge to look away.

"Did you really think I'd do that?" Edward asks, lowly, as he sinks down on the floor next to the couch. His eyes are level to mine, and I have to look away.

"F'r a momen'," I confess. He deserves more then a lie. And he deserves more then a monster like me for a wife; a monster who honest-to-god thought that he was going to take my baby from me, with or without my consent.

He lets out a pained sound, and closes his eyes, resting his forehead against the edge of the couch. I reach out to run my fingers through his hair, mimicking the movements Hermione had been using on me, so short a time ago.

"I don' think I r'lly believed it," I tell him, wanting him to hear me, to understand, "was jus' panicking."

"I know. So was I." He mumbled.

"And me." Jacob's voice is husky, and the couch makes a complaining sound as he sinks down beside me, lifting my feet so that they're sitting on his lap. I wiggle my toes, glad for the warmth- they were starting to get kind of cold.

"We all were." I say.

"Including your crazy ass sister," Jacob's mouth twitches slightly.

"Oh dear," I murmur. His smile widens, becoming something real.

"She leapt to her feet, wand spitting out sparks- look, you can see where they singed the carpet," he points out. I cringe at the scorch marks on Esme's expensive Queen Anne rug.

"I can't really blame you for thinking that," Edward says quietly, drawing the conversation back to where it begun. "I want to. I was planning to, at the start, to just take any opportunity I could..." I barely held back my shudder, and my hands, almost without my permission, moved to cradle my stomach, in a futile attempt to shield my little nudger from his words. "I couldn't. Not anymore." Edward says, quietly, inky-black eyes following my movements.

"Speak for yourself," Jacob is scowling, his face transformed into a bitter mask of anger as he gazed down at Edward with contempt in his gaze. "You're a coward, what you're doing is a cowardly thing to do."

A loud hiss echoes down from the top door, and suddenly Rosalie is in the doorway of the living room, her sharp eyes boring into Jacob. If looks could kill...

"You wouldn'," I say, stubbornly, knowing that what I am saying is true. No matter how much Jacob hates my little nudger, he'd never do that to me.

"I would," he retorts, angrily. I just shake my head.

Two loud cracks break the tense silence that settled in the room, and Harry's here, looking tired, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. Hermione looks little better, though Leah, who's holding onto Hermione in a way that I knew that if Alice was in the room the small vampire would probably growl, despite the knowledge that Leah is not only 100% heterosexual, but also 100% spoken for, a soul mate of her very own.

The three look around the room, obviously trying to gauge the situation. Rosalie is in a half crouch in the doorway, ready to move to defend me and my little nudger at a moment's notice, Edward's expression is bleak, tortured, and Jacob looks murderously angrily. So, nothing new really.

"Sam wants to talk to you, Jacob," Leah breaks the silence in her blunt, very Leah way. "Fuck," Jacob swears, shaking his head from side-to-side, "fuck."

Fear ran through me. "What?" I just about squeaked. I tried to sit up, and even the morphine wasn't enough to dull the brutal reminder that that probably wasn't exactly the best course of action currently. I let out a hissing breath, collapsing back against the pillows, my hands moving up to my chest.

"Here, let me fix that for you," Harry smiled at me warmly, and I gave him a thankful look, not embarrassed even slightly as he pulled up my shirt, instead focusing my full attention on the conversation carrying on around me.

"He's waving a white flag. Says he wants a truce. Wants to talk." Leah explained, before grimacing.

"Spouted some shit about having calmed down and talked to the other Elders, that they've decided that immediate action is in no one's best interest at this point."

"Translation- they've already lost the element of surprise." Jacob snorted.

"Yeah, plus mom, Billy and Emily chewed them all out good time. They're all waiting now for waiting until Bella's separated from the proble-baby."

"Killing her not something they feel comfortable with?" Jacob's voice is dark and I shudder slightly, causing both him and Edward to make small moves to comfort me.

"They're betting on Bella dying anyway," Leah states bluntly, ignoring the hisses that follow her statement, "and then they figure you'll be so mad you'll lead the attack yourself."

Horror licked through me when Jacob didn't immediately refute this statement, and it's not until his dark eyes meet mine that he sighs and looks back towards Leah. "I wouldn't have the opportunity." He tells her, and my jaw tightens at Jacob's careful wording.

"Sam's real pissed," Leah grumbles, trying to hide behind her tough façade, but I can see the hurt in her eyes. From the way Hermione's hair's starting to frizz up, I know that she can see Leah's hurt too, and she's angry. "Chewed me out good and proper when he learned I knew about the baby already," Leah continues, "called me a leech-lover," here her eyes flashed angrily, and her outline blurred just the slightest. I knew it was taking a lot for her to stay human-shaped right now. A part of her still loved Sam, even with Teddy, and his comments would have hurt.

"What?" Jacob's voice is low, dark, venomous. "You knew about the abomin-the fetus? "

It takes a second for the penny to drop for me, and when it does I'm actually impressed with Leah standing her ground and not shrinking back- the look in Jacob's eyes is only just short of murderous, and if I could, I'd back off slightly. As it was, I couldn't help but flinch slightly.

"Calm down, mate," Harry warned, his grip on his wand tightening infinitesimally. "Don't do anything stupid." Jacob ignored him, and I could feel his body trembling under my feet. A low growl streamed from between Edward's clenched teeth, and his body tensed, like he wanted to pull me up, away from Jacob, but he was too nervous too, not wanting to move me while Harry was checking for injuries.

"You knew that Bella was dying and you didn't think I'd want to know?" Jacob roared at Leah.

"Jacob-" I try speaking, but he wheels around, face furious, moving so that my feet are sliding off his lap, and he's on his feet.

"No, Bella! Just don't! You don't get to do this!"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Edward and Hermione shouted at the same time. Hermione's curls were just about crackling with energy around her head, and Alice was suddenly there, by her side, cold small, slim arms restraining my furious looking sister.

Unfortunately, no one's there to restrain Edward, who's risen into a crouch, eyes beyond fury. "Stop!" I shrieked, but my words fell on deaf ears.

"This is all your fault!" Jacob hissed at my husband, brandishing an arm angrily in my direction, the violent movement making me cringe again. Tears sprang to my eyes again, and Hermione was struggling in Alice's vice-like hold, a long string of threats escaping from her lips, but Jacob and Edward only had eyes for each other, both of them growling, unending, feral, terrifying sounds.

"IMMOBULOUS! SILENCIO!" Someone shouted, and I almost started sobbing in relief as both Edward and Jacob were frozen in place and forcibly silenced. Harry's face was stern, and although he stood around half a foot shorter then Edward, and at least a foot shorter then Jacob, there was a sort of power swirling around him, one I could almost taste.

It was the sort of tingling of the senses that told me just who the most powerful person in the room was. This was one of the only times when I looked at Harry and saw the man who'd defeated Voldemort, the Darkest Wizard in all of existence.

Hermione sometimes surrounded herself with power like this. I remember she did it the first day she was here in Forks, down at the reservation. Paul called me a 'fangbanger' and she made her power just swell around her.

"I appreciate that we're all tired and tense and worried," Harry's voice was calm, and his piercing green eyes met Hermione's, "I'm talking about you too, Hermione, love," he adds. She glares at him, but she stops struggling in Alice's arms. "We've just had a scare. As Bella's regaining her strength, it

appears that the baby's strength is growing too. This is something we're going to have to deal with. I've got some potions I can give you, Bella, but I think it's a safe assumption to say that we can be expecting more broken ribs."

I can't help a shiver at this, and Harry gives me a sympathetic look. "But, at the same time we can take this as a good sign. Obviously, blood is what Bella needs to sustain herself. She's stronger, healthier. Her heart's the steadiest it's been all week. Now take a page out of her book. You're both hungry, or Thirsty," Harry amends, nodding toward Edward, "and Jacob, you haven't slept for far too long. When I release you, Jacob you're going to eat a full meal then have a good long sleep. Edward is going to come with me, and I'm going to take him hunting, far enough away from the Pack that he won't be a danger. And you, Hermione, are going to do what you do best."

"Research?" My sister speaks up. It doesn't look like Alice is restraining her anymore, instead it looks more like she's hugging her, and Hermione's leaning back into her embrace.

"I was going to say keep a cool head in the midst of all the chaos." Harry says, dryly. "That's certainly something that's helped us previously," Hermione admits. He chuckles.

"I'm not arguing that." He tells her, before swishing his wand through the air in a steady, slightly hypnotic movement. Jacob snaps his jaw shut, and eyes Harry warily.

"I'll fix you up something to eat, Jacob dear," Esme chimes up in her sweet voice. I turn my head, surprised, wondering at which point she had entered the room, along with what looked like pretty much everyone else- including Seth.

"Fine." He muttered, following the kindly, mother-hen vampire into the kitchen. Harry strode around the couch, over to Edward, with a quiet confidence, and held out his hand. Edward hesitated for a long moment, turning his gaze towards me.

"Go, Edward," I tell him, gently, smiling at him the best I can. He sighs and ducks his head down so he can kiss my forehead.

"I love you," he tells me, seriously, before accepting Harry's outstretched hand. They disappear in a heartbeat.

"How long do you think they'll take?" I ask Hermione who shrugs and turns to Alice.

Alice tilts her head, frowning. "I'm getting a lot of nothing." She mutters, before squinting hard at thin air. "An hour, maybe two tops." She decides, finally, "Edward will definitely be back by seven."

"Seven?" I ask, startled. "As in, seven at night?"
"Mm, yeah. Today went quickly didn't it?" Hermione murmured. "All the drama," I respond, and she gives a half smile.
"Always with the drama."

"It's the life of a Swan." I sigh, moving my hands back to my stomach. A life of a Swan, and a life I wouldn't change for anything.