( outfit for
chapter above )

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chapter nine
unexpected.

        "You were right— kinda." Bella laughed over the phone as she talked to Christina.

The young mother sat down on the back porch as Bella explained how Edward agreed with Bella finally. She also mentioned how she wanted to experience a year of college while remaining human.

"It's not because of the sex, is it?" Christina asked, knowing the answer to her question anyway. She could practically hear Bella's blood rushing over the phone call, bringing a blush to her cheeks as she laughed awkwardly.

"Maybe?" she answered. "I just didn't know what I was missing out on before."

Christina chuckled. "Just wait til you transition. You think being human and having sex is good."

Bella paused as she thought about her next question. "So, you're okay with it?"

"Okay with what?"

"Me becoming a vampire?"

Christina sighed softly. "I'd be a little bit of a hypocrite if I said no, wouldn't I?"

"I'd rather you be honest," Bella answered instead.

"No," Christina answered shortly. "I would love for you to remain human, but... I also would have preferred myself to be human. I'm just accepting what is. I know you won't change your mind about becoming a vampire, and I can't stop you. So I accept your decision to make your own life how you will."

"Thanks, Nina," Bella whispered.

The call quickly ended after their serious conversation. Christina placed her phone next to her, and soaked up the rare sun coming through the trees. She closed her eyes against the shimmering diamonds that littered her skin, marking her as immortal; different, dangerous.

She tried not to be a martyr in her newly transitioned life— but she did allow herself five minutes of missing her human life. Five minutes to spend in guilt for regretting turning into a vampire, knowing that she wouldn't be able to be with Carlisle forever if she didn't change. Five minutes to resent Riley Biers for cutting her throat and making her have to make the decision. Five minutes to miss the taste of coffee in the mornings, and apple pie every Thursday at the diner.

She gave herself five minutes until she opened her eyes. The sun went back behind the cloud, hiding her shimmering skin from the world— along with the selfish thoughts of wishing to have stayed human.

She got up from the porch steps as she walked back inside— the sound of giggles brightening up her mood as she left her regrets behind her.

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        Christina placed Annie's dinner in front of her. The spaghetti's scent reached her nose, and left her in wonder. She never did ask what happens when vampires eat human food. She was never curious to find out, but as the spaghetti's scent reached her nose, she became mystified at the unknown question.

A short gasp interrupted her pondering over the food, as she walked into the living room. She watched as Alice's eyes turned cold as she got lost in her own mind, seeing the future play out before her. The pixie came back within thirty seconds, making eye contact with the young mother before quickly dialing a number up.

Worry started to crawl up Christina's spine as she listened to the conversation.

"Hi, Alice," Bella answered the call after Alice had to hang up to redial.

"Bella?" Alice furrowed her brows. "Bella, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered back, but her voice was shaky. "Uh, is Carlisle there?"

"He is," Alice answered as Christina stepped closer. "What's the problem?"

"I'm not... one hundred percent... sure."

"Is Edward all right?" Alice asked before calling Carlisle's name behind her shoulder. "Why didn't he pick up the phone?"

"What's going on?" Carlisle asked. He stopped next to Christina, noticing her anxious aura. She just shook her head, not being able to answer his question.

"Here's Carlisle." Alice handed the doctor the phone before walking away.

Christina reaches out and grabbed onto her arm before she could get out of eye sight. "Hey, what's going on?"

Alice's gaze didn't turn up from the ground as she answered, "I don't know yet."

Christina let her arm go with a sigh before turning back to Carlisle and Bella's conversation.

"Can vampires go into shock?"

Now it was Carlisle's turn to become anxious. Christina placed a hand on his arm soothingly. "Has Edward been harmed?"

"No, no," Bella mumbled. "Just taken by surprise."

"I don't understand, Bella."

"I think... well, I think that... maybe... I might be," Bella paused as she jumbled her words trying to get the correct words to come out. "Pregnant."

Carlisle's brows furrowed at Bella's words, as Christina's mouth popped open in shock. She grabbed the phone from Carlisle who was staring at the floor in deep thought.

"When was your first day of your last menstrual cycle?" Christina asked.

"Chris," Bella sighed thankfully. "Uhm, it was sixteen days before the wedding."

"How are you feeling?" The young mother asked, doing a mental head count after Bella's answer. By her logic, she would be six days late for her period.

"Weird," she answered, her voice cracking at the end of the word. Christina's heart broke as she listened to her sister cry over the phone. "This is going to sound crazy— look, I know it's way too early for anything. Maybe I am crazy. But I'm having bizarre dreams and eating all the time, and crying and throwing up... and... and I swear something moved inside of me just now."

"Those are all pregnancy symptoms," Christina confirmed, but she was as surprised as Bella. If she was this early in the pregnancy her body wouldn't even react. She wouldn't have so many symptoms. "Alright, Bella, I need you to keep calm, okay? Just breathe. Everything will be alright."

"Okay," she mumbled.

"Christina, put Carlisle on," Edward spoke as he finally came to his senses. Christina held out her hand, which Carlisle grabbed along with the phone. He pulled her gently into his side as he listened to Edward. "Is it possible?"

"It could very well be possible," Carlisle sighed. "It'd be a very rare case, there's not many that I heard of— maybe in Brazil. Anatomy speaking, female bodies change throughout their human life... they change when they bare children, and even during their menstrual cycle every month— being a female as a vampire limits that, as they become frozen in time. Never changing. Human men, on the other hand, they stay the same throughout puberty all the way to death. Men don't have child-baring years or cycle of fertility."

"And Bella?" Edward asked.

"I'm not completely sure what will happen," Carlisle sighed. "You need to bring her back so we can do some testing."

"Yes, I will," Edward answered.

The call ended shortly after that. Christina stared at the phone in Carlisle's hand with uncertainty. She was afraid for Bella. If how Edward and Carlisle were acting was anything to go by, this might not be safe for Bella... but it was still a baby. The mother in her wanted to save the baby, as well as Bella— she just didn't know if both were possible.

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It took twenty-four hours for Bella and Edward to return home. It came to everyone's surprise as they watched Rosalie help Bella into the living room. It also came to everyone's surprise as they stared as Bella's growing stomach. She was only two weeks pregnant, and her stomach already bloated outwards.

"Bella, we're gonna get this thing out of you," Edward tried soothing as tears started to fall down her face.

"Have you even been paying attention?" Rosalie snapped, moving closer to Bella's side. Edward narrowed his eyes as he stared down at his adoptive sister. "She doesn't want to get rid of the baby."

Everyone's eyes turned to Bella in question. Her only answer was to wrap her arms around her stomach. Silent tears fell from her eyes as she looked away from everyone.

"Bella, this thing could hurt you," Carlisle muttered softly. "We don't have any information about it."

"We should at least try to see if it'll come up on a scan," Christina suggested. She neither agreed or disagreed with Bella on her choice to keep the baby. "Make sure it's not some parasite from Rio."

"Oh, it's a parasite, all right," Alice muttered under her breath. Christina turned a glare towards the pixie as she followed Bella up the stairs.

The only people that stayed out of the medic office was Emmett, Jasper and Alice. Rosalie held onto Bella's hand on her right side, while Christina stood at Bella's head, running her fingers through her locks. Edward and Carlisle stared at the blank screen from Bella's stomach, not being able to get a picture.

Carlisle sighed. "It would seem that we can't look past the embryonic sack." He turned off the screen before looking back to Bella. "We're going to have to base this off of knowledge instead of technology. Based on how big your stomach is, I would say that the fetus is growing at rapid speed. You are only two weeks pregnant, but your body is about two months. I'm not sure how the rest of this pregnancy is going to go. It can be very damaging—"

"I don't care," she spoke up for the first time since she returned home. "I want this baby."

Christina pursed her lips as she stared as Edward's angered face. "Bella, this thing will kill you," he huffed.

"You don't know that for sure," she disagreed. She sat up in the bed, before swinging her legs over the edge. "I can do this. Besides, if something goes wrong during labor, you'll be able to change me, right?" She looked towards Carlisle.

"There would be a possibility," he nodded. "But I'm not sure on the numbers of survival."

"I can do this," Bella said again. "I know I can."

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Pregnancy is upon us!