Welcome To The Party - Chapter 3 (Twilight)

CHAPTER 3

Bella looked out from the window that had become her companion these last two days. Other than attending to her daughter various times throughout the day she hadn't really left this room nor been a few steps outside of the house since the writhing woman on the bed had gotten here. Part of the reason was because she knew she needed to be close just in case. Her own transformation had only taken two days and it was safer for everyone for her to be close if Jennifer's was just as quick though it didn't seem that would be the case this time. She overheard Carlisle say that she was on track for the normal three days so in a little less than twenty-four hours there would be a new vampire in the home.

Bella told herself that her reason for being so close was for safety. She hadn't quite reached her year yet and she was still stronger than Emmett, but her shield gave her an added protection against the already strong gift of the soon to be newborn. She told herself and everyone else that was her reason, but there was more to it. She felt a kinship with this girl. Both had entered this mystical world as humans unintentionally and now both would be newborn vampires with young children to take care of. Well, hopefully that would be the case soon enough for Jenn. Bella couldn't imagine what it would have been like had she not known that Renessme was okay when she was finally able to process everything. A mother scorned was bad enough, but a very deadly newborn vampire could rip the town of Forks and La Push reservation apart if she felt her child was in danger. That was a shared fear of the Cullen family as every minute of the change ticked by.

Bella turned with a sigh as she laid eyes on Emmett. He had not moved from that spot since he first picked up her hands forty-nine hours ago. If not for the slight movement of his thumb on the back of his sister's hand every few minutes any normal passerby would surely confuse him for a statue. Rose had come to keep him company numerous times, but would end up leaving in frustration as Emmett seemed to be lost in his own world of worry, despair and guilt. He stopped acknowledging Rosalie yesterday when she tried to get him to take a short walk with her just to get out of the house. Even if Edward had not confided in Bella that Rosalie was feeling shut out it was written all over her face. This change needed to end, but whether quickly for Rosalie and Emmet's marriage's sake or slower until Joey is found for the sake of Forks was a toss up.

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A loud boom from the door sent Leah jumping from the bed and onto the floor. If she had been in wolf form her hackles would have been standing straight up. As if from some deep buried maternal instinct she picked Joey up quickly placing him in the empty bathtub and placing her finger over her mouth giving him the "quiet" gesture in hopes that he might actually listen, but knowing that more than likely won't be the case. She closed the bathroom door behind her leaving just a crack and slowly approached the door. Her skin began to crawl as her nostrils caught the sent of the person at her door. Her heart began pounding in anger and fear. She tried to fight it but she could feel the heat rising up from her stomach and her arms began to tremble. Before she could blink her curse took over and the bed was ripped to shreds along with her clothes as the wolf took over.

A snarl escaped her jowls before she could tame herself. If he was coming in he was losing a limb or two in the process. His scent took over her mind sinking her back to last month starting with the first time she saw him and those sparkling light blue eyes. The smile that swept her heart away in an instant coming from the same lips that took the humanity from her friend forcing her here in this moment. Her sensitive ears didn't pick up any movement and as she nudged the drape open slightly hoping no regular person would choose to pass by at that moment she realized he was not there anymore. Coward must have come here to scare her.

As the frustration began to dissipate she realized that now she was even more vulnerable than when she started. Anyone else in wolf form when she shifted had now seen through her eyes everything that passed through her mind in these last two minutes. She forced herself back into human form. She would have to figure out how she was going to come across clothes as she never intended on needing anything other than what she was wearing. If he knew where she was she couldn't be here anymore, but where could she possibly go? She didn't like where this thought process was going, but she couldn't deny it anymore. The safest place for Joey, despite her pride, was La Push.

The door creaked behind her revealing the smiling face of the little brunette three year old through the crack.

"Hi," he said and started giggling.

She grabbed a towel from the wall by the mirror at the sink in the main portion of the room and wrapped it around herself.

"Hi," she repeated picking him up from the floor and placing him securely in her arms. "We're going to meet my friends. Would you like that?" she asked and received a nod as he stared back at her placing his fingers in his mouth.

Looking around the room at the destroyed bed and side table she began collecting what she could to put back in the small diaper bag. She was going to have to get out of here quick, but first get a pair of shorts and a t-shirt at least. This was going to be awkward.

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"She phased," Jacob stated plainly to Edward and Carlisle as they straddled the La Push border. "Seth was on patrol when he could see her."

Seth cut in, "She was in a motel room and she was scared. She was looking out the window of the room and picturing some guy she had been thinking about a few weeks ago with blonde hair and blue eyes."

Jacob continued, "We're guessing he might be your vamp if she was so scared of him, but she phased back pretty quickly. My guess is she won't be anywhere near that room now, but I sent Embry and Quil up to check out Shelton and Olympia to see if they can pick up her scent at one of the motels."

Unlike Alice and Jasper, they could at least search in the daylight since it had been unseasonably sunny this past week.
"We need to discuss this newborn," the pack leader stared at the Cullen patriarch.

"I know your concern Jacob, but we will take full responsibility for her."

"That's not an answer Doc. None of you will be able to stop her if she feels the need to snack from the human buffet and we won't think twice about taking her down if she even looks in the direction of a human. We can't make any exceptions."

Carlisle nodded, "We understand and we're hoping we can convince her to try our way of life. She never wanted to be one of us and that may make it easier to persuade her, but until she has her son back I can't tell you how she is going to react. This will be something we have never seen before. I've never dealt with a newborn outside of Bella who even had a young child. If she can't control her actions we understand your position, but you will have to understand ours."

Edward cut in, "Emmett won't be so willing to step aside and we will defend them."

Carlisle let out a sigh, "You can understand our position as we understand yours. We aren't asking for you to ignore her actions, just be aware that our family will act to defend our own with full understanding of what that means for our alliance. We're hoping that won't happen and that this discussion is moot, but it is one that needs to be had."

"And you realize that if she goes after any human we won't look the other way," Jacob confirmed.

Carlisle nodded and left the conversation at that. Hopefully none of this will be an issue and this discussion won't mean anything tomorrow, but right now those words needed to be stated for both sides to hear. Hopefully a devastating line won't be drawn in the next few hours.