Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Twilight

Authors note: First of all, I want to apologise for taking so long to get this chapter to you and I know you won't want to hear my excuses so I'll keep them to myself.

A huge thank you to TRDancer for beta-ing!

I am holding a contest right now:

'Beyond Imagination' Contest.

In celebration of Halloween, I now present the 'Beyond Imagination' Contest.

Let your imagination run riot, whether your story is about witches, ghosts, dragons and knights, fairies and other mythical creatures of any shape and size or something more factual like pirates and Vikings, heck, you can even base it on dinosaurs. Just go wild. The more imaginative the better. Boldly go where noone has gone before!

Rules;

1. Submissions must be a one-shot but can be extended after the winner of the contest is announced.

2. Must contain 1,500 words or more.

3. You can enter as many times as you want. Collaborations are welcome.

4. One-shots can be any pairings or ratings.

All submissions must include:

'Beyond Imagination' Contest.

Title:

Penname:

Pairing:

Rating:

Word count:

Inspiration:

Summary:

If you are interested in this contest please go to http://www(DOT)fanfiction(DOT)net/u/2119940/Beyond_Imagination_Contest for further details.

The competition is open until 11.59pm 25th of November (GMT). PM me the links of your stories.

Voting will be from 26th November until 3rd December. Winners will be announced on the 4th December.

I'll probably extend the deadline, though, because I have a feeling I'm gonna be really busy in the next few weeks. Anyway, here's the chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

Swallowing Pride

Jake's POV

The strangest thing happened today: Blondie smiled at me. Actually smiled. True, it was so tiny I could have imagined it—only a ghost of a smile—but still, that has to be something, right? I swear, I must have frozen in shock with my mouth hanging open, although I was too stunned to really think about that at the time. I think she must be warming to me. Or, more likely, the idea of Nessie having a baby.

A few weeks had passed since we first found out about Nessie's pregnancy and she already had a sizable bump. It seemed that her pregnancy would pass almost as quickly as Bella's but she certainly looked a lot healthier than Bella had. Ness had a warm glow about her rather than looking pale and drained.

Carlisle had a daily ritual of measuring Nessie's stomach and weighing her, coming to the conclusion that her pregnancy wasn't proceeding as quickly as Bella's did, but still at an extremely fast pace.

In the past three weeks Nessie has lost her temper four times, reduced herself to tears over the most insignificant things six times and has had 27 different cravings. How do I know all this? Because I'm the one that her temper is aimed at or has to go out in search of a 24 hour store to buy something for one of Nessie's cravings. Even though the rest of the family don't need sleep and it would be much more convenient for them to go shopping than me, Edward claims I have to do it so I get the 'full experience'. In all honesty, I don't mind a bit.

Bella is now almost as ecstatic about the baby as Alice and Esme. And, instead of the forced creepy-calm she had shortly after she knew about the pregnancy, she was genuinely happy, if not a little sour about being a grandmother so young. She claims it makes her feel old, which I really don't understand because she will be a teenager for eternity.

And my personal highlight of the week; Nessie attacked Edward. Basically, he made some snide comment about me getting her pregnant and she snapped, her hormones going hay-wire. If I weren't so worried about her at the time I would have laughed at the look on Edward's face. In fact, I am really enjoying teasing him about it. So, although he is still keeping a pretty close eye on us, he has finally laid off a little and realised that Nessie is an adult and able to think for herself—to know what's best for her—without his interference. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't extremely satisfying when Nessie yelled that at him.

I was seriously exhausted after all that had been going on—mostly me running around. Nessie was more energetic than usual and she was the one that was doing most of the work—carrying the baby and then squeezing it out in a couple of months. What had I done; fetched a few things for her in the middle of the night and yet, right now, I could be bothered to get up from my place on the couch. Jeeze, I must be getting old. Either that or Blondie's drugging me to get me out of the way of her 'bonding time' with Nessie. Okay, so admittedly I might be being a little bit paranoid but as a werewolf son-in-law that just impregnated his teenage bride, now living in a house full of vampires, I think I have the right to be.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was being jumped on. My eyes shot open but my mind was too clouded with sleep to do more than stare at the chocolate brown eyes looking up at me.

"Ness?" I only just managed to ask before a yawn overtook me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I kinda...tripped," she whispered and a light blush tinted her cheeks.

"S'okay." I wrapped my arm around her waist and moved her so she was tucked into my side instead of lying across my lap. "Need to be careful, Ness—try not hurt you and our baby." My voice was thick with sleep and, as you may have noticed, I'm not the most eloquent person when I've just been woken up. My fingers absentmindedly stroked her slightly rounded stomach and a small smile lit her face as she covered my hand with hers.

Beautiful.

Her lips met mine gently before she snuggled into my side and it wasn't long before I was, once again, asleep.

---------------

I jolted awake with the feeling of being watched. It was dark now—well into the night. I could still feel Nessie tucked into my side as my eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness. I slowly surveyed the room, having to do a double-take when I saw a dark figure in the opposite corner, and almost jumping out of my skin when I realised it was Blondie, standing absolutely motionless, just staring at us.

My arm instinctively tightened around Nessie and she buried her head further into my shoulder in response.

Blondie quickly crossed the room and sat on the end of the couch, on the other side of Nessie. I kept my attention focused on her because, well, last time we were in the same room as her, she wasn't exactly pleasant.

However, while I watched her, she had her eyes fixed on Nessie's sleeping form. Her gaze was so incredibly tender and loving that I almost forgot this was the same Rosalie that had been outraged when we told her about the pregnancy.

She gently moved the few strands of Nessie's hair that had fallen over her face, behind her ear and sighed before lifting her gaze to mine.

"You were right," she said, and dropped her gaze almost immediately.

"Excuse me?"

"I am jealous, you were right. I shouldn't have treated Nessie that way, and as much as it pains me to say it, I was wrong." She stubbornly kept her gaze on Nessie and her voice was quiet enough not to disturb her sleep.

"Wait, are you apologising?" I asked incredulously, a grin quickly spreading across my face.

Her eyes met mine in a cold glare. "Enjoy it while you can. I promise you, it won't happen again."

I chuckled and looked down at Nessie—so peaceful in her sleep. Silence enveloped us once more and, surprisingly, it wasn't uncomfortable. It seemed we had reached some sort of truce between us. Even though she was stubborn, arrogant and completely full of herself she had still managed to build up the courage and swallow her dignity to apologise to me, in an attempt to heal her relationship with Nessie.

That was something I found admirable—she admitted she was wrong, had made herself vulnerable. And, I think, it was because of that reason I decided to voice my greatest worry.

"I'm scared." I could see her look at me curiously out of the corner of my eyes but kept them focused on my fingers that were gently caressing Nessie's stomach. "You know as well as me what Bella went through during her pregnancy and...I can't bear the thought of anything like that happening to Nessie. I just..." I closed my eyes and forced myself to continue, "You have no idea how worried I am that, if the time comes, I won't be able to save her. That I'll end up losing her." I chocked out, my arm tightening around Nessie, bring her sleeping body closer to me.

"She's strong, so much stronger than Bella was. And she's a fighter. She'll be alright, I'm sure of it," Blon-Rose said softly. This was probably the closest we'd ever come to having a conversation with each other and, strangely enough, it was a comfort to me. That I had voiced my insecurities and instead of mocking them, she had reassured me. It was probably the most surreal experience of my life.

We fell into silence once more and this time, she was the one to break it.

"Jacob," she forced out through clenched teeth as if it was an effort to actually call me by my name instead of one of the many degrading nicknames she usually does. "After my initial impulse to rip your still-beating-heart from your chest with my bare hands and force you to watch it beat its last beat with the few remaining seconds of your life, for impregnating my dear, sweet niece with your disgusting, repulsive mongrel spawn, I have come to realise, over the past few weeks, that you aren't actually all that bad," she finished with a triumphant smile as if she was pleased with her non-compliment and looked towards me with what could only be described as a hopeful look in her eyes.

What the hell was I supposed to say to that? I think I was more scared of what she had considered doing to me than pleased that she finally accepted me. "Eh...thanks?" I offered and her smile widened, happy with my response.

"Hmm, Jake?" the sleepy voice of my imprint interrupted what could quite possibly have been one of the most terrifying moments of my life. After all, it's not every day once of your in-laws tells you, in such great detail, how they wanted to kill you when they found out you have impregnated your wife.

"Hello, sleepy-head." I pressed a kiss to the top of her head and she grinned up at me, her eyes full of sleep.

A soft groan escaped her as she stretched then turned her head to the side when her arm ended up hitting Rosalie's shoulder. "Rose?" she asked and her face twisted in confusion in the cutest way.

"Renesmee, I'm sorry. For what I said and the way I've been acting. You deserve this, both of you do. And I hope you can forgive me and let me be part of this moment in your life." See, now why couldn't I have gotten an apology like that? It's not fair. Nessie gets the good apology and I get incredibly creeped out—Rosalie certainly has a very backwards way in saying she kinda likes you.

For the few moments it took for Nessie to react, Rosalie looked incredibly uncertain, something that was completely unnerving for anyone who knew what she was usually like but it certainly showed just how much she valued their relationship.

"Of course!" Nessie threw her arms around Rosalie. "I've missed you Aunt Rosie," she whispered as she continued to hug her.

She then sat back against the couch, taking my hand in one of hers and Rosalie's in her other before closing her eyes as a contented smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

A/N: So, there you have it. I'm not entirely sure when I'll be able to get the next chapter to you but I've planned out the rest of the story so hopefully soon-ish.

Thanks for reading! Please review!