"We're taking my truck," Bella announced as she opened the door of her Chevy and hopped inside.

"It would be easier to take the Rabbit," Jacob told her. "Since I'm parked behind you."

The Volkswagen was indeed blocking the Chevy in the Swan's small driveway.

"No offense, but I really do not feel like hanging out on the side of the road when that thing breaks down." Bella turned the key and the truck engine roared to life.

"It's not going to break down."

"Just move it out of the way."

"Whatever."

The mood had soured between the pair when they realized that going to the hospital was inevitable.

Jake moved his car, parking against the curb in front of the house. Bella backed the truck into the street.

"At least let me drive," Jacob leaned into the truck's side window.

"Fine," Bella put the tranny in neutral, snapped up the e-brake and slid across the seat. "But we're going to the one in Port Angeles."

"Port Angeles? That's like an hour away. Why don't we just go…" Jake began to reply.

"Because that's where Sue Clearwater works!" Bella raised her voice. After Sue catching her near the pregnancy tests in the grocery store, Bella had kind of been avoiding her. This sort of "emergency" was not something she wanted Sue to know about. Not to mention, the sheer amount of times she'd been there in the past – somebody was bound to say something it to her father.

"I don't think she's working…"

"Just GO!" Bella cut Jake off mid-sentence. "The faster we get there the sooner we can…you know."

"Alright, Bells. Geez." Jake lowered the brake and shifted into gear.

The Chevy stalled.

"What the…," Jake looked down, checking to make sure he shifted correctly.

"Move!" Bella scooted back across the truck's bench seat. "I'm driving."

"But I can…"

"I'm driving."

With a sigh, Jake got out of the truck and walked around to the other side. He was feeling like crap. Aside from giving Bella her first orgasm, it seemed like he couldn't do anything right tonight.

The Chevy started back up without a problem.

They drove in silence until they got to the highway. Jake leaned forward and turned on the radio.

I got a feeling
That tonight's gonna be a good night
I got a feeling
That tonight's gonna be a good night
I got a feeling
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

Jacob frowned as he listened to the overly repetitive lyrics. Well if that's not a kick in the balls…

"Jake…." Bella reached over and switched off the music. "Not right now, okay."

"Okay," Jake agreed and leaned back against the seat.

Bella pressed down a little harder on the gas. She couldn't believe this was happening. Everything with Jake had been so perfect. Until now.

Her lips pressed together. A little voice in the back of her head was screaming "You're gonna be Jake's Baby Mama" and it was getting louder and louder. She felt edgy and nervous. Having sex was one thing – having a baby was an enormous responsibility that she didn't want – at least right now.

Jake kept glancing over at Bella, who was focused entirely on the road. He had no idea what she was thinking. He knew she was angry and upset and he felt completely responsible. It's just that, when they were having sex, he couldn't think about anything other than how awesome it felt.

For Jake: Thinking + Sex = Impossible

But now he was thinking, mind whirling with the possibility that Bella might be angry enough to break up with him. And that was the last thing he wanted.

They rode in silence, except for the occasional rumble of Jake's stomach. He hadn't eaten dinner and the whipped cream he had wasn't exactly a meal.

"I love you, Bella," Jake said moving closer to the center of the seat to be near her.

"I know," Bella replied. "I know you do."

She knew it wasn't what he wanted to hear but she said it anyway. Not because she didn't love him back, but sometimes when we're upset we say things like that to the people closest to us.

"Bells," he paused. "What's going through your head right now?"

For a brief moment Bella thought about Edward. How he always wanted to know what she was thinking. And for an even briefer second she wondered what Edward might say this situation.

"I just want to get to the hospital, Jake."

She looked at him, and even managed a slight smile.

"You know, someday we'll be laughing about this," he half-smiled back, placing a warm hand on her thigh and squeezing gently.

Yeah, well someday isn't here yet.

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The hospital in Port Angeles was much larger than the tiny two story one just outside of Forks. Bella followed the signs for the ER and parked in the designated place. She felt a little guilty, seeing how this wasn't a life threatening event as her past visits to the ER included lots of bleeding and broken limbs. But she wasn't going to wait until she could get a doctor's appointment to have this taken care of either.

They walked through the automatic doors, into the emergency room. Unlike TV, where the ER is shown as a bustling place with doctor's and nurses rushing around crazily the scene before them was calm almost serene. Bella walked up to the small desk where two nurses sat talking to each other.

"Can I help you?" the one in the pink scrubs asked.

"I need to see a doctor," Bella told her.

"What are your symptoms?" the nurse inquired taking out a clipboard and a pen.

"Uh, symptoms?" Bella looked over her shoulder at Jacob. "I, uh, don't have any symptoms."

Both nurses looked at her warily.

"I have a," Bella paused and leaned as close to the nurse as she could keeping her voice low, "condom inside me."

"What?" the nurse squinted and shook her head.

Bella cupped a hand around her mouth like she was revealing a secret, "The condom came off when we were doing it."

The nurse smirked in amusement and handed Bella a clip board with a stack of forms on it. "Here. Have a seat and fill these out."

"Thank you," Bella took the clipboard and headed toward the waiting area.

"See," Jake finally spoke. "That wasn't so bad."

"Let's hope it stays that way." Bella sat down and put the papers on her lap.

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Bella reviewed the forms again as the pages were double-sided and required multiple signatures. When she was certain she hadn't missed anything she got up and returned everything to the nurse.

"How long do you think I'll have to wait?" she asked.

"It shouldn't be too long," the nurse replied as she sorted through the forms.

Bella went back to her seat beside Jake. He put an arm around her and she leaned against him.

"So what now?" he asked.

"We have to wait," she answered.

Jake pulled her close and rubbed her arm, relieved that she snuggled against him.

A car pulled up just outside the door and the driver began honking the horn repeatedly. Both nurses got up from their seats and one came out of the desk area to see what was going on.

The driver got out of the car, leaving the door wide open behind him. He ran to the passenger side and opened the door, reaching in for the passenger.

Jake and Bella both leaned forward to get a better view.

"HELP!" the guy yelled. "I need some help!"

"Jake," Bella nudged her boyfriend but he was already up on his feet.

"uuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhh," a woman cried out in pain.

"Is she alright?" the nurse asked heading outside to the car.

"She's in labor!" the guy screamed at the nurse. "I think she's gonna pop any second!"

Upon hearing that Jake froze in his tracks, turning his head away. Ugh. Don't look. Don't look.

"How far apart are the contractions?" the nurse asked.

"It HUUUUURRRRRTS!" the woman screamed clutching the boulder that was her midsection.

"It's okay, Honey. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," the man repeated as he darted back and forth between the nurse and his wife.

"We're going to get you out of the car," the nurse began to say when the woman screamed again.

Bella looked away from the scene. She folded her hands and placed them on her lap. Her body straightened into the most perfect posture she could manage. Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit!

Jake stood frozen in his tracks, thinking that his motionlessness would make him invisible. He even held his breath, thinking the sound of his breathing might give him away.

The second nurse came out with a wheelchair. Together the first nurse and the husband assisted the woman into the seat.

"It's okay, Honey. Honey, it's okay. It's okay, Honey." The man stopped long enough to reach for his wife's hand.

She slapped it away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she yelled before clutching her basketball figure and screaming.

"You have to breathe," the nurse told the woman as she demonstrated a deep inhale.

"Fuck breathing!" the woman cried. "I want DRUGS! Someone get me DRUGS!"

"Breathe, Honey." The husband was mimicking the nurse.

"You fucking breathe!" she snapped as leaned into her belly wincing.

Bella squeezed her eyes closed. Maybe if I can't see it, I won't be able to hear it either. But it didn't work. The woman huffed and groaned and cursed.

Jake finally let his breath out in a not so quiet gasp. The Mother-To-Be sent an evil glance his way. Fuck, she heard me!

"Hey! Hey Girl! Girl in the chair!" the woman called out.

Bella opened her eyes and hesitantly made eye contact.

"Don't EVER….EVER…EVER have sex!" the woman grunted and her fingers dug into the armrest of the wheelchair.

"She didn't mean that," the husband uttered quickly.

"The hell I didn't!"

Bella looked back at her folded hands which were squeezed so tightly her knuckles were as white as Edward Cullen. In her head Bella began to recite the Presidents of the United States in chronological order:

Washington

Adams

Jefferson

Madison

Monroe….

It was all she could do to keep from imagining herself sitting in that chair.

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The woman and her husband had gone up to the Labor and Delivery Floor so the waiting area was quiet once again, except for the audible rumble of Jake's stomach.

"Bells," Jake whispered to the girl sitting beside him who hadn't spoken a word in at least fifteen minutes. She didn't answer him in words, only moved her big brown eyes to meet his.

"I was going to look for a snack machine." Have to get the fuck out of this room. "Do you want anything?"

"I'll come with you." Anything is better than sitting here.

"Okay," Jake nodded and got up from his chair. He went to the nurse's station and was given brief directions to the nearest vending machine. Bella walked beside him as they went down a long corridor toward the main lobby of the hospital.

In a small alcove near a pair of restrooms was a small vending machine with an assortment of chips, pretzels and cookies.

"What do you want?" Jake asked Bella as he removed a very crinkled bill from his wallet.

"I'm not very hungry," Bella admitted.

"Are you sure?" Jake threaded his money into the slot. There was a whirring sound as it collected the dollar and a pinging sound as it registered on the display. Jake hit a button to select a large bag of Doritos.

There was a soft whirring sound as the metal spiral nested under the Doritos turned. The bag shifted and began to fall, but then got caught.

"Oh crap," Jake muttered. He pounded the plexi-glass lightly with his fist. The bag didn't budge. He punched a little harder, but tried to keep his werewolf strength in check; afraid he might break something.

On his fourth try, the bag fell into the reservoir below. Jake stuck his hand inside to retrieve it. Then he took his change; sliding through the slot back into the machine for another selection.

"You know that woman back there, um, well," Bella began trying to organize her thoughts. "If that was me…?"

"That's not going to be you," Jake assured her as he pressed another button.

"You don't know that. We had," Bella lowered her voice. "Unprotected sex and…."

"I know," Jake covered his face with his hands, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by all his emotions.

"What would you want to do…if I was?" What would you do?

"I don't know Bells." Hope my Dad doesn't kill me.

"What would you want to do?" Would he want me to have a baby?

"Why are we talking about this now?" I don't want to get shot again.

Bella folded her arms across her chest. "In light of the recent circumstances…." Why is he acting like this? Why doesn't he want to talk about it? This could change EVERYTHING between us!

"But we don't even know anything yet." Fuck. The bag is stuck again.

"So we can't talk about it?" Why is he staring at the machine? "Would you want to me to have it?"

"Whatever you want to do, Bella." Why does it keep getting stuck?

"So you'd put this all on me? What if I didn't want to have a baby right now?" LOOK AT ME! "Look at me, Jake!"

The pair faced each other. Two sets of deep brown eyes, filled with emotion studied each other for a long moment.

"It's your choice, Bella," Jake finally said. "Whatever you want to do."

"What do YOU want Jake? What would you do?"

"I don't know Bella."

"How can you NOT know?"

"I don't know…."

"Stop saying you don't know!" Bella pushed against Jake's chest. He didn't budge.

"Bells…."

"I'm scared Jake. I'm really scared. And you not knowing and not caring is scaring me even more." Bella trailed off, wiping newly forming tears away.

"I care Bells," Jake picked her up and squeezed her against him. "Believe me I care a lot."

"Then tell me what you would do," Bella clung to Jake, feet dangling a foot off the ground.

"The truth is, I don't know what I would do," he said nestling his face in the crook of her neck.

"Jake…"

"But I know what I wouldn't do," he continued. "I would NEVER leave you."

And Bella knew he wouldn't. No matter what.

Next chapter is Dr. Cullen...