Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and all recognizable characters and situations contained therein. All original content in this story is property of the author. Story is rated M and may contain graphic language, sexual situations, and descriptions of domestic and other violence.

**Two days later, Paul POV**

I squeeze Bella's hand gently as we sit together in the waiting room at Fork's Women's Health Center. She hadn't wanted to see a doctor, but I talked her into it by pointing out that it would be better to confirm her suspicion before giving Charlie the news. Plus the fact that she was still at least 5 to 10 lbs underweight, a doctor could prescribe her anti-nausea medication to prevent her from losing more weight, which would set back her recovery, and may even affect the baby if she is pregnant.

So she had made the appointment, and here we are. The door opens, and a nurse steps out, calling, "Isabella Swan?"

Bella stands, and gives me a pleading look, as she asks, "Are you coming?"

Carefully, I ask her, "Do you want me to?"

She nods vigorously, and firmly whispers, "Yes!"

I get up, and trail behind her, feeling slightly uncomfortable, as the nurse leads us down a hallway to an exam room. She gestures to the padded exam table with the paper liner, and says, "Have a seat."

Bella uses the bottom step and sits gingerly on the edge. The nurse smiles at her reassuringly, and says, "Okay, Isabella. What brings you here today?"

She fidgets, and nervously answers, "uh, I, I've been throwing up a lot lately, and uh, I think I, I might be, uh, pregnant…"

The nurse responds, "Okay, have you taken a home test?"

Bella shakes her head, "No, uh, my friend, he said I should just make an appointment."

I interject, "She's been through some trauma recently. I've been helping her get her health back on track, but she's still underweight. I thought the best thing for her to do would be to see a doctor so that if she is pregnant she can get a handle on the nausea and not lose what she's gained back in the last month and a half."

The nurse looks at Bella carefully, and asks, "Do you have an eating disorder, Miss Swan?"

Bella shakes her head, "N, no… I uh. I was in an, uh, abusive relationship. Mostly it was mental… My ex constantly told me I was fat, he had me put on diet pills and a strict diet and exercise program. He, uh, he only hit me the one time, but it was bad. He, he punched me in the face, a few times. I still have some slight bruising from it, and this was all just over 2 months ago. Paul took me in for a little bit when I came home, and he's been helping me to get healthy again."

The nurse looks at me, and it's like a lightbulb clicks, and she asks, "Are you Paul 'Dire' Dixon?"

I nod, and she looks back to Bella, "Okay, first thing we're going to do is a urine test, and then the doctor will be in to talk to you about the results."

She hands Bella a cup, and ushers her across the hall, before coming back in to say, "Every girl in that situation should be so lucky as to have a friend like you. The doctor will be in directly."

Taking a deep breath, I exhale slowly while looking around the small room... anatomical models of vaginas… check. Pregnancy stage posters... check. Yup, this is definitely a chick doctor…

Bella comes back in, and I help her to sit back up on the exam table. She smiles ruefully, and she asks me jokingly, "So Dire, did you ever think you would be sitting in a place like this, waiting to find out if your girlfriend was pregnant with another guy's kid?"

Sometimes Bell's sarcasm surprises me… She gives me these glimpses of her real self, sometimes I think she surprises herself, and I don't think she even realizes just how much those glimpses of her strength, sarcastic wit, and humor turn me on and piss me off at the same time. Turns me on because I've always envisioned myself with a strong woman, and piss me right the fuck off to think that Cullen turned this strong, beautiful tiger of a woman into a shaking, scared, fragile little kitten.

She's blushing now, and I brush the hair out of her face, smiling reassuringly at her. I answer, "Truthfully, nope. Not ever, not once. Right now though, there is no place I'd rather be, and no one I'd rather be with than right here with you."

I kiss her softly, she hums appreciatively, the tip of her tongue darting out against my lips. I'm about to deepen the kiss, but the door behind me opens, and I back away instead. A lady doc walks in, reviewing her chart, as she greets us absently, "Hello, Ms. Swan. I'm Doctor Gerandy."

Bella grips my hand tightly, responding, "H, hi…"

Dr. Gerandy puts the chart down, and turns back to us, "You were right to come in. Especially with the trauma you've been through in the recent months. First things first. What with the circumstances, I'm not sure whether I should say congratulations, but you are pregnant. I do want to reassure you that your decision is completely up to you, and that whatever your decision, we will make sure that you are one hundred percent healthy. You're in good hands here."

Bella's free arm circles protectively across her stomach, and she clutches my hand in as close to a vice like grip as she can get. I lean my head down and whisper in her ear, "It's gonna be okay, Bell. Just breathe. We will get through this. You are in control of this situation. I promise you that no matter what you decide, I'm with you, one hundred percent all in."

She lets out a whooshing breath, and gives my hand a gentle squeeze. Inhaling deeply, she sets her shoulders, and looks the doctor in the eye, "I'm keeping my baby. Tell me what I need to do."

She stares defiantly at the doctor, as if daring her to argue… God I wish we were alone…

Dr. Gerandy nods, "Okay. First things first, we're going to draw some blood, get a handle on your levels…I'm not sure how reliable the blood work is going to be in determining how far along you are what with your recent health issues… I think we should do a sonogram while you're here. I'm also going to give you some dietary literature. I'm going to step out, I think the sonogram machine should be free for the next hour or so, but I just want to check the schedule."

Bella nods again, and the doctor leaves. Bella looks up at me warily, tears in her eyes, as she huffs out, "God…Paul… I'm so fucking sorry! I can't believe this is happening!"

Pulling her in against my chest, I kiss the top of her head, "Don't be sorry, I know this isn't what you planned, maybe it's not the best time, not the best circumstances considering who the father is, but we are going to be fine. This is going to work out. I promise, I'm not going anywhere Girl."

She nods, taking a deep breath, exhaling shakily while lamenting, "God, what the fuck am I going to tell my dad!"

I squeeze her hand comfortingly, and answer, "You're going to tell him the truth, and I'll be right there with you when you do it."

She smiles, and Dr. Gerandy comes back into the room with a couple of test tubes and a needle packet, verifying that the sono room is free, and telling us that the bloodwork is going to be processed on site while they do the sonogram and that we'll have a firm plan of action by the end of this appointment.

**Short time skip, BPOV**

Paul holds my hand reassuringly as we wait for the doctor to come in with the results. Seeing the fetus on the sonogram screen had made everything real. I'm terrified, there's so much going wrong in my life right now, the only thing going right is Paul. He had stepped into my life so naturally it felt like I had known him forever.

I remember the first time I ever saw him, he had almost run me over coming out of the weigh in for the first fight. God, it feels like it was a lifetime ago.

Dr. Gerandy comes into the office and sits down behind the desk. Paul reaches out and holds my hand, gently stroking his thumb over the back of my wrist. The Dr. asks, "Miss Swan, when was the last time you had intercourse with your former fiancé?"

Sighing, I answer, "Very late the night of August twenty-fifth."

She nods, going over the documents in front of her, which include the blood levels and the sono. Finally she looks up, slight concern on her face, as she says, "Okay. Both the blood work and the sonogram show me a fetus that's a bit small for that time frame, though given the trauma you've been through that's not exactly surprising. We are going to treat this as a high risk pregnancy based on that fact, along with the fact that you're 18, which means your body is still developing, and you've been undernourished and physically traumatized in recent months. I'm going to give you a diet plan, high calorie, you need to eat wholesome nutritious food, and absolutely nothing labeled low fat or diet. I'm also going to give you a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and one for a pregnancy safe anti-nausea medication, and I want to see you back here in a week."

Grabbing a pen, she writes out the prescriptions, and hands them to me. I take them, and say, "Thank you."

**Paul POV**

Bella takes the prescriptions the doctor holds out, and we both stand up to leave. The doctor shakes Bella's hand and I guide her out of the office, and to the reception desk. She makes her next appointment, and we head out to the car.

I wait until she has her seatbelt on before starting the engine, and we drive in silence for a few blocks, until she breaks the silence, her voice small and timid, as she asks, "Paul, are you sure that you want to be in this with me? I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to walk away. No hard feelings."

The light turns red, and I slow to a stop, before turning to look at her, and say, "I told you in the doctor's office, Bella. I'm with you 100%. This doesn't change the way I feel about you. I think I knew from the first moment that I met you that you were someone I wanted to know. As I got to know you it was clearer and clearer that you were someone I wanted to be with, and I know that I haven't even begun to really scratch the surface of who you really are as a person. Cullen really did a number on you, but I see glimpses of the real you underneath the fear and uncertainty. The girl who snarked at me in that Dr.'s office, 'did you ever think you'd be sitting in a place like this waiting to find out if your girl is pregnant by another guy', that's the real you, the girl who glared defiantly at the Dr. and said, 'I'm keeping my baby, tell me what I need to do', that's the real you. I love that chick, Bell. I love the strong, fierce woman that you are underneath the scared kitten. I'm not running away, so get used to that."

The light turns green, and we continue on in a slightly more comfortable silence, to the drugstore a few blocks away. I park, and she says, "You can wait here, I'll be right back."

Shaking my head, I reply, "That's okay, I'll come in. I want to get a pack of gum anyway."

We walk into the pharmacy, and as we turn the corner to go to the counter Bella stops cold in her tracks. I whisper, "What's wrong?"

Her voice is harsh and frightened, as she whispers back, "Its Esme and Alice… Emmett's mom and sister!"

A short over-dressed teenaged girl with black hair is standing with a good looking well-dressed older woman, they haven't noticed us, and I whisper, "Okay, let's back up and go. We'll hit up the CVS a few blocks away."

We start to turn, and the girl looks up, and yells, "BELLA!"

I step in front of Bella, as the two women stride over, the mother hissing angrily, "Well look who it is! I see it didn't take you long to find someone else. I always knew you were nothing but a gold digging tramp!"

Bella is shaking behind me, and I snap at the woman, "That's enough! Back off lady, I'm not going to tell you again. We're leaving, so just take your nasty 'tude and shove it."

Turning, I hold Bella firmly and we hurry back towards the door. I go to open it when the woman says, "Oh wait! Bella you dropped your prescriptions!"

She comes back towards us slowly, reading while she walks, and in a fake sing song voice saying "Let's see, what's wrong with dear sweet Bella…"

Her face pales, as she stops short, she's almost muttering to herself, but she looks up in alarm, as she says, "Zofran… Prenate… Oh my God, you're pregnant!"

Bella's face sets in a hard mask, as she reaches out and snatches the papers from the woman's hand, as she snaps, "That's right, and I swear to God it'll be a cold day in Hell before I let you or anyone with the last name Cullen anywhere NEAR my baby."

The woman looks shocked, but recovers quickly, and hisses out, "I guess we'll let the courts decide. You may have the court of public opinion on your side at the moment, Bella, but that can change verrry quickly, and let's not forget that much of the legal system's outcomes are predicated upon who can afford the better lawyer."

Thinking quickly, I interject with a laugh, "Now, that's really not necessary. I mean, I appreciate that you want to raise my child, but I think Bella and I will be fine without your help."

The woman scoffs, "I'm not stupid… if she's pregnant it would have to be my son's. The time frame is just too narrow."

Bella jumps on my story like a drowning woman leaping on a life preserver, "No! Paul's right. It's his baby. We're together, and I'm having his child."

Esme smirks dismissively, but appears to let it go, "Okay, it's good that you admit to being a whore, Bella. I'm sure that will serve you well in the future."

She and her daughter leave, and I have the sinking feeling that this isn't the last we've heard from them...