*A huge thank you to whoever nominated me, jacobiterose, for this year's Energize WIP Awards!

*I in no way shape or form, own these characters, or any rights to the unbelievable fortune that Stephenie Meyer is surely raking in due to the invention of these characters.

*Thanks to all of the very kind reviews and critical, that I have received. You are the reason that I find the inspiration to continue to watch this world play out in my mind. I love each and every one of you dearly.

*I in no way shape or form, own these characters, or any rights to the unbelievable fortune that Stephenie Meyer is surely raking in due to the invention of these characters.

Chapter 26

Life is Good

Spring had sprung at La Push and with it, the growth of baby Sarah. Now nearly five months old, Jacob sat in front of her high chair spooning mouthfuls of strained lasagna into her eager mouth, being rewarded with a huge, dimply, smile with each bite. Bella, not exactly feeling like her normally focused self, sat at the table, books gathered around her like a bunker, cramming for mid-terms. She was three quarters of the way through her education and she was not stopping, despite the fact that she had not quite felt herself lately. She focused on the text in front of her, ignoring the washing machine feeling of her stomach and her persistent fatigue.

"Bella, look at this girl!" Jacob smiled and suddenly lit up her world as she gazed at the picture before her. Baby Sarah sat, fairly painted with the lasagna, Jacob giggling approvingly as she clapped her tiny hands at her self décor. Bella couldn't help but laughing, despite her ill feeling and took the moment in. She watched as Sarah finished her meal and Jacob carefully removed her from her high chair, holding her a bit away from him. This made a comical scene.

"Come on, little one. Let's get you a bath and let Mommy study." Bella smiled her thanks at Jacob and kissed him quickly as he walked by with a messy Sarah, giggling and wriggling in his arms.

Finally, unable to focus anymore, she felt prepared for tomorrow's mid-terms and closed her book, laying her head on the table for a moment. She resolved to see Carlisle after her tests just to make sure that she didn't have mono or some other infectious disease. She laughed at herself and shook her head. Her cramming on common diseases must be getting to her.

Rising from the table and heading upstairs to the loft, she paused in the bathroom door and laughed aloud to see Jacob getting as much of a bath as Sarah, it seemed, as Sarah splashed about in the tub. Jacob took it all in stride, adoring the apple of his eye and didn't even register that he was being adored from the doorway. Bella stretched out on the large sectional sofa and flipped on the T.V. She took in the day's news as she felt her eyelids growing heavy. Just then, Jacob emerged from their bedroom with a clean Sarah, bedecked in her pajamas.

"Let's give mommy a kiss goodnight." Jacob handed Sarah to a content Bella. She cuddled her baby girl and inhaled the perfect scent of the Lavender and Chamomile baby bath that scented her perfect skin and hair. Never would she have imagined loving someone as much as she loved Jake, but her heart had only grown for baby Sarah. She cuddled her close as Sarah decided to grab a fist full of Bella's long chestnut hair and suck on it. Looking down into her dark brown, sparkling eyes, she suddenly felt the days tensions wash away. Kissing her soundly, Bella whispered a goodnight into the top of Sarah's head and handed her back to Jake.

"Babe, I think I'm going to take a soak in the hot tub. Care to join me?" There was a sparkle in Bella's eye along with her invitation.

Jacob looked hopeful and anticipation danced in his eyes. "Just let me get her settled and you've got a deal, Mrs. Black." He winked at Bella. "Oh, and don't bother going through all of the trouble of putting on your bathing suit. You're so exhausted, I wouldn't want you to overdo it."

Bella giggled and gave Jake a saucy look as she rose from the sofa, with one more sultry look over her shoulder and vanished into the bedroom.

She went into her walk in closet and sighed relief at removing her bra, her breasts feeling fuller and sore. She slipped off her panties and proceeded to exit the closet and open the French doors, leading out onto the rooftop hot tub. Switching on the Chromatherapy lights inside of the water, she inhaled deeply of the soft May air. It filled her senses and energized her a bit. Roses, lilac and honeysuckle, mixed with the salt air of the breeze coming off of the ocean, blew her hair about her and she stood and enjoyed the kiss of the winds on her skin. Suddenly she felt another caress as Jacob's warm hands slid down the curve of her waist and he drew near behind her, ready to enter the hot tub. Turning in his arms, she kissed him gently, but passionately. He rumbled deep in his chest and pulled away for a moment, entering the hot tub and helping her in.

Knowing her fatigue, he made slow, sweet love to her, bringing her the best kind of long, slowly built pleasure, over and over and when finally he found his own release, he carried a sleepy Bella into their room and dried her off with a towel. "Rest now, love. Tomorrow is a big day." He kissed her once more as she climbed into bed with a smile and then closed her eyes.

It seemed like only moments before the buzz of her alarm clock was going off. Grumbling, she shut it off and grudgingly disentangled herself from Jacob's warmth. She heard Sarah waking on the baby monitor and Jacob sat up and yawned. "I'm being paged." He smiled sleepily. "You get ready, I've got this. Breakfast will be ready when you finish showering and dressing."

Bella held his very warm form close for a moment and her emotions did a funny flip as she felt strange tears in her eyes. "You are so good to us, Jacob Black. I love you."

"Hey, hey, why the tears?" Jake suddenly looked concerned.

Bella sniffed a few times and shook her head, wiping her eyes. "Just tired is all, I'm sure. I'll drop by and see Carlisle after school today, just for a check-up." Perhaps it was the stress of school, the long hours of studying and family life, but Bella felt as if she were seeing things more clearly, leading with her emotions a bit more. This had always been a difficult area for Bella, but now, it seemed almost second nature.

"I think that that's a great idea." Jacob held her close for a moment, but as Sarah became more insistent of attention, Jake kissed her quickly and brushed the side of Bella's face gently, giving his most luminescent Jacob smile, that no one could resist returning. He turned and headed downstairs and in a loud sing song voice, sang, "Daddy's coming. I hear you, oh queen." Bella giggled to herself and started the shower.

After a lovely hot shower, Bella blow dried her hair and brushed it thoroughly. She dressed for the day and headed downstairs, feeling armed and ready for mid-terms and was greeted with the lovely smell of maple and brown sugar oatmeal, mixed with the nuttier, brown smell of fresh brewed coffee. She got half way through her bowl of oatmeal and felt suddenly queasy. "Just mid-term jitters." She smiled at Jacob.

"Finish your coffee and go own those mid-terms, Miss Dean's List. I'll drop Sarah by Emily's."

Bella smiled her thanks, gathered up her heavy book bag and kissed Jake and Sarah and headed out the door to her truck. Her engine roaring to life in a comfortingly familiar hum, she tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She thought fondly of Emily, who fairly glowed in the sixth month of her pregnancy. As Bella headed toward Port Angeles, she thought about the things that she was thankful for and felt her nerves calm. Sam and Emily fairly doted on baby Sarah and she could not be more blessed than to have Emily available right now and willing to practice on baby Sarah.

The construction of the clinic was right on schedule and looking better than Bella would have dreamed. The waiting room would be a warm one, rather than the cold clinical feel of most Doctor's offices. There would be a roaring fireplace and carvings by both Billy and Jake, who had taken up the hobby in some of his spare time. Nature sounds would play calmly in the lobby as a waterfall spilled over rocks in the corner of the room, to the right of the fireplace. It was hard to make a clinical room feel warm, but she and Lois were putting their heads together for themes for each room, to at least give them character. The only room that would be strictly clinical would be the emergency triage room. There was no room for anything but sterility in that room. That was where sutures and small surgeries would be performed.

Carlisle had bowed out of some of his hours at the hospital to volunteer at the clinic, to everyone's surprise. This was a very solid gesture between the pack and the Cullens' that peace was looking up to be a very solid and long lasting gesture. Bella was glad for this in many ways, but she was also happy for the extra hand that would provide her with more time with Sarah and Jake.

Pulling into the college, Bella took a deep breath and headed inside, reciting 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in her head, to give her courage. Eagerly she plunged into her exams, feeling better and better with each one, thankful for her perfectionist nature that had driven her to study and compete, so thoroughly. By the time that she left that day, she was both elated and exhausted. Dialing Carlisle, he seemed concerned and both welcomed and urged her to come by on her way home.

Sitting in the Cullen's living room, she enjoyed her visit as they awaited the courier with her blood work results to return. Carlisle felt it was possible that she may have picked up a case of Mono or the Flu, but he wanted to be sure that it was just that and nothing more serious. Neither Mono, nor the Flu was nothing to sneeze at and would take the better part of Spring break to recover from, but it was manageable with rest. Finally the doorbell rang and Carlisle thanked his colleague from the hospital, profusely, who had done the favor of running the blood work and returning its results. The room fell fairly quiet as Carlisle's eyebrows pinched together as he read through the paperwork. Suddenly a small smile caused the edges of his lips to turn up.

"Well, Bella, you're cleared for being contagious. It's not Mono and I think that it's safe to say that it's not the flue. I am fairly certain of that."

"Than what is it?" Bella was puzzled, filing through her symptoms and trying to make a matching diagnosis. Suddenly she froze and her mouth fell open. "Are you telling me what I think that you're telling me?"

"You're the P.A. student." Carlisle actually smiled now.

"I'm pregnant?" Bella's voice squeaked. Carlisle smiled and nodded and Bella felt herself embraced eagerly by the whole family. Several emotions ran through her. Fear, shock, anxiety, but suddenly, Baby Sarah's twinkling eyes and sweet smell passed across her memory and her love for her family and she suddenly felt elated. So much the opposite of the last time. She stood, apologizing and thanking the Cullens' profusely, smiling brightly. "I have to get home and tell Jake."

"Not so fast, Missy!" Carlisle laughed. "You're at least seven weeks. Don't you want a picture to show him?" Bella suddenly gasped and nodded excitedly as the plan of how to reveal this bit of news to Jake began to formulate in her head. Following Carlisle back up to his study, she held Rosalee's hand as soon as she was undressed and in an exam gown, lying on the table. Tears rolled down her smiling face as she heard her baby's heartbeat for the first time and saw the little gummy bear figure moving about slightly.

Carlisle beamed as he handed her four pictures of her baby. "Everything looks perfect. Congratulations!"

"Thank you so much, Carlisle!" Bella waited until he had exited the room and then jumped off of the table, eager to put her plan into motion. She had one more stop to make on the way home.

Pulling into Hallmark, she picked out the loveliest card that she could find to tell Jacob how much she loved him. Writing a sweet love note in it, she slid it into the envelope and slipped the ultrasound pictures in behind it. Placing the gold crown sticker over the seal, she smiled to herself.

She had texted Jake earlier that blood work was being done, so he had expected her late arrival. What Bella didn't expect was a house full of lit candles and a dinner fit for a romantic bistro laid out on the table. Approaching a slightly concerned Jake, she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. "You're so good to me." She said as she buried her face in his neck.

"What did Doc Cullen say?" Jake smiled, but concern etched the corners of his eyes.

"Oh, everything is fine. I'm just fine, Jacob, don't worry." Bella reached into her purse and found the card. Holding it out to Jacob, she said, "Here, I brought you something." She couldn't withhold her smile. Jacob seemed surprised, but accepted the Hallmark envelope with a kiss and a surprised grin. "Aw, Bells. You shouldn't have."

He ripped open the seal and pulled out the card, causing the ultrasound pictures to fall to the floor. He bent to pick them up and then understanding suddenly caused him to freeze.

"Bells?" His voice quavered. "Are you telling me?"

"Yes! We're pregnant!" Bella squealed and jumped up and down. Jacob suddenly became emotional and tenderly approached Bella and held her to him. "You're not upset?" He seemed a bit concerened.

"After feeling the love that Sarah has brought into our lives, how could it be any better than to increase that love."

Tears began leaking out of Jacob's eyes as he knelt down in front of Bella and kissed her stomach. His countenance shined up at her and they embraced tightly, then sat down to enjoy their meal, eagerly discussing the excitement of a new addition to their family.

Bella's due date was December 23rd. Another Christmas baby. Bella gushed that the timing was perfect. She would be graduating soon and the clinic would open in September.

"When will be able to find out the sex of the baby?" Jacob was eager.

"Well, according to Carlisle, if we want to do it the old fashioned way, it will be early August, but now they have blood tests that can determine that at ten weeks. That's only three weeks away."

"What do you want to do?" Jacob was on the edge of his seat.

"Are you kidding me? I want to know who's in there, now!" Bella laughed.

Jacob took a huge breath of relief. "Then let's do it! Let's find out who the next Black will be."

And so it was settled. With great excitement and joy they called and invited Charlie, Sue, Billy, Sam and Emily over to share the news. There were few prouder that night, than Billy Black. His eyes gleamed with an unrivaled pride as he patted Jacob, heartily on the back and hugged him.

Emily and Sam shared their plans for a spring wedding with the group, in excitement after baby Ulee was born and Emily could get her figure back. With enthusiasm, Emily asked Bella to be the maid of honor, to which Bella readily agreed. Inside the snug log home, there was great happiness as outside blew in a north western storm over the ocean, leaving just enough of a chill to light a fire in the enormous fireplace. As Jacob looked around him, he could hardly imagine a more cozy or fulfilling time in his life. He gazed over at his wife as she laughed and talked with their family. How could he love anyone more than he did his beautiful Bella. There was not a woman in the world, who rivaled her, or could ever hope to.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three weeks seemed to drag by for Jacob and Bella as they enjoyed more time together, during Bella's spring break and short delay of the hitting of the books. Finally the day arrived that they had been waiting for.

They met Dr. Cullen at the hospital and had Bella's blood drawn. Carlisle smiled gleefully at them. "I'll call you tonight with the results." Shaking Jacob's hand vigorously, Jake, Bella and Sarah left for what seemed like the longest evening of their lives. Jake and Bella poured over the Pottery Barn catalogue looking at boy themes and girl themes, dreaming of what the third bedroom would be turned into.

They had both agreed on a theme for each, a bit of a debate between the spring bunnies and the happy butterflies themes for a girl, when the phone rang. Bella nearly jumped out of her seat. She and Jake looked at each other across the table. "You get it, Jake." Bella's voice was calm, but there was a tension in the air. Jake jumped up and grabbed the phone.

"Hello? Yeah, I'm ready. Okay. Okay. Wonderful. Yes, Bella is right here, but I'm going to keep her guessing." Jacob laughed. "Thanks so much, Carlisle, we owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Okay then, you too. Goodnight." Jake hung up the phone with a wolfish grin and approached the table, nonchalantly sitting down and stretching, then propping his feet up on a nearby chair. Bella nervously bounced Sarah on her lap.

"Jacob Black, don't you dare keep me in suspense any longer!" She could not take his teasing for another second, feeling as if she were about to burst.

"Okay, I'll tell you. I got myself a boy!" Bella screamed, jumping up suddenly, startling Sarah, who began to cry. Jacob reached out for Sarah and began to comfort her while grinning at Bella, who's tears flowed unchecked. She placed her hand on her stomach. A son. She and Jacob were going to have a son.

"Ephraim Jacob Black." Bella flatly stated. Jacob thought about it for a moment. He nodded his head solemnly. Grandfather would have loved that and I am honored too, Bells. Ephraim Jacob Black, it is. Thank you, Bella."

"Well, he has to have a name!" Bella smiled.

"Not just for that, but for all of this. For our family. For saying yes. I didn't think that it was possible, but I love you more every day and you become more and more beautiful to me as every day goes by."

Bella was practically sobbing by now. She joined Jacob and Sarah and hugged her family to her, burying her head in Jacob's chest, breathing in his scent of saw dust and pine. She had never been happier.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bella was thrilled to find out on her return to the last season of her classes, that she was actually at the top of the class, sharing the spot with Erin Spindler, a young woman to which she had met on only a few occasions, but liked very much. She pressed on with her studies and the days seemed to go by quickly as her morning sickness began to ebb. The thought of the new little life growing inside of her made her feel a new sense of giddiness as she finished off the last of her classes. Her fatigue had vanished with the onset of the fourth month of her pregnancy and she took finals by storm. Standing nervously behind the crowd around the bulletin board, she hoped for the top one percent of her class. As she got closer to the front of the group, she began getting pats on the back and congratulations. This heartened her. Perhaps she did do well. When she was shoved forward a bit, she finally was able to read the class standings and she froze as if bolted to the floor. Bella was at the very top of her class. She was quickly jostled out of the way, but congratulations were called to her as she made her way out of the building and felt tears of pride swimming in her eyes, dialed Jake.

Things were going so well. "Bella, you deserve it. You worked your ass off for it, honey. I'm so proud of you, Bells." Suddenly, Bella could hear Jake sharing the news around the garage, to many howls and whistles. She blushed furiously, but enjoyed the accolades. Her next stop was Charlie and Sue's.

Charlie was ecstatic. He picked Bella up and spun her around, to Sue's disapproval. "That's our grandson in there, Charlie Swan!"

Charlie deposited her gently on the ground. With eyes shining, he put his hand on her head. "I knew you had it in you, Bells." That was high praise from Charlie. Bella smiled sheepishly under his praise and reached up on her tippy toes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Aw gee." Charlie teased, but blushed just slightly.

Emily had Jake had Bella over for a celebratory dinner that night while Sue and Charlie watched Sarah, planning on her being there, overnight. A champagne toast was given in Bella's honor, Emily's being sparkling cider. Bella made over Emily's vastly growing belly and remarked that Emily glowed, even more than she normally did. There was a beauty and mystery to Emily that only certain circumstances revealed and pregnancy was certainly one of them. The four of them partied into the night, Bella finally releasing the tension that she had been carrying around for two years. It was done and she had come through it with honors. Now, she was eager to get started at the clinic and soon after, meet baby Ephraim.

That night, Bella and Jake had a celebration of their own in the shower, which ended in much talk, laughter and to Bella's delight, a wonderful foot massage. Life might not always have this many highs, Bella thought, but life with her husband seemed like one constant high. For this she was grateful.