(Leah POV)
I didn't feel anything until Carlisle removed the needle from my arm.
The sting barely registered…my attention was locked on the vial as he capped it and set it into the tray like it was just another Tuesday, not the answer to questions that had been haunting my little family since the word pregnant had come out of his mouth.
My hand drifted to my belly without thinking, rubbing the faint curve that hadn't been there yesterday.
I wasn't even sure I would've noticed it this fast if Edythe hadn't pointed it out with the quiet certainty of someone who had already decided my body was now under her personal protection.
She'd proven that point immediately.
Every pair of jeans in the dresser that the Cullens had "provided" me was gone within minutes. Then she went back and removed anything that could be considered even remotely snug at the waist. By the time she was done, I had two pairs of sweatpants, three pairs of shorts, and one T-shirt that didn't offend her new standards of "comfort."
Thomas, to his credit, said absolutely nothing. He just watched her with those wonderful blue eyes.
I'd felt an urge to force him back to bed and spend the next couple of hours having mind-blowing sex, but Carlisle had been expecting me for testing.
I blushed a little at that thought, because as soon as I remembered it, I felt the desire flare again…annoyingly vivid, warm, and insistent like my body had discovered a new hobby and refused to shut up about it.
Carlisle is done with me… maybe some exercise with Thomas and Edythe is exactly what I need.
I started planning that…because apparently I'm a nymphomaniac now, until my stomach rumbled so hard it felt like it had noticed the missing blood and was demanding compensation.
And lots of it.
Loudly.
Carlisle glanced up, those calm doctor eyes flicking from my face to my hand on my belly and back again, like he was cataloging every detail.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, voice mild.
"Hungry," I muttered, and then, because my mouth hates me, "And… aroused."
Silence.
The kind where the world pauses to see if you're going to explode from humiliation.
Thomas's hand froze halfway to my shoulder like his instincts had short-circuited. His eyes widened a fraction, then snapped away, and the tips of his ears went pink in a way I'd only seen when he was trying very hard to be polite and failing.
Edythe, on the other hand, didn't even pretend to be normal.
Her head turned slowly toward me, and her eyes went bright…dangerous, delighted, in the way that made my spine want to melt.
The corner of her mouth lifted.
Just one.
A promise.
"Oh?" she purred, like we were discussing the weather and not my dignity.
I wanted the floor to open up.
I wanted to bite her.
I wanted…
I cleared my throat. "I only said it because it might be important."
Thomas made a strangled sound that might've been a cough. He stepped closer, careful and steady, like I hadn't just handed him a loaded weapon.
"Thank you," he said, quietly. Not teasing. Not amused. Just… grateful I'd told the truth. His thumb brushed once over my wrist, grounding. "We'll… keep that in mind."
Edythe's smile widened like she'd been handed a gift basket. "We certainly will."
I shot her a look. "Don't."
She lifted her hands, innocent. "I'm not doing anything. I'm simply appreciating your… symptoms."
I hated that my face was hot.
Carlisle, blessedly, didn't flinch. He didn't smile. He didn't so much as blink wrong.
"That tracks," he said, like it was a perfectly reasonable medical note. He turned toward the equipment with the vial. "Hormonal shifts can cause appetite changes, nausea, heightened sensitivity, changes in libido…especially with accelerated physiology."
Of course he said libido.
Of course.
He glanced back at me, professional as a scalpel. "Any pain? Cramping? Dizziness? Headaches?"
"No," I said quickly, because if I had to keep talking about my body in front of all of them, I was going to become a wolf out of spite.
Carlisle nodded once, satisfied, and set the vial into the machine. "All right. This will take at least an hour to get any solid answers. Go upstairs. Eat. Drink water. Try to keep your stress down."
Edythe's gaze didn't leave my face. "Eat," she echoed, like it was an order and a love letter at the same time.
Thomas squeezed my hand once. "Come on," he murmured. "We'll find you something that doesn't offend your stomach."
I stood carefully, still mortified, still hungry, still…
Edythe fell into step at my other side, close enough that her shoulder brushed mine like she couldn't help herself.
As we started for the stairs, she leaned in just enough for only me to hear.
"And Leah?" she whispered, velvet and sin. "We can discuss that… symptom… after you eat."
I hissed under my breath. "You're impossible."
Edythe's quiet laugh followed us up the steps.
Thomas didn't say a word.
But his ears were still pink.
Our mood took a sharp decline as we ran into Edward, who was bringing Bella downstairs for her own round of tests. Her eyes looked tired, and her skin had a greyish cast to it. Though she was smiling like she had won the lottery.
"Hey, guys. Everything okay?" she asked.
"Just some blood drawn along with a side of mortification. This whole 'honesty because you're pregnant' thing makes it hard to keep your dignity. How are you feeling Bella?"
Bella tried to keep her smile up, "I am fine."
Wow, that is annoying to hear when it's so obviously untrue.
"She still can't keep hardly anything she eats down." Edward supplied, his voice was too controlled to be calm.
Thomas reached for Bella's hand, "Be sure to tell Carlisle, maybe he has an answer for that."
Carlisle's voice drifted up the stairs, calm and precise. "Edward? Bella? I'm ready."
Bella drew in one breath, lifted her chin like she was about to walk into battle, and stepped toward the stairs.
As she passed, her eyes flicked to me and Edythe, and for a second the practiced smile slipped.
"I'm happy for you," she said softly, like she meant it and like it hurt.
I wanted to say it back, but… I couldn't. I felt like someone with a miracle watching someone else suffer. What right does a healthy person have to encourage someone who is dying?
Before I could work out what to say, she was moving down the stairs with Edward at her side.
The silence they left behind felt heavier than it should have.
My stomach, traitorous as ever, gave another hungry twist.
Edythe took my hand, "Come on. Let's get you fed."
The good thing about being on a diet of barely cooked meat is that it's ready fast. Mt stomach appreciated that.
A couple of hours later, Carlisle came upstairs.
He didn't call out. He just appeared at the edge of the living room with that calm, doctor-face on, and the entire house snapped into attention like someone had pulled a string.
Everyone was there, Esme perched on the couch arm, Alice on the floor in front of Jasper's knees like she couldn't sit still, Emmett in the doorway pretending none of this affected him, Edward pacing one step too fast, Bella curled into the corner of the couch, pale and stubborn. Rosalie was standing near her like a bodyguard protecting a client.
Edythe's hand tightened on mine.
Thomas placed a hand on my shoulder as he stood behind my chair, too restless to sit.
Carlisle's gaze moved over all of us. There was no need for secrets, so he just started to reveal the results.
"I'm going to start with Leah."
Edythe didn't blink, she just tightened a little more on my hand and leaned forward.
My stomach rolled, not nausea this time. Dread.
"Leah," he said, "your bloodwork is unusual, but consistent. The pregnancy is confirmed."
I swallowed. "We already knew that."
"Yes," Carlisle agreed. "But the timeline is what matters."
Thomas squeezed my shoulder.
Carlisle continued, calm as a metronome. "Based on hormone levels, blood volume changes, and early physiological markers… this isn't a 'months' situation."
The room tightened.
Edythe's voice came out low. "How long."
Carlisle glanced down at the paper in his hand, then back up. "Weeks."
The word hit like a dropped stone.
Edythe went very still…not frozen, focused.
Thomas blinked slowly, like he was trying to force reality to make sense. "Weeks," he repeated, quiet.
My hand drifted to my lower belly again, like my body needed proof for what my mind couldn't hold.
Carlisle's tone stayed steady. "If I had to estimate with what we have right now… four. Possibly six."
Four weeks…a month.
My mouth went dry.
Edythe's fingers tightened around mine even more, not hurting, but close. "What do we do."
Carlisle met her eyes. "We monitor closely. We adjust her diet. We watch for pain, bleeding, fever, dizziness, or any sudden change. And Leah does not shift."
I sucked in a breath. Well, that explains why I am eating six big meals a day and even waking in the night to eat more.
Edythe nodded once, already building yet another plan in her head.
Carlisle's gaze slid past us, past Edythe's control and Thomas's quiet panic, and landed on Bella.
"Bella," he said, "now you."
Edward stopped pacing so abruptly it looked like he'd hit a wall.
Bella lifted her chin like she knew what was coming. "Okay."
Carlisle didn't rush. "Your bloodwork is… unusual. And your symptoms, persistent nausea, inability to keep food down, aren't consistent with a normal illness."
Bella's eyes flicked to Edward, then back. "So I'm pregnant."
The word cracked the room open.
Edward's head snapped toward her. "Bella…"
"I know," she cut him off, quiet but fierce. "I know."
Carlisle nodded once. "Yes. You're pregnant."
Rosalie's breath caught, sharp, betrayed by her own body. She smoothed her face immediately, but the sound was already out there.
Esme's hand lifted to her mouth.
Alice looked like someone had slapped her. "I… I didn't see…"
"I know," Carlisle said softly, no blame, only fact. "It doesn't change what we do next."
Edward's voice was too even. "What do you mean, what we do next?"
Carlisle held his gaze. "We need to talk about risk."
Bella's mouth tightened. "I'm keeping it."
Nobody had even said the other word yet, and she was already refusing it.
Carlisle didn't flinch. "Bella…"
"No," she said again. "I'm keeping it."
Edward went very still.
Then he turned, sharp and sudden, and walked out of the room like if he stayed another second he'd break something.
Rosalie stepped forward and placed her hand on Bella's shoulder.
"Don't worry," she said, quiet but carrying. "No one is going to force you into anything."
Her eyes flicked once around the room, one glance that made the sentence a warning as much as comfort.
Bella's eyes filled, but she nodded like she'd already decided she would die before she changed her mind.