Protecting the Black Wolf's Mate
by wizardtho
Chapter 12:
Bella's POV
Sam flipped his phone open and hit a few buttons, then put it on speakerphone. I smiled and mouthed 'Thank you'. He kissed my mark in return.
A feminine voice answered, "This is Emily Young."
Sam immediately said, "Emily. Sam here. I need a favor, please."
She sounded frantic a bit as she answered, "Anything. Is everyone okay? Tell me where to be, and I'm on my way."
Sam laughed, "Sorry, Doc. It's not an emergency. As you know, Chief Swan and his daughter are buying Old Quil's place. Remember the other night when we were out looking for her? Well, I found her and my imprint all at the same moment. The doc out here had her confined to rest as a precaution, but he took her off this morning. He's going to be faxing you her records, so you can take over her care. Can you look over her file, then come take a look at her sometime today?"
Dr. Young laughed, "Well, it's about time you found your heart, Sam. How's it going... have you told her?"
Sam smiled at me while nodding toward the phone, so I said, "Hi Dr. Young. Yes, I know everything. We have already done the marking, and I found out by a fluke overhearing that I'm ovulating right now. We've decided to let nature take its course, but we'd both feel better if you'd have a look at me, to tell me how best to help prepare my body in case I do become pregnant. I have quite a small build compared to Sam, plus I know I'm a little underweight."
The doc hummed, "Well hello, Bella. Nice to finally hear the voice that goes with the name everyone's talking about. As for coming out to see you, I can be there anytime you want me to be. I'm glad that you both want to do this right. Getting medical advice right from the start will have a positive impact. Do you mind me asking how many times he's upped the chances in the last 48 hours?"
I laughed as Sam blushed, running his fingers through his short hair, "Umm... Doc? Let's just say the chances are very high. We kind of lost count Saturday night and yesterday morning with our need for each other. If I had to guess a total since the first time late Saturday, I'd have to say maybe.. umm... around 18 or 20?"
Charlie choked as he looked at us wide-eyed, causing me to blush scarlet from head to toe. Dr. Young replied, sounding a bit surprised, "Wow, okay. I think I should come out as soon as possible. I can't guarantee, but if all goes well, I think there's a very strong possibility that you'll be hearing a heartbeat soon, Sam. When would be a good time for me to head out there to take a look at Bella?"
Sam smiled widely, "We're at the Forks house right now. We're waiting on Leah, Paul, and Kim to get here with Billy. We're getting ready to move everything out to the house now."
Charlie spoke up, "Sam, why don't you and I load up your truck, then leave Bella's here. You two head out to the house as soon as your truck is loaded. That'll give you time for Emily to look over Bells. The three of you can talk about what she needs before we show up."
I smiled at Charlie as Sam said, "Alright, you got that Doc? We'll load up my truck and be out of here in about 30 minutes, so we should be to the house within an hour."
Dr. Young said immediately, "No lifting for Bella, Sam. I want her to take it easy until I have a firm grasp on her needs."
I nodded, "I promise, Doc. No lifting. Dr. Gerandy said the same thing before he left, but because he's still worried about me being in the rain so long the other day."
She laughed, then said, "Alright, I'm at the office now. It looks like the fax is coming in as we speak. My word your file is thick... and Bella? You'll be giving me the real story about the fudged parts. I'm guessing there's quite a few since I see Cullen's signature splashed through here."
Charlie chuckled as I laughed, "Yeah, I seem to find a way to trip over flat surfaces all the time. The ground and I are well acquainted. The fudged parts I'll be sure to explain."
I could just see her shaking her head at me while she responded, "We can work on that balance, Bella. Ah, looks like the fax machine has come to an end; the last entry was for this morning. I'll take a look at this, then head over to the house to meet you. I'll see you both soon."
Sam said his goodbyes, then flipped his phone shut. I looked at Charlie, "I want the china and silver set to come with us, but you two can pick anything else you want to go in this load. I need to stretch my legs for a minute."
Sam kissed my forehead, "Inside only, please. I haven't done a patrol around the property. The last check was when Jared was patrolling last night."
I nodded, then stood up, walking to the fridge to get a bottle of water. I downed it quickly, then grabbed another. I sipped on that one as I went through the cupboards. True to Sue's words, the house was cleared. I said to Charlie, "Is anyone set to come back and wipe out the cabinets and fridge? The walls don't need to be washed down, because I did that less than a month ago. The floors will need swept and mopped once all of our stuff is out since people will be tracking through the house to get everything loaded."
Charlie chuckled as he bent to pick up a box, "Sue's got it covered, Bells. Slow down. Breathe. We're working on the new place today. Tomorrow Sue and I will be here getting everything squared away, so when we're done, I can give the new doc the keys. I'll stop over at the school before I head to the house with my first load, to do what needs to be done at the school for your GED. You won't have to worry about any of that. You just let Sam take care of you, and get yourself seen by Emily."
I nodded with a smile as he hauled the box outside carefully. They got the truck loaded quickly with most of the main room pictures and things, the breakables from my room, as well as the requested boxes of Grandma Swan's china and silver. I wandered up to my room to get my purse, keys, and iPod, then stopped when I got to the open door.
I had been lost in my memories of this room for a few minutes when Sam wrapped his arms around me from behind, placed his hands on my lower stomach, then kissed my neck softly, "You alright, Sweetheart?"
I nodded, "Just have a lot of memories of this room. The most important ones I don't want to lose. Our bond was cemented in this room, Sam... we made love for the first time here."
He kissed my mark reverently, whispering, "And we'll always have those memories, Isabella. You're doing an incredible thing for our tribe -and our future together- by letting this place go. You don't need to let the memories go with it, though. We'll always have those, plus we'll be able to make so many more good memories in the new house."
I nodded as he kissed a tear from the corner of my eye, then he inhaled before whispering, "Your scent is still extremely sweet, Isabella. We should get you to the house so that Emily can look you over. Maybe we'll have time to make one of those new memories before everyone shows up."
I giggled, swatting his chest lightly, "Let me get my purse and things, then we can go."
I grabbed my things quickly, stuffing my keys and iPod into my purse, then took his outstretched hand as he walked out my bedroom door. I hugged my smiling father at the bottom of the stairs, "See you in a little while. Make sure they don't break anything when they load the furniture, please."
He chuckled, "Sure thing, Bells. See you soon. Good luck with the doc."
I stopped short, whistling low as I caught sight of Sam's truck, so he chuckled, "You like it? My old one died out on me. With the business, I needed a reliable truck, so I splurged."
I nodded, admiring the Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab, absolutely loving the pearlescent wine paint color he chose. He helped me up into the passenger side, then closed my door after I buckled in. I noticed Charlie smiling from the open front doorway, so I waved bye to him.
Sam got in on the driver’s side, closed his door and buckled in, then said, "Ready, Beautiful?" With my excited agreement, he backed out of the drive, heading toward our future.
We made it to the house in 20 minutes, but I gasped sadly as I took everything in. What must have been an exquisite stone-accented Shingle-style Craftsman masterpiece when it was built, was now a vinyl-sided mess. This poor house was going to need so much work... I could see it already. I shook my head, "I hope you're ready, Sam; I can already tell the to-do list is going to be outrageously long."
Sam groaned, "That bad, huh?"
I winced, then explained, "Think about a wood shingle-style Craftsman with stone base pillars and accents, then look at that."
His eyes went wide, so I nodded sadly, "Yeah, this is a disaster compared to what it originally must have been. Unless we run into extreme luck on the inside, a shit load of money is going to need to be put into this place to restore it."
He chuckled, "Alright then. There's a pad and pen in the glove compartment for you to write your notes on. Would you like to do the outside tour while we wait for Emily?"
I nodded, "Yeah, we might as well get started."
I unbuckled, got out the pad and pen, then flipped it open to the first clean page. Sam had opened my door for me. When I turned, he lifted me gently out to set me on the ground. While we did the walk-around of the outside, I took my time to notice anything wrong with the house, garage, and stonework. This place would be extremely beautiful when it was complete, but the state it was in now made me almost want to cry.
I let out a sad sigh when we got back around to the front of the house, saying, "Well, I don't know if Charlie truly knew what he was getting us into with this place, but I'm determined to get it restored."
Sam hugged me to him, "What's your assessment, Sweetheart?"
I shook my head, "See the peaks? Every one of them should have a wood frame detail. The soffits are all vinyl sided, but they should be wood. The house itself is vinyl sided, yet it should be a mixture of wood shingles and local stonework. The roof should be a different wood shingle instead of the asphalt strip shingles. The grout in the stone all needs to be gutted and re-pointed, plus there's some stone that needs to be replaced. The windows are seriously wrong for this style house, so they all need to be replaced. The pathways are all concrete when they should have the look of an old brick road. I keep seeing a block pattern with runners, like this."
I flipped the page to sketch out what I was talking about. Sam whistled when I showed him the rough sketch, "Wow... I see what you mean. That would go with the house so much better than the concrete. What else?"
I let out a breath, then said, "The garage doors should be wood, along with any exterior doors to the house... including any sliding or french doors. They should all be wood-based. With where the house sits, I'll have to research to see if I can find wood-looking doors made out of another material for all of them, though. Same goes for the wood shingles... maybe I can find a composite to work. The porch decks all need to be redone, the railings changed back to wood-look. Any columns need to be redone with wood-look instead of vinyl. Whoever did all this, stripped any period detailing from the outside of the house. I'm willing to bet that the inside is the same way. I'm dreading even looking at the kitchen or the woodwork."
I heard a feminine chuckle behind me, then saw Dr. Young come into my view, "Restoring the place? Quite the undertaking."
I nodded, then stuck out my hand, "Hi, Dr. Young. Yes, we bought it on the premise of restoring it to its former glory, while making sure the pack and future generations always had a safe haven when needed."
She smiled widely as she shook my hand, "Wonderful. I was afraid, when I found out that Quil was selling, that the pack would lose the place they'd come to know as their home away from home. I'm glad to see that someone invested in its history is taking the helm. Shall we go in and focus on you for a few minutes?"
I smiled, "Sure, let me just open up."
I pulled my keys out, easily finding the one that had the 'F' on it for the front door. Once I had it unlocked, I opened the door and motioned for Dr. Young to go first. She smiled as she entered, with Sam and I following. I immediately winced and whined at the look of the once-grand entry, "Oh, God... this poor house."
I took a deep breath as Sam came to my side, then said, "I'm not going to focus on the house right now. Now is ‘us’ time, and we need to talk to Dr. Young. I'll worry about the house later."
Sam smiled as Dr. Young said, "Good girl, but call me Emily, please. There's a guest room just at the end of the foyer. We'll have the privacy we need there, since I'll need to look you over."
Sam and I followed her to the end of the entry. She opened a door, we passed a bathroom, and went through another door. There was a generic full-sized bed, a small chest of drawers, and a chair in this room. She sat in the chair beside the bed, then motioned to us to sit on it. Placing her bag down on the floor next to the chair, she pulled out a thick file, getting right to business.
"Alright, Miss Bella. First thing's first. I already know you've been intimate and have been seen by your mate, so I'm going to ask you to strip to your underclothes. We'll weigh you on the scale next to the dresser, then I'll need to look you over. I locked the first door we entered, so no one else will be coming in."
I nodded, then stood up before moving to the end of the bed. I stripped down to my lace bra and cheeky panties that Sam had picked, then stepped up on the scale. I really didn't want to know, but I looked anyway as she slid the little bars around. It wasn't good news; I was right about the 15 pounds.
When she stopped to make a note on my chart, she said, "Alright, you can step down and stand at the end of the bed." I did as she asked.
Emily looked me over from head to toe, front and back. She stopped to hiss at the mark on my wrist, so I said, "Phoenix, and I'll explain."
She nodded, then examined my stitches. She made another note in my chart, then said, "I won't do an internal exam on you right now. I don't want to jinx what may be happening in here."
She touched my stomach reverently, then said, "You can get dressed, then we'll talk about a few things."
I smiled, dressed, then Sam pulled me into his lap. Emily smiled as she noted, "Too cute. First and foremost... Sam, has her scent stabilized?"
He nodded, "It's extremely sweet right now, but it's no sweeter than when I got out of bed this morning."
She nodded, "Good. You're at your peak fertility right now, for 24 hours from the time your scent stabilized. After that, the chances start decreasing. With the amount that you two have been intimate, I would say that there is a very high probability that if an egg hasn't been fertilized by now, it will be within the 24-hour mark. With that being said, I have to stress, Bella... I don't like your weight at all. How is she eating, Sam?"
He smiled while stroking my cheek, "Since the imprint, she has been eating as much as Kim and Leah, but she told me that before, she was reluctantly eating health food."
I agreed, offering, "I had already talked to Sam about regaining the weight I'd lost since I moved here, but now that this is happening, I don't think I have time to be at a healthier weight before I'm pregnant."
Emily smiled, "I'm glad you realize that your current weight is too low, Bella. We can do several things to help you gain weight. I'm going to ask you to drink milkshakes three times a day, while adding a powder to them. It's a calorie booster, and will add calories to the shakes. Make whatever kind of shakes you want. Don't worry about them being healthy. In fact, as long as you're getting the required food groups, I don't want you worrying about anything above those that you eat. I want the standard water and protein bars in your room, but you need to snack in between your regular meals. No heavy lifting. I don't want you on your feet all day. I know you have a lot to do, by the sound of your voice outside as well as when we walked in the house, but split your time wisely."
She gave me a serious look, then continued, "You are overseeing this project, not working the manual labor. Let your man handle that end. I want you on your feet no more than a total of 6 hours a day. The rest of the time, I want your feet up. Use that time to do your research, order your supplies, or make phone calls. Spend time with everyone, get hot and steamy with the alpha here, and most importantly, rest. Think of yourself as the director of this play. Delegate responsibilities. Try to take an hour or two just for you each day, letting everything else go for that time. If not, the stress you put on your body could lead to you not implanting, or putting stress on the baby if you do implant. I will be making an announcement once everyone is here, so there will be no cheating on my orders. I see you have a habit of doing that."
She gave me a pointed look. I blushed cherry red, but chuckled, "Yeah, I know I'm known for that, but I promise to do as you say. I don't want to mess anything up. I want to give our future the best possible chance, so your orders will be law."
Sam kissed my neck while tracing a random pattern on my stomach. Emily made a note in her chart, asking, "Sam, I've seen you do that several times since I've been here. It seems unconscious on your part. Am I right?"
I giggled, nodding at his questioning look before saying to Emily, "He doesn't even realize he does it. He likes kissing my tummy, too."
She smiled widely, made another note, then said, "Well, okay. Now, how about you point out in your chart where the discrepancies are, then tell me the real story, so I can make the appropriate notes. Since you’re an imprint, your charts are kept safely hidden and locked away, nowhere near the rest of my patient charts. No one will have the opportunity to look at them."
I agreed, then pointed out the first one, when Edward saved me from Tyler's van. "Really almost got hit by the van, but Edward pushed me out of the way. The bump was when I hit the ground as he covered me. I was his singer, so if my blood would have spilled, it would have blown the family's cover."
She nodded, made a notation, then I flipped to the Phoenix area of my chart. It was larger than most of the rest. "Here. This is the Phoenix incident. Three nomad vampires that were passing through heard the Cullens playing baseball one day. I was at the game, and the nomads were human drinkers. They pissed Edward off by calling me a snack. That's when all hell broke loose. The leader of the nomads was a tracker, but he was evil… like a seriously twisted and sadistic bloodhound. He liked playing games with his hunts. When Edward got protective, James deemed me his most exciting game ever. Long story short, all of the injuries except for part of the blood loss were due to James torturing me. The snapped leg, fractured ribs... all of it was part of his game. He was torturing me while he waited for the Cullens to show, then he was going to drain me. Edward was able to get him off me, but not before he had already bitten me. That's where the other part of the blood loss comes in. While the fighting was going on, the venom from James' bite started the burn of the change. Edward sucked the venom-tainted blood out of me before it could go too far, but in the process, he tasted my blood and he almost drained me. Carlisle was able to stop him, though. That's the month-long stay in the hospital."
She let a breath out, then made the necessary notations. I flipped to the night of my birthday party, frowning. Sam hugged me to him, "It's alright, Angel."
I nodded, "I know, and I'm okay."
I pointed to the sheet, then said, "It was crystal plates, but I didn't trip into the table. I got a papercut on present wrapping. It was so unexpected, that the single drop of blood incited the bloodlust of the whole family before they could reign it in. One of the members was an empath. Feeling not only his own lust, but also the rest of the family's and Edward's... with me being his singer... the empath went to attack. Edward shoved me out of the way, but that just made it worse, because he pushed me into the table. It crashed under me from the force. The shattered crystal sliced and embedded into my arm, but Carlisle was able to get all of the crystal shards out. He stitched me up when the others got Edward and the empath out of the house. That was the last time I saw any of the others."
I turned the page, offering with a sigh, "And this was the last time I saw Edward."
Sam growled softly, so Emily assured us, "We can talk about that night another time, Bella. Let's just work on you getting to a better weight right now. We need to make sure any babies your making there are going to have a safe and healthy place to grow."
I grinned, then cupped Sam's cheek. He had his eyes closed, inhaling my scent, so I whispered, "I'm right here in your arms. I’m safe. He can't hurt me anymore. You found me. I'm safe, Sam."
He let out a shaky breath before whispering, "I know... but I'll never forget what you looked like when I found you. It hurts when you talk about it."
I shook my head, "We're not going to talk about it, Sam. We're going to concentrate on me gaining some weight. Do you have any questions for Emily while she's here?"
He nodded as he kissed my lips softly, then looked to Emily, "We need to get with you and Quil soon. Since this is the first pregnancy of the pack, we need to know how this could affect Isabella with the pregnancy. He's the only person still around from when the last pack was phasing, so he'll know what to expect with a wolf pregnancy. He'll be here soon to go on the walkthrough of the house with Bella, since she's making notes of all the work that needs to be done. Would you like to come back for dinner tonight, so that we can go over some things with him?"
She smiled, "I'd love to, as long as someone promises to help Bella with the cooking."
I smiled, then we all made our way out to the entry again. Sam smiled, explaining, "They're here. Everyone's out front waiting for us."
We made our way out front, but I noticed as Emily hummed, that everyone was indeed here. She said softly, "Sam, call attention for me, please."
Sam leaned close to me to whisper, "Cover your ears for me, Angel."
I nodded as I covered my ears, but still winced at the whistle he produced.
Everyone immediately whipped their heads around as the front yard went silent, then Emily smiled at me. I nodded, so she called out, "Listen up. I have limited Bella's time on her feet to no more than 6 hours a day. That includes cooking and cleaning, along with all the duties she has for the restoration of the house. That means you all will be helping her out, or you won't get fed and have clean sheets to lay your heads on. I'm not taking no for an answer here. Her stress level needs to stay as low as possible. If she hasn't told you before, picking up after yourselves and helping her around the house will now be a must. Remind her to eat and rest. Make sure she's off her feet as much as possible.”
Everyone's complete attention was on Emily, so she continued, “I don't want her cooking huge meals by herself with everything else she'll be doing, so if you girls could help her out in the kitchen, that would be appreciated. Also, as long as one of you promises to help in the kitchen, I'll be back after my day is done to join you for dinner. Quil, the four of us need to go over a few things. As far as Bella's health goes, she's in good shape, but could use a little more weight. She's to drink milkshakes 3 times a day with her meals. I'll be having her add a calorie booster to them. Does everyone understand?"
I saw a lot of heads nodding as I heard a chorus of 'Yes, Doc'.
Sam smiled at Emily, then she said to us, "Well, I'm off for now. I'll get all my notations written up and added properly to your chart, Bella, then I'll see you both for dinner. What time should I be here?"
Sue called out, "I'll be helping Bella with dinner, so we'll plan on eating around seven."
Emily smiled at Sue, then said to us, "Then I'll see you at six. Remember to take it easy after you do the tour, Bella. Off those feet... I mean it."
I nodded as she hugged me, "I will, Emily. I promise. See you tonight. Thanks for coming so quickly."
Bella's POV
Sam flipped his phone open and hit a few buttons, then put it on speakerphone. I smiled and mouthed 'Thank you'. He kissed my mark in return.
A feminine voice answered, "This is Emily Young."
Sam immediately said, "Emily. Sam here. I need a favor, please."
She sounded frantic a bit as she answered, "Anything. Is everyone okay? Tell me where to be, and I'm on my way."
Sam laughed, "Sorry, Doc. It's not an emergency. As you know, Chief Swan and his daughter are buying Old Quil's place. Remember the other night when we were out looking for her? Well, I found her and my imprint all at the same moment. The doc out here had her confined to rest as a precaution, but he took her off this morning. He's going to be faxing you her records, so you can take over her care. Can you look over her file, then come take a look at her sometime today?"
Dr. Young laughed, "Well, it's about time you found your heart, Sam. How's it going... have you told her?"
Sam smiled at me while nodding toward the phone, so I said, "Hi Dr. Young. Yes, I know everything. We have already done the marking, and I found out by a fluke overhearing that I'm ovulating right now. We've decided to let nature take its course, but we'd both feel better if you'd have a look at me, to tell me how best to help prepare my body in case I do become pregnant. I have quite a small build compared to Sam, plus I know I'm a little underweight."
The doc hummed, "Well hello, Bella. Nice to finally hear the voice that goes with the name everyone's talking about. As for coming out to see you, I can be there anytime you want me to be. I'm glad that you both want to do this right. Getting medical advice right from the start will have a positive impact. Do you mind me asking how many times he's upped the chances in the last 48 hours?"
I laughed as Sam blushed, running his fingers through his short hair, "Umm... Doc? Let's just say the chances are very high. We kind of lost count Saturday night and yesterday morning with our need for each other. If I had to guess a total since the first time late Saturday, I'd have to say maybe.. umm... around 18 or 20?"
Charlie choked as he looked at us wide-eyed, causing me to blush scarlet from head to toe. Dr. Young replied, sounding a bit surprised, "Wow, okay. I think I should come out as soon as possible. I can't guarantee, but if all goes well, I think there's a very strong possibility that you'll be hearing a heartbeat soon, Sam. When would be a good time for me to head out there to take a look at Bella?"
Sam smiled widely, "We're at the Forks house right now. We're waiting on Leah, Paul, and Kim to get here with Billy. We're getting ready to move everything out to the house now."
Charlie spoke up, "Sam, why don't you and I load up your truck, then leave Bella's here. You two head out to the house as soon as your truck is loaded. That'll give you time for Emily to look over Bells. The three of you can talk about what she needs before we show up."
I smiled at Charlie as Sam said, "Alright, you got that Doc? We'll load up my truck and be out of here in about 30 minutes, so we should be to the house within an hour."
Dr. Young said immediately, "No lifting for Bella, Sam. I want her to take it easy until I have a firm grasp on her needs."
I nodded, "I promise, Doc. No lifting. Dr. Gerandy said the same thing before he left, but because he's still worried about me being in the rain so long the other day."
She laughed, then said, "Alright, I'm at the office now. It looks like the fax is coming in as we speak. My word your file is thick... and Bella? You'll be giving me the real story about the fudged parts. I'm guessing there's quite a few since I see Cullen's signature splashed through here."
Charlie chuckled as I laughed, "Yeah, I seem to find a way to trip over flat surfaces all the time. The ground and I are well acquainted. The fudged parts I'll be sure to explain."
I could just see her shaking her head at me while she responded, "We can work on that balance, Bella. Ah, looks like the fax machine has come to an end; the last entry was for this morning. I'll take a look at this, then head over to the house to meet you. I'll see you both soon."
Sam said his goodbyes, then flipped his phone shut. I looked at Charlie, "I want the china and silver set to come with us, but you two can pick anything else you want to go in this load. I need to stretch my legs for a minute."
Sam kissed my forehead, "Inside only, please. I haven't done a patrol around the property. The last check was when Jared was patrolling last night."
I nodded, then stood up, walking to the fridge to get a bottle of water. I downed it quickly, then grabbed another. I sipped on that one as I went through the cupboards. True to Sue's words, the house was cleared. I said to Charlie, "Is anyone set to come back and wipe out the cabinets and fridge? The walls don't need to be washed down, because I did that less than a month ago. The floors will need swept and mopped once all of our stuff is out since people will be tracking through the house to get everything loaded."
Charlie chuckled as he bent to pick up a box, "Sue's got it covered, Bells. Slow down. Breathe. We're working on the new place today. Tomorrow Sue and I will be here getting everything squared away, so when we're done, I can give the new doc the keys. I'll stop over at the school before I head to the house with my first load, to do what needs to be done at the school for your GED. You won't have to worry about any of that. You just let Sam take care of you, and get yourself seen by Emily."
I nodded with a smile as he hauled the box outside carefully. They got the truck loaded quickly with most of the main room pictures and things, the breakables from my room, as well as the requested boxes of Grandma Swan's china and silver. I wandered up to my room to get my purse, keys, and iPod, then stopped when I got to the open door.
I had been lost in my memories of this room for a few minutes when Sam wrapped his arms around me from behind, placed his hands on my lower stomach, then kissed my neck softly, "You alright, Sweetheart?"
I nodded, "Just have a lot of memories of this room. The most important ones I don't want to lose. Our bond was cemented in this room, Sam... we made love for the first time here."
He kissed my mark reverently, whispering, "And we'll always have those memories, Isabella. You're doing an incredible thing for our tribe -and our future together- by letting this place go. You don't need to let the memories go with it, though. We'll always have those, plus we'll be able to make so many more good memories in the new house."
I nodded as he kissed a tear from the corner of my eye, then he inhaled before whispering, "Your scent is still extremely sweet, Isabella. We should get you to the house so that Emily can look you over. Maybe we'll have time to make one of those new memories before everyone shows up."
I giggled, swatting his chest lightly, "Let me get my purse and things, then we can go."
I grabbed my things quickly, stuffing my keys and iPod into my purse, then took his outstretched hand as he walked out my bedroom door. I hugged my smiling father at the bottom of the stairs, "See you in a little while. Make sure they don't break anything when they load the furniture, please."
He chuckled, "Sure thing, Bells. See you soon. Good luck with the doc."
I stopped short, whistling low as I caught sight of Sam's truck, so he chuckled, "You like it? My old one died out on me. With the business, I needed a reliable truck, so I splurged."
I nodded, admiring the Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab, absolutely loving the pearlescent wine paint color he chose. He helped me up into the passenger side, then closed my door after I buckled in. I noticed Charlie smiling from the open front doorway, so I waved bye to him.
Sam got in on the driver’s side, closed his door and buckled in, then said, "Ready, Beautiful?" With my excited agreement, he backed out of the drive, heading toward our future.
We made it to the house in 20 minutes, but I gasped sadly as I took everything in. What must have been an exquisite stone-accented Shingle-style Craftsman masterpiece when it was built, was now a vinyl-sided mess. This poor house was going to need so much work... I could see it already. I shook my head, "I hope you're ready, Sam; I can already tell the to-do list is going to be outrageously long."
Sam groaned, "That bad, huh?"
I winced, then explained, "Think about a wood shingle-style Craftsman with stone base pillars and accents, then look at that."
His eyes went wide, so I nodded sadly, "Yeah, this is a disaster compared to what it originally must have been. Unless we run into extreme luck on the inside, a shit load of money is going to need to be put into this place to restore it."
He chuckled, "Alright then. There's a pad and pen in the glove compartment for you to write your notes on. Would you like to do the outside tour while we wait for Emily?"
I nodded, "Yeah, we might as well get started."
I unbuckled, got out the pad and pen, then flipped it open to the first clean page. Sam had opened my door for me. When I turned, he lifted me gently out to set me on the ground. While we did the walk-around of the outside, I took my time to notice anything wrong with the house, garage, and stonework. This place would be extremely beautiful when it was complete, but the state it was in now made me almost want to cry.
I let out a sad sigh when we got back around to the front of the house, saying, "Well, I don't know if Charlie truly knew what he was getting us into with this place, but I'm determined to get it restored."
Sam hugged me to him, "What's your assessment, Sweetheart?"
I shook my head, "See the peaks? Every one of them should have a wood frame detail. The soffits are all vinyl sided, but they should be wood. The house itself is vinyl sided, yet it should be a mixture of wood shingles and local stonework. The roof should be a different wood shingle instead of the asphalt strip shingles. The grout in the stone all needs to be gutted and re-pointed, plus there's some stone that needs to be replaced. The windows are seriously wrong for this style house, so they all need to be replaced. The pathways are all concrete when they should have the look of an old brick road. I keep seeing a block pattern with runners, like this."
I flipped the page to sketch out what I was talking about. Sam whistled when I showed him the rough sketch, "Wow... I see what you mean. That would go with the house so much better than the concrete. What else?"
I let out a breath, then said, "The garage doors should be wood, along with any exterior doors to the house... including any sliding or french doors. They should all be wood-based. With where the house sits, I'll have to research to see if I can find wood-looking doors made out of another material for all of them, though. Same goes for the wood shingles... maybe I can find a composite to work. The porch decks all need to be redone, the railings changed back to wood-look. Any columns need to be redone with wood-look instead of vinyl. Whoever did all this, stripped any period detailing from the outside of the house. I'm willing to bet that the inside is the same way. I'm dreading even looking at the kitchen or the woodwork."
I heard a feminine chuckle behind me, then saw Dr. Young come into my view, "Restoring the place? Quite the undertaking."
I nodded, then stuck out my hand, "Hi, Dr. Young. Yes, we bought it on the premise of restoring it to its former glory, while making sure the pack and future generations always had a safe haven when needed."
She smiled widely as she shook my hand, "Wonderful. I was afraid, when I found out that Quil was selling, that the pack would lose the place they'd come to know as their home away from home. I'm glad to see that someone invested in its history is taking the helm. Shall we go in and focus on you for a few minutes?"
I smiled, "Sure, let me just open up."
I pulled my keys out, easily finding the one that had the 'F' on it for the front door. Once I had it unlocked, I opened the door and motioned for Dr. Young to go first. She smiled as she entered, with Sam and I following. I immediately winced and whined at the look of the once-grand entry, "Oh, God... this poor house."
I took a deep breath as Sam came to my side, then said, "I'm not going to focus on the house right now. Now is ‘us’ time, and we need to talk to Dr. Young. I'll worry about the house later."
Sam smiled as Dr. Young said, "Good girl, but call me Emily, please. There's a guest room just at the end of the foyer. We'll have the privacy we need there, since I'll need to look you over."
Sam and I followed her to the end of the entry. She opened a door, we passed a bathroom, and went through another door. There was a generic full-sized bed, a small chest of drawers, and a chair in this room. She sat in the chair beside the bed, then motioned to us to sit on it. Placing her bag down on the floor next to the chair, she pulled out a thick file, getting right to business.
"Alright, Miss Bella. First thing's first. I already know you've been intimate and have been seen by your mate, so I'm going to ask you to strip to your underclothes. We'll weigh you on the scale next to the dresser, then I'll need to look you over. I locked the first door we entered, so no one else will be coming in."
I nodded, then stood up before moving to the end of the bed. I stripped down to my lace bra and cheeky panties that Sam had picked, then stepped up on the scale. I really didn't want to know, but I looked anyway as she slid the little bars around. It wasn't good news; I was right about the 15 pounds.
When she stopped to make a note on my chart, she said, "Alright, you can step down and stand at the end of the bed." I did as she asked.
Emily looked me over from head to toe, front and back. She stopped to hiss at the mark on my wrist, so I said, "Phoenix, and I'll explain."
She nodded, then examined my stitches. She made another note in my chart, then said, "I won't do an internal exam on you right now. I don't want to jinx what may be happening in here."
She touched my stomach reverently, then said, "You can get dressed, then we'll talk about a few things."
I smiled, dressed, then Sam pulled me into his lap. Emily smiled as she noted, "Too cute. First and foremost... Sam, has her scent stabilized?"
He nodded, "It's extremely sweet right now, but it's no sweeter than when I got out of bed this morning."
She nodded, "Good. You're at your peak fertility right now, for 24 hours from the time your scent stabilized. After that, the chances start decreasing. With the amount that you two have been intimate, I would say that there is a very high probability that if an egg hasn't been fertilized by now, it will be within the 24-hour mark. With that being said, I have to stress, Bella... I don't like your weight at all. How is she eating, Sam?"
He smiled while stroking my cheek, "Since the imprint, she has been eating as much as Kim and Leah, but she told me that before, she was reluctantly eating health food."
I agreed, offering, "I had already talked to Sam about regaining the weight I'd lost since I moved here, but now that this is happening, I don't think I have time to be at a healthier weight before I'm pregnant."
Emily smiled, "I'm glad you realize that your current weight is too low, Bella. We can do several things to help you gain weight. I'm going to ask you to drink milkshakes three times a day, while adding a powder to them. It's a calorie booster, and will add calories to the shakes. Make whatever kind of shakes you want. Don't worry about them being healthy. In fact, as long as you're getting the required food groups, I don't want you worrying about anything above those that you eat. I want the standard water and protein bars in your room, but you need to snack in between your regular meals. No heavy lifting. I don't want you on your feet all day. I know you have a lot to do, by the sound of your voice outside as well as when we walked in the house, but split your time wisely."
She gave me a serious look, then continued, "You are overseeing this project, not working the manual labor. Let your man handle that end. I want you on your feet no more than a total of 6 hours a day. The rest of the time, I want your feet up. Use that time to do your research, order your supplies, or make phone calls. Spend time with everyone, get hot and steamy with the alpha here, and most importantly, rest. Think of yourself as the director of this play. Delegate responsibilities. Try to take an hour or two just for you each day, letting everything else go for that time. If not, the stress you put on your body could lead to you not implanting, or putting stress on the baby if you do implant. I will be making an announcement once everyone is here, so there will be no cheating on my orders. I see you have a habit of doing that."
She gave me a pointed look. I blushed cherry red, but chuckled, "Yeah, I know I'm known for that, but I promise to do as you say. I don't want to mess anything up. I want to give our future the best possible chance, so your orders will be law."
Sam kissed my neck while tracing a random pattern on my stomach. Emily made a note in her chart, asking, "Sam, I've seen you do that several times since I've been here. It seems unconscious on your part. Am I right?"
I giggled, nodding at his questioning look before saying to Emily, "He doesn't even realize he does it. He likes kissing my tummy, too."
She smiled widely, made another note, then said, "Well, okay. Now, how about you point out in your chart where the discrepancies are, then tell me the real story, so I can make the appropriate notes. Since you’re an imprint, your charts are kept safely hidden and locked away, nowhere near the rest of my patient charts. No one will have the opportunity to look at them."
I agreed, then pointed out the first one, when Edward saved me from Tyler's van. "Really almost got hit by the van, but Edward pushed me out of the way. The bump was when I hit the ground as he covered me. I was his singer, so if my blood would have spilled, it would have blown the family's cover."
She nodded, made a notation, then I flipped to the Phoenix area of my chart. It was larger than most of the rest. "Here. This is the Phoenix incident. Three nomad vampires that were passing through heard the Cullens playing baseball one day. I was at the game, and the nomads were human drinkers. They pissed Edward off by calling me a snack. That's when all hell broke loose. The leader of the nomads was a tracker, but he was evil… like a seriously twisted and sadistic bloodhound. He liked playing games with his hunts. When Edward got protective, James deemed me his most exciting game ever. Long story short, all of the injuries except for part of the blood loss were due to James torturing me. The snapped leg, fractured ribs... all of it was part of his game. He was torturing me while he waited for the Cullens to show, then he was going to drain me. Edward was able to get him off me, but not before he had already bitten me. That's where the other part of the blood loss comes in. While the fighting was going on, the venom from James' bite started the burn of the change. Edward sucked the venom-tainted blood out of me before it could go too far, but in the process, he tasted my blood and he almost drained me. Carlisle was able to stop him, though. That's the month-long stay in the hospital."
She let a breath out, then made the necessary notations. I flipped to the night of my birthday party, frowning. Sam hugged me to him, "It's alright, Angel."
I nodded, "I know, and I'm okay."
I pointed to the sheet, then said, "It was crystal plates, but I didn't trip into the table. I got a papercut on present wrapping. It was so unexpected, that the single drop of blood incited the bloodlust of the whole family before they could reign it in. One of the members was an empath. Feeling not only his own lust, but also the rest of the family's and Edward's... with me being his singer... the empath went to attack. Edward shoved me out of the way, but that just made it worse, because he pushed me into the table. It crashed under me from the force. The shattered crystal sliced and embedded into my arm, but Carlisle was able to get all of the crystal shards out. He stitched me up when the others got Edward and the empath out of the house. That was the last time I saw any of the others."
I turned the page, offering with a sigh, "And this was the last time I saw Edward."
Sam growled softly, so Emily assured us, "We can talk about that night another time, Bella. Let's just work on you getting to a better weight right now. We need to make sure any babies your making there are going to have a safe and healthy place to grow."
I grinned, then cupped Sam's cheek. He had his eyes closed, inhaling my scent, so I whispered, "I'm right here in your arms. I’m safe. He can't hurt me anymore. You found me. I'm safe, Sam."
He let out a shaky breath before whispering, "I know... but I'll never forget what you looked like when I found you. It hurts when you talk about it."
I shook my head, "We're not going to talk about it, Sam. We're going to concentrate on me gaining some weight. Do you have any questions for Emily while she's here?"
He nodded as he kissed my lips softly, then looked to Emily, "We need to get with you and Quil soon. Since this is the first pregnancy of the pack, we need to know how this could affect Isabella with the pregnancy. He's the only person still around from when the last pack was phasing, so he'll know what to expect with a wolf pregnancy. He'll be here soon to go on the walkthrough of the house with Bella, since she's making notes of all the work that needs to be done. Would you like to come back for dinner tonight, so that we can go over some things with him?"
She smiled, "I'd love to, as long as someone promises to help Bella with the cooking."
I smiled, then we all made our way out to the entry again. Sam smiled, explaining, "They're here. Everyone's out front waiting for us."
We made our way out front, but I noticed as Emily hummed, that everyone was indeed here. She said softly, "Sam, call attention for me, please."
Sam leaned close to me to whisper, "Cover your ears for me, Angel."
I nodded as I covered my ears, but still winced at the whistle he produced.
Everyone immediately whipped their heads around as the front yard went silent, then Emily smiled at me. I nodded, so she called out, "Listen up. I have limited Bella's time on her feet to no more than 6 hours a day. That includes cooking and cleaning, along with all the duties she has for the restoration of the house. That means you all will be helping her out, or you won't get fed and have clean sheets to lay your heads on. I'm not taking no for an answer here. Her stress level needs to stay as low as possible. If she hasn't told you before, picking up after yourselves and helping her around the house will now be a must. Remind her to eat and rest. Make sure she's off her feet as much as possible.”
Everyone's complete attention was on Emily, so she continued, “I don't want her cooking huge meals by herself with everything else she'll be doing, so if you girls could help her out in the kitchen, that would be appreciated. Also, as long as one of you promises to help in the kitchen, I'll be back after my day is done to join you for dinner. Quil, the four of us need to go over a few things. As far as Bella's health goes, she's in good shape, but could use a little more weight. She's to drink milkshakes 3 times a day with her meals. I'll be having her add a calorie booster to them. Does everyone understand?"
I saw a lot of heads nodding as I heard a chorus of 'Yes, Doc'.
Sam smiled at Emily, then she said to us, "Well, I'm off for now. I'll get all my notations written up and added properly to your chart, Bella, then I'll see you both for dinner. What time should I be here?"
Sue called out, "I'll be helping Bella with dinner, so we'll plan on eating around seven."
Emily smiled at Sue, then said to us, "Then I'll see you at six. Remember to take it easy after you do the tour, Bella. Off those feet... I mean it."
I nodded as she hugged me, "I will, Emily. I promise. See you tonight. Thanks for coming so quickly."