His World

The Not-So-Surprising Surprise (21)

Everything was not fine. Shortly after overcoming Lily's fears and frustrations, she became more tired during the day and slept like the dead through the night. It was nearly a week after they had succeeded in consummating their marriage that Carlisle began to worry. At first, he had feared that the leukemia was progressing faster than he had projected it would, that what they had done had somehow quickened the illness spreading through her body. That thought was quickly discarded when he realized that her symptoms were different. It was the middle of the night when Lily rushed into the bathroom that the horrible thought crossed Carlisle's mind. He instantly wished it hadn't and nearly gasped aloud at how real it was.

"Darling, are you alright?" Carlisle asked, rapping lightly on the door with his knuckle. He could hear her gagging before losing all the contents of her stomach.

"I'm okay," Lily said quietly.

Carlisle walked into the bathroom. Lily was sitting back on her knees, a hand gripping either side of the toilet bowl. "You're sick."

"It's probably food poisoning," Lily said. She leaned forward suddenly before relaxing again. "Carlisle, I don't want you to see me like this. It's unflattering."

"I'm your husband," Carlisle reminded her. He knelt beside the woman and tucked her hair behind her ear. "For better or worse, you're stuck with me. I'm also a doctor. Perhaps I could help."

Lily used Carlisle's shoulder for support to stand before flushing the toilet, rinsing out her mouth, and brushing her teeth. She leaned back against the counter and looked at him once she'd finished. "Honestly, I'm fine. It's probably the leukemia or food poisoning or something."

"I'm worried," Carlisle said, rubbing her arm in the lightest. "Humor me?"

Lily let out a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. "I've been more tired, I guess? We've been doing a lot of walking. It's probably just because I'm weak from my leukemia. Really. Sometimes it's hard to get comfortable before bed, but that isn't unusual. Like I said, it's probably food poisoning. That chicken last night didn't really even look appetizing."

"You didn't have to eat it," Carlisle argued back. He frowned, noticing the tiny beads of sweat on her forehead. "Do you have a fever?"

Lily shrugged, slightly shaking her head. "It's a bit warm."

Carlisle found the thermometer and handed it to Lily, who only stuck it under her tongue to humor the vampire. When it beeped, they both saw she had a slight fever. "Let's get you into bed. I'll get you some water."

Lily was about to protest, but stopped at the look on her husband's face. She simply nodded and went back to their room. The woman slipped into a pair of shorts and crawled into bed, welcoming Carlisle's cold body against her own when he was situated beside her.

It was two hours later when the cycle repeated itself. Carlisle was the first to speak as Lily brushed her teeth once more. "This isn't food poisoning, Vera."

"What else could-" Lily froze and nearly choked on the toothbrush when she realized what Carlisle was thinking. She quickly spit out what was in her mouth and dropped the toothbrush in the sink before turning to look at Carlisle. "Do you think-"

"It's been five weeks since the wedding, Vera," Carlisle said calmly. His eyes were dark, showing he hadn't hunted for a while, and the bruise-like purple circles only made him appear more tired than usual. "I know that your previous treatment and coming out of remission has changed the way your body functions, but..."

Lily shook her head in denial, thinking it over. She dropped onto the toilet, grateful she'd closed the lid, as she mentally counted. Lily took a deep breath and looked up at her husband. "It's my fault. I was so focused on actually being able to do something that I completely forgot. I'm so sorry-"

Carlisle knelt in front of her, taking Lily's hands in his. His worried, tired eyes searched hers. "What do you want to do? I won't force you into something you don't want."

"I..." Lily hesitated. "I need a minute to think. We were careful, weren't we? I shouldn't have been able to have Elsie in the first place, given the chemo treatments and the medications. This shouldn't... How can..."

Carlisle nodded and stood. "I understand. I need to hunt, then we should get back to the States."

"Carlisle," Lily spoke when he was in the doorway. The vampire looked over his shoulder. "I love you. Please don't blame yourself. Everything pointed to the fact that this shouldn't have happened."

While Carlisle was gone, everything became real for Lily. She'd felt off for a few days, but hadn't said anything. Lily had thought she was bloated and only now realized that it was a baby. She knew the pregnancy would progress quickly. From what she had learned during her time living with the Cullens, Bella's pregnancy had been less than a month. Realizing that she may have less than a month to truly live, Lily became nauseous once more. Her body had already been failing her. Knowing that Bella had been healthy when her pregnancy began, and knowing how it had ended, didn't bring much comfort to the woman. Would she even live to see the pregnancy through? Would the child growing inside her survive if it were to be taken earlier? Would Carlisle allow the child to continue developing if he knew she would be gone that much sooner? She wasn't as strong as Bella had been. She wasn't confident she would make it through to the end. To distract her from her thoughts, the woman began packing their bags slowly. That was when she felt it. Something inside her moved. There was no more denial, no more doubt. She was pregnant with Carlisle's child. Lily sat on the bed, her entire body shaky, and plucked her phone from the bedside table. Her free hand automatically rested on her small bump. It was barely noticeable, but there nonetheless. A sudden feeling of love filled Lily, and she knew she could never wish harm upon the child that would take her life. This child had been something Carlisle was missing his entire life- his hundreds of years in existence, and that thought alone had her selecting the call button on her phone.

Back in Oregon, Bella was watching Jacob and Renesmee as they sat on the other side of the large pond and talked. She wasn't listening to the conversation but was happy things seemed to be working out for them. When her phone rang, she answered it immediately. "Hello?"

"Bella?" Lily said from the other end. "I-I think I need your help."

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, furrowing her brow and turning away from the couple she'd been watching. "What happened?"

"I'm pregnant," Lily whispered. Bella heard the words clear as day.

"What do you need me to do?" Bella asked. She didn't completely understand why the human woman had called her. She had no medical expertise, no knowledge of what to do. Even with her own pregnancy, the memories of medical interventions- what could have been interventions- were blurred.

"I know things are different now," Lily said. "Everyone knows more than when you were pregnant, but I can tell Carlisle is still afraid. I don't have as much time as either of us thought. I need you to be there for me when he can't... like Rosalie was there for you."

"I'll have things ready when you get here," Bella promised. "But Lily?"

"Yeah, Bella?" the woman asked.

"If this turns out anywhere close to what happened with me, Leah may try to harm the baby," Bella said carefully. "Jacob was on his way to kill Renesmee when he saw her and imprinted."

"I know," Lily whispered. "We're leaving soon."