All Grown Up: The Story of Jacob and Renesmee Part I

Hope

Jacob

"Good morning Jacob this is Carlisle. I wondered if you might have time today to stop by when you are through with your shift so that I may speak with you privately. Don't worry about returning my call, I'll be expecting you."

From now on, I needed to make sure I kept my phone on me. I usually did, but the one time I leave it on the break room table is of course when somebody calls me. When I first saw who I'd missed a call from, I inwardly freaked out and almost bolted out the door but after I cleared my head and thought about it, I realized if there was something going on that I needed to get home, I would have been told that.

When I got to the big house later that day, Carlisle greeted me as warmly as he always did. I followed him into the dining room where he invited me to take a seat, Esme was there already, but there was no sign of the rest of the Cullens. I always had thought it was strange they bothered to have a dining room when they didn't eat inside. It was used more like a boardroom.

The warmness on his face started to morph into a more serious expression as the patriarch of my wife's family began.

"Jacob, I trust that since I told you I wanted to speak to you in private, you've left Nessie to assume that you are still at work?" I nodded.

"Good. First, let me say, I don't want you to misunderstand anything, my intention is not so much to hide information from her, or to lie to her. It is to protect her for her own well being and the children's." I listened carefully as he went on. "These twins should be at least better off than humans in the same situation, so we've got that one our side, but it's about the only thing. Are you aware that any twin pregnancy is generally considered high risk?" I shook my head no. "They are, partially due to the high instances of preterm births. Another risk factor is that Nessie has never carried a child to term, which has lead me to believe she must not be able to. The third risk factor is that I believe Nessie may, believe it or not, be of advanced maternal age."

"She's an old mom?" I interrupted.

"She may be at the end of her childbearing years. While twins of course run in your family, it's also very common for women of advanced maternal age to conceive twins."

"Oh," I said feeling a little dumb.

"The reason I am not informing Nessie of these specific risks is because I am concerned she may worry herself into a tizzy, for lack of a better word. People often underestimate how powerful state of mind can be. The more stress she is under, and I'm speaking both psychically and mentally here, the stress on the babies can skyrocket. And the reason I am informing YOU is because I feel that it will help Nessie. The two of you are so intertwined, you can make or break her mood. You can have a great influence on helping her to have a positive attitude, I'm hoping for you to make yourself a part of this process is because you need to prepare yourself for all possible outcomes."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I'm sorry to say that we cannot safely assume this will end with you having two more children, Jacob. I am concerned with the limited space Nessie's body can offer these babies. When Swan was born she weighed six pounds, eleven ounces. If we assume that is the most her body can handle-"

"Less than four pounds..."

"Correct," he told me as Esme looked on, her eyes full of sympathy.

"If they do not have enough space, it could cause preterm labor. If one is larger, therefore stronger than the other, when they run out of space, the weaker one could miscarry."

I put my head in my hands, I just couldn't even fathom that. There would be nothing we could do. I decided to leave that thought right there because I just couldn't deal with it right now and move on to another.