Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It's been a minute since I've felt Emmett's arms around me and I was enjoying every second of it. We were seated on the massive couch his family-owned as I opened the bags of gifts from his family. Bella had joined us a few minutes ago but I begged her to go back to bed. She was looking deathly pale and I knew she wasn't feeling her usual self as she grimaced in pain every time she moved. I caught Edward's worry glare for a second before he averted his gaze back to a giddy Alice. She handed me another gift bag and I smiled as I accepted it.
"This one's from all of us. We all pitched in for this one." I shot the family a confused look as I pulled the tissue paper out of the bag. At the bottom of the bag was a small box. Lifting the lid off the box, a key was placed in it.
"We know the situation is rocky and you're living with your Dad but we wanted you to be comfortable here too. It's a key to the house, even though it's never really locked but on the rare occasion that it is, you have a way to get in. This is your home too Clary, we just want you to remember that." Esme explained and I felt my eyes water as she helped me off of the couch. "We have one more gift for you."
"You have done more than enough already," I assured her. "All of you have."
"We know but this one is our favorite." We walked down the long hallway and we stopped outside a door right across the hall from Emmett's room. "Go on in." Everyone stood around me and I opened the door, softly pushing it open. The layout of the room was huge and open. One on side of the room was a bed, big enough for two, and on the other was a dark brown crib equipped with a blue set of sheets and blankets. There was a rocking chair and shelves on the wall stacked with baby essentials. "No matter what happens, you'll always be welcomed here." I felt tears sliding down my face as I turned to attack her with a hug.
"Thank you." I smiled at everyone, feeling the love from each one of them. Alice and Jasper placed the opened gifts on the bed and I grabbed the bear Emmett was holding earlier and placed it in the crib. "This will be a great place to bring baby Eli home from the hospital," I whispered to myself, though I knew they could all hear me.
"We're glad," Carlisle remarked. We'll leave you to enjoy it for a few, the food is almost ready." I thanked them again and watched them all exit the room.
"Bella? Can we talk?" I called out for my sister before she could waddle away. She hesitantly nodded before ushering Edward away and closing the door behind him. I wanted to have a private sister moment with her to address the tension between us. I knew everyone would be listening but I knew they wouldn't intrude.
"What did you want to talk about?" I sat beside her on the bed and let out a small sigh.
"Why are you mad at me?" She looked down at her fidgeting hands and didn't respond. "Bells what did I do? You've been ignoring me for weeks. You won't answer my calls, you don't text back. Every time I come over you hide away from me. Tell me what I did. Please. I can't fix it if you don't tell me what's wrong."
We sat in silence for a good few minutes and I almost gave up waiting for a response but then she finally spoke. "I'm not mad at you per se. I'm mad at your pregnancy."
"How so?" I had my suspicions but I didn't want to assume anything.
"Compared to mine, yours is going smoothly. I'm in pain every day, I have to drink blood just to get through the day. I sleep all the time and I never have the energy for anything. Everyone's telling me to just give up on the baby and not once have I heard them say that to you. How come you're fine and dandy but I'm not?" She rambled on angrily.
"Everyone's different. I may not have the same symptoms you do but that doesn't mean this has been easy for me." I spoke with a gentle tone, I didn't want her more upset than she already was. "I don't sleep at night, at all. I've tried but nothing seems to work, so I get the energy draining. And I don't know if you've talked to Dad or Carlisle but I fainted last week because my iron levels are so low and it's hurting my body to even try to carry Eli to full term. Dad would never admit it but he did almost beg me to give up to save my own life but I won't do it."
"They never said anything." She mumbled.
"Because I asked them not to. So I may not be going through the same struggles you are but I understand where you're coming from." I brought her into a hug and I felt her arms encircle me as much as she could. "But as for the blood thing, I definitely can't relate to you on that one." We both laughed as we broke apart from the hug. "So are we good now?"
"Yeah, we're good." She smiled.
"Great because I'm starving." I helped her to her feet and together we wobbled down the hallway. "Hold up." I gasped. I grabbed her hand and placed it against my stomach. She smiled as she felt the small kick Eli was doing.
"Here." She grabbed my hand and placed it on hers, smiling as both of our babies became little ninjas. As we stood there in the hallway having a sister moment, I smiled as I realized just how much I missed having her around. But as I saw her smile with watery eyes, something was telling me that our happy moments were coming to an end soon enough and I dreaded the day that it did.
