—tw: mentions of religious aspects—

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Our ride to North Dakota didn't last more than two days. Since Emmett didn't need to sleep at night the way Eli and I did, he drove through the night. We knew our timeline and though we didn't necessarily have to hurry, his right foot glued the gas pedal to the floor as the speedometer hit the maximum speed his Jeep could go. It wasn't a boring ride, nor was it tiring, it was just a ride I'd rather not be taking. As the hours flew by, our road trip was a reminder that we had a fight coming. A fight I hoped we could avoid. But like most things in life, what was coming was inevitable. All I could do was keep my hopes high and pray to every higher power in existence that our family survived in the end.

Because we were fucked and we needed all the help we could get.

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"No answer?" I glanced at Emmett before my eyes focused on my phone. I had no new calls or texts and it was irritating me. "Babe I don't think your call is something they're rushing to answer."

"I just don't know why they've changed their minds about us?" I sighed and put my phone in the cupholder. "We were fine, they liked us. How did Irina change all of that?"

"I don't know. We just gotta deal with what we're given." He replied.

"When did you get so wise?" My eyes narrowed at him. He chuckled and reached a hand over to rest it on my thigh. I placed my hand over him and my thumb moved absentmindedly as we continued our drive. Snow flurried around us but it wasn't sticking to the ground. We still had more time. "I just want this to end already. We've gone through so much before this, why do we keep having problems?"

"I want to blame Edward for being a bad omen but I'm partly to blame for some of our problems." Emmett quipped.

"Hmm, I agree." I teased him. His fingers pinched my thigh and I yelped, pushing his hand away from me.

"It didn't even hurt that bad!" He laughed.

"Says the immortal vampire with a very high pain tolerance." I snapped. "I'm so glad my sister is a newborn. I can use her to fight my battles for me."

"Jokes on you babe, Bella's the last person I'm afraid of." He smirked. "But for you, I'll gladly take her on."

"You do know that in this instance she'd be my hero and not you, right?" I quirked an eyebrow at him and his smirk dropped instantly, his mouth forming into a thin line. "That's what I thought." He grew quiet and I twisted in my seat to glance at Eli. He had his silly cup in his hand and his toy truck in the other. His eyes were closed as he napped throughout the drive, his little mouth parted as soft snores came out.

"And we're here," Emmett announced. I looked forward and saw him turn down a dirt road that lead into the woods. The road was shaded by tall trees and at the end of the road stood a two-story brown house. After being accustomed to Carlisle's house and the castle the Volturi resided in, I assumed all vampires lived a glamorous lifestyle but looking at the quaint home and the garden on the side of it, I was proven wrong. It was serene.

Emmett parked the jeep by the tree line and turned off the engine. "Wait here." His face was serious and I could see the worry in his eyes. I nodded and he left the jeep at a human pace. A tall man stood on the porch looking our way and his stare met mine as he looked at me curiously. "Caleb." I could hear them.

"Emmett." Caleb met Emmett halfway and the two stood before each other. Caleb towered Emmett by a couple of inches and he sported a full beard and a thin mustache. "This is a surprise."

"I would've called but you don't believe in cell phones," Emmett responded.

"For this very reason." Caleb nodded toward me. "Who's the girl? And why is she human?"

"So she was kind of born that way," Emmett shrugged. "And she's my wife." Technically, not yet.

"There's someone else here too," Caleb replied. "Congratulations by the way."

"Thanks. It only took her forever to say yes." Emmett turned to glance at me and a smirk spread across his face. "Clary!" He motioned for me to get out and I took a quick look at Eli before zipping up my jacket and quietly closing the jeep door behind me. "Caleb, this is Clary, my wife."

"It's nice to meet you." I smiled at him politely. He returned it and smirked slightly at Emmett.

"She smells good."

"Okay, that's weird, stop." Emmett groaned and grimaced in disgust as he nudged me closer to his side.

"Who's in the car?" Caleb tilted his head to the side and I shifted nervously on my feet.

"First of all, it's a jeep. Don't disrespect her like that." I scoffed and rolled my eyes as Emmett corrected Caleb. "Secondly, I need you to hear me out on this one." Caleb began to shake his head and Emmett put his hands out and tried to better explain himself. "Look, please. You owe me, man. You know I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be." Caleb stood there analyzing us before sighing heavily and nodding.

"Fine."

"It's my kid." Caleb's eyes widened and I nervously bit my lip as I shoved my hands in my pockets. "It's not what you're thinking. He's half me, half Clary. She gave birth to him."

"But she's human. Vampires can't even have babies." Caleb stated.

"Yeah well, we thought the same thing." Emmett sighed. "But she got pregnant and then six months later, Edward knocked up her sister."

"How is that even possible?"

"Buddy if I knew, I'd tell you. But it happened." Emmett shrugged. "So to make this long story short, I need your help."

"With what?"

"The Volturi are coming to try to take my kid and niece away." Caleb's eyes snapped to mine and I nodded.

"Aro knew of Eli before he was born but now they're seeing him as a threat to their existence. He's only a few months old but he's growing pretty fast a few days ago someone intruded on our privacy and saw Eli playing with my sister's kid and now they think he's an immortal child. So we're here to convince you to be a witness to prove he isn't and Emmett has convinced himself you'll help us so now here we are begging you to help us so I don't lose my son." I rambled and my throat grew tight as I forced myself not to cry. Emmett wrapped his arms around me and I cuddled closer to him despite his cold temperature.

"Okay." Caleb agreed after a minute of silence. "Go get him." My tense body relaxed and I left Emmett's arms to grab our son. Opening the jeep door, I smiled as I saw him already awake and unbuckled. He was putting his arms in his jacket and he stopped when he noticed me.

"Want some help?" He nodded and gave me the cutest little pout. I grinned and helped him bundle up before I picked him up and closed the door. I balanced him on my hip but I had a quick thought and I placed him on his feet. "Why don't you go and run to Daddy? He really wants a hug." He beamed and he was out of my sight in a second.

"Whoa." I heard Caleb mumble. "He has a heartbeat."

"It's like we said, he's half me and half Emmett." I pointed out and Caleb's eyes flickered between Eli and me.

"He looks more like you." Caleb grinned at me. "Good thing too. You're not exactly the cutest Em."

"Clary thinks I'm cute and that's all that matters." Emmett extended an arm and wrapped it around my shoulders. Eli clutched onto his shirt with his little fist as our small family stood before Caleb.

"We'll help you." I heard a smooth feminine voice speak up behind Caleb. I looked at the voice and a raven-haired woman stood on the porch with a small smile. Her porcelain skin seemed flawless and I was in awe of her beauty.

"Gianna-" Caleb began to whine.

"We're helping. It's decided." Gianna stated. She left no room for Caleb to argue and he ultimately agreed with her. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible," Emmett told her. "They'll be in Forks by the time the snow sticks."

"Then we'll leave right away." Gianna nodded. "Get a head start. We'll meet you." We nodded and she retreated into the house.

"Guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow Em." Caleb sighed. "Nifty little reunion we had mate."

"Let's do it again sometime," Emmett smirked. Caleb left us to follow Gianna and we headed back to the jeep.

"Can we go home now?" Eli piped up as I opened the back door.

"Yeah bud, we're going home." Emmett smiled at him. Eli beamed happily and crawled into his car seat, buckling himself in. "Should he know how to do that?"

"Not yet. But it's one less thing we have to do." I shrugged. I closed the door and he helped me climb in before speeding to his seat. "Ready?"

"Are you?" He inquired.

"Not even close." I shook my head. "Do you also have this weird feeling in your stomach or is it just me?" His head snapped to me so fast I thought he broke it. "What?"

"Are you pregnant?" He gasped.

I glared at him. "Emmett we haven't had sex since Eli. How would I be pregnant?"

"Do you wanna be?"

"I will hit you." I glared. He smirked and reached for my hand as he began to drive.

"Would it be so bad if we had another one?"

"I've thought about it but there's a lot we need to consider first." I exhaled softly. "Let's get through this first and then we'll talk more about it."

"Right. Battle first, baby second." He agreed.

"Don't get your hopes up about it. We'll more than likely be adopting next time around."

"I'm okay with that. There are plenty of babies who need parents. Or we could even get a teenager. Or we can be like Carlisle and Esme and just turn a bunch of people and have them be our kids." He suggested with a giant grin on his face. It wasn't a bad idea. Carlisle and Esme were people I admired and I appreciated their selflessness more than anyone else. It wouldn't be so bad if our life ended parallel to theirs.

"Maybe." I agreed with a gentle smile. Our next few days would be bleak but this was our future we were fighting for and I was grateful that he stood by my side this time. We were in this together.