Chapter Twenty One
New Friends
Alice

"That was so good." Tom announced as he finished off his burger, I was still pushing my salad around with my fork in disgust.

"You haven't eaten anything in a long time Alice." Tom noticed suddenly.

"Nothing is very appealing to me." I admitted. "Everything has got my stomach in knots."

"It will get better, the woman will be able to help you, I can feel it." Tom smiled hopefully at me.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure she can." I smiled back.

The front door opened then, the little bell ringing as a young man with a small girl walked into the restaurant.

"Charlie, its nice to see you." The waitress smiled at the man. "And is this little Bella? You've gotten so big since I saw you last year!" The woman exclaimed, cooing over the small girl.

"Who are they?" I asked Tom, directed toward the man and his daughter. The man seemed to know everyone in the restaurant and all the women seemed to eat up the uncomfortable looking girl.

"Oh, that's Chief Swan and his daughter Bella. She lives with her mom in California or something like that, she comes during the summer to stay with him for awhile. He's a really nice man, and Bella's a sweet girl, shy, but still sweet." Tom nodded. "She's only a year younger then Rebecca and Rachel, Charlie and Billy are good friends. He comes to the res a lot, I'm sure they'll both be at the bonfire tonight."

"Bonfire?" I asked confused.

"Yeah, there's a bonfire at the beach tonight, you're invited." He winked at me.

"Sounds fun." I laughed.

Later that night, I was sitting on a log wearing some thick jeans, a long sleeve thermal, and a heavy jacket and was still freezing even with my close proximity to the fire.

Tom was having a good time with his uncles and cousins, which made me smile. At some point, Bella stopped playing with Rachel and Rebecca and ran over to her father and whispered something in his ear. Charlie looked towards where I sat in confusion and after giving me a one over he nodded to Bella, who nodded back and came towards me shyly.

"Hello." I smiled at her as she came close to me. "You're Bella, right?" I asked softly and she nodded.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Alice." I smiled at her. "Would you like to sit down with me?" I asked her and she nodded, coming to sit beside me quickly.

"Are you going to have a baby?" She asked me suddenly and I looked down at her in surprise.

"Yes, I am, how did you know that?" I asked her and she shrugged.

"You look the same way Mrs. Clearwater did." She motioned to where a young woman sat with a small boy on her lap.

"You can't tell anyone that I'm going to have a baby, okay Bella? I'll get in trouble." I told her quietly.

"I promise I won't." She nodded her head and I believed her.

"Thank you." I smiled down at her.

"You know, I like you Alice." She smiled up at me. "You're nice."

"I like you too Bella." I giggled and slipped into a vision.

"Alice? Are you ready to head to the house?" Tom came and asked me, making me return to reality after my vision.

"Yes, I'm really tired." I nodded and he helped me up onto my feet.

"Bye Alice." Bella smiled at me.

"Bye Bella." I smiled back at her. "I'll see you soon, oh, and be careful around the tidal pools."

Tom led me up the beach to the parking lot and drove us back to the reservation.

"My dad said that we could stay in our old house, we haven't sold it yet." He told me as he pulled up to a small white painted house.

We got inside, he showed me to a guest room and after wishing me a goodnight, he headed to his old bedroom.

I didn't even bother to change, I just kicked out of my sneakers and took off my jacket before sliding underneath the covers. I fell asleep instantly and slept soundly until early the next morning when my stomach lurched, sending me awake and running toward the bathroom.

"Alice? Are you alright?" Tom asked, knocking at the bathroom door as my morning sickness passed.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I sighed and brushed my teeth quickly. As I went to leave the bathroom, I noticed the small bump between my hips had grown in size and was much more noticeable then before.

"Wow, that things growing crazy fast isn't it?" Tom asked as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, eyes glued to my midsection.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's freaky and unnatural, I just want help. Do you think the woman has arrived yet?" I asked him, heading into the guest room to change.

"Yeah, she's at my grandmothers house now. Harry came by an hour ago to tell me a vampire was here when her car pulled into Billy's driveway. I told him she was a friend of yours and grandmas so the pack let her go to my grandmothers house in peace." Tom explained as I changed into a green long sleeve and threw on a jacket to hide my bump.

"Okay, great, let's get going then." I nodded and followed him out of the house and down the road towards Billy's house.

"Hi Alice!" Jacob greeted me as Tom and I walked towards the trail.

"Good morning Jacob." I smiled back at him. "How are you?" I asked.

"Good. My dad said that your friend is waiting for you, I don't think he likes her very much." Jacob smiled at me.

"Yeah, well she's a big help." I told him. "I'll see you later Jacob." I smiled and Tom and I continued walking down the trail towards his grandmothers hut.

As soon as we approached the door, it was thrown open, and a woman much taller than me stood in the doorway eyeing us apprehensively. Tom wished me luck and headed back up the path towards his uncles house.

The woman was around 5'5, but she still towered over my small height, and was very slender and elegant looking. Her dark brown hair was curled perfectly, her olive tinted skin was lovely, and the kind expression in her golden eyes sent me reeling.

"You must be Alice." She smiled down at me, speaking in a slight Spanish accent, her concern evaporating immediately and turning into a soft warmness. "You should come and sit down." She took my arm and carefully led me inside and into a seat.

"My name is Carmen Denali." She introduced herself after a moment of silence. "I won't hurt you, in fact, I believe that I can help you. I've seen something like this before on my travels. A young woman gave birth to a human-vampire hybrid, a beautiful little girl, barely four years ago." Carmen smiled hopefully at me. "I helped with her delivery, and although I wasn't present for the majority of her pregnancy I know much about it, I'm positive I can give you a better outcome then her." Carmen smiled.

"A better outcome?" I questioned worriedly. "What happened to her?" I asked and Carmen's kind eyes suddenly looked very troubled.

"She...didn't make it through the birth." She sighed. "But it was only because she was too weak!" She recovered quickly, not wanting to frighten me. "I know how to keep you strong, you are going to survive this, I will do everything in my power to make sure of it." She spoke honestly with a undeniable happiness in her eyes.

"Thank you for helping me." I told her.

"Of course, I'm very happy to help." She smiled kindly. "Now, I'd like to hear more about your husband." She nodded, eyes suddenly looking over my midsection very curiously.

"He left me the day after we got married." I told her. "He was everything to me, I suppose he still is, but he got scared and left me." I sighed.

"And what of his family?" She asked me.

"They left without even telling me goodbye, a clean break." I muttered. "I love them too, especially my husbands father Carlisle, I think of him as a father myself." I told her.

"Carlisle...Cullen?" She asked, eyes suddenly becoming wide with shock. "Are you a Cullen?" She asked, losing a piece of her careful composure.

"Yes, their last name is Cullen, my last name is Cullen." I nodded.

"I know Doctor Cullen." She spoke, eyes distant looking as she regarded my bump. "Anyway, we need to be going, I'm not very welcomed here." Carmen stood and helped me to stand, even though I didn't really need it.

"Carmen, are you leaving?" Toms grandmother asked, coming into the room from the small kitchen.

"Yes Bonnie, it was very nice to see you and catch up, but I feel that my welcome here will soon be worn out." Carmen smiled sadly and gave her a light hug.

"Thank you for helping this girl, she's a special one." Toms grandmother looked over me with a glint of wonder in her eyes.

"Yes, very special in deed. You can trust her to me." Carmen smiled. "Goodbye Bonnie." Carmen told her, taking my arm and walking me out of the hut and up the path to her car.

Tom was standing near her car with my backpack slung over his arm and a guilty look on his face.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked him worriedly as he handed Carmen my bag and she went to put it in her car.

"They know." He spoke grimly. "The tribe knows about the baby."

"What?!" I gasped and instinctively clasped my arms around my stomach. "How did they find out?!" I asked, anger and fear creeping through me.

"Billy saw you when we were walking to Grandma Bonnie's, he saw your bump and came to conclusions, you need to leave with Carmen, now." He told me sternly opening the passenger side door for me. "I'll keep the pack away long enough for you two to get far out of town, they're going to start a hunt for you soon, go now, I'll come back to Olympia when I can." He sighed, practically forcing me into the car and shutting the door.

Carmen started her martin vanquish and tore off through town quickly, speeding through La Push and the town of Forks quickly, leaving me absolutely stunned. We made it out of town in no more then a few minuets with her speed and as soon as she was comfortable with our distance from the wolves, she relaxed against her drivers seat and loosened her clutch on the steering wheel.

"Well," she let out a deep breath "that was certainly exciting." She laughed and I giggled nervously.