All Bark, No Bite [Jacob & Edward]

29

Jacob hasn't opened the box and seen the actual ring. 

Esme has attempted to make the hospital room a bit more comfortable by replacing some of the medical machines surrounding Jacob with furniture. The ring box sits on one of the nightstands she'd placed next to his bed. He doesn't spend the three days of hearing about death after death contemplating getting married. He spends them bitterly looking after the babies by himself. Esme is always there, lurking somewhere, but he refuses her help.

They don't need a "nurse". They need to be surrounded by the pack. They need to be taking in their smells and getting used to them. They need the warmth a nest can provide. They need to be held by more than him. They needed to meet Quil, Embry, Leah, and be playfully insulted by their "Uncle Seth". 

He's not sure who the isolation is taking more of a toll on, but by the third day he feels like he's going to lose his mind as they simultaneously cry out for something he can't provide. They've been fed, changed, and held until his arms got tired.

Their skin is cold and they're crying like they're in pain.

He's about to start crying himself when there is loud thump against the door that immediately shakes him out of his own self-pity. His mind starts reeling as he looks down at the cribs trying to debate what to do. There is another thump, harder this time that rattles him as he goes to scoop one of the babies up into his arms. 

There was a small space in the backroom that he could hide in, but the place wasn't massive. There was only one way in and one way out and, if whatever was banging on the door was able to get through the wolves standing on the outside, there was nothing he could really do besides hide the kids in the tiny space and try to make sure they were found by someone safe. 

There was another thump as he went to scoop up the second baby that was followed by a muffled, "We just had to fight an entire battle, the least you could do is let us in, Jake." 

Jacob stands there, arms full, staring at the door in disbelief. He blinks a couple of times, probably looking ridiculous as he eyed the door for another minute. 

"Don't tell me I got hit in the face with vampire guts and I don't even get to see my nieces." Seth's slightly annoyed voice floats through the door once again. Jacob thinks it's some kind of trick as he just waits for something to happen. Maybe the door would just cave in or maybe the hinges would be blasted off and something else would be standing out there waiting for him.

"Jake? You alright?" It's Leah this time, voice soft as she knocks on the door, knuckles grazing the metal gently as if she was trying to reassure him that they weren't coming to hurt him. 

He hadn't heard their voices, their thoughts in so long that it felt like some kind of fever dream.

Esme slowly rounding the corner almost scares him out of his pajamas as he spins around to the side so his back isn't to the door or to her.

"It's alright. Carlisle sent a message. It's them." She says softly, hands in the air as she slowly makes her way over to the door.

She stops just before she makes it over, turning fully to him. 

"Think of something, anything." she says quietly.

Jacob doesn't understand. He just wants to hide. Think of something? 

He quickly glances around the room, eyes finding Esme and the door every time they leave an object. Think of anything. His eyes find the discarded box on the nightstand. He hadn't thought about it, doesn't know what the ring looks like, doesn't know what the inside of the box looks like. Honestly, he'd been too mad to open it. It wasn't just that all of this wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he'd gotten pregnant in the first place. It wasn't fair that the Volturi was on his ass. It wasn't fair that he was alone. Those were a given. He couldn't believe that after all of that, he'd been left with some kind of souvenir. He wasn't some teenager in 1917 who hoped that Edward was going to "come home" after war.