Caterina Bianchi is a nomad. When an old friend is in need of help, she travels to Washington to stand as a witness against the Volturi. Seth Clearwater is everything Caterina should hate, but is he really?
[breaking dawn]
[caterina bianchi 1]
bega...
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Rain poured heavily onto the dark streets of Seattle. Many of the city's residents sat in their homes, illuminated by candlelight as they waited eagerly for the power to return. Seth hastily urged Caterina in through the doors of the hospital, attempting to get her out of the downpour. Her hand laid across her stomach, which had swollen slightly. She was seeing Rosalie weekly, checking in that everything was developing correctly.
Once they checked in with the receptionist (who was still in a state of passive aggressiveness towards Cat), they took their seats. The top part of her body was huddled into his, putting them in a slightly awkward and uncomfortable position. Seth thought it was sort of weird when an older woman stood up from her chair across the room just to sit one seat away from Caterina.
"Sweetie," the older woman held out an arm towards the blonde, who looked confusedly at her, "I was just wondering what your plans are for the baby?" Her hand was suddenly touching Cat's stomach.
Cat's eyes made contact with Seth's. "We were planning on keeping it," she chuckled nervously.
"Well, I just don't think that it's such a good idea, well, at your young age." Her eyes showed a twisted sense of sympathy.
"Ma'am, I appreciate your contribution, but we are both adults and we are keeping our baby," Cat's voice was firm as she spoke about their child.
The woman intruded again, "I know you think that now, but you're only children yourselves. How do you expect to be able to take care of this baby?"
"We are fully prepared for this baby, way more prepared than your little guilt trip tactic is. Thank you. And we are not children." Seth wasn't as composed as Caterina was about the subject. It annoyed him that someone who had never met them before had the audacity to assume their situation. She had no idea, he thought. Seth waited a moment for Cat to laugh before remembering, she couldn't hear his thoughts anymore.
Her gifts had steadily gotten weaker over the course of the last few months, as she made the transition to completely human. Two days before their trip to the hospital, she broke down crying when she could no longer hear Seth's goofy thoughts about television shows he liked, the visions that once gave her pounding headaches were replaced with a void, and she couldn't even hear the soft hummingbird-like fluttering of Renesmee's heart, or the ever-steady heartbeat of her own child.
Seth, as much as he hated seeing her so upset, wasn't quite sure how to console Caterina in this state. He had never faced a loss like she was, besides when he left Sam's pack and could no longer hear the thoughts of his former packmates. He remembered how alone he felt, how he wondered if everything he had ever known could truly be taken away from him, just like that. No, he couldn't fully imagine what was going through his girlfriend's mind, but he held onto every ounce of empathy he could, knowing she could use it.
Rosalie's presence almost startled the couple, they had both been so deep in their own thoughts they had completely forgotten why they were there. She made no effort to comment on their states, knowing it wasn't her place.
"Everything seems to be just fine. You're developing at a normal human rate, you should be around 17 weeks and the baby reflects exactly that." Rose smiled at the two of them, her gaze lingering on the black and white ultrasound for a minute.
After moving the wand around Cat's stomach a bit more, she asked, "Did you want to know the sex?"
Cat looked up at Seth, who looked back with a sense of unease in his stare. He was nervous about something, like what she was going to tell them would break him.
"I can just put in an envelope and you guys can look when you're ready," Rose said and then, to ease the tension, joked, "the puppy's sex won't change until then."
Seth's eyes snapped to her, "Don't say that." Rose nodded and continued to seal the envelope with the gender inside.
The car ride home was awkward and nearly silent, save for the soft blow of the heat radiating from the vents. Caterina looked over at Seth from the driver's side, his hands clenched tightly together, his eyes glaring at the passing views that were smothered in cold rain.
"Do you want to tell me what that was about or am I going to have to bribe Edward to read your mind?" Her voice held a sense of humor to it but Cat was completely serious.
Seth sighed, "I just - I don't want the baby to be a boy."
"And why is that? Scared he'll be influenced by Emmett and Jacob?"
Seth's eyes told her that it wasn't something to joke about. "No, it's not that. I don't want the chance of him," he paused, "being like me, having my traits."
For a second, Caterina was confused, but then it clicked. Seth didn't want to run the risk of passing on the wolf gene.
"Aw, Seth, it won't matter, even if he does have it. Besides, Leah proves that even if it's a girl, she's not entirely safe."
"That's worse! You've seen how depressed and angry Leah is. Everything was taken from her because of the gene. I mean, the guys are all upset, knowing we can never leave and travel the world until we stop shifting because we have a duty to our tribe, but Leah - she's broken inside to put it lightly. Joining Jacob was the best thing she could have done, Sam's constant thoughts about Emily can't bother her, but that doesn't change the fact that she'll never be able to have children, never be able to follow her dreams, all because of one change in our make-up.
"But at least she's an anomaly, everyone thought that maybe the gene skipped a generation, but when my dad was at the age to shift, the Cullens weren't here. But, baby, if you go back to the way you were after this, he'll have no choice. At least, if it's a girl, she has a fighting chance," Seth finished with a deep inhale.
Caterina's eyes stung with tears at how broken he looked in that moment. She gripped his hand in her own and kissed his knuckles, her eyes straying from the road.
"The worst part is, we won't even know for about 14 years, and the fact that they'll be in such close proximity to so many vampires might force the change early."
Their rush up the stairs told the rest of the vampires that they needed to be left alone. Caterina was the first to sit on the unmade bed, staring at the envelope. Seth paced around the room for a moment, his thumb caught in his mouth, thinking.
"Okay, go ahead." Seth nodded, kneeling in front of the blonde.
Before ripping it open, she leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. In response, he placed his hands on her jawline, bringing her lips to his. Their foreheads remained in contact for a moment before she sat back up, finally opening the results.
