petrichor [rosalie hale]

xliv. birth

"Hey," Jacob called out as he saw Kiara pulling her socks back on outside the house. She had already greeted Seth and Leah who were back patrolling the area after they successfully had distracted Sam's pack, but her brother had gone in to tell the others that they'd been able to get Emmett, Bree, Carlisle and Esme across the river without any hitches. "You're back."

"Thankfully," Kiara joked, nudging him lightly as she got up from pulling her shoes back on. They walked side by side towards the house, Kiara faintly being able to hear Rosalie's laugher from inside. She paused in her step slightly, their previous argument ringing in her ears.

Jacob paused too, sensing that his twin wasn't quite holding herself together with everything that was happening. Heck, none of them really were but he knew that everything would change for her after the birth. A selfish part of him knew that killing the baby would only hurt her more, but he felt like the risk of it killing their family would be worth that. He knew that Kiara agreed - but he wished it didn't have to be that way.

"You good?" Jacob asked, his hand pausing on the door as he waited for a response from her.

"Yeah, I guess" Kiara replied, shrugging her shoulders. 

She wasn't. But she had no way of telling Jacob that. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, it was that she couldn't trust him with her feelings. She wasn't sure what he would do if she confessed to him that she didn't want to kill the baby, and she wasn't sure that he would react well if she told him she was having second opinions on the entire situation.

"I'll see you inside," Kiara replied, Jacob simply nodding slowly and moving back towards the house without a second thought. He knew something was bothering her, but if she didn't want to tell him then he wasn't going to force her to do so.

"Yup," Jacob said with a half-smile, pushing the door open behind him and heading towards the sound of Bella's laughter.

Kiara waited outside for a moment, taking in the cold night air and letting it freeze her bones cold. A small scoff from the trees took her attention away, noticing the way that Leah was staring at her from the distance. She could see the silent question in the eyes of the wolf, the care for her best friend never having changed slightly once she'd became her alpha.

"I'm fine, Leah," Kiara replied, although they both didn't believe it. They stared at each other for a moment longer before the wolf let out a low grumble, turning with a shake of her head as she bounded back into the trees. 

Kiara shook her own head the interaction, taking a deep breath before she pushed through the door and into the chaos that was the Cullen house. It hit her all at once, the melodic pitch of Rosalie's laughter, Beverly's shrieks of amusement and the laughs of the rest of the vampires and Bella upstairs. She could faintly here Jacob entering the room, missing the pleasantries as she ascended the stairs towards the lounge.

"Why don't you tell Jacob what you've decided?" Rosalie said, a small smile on her face as she looked lovingly at Bella. The image almost turned Kiara's stomach a little - having wanted this for a while but not like this. Rosalie's eyes flickered to where Kiara entered the room, surprise on her face for a split second as she noticed her mate. "And Kiara."

"What now?" Jacob said, feeling Kiara come and stand beside him. He leant against her slightly, feeling the heat from her body against his bare arm. Edward looked between the twins, sensing that they weren't quite as aligned as he had previously thought.

Kiara felt a little bit sick at the way Rosalie and Alice were literally holding Bella up, seeing her friend being unable to stand by herself wasn't on her list of things she needed nor wanted to see today. She'd already been told by Seth that Bella had called Charlie and told him that she was going to a facility in Switzerland, so Kiara had no doubt in her mind that Bella had convinced herself that she was going to die for this baby.