Chapter 142 - A Picture Tells A Thousand Joys

Absolute terror strikes me as I leap my way over to her Anastasia, "My beloved, what is wrong?"

"I don't know; I just felt the most incredible pain."

"My beloved, let me go speak to Edward for a moment. I shall be right back."

"No, please don't leave me alone. Please."

With that, I hook my arm around her waist and pull her frail body. Her entire body is shaking, and she has gone paler than all fifty shades of white. My heart sinks, and I feel completely helpless; it looks as if she is in total agony, and there is a terrified look in her eyes.

God, I do not know what is wrong, but I shall fix it. So for what seems a few moments, she softly whispers to me, "Sebastian, I am scared."

"What do you mean, my beloved? What is wrong?"

"I don't know; something does not feel right."

"Why don't you rest? I will get you an appointment with the Doctor first thing in the morning."

"Are you going to come to lie with me?"

"I will be back just now."

But she does not want to let go; she holds onto my hand so tight that I can not feel any sensation anymore.

"Please don't go, don't leave me."

"My beloved, I promise you that I will never leave you."

With her wrapped tight in my arms, she slowly closes her eyes. But even though there is some sort of peace in her eyes, it does not calm the storm that I feel brewing inside of me. I never have, and not even beyond my imagination, but I have never seen someone so terrified.

And terrified I remain the whole night.

The next morning it is difficult; she feels far worse than the night before. I have managed to get her an appointment with a very good doctor in the city. It will be the first time that I have ever seen him, so to say that Anastasia is not beyond scared would be a total lie. I am trying to tell her that everything will be fine, but she firmly fears the worst.

So it is hard; after having to help her into the bath and bathing her, I have to carry her to the room and help her get dressed. The sheer willpower to do anything has left her body. It breaks me to see her this way. One minute she was fine, now she is not even half of the woman that she used to be.

I stand and watch her while she is standing in front of the mirror looking at herself, and I can see that she, she is just not there. Her beautiful smile has drained from her face. Her eyes seem black and sunken deep. 

"My beloved, what's wrong?"

"How can you love me, Sebastian? Look at me."

"My beloved, I don't love you for your body; I love you for you. The woman that has stars in her eyes, the sunshine in her smile. Her voice is gentle, and her laughter is addictive. Her touch is as soft as clouds. She is beautiful inside and out. Her fire and energy can light up a thousand candles. She is absolutely beautiful. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

I hear her breath hitch, and I pull her into my arms, and we stand in silence for a few moments. Then she looks at me and asks me a question that I really do not know to understand.

"Sebastian, is he going to hurt me?"

"No, my beloved, he is here to help you."

"You are going to stay with me all the time?"

"They not taking you anywhere without me."

"I am scared."

"We will be okay; we are always okay."

….Anastasia POV…..

Today we are going to see a Doctor. To say that I am not beyond scared will be a blatant lie. Sebastian himself has not stopped babbling about how forward he is looking to see the baby.

It is hard to say how far along pregnant I am now.

The morning sickness has passed, and I am starting to feel what should be the best parts of being an expecting mother, apart from the pain. I have stopped counting how many times Sebastian has rubbed my belly. He has, in the times that I really get sick, he has started reading to our baby. We decided that we do not want to know what the sex of the baby is, even though I still firmly believe it is a boy.

So it was with great difficulty that I found something to wear. Even though I do not keep much in today, I have grown rather bigger than what Sebastian likes to refer to as a bus. This rules out the option of trying to fit into one of my favorite skinny jeans completely out. With much frustration, I slip on my very favorite dress and meet up with Sebastian that is patiently jumping out of his skin.

"I have always love that dress," he says as he twirls me around in a circle. "But it looks far sexier with that little baby bump."

"Oh no, mister, get that idea right out of your head."

"What? I was only going to kiss you, my beloved."

"Yes, says him that could not keep his hands off me as he was bathing me. Now come, we are already late."

I pull him by the hand and lead him out the front door. Yes, I am beyond excited too. It is hard to find the right balance between feeling sad and happy these days. My greatest fear is what Doctor Jackson will say to us today.

It is what seems like an endless hour that we are finally at the hospital, walking down that corridor that used to be like a second home. As we get to Doctor Jackson's rooms, he is already standing waiting for us.

"Morning, Anastasia, Sebastian. Come right through; I am excited to see the little one."

I know he is hiding the fact that he is concerned about me, so I only but brush this off as I follow him inside the examination rooms. While Sebastian sits patiently in the corner chair, I quickly change into that awful gown that, for the life of me, I still don't understand how to wear. Sebastian then helps me on the bed, and we wait for Doctor Jackson; as Sebastian takes my hand, he softly whispers in my ear.

"I love you; everything is going to be okay."

I only but give him half a shy smile; I am so scared; in fact, I am near to damn terrified. All I want is to hear that little heartbeat; even if I don't get to see him today, all I want to hear is that little heartbeat.

So Doctor Jackson comes to sit next to me and take my hand, "Are you ready?"

"Please, Doctor, just tell me that my baby is fine."

He goes to pull my gown away to show my big baby bump that is growing far bigger than what we all expected it to be. I watch in anticipation as he puts the gel that is freezing to the touch over my tummy and rub that funny-looking stick thing over the edges and inside of my bump. My body shivers, but it is pure shivers of joy.

Then we wait.

And it seems like we are waiting for almost forever.

But then we see it, and god is it the most beautiful thing that I have seen in my life. There he is. And his little heart is beating at a perfect drum. Our little baby is fine, he looks very healthy, and he is fine.

…Sebastian POV…

I can hardly believe what my eyes are seeing. It is a baby, a beautiful bundle of perfection safely tucked in its mom's belly. How I wish that he could perhaps just remain there, there I need not have to worry about all the evil that awaits him. If he is set to become the ultimate Vampire, then I do wish that he would remain safely where he finds himself today.

But my god, "My beloved, it is a baby."

"Yes, Sebastian, it is our baby.

I feel a sudden swell of laughter coming from deep within my chest, and so I sit and laugh for what seems to be a good five minutes, but then it sets in, the tears. The moment that they roll so freely down my cheeks, I see Doctor Jackson look at me rather oddly.

It only takes me but one lift of the brow, and I warn him firmly, "You shall keep that to yourself, my dear Doctor, or you shall not see this child being born."

With a very rather nervous stutter, he hastily steps away from his chair for a brief moment and leaves the room.

Next, a feeling of, "Well, okay, what now," settles like autumn over my mind. We have not thought this far. So with an overwhelming love that I can honestly say hurts but hurts in what is only a good way, I turn to my beloved.

"I told you that you are doing fine. I told you that you both are doing fine. I told you that you are strong; you both are fighters. Now you need to have that courage and see this through, you hear me? I love you."

And then they come again, the instant happiness, the tears of joy come streaming down my face beyond anything that I wish to control. I can, strangely enough, say that I have never loved someone as much as I love my unborn child now. And yes, perhaps it is wrong, for am I saying that I love him even more than I love my dear Anastasia? In fact, not, but at this very present moment, the love that consumes my being is far greater than any feeling I have ever felt before.

So after what seems like a good half an hour, Doctor Jackson returns to the room once more. As he settles in his seat, he stares at the monitor again. I can see the confusion, and yes, there is somewhat of a fear in his eyes. Now, I do not know if it is because he shall deliver the baby of a Vampire or if it is just the way that I am staring down at him.

But whichever way, he soon, after a few deep breaths, find the right words to speak again, "Sebastian, the child seems to be in very good health, but we do have another problem."