Title: Futures
Parts: II. Arrival and Diagnosis
Rating: pg
Words: 2 521 words
Warnings: This story contains slash, and mpreg; if any of this offends you, turn back now.
Disclaimer: The Twilight series isn’t mine; it’s all the property of Stephanie Meyer. I do own the plot of this fic, but that’s it, nothing else is mine; unless some other characters arise that don’t belong, than I guess I own them too.
II. Arrival and Diagnosis
Carlisle had offered to come to Seattle earlier then their planned travel date to Forks, but Jacob had been sure to turn him down because he didn’t want to inconvenience him or the small hospital in the town. He knew how dependent they were on the vampire, and it wouldn’t be right of him to take advantage of Carlisle in that manner; he could wait just a little longer to find out what the hell was wrong with him.
Another anomaly, because it wasn’t really a symptom, had arisen and it had Jacob worried. He thought that it could be cancer, since the weird bulge on his stomach wasn’t soft and squishy like fat but hard and firm. What made it even odder, was the fact that it was a few degrees cooler than the rest of his body temperature.
He was hiding the odd bulge from Jasper, but he couldn’t be sure if he was succeeding or not. Sometimes with Jasper he couldn’t be sure if he knew something or not, he was a secretive and quiet individual who didn’t often speak his mind. Jacob loved that about him, it made him very easy to live with, but it also meant that he cared deeply about the people who felt deeply for even if he didn’t verbally express it at every moment of the day. How he felt he conveyed through his actions, and even the waves or aura that he gave off.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Jacob couldn’t see the strange lump which was concealed beneath an extremely baggy t-shirt which he’d fished out from the back of the closet. Jasper was taller than him, and a bit wider in the shoulders, which meant that any of his clothes that Jacob wore when he was feeling lazy often just hung on him. This was what he was counting on, because he didn’t want to alarm the vampire until he was absolutely positive that it wasn’t anything life-threatening.
If it was... Jacob would deal with that when the time came.
Turning away from the mirror, he looked at the packed duffel which sat innocently on the bed. Jacob had only packed a few necessities, and nothing fancy or nice. He wasn’t expecting to do anything that would involve having to wear fancy clothes (not that he owned any anyways), so he hadn’t bothered to pack any. Mostly he’d dug out a few of Jasper’s clothes which the vampire no longer wore because of how worn out they were, they were actually a few years old.
Jacob liked them because Jasper’s scent clung to them strongly enough that it hadn’t faded even though he hadn’t actually worn them for a long time. It made him feel safe and much more certain of himself even though he was worried that his time in the world was limited.
“Are you ready?” Jasper asked from where he was leaning against the door frame. His soft voice startled Jacob out of his thoughts, and the young werewolf looked at him for a moment.
“Uh, yeah, I’m packed and ready. Has the sun come out yet?”
“No, but today’s a rather overcast day, I should be fine.”
Having never seen Jasper out in the sunlight, Jacob didn’t know what to expect if he ever did, but he knew that going out in the sun was a big no-no for the vampire since it would ‘attract a lot of attention’.
“Oh, okay then.” He took the duffel and slung it over his shoulder, for a moment, he felt a little dizzy, but caught himself on Jasper’s arm.
“Jake? You okay?” Jasper’s voice was worried. He obviously thought something was seriously wrong, his eyes had already started darting over Jacob’s face and he was using his peculiar gift to taste the emotional atmosphere to make sure that everything was fine.
Jacob nodded sharply, his hand tightly clenched on Jasper’s forearm until he was sure that he wasn’t going to be meeting the floor anytime soon. He doubted that he’d ever get that far though, his lover was sure to catch him before that ever happened.
“Yeah, just a little dizzy is all.”
Jasper hovered dangerously close to his young mate as they made their way out of the apartment and into the elevator. The car was parked just out front; Jasper had brought it around from the parkade while the werewolf had been packing. Normally they didn’t use the car, and they instead would use the motorcycle which Edward had gifted to Jasper years ago; but at times like this, it seemed more prudent to take the car.
Not that it was just a simple car, the Cullens didn’t do that.
It was an Aston Martin Vanquish S. Jacob wasn’t surprised at the fact that Jasper actually owned one of them, he’d gotten used to the idea that the Cullens had a collection of very expensive cars, but the fact that Jasper could keep it in a apartment parking garage and not have it stolen was a feat onto itself. Of course, Jacob doubted that it was really that simple. Something more sinister had to be afoot.
Not that Jacob really cared, he was just tired and wanted to sleep some more. He’d been up too much in the night, making the constant runs to the bathroom which had become all too common now. It was one of the symptoms which had manifested themselves rather recently.
Unlike the standard windows of the Vanquish S, the ones on this one were tinted so that the interior was always dark or appeared to be in a constant state of twilight. It was probably to keep Jasper looking as normal as possible when he was driving; it wouldn’t be good to alarm passing motorists to see something as inhuman as Jasper in the sunlight.
In all of the years that Jasper and Jacob had been living together, it was one of the things which Jasper kept shrouded in mystery about himself, he was very careful to keep it a well guarded secret. Jacob thought that it was maybe because he was worried about how he would feel if he ever saw him in the light. Jacob, though, knew that it wouldn’t change anything.
Jasper didn’t always have the best control, Jacob knew that, but it didn’t bug him. He knew that as long as he was nowhere near death, his body would be able to successfully fight the venom off. If he was ever in a situation where he was going to die, Jacob trusted that Jasper would do whatever it would take for them to stay together. He didn’t want to die, and Jasper didn’t want him to die either.
Sliding into the passenger seat, Jacob quickly put his seatbelt on as Jasper went around the car at a normal human pace and got into the driver’s. Until they were out of town, he would have to at least attempt to stay within the speed limit. It was a weird quirk that every vampire seemed to have an obsession with driving extremely fast or just traveling really quickly.
Not that Jacob minded; he didn’t like long care trips.
The drive to Forks and the Cullens’ family home there didn’t take as long as it would have if Jasper was a human. It didn’t take the full four hours that it should have, and they made it there in two and a half.
“We timed it well,” Jasper murmured into the quiet of the car. Jacob had fallen asleep, and was only just waking up as they pulled up in front of the house. The vampire’s soft voice startled him. “Everyone but Carlisle is on a hunting trip; I didn’t think that you wanted to have a huge fanfare arrival.”
“So it’s just Carlisle?”
“Yes, I called ahead just to be sure; everyone is still out on a hunting trip and isn’t expected back until early tomorrow morning.” Jasper parked the car and removed the keys from the ignition. “You go on without me and see Carlisle. I’ll take your bag up to my room before I leave to quickly hunt down something to eat.”
“You’re not thirsty though,” Jacob noted, looking at his mate’s eyes. They were still a warm shade of gold, which wasn’t close to black at all.
Jasper smiled and leaned over to quickly press a reassuring kiss to Jacob’s lips, “No, I just don’t want to have to be away from you for very long. I’ll be back before the others, I promise. This hunting excursion will only be an hour or two.”
“I guess if you have too, then go.”
“I won’t go far,” Jasper promised. He reached out and ruffled Jacob’s hair.
“Be careful, you know that the pack might be out on patrol. Don’t go anywhere near the boundary line,” Jacob warned. They hadn’t made peace with the pack since Jacob’s sudden departure nearly three years ago, and there hadn’t been time for him to visit and try and work out a solution. From the few phone calls which he’d received from his father, Jacob knew that the pack was against his relationship with Jasper, and that Leah would do anything to keep them apart.
Although, he knew that Seth was much more forgiving. Billy had told him that the youngest member of their pack wasn’t willing to accept the explanation which Sam had been drilling into their heads, because he believed that the Cullens were good. They wouldn’t feed on animals and hold up a human charade if they weren’t.
“Seth’s the odd one out at the moment, if it comes down to it, he would side with you and the Cullens. Even Quil and Embry have bought into the stories; they believe that if they can kill Jasper, then you’ll come back to them."
Climbing out of the car, Jacob waited for Jasper as he fished the duffel out of the trunk before the two of them proceeded to the door of the house. The door opened the moment they stepped onto the patio, revealing Carlisle standing there waiting for them. Obviously, he’d been expecting them.
“It’s good to see the both of you again, come in,” Carlisle stepped aside and let the two of them inside. “Are you still going hunting Jasper?”
“Yes, you can look after Jacob for me for an hour or two, correct?” Jasper asked. Carlisle nodded, and Jasper left the room, disappearing up the stairs. After that, there was silence.
“How are you feeling today Jacob?” Carlisle asked; leading Jacob inside and to the small room tucked on a far corner of the main room that served as a small clinic. He gestured to the examination table, while he took a seat on the small, rolling chair.
“Um, fine actually. It’s not as bad as Jasper makes it out to be,” Jacob replied.
“Other than the nausea and the exhaustion, have there been any other symptoms? Strange cravings? Eating more then you usually do?” Carlisle was in full doctor mode, grilling the shape-shifter for more information. He had his suspicions already half-formed, but all he needed was more information to confirm what his intuition told him was true.
“Um, yeah to all of those...” Jacob wasn’t sure what Carlisle knew that he didn’t, but he wasn’t sure if it boded well for him. But the fact that he was still here in the Cullen house meant that whatever it was that he had, it wasn’t going to kill him; that was a relief to know.
Carlisle nodded, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose between his two fingers. A long silence hung in the air, and the blond vampire sat there, deep in thought as he tried to put together his thoughts in some manner that made sense. He knew what was wrong with Jacob, yes, but he doubted that the shape-shifter would believe him if he just told him. There would have to be some tangible proof which couldn’t be denied.
“I don’t know how to put this Jacob...” Carlisle began slowly, dropping his hand. “But you’re pregnant.”
More silence.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“I’m afraid not. I’ve scoured every medical condition that could be in line with the symptoms that Jasper described to me, along with the ones that you just confirmed,” Carlisle reached out slowly and touched the dark discoloration which ran in a line over the bridge of the shape-shifter’s nose and under his eyes and just along the tops of his cheeks. “This also confirms it. If you don’t believe me, I can run a blood test for hCG, and give you a home pregnancy test.”
“You’re missing the point here. I’m a man, which means that I can’t get pregnant.” Jacob didn’t understand how Carlisle, a genius doctor who had studied medicine for hundreds of years, couldn’t get that.
“I understand that,” Carlisle replied. “But there is no other explanation for the symptoms that you’re experiencing Jacob. Not even a combination of several other illnesses could cause these exact symptoms, which leaves me with pregnancy as the only viable solution.”
Carlisle held up a hand to prevent Jacob from interrupting him, “Men cannot get pregnant, I know this Jacob, I’ve studied medicine for well over three hundred years. But the fact that you’re a shape-shifter and not a full-fledged werewolf is what has led me to the conclusion that, somehow, your body has a different internal structure then a normal human. My best guess is that all male shape-shifters have a buried female reproductive system within them, but it’s only activated if perhaps they imprint on a male. I am by no means an expert in the species, but from the information I have, this is the best that I can surmise.”
“So you’re saying that I’m basically a hybrid of a guy and a girl?”
“I prefer to use the term ‘functional hermaphrodite’.” Carlisle sighed, before rolling over to the cupboards and drawers which covered the entire back wall of the small clinic. He opened one drawer and pulled out a small cardboard box before wheeling back over to Jacob and handing it to him. “There, a home pregnancy test. Use this after I’ve drawn some blood for the tests.”
A few minutes later, Jacob was standing in the small bathroom on the main floor. The fact that there was a real, functioning bathroom in a house full of vampires was ignored for the simple reason that the test Jacob held in his hand had come back with a result.
Positive.
Holy fucking hell, he was pregnant.
.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.
I hope my theory on functional hermaphrodites sounds believable enough. More will be explained in future chapters, I promise. Hm, here's the funny thing, there is already a name. Next part should be up soon.
A quick note, hCG is human chorionic gonadotropin; which is a hormone which presents itself in pregnant women (in this case Jacob), which prevents the breakdown of the corpus luteum in the ovary, and to maintain the production of progesterone, which is a key hormone during pregnancy. I'm not a biology nerd, I just happen to be in Biology AP, which means that I've studied the reproductive system by now (even though I am still in grade eleven).
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Twilight.