Summary: What if Bella's pregnancy was more like a normal persons except for the rate it's growing and the pain it's causing Bella? What if Jacob didn't want to convince Bella to kill it? What if Jacob felt protective of Bella and the baby?

Chapter one: SURE AS HELL DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING!

[Jacob's P.O.V]

I did not really plan to say goodbye to my father. After all, one quick call to Sam and the game would be up. They would cut me off and push me back. Probably try to make me angry, or even hurt me - somehow force me to phase so that Sam could lay down a new law. However, Billy was expecting me, knowing I would be in a state of misery. He was in the yard, just sitting there in his wheelchair with his eyes right on the spot where I came through the trees.

I saw him judge my direction - headed straight past the house to my homemade garage. "Got a minute, Jake?" I skidded to a stop. I looked at him and then toward the garage. "C'mon kid. At least help me inside." I gritted my teeth but decided that he'd be more likely to cause trouble with Sam if I didn't lie to him for a few minutes. "Since when do you need help old man?"

He laughed his rumbling laugh. "My arms are tired. I pushed myself all the way here from Sue's." he said "It's downhill. You coasted the whole way." I told him. I rolled his chair up the little ramp I'd made for him and into the living room. "Caught me. Think I got up to about thirty miles per hour. It was great." "You're going to wreck that chair, you know. And then you'll be dragging yourself around by your elbows." "Not a chance. It'll be your job to carry me."

"You won't be going many places." Billy put his hands on the wheels and steered himself to the fridge. "Any food left?" "You got me. Paul was here all day, though, so probably not." Billy sighed. "Have to start hiding the groceries if we're going to avoid starvation." "Tell Rachel to go stay at his place." Billy's joking tone vanished, and his eyes got soft. "We've only had her home a few weeks. First time she's been here in a long time. It's hard - the girls were older than you when your mom passed. They have more trouble being in this house." "I know."

Rebecca had not been home once since she got married, though she did have a good excuse. Plane tickets from Hawaii were pricey. Washington State was close enough that Rachel did not have the same defense. She had taken classes straight through the summer semesters, working double shifts over the holidays at some café on campus. If it had not been for Paul, she probably would have taken off again real quick. Maybe that was why Billy would not kick him out. "Well, I am going to go work on some stuff" I started for the back door.

"Wait up, Jake. Are you going to tell me what happened? Do I have to call Sam for an update?" I stood with my back to him, hiding my face. "Nothing happened. Sam is giving them a bye. Guess we're all just a bunch of leech lovers now." I muttered. "Jake..." he said condescendingly. " I don't want to talk about it." I growled. Billy paused. "Are you leaving, son?" he asked sadly. The room was quiet for a long time while I decided how to say it.

"Rachel can have her room back. I know she hates that air mattress." I said like that fixed everything. "She'd rather sleep on the floor than lose you. So would I." Billy said raising an eyebrow. I snorted. "Jacob, please. If you need...a break, take it but not so long again. Come back." He begged. I hesitated. "Maybe." I whispered. "Maybe my gig will be weddings. Make a cameo at Sam's wedding, then Rachel's. Jared and Kim might come first, though. Probably ought to have a suit or something." I joked.

"Jake, look at me", Billy said. I turned around slowly. "What?" I asked defensively. He stared into my eyes for a long minute. "Where are you going?" he asked. I shrugged trying to hold his gaze. "I don't really have a specific place in mind." I said.

He cocked his head to the side, and his eyes narrowed. "Don't you?" he stated. We stared each other down. The seconds ticked by. "Jacob," he said. His voice was strained. "Jacob, don't. It's not worth it" he pleaded.

I looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about." I said. "Leave Bella and the Cullens be. Sam is right." Billy said. I stared at him for a second, and then I crossed the room in two long strides; I grabbed the phone, and was about to disconnected the cable from the box and the jack, when I remembered my dad was in a wheel chair and might need help while I was away. I instantly turned and ran out the door hoping to make it to the Cullen's house before Sam got there. "Bye, Dad." I said solemnly.

"Jake, wait – "he called after me, but I was out the door, running. The motorcycle was not as fast as running, but it was more discreet. I wondered how long it would take Billy to wheel himself to the phone and get a message to Sam. I would bet Sam was still in his wolf form. The problem would be if Paul came back to our place anytime soon. He could phase in a second and let Sam know what I was doing... I was not going to worry about it.

I would go, as fast as I could, and if they caught me, I would deal with that when I had to. I kicked the bike to life and then I was racing down the muddy lane. I did not look behind me as I passed the house. The highway was busy with tourist traffic; I wove in and out of the cars, earning a bunch of honks and a few fingers. I took the turn onto the 101 at seventy, not bothering to look. I had to ride the line for a minute to avoid being smeared by a minivan. Not that it would have killed me, but it would have slowed me down.

Broken bones - the big ones, at least - took days to heal completely, as I had good cause to know. The freeway cleared up a little, and I pushed the bike to eighty. I did not touch the brake until I was close to the narrow drive; I figured I was in the clear then. Sam would not come this far to stop me. It was too late. It was not until that moment - when I was sure that I had made it - that I started to think about what exactly I was going to do now. I slowed down to twenty, taking the twists through the trees more carefully than I needed to.

I knew they would hear bike, no bike, or me coming so surprise was out. There was no way to disguise my intentions. Edward would hear my plan as soon as I was close enough. Maybe he already could. However, I thought this would still work out, because I had his ego on my side. He would want to fight me alone. Therefore, I would just walk in, see Sam's precious evidence for myself, and then challenge Edward to a duel.

I snorted. The parasite would probably get a kick out of the theatrics of it. When I finished with him, I would take as many of the rest of them as I could before they got me. Huh - I wondered if Sam would consider my death provocation. Probably say I got what I deserved. He would not want to offend his bloodsucker BFFs. The drive opened up into the meadow, and the smell hit me like a rotten tomato to the face.

Ugh. Reeking vampires. My stomach started churning. The stench would be hard to take this way - undiluted by the scent of humans as it had been the other time I'd come here - though not as bad as smelling it through my wolf nose. I was not sure what to expect, but there was no sign of life around the big white crypt. Of course, they knew I was here. I cut the engine and listened to the quiet. Now I could hear tense, angry murmurs from just the other side of the wide double doors.

Someone was home. I heard my name and I smiled, happy to think I was causing them a little stress. I took one big gulp of air - it would only be worse inside - and leaped up the porch stairs in one jump. The door opened before my fist touched it, and the doctor stood in the frame, his eyes grave. "Hello, Jacob", he said, calmer than I would have expected. "How are you?" he asked. How was I? His son had taken the love of my life from me and was planning to turn her into an undead monster and he had the nerve to ask me if I was okay!

I took a deep breath through my mouth. The reek pouring through the door was overpowering. I was disappointed it was Carlisle, who answered. I would rather Edward had come through the door, fangs out. Carlisle was so... just human or something. Maybe it was when, he made the house calls last spring when I was busted up. However, it made me uncomfortable to look into his face and know that I was planning to kill him if I could. "I heard Bella made it back alive," I said.

"Err, Jacob, it's not really the best time." The doctor seemed uncomfortable, too, but not in the way, I expected. "Could we do this later?" he asked. I stared at him, dumbfounded. Was he asking to post-pone the death match for a more convenient time? Then I heard Bella's voice, cracked and rough, and I could not think about anything else. "Why not," she asked someone. "Are we keeping secrets from Jacob, too? What's the point?" she asked.

Her voice was not what I was expecting. I tried to remember the voices of the young vampires we had fought in the spring, but all I had registered was snarling. Maybe those newborns had not had the piercing, ringing sound of the older ones, either. Maybe all new vampires sounded hoarse. "Come in, please, Jacob," Bella croaked more loudly. Carlisle's eyes tightened. I wondered if Bella was thirsty. My eyes narrowed, too.

"Excuse me," I said to the doctor as I stepped around him. It was hard - it went against all my instincts to turn my back to one of them. Not impossible, though. If there was such a thing as a safe vampire, it was the strangely gentle leader. I would stay away from Carlisle when the fight started. There were enough of them to kill without including him. I sidestepped into the house, keeping my back to the wall.

My eyes swept the room - it was unfamiliar. The last time I had been in here it had been all done up for a party. Everything was bright and pale now. Including the six vampires standing in a group by the white sofa. They were all here, all together, but that was not what froze me where I stood and had my jaw dropping to the floor it was Edward. It was the expression on his face. I'd seen him angry, and I'd seen him arrogant, and once I'd seen him in pain.

However, this - this was beyond agony. His eyes were half-crazed. He did not look up to glare at me. He stared down at the couch beside him with an expression as if someone had lit him on fire. His hands were rigid claws at his side. I could not even enjoy his anguish. I could only think of one thing that would make him look like that, and my eyes followed his.

I saw her at the same moment that I caught her scent. Her warm, clean, human scent. I took a deep breath savoring it while I could. Bella was half-hidden behind the arm of the sofa, curled up in a loose fetal position, her arms wrapped around her knees. For a long second I could see nothing except that she was still the Bella that I loved, her skin still a soft, pale peach, her eyes still the same chocolate brown. My heart thudded a strange, broken meter, and I wondered if this was just some lying dream that I was about to wake up from. Then I really saw her.

There were deep circles under her eyes, dark circles that jumped out because her face was all-haggard. Was she thinner? Her skin seemed tight - like her cheekbones might break right through it. Most of her dark hair was pulled away from her face into a messy knot, but a few strands stuck limply to her forehead and neck, to the sheen of sweat that covered her skin. There was something about her fingers and wrists that looked so fragile it was scary. She was sick. Very sick.

So that was not a lie. The story Charlie told Billy was not a story. While I stared, eyes bugging, her skin turned light green. The blond bloodsucker - the showy one, Rosalie - bent over her, cutting into my view, hovering in a strange, protective way. This was wrong. I knew how Bella felt about almost everything - her thoughts were so obvious; sometimes it was as if they were printed on her forehead. So she didn't have to tell me every detail of a situation for me to get it. I knew that Bella did not like Rosalie.

I had seen it in the set of her lips when she talked about her. Not just that she did not like her. She was afraid of Rosalie. Or she had been. There was no fear as Bella glanced up at her now. Her expression was... apologetic or something. Then Rosalie snatched a basin from the floor and held it under Bella's chin just in time for Bella to throw up noisily into it.

Edward fell to his knees by Bella's side - his eyes all tortured-looking - and Rosalie held out her hand, warning him to keep back. None of it made sense. When she could raise her head, Bella smiled weakly at me, somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry about that", she whispered to me. Edward moaned real quiet. His head slumped against Bella's knees. She put one of her hands against his cheek. As if, she was comforting him.

I did not realize my legs had carried me forward until Rosalie hissed at me, suddenly appearing between the couch and me. She was like a person on a TV screen. I did not care she was there. She did not seem real. "Rose, don't," Bella whispered. "It's fine." She reassured her. Blondie moved out of my way, though I could tell she hated to do it.

Scowling at me, she crouched by Bella's head, tensed to spring. She was easier to ignore than I ever would have dreamed. "Bella, what's wrong?" I whispered. Without thinking about it, I found myself on my knees, too, leaning over the back of the couch across from her... husband. He did not seem to notice me, and I barely glanced at him. I reached out for her free hand, taking it in both of mine. Her skin was icy. "Are you all right?" I asked.

It was a stupid question. She did not answer it. "I'm so glad you came to see me today, Jacob," she said. Even though I knew Edward could not hear her thoughts, he seemed to hear some meaning I did not. He moaned again, into the blanket that covered her, and she stroked his cheek. "What is it, Bella?" I insisted, wrapping my hands tight around her cold, fragile fingers. Instead of answering, she glanced around the room as if she was searching for something, both a plea and a warning in her look.

Six pairs of anxious yellow eyes stared back at her. Finally, she turned to Rosalie. "Help me up, Rose?" she asked. Rosalie's lips pulled back over her teeth, and she glared up at me as if she wanted to rip my throat out. I was sure that was exactly the case. "Please, Rose." Bella begged. The blonde made a face, but leaned over her again, next to Edward, who didn't move an inch.

She put her arm carefully behind Bella's shoulders. "No," I whispered. "Don't get up_" She looked so weak. "I'm answering your question," she snapped, sounding a bit more like the way she usually talked to me. Rosalie pulled Bella off the couch. Edward stayed where he was, sagging forward until his face was buried in the cushions. The blanket fell to the ground at Bella's feet.

Bella's body was swollen, her torso ballooning out in a strange, sick way. It strained against the faded gray sweatshirt that was excessively big for her shoulders and arms. The rest of her seemed thinner, as if the big bulge had grown out of what it had sucked from her. It took me a second to realize what the deformed part was - I did not understand until she folded her hands tenderly around her bloated stomach, one above and one below. Like she was cradling it. I saw it then, but I still could not believe it. I had seen her just a month ago.

There was no way she could be pregnant. Not that pregnant. Except that she was. I did not want to see this, did not want to think about this. I did not want to imagine him inside her. I did not want to know that something I hated so much had taken root in the body I loved. My stomach heaved, and I had to swallow back vomit.

However, it was worse than that, so much worse. Her distorted body, the bones jabbing against the skin of her face. I could only guess that she looked like this - so pregnant, so sick - because whatever was inside her was taking her life to feed its own... because it was a monster. Just like its father. I always knew he would kill her. His head snapped up as he heard the words inside mine. One second we were both on our knees, and then he was on his feet, towering over me.

His eyes were flat black, the circles under them dark purple. "Outside, Jacob", he snarled. I was on my feet, too. Looking down on him now. This was why I was here. "Let's do this," I agreed. The big one, Emmett, pushed forward on Edward's other side, with the hungry-looking one, Jasper, right behind him. I really did not care.

Maybe my pack would clean up the scraps when they finished me off. Maybe not. It did not matter. Nothing mattered to me except for Bella, and he had already taken her from me. Edward's eyes flashed with regret for a second. I looked away and for the tiniest part of a second, my eyes touched on the two standing in the back, Esmé and Alice, Small and distractingly feminine. Well, I was sure the others would kill me before I had to do anything about them.

I did not want to kill girls... even vampire girls. However, I might make an exception for that blonde. "No", Bella gasped, and she stumbled forward, out of balance, to clutch at Edward's arm. Rosalie moved with her, like there was a chain locking them to each other. "I just need to talk to him, Bella," Edward said in a low voice, talking only to her. He reached up to touch her face, to stroke it. This made the room turn red, made me see fire - that, after all he had done to her, he was still allowed to touch her that way.

"Don't strain you", he went on, pleading. "Please rest. We'll both be back in just a few minutes." He assured her. She stared at his face, reading it carefully. Then she nodded and drooped toward the couch. Rosalie helped lower her back onto the cushions. Bella stared at me, trying to hold my eyes. "Behave", she insisted "And then come back". She demanded.

I did not answer. I was not making any promises today. I looked away and then followed Edward out the front door. A random, disjointed voice in my head noted that separating him from the coven had not been so difficult, had it? He kept walking, never checking to see if I was about to spring at his unprotected back. I supposed he did not need to check. He would know when I decided to attack.

This meant I would have to make that decision very quickly. I am not ready for you to kill me yet, Jacob Black," he whispered as he paced quickly away from the house. "You'll have to have a little patience." He stated. As if, I cared about his schedule. I growled under my breath. "Patience isn't my specialty." He kept walking, maybe a couple hundred yards down the drive away from the house, with me right on his heels.

I was all hot, my fingers trembling. On the edge, ready and waiting. He stopped without warning and pivoted to face me. His expression froze me again. Because I knew that look, I knew the searing agony in Edward's eyes. I had seen it on my father's face after my mother died. I saw it every single day in the mirror when I thought about Bella dying to become one of those undead monsters.

He raised a hand as if to wipe sweat from his forehead, but his fingers scraped against his face as if they were going to rip his granite skin right off. His black eyes burned in their sockets, out of focus, or seeing things that were not there. His mouth opened as if he was going to scream, but nothing came out. This was the face a man would have if he were burning at the stake. For a moment I could not speak. It was too real, this face - I would see a shadow of it in the house, seen it in her eyes and his, but this made it final. The last nail in her coffin.

"It's killing her, right? She's dying." I whispered knowing he could hear me. And I knew when I said it that his face was a mere echo of mine. I felt as though someone had just cut my heart out of my chest and set my body a blaze. Every single piece of my body seemed to be in pain, but after dealing with being in love with Bella, after losing her so many times, so many ways, physically, and mentally, I had learned a long time ago that the pain would not kill me. The pain helped me focus. I wondered how much time He had taken to get to this point. I wondered how much time Bella had left.

And I wondered why I felt so god damn guilty, because this wasn't my fault. "My fault," Edward whispered, and his knees gave out. He crumpled in front of me, vulnerable, the easiest target you could imagine. However, I felt cold as snow - there was no fire in me. I stared down at him feeling no pity, no anger, Instead I felt disgust at his weakness. "Standup" I ordered. "Tell me what's happening to Bella!" I growled.

"It's killing her," he groaned into the dirt, as if he was confessing to the ground. "It's killing her." He said again. His broken helplessness irritated me. Bella was dying and he was on the ground. Where was his smug superiority now? Where was his fight? "So why hasn't Carlisle done anything?" I growled.

"He's a doctor, right? Get it out of her." I demanded. He looked up then and answered me in a tired voice. Like he was explaining this to a kindergartener for the tenth time. "She won't let us." He said. It took a minute for the words to sink in. Jeez, she was running true to form. Of course, die for the monster spawn.

It was so Bella. "You know her well," he whispered. "How quickly you see... I did not see. Not in
time. She would not talk to me on the way home, not really. I thought she was frightened - that would be natural. I thought she was angry with me for putting her through this, for endangering her life, Again. I never imagined what she was really thinking, what she was resolving. Not until my family met us at the airport and she ran right into Rosalie's arms. Rosalie's! And then I heard what Rosalie was thinking. I did not understand until I heard that. Yet you understand after one second. . . ." He half-sighed, half-groaned.

"Just back up a second. She won't let you." The sarcasm was acid on my tongue. "Did you ever notice that she's exactly as strong as a normal hundred-and-ten-pound human girl? How stupid are you vamps? Hold her down and knock her out with drugs." I said as if I were explaining to a preschooler. "I wanted to," he whispered. "Carlisle would have_" he trailed off for a moment. What, too noble were they? "No. Not noble. Her bodyguard complicated things." He said. Oh. His story had not made much sense before, but it fit together now. that's what Blondie was up to.

What was in it for her, though? Did the beauty queen want Bella to die so bad? "Maybe," he said. "Rosalie doesn't look at it that way." He said quietly. "So take the blonde out first. Your kind can be put back together, right? Turn her into a jigsaw and take care of Bella." It sounded simple enough. "Emmett and Esmé are backing her up. Emmett would never let us... and Carlisle won't help me with Esmé against it_" He trailed off, his voice disappearing. "So what, he don't have the confidence to try anything because your family wouldn't help you? Coward!" I was shaking with anger. "I came all the way out here ready to face your whole coven alone and you can't even try to stop your wife from killing herself. What happened to forever?" I asked mockingly.

"You should have left Bella with me." I said bitterly. He nodded resigned. "Yes." He agreed. It was a bit late for that, though. Maybe he should have thought about all this before he knocked her up with the life-sucking monster. He stared up at me from inside his own personal hell, and I could see that he agreed with me. "We didn't know," he said, the words as quiet as a breath.

"I never dreamed. There has never been anything like Bella and I before. How could we know that a human was able conceive a child with one of us-" he broke off unable to finish. "When the human should get ripped to shreds in the process?" I asked angrily. Why would he even risk Bella's life like that in the first place? "Yes," he agreed in a tense whisper. "They're out there, the sadistic ones, the incubus, and the succubus. They exist. However, the seduction is merely a prelude to the feast. No one survives" He shook his head as if the idea revolted him. Like he was any different.

"I didn't realize they had a special name for what you are", I spit. He stared up at me with a face that looked a thousand years old. "Even you, Jacob Black, cannot hate me as much as I hate myself." He stated. Wrong, I thought, too enraged to speak. I hated him more than anyone had ever hated anything. "Killing me now doesn't save her," he said quietly. "So what does?" I asked.

Edward suddenly looked up at me with hope shining in his eyes. "Jacob, you have to do something for me." He said. I glared at him. "The hell I do, parasite" I said my voice low and dangerous. He kept staring at me with those half-tired, half-crazy eyes. "For her?" he asked. I clenched my teeth together hard.

"I did everything I could to keep her away from you. Every single thing. It's too late." I said turning my back to him. "You know her, Jacob. You connect to her on a level that I do not even understand. You are part of her, and she is part of you. She will not listen to me, because she thinks I am underestimating her. She thinks she's strong enough for this_" He choked and then swallowed. "She might listen to you." He whispered. "Why would she?" I asked. Bella never listened to me. Not once, not since her, beloved, bloodsucker had come back after abandoning her. He lurched to his feet, his eyes burning brighter than before, wilder.

I wondered if he was really going crazy. Could vampires lose their minds? "Maybe", he answered my thought. "I don't know. It feels like it." He shook his head. "I have to try to hide this in front of her, because stress makes her more ill. She cannot keep anything down as it is. I have to be composed; I cannot make it harder. However, that does not matter now. She has to listen to you!" he shouted. I ignored his yelling. "I can't tell her anything you haven't. What do you want me to do? Do you want me to tell her that she is stupid? She probably already knows that. Do you want me to tell her she is going to die? I bet she knows that, too." I said.

I knew Bella, she had already made her decision, and nothing I did would change it. "You can offer her what she wants." He said slowly. He was not making any sense. Part of the crazy? "I don't care about anything but keeping her alive," he said, suddenly focused now. "If it's a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants." He paused for one beat. "She can have puppies, if that's what it takes." He said his eyes glowing with insanity.

He met my stare for a moment and his face was frenzied under the thin layer of control. My hard scowl crumbled as I processed his words, and I felt my mouth pop open in shock. "But not this way!" he hissed before I could recover. "Not this thing that's sucking the life from her while I stand there helpless! Watching her sicken and waste away. Seeing it hurting her." He sucked in a fast breath as if someone had punched him in the gut. "You have to make her see reason, Jacob. She will not listen to me anymore. Rosalie is always there, feeding her insanity - encouraging her. Protecting her. No, protecting it Bella's life means nothing to her." He said. The noise coming from my throat sounded like I was choking. Something inside me snapped like a rubber band. Instantly I had him pinned to a tree by his neck.

"What are you saying?" I growled. "That Bella should, what? Have a baby? With me?" I slammed him against the tree again. "Are you giving her up? Or do you just think she wouldn't mind being shared?" I shouted angrily. Disgust was seeping out of every pore in my body. "Whichever. Whatever keeps her alive?" he said not fighting back. I let him go and stepped back. "That's the craziest thing you've said yet," I mumbled.

I could not bear to look at him. Was this the man Bella loved so much? An undead monster, who was asking…no who was begging another man, his worst enemy, to fuck his wife, and get her pregnant. Without talking to her about it first! This is who she was in love with. "She loves you too." He said. I shook my head. "Not enough." I said tensing. "She's ready to die to have a child. Maybe she'd accept something less extreme." He suggested. I chuckled darkly.

"Don't you know her at all?" I asked. "I know, I know. It is going to take a lot of convincing. That is why I need you. You know how she thinks. Make her see sense." He said as if that was at all possible. I could not think about what he was suggesting. It was too much. Impossible, Wrong, Sick, Borrowing Bella for the weekends and then returning her Monday morning like a rental movie. This whole conversation was messed up. I loved Bella and I did not want to share her. It was all or nothing with me.

I did not want to consider, did not want to imagine, but the images came anyway. I'd fantasized about Bella that way too many times, back when there was still a possibility of us, and then long after it was clear that the fantasies would only leave festering sores because there was no possibility, none at all. I had not been able to help myself then. I could not stop myself now. Bella in my arms, Bella screaming my name... Bella loving me the way I loved her.

I tried to escape the venomous weed in my mind. "Make Bella see sense? What universe do you live in?" I said angrily. Edward frowned. "At least try." He said. I shook my head fast. He waited, ignoring the negative answer because he could hear the conflict in my thoughts. "Where is this psycho crap coming from? Are you making this up as you go?" I asked.

"I've thought of nothing but ways to save her since I realized what she was planning to do. What she would die to do. But I didn't know how to contact you. I knew you would not listen if I called. I would have come to find you soon, if you had not come today. However, it is hard to leave her, even for a few minutes. Her condition... it changes so fast. The thing is... growing. Swiftly. I can't be away from her now." He said. I noticed how he kept saying thing, not child. "What is it?" I asked. "None of us have any idea. However, it is stronger than she is. Already." He said. I could suddenly see it then - see the swelling monster in my head, breaking her from the inside out.

"Help me stop it," he whispered. "Help me stop this from happening." He begged. "How? By offering my stud services?" I growled. He did not even flinch when I said that, but I did. "You're really sick. She'll never listen to this." I did not even want to listen to him. "Try. There is nothing to lose now. How will it hurt?" he asked and I winced. It would hurt me.

Had I not I taken enough rejection from Bella without this? "A little pain to save her? Is it such a high cost?" he asked. However, it would not be a little pain for me. I would suffer. I would be in agonizing pain. I ignored that though because I loved Bella. I do anything for her but…

"But it won't work". I told him. "Maybe not, but it might confuse her, though. Maybe she will falter in her resolve. One moment of doubt is all I need." He said. "And then you pull the rug out from under the offer? ' Just kidding, Bella'?" I said coldly. "If she wants a child, that's what she gets. I won't rescind." He promised. I could not believe I was even thinking about this. Bella would punch me - not that I cared about that, but it would probably break her hand again. I should not let him talk to me, mess with my head. I should just kill him now.

"Not now," he whispered. "Not yet. Right or wrong, it would destroy her, and you know it. No need to be hasty. If she will not listen to you, you will get your chance. The moment Bella's heart stops beating, I will be begging for you to me." He swore to me. "You won't have to beg long." I growled. The hint of a worn smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I'm very much counting on that," he said. I thought about all the reasons why I should not do this and the one reason I should. Bella needed me. "Then we have a deal." I said.

He nodded and held out his cold stone hand. Swallowing my disgust, I reached out to take his hand. My fingers closed around the rock, and I shook it once. "We have a deal," he agreed. I felt like - as if I do not know what. Like this was not real. Like I was in some Goth version of a bad sitcom.

Instead of being the AA dweeb about to ask the head cheerleader to the prom, I was the finished-second-place werewolf about to ask the vampire's wife to shack up and procreate. No, I would not do it. It was twisted and wrong. I was going to forget all about what he had said. However, I would talk to her. I would try to make her listen to me. And she wouldn't. Just like always.

Edward did not answer or comment on my thoughts as he led the way back to the house. I wondered about the place that he had chosen to stop. Was it far enough from the house that the others could not hear his whispers? Was that the point? When we walked through the door, the other Cullens' eyes were suspicious and confused. No one looked disgusted or outraged. Therefore, they must not have heard either favor Edward had asked me to do.

I hesitated in the open doorway, not sure what to do now. It was better right there, with a bit of breathable air blowing in from outside. Edward walked into the middle of the huddle, shoulders stiff. Bella watched him anxiously, and then her eyes flickered to me for a second. Then she was watching him again. Her face turned a grayish pale, and I could see what he meant about the stress making her feel worse.

"We're going to let Jacob and Bella speak privately," Edward said. There was no inflection at all in his voice. As if, he was a Robot. "Over my pile of ashes," Rosalie hissed at him. She was still hovering by Bella's head, one of her cold hands placed possessively on Bella's sallow cheek. Edward did not look at her. "Bella," he said in that same empty tone. "Jacob wants to talk to you. Are you afraid to be alone with him?" he asked.

Bella looked at me, confused. Then she looked at Rosalie. "Rose, it is fine. Jake is not going to hurt us. Go with Edward." She said. Rosalie shook her head. "It might be a trick," the blonde leech warned. "I don't see how," Bella said. "Carlisle and I will always be in your sight, Rosalie," Edward said.

The emotionless voice was cracking, showing the anger through it. "We're the ones she's afraid of." He explained. "No," Bella whispered. Her eyes were glistening, her lashes wet. "No, Edward. I'm not_" she trailed off. He shook his head, smiling a little. The smile was painful to look at.

"I didn't mean it that way, Bella. I am fine. Don't worry about me." He reassured her. Sickening. He was right - she was beating herself up about hurting his feelings. The girl was a classic martyr. She had totally been born in the wrong century. She should have lived back when she could have gotten herself fed to some lions for a good cause. "Everyone," Edward said, his hand stiffly motioning toward the door. "Please." He said.

The composure he was trying to keep up for Bella was shaky. I could see how close he was to that burning man he had been outside. The others saw it, too. Silently, they moved out the door while I shifted out of the way. They moved fast; my heart beat twice, and the room was cleared except for Rosalie, hesitating in the middle of the floor, and Edward, still waiting by the door. "Rose," Bella said quietly. "I want you to go." Bella said.

The blonde monster glared at Edward and then gestured for him to go first. He disappeared out the door. She gave me a long warning glower, and then she disappeared, too. Once we were alone, I crossed the room and sat on the floor next to Bella. I took both her cold hands in mine, rubbing them carefully. "Thanks, Jake. That feels good," she said relaxing. "I'm not going to lie to you, Bells. You're hideous." I told her.

"I know", she sighed. "I am scary-looking." She said. "Thing-from-the-swamp scary," I agreed. She laughed. "It's so good having you here. It feels nice to smile. I don't know how much more drama I can stand." She mumbled. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, okay", she agreed. "I bring it on myself." She admitted.

"Yeah, you do. What are you thinking, Bells? Seriously!" I yelled. "Did he ask you to yell at me?" she asked curiously. "Sort of. Though I cannot figure why he thinks you would listen to me. You never have before." I said resentfully. She sighed. "I told you - ," I started to say. "Did you know that I told you so' has a brother, Jacob?" she asked, cutting me off. "His name is 'Shut the hell up!" she yelled at me.

"Good one." I said not at all fazed. She grinned at me. Her skin stretched tight over the bones. "I can't take credit - I got it off a rerun of The Simpsons," she explained. "Missed that one." I said. Bella smiled "It was funny." She said quietly.

We did not talk for a minute. Her hands were starting to warm up a little. "Did he really ask you to talk to me?" she asked. I nodded. "To talk some sense into you. There's a battle that's lost before it starts." I joked. "So why did you agree?" she asked. I thought about it, because I love you more than anything in the world, because I want you to live.

Because if there is any chance that I might get through to you, any chance at all, I was going to take it. I did not answer. I was not sure she wanted to know. I knew that every second I spent with her was only going to add to the pain I would have to suffer later. Like a junkie with a limited supply, the day of reckoning was coming for me. The more hits I took now, the harder it would be when my supply ran out. "It'll work out, you know," she said after a quiet minute.

"I believe that," she said quietly. Those words made me see red again. "Is dementia one of your symptoms?" I snapped. She laughed, though my anger was so real that my hands were shaking around hers. "Maybe," she said. "I am not saying things will work out easily, Jake. But how could I have lived through all that I've lived through and not believe in magic by this point?" she said. I stared her amazed.

"Magic?" I asked. "Especially for you," she said. She was smiling. She pulled one of her hands away from mine and pressed it against my cheek. Warmer than before, but it felt cool against my skin, as most things did. "More than anyone else, you've got some magic waiting to make things right for you." She said. "What are you babbling about?" I asked a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Still smiling she continued, "Edward told me once what it was like - your imprinting thing. He said it was like A Midsummer Night's Dream, like magic. You'll find who you're really looking for, Jacob, and maybe then all of this will make sense." She said her eyes shining with happiness for my future. If she had not looked, so fragile I would have screamed. As it was, I did growl at her. "If you think that imprinting could ever make sense of this insanity ..." I struggled for words. "Do you really think that just because I might someday imprint on some stranger it would make this right?" I jabbed a finger toward her swollen body. "Tell me what the point was then, Bella! What was the point of me loving you? What was the point of you loving him? When you die" - the words were a snarl - "how is that ever right again? What is the point to all the pain? Mine, yours, his! You'll kill him, too, not that I care about that." She flinched, but I kept going. "So what was the point of your twisted love story, in the end? If there is any sense, please show me, Bella, because I don't see it!" I yelled.

She sighed. "I don't know yet, Jake. However, I just... feel... that this is all going somewhere good, hard to see as it is now. I guess you could call it faith." She said. "You're dying for nothing, Bella! Nothing!" I cried. Her hand dropped from my face to her bloated stomach, caressed it. She did not have to say the words for me to know what she was thinking. She was dying for it. "I'm not going to die," she said through her teeth, and I could tell she was repeating things she'd said before.

"I will keep my heart beating. I'm strong enough for that," she swore to me. "That's a load of crap, Bella. You have tried to keep up with the supernatural for too long. No normal person can do it. You're not strong enough." I took her face in my hand. I did not have to remind myself to be gentle. Everything about her screamed breakable. I wondered why god had made Bella so fragile and surrounded her with people stronger than any human had, or should, ever have been. "I can do this. I can do this," she muttered, sounding a lot like that kids' book about the little engine that could. "Doesn't look like it to me. So what is your plan? I hope you have one." I asked.

She nodded, not meeting my eyes. "Did you know Esmé jumped off a cliff? When she was human, I mean." She asked. "So?" I asked not caring. "So she was close enough to dead that they didn't even bother taking her to the emergency room - they took her right around to the morgue. Her heart was still beating, though, when Carlisle found her_" she trailed off looking at me expectantly. That is what she had meant before, about keeping her heart beating. "You're not planning on surviving this human," I stated dully. Bella shook her head.

"No. I'm not stupid." She met my stare then. "I guess you probably have your own opinion on that point, though." She said. "Emergency vampirization," I mumbled. "It worked for Esmé. And Emmett, and Rosalie, and even Edward. None of them were in such great shape. Carlisle only changed them because it was that or death. He doesn't end lives, he saves them," she explained. I felt a sudden twinge of guilt about the good vampire doctor, like before. I shoved the thought away and started in on the begging. "Listen to me, Bells. Don't do it that way." I said.

Like before, when the call from Charlie had come, I could see how much difference it really made to me. I realized I needed her to stay alive, in some form. In any form. I took a deep breath. "Don't wait until it's too late, Bella. Not that way. Live. Okay? Just live. Do not do this to me. Don't do it to him." My voice got harder, louder. "You know what he's going to do when you die. You have seen it before. You want him to go back to those Italian killers?" She cringed into the sofa. I left out the part about how that would not be necessary this time.

Struggling to make my voice softer, I asked, "Remember when I got mangled up by those newborns? What did you tell me?" I asked. I waited, but she would not answer. She pressed her lips together. "You told me to be good and listen to Carlisle", I reminded her. "And what did I do? I listened to the vampire. For you." I added. "You listened because it was the right thing to do." She said. I shook my head. "No, Bella I did for you and only for you" I said.

She took a deep breath. "It's can't do that." Her gaze touched her big round stomach and she whispered under her breath, "I won't kill him", she said. My hands shook again. "Oh, I hadn't heard the great news. A bouncing baby boy, huh? I should have brought some blue balloons." I said sarcastically. Her face turned pink. The color was so beautiful - it twisted in my stomach like a knife. A serrated knife, rusty and ragged.

I was going to lose this, Again. "I don't know he's a boy," she admitted, a little sheepish. "The ultrasound wouldn't work. The membrane around the baby is too hard - like their skin. he's a little mystery. But I always see a boy in my head." She said lovingly rubbing her belly. "It's not some pretty baby in there, Bella." I reminded her. "We'll see," she said. Almost smug. I snapped. "You won't," I snarled.

"You're very pessimistic, Jacob. There is definitely a chance that I might walk away from this." She said. I could not answer. I looked down and breathed deep and slow, trying to get a grip on my fury, my heartbreak. "Jake", she said, and she patted my hair, stroked my cheek. "It's going to be okay. Shh. it's okay." She tried to pacify me. I did not look up. "No. It will not be okay. When you die-" I cut myself off unable to finish.

She wiped something wet from my cheek. "Shh." She whispered. "What's the deal, Bella?" I asked as I stared at the pale carpet. My bare feet were dirty, leaving smudges. Good. "I thought the whole point was that you wanted your vampire more than anything. Now you are just giving him up? That does not make any sense. Since when are you desperate to be a mom? If you wanted that so much, why did you marry a vampire?" I asked. I was dangerously close to that offer he wanted me to make. I could see the words taking me that way, but I could not change their direction.

She sighed. "It's not like that. I did not really care about having a baby. I did not even think about it. It is not just having a baby. It's... well... this baby." She said. I shook my head. "It's a killer, Bella. Look at yourself." I said gesturing to the mess, she had become. "He's not. It is me. I am just weak and human. But I can tough this out, Jake, I can -" I cut her off unable to take anymore. "Aw, come on! Shut up, Bella. You can spout this crap to your bloodsuckers, but you are not fooling me. You know you're not going to make it." I growled at her. She glared at me. "I do not know that. I'm worried about it, sure." She said.

"Worried about it," I repeated through my teeth. She gasped then and gently touched her stomach. My fury vanished like a light switch being turned off. "He kicked and it didn't hurt. Come here Jacob! Feel" I tried to protest but she grabbed my hand and forced me to touch her stomach. "Bella, I don't feel any-" I was cut off by a bump against my hand. I paused and looked down at my hand. The baby kicked again and Bella smiled her whole face lighting up with happiness.

I stared in wonder feeling content and at peace. I smiled softly as before my eyes, everything shifted and the image of Bella changed. I saw Bella, healthy and glowing, so different from now, but something the same: her body, not distorted, changed in a more natural way. Round with my child. She returned my stare, and I wonder if she felt what I did. I pulled my hand back and she yanked the fabric back in place. I tried to remember what I had been so upset about. "Bella," I said softly. I could not find the words to explain what I was feeling.

She heard the change in my voice. She looked up, still smiling, her eyes confused. "Jake I am not killing my baby," she said firmly I nodded. "You're right," I said. Just the thought of someone hurting her child sickened me. I do not know what changed but suddenly I could not find the strength to be mad at Bella.

She frowned. She raised one hand and touched the place where my eyebrows were mashing together. Her fingers smoothed my forehead for a moment while she tried to make sense of it. Her serious face turned confused. "What?" she asked. I could not look her in the eyes. "Can I feel the baby kick again?" I asked nervously.

Her face softened then, and she sank back against the pillows, looking at peace. She nodded and I reached forward and allowed my hand traced across her belly - "I'm so tired..." She mumbled the last part, and then her voice trailed off. Her eyes were closed. "Then go to sleep," I said worried. She did not seem to be listening; her hand made small circles on her battered stomach while she chewed on her lip. It was quiet for a long time. I wondered if the Cullens were very far away.

Were they listening to us babble about the baby. "What are you thinking?" she murmured. I flinched. "Nothing" I said. Then Bella got that curious look in her eye. "What exactly did Edward say to you earlier?" she asked in a low voice. "Nothing. He just thought you might listen to me." I said quickly.

Her eyes locked on mine, and I felt like I was hypnotized. It was silent for a few heartbeats. I finally broke the hold and looked down at my feet again, unable to meet her stare. When I looked up again, she was grinning. "Can you go get me some food from the kitchen?" Bella asked. "I'm suddenly feeling very hungry." She said surprised. I nodded rising to my feet instantly.

I came back with a bowl of beef stew that I had found in the fridge. Bella ate the bowl so I went and got her seconds and thirds. While she worked on finishing her third bowl, we sat on the on the conch, her feet in my lap, watching family Guy. After Bella finished her stew, I took the bowl back to the kitchen and brought her some water. She guzzled it down as if she had not had anything to drink in months. I was worried about her and the baby. I got her a jug of water and brought sat it on the table where she could reach it.

I went and got her an extra pillow from upstairs to make her more comfortable. Her feet were cold so I rubbed them while she relaxed and watched TV. I could not understand why I felt the need to do all this stuff or why I was worried about the baby but I was. "You know Jacob?" Bella said drifting off. "Hmm" I said. "I don't deserve you", she whispered. I was about to say something when I heard her snore. She was asleep.

I turned the TV off and debated what I should do. I got up and headed for the door. I was not supposed to be here anyway. I barely made it outside before I turned around and sat back down on the conch. I could not just leave her alone what if something happened. I turned back on the TV. When the Cullen came back, they looked around expecting to see some damage done to the house.

I barely glanced up at them. "Jacob?' I heard Edward call. I looked at him guiltily. I shook my head. I could not do it. Rosalie came over and growled at me. "Move it dog." She ordered.

She stepped closer to Bella and I stood in front of Bella and growled. Rosalie froze staring at me. I continued glaring at her baring my teeth. If she took another step closer, I would kill her. Rosalie sniffed the air then looked at me stunned. "Did you eat the stew Esmé made for Bella?" she asked. I shook my head. "No Bella was hungry." I said.

Carlisle stepped forward and I growled at him too. I did not know why I was growling at them. "Did she throw up or get sick?" he asked. I frowned. "She ate drank some water then went to sleep" I said. Rosalie tried to sneak past me to get to Bella. I waited for her to make her move so I could kill her.

"Stop Rosalie!" Edward ordered. Rosalie paused. I snarled at her. "Take one more step and I will slaughter you!" I said darkly. I could feel my body trembling but I knew I had it under control. "May I check on her?" Carlisle asked. I stared at him.

"Okay" I said stepping aside. Carlisle checked her pulse. "Her hearts beating better than before and she has color on her cheeks." He told Edward. Edward reached out to touch her and I caught wrist. Everyone stared at me shocked. Heck, I was shocked myself. I had not meant to do that. I let go of Edward and tried to control the urge to rip his hand off.

I decided it was time for me to leave. I opened the door to walk out when Bella gasped. I was across the room so quickly that I left skid mark on the floor. "What's wrong?" I asked. Bella shook her head. "I don't know," she said. I brushed the hair out of her eyes and Bella breathed deeply her tense muscles relaxing.

"What's going on?' I asked. I was confused. "I think the fetus likes you," Alice said. I stared at her as if she was crazy. "The baby does not like me." I said. Rosalie's head snapped up. "Did you say baby?' she asked.

I saw everyone in the room staring at me. "What exactly happened while we were gone?" Jasper asked. I shrugged but could not stop the events from playing through my mind. "You don't Bella to get rid of the baby." Edward stated. I looked away. "What?" Emmet said, "I thought you wanted her to get rid of it." Alice said.

I thought I did too. "Jake," Bella said holding her stomach. She was smiling "He's kicking again". She said. I smiled my whole face lighting up. I sat on the couch next to her and placed my hand in her belly feeling the kicking. I knew at that moment that I was not going to let them kill Bella's baby.

I turned and looked Edward straight in the eye. "The deals off!" I announced. Until Bella's baby was born, I was not going anywhere.


Authors note: this is my take on breaking dawn. there will be no imprinting on any babies in this story (sorry to disappoint some people). please review and Pm your thoughts. constructive criticism welcome. no flames please. if you have any ideas please feel free to share!