Penny: *waves* Due to a message we received from one of our wonderful readers kat4543, we've decided to repost this little ditty :)

Lisa: Yes indeed! Unfortunately the story was removed during the last purge, so we've decided to repost 2 chapters per week until we catch up. UPDATE: WE'RE POSTING ALL 46 CHAPTERS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS UNTIL WE CATCH UP, THEN AS SOON AS CHAPTER 47 IS READY IT WILL BE POSTED AS WELL

Penny: I want to thank Kerrfrano for prereading, and Harrytwifan for betaing. They do a wonderful job. Unfortunately, Lisa and I do not own Twilight.

Lisa: Nope we sure don't. Thanks ladies for all your help on this! So without further ado, we hereby present you with our little story (again lol). Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1

JPOV

My mind was numb. The contrast of life and death in the room was too much to handle. I was holding a tiny, naked, squalling bundle of life in my hands and my sister, my confidante and best friend, lay dead on the bed. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what happened. One minute, she was pushing for her life, and the next? Gone.

Her doctor had warned me that she was weak and fading, but I refused to believe it. I honestly thought she could pull through it. Evidently, I was wrong.

"Mr. Hale?" a voice sounded next to me, and I was jerked back from my thoughts. It was Nurse Eve, trying to take my nephew away from me. Instinctively, I held him close to my chest, not even caring that I was getting messy.

"No," I mumbled, needing to cling to what life remained of my sister.

"Mr. Hale, I need to clean him up, then you can have him back. I promise."

Reluctantly, I gave the infant to her, pleading with my tear filled eyes to hurry. She gave a small nod and took the baby to the other side of the room. Slowly, I walked to Rose's bedside and pushed her hair away from her face.

"I'm so sorry, Rosalie," I whispered. "I'm just...so sorry..."

And I was.

I was sorry for so many things that I didn't know where to start.

For not being there for her when she told me, unexpectedly, that she'd gotten pregnant after a night out with her friends.

As I stood by her side and wept, unable to contain the sadness residing deep within my soul, I barely managed to remain upright. Muttering incoherently under my breath, the shock raw, my voice was already cracked as exhaustion threatened to take hold.

It was then that one question after another began to roll through my head.

Why?

How on earth could a healthy twenty-six year old just up and die like that?

And as the flurry of activity continued on around me, there she lay, looking as though she was asleep rather than gone.

I once again reached out to touch her, to stroke her cheek, and oh my God, she was still warm. I wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her to make her wake up. In my mind, I could see myself doing just that. But I knew it wouldn't work. I knew it was too late. I had watched when the doctor and nurses tried to revive her while I stood, in shock, holding the child I now wanted back in my arms. He was the only piece of Rose I had left; I needed him.

The baby's cries in the room had calmed down, and I glanced over to see Eve walking back over with a tightly wrapped bundle in her arms. "Here you are, Uncle," she said with a sad smile, and laid the baby gently in my arms.

Staring at the tiny face, with his scrunched up brow and tightly closed eyes, I felt tears threatening again. My perfect little nephew had Rose's nose. She would be so proud right now.

Suddenly feeling weak in the knees, I quickly found the chair closest and sat down, being careful not to jostle my nephew. There was so much to think about. I needed to call our parents. The baby needed a name. I had to fill out a birth and death certificate. It was too much, too fast.

My breathing picked up as panic threatened to overtake me. Luckily, Eve saw me and rushed over, just in time to take the baby out of my arms so I could put my head between my knees and breathe.

"Oh, God!" I cried as the tears continued to flow relentlessly, while Eve stood there, waiting patiently, rocking my nephew in her arms.

The staff left the room quietly, and the soft cry of my nephew caused my heart to wrench.

"I think he could be hungry. Would you like me to go get a bottle for him?" Eve suggested in a soft, caring voice.

Sniffling and wiping the tears from my face with the back of my hand, I inhaled deeply and looked up at the nurse, the tiny bundle she held in her arms bringing me back to the here and now.

"Sure," I answered, still sobbing, breaths shaky as I tried with everything I had to calm myself.

As much as I wanted to give up, I knew I couldn't. Not when my sister's child needed me.

"Here," she said, placing him in my arms without hesitation before slipping out of the room, and leaving me alone with the two most important people in the world.

"Hey," I said as I stared at him in shock and awe, taking in every inch of my nephew. Skin alabaster, his deep auburn hair stuck to his head in a jumbled mess, while his eyes were as dark blue as the deepest of oceans. He was so beautiful.

Glancing from the child to my sister, I said, "Rose, you had a fine son. He looks like you a lot. His hair is dark, though, a pretty reddish brown." Pausing, I wiped my eyes with my free hand. "I know Ma and Pa are too old to take care of him, so I'm gonna do my best."

Cuddling the baby closer, the tears came more freely. "He is so warm and soft, Rose. And he smells good. God, you would have fallen in love at first sight."

Unwrapping the blanket, I counted ten fingers and ten toes, and breathed a sigh of relief. "He has ten fingers and ten perfect toes, too."

It was in that moment, I stood to my feet. Gently placing my nephew on her still and non-breathing chest, his cries ceased in that moment, and I vowed, "I promise I'll never let anything happen to him, and I'll always be there to protect your son as though he were my own, and guide him throughout his life, no matter what."

A sympathetic Eve walked back into the room, bottle in hand, and I swaddled my nephew tightly then brought him into my arms before placing a soft kiss on his forehead, wordlessly promising him I was always...always going to be there.

We would love to know what you think! See y'all next time!

Lisa and Penny