Bella's POV
I smiled against the warm skin of Mike Newton as he climbed into bed. It reminded me so much of our wedding night. Only now, someone was with us. Someone who couldn't be seen, only felt through the skin of my stomach. My little baby. Conceived seven months ago and on the way soon. I didn't know whether it was going to be a boy or girl, but I always thought it would be a boy. Mike put his arm around me and held me close. We both fell asleep instantaneously and I dove into the nightmares I had every night.
"You don't . . . want me?" I stare at him, confused by the way the words sounded together. "No." His voice was cold an unforgiving, his golden eyes were hard. He was leaving. I was staying. No. No no no no no. But yes. He had to leave. He had to leave so I could live a human life. I didn't want a human life. I didn't want any life that didn't include him.
My baby, my precious baby boy, forcefully pulled from my arms and taken away by crimson eyes and wild red hair, shimmering in the moonlight. This woman, ferocious and lethal, come to take the ultimate revenge on me. "Please!" I would beg. "Take me! Kill me! Not my baby! Leave him be! Please!" She would hiss and growl and disappear from my sight. I screamed ad cried out for the beautiful child to come back to me, but he was gone forever. Killed, probably slowly and painfully, by Victoria's hand.
"What do you want for breakfast?" I asked.
He turned and smiled lovingly. "You're up!" He leaped to me and kissed me gently. But something deep within me longed for a different pair of lips. I quickly diminished the thought. I love my husband. And Edward was gone. "Please, don't strain yourself, Bella," he said. "Just stay in bed for the next few weeks. I think it would be best for her." He touched my bloated stomach and I sighed. He thought our baby was going to be a girl.
I sighed. "I have to go see my father, though. My mother's coming down today. She wants to be here for the birth and since I could be due any time . . ."
The arrangement she and Charlie had made about the birth of the baby was sketchy. After seven months she was going to stay with him in Forks so she could be there when he was born. I wonder how that's going to work out.
"Let me give you a ride on my way," he offered, helping me up.
I shook my head. "I need to stretch my legs. I'm so stiff." I stretched and felt something pop, emphasizing my point nicely.
He groaned. "You're not walking all the way to your dad's. Come on, I'll take you. Get your bag."
I did as I was told and in no time, I was walking up the driveway and waving goodbye to Mike. Charlie pulled me into a gentle hug and Renee enveloped me in a squeeze that was as tight as she would dare. They surrounded me like I was a celebrity as I entered the house and took a seat on the sofa.
"Bella, can I speak to you in the kitchen?" my mother asked. I nodded and followed her. "So," she started eagerly as soon as we were out of the room. "How do you feel?"
I shrugged. "Like a big fat whale."
She giggled. "Please! You aren't half as big as I was! Have you been thinking about baby names?"
I smile. "Well, at first I wanted to name him Edward, but I know that won't go well with Mike, but I like the name Xavier."
"Is it a boy?" she squeaked.
I shrug. "I don't know. But I've always thought it was a boy. Mike wants a girl." I grimace.
"And what about names for a girl, just in case."
"I don't know, Mollie, maybe? Or Allie."
"I like Allie," she said, touching my stomach.
"So do I." Not for the same reasons she liked it though. I like Allie because it's a combination of Alice's name and Rosalie's, and it would be just a vague reminder of my former life. It was a sure-fire way to make sure I never forgot.
Three Weeks Later
"Ah!" I scream, wincing in pain. Mike quickly wakes up and turns on the light. "I think my water just broke!" I shout at him.
"Oh, no!" he shouts and jumps out of bed, pulling on a pair of trousers. "Um . . . okay, well, let's go to the hospital?" It sounded like a question.
"Hurry up!" I growl.
We make it to the hospital just as my contractions start and I'm wheeled into a delivery room. I'm screaming all the way and don't stop as at least three men in white coats surround my bed, talking some medical gibberish I couldn't understand.
"Get it out of me!" I hiss.
Mike flusters into the room in a coat and takes my hand, wincing as I squeeze it for dear life. The pain was excruciating; I could feel the thing trying to get out. I didn't the only thing I knew I should; I pushed. It was relatively quick, compared to how I feared it would be, and after three good pushes I heard the faint cry of a new life.
"Congratulations, Mrs. Newton," one of the doctor's, whose voice I now know belongs to Dr. Gerandy, say. "It's a girl."
I sigh as he wraps my daughter in a pink blanket and hands her to me. I stretch my arms out in front of me and grab onto her hurriedly, eager to see her face. They've wiped most of the blood out of her face but I still can't see her very clearly. Dr. Gerandy snatches her back to do some testing and clean her up and I'm wheeled into a different room with Mike and they wipe me don and change me into some clean overalls. It seems like a million lifetimes as I wait to see her, but it makes no difference as they bring her in, fresh and clean.
Just as they hand her to me, my mother and father, both eccentric and babbling, burst through the door. They take one look at me and Charlie turns to Mike.
"Congratulations, son," he says and smiles.
Renee can't take her eyes off the tiny girl in my arms. I follow her gaze and look down at her eyes. Her wide, chocolate brown eyes. her lips are full and her cheeks are pink. Immediately, I knew what her name would be.
"Allie."