Stephenie Meyer owns everything. I own none of these characters at all. I'm far too cheap.

Prologue

"Is there anything you're keeping from me that you'd like to tell me?" I asked him in a sleepy and dazed sort of voice.

"No, nothing I can think of," Jacob replied back to me, his mind clearly going to the place of dreams.

"Are you sure?" I pushed, feeling that there really was something that needed to be said. He softly kissed my forehead and nuzzled me under his chin, stroking my hair softly with his hand and then wrapping me up into a tight, secure hug.

"Just go to sleep, Bella. There's nothing that you don't know."

I let my eyes close as I flashed brief memories through my head, trying to choose something to dream about. I went through many memories, fishing for a happy one. Meeting Jacob, our wedding day, when we found out we were expecting, the birth of Claire, all of Claire's milestones, the second positive pregnancy test--I paused to rub my engorged abdomen, which poked and prodded as I did so. I thought about the future a little bit and began feeling my body fall into a deep sleep, bringing the night's dream to my mind. It was nothing I thought of and nothing I'd ever imagine.

I was walking through my house, but I was also watching myself walk through the house. I figure this is as close as you could get to a out-of-body experience. I stopped in the living room and saw the toys strewn across the floor. Blocks, stuffed animals, balls, all just thrown about like a whirlwind had come through. I highly assumed the whirlwind was named Claire and she was taking a nap. I shook my head at the sight, wondering why Jacob couldn't just pick up a few things.

I turned into the kitchen and saw the kitchen sink was full of dirty plates, the trash needed to be taken out, and there was food left out on the counter that needed to be put back into the refrigerator. I sighed. None of the cleaning would get done around here if not for me.

I hope Jacob appreciates the things I do for him, I thought.

I put the food back into the refrigerator and continued walking through the house. I walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the first door.

I slowly and quietly opened the door to the bedroom and saw my assumptions were correct. Claire lay there in her small bed, still and serene, breathing in rhythmic intervals. There was no telling what her little mind was dreaming about.

As I turned and began walking through the door way, doorknob in hand preparing to slowly latch the door, I heard a noise from behind the door further down the hallway. Jacob must be in there watching television. I was wondering where he was. I walked to the door and stopped dead in my tracks. There was another voice from behind the door. A woman's voice. And the television wasn't on.

I threw the door open and saw what was happening in my own home, in my own bed, but it wasn't anything I wanted to believe. Jacob was laying there, fully nude but covered with a blanket, with a woman beside him. The woman was fully nude, smoking a cigarette, and her face was glazed over in shock. Jacob, his face awkwardly looking like a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, began sputtering over himself, trying to get words out in the form of an explanation.

"I--I--Bella! What are you doing home? You're not supposed to be back for another hour. I didn't think you would be here!"

As I tried to speak, I realized my jaw was frozen in place, dropped almost to the floor. I knew my face had to be as glazed over as his. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I composed myself enough to talk. Surprisingly, it was calm and not a shrieking fit.

"I got bored walking around and decided to come back home. I thought we could put Claire down for her nap and spend some time together, but I see you're busy--" I trailed off.

I realized there was salt water on my lips and my vision was blurring. I touched my cheek and felt the small stream of moisture. I was crying.

I looked at the woman who was on my side of my bed. She put her cigarette out in a black, plastic ashtray she must've brought to the house, it looked new with only a few cigarette butts in it, and grabbed a new one from the pack that was sitting near the ashtray and lit it. Misty Menthol Ultra Light 100s. She looked at me and I realized that I couldn't make out the true features her face. No matter how blurred my vision was because of the tears, no matter how clear I could make my vision if I stopped crying, this woman's distinguishing features were unclear. I supposed it was better that way, that I never really wanted to know who this woman was. Despite not being able to make out her face, I could tell that there was a look of accomplishment on it. She opened her mouth to speak, and a grin of satisfaction slipped from her lips.

"You see," she said, "he was never happy, not with you. Maybe you should learn the things I know. Maybe you should learn how to keep him happy. That way you know who he's laying with each night. I mean, he's absolutely great, far better than my husband, but I have a husband to keep happy, too. I can't keep coming around to please yours."

She took a drag of her long cigarette and the smell of the smoke burned my nostrils. I couldn't move. I just wanted to turn and get Claire, hop back into the car, and just drive away, but my feet and legs were frozen. All I could do was stand in place and sob as I felt the burn of her eyes bore into me, full of glee, excitement, joy as she was reveling in someone else's pain aside from her own. Like her void was being filled the more I cried. I tried to compose myself as Jacob tried to explain.

"It hasn't been going on that long at all. Just a couple times, I swear it. You know I never meant to hurt you. It's just that…well, with you being pregnant you're always tired and I have some needs that you're not wanting to fulfill."

I jolted my head up from my hands.

"YOU have needs?!" I yelled at him. "I cook for you, I clean for you, I do EVERYTHING for you so that you can come home and sit on your lazy ass and not do a thing and you're going to tell me that YOU have needs that I don't fulfill?! What about ME, Jacob!? What about the things I want? What about the things I need?!"

I collapsed to the floor, shaking violently, and he slowly began making his way to me.

"Don't you come near me," I spit through my teeth at him. "You're nothing but a little boy when I thought I was getting a man. Boy, was I wrong."

Jacob sat on the bed, still as a statue. He watched me as I began violently shaking in ripples from sobs again and began to get up. The woman put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"She doesn't want you, remember? That's why you have me. I can make you happy the ways she can't. I'm what you want. She's nothing."

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Hope you enjoyed! And mucho thanks to my counterpart, my Alice if you will, KristineMcCarty.