A/n: Hey! So, welcome to volume two! I think this will mostly be centered on Renesmee's point of view. I feel as though Juliet had her time to be the main focus, now it's time for Renesmee. Not to mention gotta have those cute NxJ moments am I right or am I right? Eli xx

Chapter Two

Renesmee

Instead of school, I now spent my days in the lab next to Carlisle. We wore lab coats, sterilised our hands, and I always put my hair in a ponytail.

What we were doing was building an artificial womb. It was a very difficult process. Jasper had connections, so he got us the materials we needed. It was possible. We were determined to keep working on it until we died.

Charlie visited often. He had moved to where Nahuel and Tatiana lived. He was teaching Huilen, Tatiana and the others how to drink from animals instead of people. He'd also, I suspected, begun a romance with Tatiana. Jeez, lots of gossip happens when everyone leaves you in Oregon.

Tatiana also stopped in every day. She'd given up her obsession with Carlisle, rendering her completely more pleasant to talk to.

"I'm so tired, Lewis," I complained into the camera. It was 11pm, and around seven in Forks.

"What's he got you doing?" Lewis asked. I had him on a Skype call, sitting in my bedroom at my desk.

"We're running endless tests to make sure this womb thing won't reject the fetus," I rested my chin on my hand.

"So like, a miscarriage?" He wrinkled his nose. "That's so freaky."

"Yup," I tossed a frozen cherry into my mouth. "Really freaky. It's like a sci-fi movie. We're going to grow a baby in the machine."

"Oh, my god," Lewis laughed. "So you're going to have a cousin?"

"If it works, which I'm praying it will."

"This is really dangerous, Ren," Lewis sobered up. "Are you really sure you can handle it if things go sour?"

"I'm sure," I said, smiling. "I'm really sure. Now I'm just worried about Juliet. We're planning on being here a long time, and she doesn't really have a hobby."

"She'll find one," Lewis assured me. "She always does."

"Good. Hey, I got an early morning tomorrow so I'm heading to bed. Think you can convince your mom to let you visit this summer?"

"Yeah, I think I can do it. It was really nice of your grandparents to offer to fly me out," Lewis smiled back.

"Of course!" I chirped. "Okay, let me know what she says. Goodnight."

"Goodnight!"

We ended the call and I closed the laptop. Bella knocked at my door. I waved her in.

"You going to sleep, love?" She asked, running her fingers through my curls.

"Yeah, I'm tired," I yawned. Bella kissed me on the head and quietly closed the door. I crawled into bed and fell asleep immediately, lulled by the hum of the rainforest.

The next morning, I awoke sharply. I couldn't get used to my surroundings, and we'd been here most of June. The light in my room was a dim emerald green, filtered through the trees.

I got out of bed and pulled on jogging shorts and a grey t-shirt. In the kitchen, Edward was sat at the island counter with a book.

"Made you a fruit salad," he said, gesturing at the bowl on the counter. I popped a few grapes in my mouth and smiled in thanks.

"Where's Mom?" I asked, looking around.

"Visiting Charlie for the day," he said before pausing. "I'll admit I'm at a loss for activities… Typically I'll be exploring with Bella or… talking to Bella…"

We made eye contact.

"Um," I said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Are your studies going well? Do you need a tutor?"

"Thanks, but no thanks, Dad," I held up a hand. "Why don't you go catch up with Esme or play videogames with your brothers?"

"Good idea," he nodded. "Will you be in Carlisle's lab today?"

"Yep."

"Okay, don't work too hard, remind him you need breaks," Edward kissed my forehead. I was alone in the house, so I finished my fruit salad, washed the bowl and sat on the couch.

Okay, I thought, one hour until I have to be at the lab. I went for a quick jog around the compound, noticed that everyone else was still sleeping, had a shower and went to the main house.

"He's in the basement," Esme kissed my cheek. "Have you eaten yet?"

"I have," I told her. "Can you tell Juliet there's a note for her on the table?"

"Of course," Esme went back to the living room as I grabbed a pen and paper.

Jules,

Go to Alice's. Ask about her fashion label and see if she'll give you a job. You seem bored lately. I'll text you when I'm done work, we'll hang out!

P.S CALL LEWIS!

R xx

I left the note on the island and jogged to the basement, grabbing my lab coat and twisting my hair into a bun.

"Good morning, Renesmee," Carlisle was already deep in thought, staring at a slide. I washed my hands and dried off quickly, joining him at the desk.

"The machine is ready for a test fetus," he announced. "We have an issue, though."

"The issue being?" I asked, grabbing my notebook and a pen.

"We need to either find a way to extract an egg from the female's ovary or find a human donor with a similar genetic profile," Carlisle pursed his lips. I wrote down our options. I really didn't need to write it down, as Carlisle would remember it all, but I was going to document everything for both sentimental purposes and so I could accurately write a paper on the experiment.

"Could we use vampire strength to access the ovary and then use venom to heal it?" I offered.

"That is an option, although incredibly experimental and dangerous," he mused.

"We could attempt it on a small part of the body and then work up to the ovaries?" I said, writing down a section on 'rudimentary vampire surgery'.

"I'll run it by subject number one," Carlisle said. He was refusing to say "baby" or "Rosalie and Emmett". He knew that if this failed, everyone's hearts would break. He was refusing to make it real.

"I'll call and… set up an appointment," I took out my cellphone, walking away from Carlisle.

"Hello?" Rosalie said into the phone.

"Rosalie, it's me, your doctor," I rolled my eyes slightly. "Can you come to the lab any time soon? We have to talk, and bring Emmett."

"We'll be right over," the line disconnected. Less than two minutes later, Rosalie was knocking on the door.

I welcomed them in and sat them on two chairs. Carlisle explained what we would need to do in order to extract an egg from Rosalie, if it was even still viable after her long immortality.

They sat for a moment, digesting the permanent damage that could occur if the surgery was a flop.

"Do it on me," Emmett said suddenly. "Open up my stomach, poke a bit and close me up."

"Emmett, no," Rosalie grabbed his hand. "I can't put you through that just for my dream."

"It's our dream, Rosie," he told her. She covered her mouth, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Let me do this, for you and for our baby," Emmett whispered, leaning close. After a long pause, she nodded.

"Since anesthetic won't work on you, we'll have to do an awake surgery on you," Carlisle said. "I'd prefer to do it as soon as possible."

I almost glared at him. These were his kids we were talking about. Why was he being so insensitive and detached?

"We should use Jasper as an anesthetic," I countered. "He can make Emmett really, really calm, so he won't freak out when he sees his abdomen on the table!"

"Fine," Carlisle said, still emotionless. "Call in Jasper, run this by him, and then prepare my operating table."

Carlisle disappeared upstairs to prepare his notes. Emmett and Rose both looked to me.

"Has he been like this the whole time?" Emmett asked. "So robotic?"

"Pretty much," I cleaned up our slides. "He's just worried. Listen, it's nothing to worry about."

"You sure?" Rosalie stood up.

"Yep," I smiled. "I've got some calls to make, I'd estimate the surgery time for about an hour from now."

Rose and Emmett disappeared. I took out my phone and dialled Jasper.

"Hello?" Jasper's smooth voice already eased my heart.

"Hey, Jasper, we're performing a surgery on Emmett today, kind of like a test thing, and we'd like to use you as an anesthetic. Is that okay?"

Jasper laughed. "Emmett's a guinea pig? I'll be right over. Alice won't make it, probably, she's cooped up in the studio with Juliet."

"Good," I smiled. "See you in a bit."

Jasper arrived, and I briefed him on what would happen. He agreed to do the surgery with us. My uncle, or brother, or whatever he was, sat on the counter as I prepped Carlisle's operating table.

"What's got you bothered, Renesmee?" He asked finally.

"Nothing," I told him. "I'm just dedicated to my work."

"What's going on with Carlisle?" He tried again.

"Leave it alone."

"Alright, I won't pry any more than I have," he informed me. "But you can't lie to me, and I'm here when you want to discuss it."

"Stupid empath," I muttered, finishing the prep. "EMMETT! ROSE! CARLISLE."

The three entered the room moments later. We got Emmett situated on the operating table.

"Rosalie, you should go upstairs for the surgery," Carlisle said, not looking at her.

"Like Hell, Carlisle," Rosalie stood firmly where she was.

"You'll be too emotional," Carlisle ground his teeth. "And it'll distract me."

"We've got Jasper," Rosalie didn't move.

"It's okay, Carlisle," I told him. "Let's just do this."

Emmett, grinning like a madman, took his shirt off and tossed it to Jasper. He laid down on the table, patting his stomach.

"Open up the hood, right, Carlisle?" Emmett joked. Carlisle, who typically would have laughed, didn't flicker.

"Anesthetic, please," he said. Jasper fixed his eyes on Emmett, who became subdued and stared only at the roof.

Carlisle placed his hands on either side of Emmett's stomach. He dug his fingernails into the flesh with some effort, and, grunting, pulled it open.

My stomach churned as I saw Emmett open on the table. His organs seemed pale, almost lifeless, but they were there. Pink. His stomach was more red. It took a moment to process.

"His organs work, Carlisle," I peered at them. "They're filtering the blood he drank and converting it to power."

"It appears that way," Carlisle said dully. "Emmett, when was the last time you fed?"

"Last week," Emmett sounded loopy, peering at himself as best he could from his flat position. "That's me…"

"It is you, baby," Rosalie cooed, stroking his hair. "You're so healthy."

"Cool, babe," Emmett chuckled.

"Now I'm putting his sides together," Carlisle said, after extracting a few samples and setting them aside. I nervously held Emmett's hard, cold flesh together as Carlisle swabbed Emmett's previously gathered venom down the wound. It bonded, and I bandaged it so that the bond could solidify without being interrupted.

"It worked," Rosalie breathed. I held her hand under the table. I wouldn't let Carlisle see me being unprofessional.

"I need you to feed immediately prior to the surgery," Carlisle told her, checking my bandages. "To give us a better chance of collecting viable eggs."

After a while of monitoring Emmett, Jasper brought him back to clarity. He watched, alert, as I took off the dressing.

"Cool, I have a little scar," Emmett traced his abdomen and the small, puckered white line. It would likely fade until you could only see it in the light.

"When is my surgery, Carlisle?" Rosalie asked.

"Go hunt now, gorge yourself, and then we'll do the surgery when you get back," Carlisle waved a hand, putting one of Emmett's samples in the microscope. Rosalie and Emmett disappeared.

Jasper gave me a pointed look before disappearing as well. Carlisle was yet again lost in thought, looking over Emmett's slides. I sat down next to him and began taking notes as he dictated the findings.

My phone quietly buzzed with a text. It was sitting on the counter, so I peeked at the preview.

Juliet: Hey, it's lunch time. Where are u?

I wrote more notes as Carlisle spoke. My phone buzzed again.

Seth: Hey dork, come eat. Ur not invincible, need food!

"Carlisle, can I go eat lunch before the surgery?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yes, go."

I hesitated for a moment before grabbing my phone and heading out of the lab.