BPOV:

"Carlisle, it's time," Edward said.

"Wait, first…I'd like a moment with everyone. I have a few things to say." Everyone gathered around in the living room. Edward stood beside me, his fingers laced in mine. "I…um…thank you, all of you, for your support. You have been wonderful to me and I can't thank you enough for making me feel like family and for accepting me even though I'm different from you. I do have some favors to ask of each of you though, if it's not too much. I looked at Esme. "Edward will need your encouraging words over the next few days. Please be the excellent mother that you are and offer him as much of it as you have." She nodded. I turned to Jasper and Alice. "Jasper, I know this house will be filled with all kinds of emotions. I know it becomes overwhelming for you on occasion so, please, if it's too much…promise that you will leave and give yourself a break. Alice, you and Edward have a unique bond. He will share things with you that he doesn't share with anyone else. I know that you would do this without my asking, but please get him to tell you what he's thinking. And when you have visions of this coming out well, let him see them. Remind him that everything is going to be okay." They both nodded in agreement and Alice hugged me tight. "Emmett, this one's easy." I smiled. "If Edward tries to do anything rash, stop him. You're the only one strong enough." The next was the hardest. "Rosalie…" I breathed. Edward squeezed my hand encouragingly. "I know that you don't agree with my decision and I thank you for telling me your story. However, I love Edward more than anything and I have made my decision. Please try to understand. I…I would like to have your support."

"I will never understand, Bella, but I will try to be supportive of your decision. I realize we haven't had a great relationship, but even I can see that what you and Edward have is special," Rosalie responded. I sighed in relief.

"Thank you." I smiled at her. "And Carlisle…offer Edward your expertise in transformations and try to make this as easy for him as possible. I know that will be a challenge, but try." We exchanged hugs with everyone and Edward and I escaped to the bedroom. Carlisle followed us to offer assistance. The others left in case the scent of my blood was too much. I sat beside Edward on the bed and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Do either of you have questions?" Carlisle asked.

"I do," I spoke. "How many bites will there be?"

"Five," said Edward. "One on each wrist, one on the inside of each thigh, and, of course, one on your neck." I nodded my head in understanding, fidgeting with the hem of my dress.

"You're nervous," Carlisle observed.

"Yes, a little," I responded.

"Would you like something to help you relax?"

"No, it's bearable."

"Any other questions?"

"No," I said simply.

Carlisle turned to Edward. "You, son?"

"No." He exhaled audibly.

"You can do this," Carlisle responded. "I believe in you. I'll be right outside the door. Call me in when you're finished."

I lay down on the bed and Edward joined me, draping his cool arm across my chest. I turned on my side to face him.

"Bella, I love you. So much," Edward whispered.

"I love you too, Edward."

"I'm afraid."

"Edward…" I locked eyes with him. "I trust you."

"Thank youe," he murmured as he propped himself up on his elbow and looked me in the eyes. "Aren't you afraid at all?"

"Yes, of course I am. But not in the way you think. I'm just not sure what to expect and I'm a little scared of the unknown. I do want this."

"I know, sweetheart. So do I." He kissed my lips slowly but urgently. "Please try to remember how much I love you."

"Of course. I'll never forget that," I whispered, smiling. "Eternity."

"Eternity," he responded kissing me tenderly. He trailed soft kisses down my neck and stopped at the hollow of my throat. He kissed it softly and hesitated, letting an audible sigh escape his lips. Then I felt his teeth pierce easily through my delicate flesh, transferring the venom into my bloodstream. He took a few draws of my blood and I gasped stifling a few curses against the intensity of the pain, even though I was expecting it. Then he licked the wound closed. The venom was like acid burning through my skin.

"It…hurts," I said, whimpering.

"I know, Bella. Trust me, I know. I'm sorry, love…" he whispered.

"Don't be," I managed to say keeping my voice somewhat even. The remaining four bites were much the same. My skin and veins began to burn with the fire of Edward's venom. I could still hear his voice as he called for Carlisle to come back, though it sounded very distant. I heard him ask about my vitals and when Carlisle responded that everything seemed to be going as it should, Edward lay back by my side, placed his arms around me, and began to sob tearlessly.

"Son, she's going to be fine. Now we just wait," Carlisle reassured him. "I know this is the hardest part, but you did everything right. She'll be in the least amount of pain as possible, as far as these things go."

***

The fire started out small, concentrated on the entry wounds but quickly began to take over my entire body. Sometimes I heard screaming. It was my own. I tried to concentrate. Edward. I am doing this to be with Edward. Damnit I want to die! Focus, Bella. Edward. Sometimes I heard him. I tried to concentrate on him. It didn't help the pain at all, but it reminded me why I was enduring this torture.

"Bella, love, I have no idea if you can hear me. I just want you to know how much I love you. I hate seeing you in pain. Changing you was a very intense experience…so violent and yet so intimate. This will probably sound silly but I feel connected to you now, in a new way. This is the way it was meant to be. Your blood in me, my venom in you. Your blood was as intoxicating as I remember it; still I had no trouble stopping the frenzy. The memory of existing without you is so painful that I shy away from anything that could ever make me feel that empty again. It's a simple evolutionary process, really." I lost him there. I tried to come back to his voice but it was too far away.

Everywhere I looked, the flames were there. They were burning me alive! My legs, my arms, my chest, my face, all of me…burning! How long has it been? I can't take this any more! I heard more screaming and I writhed in pain. Then I felt something slightly cool touch my face. It didn't put out the flames, but it was just enough to distract me. Edward! It must be Edward's hand.

"Love….you…Edward," I said, although I'm not sure how coherent. My concentration didn't last long before the flames returned full force. Every cell in my body was ablaze now. I tried to run, but encountered only more flames! I heard more screaming and this time it wouldn't go away. Then I heard a new sound. Humming. My lullaby! Edward was humming my lullaby. I focused all of me onto that sound. That beautiful angelic sound. Oh how I love him. I thought about the first time I met him, our first kiss, his beautiful face on our wedding day, the first time we made love. I thought about what it would be like to make love to him when I awoke as a vampire. I wanted to see him. I tried to open my eyes but to no avail. I felt the fire grow rapidly in intensity. I knew it must be the end. I screamed once more and felt my chest rise off the bed. Then nothing, everything was black.

***

EPOV:

The last three days had been torture. I couldn't stand to see my Bella in pain. Especially not pain that I caused. Pain that I knew I couldn't stop. I knew that she wanted this. Hell, I were being perfectly truthful, I knew that the selfish part of me wanted this. But not then. Not when I saw her like that. She was being tortured and I couldn't stop it. I remembered the pain all too well. It was almost the worst pain of my existence. Second only to my leaving Bella. In both cases, I would have chosen death. Still, I would take the pain two-fold if I could be in her place…if there was some way around her having to endure the living hell. I kept reminding myself that we would be together for eternity after this and she would never have to feel pain again. I tried to take comfort in that fact.

The act itself was quite emotional. I was making her mine forever. I was giving her eternal life and at the same time, I was killing her. It was so overwhelming that, as soon as Carlisle told me that everything was progressing normally, I curled up behind her and wept tearlessly but openly. Normally, I would have been embarrassed that everyone could hear me, but at that moment, I didn't even care. After a while, Alice came in and placed her tiny hand on my shoulder. I thanked her for the sentiment.

I didn't know how much Bella could hear me, but I talked to her endlessly. Some moments were quiet, other moments her screams drowned out every other sound. Once, I thought I heard her whisper that me she loved me. How she could think about that given her situation, I would never know. Family members came and went, offering encouragement and sympathy. Jasper even offered to shield some of the tension and anxiety, but I politely declined.

Carlisle came in and told me I should be prepared for her final heartbeat. He told me how difficult it was for him the first time. How difficult it was for him to hear my heart pump its last strained beat. It was, no doubt, be hard for me. I had become so attune to her heartbeat, I could pick it out in a crowd full of humans. For so long, it had been music to me. A reminder that she was real and that she was alive. That would soon be gone. I listened as it grew painfully slow and I began humming her lullaby. Her heart struggled as it squeezed the thick venom and pumped for the last time. Her body writhed and her chest rose off of the bed as she let out her last scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to die. I wanted to pull the bedroom door off its hinges and throw it angrily through the window. Carlisle sensed my tension and told me to be strong. He told me that she needed me now, so I continued to hum.