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I sat there on the plane bound for Seattle. We didn't have any more layovers left, and this was the last leg of our journey. I sat next to my husband there in first class, the man I loved with all my soul, the man I had committed to spending eternity with.

Then his words rang in my head, Don't be afraid. We'll be home in sixteen hours. You'll be fine. Carlisle will be ready when we get there. We'll take care of this, and you'll be fine, you'll be fine.

Take care of this. I knew exactly what he meant by that and it made my stomach churn. Warmth. Ohh, now that was odd. I didn't feel warm, it was just as if someone else felt warm. They didn't say the word- more communicated the feeling that I translated into warmth.

"Bella, are you alright," the quiet and now reclusive husband decided to speak to me.

"I'm fine," I wasn't about to tell him anything, I just needed to make it to Seattle then I would have Rosalie to help me.

"Liar."

"I'm pregnant Edward, yes I feel a little strange, cut me a little slack."

"You should eat something."

"I did, I ate lots of things, lots of strange things and I'm not hungry right now."

"You'll need your strength to make a shorter recovery."

So now my baby was not only a "thing", an "it", and "unnatural", now it was also a disease. "Edward, I'm really tired," that wasn't a lie, "can I just rest?"

"Sleep is good," he conceded. He wrapped a gentle arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. Edward loved me, I was sure of that more than I was sure of anything else in the world. I was not naive though, I've read enough books to know that sometimes men in love do horrible things to protect the ones they cherish. I trusted Edward, he was a reasonable and compassionate man, I would be able to get him on my side.

The plane landed and as soon as we were out of the terminal, I saw the Cullens in the distance. To everyone's dismay, it was Rosalie that I ran to. She took me gracefully into her arms. "It's going be alright Bella, I'm so excited for you," Rosalie beamed. She took hold of my hand and we walked with the rest of the Cullens behind us, following, still a little dumbfounded. I jumped into her car with Emmet driving and Edward in the back seat with me. By now Edward has surely figured out my intentions from Rosalie's mind.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Edward asked me with urgency.

"I want to keep the baby, Edward."

"It's not a baby Bella."

"How would you know! What if he is perfectly human, just growing a little fast? I understand that you're scared Edward, I'm scared too. Promise me you won't make any decisions prematurely, let's see what Carlisle says and then we will decide together."

Anxiety. Like the warmth sensation before, sure I was anxious, but this wasn't me. My heart was racing now, pulse pounding in my ears. Whatever fear I had was compounded by this pregnancy. Edward reached over and took my wrist, "Bella, breathe, relax, your pulse is racing."

I took a few slow, calming breaths and closed my eyes trying to reclaim my emotions. After a few moments, I did.

"It's not like you to panic like that," Edward commented, his voice soft. He was right, I'd never had a panic attack before of any kind. "Bella, we'll figure this out together," he said kindly. "I love you so much."

Joy. Pure joy. Edward brought me happiness, but I felt love and devotion towards him, this sensation was different. It was simple. It wasn't my reaction. It wasn't me. My eyes opened wide in my own realization as I reached a hand down to rub over my little bump. Somehow the life inside of me was communicating with me. They are going to think I'm crazy, I quickly decided. I would have to keep this information to myself.

Two hours later I sat in the study waiting patiently with Alice and Rosalie while Edward and Carlisle were in their makeshift lab. It had amazed me how quickly Carlisle was able to pull together all that medical paraphernalia. One of the spare rooms had been completely renovated in to a hospital exam room.

I knew that doctors weren't supposed to tend to their own family, but with the special circumstances of this pregnancy, we didn't have any other options. Besides, there were no secrets or privacy in the Cullen house, and I knew that was part of becoming part of this family, time to get used to it. Carlisle being my doctor, my OB/GYN in this case, was a necessity I accepted.

The doors to the study opened slowly as Carlisle and Edward walked in. They took their respective seats: Carlisle behind his desk and Edward beside me.

"Bella, right now all of your tests all came back fine," Carlisle began. I didn't miss that he was just referring to my health, not my baby's; that and he also only used the word "fine," no t "good" or "great".

"Unfortunately, I'm not able to give you much of any information about the fetus. You are definitely pregnant, the equivalent t of about six weeks I would estimate, but I can't be sure. The pregnancy is rapidly progressing, which posses risk to your health," Carlisle paused.

"Can you tell if the baby is healthy?" I asked him the most important question on my mind.

"Bella, first of all you need to understand that this is not a baby. This is not a human pregnancy, it is at least half vampire, maybe even more vampire than human as I suspect the vampire DNA would dominate. Your body is even making vampiric type changes to accommodate it, which furthers my assumption that the child is closer to our kind than yours."

"Carlisle, you didn't answer my question," I pointed out timidly.

"That's because I don't know Bella. I can't see anything on the ultrasound, and I can't get any samples or even feel the fetus in the womb. I don't think the fetus will be compatible with your body, I don't think you would be able to carry successfully to term."

"You don't think? Am I going to miscarry?" my voice cracked at the realization that I may not be strong enough to carry my child. Edward reached a hand around my shoulder and pulled my shaking body towards his body of stone.

"It is always a risk that you could, but honestly that's not my biggest concern. Bella, there is no way to put this lightly," he paused, "I don't think you'll survive the pregnancy."

He thinks I'm going to die, "but you don't know that for sure?" I argued.

"I took the freedom of reviewing your medical history," Carlisle half apologized.

"I don't have any secrets from you and I trust you Carlisle, that's fine," I figured it must be some sort of patient confidentiality he violated in doing so.

"You had a full physical just a couple weeks ago before your wedding," he confirmed as he pulled out some papers from a file in front of him. I nodded in response, it was the typical thing to do before getting married, though I couldn't possibly pose any health risk to Edward, I still did it.

"There are already signs of deteriorating health, Bella," Carlisle explained solemnly. "Your heart is working harder than it should, your blood pressure is high, you've lost weight, and muscle tone. It's very early on for such complications. In my professional opinion," Carlisle stopped and reached over desk to take my hand, "and as your father, I strongly recommend we terminate the pregnancy."

I didn't let go of Carlisle's hand but I moved my other hand from the chair's arm rest to the little bulge on my tummy. Fear coursed through me again, and I knew it was coming from that little bulge. Somehow my baby was connecting to me in a way I didn't understand. "What if I don't want an abortion?" I asked as I saw Rosalie step up behind me.

"That's not necessary Rosalie," Edward sneered. "Why are you even here?!"

"Because she asked me to be here, and she's afraid you might force her into something she doesn't want to do," Rosalie cracked back.

"Stop it now!" Alice shouted at them as I realized the tears were flowing down my face.

The room was filled with silence for several moments before Carlisle continued, "the longer we wait, the more dangerous the situation becomes; both physically and emotionally for you. It would be best if we just get it over and done now."

I let go of his hand and moved it back to the bump. The anxiety and fear doubled as it wracked my body made more potent and strong by my baby. I could feel my heart race against my ribs as a slight fuzz glazed over my eyes. Edward took my face in his hands as I squinted my eyes shut and clenched my fists trying to regain control. Calm down, calm down, no one is going to hurt you, I won't let them, just calm down so I can think. After what seemed like forever the anxiety slowly retreated and I opened my eyes to see both Edward and Carlisle kneeled in front of me.

"Can you take a slow deep breath for me Bella," Carlisle asked softly. I followed his direction and felt my head clear even more. Carlisle was holding my wrist and watching my face as I tried to compose myself further.

"That's the second time you've done that, only this time was worse," Edward pointed out but I wished that he hadn't.

"Pregnancy hormones," I blurted out.

None of them bought it, damn it! "Bella, look, we're not going to force you to have an abortion. That would cause serious emotional damage, beyond the fact that it is against oaths that I have taken." I could see the smoldering look that Edward gave Carlisle, but Carlisle just ignored it. "But I do have personal stake in your well being, I love you as a daughter and your continued existence has proved essential to Edward's. As such, I propose a compromise, for now: in one week you will be the equivalent of eleven weeks pregnant, we'll reevaluate then."