A/N- Thanks so much for your support on the first chapter! This chapter is a lot longer! Teehee. Thanks lots to my beta again!

Disclaimer- I do not, in any way, own the characters and/or plot in the following story. All Stepenie Meyer ). I just like to mess around with her stuff.

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Many things happened at once

Jasper stood abruptly, ready to fight at a moment's notice. In his mind he went over the memories from the battle not so long ago, recalling all the tactics and techniques the werewolves had used.

Alice frowned as she concentrated on seeing any sort of future for our family. With a slight groan, her fingers flew to her temples, caressing her over exerted head. She leaned her tiny body against Jasper, cursing the littledemoninside of Bella for giving her headaches.

There was nothing but challenge and anticipation in Emmett's eyes and mind; he was, as always, up for the fight. I'd call him immature, but oh, how I envied his optimistic ways.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and thought of nothing but protecting the thing. The gentle cooing she adopted within her thoughts, reserved only for it, was unfamiliar and in sharp contrast to the snarls she often used aloud to me these days.

Carlisle's thoughts were torn between worries and weariness, which was typical of my peace-loving father. His protectiveness for our family countered his distaste for violence, and it was clear that he wished for a peaceful resolution.

Esmé's anxiety was written on her delicate face, outlined so vividly by her protesting thoughts and regretful mourns.

Bella was the first one to speak, however.

"No!" She clutched against my stone cold arm in despair.

I crouched down next to her at eye level, my lips against her sallow cheek as I tried to distract her from the crushing reality, "Shh, my love, I won't let him hurt you."

"Why would Jacob hurt me?" She demanded hysterically, "As soon as he sees the state I'm in, he'd have no reason to attack you or anyone else."

I gazed into those foolish, beautiful eyes. How much longer will I have with my silly, naïve Bella? How many more hours do I have to be able to match my cold dead eyes to her wistful ones?

"The question is, Bella, will he give you a chance to explain before he challenges Edward?" Jasper stated softly, cringing inwardly – no doubt from the frantic anguish in Bella that was visible to everyone in the room

"All he's got to do is see me. Just see me, then he'll know. He'll understand." The look on her face reminded me avidly of a lost and confused kitten. She glanced between our faces, back and forth, lingering on longest on Alice's and mine. Both of our faces were twisted in expressions of pity and misery.

"No. This will end well. I know it." Her smile was anxious, but she gazed lovingly at the bulge that distorted her shape. "He will live to see the sun. He won't need to be hidden away from the world any longer."

I clenched my fist by my side, turning my face away from Bella before she could catch the dejection that consumed me. It always tore me apart inside when Bella spoke of that little…monster in that loving, hopeful way.

Yet, will she be around to see him? Carlisle's ejected flatness was foreboding. If my father did not think Bella would make it, how could I believe it? If only there was another way... Another means to fulfill Bella's wishes without harming her...

Ew. Wet dog. Rosalie's nose wrinkled. Shifting his weight, Jasper's shoulders hunched upwards, subconsciously preparing for an attack.

"Please, children, behave. Jacob is in a difficult situation right now, and plus, he's Bella's friend." Esmé lectured quietly.

"He's not feeling all that friendly, Esmé." Jasper retorted, tense for action. "I don't know if we can afford to be empathetic right now."

I was in deep thought, hovering above Bella's crouched form, my hands clenched by my side. She still looked horrible. Her expression was one of worry and guilt. Guilt was the last thing she needed or deserved right now. Why was she always killing herself over things she had no control over?

Yet there I was. I led her down the path to hell when I had the power to choose otherwise. Was there any other monster more hideous and less deserving than I was?

It wasn't until I heard his voice did I realize Jacob was in the room.

"I heard Bella made it back alive." Hostility and arrogance lighted his tone.

"Er, Jacob, it's not really the best time." It wouldn't be useful to have an enraged werewolf in our presence right now. Carlisle added silently, "Could we do this later?"

How could I possibly find a way to bring sanity into Bella's reasoning? It's precious to her, the thing. She did nothing but sooth us, trying to persuade us that nothing was wrong. Only that it, he, is just a little too strong... How can I watch this demon eat her from the inside out?

"Why not?" Bella's eyes were tortured as she laughed to herself without humour. "Are we keeping secrets from Jacob, too? What's the point?"

What is the point, indeed? Once he knows, he would be dying to kill me: that was for certain. What a quick way out. It's good that he came here before Bella...

"Come in, please, Jacob."

Before Bella gets too weak...

Before she gives birth.

Before she...

...Once I had seen him in pain. But this- this is beyond agony...

Before she dies.

I can only think of one thing that would make him look like that.

If there were any way to save my foolish Bella, any way at all, I'd give my life to make it happen. If there was a way to satisfy Bella's radical desires without destroying her soft, vulnerable body... I didn't want it to come to this conclusion. But it seemed like it was the only way to possibly get around her strange and absurd longings.

Now that Jacob was here.

Is that really her?

He could save her. He could do what I've failed at. He could father healthy children, normal and harmless children. He could give her everything. I was so wrong – so wrong in staying, so wrong in keeping her welded to me, so wrong for still being in her life when it was evident that all I can bring her is pain and danger.

I am not human.

I am a monster.

Rosalie leaned towards Bella's crouched form, protecting her from Jacob, when I was the one who she really needed to be protected from. I stared at Bella's pathetic form; my eyes burning with unshed tears, my forehead shining with unseen sweat. Bella looked so apologetic, almost like she felt bad for her predicament. My dead heart clenched. Could she really get any more fragile than this?

Seeming almost... bored, Rosalie caught Bella's vomit the basin, just like she has every half an hour for the past week.

She's suffering every minute of this life. And for what? A demon that a monster had given her.

I've never felt more human, more vulnerable this past week. I've never given in to such human emotions, human weaknesses, and human reflections. This time my knees gave out. I fell to the floor, gazing at Bella's green, sickly shape.

If it had been someone else, anyone else...

For the millionth time since I've met Bella, I wished I wasn't a damned creature.

"Sorry about that." I heard Bella whisper to Jacob when she was finished.

What did she have to be sorry for? Why is she doing this? Why can't she act like a normal person and blame me? Bella the giver, that's who she's always been. I've never hated it more. I deserved to be scorned, cast away. I deserved to be forever banned from her kind love.

Some sort of tortured noise escaped my throat before I could control it, and my head slumped against my frail wife. I felt her cold, clammy hand on my cheek. I flinched inside again. I didn't deserve her.

Oh no, you don't, puppy. Stay where you are.

Rosalie hissed like a protective lioness fending for her cubs as she darted between Bella and Jacob. He seemed to not even see the towering hostile vampire in his path and tried to step around her.

"Rose, don't." Bella muttered quietly, she sounded tired. "It's fine."

No it's not.

No, it wasn't.

It would be if she'd never met me. If I'd never existed in this life... If I'd died in 1918 like I was meant to, Bella's belly would be swelling beautifully with Jacob's child right now. There'd be happy laughter, photo albums, and trips to the clinic. Charlie could be involved with the family; there'd be no danger in Bella's life.

If it weren't for me.

"Are you alright?" What a useless question.

"I'm so glad you came to see me today, Jacob," Bella answered instead.

Why is that? Because you know you don't have much longer?

That same noise sounded again from my lips, muffled by the blanket that shielded Bella's body from Jacob's view. Bella habitually stroked my cheek. Her cold shaking fingers, gentle against my granite skin, were a shockingly similar temperature to mine.

"What is it, Bella?"

Was it possible? Was it possible for me to truly ask Jacob of such a ludicrous request? He might jump at the chance. But I have no time to be jealous right now; the only thing that mattered was Bella's safety. Nothing is more important than her being alive.

"Help me up, Rose?"

Not a chance. This isn't a good idea. The dog would just as soon harm the baby as he'd fetch a ball.

"Please, Rose?"

What if he agreed? What if it worked? What if he won the girl after all...? I knew the answer before I had asked. I'd graciously bow out of Bella's life, of course. But I'd never forget her. Not even long after she was dead. I'd follow her soon after, for a life without her existence is no life at all.

"No, don't get up..." Jacob cared for Bella. He did. That much was obvious.

It was not fair to ask the boy to contribute for Bella the same way as I do. As far as they go, Jacob was more than I could ever ask for as a protector.

He could do it. He could lead her into happiness. He could give her what she wanted. What she needed.

Somehow I found my face within the sofa cushions, my eyes staring at the small lined particles of the fabric, focused on nothing at all. My head buzzed, an ache I've never known to exist. My dead heart seemed to be pounding, but no blood rushed through my veins, for I am forever still. Forever cold. Forever unworthy of Bella's sweet, human love.

Anything to save her. Anything. I would give her over to the pup. For her sanity, her life, and her happiness, if she so chooses. She loves him too, after all.

I saw her just a month ago. There's no way she could be pregnant. Not that pregnant. Except that she is.

He'd do it, right? Why shouldn't he jump at the chance? I winced into the cushions, my mind picturing images that made my rigid heart stutter. I braced myself and clenched my fists tighter still, itching to destroy any solid object. For her. All for Bella, everything for Bella.

I did not remove my face from the sofa, yet I knew the room and its conditions so well. I could see it through everyone's eyes. I could hear Esmé's worries, Carlisle's concern, Alice's fear, Jasper's intensity, Emmett's focus, and Rosalie's fury.

Shock. Disgust. Worry. Anger. All the normal feelings. But will he take it too far? Werewolves are known to be unstable. Jasper tensed for Jacob's expected breaking point.

Oh great, not only does he smell like an animal, but he's another threat to the baby's safety. Rosalie's temper was bubbling out of control, as always. Everything lately has been about it; you'd think she was the one pregnant.

The reason she looks like this – so pregnant, so sick- is because whatever's inside her is taking her life to feed its own. It's a monster. Just like its father.

I stiffened; how true Jacob's thoughts were. He was the only one I could trust to see things as the way it is. To be unbiased. His hatred for me will serve as a great help when I want a way out of this miserable life. When nothing holds me to this existence any longer.

I always knew he would kill her.

In a flash, I was standing over the boy, staring daggers into his face. Did he not understand how much of any of this was unprecedented? How could I expect a child to understand the love I feel for Bella? To understand the anguish I feel to watch her waste away right before of my eyes?

For a moment, I wanted to tear Jacob into pieces. The one who shared Bella's love. The one who gave her pain, gave her joy that I could never give, and understood her the way I never can. Jealousy and fury consumed me.

"Outside, Jacob." I snarled.

He stood, glaring at me with the same hatred as I felt at that second. "Let's do this."

Emmett and Jasper, like true brothers they were, stepped up to defend my flanks.

Don't do anything rash, Edward. This won't help Bella in anyway. Emmett was suddenly the responsible one.

You know you'll just hurt her even further, Edward. Carlisle warned me, Calm down. There's no time for a fight. Don't give Jacob what he wants.

How right they were. And I wasn't, I wasn't going to fight him, of course not. This is as good of a time as any to discuss with Jacob what I needed him to do for me. For Bella.

"No," Bella stuttered and fell forward to catch my arm. Rosalie followed Bella like a protective mother, her black eyes furious and full of anxiety.

"I just need to talk to him, Bella," I stroked the side of her face with delicate care. Who knows if I can still touch her like this after this? "Don't strain yourself. Please rest. We'll both be back in just a few minutes." It felt like I was always pleading her to take care of herself now.

She contemplated for a moment, staring intently at me. I arranged my features to look non-chalant. After examination, she nodded severely and slumped back to the couch with Rosalie's help.

Bella caught Jacob's eyes and squinted meaningfully.

"Behave," she demanded, "And then come back."

He said nothing and followed me out the door.

A/N – More reviews please! There's going to be a chapter 3 on when Edward and Jacob have the talk. I'm not sure if I should do one on what the vampires in the other room is thinking while Jacob is talking to Bella, so give me some opinions!!