**Bella POV**

The ride to the boutique seemed to take forever. I fell asleep somewhere in the middle, only to be awakened by Esme when we were nearly there. "Wake up, Bella, we're here!" Esme announced loudly.

"How about you go inside and look for your dress, and I'll come inside when I'm all caught up on sleep?" I asked groggily.

Esme laughed. "Very funny, Bella, but you're coming in with me. Our appointment is for seven-thirty, and it's seven-twenty-five right now."

"Why did you need to get such an early appointment, anyway?"

"All of the other available times were after six in the afternoon, and we wouldn't have had enough time to find nice dresses then. The store closes at seven-thirty."

"Mom, couldn't we bring Alice here? She knows my size, and she can make adjustments really well. She would know exactly what to buy. Why did I have to come?"

"Honey, you let Alice dictate everything you wear. Leave this to the professionals."

"Alice is a professional."

"I'll believe that when she's a successful fashion designer living in a New York City penthouse. Now come on. We're going to be late."

The saleslady assessed Esme and me after taking all of the necessary measurements.

"We have some maternity wedding dresses," she said. "You can pick one that you like." She called another salesperson, who took Esme to the appropriate area of the store. "Now," she said, looking at me. "You would look good in a dark color, maybe blue, but definitely something tight along the waist. Come with me. We'll find a dress you like." Something tight? In October, that dress would have no chance of fitting me. What had I gotten myself into?

"My name is Denise, by the way," the saleslady said conversationally. "You would look best in a blue, definitely. Follow me, please."

The part of the boutique where the lady took me was covered in blue—fabric, dresses, patterns, mannequins, carpeting, walls, everything was blue. She showed me some dresses. They were all very pretty, and I would have loved to wear any of them, except they wouldn't fit me at the time of the wedding. Denise shoved a soft, silky dress with blue embroidery along the hem and neck over my head.

"Gorgeous," she breathed.

I could barely breathe in that. I could see that it did look beautiful, but it would have absolutely no chance of fitting in October if it just barely fit now.

"What do you think?" Denise asked.

"It's okay," I replied. "Just a little tight." Denise started going on about how that was in vogue, and how it looked good, and how it was supposed to be that way when I cut her off. "I don't want to wear something like this. I'd be afraid of ripping it."

Denise didn't argue after that. It was obvious that she venerated the dresses, and if I said that I might rip the dress she showed me, or spill something on it, she would put it back immediately, and then look for a new one. Eventually, she didn't even bother showing me anything long or extremely tight, but they were still tight.

I didn't know what to do. It was obvious I belonged in the maternity dress section with Esme, but what would she say when I turned up there? Maybe I should have just told her. Well, it wasn't too late. I might as well tell Denise, so that she could stop looking at tight dresses.

"Denise, I—"

"Look what I found. It'll look gorgeous on you!"

"It" was a long blue dress. It would be tight along my breasts, which used to be nonexistent, but were now visible. After that, it would fall loosely to the middle of my shins, approximately. One strap was a corsage of blue roses, and the other was a spaghetti strap. Alice could easily make adjustments to it in October so that it would fit.

"Do you like it?" Denise seemed confused by my long silence.

"Yes, it's...perfect," I whispered.

She looked relieved. "Let's go see if the bride likes it," she said, leading the way.

When we found Esme, she was wearing a floor-length white gown that was longer in the front than it was in the back. There were roses all over it, and the sleeves hung off of her shoulders, with two more spaghetti straps holding it up. When she saw what Denise was holding, she looked a bit disappointed.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"Yes, the color is lovely," Esme said hesitantly.

There was an awkward silence that Denise broke, by saying, "Look, your dresses both have roses on them. Maybe that could be your theme."

Esme looked grateful for the change in topic. "That's a great idea!" she said happily. "Yes, that's what I'll do. I'll just have to talk to Carlisle..."

"That's settled, then," Denise said. "Come on, we need to make final measurements."

As she looked at the dress, and measured areas that needed alterations, I was thinking about whether or not Alice would be able to fix it later. My phone started ringing after a few minutes. It was Carlisle.

"Hello, Carlisle."

"Hey, Bella, listen, Esme called a while back, and I was talking to someone about work, so I wasn't able to pick up. I tried calling her back, but I don't think she heard the phone. Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, but I can't go right now. I'm in the middle of a fitting."

"Do you have any idea what she wanted to say?"

"I can't be sure, but I think she wanted a rose theme for the wedding."

"I like the idea. Where did she get it, do you know?"

"Yeah. My bridesmaid dress and her maternity wedding dress both had designs with roses on them, and that's where she got the idea for the theme."

"Did you just say maternity wedding dress?"

"Yeah. She won't fit into a normal one when the wedding comes, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"She was pregnant. Isn't that why you proposed to her?"

"No! Who told you this?"

"Mom did!"

"Listen, Bella, I don't know what kind of a joke you're trying to play here, but it isn't funny. I'll see you when you get home. And when you see your mother, ask her to call me." With that, Carlisle hung up.

That was strange, though. Why would Esme tell me that she's pregnant when she really isn't? And why would she spend all of her time looking at maternity dresses when she wasn't pregnant? Most importantly, why did she lie? I needed some answers.

While I was waiting for Esme to finish with her dress, I called Alice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Alice, it's me."

"Bella! What's up?"

"Esme has me in some boutique looking for a dress for the wedding."

"What color? I'll get you some shoes to go with it!"

I rolled my eyes. "Alice, this is my mother's wedding .Let her do some of the work. Anyway, I called about the dress. Do you think you could adjust it, when the wedding comes, so that it fits properly?"

"Describe it for me. Material and length."

"The top part is made of satin—that part is only over my boobs, though—and the rest of it is made of that sheer stuff, like on Rose's dress for your party. I'm not sure what it's called. It's pretty long, about two or three inches below my knees."

"Anything else?"

"I don't know. How about I take a picture on my cell phone, and you can just look at that for anything else you need?"

"Fair enough. By the way, from your description, I think I could fix it up. It'll take a while, but it's doable."

"Thank you, Alice, I really owe you."

"So, where is your mother at the moment. Has she found a good maternity wedding dress. There aren't too many places where you can get those."

"You know, Alice, I was talking to Carlisle a few minutes back, and I mentioned that, and he didn't seem to know about Esme being pregnant."

"But that's ridiculous. Isn't that why he proposed in the first place? Because she was pregnant?"

"That's what I thought. It doesn't make sense."

"Maybe you should confront her about it. What do you think?"

"I want to talk to her, but I'm afraid that the subject of my pregnancy will turn up in the middle of all that."

"Yeah. But maybe it's time to tell her."

"Alice! What are you talking about?"

"It's been five weeks since the party, hasn't it? When my aunt was pregnant with my little cousin Cynthia, she went for her first doctor appointment at six weeks. Maybe you should go see a doctor, too."

"Alice, did you tell Rose the same thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Rose got pregnant at your party too. She didn't tell you that?"

"No. But I suppose she's more comfortable telling you, since you're now in the same boat. But are you sure it was at my party? Rose goes to a lot of parties."

"That's what Rose said."

"Wow. I should stop having parties. This is really unexpected."

**Carlisle POV**

Pregnant? No, that wasn't possible. Esme and I never did...well...anything of that nature. And I proposed to her because I wanted to. Not because she was...expecting. So where did Bella get that idea from? Thanks to Edward, I know that Bella's pregnant, and as a doctor, I have been keeping an eye on her, but there's only so much a surgeon can do. I have no experience with children, whatsoever. Even Edward was adopted. I stared at the cell phone in my hand, having just hung up on Bella. How could I have gotten into this mess? Esme and I never slept with each other....not in that way, at least.

"Dad, are you all right?" Edward asked me.

I returned my attention to the present. Edward and I had been fitted for tuxedos, and we were now looking for other items to wear at the wedding. We were fairly confident that Esme and Bella would use up the entire day shopping for dresses, shoes, and jewelry.

"Yes, Edward, I'm fine."

"I was wondering if you liked these cuff links. You said you wanted simple brass ones, and most of the ones here are either extremely elaborate or silver, except this set."

I examined the cuff links quietly, and I had to say I liked them. They were just brass squares, but that was enough to bring out the golden tints in my blue eyes. When people heard me say that I had golden tints in my eyes, they all thought that I was a freak. According to them, golden tints were for green eyes, like Edward's, thank you very much. However, I had been wearing a gold watch the day I met Esme, and she later confided in me that when she first saw me, she had thought that I was a god, because of how my eyes shone due to the gold in the watch. For our wedding, I wanted to bring out that same shine.

"Yes, Edward, these are perfect. Please ask the clerk to set it aside with all of our other things." He nodded and hurried off. Obedient boy. Except for the whole thing with Bella. I don't know what I'm going to do about that. Esme, well, she's more equipped to deal with the pregnancy since I am, since she had Bella. But Esme? How could she be pregnant of all things? I suppose there was only one way to know for sure.

I dialed her number on my cell phone, again, and this time she picked up. "Hey, Carlisle!" she chirped. "Sorry I couldn't pick up your call earlier. I was trying on a dress, and I didn't hear the phone. I was about to call you, actually. Bella sent me a text that you wanted to talk to me, so...why did you call?"

She sounded pretty excited, but I couldn't really be sure. People talked a lot when they were nervous too. But why would she be nervous? Unless...she actually was...pregnant.

Well, there was only one was to find out. "Esme...that dress you were trying on...that wouldn't happen to be a maternity dress, would it?" My voice was thick with implications.

Esme hesitated. "You heard it from Bella, right?"

"Yes. But why wouldn't you tell me? According to her, I proposed to you when I found out that you were pregnant, and we both know that that wasn't the case. I had no idea. How could you hide something like this from me? How could you even be pregnant? We never had sex!"

Esme sighed. "I know. But Bella doesn't. I was hoping that telling her that I was pregnant would convince her to tell me that she was. You see, Bella and I have always been very close, especially since her father was shot dead. And then we both started keeping secrets—me about having a boyfriend, and Bella about what really happened at the party. And I just...I don't know...I wanted that openness, that honesty back. And I was willing to do whatever I could to get it."

That was kind of sweet...in a twisted way...but I could see where she was coming from. "Esme, I personally think that you should have just talked to Bella. Lying to her will only make the situation more complicated when she finds out."

"I guess. But could you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Just...play along...with the whole pregnancy thing, until I can come up with a good way to tell Bella the truth."

"Okay, Esme. Bye. I love you."

"Love you, too."

**Bella POV**

Esme and I came home right before dinner. We brought a pizza, because Esme didn't have time to cook.

"Hey, you're home," Carlisle kissed Esme for a brief second. "Did you get everything done that you wanted to get done?"

"I did," I said angrily. "I'm going to call Rose. Don't disturb me."

I went in my room, only to find Edward going through my drawers. "What are you doing?" I snapped.

"I...um...I...wanted to know if there was...um...an ex-boyfriend of yours that I could...well...talk to."

"And why do you want to talk to one of my boyfriends? Did you decide you're gay?"

"No. It's just that...I think...it would be easier to talk to you if...I could talk to another guy who...um...knew you."

"And what's wrong with the school phone book? Or asking Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, or Jasper?"

"They all hate me."

"No shit. Just get out of my room."

"Couldn't you tell me about a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I never had any. My closest guy friends are Emmett and Jasper, because they are dating my best friends, Alice and Rosalie. Now get out." I pointed at the door.

"Fine." Edward looked annoyed as he left.

I picked up my phone and dialed Rose's number.

"Hey, Rose."

"Hi, Bella. What's up?"

"We went dress shopping today. Did you tell your parents?"

"They're never here. I don't think they'd care if I did tell them. Bella, that's why I think you're so lucky. You're worried that your parent will be mad at you, but the only reason they'll be upset is because they care about what happens to you. My parents are always going on cruises, or attending some kind of fancy party, that they barely have time for me. According to them, having a baby will be a good thing, because it'll give me company." I never realized that Rose's life was like that.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. I had no idea."

"It's not your fault, Bella. I'm just telling you to tell your mother, so that she can take care of you, the way my parents never did. And then things will work themselves out. You'll see."

"Rose, there was another thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"What?"

"Carlisle called me at the dress place today, and asked me to tell Esme to call him."

"There's nothing unusual about that."

"Wait, it gets better. I mentioned the maternity wedding dress that Esme's going to have to get, and Carlisle didn't seem to know that Esme was pregnant."

"But isn't that why he proposed in the first place?"

"That's what I thought. It doesn't make any sense, does it?"

"No. Maybe you should just talk to your mother. It's the only way that things are going to start to make sense again."

"I guess..."

**Rosalie POV**

After talking to Bella, I lay back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Everything was wrong. I had lied to her about the condom breaking. I had lied to her about not wanting to get pregnant. I had lied to her about everything.

The truth was, that I had never been loved the way I should have been. My parents left me and Jasper with a nanny for most of our childhood. As soon as we turned thirteen, they got rid of the nanny, and left us to stay by myself. I lived in this huge mansion, with no one else in it. I did all of the cooking and cleaning by myself, because Jasper was always with Alice, on the phone with Alice, or doing something on his own somewhere. It was a horrible life. By the end of junior year, I was so sick and tired of being alone, that I seduced Emmett at Alice's party, and made sure he wouldn't have time to get out a condom. I felt bad for using him like that, but I couldn't help it.

I mean, Emmett did love me, but he wasn't always there at home or anything, like parents were supposed to be, but a baby would be there. And I would be there for him or her, because I didn't want to be like my mother or father. And Jasper loved me, but he preferred Alice's company to mine.

I suppose I was romanticizing the entire concept of teenage pregnancy, but I couldn't help it. I needed someone to be there for me. It wasn't fair. I felt so ashamed of myself, that I hadn't told Emmett, Alice, Jasper, or anyone about being pregnant. And I told Bella that I was having a baby, but I was lying to her about everything else.

I just wanted a bit of love. It wasn't that bad, was it?