Watching "Stepmom" with my hubby and the man-child brigade. Fun stuff.

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EPOV

"Bye guys." I waved to Rosalie and Alice as they left Bella's room just as I was coming in. "Emmett's waiting in the car to take you home."

"Thanks, Edward. See you tomorrow." They waved and I walked into Bella's room to see her standing motionless in front of her floor length mirror.

"Hey, love. I got your ho-ho's." I waved the box of Hostess snacks around and Bella whirled around, her arms wrapped tightly across her baby bump. "Is….is something wrong?"

"No. I just, uh, felt the baby kick." She said eventually, dropping her hands to her sides.

"Really? That's amazing!" I smiled and put down the box of ho-ho's. 'Does it feel funny?"

"Yeah, I didn't even realize what it was until the third or fourth time." She blushed, and looked up at me through her eyelashes. "The baby is still kicking….you can feel it. If you want, I mean. You, um, don't have to if you-"

"No, Bella. I would love to feel it." I said earnestly, dropping to my knees and hesitantly bringing my hands to her stomach. Sure enough, when I put slight pressure on Bella's stomach, I felt a small kick. "Wow. This just makes it so….real, huh?"

"Yeah, because the morning sickness and fat stomach didn't make it real at all." Bella said softly, and I moved my hands from her stomach to her beautiful face.

But this was the first thing to make the baby totally and completely real for me. I didn't experience the things Bella did with our child; I didn't get that bond mother and child form in the womb. Feeling my son or daughter kick was a big deal for me. But it wasn't my son or daughter. As soon as all the paperwork checked out, this baby would be Carlisle and Esme Cullen's child, not Edward and Bella's.

And that was what was best. I wanted my child to have everything under the sun. And while Bella and I couldn't provide all those things, the Cullen's could. And they would.

BPOV

"Esme? This is Bella Swan. I just wanted to see if Edward and I could meet with you and your husband again…..yes, that would be fine. We'll see you at two. Alright, thanks." I hung up the phone and Edward gently stroked the hair from my face.

"What did she say?" Edward asked, taking the phone from my hand and setting it down on the couch.

"We're going to meet them at their house tomorrow at two to finalize things. Their lawyer will be there and we should have either your mom or one of mine come with us. And….that will be it. When the baby is born, it will go to them." I said, shifting my feet and leaning back onto Edward's chest.

"You alright?" He asked, a line forming between his eyebrows.

"Yeah. I've just been thinking about all the things we'll be missing." I admitted. Edward chuckled and ran his hand up and down my stomach.

"I've thought about that too. It's hard, isn't it? Knowing we won't be the ones to watch the baby grow up?" His voice was low and thoughtful.

"Yes. But we can always have that later. When we can actually support a child. When we can actually take care of ourselves, not to mention a little, helpless, innocent child." I sighed, burying my face into the crook of Edward's neck and inhaling the delicious scent that came with the man I loved. The man who loved me too. Enough to give up his child, because I had wanted it.

He knew that it was me or the baby. He knew that I didn't want this child, and that if he took it in, he would no longer have me. Because, try as I might, I couldn't be a mother to this baby. It didn't seem remotely possible.

And although I would resent myself until the day I died, I knew that Edward would always love me.

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Before you ask, YES they are giving up the baby. At least at this point. I have to go….movie night has officially kicked off. We're thinking of doing a Susan Sarandon marathon. Yeah. Five guys and one woman, and they were the ones to vote Susan Sarandon. I voted on watching season 1 of Scrubs.

Xoxo- Melodyella aka Mellie