A/N: Apologies in the delay in updating, thanks as always for the lovely reviews and favouriting :) This one's Rosalie's POV, enjoy!

"Rose" called out Bella's voice to me.

I immediately made my way to Bella's side. She was sat on the sofa, her knees drawn up against her chest, her face rested on top of her knees, rocking back and forth. It was painful to see Bella in such a state, so drawn and lifeless.

"What is it?" I asked, kneeling before her so I could see her face.

Edward was out hunting with Jasper and Emmett again, yet again we'd had to practically push him out of the door to leave Bella, I'd taken Edward to one side and assured him I'd take care of Bella for him, eventually he'd relented and left.

"Are Alice and Esme out?" she replied, bringing her face up to meet mine. Her face was a sickly grey colour, devoid of the blush Edward loved on her so much, her eyes were heavy and the bags of tiredness fell underneath them.

"Yes, they've gone into Forks to 'stock up'" I said, making quotation marks with my fingers as I said the last two words.

Bella nodded.

"Carlisle?" she asked.

"At the hospital, he'll be back in an hour or so"

I was confused why Bella was so concerned with the whereabouts of the rest of our family.

"Bells" I started, but she cut me off.

"So it's just us?" she asked.

I nodded to confirm.

"Rose I know we haven't always been the best of friends, I know there was a time even when you hated me".

Guilt washed over me and I opened my mouth to speak but Bella shot me a look that clearly warned me not to continue.

"It's true Rose, I saw it in your eyes that night when James was tracking me, when Edward asked you to wear my clothes, you were disgusted by the idea. I saw the hatred in your eyes for me, for what I was doing to your family".

Sadly I was as guilty as charged on that point, I remembered that night so clearly. Bella was just a parasite sent to destroys the bonds we had fought so carefully to build. Until Bella's arrival in Edward's life we Cullen's had never been so divided and then with her it looked like we might lose each other. Carelessly and selfishly I had made my anger towards her transparent, apparently too transparently if she still remembered that night. I hadn't understood at the time the ties that bonded Edward to Bella, she wasn't just some floozy high school girl, she was the other half of him, just like Em. Sadly it took me too long to reach that realisation myself, with disastrous consequences in the meantime. I wanted to say something, to apologise for my past actions, but I sensed Bella wouldn't allow me to, not whilst she was trying to tell me something.

"I don't blame you" she continued. "For how you felt towards me, I've put you all through a lot, if it wasn't for me-"

"None of us mind" I admitted.

"Even you?" she asked curiously.

"Even me" I replied. " It may not have seemed it at the time, but deep down I didn't mind. It was hard at first I admit. In you walked into our lives and everything changed, it was difficult for me, more so than the others, even Jasper accepted you before me."

"But you have accepted me?" she asked, her eyes widening with an emotion I couldn't quite place, fear perhaps?
I nodded instantly.

"It took me longer than the rest of them, and I may not be the best at showing it, but yes I have now, you're as much a part of this family to me as Alice or Esme" I replied truthfully, putting as much sincerity into my words as I could to try and put across just some of my remorse for my past actions.

"That means a lot Rose" said Bella giving me a weak smile, all she could muster in her condition. "Really it does."

I was scared, why was Bella asking me all of these questions. What did any of it matter now? That was all in the past, at least I hoped it was. Ever since Bella had phoned me from her honeymoon and told me she was pregnant everything had changed in regards for my feelings for her, they had changed before that of course. Everytime I saw the smile she brought to Edward's face I softened towards her that bit more, contrary to common misbelief I wasn't quite the ice queen people thought I was, even I was touched by Bella and Edward's devotion to one another.

"Why Bella?" I asked, unable to bear the suspense any longer. "Why all the questions?"

"There was a reason I phoned you Rose, instead of Alice and Esme. You were the first person I thought of to phone, by rights it should have been either of the other two. I've always been closer to them, but it was you I phoned. Do you want to know why?".

I nodded, I thought I knew the answer but I wanted to hear the words from her own mouth.

"Because I knew only you would fight my corner. I've heard everyone's stories of how they hame to be vampires, and only yours sticks in my mind. What you had to go through, what you gave up. It helped me understand you a lot more, why you were so opposed to me joining you all, you reminded me of all the human experiences I'd be giving up".

She brought her legs back down so they swung off the edge of the sofa, and gently stroked her stomach.

"I didn't know what Alice and Esme would say if I told them, I feared they'd react like Edward, but I knew there was one person who would fight for me, and more importantly, fight for my child. I knew it would no longer matter, what happened in the past, I knew the moment I told you this that would all be forgotten, that this would take priority over everything else. I'm living your dream Rose, being pregnant, to be a mum, I know that's all you ever wanted. I wish you could live this too".

Me too I thought, I knew Bella was in pain, growing dangerously weak, but still I envied her. I envied her body for what it was able to do, being able to carry a child. I'd still trade all my tomorrows for the one mortal gift.

"I knew I could rely on you, to fight for me when I couldn't, against Edward, because you want this almost as much as me" she continued rubbing her belly in gentle circles. "This means almost as much to you as it does to me, and unlike him you have less to lose".

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"I know Edward doesn't really want this" she admitted. "It's written all over his face, his guilt, I wish he could see it was the gift I do, but he won't. All he cares about is me, my pain."

"That's because he loves you" I pointed out. "He hates seeing you in pain, we all do".

"I need you to promise me something Rose" said Bella, reaching her hand out and wrapped it around my own. I could feel the throbbing of her veins against my cold hand, so warm to my touch, I focused on Bella's face to divert my mind.

"Anything" I promised.

"Anything?" she repeated.

Suddenly I had this pit form at the bottom of my stomach, what was it Bella wanted me to promise her?

"You love this baby as much as me Rose, you have from the very beginning, when the others wanted me to get rid of it, you fought for me, for it, and that means more than I can ever tell you. I'll always owe you for everything you've done for me in the past couple of weeks. There's no need to feel guilty about the past now, it's all forgotten".

She smiled at me again, the suspense was killing me, I was desperate to know what this promise she wanted me to make her was.

"I'm trying to be positive Rose, it's the only way that I'm going to get through this. But I know. I know the odds are against me, I see it in all of your faces, everytime Carlisle examines me I see his face fall, Edward can barely look me in the eyes anymore".

Her voice began to break slightly and her eyes filled up with tears. She paused and in took a deep breath before continuing.

"There's a good chance I'm not going to make it out of this alive Rose, and don't tell me there isn't, I can hope and pray but this baby's stronger than me and needs more than my body can give it. As the baby grows it's only going to get worse, I know that, the pains going to increase and there's only so much more my body can take".

I wanted to make her stop, stop tormenting my mind with images of her even more helpless than now, pain written all over her face, worse than what she was in now, it was unimaginable.

"Edward's going to want to save me, at whatever cost. Carlisle will do whatever he wants. But I don't want them to".

Her voice broke completely now, and the tears fell freely down her cheek, I held her hand tighter in mine.

"Promise me Rose, that whatever happens to me, protect my baby, I don't care about what happens to me. The only thing that matters is this baby, you're the only other person who understands that, the only person who will do this for me."

She looked straight into my eyes, such pleading in her own.

"Bella", my own voice was barely a whisper, heavy with emotion. "You can't ask me to choose your child's life over yours, I can't do that".

"I'm not asking you to make a choice Rose, when the time comes, that choice will already be made, there will be no hope for me but you can help my baby, none of the others will want this as much as you, you're the only person I trust to look after my baby" she replied.

"Look after it?" I repeated, dazed.

"If I'm gone, it won't be long before Edward follows, I know that."

She squeezed my hand tighter.

"And that baby will need someone to look after it, to love it as much as I would have, and like I said you're the only person that I trust to do that, you and Emmett".

I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. It had always been a dream of mine for me and Emmett to be parents, but I knew logistically that would never happen, and now here was Bella practically giving me that opportunity and I didn't want it, not in the slightest.

"I know you'd be a great mother Rose, I see that in the way you've been looking after me, you know what I want before I do, how you watch over me until you know I'm asleep, defend me when I can't, that's everything a mother should be, everything I want to be as a mother. And if I don't get that opportunity then it should go to someone who wants this as much as me".

"I don't know what to say" I said, overwhelmed by what Bella was saying.

"You don't have to say anything, just promise me. Promise me that you will protect and love this baby above anything and everything else, that's all that matters now."

I didn't want to promise her anything, promising her would make it all so real. It would make Carlisle's predictions all too true, the painful prospect of losing Edward and Bella a reality. I loved the pair of them too much to even think about it. Edward may have his moments but he was my favourite sibling, a well hidden secret. Edward understood me better than anyone except perhaps for Emmett thanks to his gift, he gave me far more credit than I deserved sometimes, I owed him a lot, and I knew nothing would be the same without him. And Bella? I'd meant it when I said I thought of her as the same as Alice or Esme, she was now my sister, a part of my family. And as a family we did whatever one of us wanted to do, sometimes we didn't like it but we did it because as a family we stood by one another, that was the mantra of the Cullen family. How could I deny Bella this promise? After all I'd put her through in the past and here she was, giving me the greatest gift she ever could.

"I wouldn't deserve it" I said.

"You're a better person than you give yourself credit for Rose" said Bella. "Far better, and I know you'll be wonderful at this".

It broke my heart to say what I was about to but I had no choice, she was my sister, and I had to do whatever she wanted.

"I promise" I whispered loud enough that she would hear it.

She smiled, much wider than before before lowering herself around my frame to give me a hug.

"Thank you" she whispered in my ear. "I knew I could count on you, well, we could count on you".

I'd never hated myself more than in that moment, I knew in a way I should feel happiness, I was making Bella a promise so deep and binding, the burden she was asking of me was huge and one I had dreamt of all my life, both mortal and immortal. Any other opportunity to be a mother and I would have jumped at it, but not this. Not this way, it wasn't right. I wished I hadn't voted against Bella changing all that time ago, maybe then none of this would have happened and we wouldn't be here, she'd have our strength and there would be no pain for her to endure, what if I hadn't been such a selfish ice queen?