Truth

"I knew it before that night."

Before I could blink, Edward's lips crushed mine. If I thought his kisses were overwhelming before, they didn't even compare to this one. I simply had to hang on and try to keep up. One of his arms wrapped around my waist, keeping me pressed to him, and the other cradled my head and positioned my mouth exactly where he wanted it.

Not that I was complaining.

His tongue was making me see stars and hear trumpets and feel fireworks in my belly. It wasn't until Dr. Cullen cleared his throat loudly that Edward pulled back a little, panting against my lips.

He let out what suspiciously sounded like a growl, his lips brushing along my jaw until he was whispering in my ear. "I want you so much."

I knew the others were waiting on us, but I couldn't hold back my next words. He deserved to hear them.

"Remember our first dance, when I told you I wanted you to be my first kiss?"

"Yes."

"Well, you weren't just my first kiss. You are my only."

The dejection on his face that night when I didn't promise he would be my only kiss was overshadowed by the smile on it now.

"You're mine, too."

My mouth fell open in surprise. "But—"

Dr. Cullen cleared his throat again, cutting off my words. I quickly shifted away from Edward when he released his grip, settling back in next to him to face the rest of the group. I wasn't even embarrassed about the display we had just put on because I was still focused on Edward's declaration.

Rose had told me our suitors were trained to be good lovers before they ever met us, so I didn't understand what Edward meant when he said I was his only kiss. Had he really saved that just for me? Was he a first timer at other things, too?

This was a subject we would definitely be returning to later.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, I guess we'll start where Eleazar left off." Dr. Cullen's eyes scanned all of our faces. "Like he said, the origin of the virus was here and what started out as a cover-up by the original administration was handed down through a very select few in power over time to not only keep the part the United States played a secret, but also to block resolution."

I shook my head. "I don't understand why they would want to perpetuate the fertility issues if they knew how to stop them."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's very hard to explain, when I don't even understand the inner workings of an evil mind. The best explanation I can come up with is that power corrupts." He held out his hand, his fingers outstretched. "Think of it like this. Before all of us were born, before the virus outbreak, there was also a centralized government." He pointed from his palm and then to his fingertips. "But there were also state and local governing bodies, some places where these more localized leaders had even more control than those of the President or Congress. At first, right after the virus spread, only a few people knew exactly what had happened and kept it secret. Then a few decades passed and no longer did they fear worldwide persecution, but different people were in charge and their goals changed." He clenched his hand into a tight fist. "These select few men decided they liked keeping all the power in their hands, not having it spread out. They used any and all means to keep control by maintaining the status quo. They wanted to have power over all decisions, all citizens, and believed if the truth came out about the origin of the virus and a way to end it, their control would slip away."

Rose huffed. "But if you know, then others know. How did it remain a secret for so long?"

"Because the leaders had the ability to control all decisions—including news and research. Whenever scientists narrowed in on solving the infertility problem or realizing the root cause, they were misdirected, sidetracked, or killed." He gripped his knees, his knuckles white with tension. "There have been so many lives lost over the years because they got too close to the truth. Now you understand why everything we've done has been so covert. We have had to bide our time, pool resources under cover, communicate in silence, and build our own infrastructure out of the sight of ever-watching eyes to be able to pull off this rebellion. It has taken almost two decades for this coup to come to realization. Anyone deemed suspicious by our leaders was killed without question, so we've had to keep everything under the radar."

Alice squirmed next to me. "How many people were in on it? Did they all deceive us? Our mentors? Our doctors?" She glanced over at Carmen. "Our nurses?"

Dr. Cullen shook his head. "No, no. Only a handful of people knew everything. Most everyone else were simply following orders. Doctors, nurses, teachers, they were all kept strategically ignorant and deceived. Please believe me when I say that most people are good. They may have misguided loyalty for some in charge who don't deserve it, but it's only because they're unaware of the deception."

Edward squeezed my hand, but kept his eyes on his father. "How did you find out the truth?"

He took a deep breath. "After your sisters were born, I was selected to help in the Fertility Project. It wasn't by accident. I had tried for years to get involved and they finally gave me a chance, probably because several doctors and scientists had been killed off immediately prior to my signing on." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyway, they had cleared out the labs and I was basically starting from scratch with a new team. Despite them watching everything we did and everyone coming in and out of the facilities, there were still whispers. We all knew there was something fishy going on, but we couldn't talk about it outright. One night, I was alone in my lab and was searching for some papers in my desk. When I pulled my hand out from the back, something scratched my skin. I felt around for what it was and found a tiny microchip taped to the bottom of the drawer above the one I was in. I was immediately alarmed, but tried to hide it because there were cameras on us at all times. I was able to get it out and slip it into my pocket, and when I got home I looked through the files on it to find the doctor in my position previously had stumbled upon a way to reverse the effects of the virus."

He paused and took a drink of water, his hands shaking a little. Esme reached over to wrap her arms around him and rest her head on his shoulder.

"When I saw what I did on the chip, I wasn't sure what to do. First of all, I was scared for my family. I realized the reason the chip had been hidden and its last owner killed was because of the information on it. With it in my possession, my family was in danger. Me, especially. There were very few people in the world I trusted with my life—with the lives of my wife and children—but two of them were Garrett and Eleazar. We had grown up together, close to what used to be known as Houston, before I was matched up with Esme and moved to Chicago. It took me a while to get clearance to travel south, with the excuse of visiting my parents, but when I did, I met up with them. Garrett and Eleazar were both soldiers, but they had their own doubts about the actions and decisions made by our leaders. Not only were there whispers in the scientific community, there were also musings amongst the military about a cover-up. When I laid out all the information I had, we came to a decision that it all had to be stopped. It was at that point where the very preliminary planning began."

"Dr. Cullen?" I asked softly.

He smiled at me. "Bella, I think it's okay for you to call me Carlisle."

I nodded and smiled back. "Why didn't you all go to the press and media right then and expose them?"

"That's what I wanted to do at first, but Garrett and Eleazar convinced me this was the only way. I didn't want anymore lives lost, but they were right." He shook his head. "If we tried to expose them then, it never would have gotten out. We would have been killed. Everything you've ever seen or heard or been taught in your lives has been exactly what they wanted you to. They controlled everything, down to the lessons you learned from mentors. No, it had to be this way. We had to build up enough support and weaponry and ammunition to be able to take them over by force."

"But why?" Alice cried. "Why did they want to control our lives so much? Why all the rules and matching and ridiculous forcing on us of who and when and how we should have children?"

He held out his hands. "I don't have a good answer for you. It was greed and power. They wanted to play God with your lives. With all of our lives."

We were all silent for a few minutes, letting it all sink in. It was horrible to find out everything we thought was true was actually a lie.

Alice finally broke the stillness. "Will that change now? Will Jasper and I be free to be together?"

He nodded. "It will be a slow transition, trying to shake off the beliefs and traditions we've all had to live by, but the answer to that question is yes. Once we've wrested control from those who don't deserve it, and give it back to the people, then I see no reason why you shouldn't be with whoever you want."

"Can't you just fix all the sterile women now and let them have children since you have the cure?" Rose asked.

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "It doesn't work like that. We have no ability to mend reproductive organs that were barren to begin with. We can only inoculate those of you who are fertile, so that it's no longer passed to your children. We can then vaccinate babies when they're born and future generations should be able to bypass any symptoms completely."

I gripped Edward's hand. "You mean, we'll have only boys and Chosen Ones ourselves if you inoculate us?" I blushed, immediately regretting my words. "Well, I guess Chosen Ones isn't the right term any longer. We weren't really chosen. We were just part of this deception."

He sent me an understanding smile. "Don't discount your importance. Everything still depends on you all. You're the only ones capable of bringing these future generations into the world. But the answer to your question is yes. Once we get all of you cleared, then you should reproduce normally. As it was meant to be. Both boys and girls who will be able to have children of their own."

I felt so much joy, I could barely sit still. All of my children would be healthy. That was what he meant when he'd told Eleazar to make sure Edward kept his hands off until I was cleared.

Rose gasped. "But what about me? Emmett and I have been together for weeks now. What if I'm already pregnant?"

Sadness flashed in Carlisle's eyes, but he quickly shook it away. "As soon as we're finished, we can run a few tests and talk more after we know for sure."

Rose buried her head in Emmett's chest and he held her close. I just hoped there was no pregnancy yet, so Rose would never have to deal with having a sterile child.

Alice waved her hand angrily. "Why were they even allowed to have sex before she turned eighteen anyway? Why did the courting officials push them together and change the rules?"

Carlisle shook his head. "There are several things that have occurred recently around the nation that made us believe Caius and his closest advisors knew their secrets were going to be exposed soon. They wanted to misdirect us all again and make promises to the commoners of finding a solution, but never truly revealing it or making it widespread. We think it was all a fabrication to gain more loyalty and try to stifle the uprising they felt was coming. Just like we had spies in their camp, we think they might have also had spies in ours. I know you've seen the recent news reports of more C.O. births than normal?" Everyone nodded when he glanced around. "We think they've been sporadically inoculating certain girls on a whim and giving them fertility drugs on top of it. I have talked with several different doctors who were given drugs to administer to their C.O. patients straight from government officials, and they didn't know what was in the concoctions." His eyes fell on me. "I believe you might have been one of the girls selected."

My heart pounded. "Me?"

He nodded. "William Black is an important man, and his son chose you even before you ever began correspondence with him. I didn't find any of this out until after Edward was moved here for your courting. You were promised to Jacob and were always meant to choose him. Edward threw a definite wrench in those plans."

I burrowed further into Edward's side, seeking any kind of comfort I could find. "So you think they might have inoculated me already?"

"Yes. And probably gave you fertility drugs on top of it. They also gave you some type of serum to make you compliant in Jacob's company at least once. I believe they would have done it again yesterday if I hadn't have been there."

My mouth was so dry, and I could barely swallow the lump in my throat. "They thought if I slept with Jacob once, then I would continue staying with him willingly?"

"Yes. These coercive techniques they used were not new or uncommon. They have often been used with C.O.s who weren't amenable to behaving as they wanted."

My eyes filled with tears and Edward held me tighter, whispering how much he loved me in my ear. The hatred I had for Jacob, his father, our President, and everyone else who toyed with my life and so many others was so strong I could barely see straight. I took a deep breath and forced myself to ask Carlisle what I was scared to know.

"Is that… is that what happened to my mother? Is that why my parents hated me?"

So you have some answers. More to come!