Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's notes for February 22, 2018:

1. Narrative: Some of you speculated about what else had happened between Bella & Jacob. Here you are.

2. Practicalities: I think I'm up to 43K words for this story this month - phew! There will be a break sometime in the next week while I attend the necessities of real life (marking, report cards, my children, church...etc.), before I can get back to this story. Fret not, there are a few chapters that will come in over the next few days - but there will be a break.

3. Thanks: Some of you have recommended this story on other sites, and it's been quite wonderfully overwhelming to see all the response in reviews on this, and other things I've written - thank you. Your choice to read what I write is a true compliment in the gift of your time. And your feedback - goodness - you give it! Merci mes amis.

Edward was glad he was early. He'd realized, part way to her house, that the carseat would be too cold for Sarah, having sat in the garage, which was heated, but only minimally. When he knocked on the door, Bella opened it, wearing a stained shirt, which was on inside out, her hair sticking out at awkward angles. "Sorry," he said, "I know I'm early," and held out the car seat. "This should sit over a heating vent for a bit, though."

"Sure," Bella said, looking around for a grate that wasn't crowded by clutter, "I'm not quite ready, though." She was still looking, jiggling Sarah on her shoulder.

"Can I help?" Edward asked, holding out his arm. He closed the door with his foot, and curled Sarah to his shoulder, shifting a newspaper off the vent closest to the entrance, setting the carseat upside down over it.

Bella stared, wanting to cry. It had been an exhausting night, with Sarah up every few hours, crying each time she tried to set her down. Edward made everything look easy.

Everything was easy for him, she reminded herself. And he didn't need to sleep.

She closed her eyes, and breathed out. "I'm just going to get changed, and try to look decent," she said.

Edward nodded, looking at Sarah. She was dreaming. Right now, her thoughts were singular, and Edward smiled at them. He approved of her priorities. He didn't like the small round bruise on her forehead though.

Bella was back in a few minutes, looking remarkably transformed. "Thank you," she said, "You have no idea what it's like to feel hostage to your pajamas."

"No," he said, "I definitely don't." What he wouldn't give to, though.

Bella was looking for the baby carrier, and her diaper bag.

Edward spotted them, hidden under a blanket on the couch, and pulled them out. "These?" he asked.

"Yes, thanks," she said.

It was unlike her to forget things. The smudges under her eyes told him she wasn't sleeping well. To be expected, he supposed, looking at Sarah, but still.

"What happened here?" he asked, nodding at Sarah's bruise.

"Oh," she said, "she's starting to get some head control, and she tested it out with a nice whack to my collar bone." Bella tugged at her t-shirt, revealing a much larger, and angrier looking bruise at her clavicle. He frowned. Such injuries were common in new mothers, though this knowledge provided him with little comfort.

"Is Charlie helping at night?" he asked.

"No," she said, as if it was an obvious answer. "Of course not."

Edward did not like this. "Why not?"

"He's got work. He needs his sleep," she said, slipping on her coat.

"And you don't?"

"I can take a nap, when she does," Bella said.

Edward was eyeing the paperwork on the table. Job applications. "But you don't," he said.

"I'm fine," she said, "and when she sleeps, I can get some things done."

He nodded, feeling an unhappy helplessness. Would she accept help, if he offered? Or Esme? Alice?

The car seat was warm enough, and Edward flipped it over, settling Sarah in it.

"I can get that," Bella said, as if it were an imposition.

"It's done," he said, picking it up. "Ready?"

She nodded, and he went ahead of her, holding the door, as he locked the car seat in place.

"Do you know where it is?" she asked.

He smiled knowingly.

"Silly question," she mumbled to herself.

It was a short drive, but she was glad for it. The weather was terrible. The rain was a mixture of undecided sleet, and wet sheets that made the window wipers almost useless.

"Not many people here today," he said, looking at the church parking lot. "Can I help you get Sarah inside?"

"Sure," she said, starting to open the passenger door, trying to figure out how best to handle the logistics.

"Here," he said, unbuckling Sarah, and pulling her deftly out of her seat, reaching easily from his own. He waited for Bella to get her snugly into the baby carrier, then came around with an umbrella. It was small, and allowed him a perfect excuse to walk close beside her.

Bella was trying to breath normally, feeling him so near. The effect wasn't lost on Edward, who watched to make sure she didn't fall over.

Inside, Edward was just to ask when he should pick her up, when Mrs. Weber came by.

"Oh Bella, you brought a friend—wonderful!"

She went to open her mouth, but Mrs. Weber was too fast. "Edward, right? Come in, we're delighted to have more than just moms here!"

Edward smiled politely, but said, "actually, I'm just dropping her off. What time?" he asked, looking at Bella.

She felt like her heart would stop, seeing his face transform, looking at hers. Had it always changed, like that, when he looked at her?

"Um," she said, fishing for words, "12?"

"12:30," Mrs. Weber corrected her, "we have a guest today. You sure you want to go out in that?" she tried again, looking at Edward. The air between him and Bella was so charged, that if they lived anywhere drier, she would have expected sparks.

It was at this point that Sarah started screaming. Not just cries of hunger, or discontent, but a full blown, repeated, steaming whistle of a sound. It caught Bella completely off guard.

Edward moved closer without thinking about it, eyebrows knitted together in concern, using the pretext of looking at Sarah to whisper in Bella's ear, "she's in pain." He couldn't pinpoint it, exactly.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked, still worried, watching Bella try to remove the carrier straps.

Mrs. Weber had walked away, seeing Bella had help, and having things to do.

This had been the substance of her night, trying to figure out what Sarah's screams needed, and now it appeared it would be her day too. There were tears of frustration and exhaustion ready and willing to be spilled. She blinked them back.

"Don't you have things to do?" she asked, feeling like surely, she should be able to handle this herself.

"I'd like you to have some help," he said. Silently, he added, and some sleep. Here he sighed mentally. She was struggling, he could see, and brushed his hand over Sarah's head. "It's OK to have help."

Bella nodded.

"Can I?" he asked, holding out his hands for Sarah.

"Sure," she rasped.

He took her and rested her face down on his shoulder, rubbing her back. The screams were loud, but they didn't bother his ears. Other faces were starting to peek through the glass windows in the doors to the meeting room.

"Why don't you go in? I'll bring her in when she's calmed down."

"What if she doesn't calm down?"

"She will," he grinned, "I think it's just gas."

Bella frowned. "Gas that lasts all night long?"

"It can, with babies. They can't move around much." He was bending her legs up to her small tummy, giving her the movement she couldn't give herself. "Give me a few minutes." He took the diaper bag from her shoulder, and seeing the puzzled look. "Just in case she needs a change."

"OK," Bella said, feeling like she was cheating, walking away without a baby. She loved Sarah, but her exhaustion was speaking loudly, and she wanted nothing more than to sit down, and do nothing.

Edward arrived a few minutes later, with a freshly changed Sarah. Her outfit had been changed too.

"That bad?" Bella asked.

"Oh yes," Edward said, still not handing her back.

"I can take her," Bella said, feeling uncertain with empty arms.

Edward had Sarah resting on his chest under an arm. "She's going to sleep," he said, going to move her.

"No!" Bella said, suddenly panicked, "don't move her. She might wake up."

They were on the outside of a sparse circle in the room. Bella had turned her back to the centre of it, when he entered, and she still did. He was glad, because the thoughts that were pointed her way were entirely counter-productive to her goals.

"I think," he said softly, "that you were right, about me being here. I don't want to get in the way."

"How so?" she asked quietly, still worried they would wake Sarah.

Edward considered how best to phrase this. "Several of them think I'm the father, or your partner, in some way, and most are feeling intensely jealous that you have help."

Bella frowned.

Mrs. Weber had impeccable timing, though, and having seen what passed for casual interest around the circle, began the meeting.

"We're always glad to have friends, partners, and fathers here, so thank you for being brave, Bella, and bringing a friend," she smiled, and then introduced their guest.

"I don't think you can leave now," Bella whispered to him.

"I have no problem leaving, if you want me to," he said.

She did not want him to.

"Today we're working on baby massage, and baby sign language," the guest presenter said.

Edward chuckled, looking at Sarah, sound asleep on his chest. "Here," he said, tugging at the corner of the baby carrier. Bella unbuckled it, and he adjusted it, one-handed, and slipped it on, tucking a blanket around Sarah to keep her warm in it.

The jealous thoughts were increasingly so. Some of them were bordering on anger.

"So," the guest presenter, a far too energetic woman in her twenties, was saying, "let's try that first technique. Best work on your baby's legs to start. And, if your baby is sleeping, try it on a friend. You really need to use them to remember them."

Bella blushed intensely at being singled out. Again.

Great. Just great.

"Your shoulder is sore," Edward said softly, nodding towards her left side.

It was. "How do you—?"

"Your posture's changed, and I've only seen you carry her on the one side."

She frowned, but nodded. She would play along.

He held out a hand, in the direction of her shoulder, an offer.

She turned around, and scooted back to be within his reach, watching the scant, but wide circle of babies and mothers. Most were focused on their infants, who were generally reacting well to these therapeutic touches.

Sarah settled into his lap, he had free use of both hands, and kneaded gently, but with precise pressure, into her shoulder. She felt her entire body electrify.

When they were shown the next technique, Edward did not stop, but watched, and pretended to apply what he'd learned. He knew all of this, already, but played along.

Bella, meanwhile, was focusing on keeping her breathing in a steady rhythm. She gave up on keeping her face a normal shade of pink.

Her body had forgotten what it was to be touched, and she wasn't surprised to feel the tears.

Edward was alarmed though. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked softly.

"No," she said, "that feels really good." But she was quickly losing herself in a memory she would far prefer to have lost.

"Are you awake?" Jacob'd whispered, sitting on the bed.

"Mmm," she mumbled, trying very hard not to be.

"Too hot?"

"Not helping," she muttered, flipping carefully to her other side, to face him.

"Sorry," he said softly, but grinned, and let his hands span her belly, hard, and swollen, feeling the baby shift inside her.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Just after one," Jacob answered.

"Why're you here?" she yawned.

"In the neighbourhood," he said casually, still shifting his hands over her stomach.

Right, she thought. Patrol.

The heat hadn't abated with September's arrival. It felt cruel, really, with the fall a few weeks off, that the weather hadn't turned yet.

She was wearing underwear and a sports bra. She would have prefered to wear nothing, but her robe didn't cover her anymore, and having to get dressed for her many nocturnal bathroom visits was just too onerous.

Jacob laid down beside her, kissing her shoulder. He was glad of the fan in the corner. It meant she could stand being near him.

"Want me to rub your back?" he asked, hands poised.

"Please," she said softly, and groaned in relief as his hands worked into it. She'd joked, initially, about him becoming a massage therapist, after he started rubbing her back. But after he'd done some reading, and applied a bit more expertise, it wasn't a joke anymore.

"Seriously, Jake," she'd said one day in August, "there's a first year transfer program at the local college. It's a good job—pays well. Save your love of engines for your hobby."

"This," he'd said, smiling at the compliment, "is a labour of love, and only for you."

His hands were wandering off their appointed task, but Bella wasn't complaining. When he gently turned her back over to face, him, their lips found each other's. His hands found other spaces to lay as well. As he slipped her bra and underwear off, this too was met with the pleasing sounds of her throat.

Jacob had grinned widely when the midwife had listed nipple stimulation as way to induce labour, and had taken the task to heart. He did that night, too, and Bella arched her back against the press of his lips.

It was, he thought, an invitation to more.

Much more.

Bella's eyes flew open wide, but his kiss swallowed the sound of protest her own lips tried to make. Her tender flesh, so altered by pregnancy, that his met, was unprepared for him. The urgent push of her hands was an unmistakable no, and he pulled away.

He'd been angry beyond what words could express at her rejection.

Again.

She was shocked, and had shakily pulled up the sheet, curling her legs under the throbbing ache he'd left in her.

Neither said anything for a moment.

"You can't—" she started.

"I know," he said too fast. He knew he should add an apology too, but he was too focused on staying in control of himself. He wanted, very badly, to break something, relieve the tension and frustration.

They'd been so close. Several times.

And the outcome was always the same.

He was angry, he realised with himself, for expecting more. For upsetting her. For trying without asking.

But he couldn't rally the words he needed.

If he was honest with himself, he was jealous. The creature that had sunk its claws into hear heart had broken it when he left. Jacob felt like he'd been left trying to patch it up with sticky tape and band-aids.

He loved her. More than he had words for. But it wasn't enough. And to feel the effects of it so pointedly, in her inability to be with him in that way.

His control was melting.

"I have to go," he said, abruptly.

"Jake—" she called, her voice pained.

"No!" he growled, and was gone, the window rattling behind him.

It was the last time she saw him.

Edward's hands had reached her lower back.

"Stop, please," she said, her voice trembling and full of emotion he didn't understand. "I don't feel well," she whispered, "I think I should go home."