Bella POV

I felt a weird mixture of shock, anxiety, and relief that night. Jacob's offer completely blindsided me, and I had never for a second considered it an option before that moment. It was somehow both crazier and more perfect than any of the other outlandish options we had all discussed.

We had a lot of history together, and so much had changed since he came back into my life two, almost three years ago now. It took time, but after Edward and I were married, Jake seemed to accept that we were meant to be friends and nothing more. I knew that he was finally moving on, but a part of me worried that he would always feel something for me. I didn't want to do anything that would make that progress harder for him, and having his baby felt like it had the potential to be a massive, maybe even permanent step back.

But the more he spoke, the more his words got through to me and put me at ease. He had sounded nothing like a jealous 17-year-old boy, and I sensed nothing but sincerity in his offer. A year ago, the conversation would have been so different. He would have fought to keep me human. He probably would have given me an ultimatum and tried to get me to run away with him. There would have been so many strings attached, and he would've been doing it for all the wrong reasons. Tonight was different. His offer felt completely selfless and pure, and I couldn't help but trust him.

When I told Edward about it later that night, I knew he would agree. I pressed him, begged him to tell me how he felt about it all. I wanted nothing held back, and I certainly didn't want him to say yes just because he thought that's what I wanted to hear. I needed to know that he was okay with this path, and he assured me that he was. He voiced all of the same concerns I had, and I explained every detail of my conversation with Jacob. The entire discussion was much easier and more natural than I could have imagined, and the choice to move forward with the plan was easy. It's when we brought Carlisle into the discussion that the conversation got a little, well, weird.

Edward POV

The three of us sat facing Carlisle's desk in his home office, Bella in the middle and Jacob and I on either side. With the impending threat of the Volturi, we had all agreed that the sooner we could make this happen, the better, and we needed to discuss the logistics of it all. I already knew the concerns Carlisle planned to express and had discussed a few of my own with him earlier that morning. I waited patiently for him to explain everything.

"So I understand the three of you have come to an agreement, yes?" Carlisle leaned forward at his desk waiting for a response.

"Yes," I said. Bella and Jacob both nodded.

I had probed fully into Jacob's mind the moment he set foot in the house and was elated to find no selfish motives behind his offer. He truly just wanted to help Bella. I suspected I would have allowed the plan to progress even if he had harbored more selfish reasons, for Bella's sake, but I was relieved that this wouldn't be an issue.

"So Jacob, forgive me for saying this, but would you be willing to sign an agreement relinquishing any parental rights? It's a standard procedure for donations," Carlisle explained.

Jacob was clearly taken aback by the unexpected question.

Don't they trust me?

"That's not really necessary…" Bella started to say.

"No, it's fine, Bella. Yeah, I'll do it."

I respected Jacob's silence on the matter despite the fact that he was clearly a bit offended.

"Okay, good. I've already had the papers drawn up. Now on to the next matter. I assume you'll all agree to having the procedure completed here, yes? We cannot run the risk of having an outside service mishandle or mix up Jacob's donation, and the natural properties of his...specimen simply cannot be examined by anyone outside of this house."

Jacob shifted a bit in his chair, but otherwise showed no outward sign of discomfort. "Agreed," he said.

I suspected his discomfort was about to be be taken up a notch or two with Carlisle's next concern.

"Great. That brings us to the next matter. As you may already know, the average body temperature of a pack member is 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of this, it would be extraordinarily unlikely for Jacob's sperm to survive for very long outside of his body. In fact, it's probably nature's way of preventing things like this from happening," Carlisle began.

Where is he going with this? Jacob wondered.

"During normal donation procedures, semen can be stored and preserved for later use. However, Jacob's would not be able to survive for long outside of the body, and it would be impossible to store for later. Time is of the essence."

Bella had a look of confusion and worry on her face, and I knew that Jacob was beginning to put the pieces together. He was going to have to do this here. With us in the house.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Carlisle asked.

"You're saying I can't just...do this whenever it's convenient. It's going to have to happen right before Bella's procedure." Jacob said. He practically said it to the floor.

"Yes, Jacob. I'm afraid so. It's not the ideal situation, but the best scenario would require Bella to be waiting in here ready for the procedure while you provide the sample from as close as possible. The hall bathroom would do."

Bella and Jacob both turned beet red, and Jacob directed a thought at me.

I am absolutely not doing this with you in the house messing in my head. No way.

"I'll maintain a distance," I assured him.

Jacob swallowed and gave a silent nod.

"I need you all to understand that the time frame we have to work with here is mere minutes, if that. There is also a chance that this simply won't work. Bella, darling, I don't want you to get your hopes up. What we're talking about is an experimental procedure that has never happened before to gauge potential success rates."

"I understand, Carlisle. Thank you. I'm willing to try it," she said. She turned to Jacob. "You don't have to do this, Jake. I'll understand if you want to change your mind. I don't want this to be too weird for you."

"Weird is kind of an understatement, but I'm wiling to try, too," he agreed.

"If you're all sure about this, I can run some tests to calculate Bella's highest fertility days and we can plan around that," Carlisle suggested.

We all agreed, and Jacob hardly said a word before he left. I knew he had not changed his mind about helping, but he was understandably nervous about the time issue. The least I could do was follow his request and stay out of his head when the day came. Besides, I didn't want to see those images, whatever they might be, any more than he wanted me to.

Bella POV

Carlisle's tests showed that my peak fertility time was about a week later on Wednesday. Now Wednesday was here, and I was a ball of nerves lying on a hospital bed in Carlisle's home office with no pants on and a thin white sheet over my lower half.

Jacob had reluctantly agreed to let Edward stay in the room with me after we realized we would need someone less clumsy than myself to administer the artificial insemination kit, especially with the time constraints, and I was more comfortable having Edward do it than Carlisle. Edward had sworn to do his best to keep out of Jacob's head, and I trusted that he would.

"He's here," Edward called from the hallway. He was the only one home apart from me. Everyone had been informed and agreed to disappear for a few hours.

This was it. This was really happening. I heard the front door open and close followed by footsteps heading in this direction. Jake suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Bells, how are—oh, sorry." He took in my position and appearance and seemed embarrassed to have walked in without checking first.

"Jake, it's okay. I'm covered. Come here," I reassured him and held out my hand. He stepped inside and came next to the bed to hold my hand. He looked around the room, and I could tell he was avoiding looking at the sheet.

"This is it. We're really doing this. I swear, it's okay if you change your mind. Are you absolutely sure?" I asked him.

He smiled down at me. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm not gonna lie, this whole setup is beyond awkward, but I'm sure about doing this for you, Bells. The outcome will be worth it. I just wish we could skip the whole…you know. This next part," he admitted. He blushed fiercely. I'd never seen him look so embarrassed.

"Please relax, Jake. It's okay. This means the world to me," I told him. I squeezed his hand to make sure he knew.

"It's okay. I'm ready. Let's get this over with," he said. "Edward, you should come be with her now."

Edward stepped in from the hallway, and they traded places.

"Thank you, Jacob. This means more than you know. Are you sure you're ready? Do you remember what to do?" Edward asked.

"Um, yeah, I'm pretty sure I know how to—"

I let out an involuntary nervous giggle and clasped my hand over my mouth. Both of them stared at me. Edward looked momentarily horrified, which only made me giggle more. It was rare to catch him off guard.

"I didn't mean…I meant are you clear on all of Carlisle's preparation instructions?" Edward clarified.

"Right, yeah. I'm good. I'l just… get to it." Jake turned and left without another word. As awkward as I felt right now, I couldn't imagine being in his position.

A moment later I heard the bathroom door shut, followed by a pause and then a deep laugh. I looked at Edward, confused.

"I think he's found the, ah, reading material Emmett left for him."

Oh God, leave it to Emmett to make this even weirder. Edward went to the corner of the office and turned on the iPod docked in Carlisle's speakers. Classical music filled the room, and I was glad for the distraction to at least give Jacob a little bit more privacy.

Laying there knowing what was happening in the other room and waiting for the procedure was one of the more awkward moments of my life. More awkward than sharing a sleeping bag with Jake right next to Edward all night. More awkward than having to tell my dad I injured my hand punching him in the face for kissing me. And more awkward than the time I ended up on some kind of weird double date with Mike and Jake when really I just wanted to be with Edward. I willed myself not to look at the clock, no matter how impatient I felt. I didn't know how long something like this normally took, and it's not like this was a normal situation anyway. Some time later, I heard the bathroom door open and Jacob stepped into the room with a hand extended towards Edward.

"Um, here," he said. I saw the cup now in Edward's hand and made the briefest eye contact with Jake. "I'll just…yeah. Good luck," Jake said. He smiled an oddly confident smile at me and shut the door quickly behind him on the way out. I could swear I saw a flash of the old Jacob, my sun, behind that smile, and I was glad he seemed to be at ease with his role in this, all things considered.

"Last chance, Bella. Are you sure?" Edward asked as he followed Carlisle's directions preparing the kit.

"I'm sure," I told him.

He followed Carlisle's directions exactly, and then there was nothing to do but wait.

That afternoon, the rest of the Cullens came back. Thankfully, they spared me any prying questions even though they all knew what we had been doing that morning and why they had to go on a "field trip," as Alice had called it. Carlisle politely pulled us into his office to go over everything and make sure it had all gone seamlessly while they others were busy having some playful argument down the hall.

"Don't touch it, Rose." Alice's voice carried through the open door to where we sat in Carlisle's office.

Beyond the door, I heard Rose's voice coming closer. "What are you talking about, Alice? And can you not mess up my hair please, Em?" She laughed, then apparently stepped into the hall bathroom to check her hair in the mirror.

"Oh God, we're going to have to burn this bathroom down and start over. It reeks in here," she complained.

I couldn't tell a difference, but Jacob must have left behind a stronger wolf scent than usual. Edward hadn't mentioned it, probably trying to be polite.

"And what the hell is this?" She shouted. I heard the distinct sound of pages turning. Uh-oh.

I snickered and turned to look at Edward.

"You'll have to ask your husband," Edward muttered. A small smile formed on his lips, and I knew he wanted to laugh but didn't dare. Even Carlisle's lips twitched in understanding. We waited in silence for the realization to hit Rose, too.

Rosalie poked her head around the corner and looked at us, then looked back towards the bathroom. I heard the magazine hit the floor.

"OH MY GOD, I touched it! My hands! EMMETT!" She shrieked. "EMMETT! Come here so I can kill you!"

"Already dead, babe!" he shouted, followed by a hearty laugh.

"What if I get rabies?!"

"You can't get rabies, Rose," Carlisle chuckled. I couldn't help but let go of my stifled laughter.

"I told you not to touch it." Alice's voice rang out like tinkling bells over the shouting.

It was like watching a sitcom play out, and I couldn't help but smile and feel love for this strange and wonderful family and how much they were willing to put up with for me.