A/N: This is mid-Eclipse through the end of Breaking Dawn from Edward's perspective. Thanks for reading!

These characters are not mine and all belong to Stephenie Meyer.


Isle Esme IV: Parasite (Breaking Dawn)

Over the next week, we lost every remaining scrap of innocence and shyness. Bella was nearly insatiable. No human, partial or otherwise, would have had the endurance to keep up with her. For once, I was grateful for what I was. A vampire perfectly suited to fulfill his demanding human wife's every desire.

We spent a lot of time in the blue room. If it was safe, if it was possible, we tried it.

"Be patient," I ordered when she pulled at my hair.

"I'm not good at that."

"I know."

"Oh. Ohh."

Her tender thigh felt so smooth under my tongue. Distractingly smooth. I wasn't even trying to tease her anymore, I just couldn't help but take my time.

"Edward," she whined.

"I'll tie you up if you can't behave yourself."

Her breathing stopped.

"That was a joke."

"It doesn't have to be." I could hear the smile in her voice.

I sighed.

Bella was such a sensual creature. I'd been missing so much of her. No, not missing. Actively suppressing. I felt guilty about that - that I hadn't been strong enough to know her fully.

She gasped as my breath fanned over the top of her thigh.

"Is that unpleasant?" I asked, suddenly nervous.

"No," she growled.

Her scent was overpowering. Dizzying.

It was hard to focus. Harder because she was complaining again.

"Edward, please. I - "

Suddenly I was over her, staring into her eyes. I could feel the heat of her scarlet blush on my skin.

"Bella..." I kissed her once on the lips before moving to her ear, "Shh."

I took my time moving back down her body. Her body that I knew so well now. Every curve, every freckle, every scar.

God, her scent. I just couldn't seem to desensitize myself to it. I gave my thoughts a moment to settle, held my breath, and then, with just the lightest pressure...

She screamed.

I pulled back. "Are you alright?"

"We've talked about this."

"Yes, but you don't usually scream..."

Intimacy had made me a better reader. So many minute movements and sounds. All of her little tells. I was so intent on them, eager to understand what she liked and disliked.

No, she hadn't screamed before. But that was easy enough. For all of her impatience, I'd intensified things too quickly.

I knew when I had it right. The way she purred and sang for me. The way she got so worked up I had to pin down her hips.

She was incredibly pleasant on my tongue. But I didn't get to savor the taste long.

She bit down on her hand, muffling her next scream.

We'd kept strictly to the blue room, not wanting to wreck Esme's house, but this new activity allowed us to introduce a little more variety. Like the kitchen counter for instance...

I'd deemed reciprocation unsafe, which miffed Bella of course. She called it a double standard.

To be honest, the act seemed a bit demeaning to me anyway. It wasn't that I didn't like the idea of her lips around me, it was more that I'd spent too much time enduring the thoughts of piggish and crude high school boys.

She'd given me a new impression when one night she took a bit of me on her finger and, never breaking eye contact, sucked her finger clean...

"After I'm changed," she sighed wistfully, trying to tempt me.

I cleared my throat, grateful I couldn't blush.

We tried to get out of the house at least once a day. A sunset swim. A starlit hike. But for the most part Bella's day-to-day involved sleeping, eating, and condemning various pieces of furniture.

And showering, for which I had an open invitation to join. Most of the time I did, and not just because I needed them more than I used to.

That had been the case tonight. I stepped out of the shower leaving Bella to finish her hair when I caught sight of my reflection. My eyes were black with unsightly purple rings beneath them. I was almost surprised by how dark the shadows were.

The thought of leaving her was nearly unbearable and the deepening ache in my throat was a small cost to stay by her side. But it was the responsible thing to hunt. Despite being quite adept at loving Bella now, it was still the most cognitively challenging thing I'd ever had to do. Why tempt fate?

Besides, she hadn't seemed to notice I was overdue and if I took care of it soon, she'd never have to be anxious about me leaving her.

Yes, it made sense to go tonight, but after holding her sleeping form in my arms for more than two hours trying to work up the will, I realized it just wasn't going to happen.

I sighed. Maybe tomorrow night.

For the first time in sixteen days my phone lit up. Anxious, I grabbed it from the nightstand and flipped it open, careful to keep the light from disturbing Bella.

Alice. Just a text. I'll keep an eye on her. Go take care of yourself.

I sighed again. Fine.

I found a pen and paper in the little office down the hall.

I'm hoping you won't wake and notice my absence, but if you should, I'll be back very soon. I've just gone to the mainland to hunt. Go back to sleep and I'll be here when you wake again. I love you.

With an irrational degree of joy I scrawled her name across the front of the folded note.

Mrs. Cullen.

I left it on my pillow and then I was off, speeding southwest towards the rural coast.

Even settling for the first few deer I could find - Emmett would be disappointed I hadn't looked for something more interesting - I didn't get back until nearly noon.

The first thing I noticed was her heartrate. It seemed a little elevated so I was surprised to find her asleep, curled up on the couch. She was still in the same silk camisole and shorts she'd worn to bed. The TV was bright, lit up with the menu of the DVD we'd watched last week, and the windows were open.

Her hair was matted with dried sweat.

Poor Bella. I was an idiot.

Immediately I pulled her into my arms to cool her down and she woke.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, wiping my hand across her forehead. "So much for thoroughness. I didn't think about how hot you would be with me gone. I'll have an air conditioner installed before I leave again."

She pushed against my arms. "Excuse me!" she gasped.

I released my hold. "Bella?"

She sprinted for the bathroom, her hand clamped over her mouth.

I knelt beside her, holding her hair while she threw up violently into the toilet.

"Bella? What's wrong?" I asked, stupid in my anxiety - clearly she was beyond words at the moment.

When it finally let up she gasped, catching her breath.

"Damn rancid chicken," she moaned.

"Are you alright?" I asked, my voice strained.

"Fine," she panted, though her skin was still tinged green. "It's just food poisoning. You don't need to see this. Go away."

I refrained from rolling my eyes. "Not likely, Bella."

"Go away," she moaned again, unnecessarily embarrassed.

I helped her up as she struggled to get to her feet. She pushed me away with trembling hands, but quickly gave up when I didn't comply. I kept my hands at her waist while she brushed her teeth ready to catch her if she passed out or grew weak.

When she was done I carried her to the bed and set her down carefully before pulling her against my chest.

"Food poisoning?" It was possible, but it should've hit before I left.

"Yeah," she croaked. "I made some chicken last night. It tasted off, so I threw it out. But ate a few bites first."

She'd had a large dinner so I was a little surprised she'd been hungry, especially for something as heavy as meat. But more concerning was the possibility of food poisoning. Would I have detected the smell was off? Though I knew how things were supposed to smell, would I have understood that the slight difference was wrong?

I put my hand on her forehead and she closed her eyes, soothed. "How do you feel now?"

She thought for a moment. "Pretty normal. A little hungry, actually."

I fried her some eggs after an hour had passed and she kept water down with no issues. Afterwards I turned on CNN and she lounged sleepily across my lap.

I pretended to be interested in the story about the president's sorry poll numbers while I sorted through my anxiety. I didn't like being so far from Carlisle with her ill. Though he had given me a list of the best doctors in Rio before we left, I knew none of them could match his centuries of experience, heightened senses, and patience for being incessantly questioned.

I also knew I was overreacting. So long as she was human there would be things like food poisoning and the flu and colds. I wanted her to stay human, and that all came with the territory. I needed to prove to her I could handle it and wouldn't drive her crazy for the next four years while she was in college.

She wiggled in my arms, twisting towards me. One second she looked fine, the next second she was grimacing and racing for the kitchen.

I held her hair again as she vomited the contents of her lunch into the sink.

Was this really food poisoning? Would a few bites of chicken have her feeling this bad still?

Something was making her nauseous. Something was affecting her sense of taste. If not food poisoning, then what? It couldn't be the stomach flu. She hadn't been around anyone. She had spent an awful lot of time in the water. A bacterial infection? A parasite? I winced imagining a tapeworm or some other vile thing roaming her intestines.

"Maybe we should go back to Rio, see a doctor," I said as calmly as I could while she rinsed her mouth.

She shook her head and edged toward the hallway making clear she didn't want me to follow. "I'll be fine right after I brush my teeth."

I respected her privacy. Perhaps she had some other problem accompanying her nausea.

I paced in the bedroom waiting for her.

Nausea. Altered taste.

And her heartrate - elevated since I'd returned.

Nausea. Altered taste. Elevated heartrate.

And, if it was a parasite - I shuddered - that might explain why she was hungry again in the middle of the night.

Nausea. Altered taste. Elevated heartrate. Increased appetite.

And additional GI problems? Is that why she was taking so long?

The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass her. But what if she'd passed out? What if she was in pain?

It had been too long and it was too quiet. She'd forgive me.

I knocked.

There was a quiet sound I couldn't place.

"Are you well?" I asked through the door when she didn't say anything. "Did you get sick again?"

"Yes and no," she said. Her voice sounded strangled.

What did that mean?

"Bella? Can I please come in?" The worry was plain in my voice now.

"O... kay?"

I opened the door and was surprised to see she was sitting on the floor. But it was her expression, blank and staring, that sent something like ice through my system.

I sat down next to her and put my hand to her forehead. She didn't feel feverish.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"How many days has it been since the wedding?" She whispered, her voice dead.

"Seventeen. Bella, what is it?"

She held up a finger and I could see she was silently counting to herself.

Was she confused? Hadn't I wondered about her head? Her strange dreams? Her bizarre sleep patterns? The crying.

And there was her balance, too.

How many things were there?

Strange dreams. Altered sleep. Poor balance. Emotional irregularities.

Nausea. Altered taste. Elevated heartrate. Increased appetite.

How many things had I been brushing under the rug?

And what on earth was she counting?

"Bella!" I whispered urgently, placing my hands on her shoulders. "I'm losing my mind over here."

She seemed unable to speak. Instead she reached into the open suitcase beside her, fumbling through it for a moment, before pulling out a small blue box. Tampons.

"What? Are you trying to pass this illness off as PMS?" Sometimes she was irritable before her period. Sometimes she got headaches. But she was never nauseas.

"No," she choked out. "No, Edward. I'm trying to tell you that my period is five days late."

August thirtieth.

July twenty-eighth.

Thirty-three days.

Her cycle was twenty-eight days long.

My hunting trip was five days late. Bella's period was five days late.

And Bella was never late.

It took me an eighth of a second to deduce that much.

And another eighth of a second to consider all the possible reasons a woman might miss her period... aside from the one that I could not accept. She'd been over-exercising. She could have a cyst. Early menopause?

But she couldn't be...

Though it could have never been true, though she would never betray me in that way, I found myself trying to craft a logical narrative in which... if she were... that Jacob Black was the...

Because Jacob Black was human. Or human enough. And his lineage proved that his species was not precluded from reproduction.

It was the cruelist irony that I was, on my honeymoon, desperately wishing my wife was... carrying my greatest rival's...

But it was impossible, because Bella Swan was definitely bleeding on July twenty-eighth. And Jacob Black did not return until August thirteenth.

So she couldn't be pregnant. She couldn't be, I decided after another eighth of a second.

"I don't think I have food poisoning," Bella said.

Bella felt very far away. On the other side of glass again. Only more removed. Like she was on a TV screen.

No, food poisoning would not cause her to miss her period. But there was some obvious, rational explanation we were missing. I was sure of it. I was overreacting as I always did. If I could ever figure out how to move again I would call Carlisle in a panic and there would be humor in his voice as he reassured me that I indeed could not...

It would become Emmett's new favorite story.

"The dreams," Bella mumbled in flat voice. "Sleeping so much. The crying. All that food. Oh. Oh. Oh."

All that food? The few bites of chicken last night after her large meal?

No, all that food. All that food I'd been cooking for her. The double portions she'd been consuming.

Yes, because of all the physical activity.

Enough physical activity for her to go from eating like a bird to eating twice as much as Charlie? And she'd hardly gained any weight. It was mostly just her breasts...

Oh.

And her skin. How it was glowing.

Enlarged breasts. Glowing skin. Strange dreams. Altered sleep. Poor balance. Emotional irregularities. Nausea. Altered taste. Elevated heartrate. Increased appetite.

Her appetite. Her insane sex drive.

Bella's hand dropped to her stomach. "Oh!" she squeaked.

She scrambled out from under my unmoving hands and lurched to her feet, pulling up the blue fabric of her top as she did. There was a small but defined bump sticking out between her hips.

"Impossible," she whispered.

Impossible because that hadn't been there yesterday. Not when we'd swam before dinner. Not when we'd made love on the bed. Not when I'd felt all along her stomach with my lips as I knelt on the shower floor.

"Impossible," she said again.

Enlarged breasts. Glowing skin. Strange dreams. Altered sleep. Poor balance. Emotional irregularities. Nausea. Altered taste. Elevated heartrate. Increased appetite. Increased libido. And a rounded growth on her abdomen.

So...

Say I could have... somehow...

And somehow she was...

Twenty-eight day cycle.

First day of her menstrual cycle - July twenty-eighth.

Ovulation occurs about halfway through the cycle - August eleventh. Peak fertility, on average, is eleven to fifteen days out. August eighth through August twelfth.

And we had sex on August fourteenth. Seventeen days out.

Okay, there was hope in that. Of course there was because of course she wasn't... And I couldn't.

Carlisle would have known that, if I could... Right?

There were my cousins. Female vampires with human men. Female vampires with frozen bodies.

There was the incubus. A male vampire with a female human. A female human who would likely be a corpse before any sort of conception could occur.

Conception. Sperm and an egg.

But my body didn't produce sperm. Why on earth would it? A female vampire could not conceive. And say it was possible for a male vampire and a human female... Well, I didn't think I was flattering myself in believing there probably wasn't a single other male out there who could have pulled it off - sex with a human where the human survived. I'd only narrowly managed it myself.

So what evolutionary purpose could it serve - the ability for one of my kind to conceive with a human - if it was virtually impossible to accomplish?

My phone rang in my pocket.

Besides, Carlisle would have known. The man had bitten off a piece of his own flesh so he could study it under a microscope. I had a pretty strong hunch it wouldn't have made him blush to look into this, too.

And even then, say my body could create sperm. It couldn't be compatible with a human egg.

No? Weren't my kind just parasites. Subsisting on human blood. Wouldn't it be all too fitting for my ejaculate to leach onto a soft human egg in a soft human body.

If it was sperm, if it was my sperm... If I put my sperm into my soft fragile wife's body... If that bulge on her stomach contained something of myself...

Oh. Dear. God.

I imagined myself as a blank slate. Nature without nurture.

No Carlisle or mind reading or intellect to foster control and compassion. Not even the memory of humanity.

And even with those things, I'd almost drained her. Even with those things I'd bruised her.

No, she wasn't... She couldn't be. The universe was not that cruel.

Cruel? Hadn't I wished for just this. That Charlie was right. That we had that kind of potential.

Bella was on her knees next to me. She was touching my left hip and then my right.

Oh. The phone. The phone was still ringing and it was in her hand now.

"Hi, Alice."

Alice. She would know what was happening.

"Bella? Bella, are you okay?" Alice sounded nervous. That was a bad sign.

"Yeah. Um. Is Carlisle there?"

Carlisle. He would know exactly what to do no matter what Alice saw.

"He is. What's the problem?"

"I'm not... one hundred percent... sure..."

"Is Edward all right?"

No.

I could hear Alice calling Carlisle's name away from the phone. "Why didn't he pick up the phone?"

"I'm not sure."

Neither was I.

"Bella, what's going on? I just saw - "

"What did you see?"

Thank God for Bella and her irrational calm.

But Alice didn't answer. "Here's Carlisle," she finally said.

It was another long moment, and then, "Bella, it's Carlisle. What's going on?" I could hear the worry in his voice, but it didn't feel as helpless as Alice's. He was ready to act.

"I - " Bella's voice faltered for a moment. "I'm a little worried about Edward... Can vampires go into shock?"

Yes. Apparently.

"Has he been harmed?" Carlisle's voice was suddenly urgent.

"No, no," she assured him. "Just... taken by surprise."

"I don't understand, Bella."

I'd been on the other side of this before - waiting anxiously as Bella explained something pressing using the most cryptic language possible. It drove me insane. But right then, I could only be impressed that she was able to formulate sentences.

"I think... well, I think that... maybe... I might be..." She took a deep breath. "Pregnant."

Pregnant. There it was.

There was a very long pause. "When was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?"

July twenty-eighth.

"Sixteen days before the wedding."

"How do you feel?"

"Weird," her voice broke.

She was scared. She was crying. And what was I doing about it?

"This is going to sound crazy," she went on. "Look, I know it's way too early for any of this. Maybe I am crazy. But I'm having bizarre dreams and eating all the time and crying and throwing up and..."

I started ticking off the symptoms she'd missed in my head.

"And..." she continued. "I swear something moved inside me just now."

Horrified, I looked up at her hoping something in her face would tell me this was some kind of sick joke. Her damp, too-pale face offered no such comfort.

She sighed, seeming relieved at my reemergence into reality.

I held out my hand for the phone, very much aware that Carlisle had fallen silent.

"Um, I think Edward wants to talk to you."

"Put him on," Carlisle said in a strained voice. Another bad sign.

Bella handed me the phone and I pressed it to my ear.

"Is it possible?" I whispered.

He sighed. "Yes."

I heard reactions on the other end of the line. Emmett cursing. Esme's gasp.

He explained that semen, for our kind, did indeed contain sperm. And at much higher concentrations than what was seen in human samples. On top of that the individual cells were highly motile.

Of course, of course. Because everything about my kind was in excess. Overkill. I knew where he was going with this, but waited for him to spell it out anyway.

"Essentially, what I'm saying is, if sperm from our kind were capable of fertilizing a human egg - something, I swear to you, I never even imagined could be possible before today - then... well, it would be a sure shot."

A sure shot. Sure enough that I would impregnate my wife the first time we ever had sex.

I could hear the guilt, thick in his voice, while he explained how unlikely it should be that cells from our two species, two species less related than a lion and a house cat, would fuse in order to create an embryo. In theory, to fuse in the first place, the two cells would have to recognize and bind via species-specific proteins.

Of course, cross-species fertilization was possible. The horse with sixty-four chromosomes and the donkey with sixty-two could create the mule with sixty-three. So, he wondered, what would result from the vampire with twenty-five chromosomes and the human girl with twenty-three?

"And... I don't know the answer to that. I have no idea. If someone had told me it was even possible for fertilization to occur in the first place, I would think it very unlikely that the embryo could be viable. But, of course, Bella said she felt..." He paused to take a deep breath. "Edward, I - I'm sorry. I can't even convey how stunned I am. I would have thought I've been around long enough to see this. To hear of it. Of course, the Volturi meticulously document everything and have been around much longer than I. But never, never in all the time I was with them did I learn of anything like this.

"But at the same time, I've never seen anything like you and Bella before. You heard the same in Aro's head this Spring. There's a very good chance this... thing is one of a kind. The first of its kind. Based on the fact that she's already feeling it move - something that shouldn't occur until the sixteenth week of pregnancy - I would guess it's more like you than it is like her." He paused. "It will need to be destroyed."

It was clear Carlisle saw it as I did. It was our choices and self-control that set our family apart. Rising above what we were. This thing would not have the faculties to do that. It would be what I was at my core. What I was beneath all the layers I disguised myself in to pretend that the evil did not exist.

Right now, that evil was growing unchecked inside Bella's body.

"Tell him," I heard Alice say.

Right. Alice. Why was Carlisle wasting all this time speculating when Alice would know? Why hadn't I interrupted his musing to ask?

"Alice can't see it," Carlisle said, his voice wary.

"And Bella?" I asked. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close.

"That's why Alice called. Bella blurred right out of her sight. If she really concentrates she can make her out, but just barely and no more than a few minutes out."

I could hardly think through the panic. I couldn't speak.

Carlisle probably guessed as much, because he went on, giving me the information I would have asked for if I could. "It is alarming, how quickly her pregnancy is progressing. If the fetus has even a fraction of our strength - well, you can imagine the complications that could result.

"Her body is also undergoing anatomical and physiological changes to adapt to the demands of pregnancy. Listen to her heart, for example. I'm sure you can hear a difference already if you're looking for it."

I could. Now that I was paying attention.

"I don't know if these changes can keep up with whatever this is. The fetus's incompatibility with her body could very well stress her entire system. Her heart, her kidneys... The longer she carries it, the higher the risk.

"We need to remove it as fast as possible. I'll know the best method once I examine her, but I predict it will have to be done surgically through an incision in her abdomen. If it has skin like ours, it would be too dangerous to force it to pass through her cervix."

I couldn't stop the mental images. My wife's perfect, fragile body sliced open. And the gruesome thing waiting inside.

"We will have everything ready at the house. We will deal with this quickly."

He was waiting for me to say something, but I didn't know what to say.

"Edward?" His voice was soft, gentle. Like he was speaking to a frightened child. "It's going to be all right. I'm going to make this better." And then he gave me exactly what I needed. "You're only job now is to get her home. As fast as you possibly can."

"Yes. Yes, I will." I ended the call and immediately started dialing.

"What did Carlisle say?" Bella asked anxiously.

"He thinks your pregnant," I said in a lifeless voice.

She shivered once. "Who are you calling now?

"The airport. We're going home."

It took over an hour of chewing out several levels of management and offering large bribes, but eventually I secured the most favorable itinerary we could have hoped for. By the time I got off the phone I had everything packed.

"Bella?"

Her back was to me when I walked into the kitchen.

She turned slowly. Her face was wary, damp with flowing tears.

"Bella!" I crossed the room in a flash and put my hands on her face. "Are you in pain?"

"No, no - "

I pulled her against my chest. "Don't be afraid. We'll be home in sixteen hours. You'll be fine. Carlisle will be ready when we get there. We'll take care of this, and you'll be fine, you'll be fine." She had to be.

"Take care of this? What do you mean?" She asked nervously.

I leaned away and looked her in the eye. "We're going to get that thing out before it can hurt any part of you. Don't be scared. I won't let it hurt you." As I said the words I felt truth in them. Carlisle would make it better.

And then I would change her so I could never hurt her again. So all evidence of that wretched, horrible night would be erased forever.

"That thing?" she gasped.

Before I could reassure her and downplay just how threatening that thing was to her very fragile body, I heard Gustavo's thoughts.

I looked towards the front door. "Dammit! I forgot Gustavo was due today. I'll get rid of him and be right back."

When I opened the door my face was so severe, Gustavo and Kaure both took a step backwards. "We've had a change of plans and don't need your services today. You'll still be compensated. Please leave."

"I - I've prepared you a meal," Kaure choked out, holding up a covered dish.

"No thank you. Now go."

I heard her resolve as she slipped past me into the house.

"Kaure!" Gustavo called after her.

"What the the hell do you think you're doing?" I snarled at her.

I just have to see that she's okay. "I'm sorry, sir. But it will go to waste if you don't take it. It won't be good by the time we return to the mainland and it needs to be refrigerated immediately."

I grunted in exasperation and got ahead of her. I wondered what exactly the woman might try to pull once she saw Bella's face.

"I'll go just as soon as I can show your wife the best way to heat it," she said timidly behind me.

I got to the kitchen before her and went straight to Bella. I wiped the tears from her cheeks. "She's insisting on leaving the food she brought - she made us dinner," I murmured. "It's an excuse - she wants to make sure I haven't killed you yet."

Kaure edged nervously around the corner and stopped. She looked at Bella, scrutinizing her face and posture.

She looks scared of him.

I wanted to write off her assessment - she was seeing what she wanted to see - but then I saw it, too.

"Is she ill?" Kaure asked, setting the dish on the counter

"Yes, and hardly up for company," I snapped. "Go."

I watched Kaure quickly turn, deciding she'd already pushed her luck enough, and then suddenly Bella was gagging.

I put my hands against her warm face while she retched into the sink. "It'll be okay, Bella," I murmured. "It'll be okay. It'll be over soon."

Poor thing. Kaure had turned back, feeling compassion towards the sick girl. He wasn't lying. Now I feel bad for forcing the fish on her - it's probably not helping.

I grabbed the dish and shoved it into the fridge before returning my hands to Bella's clammy skin. A few seconds later she quieted.

Just the smell of food was making her sick now?

I caressed the side of her face, ignoring Kaure still in the doorway. When Bella finished rinsing her mouth I gently turned her around and pulled her into my arms. She rested her head on my shoulder as if defeated.

Kaure gasped, her eyes locking on Bella's hands folded over her stomach. Her mouth fell open in shock. It's just like grandma's stories. I have to kill it. Before its too late. Violent images passed through her head as she imagined stabbing one of the kitchen knives through Bella's grey shirt.

I gasped and turned to face her, pushing Bella behind me. My arm wrapped protectively over her torso where Kaure had imagined running the knife.

He's protecting it. "Evil demon! What have you done to this poor girl?" She took two steps forward, shaking her fist at me. "Why do you play with your food? It would have been better for you to make quick work of her."

I stepped towards her and Bella clutched at my arm.

"You and your young will be cast into hell where you -"

"Please," I interrupted, speaking Ticuna. "What did your grandmother's stories say? What do you know? Tell me how to destroy it. Tell me how to save the girl."

She stared at me in wonder. How? How does he know? And then her eyes narrowed. "I'm right - you're what I suspect?"

I nodded once.

Kaure took a quick step back and crossed herself. I need to get out of here.

"Please," I said, reaching out to Kaure instinctively. "I love her." I gestured toward Bella and laid my hand on her cheek. "Her. Not it."

"You lay your evil hands on this beautiful girl. You think she is yours for the taking," Kaure shrieked, waving her hands at me accusingly. "You do not love her. You" - she stabbed her finger in my direction - "are not capable of love."

"I only want to save her. Please, tell me what you know. Help her."

She looked at me doubtfully. It was hard for her to deny the earnestness in my voice, the genuine agony she saw in my eyes. She looked at Bella's confused expression, and then back at me again.

The poor girl. She doesn't understand. That's why she touches it so tenderly. Kaure stepped forward unconsciously. For Bella's benefit, she made a motion with her hands, miming a shape like a balloon jutting out from her stomach. Then she took a couple more steps.

"How many weeks is she?"

"Just over two weeks," I answered tensely.

And already I can see it. "Has she felt it? Does it move?"

"Yes."

It's too late. Its armor is too strong now. I should have fought for her before... God, forgive me.

"And the mothers?"

Kaure shook her head as she imagined Bella in her legends. Bella with a bloated, bruised abdomen. And the creature, angular and corpse white, chewing its way out.

My voice was agonized when I spoke. "Do they ever survive?"

I could already hear the answer in Kaure's head, but watched as she laid her hand on top of Bella's where it rested on her stomach. "Morte." Though she still believed me incapable of love, my grief was more than she could bear. She turned, her shoulders bent, and left the room.

I stared after her for several minutes, frozen, seeing only the white demon child and its teeth, dripping red. The image was worse than Alice's vision of me holding Bella's drained body in Charlie's kitchen. Worse than James' video. Worse than my imaginings of her broken body lying beneath a sheet with a tag tied to her toe when I'd thought she killed herself.

Bella walked past me and I caught her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" My voice was a whisper of pain.

"To brush my teeth again," Bella said, monotone.

"Don't worry about what she said. It's nothing but legends, old lies for the sake of entertainment."

"I didn't understand anything," she said.

I was a mess - forgetting that she couldn't speak Portuguese, let alone Ticuna. Wearing my emotions on my sleeve when I needed to be strong for her.

But I was distracted from all that because I was still thinking about Bella's tone. Too calm, almost resigned.

"I packed your toothbrush. I'll get it for you," I said, walking ahead of her to retrieve it.

"Are we leaving soon?" She asked, still with a disconcerting degree of casualness.

"As soon as you're done," I said, trying to match her tone.

I supposed she was coping. And she hadn't heard all that I heard. I didn't want her to. Ever. If everything went as planned, all Bella would need to worry about was the IV to sedate her. And if Carlisle was right, that he'd have to go in through her abdomen, I would just change her once the thing was out so she wouldn't have to endure a painful recovery only to undergo the pain of transformation later.

"I'll get the bags into the boat," I said when she'd given back her toothbrush.

"Edward - "

I turned back towards her, wondering at the change in her voice. It was timid now, and a little ashamed.

She hesitated. "Could you... pack some of the food? You know, in case I get hungry again."

"Of course," I said, in a soothing voice. "Don't worry about anything. We'll get to Carlisle in just a few hours, really. This will all be over soon."

As I carried the bags to the boat, I thought about how embarrassed she'd sounded making her request and I was reminded of just how repulsed Bella had always been by the idea of pregnancy. "I'm not that girl, Edward. The one who gets married right out of high school like some small-town hick who got knocked up..."

One more insult on top of all the rest.

Back on the path, I could hear her heart pounding. I was through the front door the next second.

"Are you all right?"

She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Yeah, why?" It was almost defensive.

I studied her face, confused as she blushed.

"You left this on the counter." She stared at my chest as she held out my phone.

I slid it into my pocket, wondering what she was trying to keep from me. And then it clicked.

"You got sick again," I said tenderly.

"No. Well... yes."

"Don't be embarrassed." I stroked her cheek. "I'm sorry - I know a boat ride is probably the worst thing right - "

"I'm fine, Edward," she snapped. "Let's go."

I pulled her up into my arms and then we were racing home.


A/N: Thank you for all of your kind reviews!