45. Best Laid Plans

My face felt the warmth from the scant sunlight the clouds allowed through. I tilted it toward the sky. My eyes were shut, but I could detect the light through my closed lids, and to me it seemed nearly as bright as the midday sun we enjoyed on Esme's Island. I filled my lungs with the damp forest air. There was nothing of the island in the scents of leaf litter and earth, the green and growing things here having a sharper tang than the flowery, salty, ocean breeze.

I let out my held breath in a happy sigh. As much as I loved the smell of our island, this was home.

I didn't even mind the smell of the werewolf who walked beside me, nor the one edging his way through the bushes toward us. Seth whined just before he came into view, giving voice to his distress over Jacob's flight from our house. The sandy-colored wolf brightened visibly as he trotted up to his alpha.

"Hey, kid."

Jake, man, you had us worried.

Jacob may not have been able to hear his thoughts while in his human form, but that didn't stop him from guessing what was bothering the young wolf. He patted Seth's shoulder and said, "S'all cool. I'll tell you about it later. Sorry to take off on you like that."

Seth's jaw dropped open in a wolfish grin. There was more than a touch of envy coloring the memory he had of my favorite car flying past him with Jacob at the wheel. I wondered what it would take to convince him to let me give him a car like the one awaiting Bella. Maybe I could buy myself a new car and then decide I didn't like it. My lips pressed tight to hold in the laugh that wanted to burst forth.

Leah was in her wolf form and heard the admonishment Jacob gave her through her brother. Jacob didn't hear her derisive sneeze, but her mental grumbles convinced me that she wasn't planning on talking to any of us any time soon. Or ever again, if she could help it.

I smiled after Seth as he sauntered back to the trees, his tail held high. His sister could refuse to accept the good in our child, but Seth's thoughts rang with hope. He had listened to Leah's memory of her tirade, but his ears heard what hers would not. My son loved his mother, just like I did. Children were looked upon as a blessing by most, and the Quileutes were no exception. His tribe might have been small, but there were always new children being born. A young girl whom I didn't know toddled through his thoughts, gripping the hand of one of Sam's pack.

My chest constricted as that image shifted to one of Bella, her chestnut hair swirling about in the breeze. Seth imagined me strolling by her side on a beach I had only ever seen in pictures or thoughts. Between us, clinging to our hands, was a vague child form. Perhaps three or four years old, the child could have been either a boy or a girl, but it had my pale skin, and the sun brought out the red in the mop of chestnut hair on the child's head.

The three of us vanished from the scene as a fierce stab of longing for the beach, for home, pierced him. He shook off the homesickness quickly. It'd only be a few more days, he reasoned. The baby would be born tomorrow, and everyone would be friends again when they saw what Bella had known to be true all along. Tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, he gamboled down the path they had worn around our house.

Hey, Leah, wait up!

"He has one of the purest, sincerest, kindest minds I've ever heard. You're lucky to have his thoughts to share."

"I know that," Jacob muttered.

Although he may have spoken kindly to Seth, the tone of Jacob's voice told me that he was still resisting granting me leave to save Bella. His hatred for me had not faded, but he knew how this was going to end. I was going to change her whether he agreed to allow it or not.

Shame washed through me at that thought. Already, I had thrown my scruples aside when I'd decided to try and end our child's life by force. Ephriam's mistrust of us was warranted. He had not believed we were done growing our coven. Perhaps, if I'd had Bella as my wife when we'd met him, things would have been different, but the werewolves had known how powerful love could be in a way which I had not. One way or another, he'd been sure I would add to our family some day. He'd had no idea how right he was.

I had striven to attain Carlisle's essential goodness for nearly a hundred years, yet I still fell far short of the mark. Nothing would prevent me from doing everything in my power to save Bella and our child, but I would have preferred not to bring him into the world by breaking my word. I had never hesitated to lie to protect my family, but a promise made should be a promise kept.

My unpleasant ruminations vanished the moment I heard the wet sound of Bella emptying another cup. The wolf beside me forgotten, I sprinted back to the house.

Why had I left her? I could have spoken to Jacob on our porch just as well as in the garage!

Bella favored me with a look of love when I appeared by her side. Rosalie had settled her back onto the couch, but I seated myself on the floor, unwilling to jostle her by trying to join her.

"Bella, love, I thought you were sleeping. I'm sorry, I wouldn't have left."

"Don't worry. I just got so thirsty - it woke me up. It's a good thing Carlisle is bringing more. This kid is going to need it when he gets out of me."

That fact had been pointed out to me by Carlisle, but it didn't surprise me that my Bella saw the truth for herself. "True. That's a good point."

"I wonder if he'll want anything else." A frown wrinkled her forehead as she rubbed circles over her belly.

"I guess we'll find out."

How pleased that would make Esme! She'd been hoping Bella would consent to remain human for at least a short time following our wedding. My mother loved any excuse to cook, and we had long since given up on trying to break her of that desire. Our protestations regarding the food's horrible smells repeatedly fell on deaf ears with only her mental assertion that the humans thought it smelled and tasted just fine, thank you very much. I had only been grateful that none of my siblings seemed to share her obsession with human food.

"Finally," Alice said with relief as the blurred image of our home vanished from her thoughts.

I didn't look away from her, but Bella followed my sister's gaze to where Jacob was just shuffling through the door. My heart twisted as her lips turned up and her eyes lit with pleasure. The were friends, and he had saved her life numerous times. My feelings of jealousy were unwarranted, but that didn't stop me from having them.

I felt even worse when her beautiful smile faded, and her lips began to tremble. She pressed them together, as if she could hide from any of us that she was holding back tears. The fury I'd expected Jacob to feel when I'd told him what Leah had said flared at last.

Before she could speak, he said, "Hey, Bells. How ya doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Big day today, huh? Lots of new stuff."

She wasn't fooled by his deliberately cheerful tone. "You don't have to do that, Jacob."

"Don't know what you're talking about." He didn't try to join her, either, choosing to perch on the couch's arm instead of collapsing onto the cushions the way he seemed to want to do.

"I'm so s-"

He stopped her apology by holding her lips closed. She pushed weakly against his hand, but he shook his head and said, "You can talk when you're not being stupid."

"Fine, I won't say it," she mumbled around his fingers, but there was a defiant glint in her eyes that made me doubt she'd given in so easy. I nearly laughed when, as soon as he took his hand away, she blurted, "Sorry!"

They grinned at each other in a moment of camaraderie before a look of confusion crossed his face. She seemed to sense his struggle and didn't speak while I listened to his internal debate. The direction of his thoughts shocked me as he tried to convince himself that we were alive, that she would be alive, and the only reason they would be enemies was if he were to make it so.

His shoulders slumped in defeat as he sighed. Fine! Go ahead. Save her. As Ephraim's heir, you have my permission, my word, that this will not violate the treaty. The others will just have to blame me. You were right - they can't deny that it's my right to agree to this.

My heart lightened immediately. He'd agreed!

"Thank you," I said below my breath. I tried to put everything into those two words - my gratitude for gaining his permission as well as for all that he had done for Bella, and thus for me, not least of which was the reversal of this last prejudice.

Changing Bella would save her, not kill her.

I didn't explain when the others eyed me. As Bella had heard neither of us, all she could know was there was an expression of defeat on his face, but if she had been looking at me, she might have seen one of hope. If Bella could keep her friend, it would do much to ease her transition to her new life. I almost said the words out loud: her new life.

"So, how was your day?"

I wanted to laugh; she may as well have asked him about the weather!

He followed her lead, though, and lightly said, "Great. Went for a drive. Hung out in the park."

"Sounds nice."

A multitude of girls' faces flickered through his thoughts. The way he compared them to Bella, and quickly dismissed them all as inadequate next to her pure beauty, made me think his trip had been something other than nice, but he agreed, "Sure, sure."

Bella's nose wrinkled and she squirmed slightly in her seat. "Rose?"

"Again?" my sister asked with a laugh.

"I think I've drunk two gallons in the last hour."

Jacob and I stood to give them room. Light pink stained her cheeks as Rosalie lifted her off the couch. She'd never enjoyed being cared for, and being carried everywhere had embarrassed her, but when she hadn't had the strength to sit up straight, she had conceded the necessity and not complained. Now, however, with Jacob as an audience to her invalidism, she protested.

"Can I walk? My legs are so stiff."

Although I was inclined to not doubt her yet again, she seemed so weak, and her balance had already been dubious before swelling with my child. "Are you sure?"

Of course, she saw right through me. "Rose'll catch me if I trip over my feet. Which could happen pretty easily since I can't see them."

Her eyes danced as they held mine, and I shrugged my permission - as if she had needed it.

Rosalie tilted Bella toward the floor, and for the first time in days, Bella stood on her own feet. Rosalie held her hands ready to catch Bella if she should so much as wobble, but she was intent on stretching her arms and wiggling her fingers.

"That feels good," she said, despite wincing. "Ugh, but I'm huge."

...stomach's its own continent...

A low chuckle of agreement escaped me as I considered asking Rose if she thought she could hear a second heart beating, and Bella if there were any twins in her family, but I thought teasing the pregnant girl while she stood on unsteady feet might not be the best idea. Perhaps once she was seated again, I could try to elicit the sweet sound of her laughter with some good-natured teasing.

Oblivious to my amusement, Bella smiled tenderly at her round belly. She gave it a gentle pat and said, "One more day."

I had the strangest urge to do something to prepare for the next day. A human man in my position could have been packing and repacking overnight bags, topping off the fluids in his vehicle, or perhaps spending an afternoon putting together the last of the furniture in preparation for his child's birth. I hadn't liked the feeling of uselessness I'd experienced as I watched Bella sicken any more than I enjoyed it now, despite my positive expectations for the pregnancy's end.

"All righty, then." Bella made to step toward the bathroom, but had not done more than start to lift her foot when the cup shifted. "Whoops - oh, no!"

It was unfortunate that I had destroyed the end tables upon our return from Italy. Aside from the weeks of griping I'd had to listen to from Rosalie and Emmett - and if I'd really been paying attention, I probably would have aimed the table at something other than our television - it would have been helpful for Bella to have something stable on which to set her cup.

Without her body to rest against, gravity took over, and the weight of the blood in the cup caused it to tip. The red fluid splashed onto the off-white cushions. Rosalie, Alice, and I were already acting to prevent the rest from getting onto the floor when, apparently forgetting her delicate condition, Bella turned and reached for the cup. A noise similar to that which her clothes made as I tore them from her body came from somewhere within Bella.

Our eyes met in a shared moment of horrified shock as we understood what had happened. She had moved too quickly and overstretched organs which were already being compressed. All along, I had known her body would give out. I had thought planning a cesarean delivery would supersede the worst of the danger, but I had somehow forgotten that Bella had always been a danger to herself, too.

"Oh," she gasped before she collapsed.

Rosalie recovered before I did and caught Bella around the waist, but she wasn't fast enough to save the fragile human girl from injury. Bella had gone completely limp, and her head would have hit the floor, even if the rest of her did not. My hands were there to cushion her head just inches from the hard floor as I cursed my slow reactions.

I gasped her name, hoping desperately for her to say she was fine as she always had before, but she was not fine, and this time there was another who shared her danger. Our son was in distress, his limbs held tight to his body as he tried not to flail about, but he was afraid, so very afraid. Instead of giving him a comforting pat and a soft laugh, his mother screamed, and the sound shot through him as it did me.

Should I manage to live for eternity, never would I hear a more terrifying sound than that of Bella screaming as her body was torn apart from the inside. My worst imaginings of this very scene hadn't come close to the reality of how it looked, sounded, and felt to witness my gentle Bella in such pain. Not even the memories Charlie had unknowingly shared of Bella waking, shrieking from her dreams every night I'd been away could compare with the scream she made now.

And how I ached for her to cry out again when the sound cut off with a gurgle. The few drops of blood which had been spilled on the couch were as nothing compared with the liters her body forcefully expelled.

Esme's color preference for shades of white made each drop stand out. Red was everywhere; dripping down the couch cushions, glistening in a pool on the floor, the little waves made by her movements forcing it deeper into the carpet and farther across the room. Blood had splashed onto the fabric of all three sitting chairs. The one farthest away held only a single drop, but it caught my eye, and the contrast of white and red seemed eerily prophetic.

Blood was on me, too. My hands were covered with it as though I had dipped them in the sticky stuff. It was hot to the touch, so much so that my hands and throat seemed to burn in equal measure. For a long, awful moment, I was mesmerized by the sight and seized by the desire - the overwhelming need - to lick them clean. Doing so would have quenched both fires. I looked through trembling fingers to focus on the source of my torment.

It looked like a murder scene, and in the center was my beloved Bella, her face and neck covered in blood. I couldn't look away and knew that even the peripheral details would be seared in my perfect memory forever if Bella survived. If she did not, it wouldn't matter whose blood we were all covered in; she would be the victim of her vampire husband in a picture worse than any others' imaginings.

No! I couldn't allow her to die. Not now! But I couldn't save her, either. I couldn't move, my brain seeming to have disconnected from the rest of me by what I was witnessing.

But who else was there?

Carlisle was miles away, probably in another state or even Canada by now. Rosalie had less experience as a doctor than I. Alice's mind held no reassuring visions of the future. Jacob's presence had blanked out even the blurry glimpses of our family she had been getting, but she had never been through so much as a semester of medical school, and Jacob was still in high school.

By some grace, Jasper had shut his eyes and gulped in a breath to hold from the first moment he detected our fear. A litany of reasons why he must not go into the house to murder his brother's wife ran through his mind as he frantically dug his fingers into the bannister. It could never withstand his strength, but he found concentrating on the more immediate and less vital task of not crushing the flimsy stick of wood made it easier to avoid thinking of why he wanted... what he wanted. If he had seen or smelled the blood that gushed from my Bella, there would have been no stopping him and no saving her, nor our son.

My brother's uncertain self-control was far from the only danger. Something else was horribly wrong, I knew it, but with Bella convulsing in my sister's arms, and blood pouring from her mouth and nose, I was unable to identify what could possibly be worse than what I was already seeing.

"I can't breathe." The words were forced from my throat, though I hadn't meant to speak them. My chest was heaving as though I needed the air I was gulping in. The scent of blood surrounded me, and my throat burned with renewed thirst, but that wasn't the problem.

You don't need to. Rose tore her eyes from Bella's convulsing body to look at me in confusion.

Panicking in earnest, EJ felt a tightness in his chest which he didn't understand and a pressure behind his eyes which caused spots to flare and burst. He flung his arms and legs out, for the first time feeling something other than safe within his womb. No longer snug, it was stifling, smothering, and far too small. His hands and feet impacted the tough membrane which surrounded him, and each one was accompanied by the sickening snap of Bella's bones.

Unencumbered by my immobility, Rosalie scooped Bella into her arms and sprinted for the exam room. "Alice! Call Carlisle!"

"He'll never make it here in time," I said as I lurched to my feet and followed her up the stairs.

"Doesn't matter! He can talk me through it. Can't be that hard. Just be ready to bite her as soon as he's out."

"Let me do it now!" I was on her heals, my hands itching to sweep them both into my arms. Did Rosalie have to move so slow? She was certainly talking fast enough.

"Are you certain that won't hurt him?"

"How can it? He already has venom in him."

"And you know that how? Because you and Carlisle made a few wild guesses about how you were able to get Bella pregnant? What if you're wrong, and your venom has nothing to do with the baby?"

"If you're wrong, you're unnecessarily risking Bella's life!"

"And if you are, you're risking his. Bella wouldn't agree to it, and you know it."

I growled my sister's name as she laid Bella onto the hospital bed.

Stop arguing. You're wasting time! Scalpel! She lunged for the drawer where the syringe full of my venom rested among the surgical tools Carlisle had laid out.

"Morphine!" I shouted in desperation. She couldn't object to that!

She nodded, and for one wild moment, I thought she was going for Bella's throat, but her hands only grabbed the collar of Bella's shirt so that she could rip it out of the way. The morphine I had already prepared when attempting to run away with her was laying beside the other syringe, and I snatched it up, flicking the cap off and jabbing it into her arm in the same motion.

"Alice!" Rosalie screeched as she had yet to respond. "Get Carlisle on the phone!"

My tiny sister had been motionless, trying in vain to see something, anything, that would reassure her that our family would survive this. Rose's yell brought her back to the here and now, and she sprang from the floor of the living room, but after confirming that she was doing as Rose had asked, I tuned out her thoughts. Bella had turned to Rosalie to save her life, and that of our child, and it would be up to Rose to do exactly that, to perform a surgery neither of us were qualified for.

Rosalie dropped the scalpel she had grabbed and struggled to keep an unconscious Bella on the table; her body was rocking so hard from the violence of EJ's struggles Rose was having trouble doing so. She turned to me with a frantic look in her eyes.

"What's happening, Edward?"

"He's suffocating!" As soon as I said the words, I realized it hadn't been me who was unable to breathe; it was the baby.

"The placenta must have detached!"

To my horror, Bella heard us and screamed, "Get him OUT! He can't BREATHE! Do it NOW!"

She wanted us to perform surgery without any pain killers? Wasn't she in enough pain already? I tried to object, "The morphine - "

"NO! NOW!"

Her words were cut short as her body convulsed and forced more blood from her stomach. Before she could aspirate it, I was lifting her head and wiping her mouth. Her eyes rolled while I tried to keep her upright and breathing; she wasn't the only one who needed oxygen. Our son wasn't my priority, though. No matter what she said, Bella had to live!

The sight of Bella's naked body covered in purple and yellow bruises was no less horrifying now than the morning after our wedding when I'd discovered what I'd done in my carelessness. Her beautiful skin, once silky smooth and clear to the point of translucence, was now sunken in places and stretched thin in others. A dark blotch was spreading on the side nearest me from the damage our unborn baby was doing in his distress.

My silent heart leapt when Rose gasped my father's name in relief, but instead of the comforting sight of Carlisle striding calmly over to save my Bella, I saw Alice, her eyes growing darker with each step, backing slowly toward the door, and Jacob, who stared at Bella and looked like he was struggling not to get sick.

"No." Rose shook her head, and her hair shifted to reveal the blue earbud which Alice had brought. "She's not in labor. I think something tore. Something inside her. And then the baby started kicking, and she's bleeding, it's everywhere, and he's breaking her, but I don't think he's strong enough, he's not coming out, he's just suffocating, and I don't know if I can - I don't know how to - "

My father voice as it came from the wireless speaker was tinny, but full of his usual sure authority as he cut across Rose's increasingly frantic words. "Have you given her morphine already?"

"Yes, yes. Edward insisted on it."

"Then do it, Rosalie. Get the babe out so that it stops doing more damage. You will not hurt her more than he already is. Edward will be able to change her when you are through. Hold your breath, start low, and make the incision horizontally from left to right. Do not think about it. Just do it."

My sister set her teeth and retrieved the scalpel. Bella still seemed to feel every movement EJ was making in his frantic attempts to escape from the womb which had become his prison, which meant she would feel anything Rosalie did, too. Shouldn't the drug have knocked her out by now?

Stupid! It might have if I had injected it into her vein and not the muscle! But another dose could do more harm than good.

"Let the morphine spread!"

"There's no time. He's dying!"

Before I could form another objection, Rosalie ran the scalpel across Bella's stomach. My beloved jerked, and her eyes widened, but she was still choking on blood and unable to cry out. I was doing my best to prop her up, thinking that would help her breathe, or else I would have knocked the scalpel from Rosalie's hands. Surely just another few seconds for the medication to kick in wouldn't have hurt him!

The instant the blade pierced Bella's skin, her blood welled up. She was already bleeding so much internally that it seemed Rosalie had severed an artery, though she'd barely scratched her skin. Surrounded as we had been for days by the scent of exposed blood and covered as we all were now by the blood which Bella had thrown up, it was shocking the way her scent overpowered all the others. The rich bouquet which was so uniquely Bella filled the small room as though it were the only scent in the world.

My venom may as well have been gasoline the way my throat ignited with the first drop, but for Rosalie, who had never tasted human blood, who had no inhibition against biting Bella specifically, the blood pouring from Bella's stomach was a sight she couldn't resist. Opposing needs warred within her. She was a woman who had long mourned the absence of a child in her life, and killing Bella would kill the child within her. Yet she was also a vampire, and Bella's blood was the only thing that would put out the conflagration which seared her mouth and throat.

It had been weeks since her last meal, and her resistance to blood had been pushed to its limit over the past few days. The fire inside her spread from her throat to her stomach, to her unbeating heart, and into her brain. Her thoughts turned red, and Rosalie's lips pulled back from her teeth as instinct took over.

"No, Rose!" How could I protect Bella from my sister when she was in my arms, needing my support?

My shout had at least gotten her attention, but she couldn't leave. If she tried to move on her own, she would launch herself at Bella, but if she stayed, she would succumb after just another beat or two from Bella's struggling heart.

Jacob's eyes snapped to Rosalie's face. He saw her expression and knew it for what it was. Without hesitating, without phasing, he threw himself at my sister.

Yet another instinct flared within her: self-preservation. There was a werewolf, albeit in human form, sailing through the air to attack her. Her body demanded that she protect it from the dangerous monster, but she locked her muscles and refused to act, either to kill Bella or to save herself from Jacob.

He crashed into her, and she let him.

Confident that he had her under control, and hearing Alice streaking up the stairs with no thought other than stopping Rose, I pushed my sisters from my mind. So long as neither of them were after Bella, they weren't important. It was my Bella who needed my help.

Wiping the blood away from her mouth with my hands was only smearing it about. There had to be gauze in the drawers! I snatched some up, cautioning myself not to remove her skin along with the blood I was cleaning away. Being careful and gentle with her had never been more difficult, nor more important; my speed and strength would do little good if I killed her in my attempt to save her. Once they were no longer stained red, I was shocked to find her lips had a definite blue tint. There was nothing blocking her airway as far as I could tell, but her chest only seemed to move because EJ was flailing about.

"Come on, Bella, breathe!"

All the times I had said those words before had been accompanied by an intake of breath, why not this time? Maybe she couldn't? Had he kicked her ribs into her lungs after all? I was only grateful her heart was still beating, though every throb of the struggling muscle pushed more of her blood from the incision Rosalie had made.

If I tried to breathe for her, I would taste the blood on her lips and in her mouth, even if only a trace remained. I was in control for now and had no intention of draining her, but I didn't trust myself that far. Tearing my eyes away from Bella's blue lips, I looked around for anyone who could help. Alice had Rosalie by the throat and was dragging her into the hall. Rose wasn't resisting, her frenetic thoughts bouncing from not moving, to running away, to fighting - either to attack or defend - and to giving in to the call of human blood at long last.

Coloring everything was her nearly overwhelming fear of failing this biggest test of her existence. Only too familiar with the hazards of uncontrolled fear, I thought, perhaps, if she were to calm down, she might be useful again. I could have used her help!

"Alice, get her out of here! Take her to Jasper and keep her there! Jacob, I need you!" I shouted, grateful that there was at least one person present who was not drawn to Bella's blood.

Why was the mutt just standing there watching my sisters?

For once, they all did as I asked. Rose remained motionless and allowed Alice to drag her down the stairs to where Jasper was waiting on the porch, his gift already reaching out to help us all. My own fear dwindled, but the reason behind it was writhing on the table before me, her fingers grasping weakly at nothing, the bruises spreading to cover her entire abdomen, her heart growing louder as it struggled to compensate for the oxygen she wasn't getting.

Jacob had somehow ended up with the scalpel embedded in his arm. He yanked it out as he hastened over to stand with Bella between us.

"CPR?" Surely living by the ocean, he would have been taught that basic skill.

"Yes!" he agreed to my relief, but he didn't move. His eyes searched my face and compared it with his memory of Rose loosing control a moment ago.

"Get her breathing," I snapped. If I was going to bite Bella before EJ was delivered, didn't he think I would have done so already? "I've got to get him out before - "

Our son had been growing more desperate in his struggles. He twisted himself about to face the bright light above and thrust hard with his feet while his fingers tried to push through. The sound of Bella's spine breaking was like a canon's fire to his ears, and he pulled his limbs back to himself, but the damage was done. Bella's legs fell to the table, lifeless. Jacob's eyes met mine, and I saw a mirror of my own horror on his face.

"Her spine."

"Get it out of her!" He threw the scalpel at me, and I caught it automatically. "She won't feel anything now!"

He was right, I realized. The broken spine would serve better than an epidural.

Jacob leaned over Bella's head, checking that her mouth was clear, and he did for her what I could not. He pressed his mouth to Bella's and exhaled, forcing life-giving oxygen into Bella's lungs. The change in her heart was instant, and he breathed into her mouth again.

I had been prepared for the sight - it wasn't a kiss. What I hadn't been prepared for was tasting Bella's mouth through his thoughts.

Oh, bloody hell. Didn't he realize there was a telepathic vampire listening to him thinking about the blood on her lips? Did he really have to focus on how it tasted?

Bella's chest rose and fell, and then again when Jacob forced more air into her lungs. Her heart throbbed unevenly and blood dripped to the floor from the slice Rose had made. The thumps from within her stomach were growing weaker; if he hadn't delivered himself by this point, he wasn't going to. I was going to have to bite through the membrane EJ fought against, even if I didn't have to bite her.

Jacob breathed for Bella once more, yet still I hesitated to act. I wouldn't be tasting the partially digested and chemically treated blood of some unknown donor which Jacob was grimacing over.

It would be hers. Bella's blood.

Already it called to me, drew me toward her stomach like a fountain of life-giving water in a desert oasis. The thought of once again drinking the nectar that flowed within her veins was intoxicating in itself. Worse, I already knew exactly how good it would feel to drink her blood again.

But, I also knew exactly how it would feel if she were to die.

She was my paradise, my salvation, my own personal angel, and the fire that had grown to burn in my very veins was as nothing when compared with what I would experience upon her loss.

Bella was counting on me to save our son, and then to save her.

To save her.

I had to save Bella's life.

Which meant, I had to deliver the child I had given her.

Start low, Carlisle had said. Make the incision horizontal, from left to right.

I drew the scalpel over the shallow cut Rose had started, but in one move, I sliced all the way through the remaining layers to expose the inhuman material which surrounded our son. I tried to cut through it too, but the knife grated across the membrane as though it were made of stone.

Well, I had already known it would have to be done with teeth.

Determined not to fail her this time, I drew close to the open wound, to the source of the blood flowing from her. Before I dared taste her, I brought forth my memories of Bella on Esme's island. The sound of her laughter on our honeymoon soothed the fire in my veins even now, when it was only an echo in my mind.

Better even than that was the sound of her coughing and drawing a breath of her own, though she didn't respond to Jacob's demands that she live.

The grating of metal on metal as my teeth tore through the membrane hurt EJ's ears. He felt the swoosh of fluid as it rushed out of the opening I'd made. It wasn't big enough for him to fit through, and he cringed away from the horrible screeching it made as I tore the hole wider. I got the first glimpse of our child and reached into my beloved's body to bring him into the world.

My cold skin was shocking to him; he'd never felt anything other than the warmth of Bella. I worked his head through the hole I'd made - he had a lot of hair! - and the rest of him followed easily.

Our son was born at last.

Or... no. Bella had been wrong.

I whispered our daughter's name, "Renesmee."