A/N: Next year, August 13th is a Friday, FYI. So, think next year peeps or 2004, I'm not sure which one would be more cannon. Your input would be nice.

----*----

"I'd estimate your due date at about August 13th."

"That's a Friday, isn't it?" I stared at the ultrasound. The baby didn't look like a baby yet. "Great." I wiggled a little.

"Gotta pee?"

"Just uncomfortable. I'm worried my ex is going to show up."

The tech smiled sympathetically. "Does he want you to terminate?"

The way she said it sounded cold, animalistic. "No. I wanted to, but now I want to give it up. He wants us to raise it together. I've been starting to get close to another guy so I can't logically live with someone I don't like anymore."

"Okay, we're done here. You can go home."

----*----

"Charlie grounded you because of what Edward did to Bella?" Jake said, as they sat in the backyard.

"He probably thinks I could have stopped it. Forced them to stay apart. Saved her from the pain. But there was only way to do it and I wouldn't."

Jake stared at me in disbelief. "You would have loved him so you'd get hurt instead of her."

"But I couldn't do it. I couldn't keep her from finding out. I couldn't stop her from choosing the bad boy. I couldn't stop her from making mistakes. I couldn't stop her pain."

Jake wrapped an arm around me. "There's nothing you can do to change it now. All we can do now is keep it from killing her. It's okay. I won't let any one hurt you or her. We're going to be okay."

"We have to be okay," I replied, putting my head on his chest and taking in his warmth. "I can't imagine my life without my family." He didn't speak as he held me. The steady sound of his breathing was soothing and predictable. Within minutes, he was sleeping against me.

For the first time in a while, I felt truly loved. It wasn't that no one had ever loved me, but as if none of the others mattered. As if Francisco, Titus and the others had never existed. They were like memories or nightmares. Just things that happened in passing. Jake didn't care that I was having someone else's baby. He was even willing to put his own name on the birth certificate. All he cared about was my safety.

----*----

"Liza?" Someone shook my shoulders. "Liza, we need to talk."

I opened my eyes and yawned. "Hi, Izzy. How long have you been standing there?" I slid out of Jake's arms and wobbled to my feet.

"I can't believe you're doing this to me!" she hissed in a harsh whisper.

I was still tired and a little fuzzy-headed. "I don't what you're talking about," I yawned again, naïve.

She pointed over my shoulder. "You know what I mean."

I looked back at the sleeping Jake and blinked once. "Oh. Don't worry Bella, nothing happened. We were just talking and we feel asleep." A sleepy smile formed on my lips. "Really. We're just friends."

"Why do you always have to be right, Eliza-May?" she hissed again, pulling me into the house.

I noticed that her eyes were puffy, as if she had been crying. "I'm not sure what you mean, Izzy." I yawned again, feeling totally drained. "I can't think right now."

"I believe you."

I blinked twice. "Huh…" She wasn't making any sense to my sleepy mind. Even my vision wasn't clear.

"About Ed—" she gulped. "About Edward. That he tried to kiss you before he left. That he left because he didn't want me and you didn't want him."

It was getting drenched in cold water when you have a hangover. Sobering. "Izzy, I didn't say that last part."

"He did." She let out a sob and out her hand over her mouth. "I just remembered." Her body started to shake. "He didn't want me."

I wrapped her in a hug. "Let it out, Izzy."

Her breathing grew ragged. "Even Mike Newton picked you over me. I'm never going to get past this."

I felt a brief moment of happiness. Finally, Bella knew what it was like to be the lesser sister. It didn't last long. The shaking of her body wiped the feeling away. "No, Izzy, don't say that. You're beautiful, strong and really smart. You've got a much brighter future then I do." I stepped back, holding her at arms' length. "I'm going to be a teenage mom, remember?"

"Yeah, but both Titus and Jake fond over you. I'm going to be a virgin for the rest of my life. No one can love me." She suddenly tried to sink to the ground.

As I struggled to keep her on her feet, I started crying too. "No, Izzy don't say that. Stop lying to yourself. Come on, you're better then this."

I couldn't hold her. She slid to the floor, with a sob. "I give up. Just leave me here."

I looked down at her. "No, Izzy. Don't do this to me. To Charlie. To Jake."

Someone came down the stairs. "Girls?"

I looked up at Charlie, blinking back the tears. "Daddy, help her."

Bella had curled up in a ball, and Charlie bent down to pick her up. She screamed, pushing him away. "NO!"

Charlie tried to lift her up, but he couldn't. "Bella," he whispered, kneeling beside her. "Come on. Get up. It's late. You should go to bed."

She turned away from us with a groan.

I was still crying, but I managed to say, "There's nothing we can do, is there?"

Charlie looked up at me, his own face streaked with tears. "Go to bed, Liza. I'm going to make a few phone calls. It's going to be okay."

----*----

Charlie let me sleep in and skip school. When I finally woke up, I came down the stairs. Charlie looked tired, as if he hadn't slept all night. "Where's Bella?" I asked gently.

He pointed at the floor near his feet. Bella was curled around his ankles, sleeping. "She's been asleep for about twenty minutes."

"Do you want me to sit with her?" I asked, sitting on the couch.

He shook his head. "I've taken some time off work until Renée can get down here. I don't want to leave you two alone."

I looked down at my stomach. "Yeah, sorry about that fight. Bella and I just aren't who we used to be. I don't know what changed. It's like we switched places. I just want everything back to how it was before Edward. Before I lost my sister."

Charlie pulled his feet away from Bella, and walked up to me. "Are you going to be okay?"

I nodded. "I have to stay strong."