"She won't get out of bed," I heard Jake whispering in the room. His voice was muted and distant as if he was at the end of a long tunnel and moving swiftly away from me.

A second, muffled voice answered him, "Have you tried calling for a doctor?" I knew that voice. It was silky and sweet. Part of me wanted to force my eyes open, but a stronger part of me wanted to never wake again. "Please leave the room, Sister Swan, Jacob; I'll see if I can help the situation with some prayer."

I hadn't realized my mother was there, but the shuffle of feet alerted me to those leaving the room. The bed shifted beside me. "Isabella," Edward said to me, trying to stir me from my state of despondency. "Isabella, I know you're awake. Don't you think I am aware of the way your breathing changes when I am near?"

Still, I refused to open my eyes. If only he would leave. I didn't know how long I had been in this perpetual state of hopelessness, but I could not imagine anything Edward could do that would make me want to break out of it.

Suddenly, he reached for my face, brushing aside vagrant strands of hair, and trailed his finger down my jaw. Goosebumps broke out over my skin when he traced that finger between my breasts and down my stomach.

"Thank God you sleep on your back, love," Edward whispered softly. His breath ghosted over my face, and I retreated back into the pillow. I could hear Edward's smile when next he spoke, but still I refused to open my eyes. "Aha, I knew you were awake, my darling."

His ministrations became more demanding then; his fingers attempting to entice me. When this fingertips reached my sweats, Edward slipped his hand inside. I felt his hard cock pressing against my thigh. I knew he was expecting to find wet, swollen flesh when he met my core, but there was no excitement—no rush at his touch. The stroking ceased and his hand froze.

"What is it, Isabella?" Edward asked me. My brain was clouded and filled with decisions. What was I to tell him? How would he react?

Finally, I opened my eyes; they were bloodshot and glazed over. I could feel it. Edward looked immaculate as ever of course, with his dark-washed jeans, button-up, and suit jacket; though he seemed to have aged in the last two weeks that I had been indisposed. A deep furrow creased his brow.

"Isabella, what has hap—"

"I'm pregnant," I blurted out, cutting Edward off. His face became ashen and his jaw clenched.

After several minutes, he finally spoke. "Jacob's." It wasn't a question, but a statement. I looked away in guilt, unsure of how to respond. Edward choked back a cough. "Y—you don't know, Isabella? How could this have happened? I am not reckless; we always used protection."

The weight of the world—the weight of this monumental moment in life—was thrust upon me. The unfairness of the situation settled onto my shoulders, and I dropped my head in shame. "You didn't, Edward," I mumbled, "Not on the day of the wedding."

Edward looked shocked, as though I was telling a blatant lie, but I pressed on. "You didn't even undress when you took me." I needed him to feel just an ounce of the guilt I was feeling at that moment. "Edward, you bent me over that table and pushed inside of me. You came inside of me without a second thought, and without any regard for the condom you left sitting in your pocket."

His eyes dropped and he pushed a hand through his errant hair. "Jake...made love...to me that night." Edward's eyes snapped up to mine. Pain radiated in their green depths. "He refused to use protection, and there was not much I could say to explain why I wanted him to do so.

"And now, here I am with a growing baby inside of me, and there are two different men whom might be the father. I don't know what to do!" I was sobbing by the time I choked the final words out. Pulling tissues from the Kleenex box beside the bed, I blew my nose and dabbed at my eyes.

Suddenly, Edward's lips were on mine. He pressed me into the bed and shifted my T-shirt up over my breasts and my sweats down to my ankles. I wriggled under him, struggling against him. But Edward just pressed into me further. He suckled on my nipples, which were tender and aching from the pregnancy, and ground his hard erection against me.

With one hand, Edward held me in place with my hands over my head as he unfastened his pants. His thick, long cock sprang free and he rubbed it against my folds. Weeks ago, I would have melted at the sight and begged him to take me; now, it was just a reminder of the mess we were in and the sins I had committed.

"Stop, Edward." My voice came out firm and strong, despite not being used very often in the past week. His movements stilled and his wide eyes told me of his shock at my words; I'd never rejected his advances before.

Edward pulled himself up off of me in a flash, and was pressed against the wall on the other side of the room just as quickly. "B—Bella, I'm...I'm so sorry, love." His words were coming out in little pants.

I stiffened and swallowed thickly. "What are we going to do, Edward?" My life was shattering around me and I didn't know which way to turn. I pulled the bed quilt up to cover my exposed body.

Edward righted his clothing and ran a hand through his straying locks. Eyes welling with tears, he slowly made his way back to me. I immediately tensed at his close proximity, closing my eyes; but when I felt his soft lips graze my forehead, I relaxed a fraction. I knew I would miss moments like this, but I found myself firmly rooted in the knowledge that this would be the last time we touched.

I may have loved him, but now I was starting to see it for what it was: Lust. We'd been warned about it all those years ago, yet I had given in.

"I love you, Isabella," Edward whispered to me; his words were soft and broken. I didn't respond; nothing seemed sufficient. The wooden floor creaked under his feet as he made his way to the door. It wasn't until I heard the opening squeak of the door that I finally reopened my eyes.

T - T

When Jake forced me out of bed and into church the next Sunday, we were greeted by whispers and pointed fingers. Jacob wrapped his arm protectively around me and led me to our pew.

Worship passed in a blur; I refused to stand during the music. Every few moments somebody would turn our way and stare. What in the world was going on?

Daddy stood up and made his way to the pulpit. Each week, he made the announcements from the church bulletin, even though he hated public speaking.

"You may be seated," Daddy said and the congregation took their seats. "Now, um, what I have in my hand is a, um..." He trailed off. I knew he despised having to make announcements before the church, but I'd never seen him this nervous.

Daddy cleared his throat and pressed on. "I have here a letter of resignation from the Cullens. It's written by Sister Cullen, but the pastor put a postscript at the bottom."

The blood drained from my face. He couldn't be serious. Edward couldn't just up and leave, could he? What about me? What about the baby?

My eyes snapped back to the front at the words my father read. "...sins of my husband. He was led astray by a woman in the congregation, and together we have repented. Unfortunately, this indiscretion requires that we move on..."

He told her? Several more sets of eyes flashed my way. Everyone knew. Everybody. She had told them all. I didn't realize that I was hyperventilating until my mother nudged me in the ribs. "How dare you act like this is news to you, Isabella!" she seethed at me. Tanya and my mother had been the ones whom we'd heard in the rectory that day. It all made sense now. I dropped my head in shame.

The remainder of the service was spent in discussion over finding a new shepherd and what this would mean to the church. I hid my face from the congregants, though that didn't prevent them from whispering and pointing at me.

At the end of the service, while the band was performing, the elders did an altar-call. Many members made their way to the front.

"Would you like to head up there, Bells?" Jake asked me. I glanced up at him and only then did I realize that my eyes were full of tears. I expected to see judgment and hatred, but it did not exist there in the depths of his eyes. He encouraged me lovingly to lay my sin before the cross. So I did.

T - T

Jacob and I never went back to our home church again; I had been shunned and exiled. He proved to me what an amazing man and husband he was. Jake moved his seven-months pregnant wife to Seattle and settled us in to a nice apartment in the city. We found a new unaffiliated congregation, though it was a mega-church and far bigger than we were used to. Jake and I found a nice niche in the new community.

I had confessed everything to my husband. Though he was saddened and pained, he held me close as I cried to him.

I went into labor the morning of the 41st week of the pregnancy, while cooking scrambled eggs and squeezing oranges for juice. Our daughter, Annabelle, was born that evening at 6:41. After she had been bathed and escorted back into our room, I finally got to hold her.

I knew who her father was the moment I saw her. With a head full of straight, black hair, there was no mistaking Jacob's daughter. He showered me with kisses and love, all of my sins forgotten.

T - T