No copyright infringement is intended. All copyrights belonging to Stephenie Meyer are hers, and the remaining original ideas/content are mine. Thank you.


"Oh," he said.

It wasn't the response she'd hoped for, but then, he was taken completely off-guard.

"Do you have an opinion?" she asked quietly.

Blinking a few times, he tried to think carefully and evaluate her question fairly. He didn't want to give her the kneejerk reaction answer, which was that he didn't want her to have additional, unnecessary surgery. He wanted to be truthful, but he was afraid. What if he did want her to have reconstructive surgery, and then something went wrong? Could he live with himself, knowing that his wife had died for a nice looking breast?

He knew she'd delayed thinking about this so that she could deal with her treatment. Some women opted to get reconstructive surgery immediately, but Bella simply wanted to fight one battle at a time. He'd agreed with her thoughts on that.

"I...I'm not sure," he said, honestly. "I want you to be happy. What do you think?"

"I miss my breasts the way they were. I miss feeling normal. I don't know if this will help? Will they feel foreign? Will I be angry when I look at them? Maybe I'll love them..."

Bella got up from the couch and retrieved the sacs of liquid. Together, they touched them, weighing the different sizes and filling materials.

Over the next few days, Bella began to feel like her old self. It was a slow change, seeping back into her bones. It made her dizzy with hope.

At the follow-up appointment, where she was declared cancer-free, Bella sobbed freely. Edward held her close, not afraid of hurting her anymore. Though he only shed a few tears, his relief was just as great. They both knew they would have to keep a very close eye on things, but they were in a new stage, no longer fighting cancer, but surviving.

"I'm ready," she said the following week. "I'm going to make an appointment to get myself fixed up, and then as soon as I'm recovered, you're taking me away."

The twinkle in her eyes had returned, and he felt their spark. It had never left, he realized, it just simmered in the background as they focused on more important things.

"Gladly," he said.

Just the thought of taking her away for a weekend made him require alone time that night. He'd missed her, missed her beautiful smile, missed her beautiful body, and mostly, missed their connection.

True to her word, Bella made the next available appointment for her reconstructive surgery. Esme returned to their home, ready and willing to step in and help them in any way she could again.

Edward and Bella were surprised at the length of recovery time, and the number of surgeries required for reconstruction. There would be an implant, and then several weeks later, nipple reconstruction.

After the first surgery, Edward felt relief. He still felt they were unnecessary steps, but if they helped Bella to feel like her old self, to feel better, he was all for them. After the surgeon told him in the waiting room she was fine, he turned and let his mother hold him as he cried. Maybe now, finally, he'd get his wife and best friend back.

When she'd been discharged and released several days later, Edward brought her home to finish recovering.

Bella felt even more herself, which struck her as odd since she had something so foreign inside her now. She spent time touching her new breast, poking it – but not too hard – and looking at it. She felt the weight of it, compared it to her other breast, and she worried. She worried Edward would notice every difference, every flaw.

Just before her second surgery, she caught him staring at her across the dinner table. When she felt his foot next to hers, then on top of hers, she smiled and felt the tears well in her eyes. Had Esme not been there, they'd have surely found something for Renesmee to do in order to steal a few minutes alone.

This small sign had been what she needed to push her self-confidence back in full force.

She still struggled, still had days she hated her body, wanted her old, saggy boobs back (as insane as that idea was), and felt the eyes on her as people noticed her strange hairstyle.

But slowly, Bella Cullen, wife, mother, and lover, was returning.

This story has barely any reviews, but is getting decent reads. I hope it's not that you're not enjoying, and I'd love to hear from you, either way.