It had been twenty minutes or so since Callie had taken a bite, and she was suddenly ravenous again. She choked down the rest of the spaghetti and the bread in a fashion that was ridiculously fast, even for a vampire's eyes.

He definitely would never get in between her and her dinner.

Briefly, he contemplated the irony of the statement he had just made. He let it fall to the wayside for a while, then looked back to Callie, who was now wiping her mouth clean. She looked so innocent, the hanging light overhead haloing her reddened hair in the dim restaurant's atmosphere. How could this girl be holding the child of his enemies? It was surreal to think that this childlike woman could even carry a baby. Her belly left no room for doubt, however.

The waitress returned. "Can I get you anything else?" She asked, directing her question at Edward. He ignored her and looked to Callie.

"I don't know. Callie, would you like dessert?"

With the napkin still dabbing at her mouth, she looked up at him and nodded excitedly. The waitress reluctantly looked to Callie and said, "What can I get you?" Callie quickly looked at the dessert menu sitting on the table, and said, "Oh, tiramisu would be wonderful, if that's okay."

The waitress nodded and walked off, returning soon with a plate of lavishly decorated tiramisu. Callie immediately offered him a bite, and when he went to deny, she glared at him. He rolled his eyes and took the fork, slipping it into his mouth and swallowing. Even his vampiric taste buds didn't dissent entirely.

She finished her dessert more slowly than she had eaten her spaghetti, savoring each bite. Edward watched her. She made cute faces when she was enjoying herself, like when she took far too big a chunk of tiramisu to fit between her lips and it got on her cheeks a bit. When it happened the first time, Edward reached across the table with his napkin and wiped it away. She smiled, blushing. The next time it happened, Edward laughed to himself and reached to wipe it off again, but Callie backed away, got it off her face with her finger, and sucked her finger clean. Edward couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The waitress returned with the check, putting it towards Callie. She didn't say anything like "Have a good night," or some other pleasantry. Edward frowned.

"I get so disappointed in rudeness," He said, taking the check and leaving the appropriate amount of money on the table.

After paying, Edward led Callie back out of the maze of tables and booths to the door. The hostess wished them a fond farewell and he smiled at her, ignoring her thoughts. They walked out into the night, and he resisted the urge to slip his hand into hers.

The drive home was quiet; Callie said little. "Thank you, Edward." His name sounded like music on her lips. He couldn't bring himself to respond. Instead, he looked at her for just a second too long. "Edward! The road!" She demanded when she realized he wasn't watching it.

As if he would steer her or this car awry. Still, he muttered an apology.

She didn't speak again that evening except to say goodnight. He would have thought she was angry with him if he couldn't read her thoughts. Instead, she was embarrassed, sure she had overreacted, and awkward. When she said goodnight, he smiled at her and kissed her forehead. She gave him a small smile in return.

Later than night, when Edward knew she was asleep, he left his bedroom and headed towards Carlisle. On his way to his office, Edward stopped and looked and the sleeping girl. She held her stomach, the same smile as she had given him an hour ago on her face. He stood watching her for a few minutes, pondering how it would feel to lie next to her. Carlisle's thoughts interrupted his daydreams, however, and he left her doorway and the temptation she presented to him. His feet carried him to his destination; mentally, his thoughts never wandered from Callie's bedside until Carlisle said, "Good evening, Edward."

"Carlisle," He said, returning the greeting before getting down to business. "How are we going to do this? How are we going to hide ourselves from someone in our own home? What if this child comes out with claws?" His feeling of calm from watching Callie sleep slipped further away with each question he asked.

"Edward, you need to keep a steady head. Before anything else, we need to ascertain something."

"And what is that?"

"Does she know what Jacob Black is?"

Edward immediately understood. If she knew that Jacob Black was a werewolf, the situation was changed. She would know that she needed to be protected, that her baby, if male, could follow in his father's footsteps. She may even know that Edward and his family were vampires.

The thought sent a shiver down his spine. The dogs knew what they were. It would be logical to assume that Callie could know. But would she still act how she had so far? She didn't seem uncomfortable around them.

Carlisle was right. This fact was essential in their planning. When they knew this, they would unlock one of Callie's secrets. The rest would have to wait.

Each member of the family knew by now that Callie carried the baby of a werewolf. Emmett, when he found out, said that it was "hardcore." Rosalie wrinkled her nose and said, "She doesn't smell like a dog." Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle were all quiet when Alice shouted it into the phone to Edward. They didn't hold it against Callie, however, for maybe the same reason they didn't hold her humanity against her. Nobody really knew that reason; they simply did.

888888

Edward didn't go back to his room that night. He sat in Callie's room instead, watching her sleep. He listened to her breathing, the two heartbeats radiating from her body. She radiated heat, raising the room temperature, and he wanted to be warm.

It occurred to his subconscious at that moment that this heat was more than the average human. The baby in her belly was burning up by human standards. He could have known then that it was a werewolf child inside her, a male with an active gene, but he was distracted. He wanted to hold her and feel that warmth. He wondered if she was too warm, if maybe she missed the cooler temperatures of an average human life. He wondered if she would appreciate his touch.

He then recalled the first day they had met, when their hands had touched. Hers had been cool in comparison to other humans, and she had been a bit cold. How could she be cold with a heat pack in her stomach?

He pondered this, and his examination of the situation led him to only one thing that could have aroused the wolf in her child. There was only one real difference. There was a vampire around her. Not just one, but seven. In immediate proximity.

She lurched in pain in her sleep. The baby (or maybe more aptly called pup) was excited. It must have sensed him there. A wolfen fetus was scratching at her insides and it was possibly his fault.

Hesitantly, he decided to wait until he knew more to act on this information. He didn't just want to drag himself away from her, not after what his family had just offered. He waited until morning, instead.

Callie woke with a quiet yawn a few hours later, stretching like a cat and rubbing her belly. Since the night had passed so slowly, Edward decided at four o'clock in the morning to buy Callie some groceries, mostly for breakfast. Now, watching her from the doorway, he was glad. Her thoughts told him that she was already hungry.

"Breakfast is ready, Callie."

She jumped, startled, and then smiled. "Guess I'm still tired. Did everyone eat already?"

He nodded.

"Oh, that's good. I didn't want to make anyone wait."

"You had a hard day yesterday. I don't think anyone would hold it against you if you slept a little late."

She suddenly looked around for a clock. "What time is it?" She was worried about school.

Edward chuckled. "Carlisle is a doctor, and he wrote a note to excuse you for the day, darling." The last word came out naturally, as if the sentence wouldn't have been complete without it. She noticed it, but Edward tried to remain nonchalant.

Soon, she said, "Oh, well that was right kind of him. I'd like to thank him." She stood on the side of her bed that was closest to him, and paused before saying, "I'd also like to thank you, Edward. Thank you for getting me out of the shelter and saving my baby, too."

They both stood in silence awkwardly. To try and break it, Edward started, "Well, breakfast –"

"Will you be the Godfather?" She interrupted, spitting out the words fast enough to choke on them. She cleared her throat, and another silence ensued as she waited for the answer.

Edward was shocked, to say the least. He couldn't seem to keep the expression off his face. Somewhere, deep down, he was smiling at the irony of asking a damned human to be a godfather. "You might ask Carlisle. He's much more…paternal, than I am."

Callie shook her head. "He already has six people to look after."

"That is true," Edward thought.

"And I want you."

They fell silent. Callie blushed furiously. Behind his shock and amusement and embarrassment, the monster inside Edward growled hungrily. Edward ignored it with ease this time.

"To be the godfather, you mean," Edward tried to recover. Callie nodded, unable to verbally respond.

Either to end the awkwardness spilling from their proximity to each other, or to distract himself from the sexual tension between them, or maybe because he truly wanted to protect the child of this child-woman and his mortal enemies, Edward said, "I will be his godfather."

Callie smiled with relief. They both began to walk down the hall towards the stairs. Suddenly, however, she stopped. "His?"

"His what?"

"My baby is a girl." Her thoughts were sent straight to him.

He stared. "It can't be a girl, it's a were –"

Carlisle came out of his room at that moment, clearing his throat. "Good morning, Edward, Callie. How did you sleep?" His question was general, but both Edward and Carlisle knew it was only to Callie.

"Oh, very well, thank you, Dr. Cullen."

"Carlisle, please." She nodded.

"Thank you, also, for excusing me from school. It's a much needed break," she said, motioning to her stomach.

He smiled and patted her belly lightly, then led her down the stairs, leaving Edward on the second floor, speechless.

Everyone soon made their way out of the house for work and school, except Esme, Callie, and Edward, who had inexplicably "come down with a fever". Before leaving, Carlisle pulled Edward aside. He said, "Edward, I want you to propose this to Callie. Because of her…situation, I don't think she should be at school. She's graduating this year, however, and can't miss the final months. I'm going to arrange, with her permission, for her work to be sent here." Carlisle looked to Edward for a response. Edward nodded. "I think it will be better for all of us. Also, bring her by the hospital today. I'd like to look her over, make sure she's healthy."

Esme headed out as well, but only after spending the morning cooing over ultrasound pictures and baby shower ideas with Callie. As she walked out the door she made a comment about needing some new flowers for her hanging pots in the back yard (in the past years she had become something of a gardener, and with the new arrival, she wanted everything to look its best). Edward listened to their conversation from two rooms away, smiling. This was good for Esme, having Callie around.

Esme left Callie in the living room to contemplate her baby and what would happen in a few short months. Callie absentmindedly paged through one of the parenting magazines that Esme had pulled out for her, looking at the baby clothes and the ideas for birthday parties. She sighed, content and excited. Edward walked in after a while, and looked straight at her. Since she had said her child was a girl earlier that morning, Edward had realized something.

"When Alice asked you, the first day at lunch, if your baby was a girl or a boy, you said you wanted to be surprised." He didn't form a question, but he was obviously expecting an explanation.

"I know. No machine told me it was a girl. I just know it is."

Edward breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a girl, obviously. It couldn't be a girl and be a werewolf, as far as he knew. "One less complication," he thought to himself.

Callie smiled at him, then looked at the clock. It was already eleven. She stretched. "I think I'm going to catch a cat nap for just a bit. All this girlish banter with Esme has made me sleepy." She smiled apologetically.

"Of course. I'll have lunch for you when you wake."

She blushed. "I don't want to bother you. I'm sure I can make something."

He smiled. "Nonsense. That baby won't want to wait and neither will you. Get some sleep. It's good for you."

Callie nodded her thanks to him, and then wandered up the stairs. In her room, she curled up on the bed and drifted off immediately into sleep on the cool sheets. Edward followed her thoughts as they blurred into dreams and then stepped outside.

It was cool, a light breeze blowing the damp air against his skin. He smiled, listening to the wind through the trees. Despite everything, he was happy to have Callie there. She was a breath of life into him, it seemed. He actually felt more human around her.

An hour passed, with Edward simply standing in the yard, enjoying the green life sprouting in the surrounding woods and the green wind that blew through them. This was his meditation, his relaxation. Spring was in the air, and it was singing a lullaby in his ears.

It seemed like the wintery weather had gone for good. Callie could put away those gloves of hers.

In her bedroom, Callie stirred. She stretched just as she had that morning, and sat up on the bed. The room was lighter than when she had fallen asleep; the windowed wall had let in all the light the day had to offer. She smiled. Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds just barely, sending shafts of light down to Earth. She got out of bed and stood towards the window, unable to keep the smile off her face. That's when she saw Edward, standing in the yard.

He was glittering like a diamond.