Chapter 17: Consequences

A/N: Because it wasn't clear to some people - no, she didn't lose the baby. Yes - she lied. I know. It's horrible. Yes, I do have a plan, but I'm going to need your trust. Do we have an accord?

Disclaimer: I don't own them, they own me.

She regretted the words the instant they'd left her mouth.

Everything happened too quickly. With his voice in her ear and her heart shattering, sending shards of pure agony through her chest, she made the same wish that had occurred to every broken-hearted person since the evolution of human emotions: I wish I'd never met you.

Who hadn't wished for some cosmic reset button? She'd never wanted to fall in love. She'd never wanted a partner in raising her daughter. Edward, even before they met, had made it clear that he wanted to be an uncle. This wasn't what he wanted either.

The idea flashed through her mind - just an insane what if scenario. What if she could undo it all? Press the reset button.

It took all of half a second to think it, and then the words were tumbling out and away from her. They curdled in her mouth, tasting foul, but by the time her mind fully comprehended what she had done, she had already hit the end button on the call.

Half a second for the thought to spark in her head. Less than 10 seconds to stutter through thirty-eight of the most horrible words she'd ever spoken in her life. And then, if she thought her heart was broken before, she had not known how bad the pain could really get. Guilt and longing made for a trial by fire mixed with an acid burn, both of which consumed her whole. Less than 15 seconds: that's what it took to irrevocably alter her life.

She had no idea how long she'd been crying when Jasper appeared in her hospital room. One look and she'd told him everything she kept from him. She told him in hiccuping gasps about the way she'd gone from fighting Edward to falling for him in the space of a long afternoon. How they'd procrastinated talking about everything - but most of all they'd delicately stepped around the life that was quickly developing in her belly. Thursday night she'd known for sure she was in love with him - for her, a frightening, exhilarating, and overwhelming prospect in and of itself. Friday afternoon Jacob had yanked the wool from over her eyes, breaking her heart and setting in motion the nauseating tailspin she was in now.

But the lie she'd told... the damnable lie.

The look on Jasper's face when she confessed was enough to make her physically ill. Then there was a nurse shooing Jasper away and pushing something into her IV that made Bella's world blur around the edges and fall away.

When she woke up the next morning it was as if the world was turned down - muted in both sound and color. Her heart was so heavy she felt frail. When her eyes met Jasper's in the visitor's chair, she couldn't hold his gaze.

"Bella... what are you going to do?" he asked, his voice quiet and far too calm. She couldn't answer at first. She wanted him to yell. Instead he said, "There's no way you can keep this from Edward, let alone the rest of his family."

"Why not?" she asked, her voice raw with sleep and more tears than she could ever remember shedding all at once. She spoke in a completely flat tone, without emotion because even she knew she was grasping at straws. "All these years and we never ran into each other before. There's no reason for us to run into each other now. And even if it happened, after the first year or so a child's age is difficult to pinpoint. They'll just assume I tried again."

He knelt at her bedside, holding her cheeks gently so she had no choice but to lock eyes with him. "Even if that worked - which we both know it wouldn't - Alice and Rosalie are in my life. That's not going to change. You know it's not fair to ask me to lie to them."

Her mask had crumpled and she put a hand over her eyes, squeezing them shut tight as if she could keep her tears from falling. "I know," she whispered, sniffling. Her breath shuddered as she tried to fill her lungs. She felt like she couldn't get enough air. "I don't know how to undo it," she admitted.

Jasper's hand in her hair, stroking soothingly, was the only thing that kept her tethered to earth. "It's okay, sugar. We'll figure it out. okay?" He waited for her to nod, acknowledging his words. "Now, the doctor was in while you were sleeping. He didn't seem too happy about your uh... episode last night. But he said as long as you keep your stress levels down and stay at the bare minimum of activity for a while, you should be okay at home."

A mixture of relief and trepidation managed to permeate the desolate haze Bella was existing in.

"One of us will be with you all the time. Don't argue with me on that," Jasper warned, tilting his head at her.

"I'm not going to argue," Bella said tiredly. If it was just her welfare on the line it would be a different story, but it wasn't. "Who's we?"

"Charlie, Peter and I... Jacob and Lizzie," her friend answered.

Bella stared off for a few minutes, trying to sort her heavy emotions. She wasn't sure where all her anger belonged - whether it was something she should rightfully shoulder herself or whether she should be angry at Jacob too. The last couple of days she'd feigned sleep when he was around.

Luckily though it was Charlie and Peter who were with her when she was finally discharged. Finally home, Bella almost fell into her bed. She was emotionally spent, in constant - though tolerable - pain from the bruises she'd sustained during the accident, and still under the influence of the drugs they had her on. She slept all day, only waking briefly when her father brought her lunch - and refused to leave until she ate - and the endless trips to the bathroom. Before her rapidly shrinking bladder had irritated her. Now she was filled with a new appreciation for all the side effects of pregnancy. The feeling like she was always just a sneeze away from peeing herself was a small price to pay for the knowledge that her baby was alive and well and kicking like crazy as the drugs wore off.

The light fluttering in her belly was the only spot of happiness Bella had, and she clung to it. Her daughter's very presence was a life raft in a tossing sea - the waves of guilt, shame, fury, and absolute helplessness were battering her, but she had some hope.

When Bella woke again the room was darker than it had been. Almost night time - which in the summer in Los Angeles meant it was probably close to eight or nine. Away from the heaviness of the drugs, Bella felt like she could think a little more clearly. No longer so lost inside her head, she first noticed two familiar voices arguing. She stood carefully, the voices getting clearer as she emerged into the hallway.

"-may be the truth, but what does it matter? Right now you are being the opposite of helpful to this situation," Jasper was whisper yelling harshly.

"You didn't know what I knew," Jacob argued. "You didn't know that he was sitting there, letting her fall for him, when he knew the whole time that nothing had changed about the way he felt about the kid."

Jasper sighed. "Jacob, Bella is-"

"Right here," Bella interrupted, coming into the living room, with her arms crossed.

"Bells," Jacob said, looking guilty. They both looked guilty.

Bella didn't look at him directly. Instead she addressed Jasper. "What happened?"

"Edward was here, looking for you."

Feeling her knees grow weak, Bella sat heavily on the couch. She was surprised at how strongly the rush of panic hit her right on the heals of a powerful yearning. How could she simultaneously want someone as far away from and as close to her as possible? "Did you..."

Jasper shook his head. "I didn't tell him anything except that you fell on Friday. He made his own assumptions from there and didn't ask any additional questions."

"Of course not," Jacob sneered. "I told him-"

Furious, Bella turned in her seat, pointing a finger at Jacob. "I don't want you to talk to him again, do you understand me?"

Jacob's jaw dropped. "Bella, you don't honestly think-"

"What I honestly think is that it was none of your business to do what you did. No!" she held up a hand cutting off his protest. "We were going to talk, Jacob. We were going to talk when he came home from Chicago. Now I won't ever know if he would have been honest with me on his own."

There was a moment or two of uncomfortable silence as the two friends glared at each other. Jacob swallowed hard, obviously holding his tongue for once. "What are you saying?" he asked finally. "You think this is all my fault? Bella, you weren't talking to him. He obviously had his head up his ass. I could see you falling for him, and I knew he was going to hurt you. I mean, if you were together when you got pregnant, and he didn't want the baby, you would have kicked his ass to the curb, right?"

"It doesn't matter what you think I would have done. I'm not a child. It's my life, and my relationship."

"I just thought-"

"I know what you thought. Believe me, I was there on Friday." Bella closed her eyes, trying to calm herself before her rage got the better of her. This emotional pendulum was getting more erratic by the moment. "I understand what you were worried about. I was worried about the same thing - him walking out on both of us," she laid a hand on her belly, "when he remembered that this wasn't what he wanted. But that was for us to work out. Not for you.

"Look, just don't talk to him, okay? The only thing you're doing is making it worse, and believe me, I've done enough of that all by myself."

"I just think you would be better with him out of your life. Sooner rather than later," Jacob tried.

"You just don't know when to quit do you?" Jasper asked, shaking his head.

"Go home, Jake," Bella said through gritted teeth. "Thank you for your help, but please go home."

She looked down studiously. Bella was far from a coward on most days, but there was just too much else to deal with. She didn't want to have an image of her best friend's hurt or furious face to add to the pile.

When his footsteps faded away and the door slammed, Bella let out a long breath. As her anger faded, she slumped, leaning against Jasper for support. He rubbed her shoulders. "Bella... you didn't see his face. He was crushed that you wouldn't speak to him."

Bella knew Jasper wasn't talking about Jacob. "The only reason I let him believe everything was because I knew you wouldn't be thinking clearly if I just let him in," he continued.

Nodding gratefully, Bella turned her face into his chest. She needed the time to gather her thoughts. What on earth was she going to say to him? "He's going to hate me," she whispered.

He hugged her, not refuting that statement because they both knew there was a good chance it was true. Instead, Jasper stood. "I know you don't feel like it, but you need to eat something, okay?" he said softly.

Obedient, and exhausted despite the fact she'd slept all day, Bella merely nodded. The food he set in front of her tasted like cardboard and sand in her mouth, but she managed to swallow it. Then she fell asleep, still clueless as to what she was going to tell Edward, and what the consequences of her actions would be.

~0~

Tuesday morning, Edward could hardly open his eyes. He was briefly lost in time, trying to remember where he was and what he had done the previous night. There was a murmuring somewhere nearby that felt out of place, and a throbbing pain in his chest that made it difficult to breathe.

Then light filtered in, and Edward remembered everything. He remembered Bella's trembling voice on Sunday evening and then feeling like he had to run, run, run to escape the avalanche of emotions that nipped at his heels for the next 24 hours. His frustration when no one would answer him - when he didn't know what had happened to Bella. Coming home and crying himself to sleep as his sister tried futilely to soothe him.

And the grief.

As soon as he identified that throbbing in his chest, it intensified, completely closing off his throat. There was a strangled, whining noise that he only barely recognized as his own pained whimper as he closed his eyes, breathing in through his nose. Long, hard seconds passed before he was even able to move again.

It was surreal that he missed so badly someone that he'd never even met. He didn't have a concrete image in his head of his daughter. He didn't even know her name.

Edward grappled then with regret. If only... If only he hadn't been so preoccupied with stubbornly holding on to the life he'd carefully crafted for himself, he might have had the chance to enjoy the life he was gifted with unexpectedly. He wondered if Bella had a name for their daughter. He wished he knew.

He wished for an impossible second chance. If he could only have another chance he would do it right. He would fight with pieces of the crib he would assemble, and talk with Bella about what color they would paint the nursery. Did her house even have a nursery? She had a spare bedroom and an office - was she planning on converting one of those rooms into a nursery? He wanted to argue with her over names.

Would his daughter have been a Swan or a Cullen?

A clatter from somewhere else in the house drew Edward out of his despondent thoughts. He realized belatedly that the murmuring he'd barely registered before were actually people in his house. When he finally fell asleep only Rosalie had been there. Obviously she'd called in the cavalry.

For the third time since he'd opened them, Edward shut his eyes - as if he wouldn't have to acknowledge the world that way. If his mother was here, he knew she would be crying. He didn't know if he could stand the sight of his mother's tears.

He must have fallen asleep again because the next thing he knew, he was awakened by the feel of something little and wriggling at the foot of his bed. Actually - two little, wriggling things that squirmed their way up along his side. The barest hint of a smile quirked at the edge of his lips as he pulled up the comforter to find his nieces staring up at him.

They looked at him carefully and he looked back, trying not to think about the what-ifs that dominated his mind at the sight of his nieces - their little faces reflecting so much of his brother. For once they were quiet, seeming to take in his mood. They only scrambled the rest of the way up his body and clung to his neck, hugging him as tightly as very tiny girls could. Irina pressed a slightly wet kiss against his scruffy cheek and Katrina patted his hair - surely immitating the way her mother comforted her. Edward cuddled them both, helpless to stop the tears that trickled down.

"Girls," an exasperated but gentle voice interrupted the moment. All three of them looked up to see Tanya leaning in the doorway. "I told you to let your uncle sleep."

"He needed hugs!" Katrina protested, her skinny arms almost strangling him.

Edward sat up. "They're okay, Tanya," he assured her, wiping the remnants of his tears away with the backs of his hands. The twins rearranged themselves at his side, still hugging him.

"Unca," Irina said softly, tugging at his shirt. "Why is everyone sad? Auntie Rose is crying in the kitchen so hard!" She sounded so concerned that Edward's heart twisted.

Then he stopped, considering her words. Something was wrong - something besides the obvious. He looked at Tanya. Tanya looks uncharacteristically pensive. She said nothing as she went to his bedside, kissing him once on the forehead before gathering up the nearest twin in her arms.

Filled with a wordless anxiety, Edward got out of bed, absently kissing each of his nieces on the cheek before he walked out the door. He hardly acknowledged his father and brother when he saw them in the living room, completely distracted by the strong sobs that filtered in from the kitchen.

At his table he found Alice and his mother sitting on either side of Rosalie, both looking heartbroken and helpless. Alice's hand was on Rosalie's arm, and Esme's had a hand on his sister's back. Rosalie's head was buried in her arms on the table, and she was obviously crying hysterically.

"What happened?" he bit out, the harshness of his voice startling the three women who hadn't yet realized he was standing there.

Rosalie raised her head slowly, the look in her blood-shot eyes completely vulnerable with remorse. "I-I-I," she stuttered between miserable tears, "I swear I didn't… I would never. I never wanted this to happen. Not even to her, and not to you," she babbled, breaking down at the end. Alice gripped her hand, looking up at Edward with a sorrowful expression.

"What are you talking about?" Edward demanded, his anger rising quickly with his sister's nonsensical babbling. He turned his attention to his mother who'd stood and was walking to him. "What is she talking about?"

"Why don't you sit down, son," his father said gently, joining them from where he had been in the other room.

Completely irritated and on edge now, Edward battled the same fight or flight feeling that made his fists clench and tensed his body for action. With exaggerated movements he pulled a chair over to him. "Fine. I'm sitting. Tell me what's going on now."

Esme sat in front of Edward, holding his hand as she explained that just a few minutes before he woke up, Rosalie had received a call from her hair dresser, Demetri. He wanted to know if she would help him. When she expressed confusion he'd told her what happened on Friday.

"Edward-" Rosalie started, a little calmer than before, but Edward cut her off.

"Do not speak to me right now," he said harshly. He desperately wanted to punch something. Whatever little sanity he had left made him look around, wondering where the twins were. He didn't want them to see whatever was going to happen when he exploded, and given the pressure he felt building in his chest, he wasn't going to be able to put it off for long. Emmett had come in from the living room and was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked lost, like he didn't know which of his siblings needed him more. Tanya and the twins were nowhere to be found. Edward hoped she'd had the sense to get them out of the house.

"Edward-" Rosalie tried again, only to snap her mouth shut when he grabbed up the glass of water that was in front of her and hurtled it at the wall.

"You hate her," Edward roared. "You've always hated her. She did nothing to you, and you had to spread your fucking venom on to a person who never even met her." He didn't even notice that he was standing, leaning over the table at her until he felt his father and brother's hands holding him back. He shrugged them off, "Get off of me," he grumbled at them, turning and striding quickly back to his room.

Softer, but hurried, footsteps followed him. Knowing it had to be his mother, Edward resisted the urge to slam the door in her face. He left the door open and started pacing the room, trying to alleviate the furious energy that was pumping through his veins.

Esme crossed to the bed, sitting and watching him with a pained expression on her face. "You know your sister doesn't hate Bella," she said quietly.

Edward scoffed. "Right, because she's been a real peach to her all this time," he growled.

"There's a big difference between resenting someone and hating them. Even if it weren't for you, Rosalie wouldn't have wished this kind of loss on anyone." Esme's voice was gentle, robbing him of any chance to bite back.

All the energy drained of Edward all at once. He stopped, sinking down on the bed beside her. "Bella won't speak to me, Mom," he said plaintively, laying his head on her shoulder.

"Just keep trying, sweetheart. Grief does terrible things to people. Just keep letting her know that you're here. We're all here." As she spoke, Edward could hear the waver in her voice. Her eyes revealed she'd done her fair share of crying already; she was holding back her tears for his sake.

He shook his head, hiding against her shoulder. "You don't understand. I've been such a jackass."

He confessed then, telling his mother about the budding relationship he'd begun with Bella. How much he enjoyed being with her, talking with her. And how, when he realized that his feelings on parenthood hadn't changed at all, he knew that he would lose her.

How, up until the day before, the thought had crossed his mind that maybe his daughter was better off if he just left her and Bella alone.

But now the choice had been taken away from him. He'd had a chance to have it all – a beautiful, smart, amazing woman at his side and a doubtlessly gorgeous child in his arms – and he'd lost it.

"I even lied to her to get out of going to look at things for the baby," he groaned. "And now with this? Knowing that it was my sister and her big fucking mouth that got this guy to harass her?" He shook his head helplessly. "I wouldn't answer my phone calls either."

~0~

All of Tuesday passed. Edward's family milled around him, trying to help. He didn't want to talk. He didn't even want to look at Rosalie. His mother tried to get him to eat but everything had lost its flavor. He didn't even remember what hunger was.

Every time Edward tried to call Bella, his call went straight to voice mail. Finally, around noon on Wednesday, Edward tried to visit again. The house was silent, with no additional cars in the driveway besides Bella's Volvo. He stood on the porch for a few minutes, trying to decide if he should knock. He definitely didn't want to disturb her if she was sleeping.

Resting his hand on the doorknob he found it unlocked. Edward furrowed his eyebrows, worrying automatically. He went into the house.

Everything was just as he remembered it, of course, and he felt a brief pang for life as it had been the previous week. Shaking it off – the last thing she needed was for him to be a mess – Edward continued into the house, toward her room. Sure enough, Bella appeared to be asleep, her back to him but moving with her even breaths. Just the site of her made him feel just the slightest bit calmer. He moved around the bed as quietly as he could, needing to see her face.

Edward found himself suddenly unable to breathe.

She looked so small and breakable, curled on top of the covers. The shorts and shirt she slept in didn't cover all that much of her skin, and so he could see the myriad of horrible bruises and small cuts that littered her body. One of her hands was wrapped and braced. The worse of her injuries appeared to be a painful looking bruise that blemished her right side.

But all of that wasn't what stole his breath. It wasn't what had seared every thought in his mind to blank, brilliant white.

Peeking out above the line of her shorts and below the hemline of her shirt was her belly – still rounded and firm as he remembered it.

She was still pregnant.

For long moments his brain stumbled, trying to grasp a coherent thought. He couldn't comprehend the sight in front of him. Then, he felt a relief so profound it shook his body, making his legs go weak and sending him to his knees. He wanted to weep. His baby, his daughter was alive. Everything he'd believed was irrevocably lost was his to grasp again.

But right on the heels of that deep joy was a severe furor that built from the bottom of his feet, intensified in the pit of his stomach, and quickly made his body strain with the madness of rage.

She'd lied.

It took every last semblance of self control for him not to grab her and shake her awake. He wanted to demand an explanation. He wanted to scream at her. The last few days of his life had been hellfire and damnation on earth, and it was all for nothing. The baby had been fine all along.

When he felt the urge to lash out physically, Edward quickly got to his feet and stumbled out of the room, putting as much space between them as he could without actually leaving. He found himself in her kitchen, staring blankly at the spot where they'd shared their first kiss. His vision swam, and the tender emotion he'd felt for her seemed to physically burn him.

He didn't know how long he paced her kitchen, running his hands through his hair and tugging just to relieve some of the tension in his body, when the front door opened again. He looked up as the quick footfalls went first to Bella's bedroom, and then, slower, throughout the house until they found him in the kitchen. It was Jasper.

"Why?" he demanded, not knowing if he was asking why Bella had lied or why Jasper let him believe the lie.

Jasper let out a slow breath, putting the bag he was carrying on the counter. "I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you right then. Bella was asleep, and it's something that you two need to talk about, obviously."

"You're damn right we're going to talk about it. What the fuck was she thinking?" A part of Edward knew it was unfair to demand those types of answers from Jasper, but at the moment he had no where else to aim his anger.

"I need you to listen to me, okay?"

Exasperated, Edward gave him a disparaging look. "I'm all ears," he said sarcastically.

"No, really," Jasper said, his tone soft but firm. "I can imagine how angry you are right now, and you have every right to be angry, but I need you to hear what I'm telling you."

Edward leveled his livid glare at Jasper only to be met with earnest, sympathetic blue eyes. Jasper never wavered, nor did his expression ever harden. Denied even the slightest provocation, Edward sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand as he forced himself to count to 10. When that failed to calm him down he counted to 100.

"I'm listening," he said finally, not looking up at Jasper but continuing to take deep breaths.

Jasper explained exactly what had happened, starting with Jacob's phone call. Bile rose in Edward's throat as he tried to remember that night. He could easily imagine how Bella would have felt when she knew that he didn't want a daughter. Imagining that very scenario had been what drove him to start drinking in the first place. Still, he felt a fresh rush of anger at Jacob for taking that away from him. Even though Jacob's words were nothing but the truth – at the time – they should have come from him.

"Try to imagine how she felt right then," Jasper implored. "She was terrified because everything with the baby was touch and go all weekend. She felt so ashamed because she said she put her wants above the baby's in pursuing a relationship with you – which I didn't even know about until Sunday night. And she was so groggy with the drugs they had her on, it was hard for her to think straight about anything, let alone what she was feeling about you."

Edward's jaw was clenched so tightly that it ached. He didn't respond, didn't look up. He was still entirely livid, but part of him was still conscious enough to fill in the blanks of what Jasper wasn't saying. He knew Bella. He knew that she had only barely opened herself up to the possibility of love and a relationship. Having your heart broken was horrendously painful. Having your heart broken for the first time was agony and enmity on top of bewilderment.

He knew. He was experiencing it.

All of that and she was pregnant besides. Obviously, he didn't know what those hormones were like, but he'd been present for a wide range of mood swings from both Alice and Tanya.

Edward didn't know what to think. Before he could process the increasingly louder voices in his head, a soft, scratchy voice called from across the house, "Jasper?"

"Gimmie a minute, sugar," Jasper called back. He was staring at Edward. "Edward, she regretted it the second she said it. You should have seen her. They had to sedate her to even get her to calm down that night. She's been trying to figure out how to tell you, but every time she tries to think about it she starts to hyperventilate."

"She's upset?" Edward asked scathingly, his blood pressure rising again. "She should have thought of that before."

"Hey," Jasper's voice was sharp for the first time. "She's on bed rest for a reason, bud. She gets too upset, there's a chance she'll end up right back at the hospital."

Edward was silent, momentarily shamed by his outburst. He might be pissed as hell at Bella, but the last thing he wanted was to put his daughter in danger. "I want to see her," he said tightly.

Jasper studied him, looking slightly skeptical. "If you're going to go in there I need you to promise me you're going to keep your cool." When Edward nodded his assent, Jasper reached behind him to retrieve something from the bag he'd brought in. He handed Edward the take-out box. "Here. She needs to eat. It takes one of us standing over her for her to force anything down."

Edward gripped the box tightly, his fury peaking again. "What is she trying to do? Starve herself? The baby-"

"Enough," Jasper cut him off. "She forgets. She's completely lost her appetite so she forgets that she hasn't eaten. She's doing everything she can to take care of herself and the baby, Edward. You know better than that. Again, I realize you're upset. Rightfully so, but she doesn't need the added stress."

Making himself breathe deeply again, Edward nodded at Jasper and pushed off his chair. About half way to Bella's door, he realized he was gnashing his teeth, and made himself pause until he could stop.

When he went in the door, Bella was sitting on the edge of the bed, her back to him. She looked again so small and vulnerable – her shoulder's slumped and her head hanging – that he was able to completely tame the worst of his fury.

There was still plenty anger to go around though.

He stepped into the room, walking to her side of the bed and leaning past her to put her food on the nightstand. He didn't look at her, but heard her ragged gasp when he came into her eyesight. He studiously looked anywhere but her as he straightened up and put a little distance between them, leaning against the wall with his arms cross over his chest.

Time froze when they looked at each other. Her eyes were wide and mortified. Her breaths came in little pants, but she wasn't panicking. It was amazing how many emotions he could read in the brown depths – fear, shame, guilt, sadness, anger. They were all there.

He imagined his eyes reflected the dark cloud of betrayal he seemed to be under.

The atmosphere between them was thick and tense, making it difficult to think, let alone speak. But somehow, Bella found her words. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. Her voice had so little volume she almost mouthed it.

It took some effort for Edward to unclench his jaw, but he didn't drop her gaze as he answered. "How could you do this to me?"

Her face crumpled, but she valiantly fought back. It took her a minute to steady herself. "It never should have happened that way. I'm sorry for that. So sorry. I just… I couldn't stop thinking that you didn't want her."

"Because that's what Jacob told you," Edward countered, his words biting.

She looked him in the eye then. "He shouldn't have done what he did, but that doesn't make it not true. You never wanted this baby. It was stupid – so stupid – but it was the only thing I could think of that would put us both back where we were six months ago. I have no problem raising this girl on my own. I get that you have a sense of responsibility to her, but you don't want her."

"But I do want her!" Edward hissed, coming off the wall but holding himself back from stepping toward her. He raked a hand through his hair in frustration. "I didn't know how much I wanted her until…" Remembering the utter anguish he'd felt knowing his child was gone rekindled his anger in full force. "You have no idea what it was like these past few days, knowing my baby… my baby was dead and you wouldn't talk to me."

They were both silent then, neither of them knowing quite what to say next. Edward's temper was getting the better of him. He was furious at just about everyone right then. Rosalie for hating Bella. Jacob for putting his nose where it didn't belong. Jasper for letting him believe Bella's lie. Himself - because he had felt that way; what was the first thing that had come out of his mouth the day he met Bella? He'd expected her to get an abortion because that's what he himself wanted. And Bella... of course, he was quickly losing his ability to speak to her calmly.

"Look, I'm going to go. But I need you to understand something right now. We're going to work out a schedule so we can share custody of the baby. Down the middle, as much as possible. I know she has to be with you more at first, so I'll be accommodating to that. But we're going to work out something, and you're going to stick with it." He stared at her, ignoring the stricken look on her face. "Don't fight me on this, Bella. I'd like to keep this as pleasant as possible. We'll write everything down and you'll sign it." With that he turned, heading for her door. But before he left he added one last thing.

"If you do fight me, I will fight back."

Then he was gone.

A/N: *winces, looks around* Whelp. The good news is, this is rock bottom. Only direction to go is up, right? Okay - obviously, since the last time I talked about it - I have reassessed how many chapters it's gonna take to finish this. These kids seriously have a mind of their own, so your guess is as good as mine. However, it's not going to be 30 chapters. I'm thinking more along the 25 mark. We'll have to see.

Barbaurella made me an OSSIM banner. Checkit out in my profile. She is indispensable to me. Poor her. Also, send some love TwilightMundi's way... she beta'ed this for me. Flove. Flove all around.

Tell me a cute kid story?