Disclaimer- The characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, not me.

A/N- Here's where the most severe account of child abuse occurs. Consider yourself warned.

BPOV

My nightmares returned. Stronger than ever. They were the worst on the night that Edward left for work. Alice, worried, spent the nights with me, or I spent with night with her, when Edward wasn't working.

Our wedding was, as we were planning, going to be a quick affair at the courthouse. Liz and Ted came to town to see the marriage. It couldn't be called a 'wedding' because a wedding is a big, lavish event. What Edward and I were doing was signing a marriage license. We'd have the baby and then the backyard wedding barbeque at Charlie's on a sunny weekend. I had to pick them up at the airport because Edward wasn't off from work until ten. Liz told me that Nicky was sorry she couldn't make it, but she was sending Pasticcio and spanikopita and ouzo, saying that I could have 'just a sip, it's good for Bellas.'

I set Liz and Ted up in the study/guest bedroom. We had a long day tomorrow.

"You're looking pretty pale, Bella," Liz said.

"I'm always pale."

"You're on a prenatal vitamin, aren't you?" Liz asked.

"Yes, of course," I said. "And a few others. I'm glad you're here, Liz."

She smiled, and rested a hand on my shoulder. "I am, too, dear," she said softly. She stroked my hair. "Has the baby kicked, yet?"

"No. I keep waiting for it. The doctor said I won't feel that until probably the fourth month."

"When can we find out the sex of the baby?"

"Fifth month," I said, rubbing my stomach. "Six weeks to go."

She sighed nervously. "Are you excited about tomorrow?"

"Yes, very. I can't wait."

"Me either."

I picked up Edward from the hospital and we went back to our apartment. Liz and Ted had already gotten to bed. Edward and I started to unwind. "You've been on edge ever since we got back from Flagstaff," he whispered. "You've woken up screaming every night since we've gotten back."

"I know," I said. "Maybe it's the stress of the wedding." I thought I'd be really excited and happy when I got married. And this was Edward. My Edward. I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. I was supposed to be happy, but for some reason, I wasn't. "I'm marrying you, it's going to make me happy forever."

"Anything for you," he said, kissing me. "Come on, let's go to bed."

I took a shower alone before bed. After drying my hair carefully, I changed into my pajamas. Edward was already in bed with the lights out.

"Bella," he said softly, as I climbed in. "We're going to start the rest of our lives together tomorrow."

"I'm so glad," I said. He wrapped his arms around me. His hands rested on my stomach. His hand slowly rubbed, gently. His touching me didn't alleviate my impending feeling of doom for the first time.

I had a terrible dream. I was naked, in a bathtub, tears sliding down my face. There was an incredible pain in my pelvis. I felt my bladder letting go. Blood was swirling in the water, around my ankles. I had my knees up at my chin, I was holding them to my body, protectively. I was sobbing. I wiped my cheeks with my hands.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Jim said, gently. He stuck his fingers in the water to rinse them off. I gagged. "It's time to get out of the water." He picked up me up, moving me, I struggled against him, it hurt.

I cried out in pain. I was in a familiar place- Edward's strong arms were around me. They were holding me close. I was in a cold sweat, though. "Bella?"

"Oh God, it was him, again," I muttered, searching for words. "Jim was there," I sobbed. I felt something sticky and wet between my thighs- oh God, had I just wet myself in bed with Edward? I had lost control of my bladder in the dream… no…

Before I could even feel between my legs, Edward said, "Bella, you're bleeding." I reached down and felt the wetspot disbelievingly. When my hand came back up, it was blood. I felt faint. "You might be having a miscarriage- you shouldn't be bleeding this much. Stay calm, I'm calling an ambulance." I tried to get out of bed, but he kept me down. "Don't move," he said. He got out of bed and reached for his cell phone. He called the ambulance and turned on the light. My lower abdomen hurt terribly and the room was so stuffy. I had to keep still. Sweat beads accumulated on my forehead.

"Edward?" Liz came running into the room. "Bella? Why's there blood on you, son?"

"She's having a miscarriage, Mom," Edward said. "I called an ambulance." Suddenly, I had gotten overheated.

Liz grabbed my hand. "Be still, Bella, honey." There was a bright red stain on Edward's pajamas. "Edward, get your father."

Edward ran to the other room.

"Miss Liz, it's so hot in here."

"I'll take the blankets off," she said. She removed the blankets off of me so I didn't have to move. My vision was splotchy- I couldn't see anything but blue and red circles in my vision.

"I'm losing my baby," I muttered. "This was my one chance."

"You'll have lots of chances, Bella."

"Not me," I said, tears running down my face.

"Stay calm," she said. "I know it's hard right now. Thea Nicky said you'd have a baby."

"I thought you said it was a load of bunk."

"Sometimes she makes shit up, but she saw everything with you," Liz said. There was a touch of comfort in her voice.

"Bella?" Ted asked. I felt a hand on my face. "She's clammy."

"My vision's splotchy."

"Take her blood pressure?" Edward asked.

"It's probably dropping," Ted said. "What brought this on?"

"A flashback," Edward said.

EPOV

Bella laid in the ER like a weak little doll, sleeping. She was recovering from the drop in blood pressure and blood sugar. All I knew was, she had had a flashback. Today was supposed to be the day we were getting married. We were in the ER, instead.

She had a heart murmur. The finally confirmed it in the ER. Charlie's meager health insurance made it next to impossible for her to see a cardiologist. Hell, I'd treat her myself, if I had to, even if it was a liability and I'd get disbarred. I should have seen this coming. Her stomach had already started to deflate. The ER doctor blamed her for not weighing enough to support the baby, too. She hadn't gained enough weight fast enough, either. He said it like she was guilty of something. Just blame her, like she didn't have enough on her conscience already. I felt like I was guilty of something, too. I had no business getting her pregnant. We hadn't been as careful as we could have been. We should never have relied on one method of birth control. She was still learning from me when it happened and her menses weren't regular.

Jasper and Alice had burst into the ER waiting room. Alice was in tears when she saw me. "Oh, Edward!" she cried, rushing into my arms. It was all I could do not to cry, myself. "Is she alright?"

"She's resting," I said. "I don't know about 'alright.'"

"Can we see her?"

"When she wakes up," I said. I wanted to be the first thing Bella saw when she woke up from the codeine-induced nap she was taking. She had been six months without a Xanax and the first thing they did after the miscarriage was dope her up. Charlie, Jacob and Angela were on their way up from Forks.

Dad came around the corner with hospital coffees. He handed me one. In my grief, I forgot to reintroduce Alice and Jasper to him. "I'm going to go sit with her for a while," I said. Dad nodded.

In the ER, I found Bella, again, sleeping in a darkened room. It was a private room, not a curtained-off cubicle, thank God. Again, I berated myself for not seeing this whole thing coming. I should have been more careful when she got pregnant. Taking her to Flagstaff to testify at Victoria's parole hearing was a mistake. Charlie's testimony did a beautiful job- it was enough. She hadn't needed to be there, truthfully.

Bella's thick eyelashes fluttered. "Bella," I said softly.

"Huh?" she replied through sleep-thickened speech.

"It's me."

"Of course it's you," she replied. Her eyes crossed for a moment while she focused on my face through the pain medication.

"Bella, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," she whispered. "I remembered something awful last night." Her eyes closed groggily.

"What, love?"

"About Jim… I remember how I broke my… how come I didn't bleed our first time together," she said. "Jim used to bathe me... And he put his fingers in me."

I took it in. And that one simple statement caused me to vomit. There was no other reaction. She called my name out of concern and fumbled around to call a nurse. "Edward, it happened to me, not you!"

"The hell it didn't!" I cried. "This is happening to me right now!"

"Dr. Masen?" the ER nurse asked, poking her head in the room.

"He's just gotten sick," Bella said. "Is there anything you can do for him?"

"I can get a cold pack for him."

"I don't need it!" I growled.

"Get his parents," Bella said.

The nurse ran out of the room.

"Edward, that wasn't necessary."

"You don't know what's necessary!"

"Please, calm down," she pleaded.

"I can't!"

At that moment, Mom and Dad came in. "Edward," Dad said, trying to keep me calm.

"Jim molested her," I said, my vision still blurring.

"Oh God," Mom muttered.

"Edward!" Bella snapped.

"We'll call the police," Dad said, sitting down. He looked incredibly tired. "And a lawyer. There's a chance the statute of limitations ran out in the state of Arizona." Bella whimpered. "Just rest until they get here, Bella. Edward, let's go home for a few minutes."

As I took Mom and Dad to my apartment, my temper rose. It was my worst fear. I wanted to kill Jim although I couldn't physically get to him. It would be a mistake to ever go to his next parole hearing. We all suspected he molested her, but Bella had never remembered any of it before. Having to see Victoria set it all off.

"Edward, please, calm down," Mom said as I raced through a yellow light. "Nothing good ever came from fear and anger."

"How could this have happened?" I sputtered. "She was just a kid! As if they didn't steal enough from her! I want to kill him. I just want to kill him-"

"Edward!" Mom cried. "I know. I feel like it's happened to my own child. I love her like my own."

"We share your pain, son," Dad said. "It's okay to mourn. But, two wrongs don't make a right."

"It's easy to say in this situation," I snapped. "For you."

"I was looking forward to today," Mom said. "So much. She's such a wonderful person. She makes you so happy and this baby was such a wonderful thing. It's natural for you to be defensive of her. It's alright to be angry right now. But we have to be strong for her, not out of control."

"Mom, I don't know if I can be."

A/N- I hope I was respectful in my description of what happened, but not overly graphic. I didn't want to ruin this story with graphic sexual abuse, suddenly, when I've pretty much just left the sexual situations to your imaginations. If you can't tell, I've delved into my own little goodie bag of horrors from my own past to write this story. As the old saying goes, write what you know...