Bella turned to Seth after Jacob had left. "I don't think I've said it yet, Seth, but I hope you know how much I appreciate what the three of you are doing for me. For us." I tried not to cringe when she lifted a hand to rub her belly.

He shrugged shyly. "Of course. It's the right thing to do. I mean..." he glanced over her at me. "You guys are my friends."

The simplicity and sincerity of his statement was touching. It almost made me want to hug him. Since he no doubt would have found that strange, it was a good thing when Bella threw an arm around his shoulders and hugged him instead. "Absolutely we are."

"You know you can rest here if you want, Seth," I added. "You don't have to phase back into wolf form and sleep on the ground. There are plenty of bedrooms in this house."

He started to wonder why vampires would need beds, caught a glimpse of Bella's hugely swollen midsection, blushed and quickly swallowed the question.

"I appreciate that, but I should probably make sure I stay connected to Jake and Leah. In case they need me."

Now he had another question. "You know I don't mind what we're doing..." he began awkwardly. "But I am curious. Once we told you about the way the pack felt about...this...why didn't you guys just pick up and leave? It would be easy to go hide somewhere else, away from here, wouldn't it? You guys have those friends in Alaska."

"We considered that," I told him. "But Carlisle has connections here, at the hospital. He's able to get anything he needs relatively quickly, without many questions. It would be much more difficult for him to do that somewhere else, where he's not known. And now..." I gave Bella's hand a squeeze. "We prefer not to move Bella too much."

"It's one of the reasons I was hoping the family would have an opportunity to do some hunting, Seth," Carlisle added. "I need to obtain a few things, especially more blood. My stockpile is depleting."

Seth's eyes widened. "You're going hunting? For blood? Human blood?"

Carlisle chuckled. "No, we're going hunting for sustenance—from animals, as usual. I'll buy the human blood. Which will have come from willing donors."

His eyes widened even further. "Buy it? You can buy human blood?"

"If you're a physician, yes. So you see why it's preferable to stay close to where my credentials are recognized."

"Oh. Makes sense." He had other questions, about how Bella was really doing, whether Carlisle actually thought she would survive this...I was grateful that he decided not to ask them. He busied himself with cleaning the rest of his plate.

When he was finished, he set it down on the end table to the side of the sofa.

"That was truly awesome, man. I can't thank you enough for that. I mean, I don't mind the raw animal diet, but I'll choose home cooking any time."

"My pleasure. Any time you're hungry, please come back. Any time you need anything. I've said as much to Jacob. I hope he conveyed the message to you and Leah." Bella looked up at me with an affectionate smile. It was her turn to squeeze my hand.

"He did. Leah's difficult at the best of times, though. Don't mind her. She has...issues."

I understood. I had picked the story of Leah, Sam and Emily from Jacob's mind a long time ago. Carlisle was quite interested in the whole concept of imprinting, and we had had several discussions about it. I couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been for Leah to be around Sam and Emily.

I supposed it must be something like how it was for Jacob to be around Bella and me. I wasn't entirely without empathy for his situation.

Suddenly, Bella shifted in her seat, drawing in a breath. Every pair of eyes in the room was on her.

"Nothing, it's nothing..." she murmured, but I could see the discomfort in her eyes. She was trying to conceal it for my benefit.

"Bella..."

"Really, it's nothing," she insisted, and forced a smile. "He's awake, that's all. Moving around a little bit. My stomach's so full from breakfast, it just feels a little squashed in there."

"Bella, you know you have to tell Carlisle if there's anything, anything at all." I turned to cup her face gently in my hand. "He can't help you if..."

"I know," she interrupted. "I know. But...Oh!"

There was no mistaking or covering that sound: a sharp cry of pain.

Everyone in the room had heard the sound that immediately preceded it as well: another bone cracking.

Once again, my dead heart was in my throat.

"Bella!" I reached for her helplessly. Carlisle and Esme were already beside the couch, and Rosalie and Alice were on their feet.

"Upstairs," Carlisle pointed to the staircase. I had Bella in my arms before Rosalie could get to her this time.

The process was the same as the day before, except that I had taken over the role Rosalie had performed, helping Carlisle get Bella arranged for the X-ray. It was Rosalie's turn to wait with Esme next to the desk, out of the way. At least she had the sense not to try and fight me for the position assisting Carlisle. Having something to occupy my hands made me feel marginally less powerless than I had yesterday, and I needed whatever I could get to help me keep my wits about me.

I was determined to keep any extreme reactions to myself. It was a mantra, repeated in my head: she doesn't need any added stress.

I brushed my cool fingertips over Bella's forehead. She was sweating with the pain and effort of not crying out. "My love...is it terrible?" I couldn't think of anything else to ask her.

"Manageable," she panted. "I can manage it."

"Carlisle, isn't there anything you could give her? To dull the pain?"

"No. No drugs," she shook her head vehemently. "Nothing that might hurt him."

"I agree," Rosalie said from across the room. Like we needed her opinion. "Nothing too strong. But I think you can still have Advil or something, Bella."

Carlisle just nodded. "I'll get you something when we're done here, Bella. Edward, I'm ready to start the X-ray. You should probably step away from the bed."

Bella clutched at my hand. "Please, can he stay with me? Surely the radiation won't have any effect on a vampire." She looked up at me with an apology in her eyes. "It's...easier when you're with me. Touching me."

I couldn't help the feeling of warmth that settled into my stomach. She still preferred to have me close. Intellectually, I knew it, but with everything that had been happening, I sorely needed the affirmation. "I won't go anywhere, my love," I murmured, leaning down to press my lips into her hair.

A small smile crept over Carlisle's face. "All right. But lean out of the picture, Edward, once I give you the word."

The diagnosis was the same as yesterday, only this time the cracked rib was slightly higher on her left side. Carlisle taped it quickly. Bella jokingly pronounced herself as good as new, but her cheeks were still pale from the pain, and she took only short, shallow breaths. She grudgingly accepted a mild pain reliever from Carlisle, swallowing the small pills only after he assured her twice that pregnant women received the same thing at the hospital every day.

"Shall I put you to bed, love?" I asked, already gathering her into my arms even more carefully than usual.

"No, my sleep schedule is all screwed up already. I don't know if it's day or night any more. I'd rather just go back down to the couch."

"All right."

At least a half hour had passed, so I was surprised to see Seth still in the living room when we got there. I hadn't been paying attention to what anyone else in the house was doing. Emmett and Jasper had reappeared as well. They hadn't been seen much lately, as they had been doing their best to help Carlisle with research.

To lighten the mood, Emmett tried teasing when he saw us. "Little sister, can I tell you how happy I'm going to be when you're a little more durable? And I can't wait to see what kind of field goal kicker you're growing in there."

Bella appreciated the levity. "He's going to be some kind of sports star, that's for sure. Although I guess that wouldn't be allowed, huh? They might catch the vampire genetics during the random drug screens?"

"Why do you think I'm not playing for the Cowboys right now?" he grinned.

Jasper snorted. "Cowboys! At least pick a team that doesn't suck."

Seth shook his head. "Vampire football. Now that's a game I'd like to see."

"You should see them play baseball. That's bad enough. I can't even imagine what a full-contact sport would be like," Bella smiled.

"Deafening," I volunteered. "Like a rock slide."

Seth stepped closer to have a better look at Bella. "Are you okay, Bella? I mean, I know what happened. But Jake will want to know how you are."

"I'm managing, Seth. I can't say this is the most fun I've ever had, but I'm managing."

I stared at her. She truly was the most astonishing creature I'd ever encountered. We constantly remarked on how fragile she was, but in truth she was stronger than any of us. She was certainly stronger than I: when I had left her, I had virtually curled up into a ball and let the misery take me. She had forced herself to carry on, if only for her father's sake.

She really would do anything for someone she loved.

"How bad was it, Bella?" Seth was now asking her seriously, meaning the broken bone.

"Just another crack, I think. Right, Carlisle?"

Carlisle nodded. "Yes, a crack. Not a full break."

Rosalie sniffed dismissively. "That happens sometimes even with full human babies, doesn't it, Carlisle? I've heard of that before."

I glared at her. The audacity, minimizing the situation that way. I wanted to slap her and crack something in her body and see how lightly she'd take it.

"It has been known to happen," Carlisle agreed.

"Rose, could you please hand me that blanket again?" Bella asked.

"Do you need more wolf body heat, Bella?" Seth offered.

Rosalie shot him a withering look as she tucked the blanket around Bella. If it had been Jacob, she would have let loose with a comment about Bella not needing to be mauled by an overgrown dog, but at least had the decency to hold her tongue a little more with Seth. Even she could see that he really was just a large, well-meaning kid.

"That's okay, Seth. I just feel cold right now. In five minutes I'll probably be boiling hot again."

I frowned. I had noticed when she'd kicked her blanket off earlier, but she hadn't said anything about being overly hot. "Carlisle...surely that can't be normal."

"We'll keep an eye on it. It could even just be a garden-variety illness, like a mild cold or something similar." He looked at Bella thoughtfully. "I can tell you're breathing rather carefully, Bella, but I assume that's because of the ribs?"

She nodded. "I don't feel stuffed up or anything."

There was a brief silence. Seth took it as his opportunity to leave, and stretched tiredly. "Well, I guess it's nap time for me. I'll see you guys later?"

"Seth, really. You won't consider resting here, in a nice, comfortable bed?" Esme gazed at him with motherly concern.

"Jake and Leah..."

"Edward can hear them as well as you can, can't you, dear?" she turned to me. "You can keep an ear open, so to speak, and wake Seth if he's needed?"

Despite the fact that my mind was still on the idea Bella might have some other illness now in addition to everything else, I managed a nod. It was fairly easy for me to pick out Jacob's thoughts these days, although it was slightly easier when he was in human form. It might not be bad for me to have something else to concentrate on for a while.

"See? Please, Seth. Indulge me?"

Her expression was so hopeful he couldn't find it in him to resist. She seized on his moment of hesitation and led the way to the stairs. "Come. I'll show you the guest room." He followed obediently, Alice only a few steps behind. If he was leaving the room, she would have to as well.

It was late afternoon before Seth reappeared in the living room. His hair was wet and he had a fresh set of clothes on—he had taken the opportunity for a shower, as well. We hadn't moved much from our positions hours earlier, except that Bella now reclined on the couch, her feet in my lap. Rosalie was still on the floor next to us, but Emmett had joined her there so that she could rest her head on his thigh. Carlisle was in a chair poring over another medical textbook.

"Seth!" Bella was shivering under her blanket, but was still delighted to see him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Unbelievably well. That has to be the most comfortable mattress I've ever laid down on." He gestured at her, wrapped up like a cocoon. "You still cold?"

"Off and on." Her shrug was lost under the layers of fabric and down filling.

Carlisle glanced up from his book. "It's some kind of fever, although I'm not quite sure what to make of it. She's been alternating between sweats and chills all day."

Bella smiled wryly. "Doesn't that sound attractive?"

"You've got the perfect thing for temperature regulation right here, though," he grinned, pointing at himself with his thumb. "When you're too cold, you lean up against me or Jake. When you're too hot, you lean up against Edward or Rosalie."

Carlisle chuckled. "That certainly can't hurt."

It made an odd kind of sense. I had already been trying to help by pressing my cold palms to her cheeks and forehead when she had overheated through the day. There was so little I could do even to make her slightly more comfortable that I was feeling rather desperate. At least when we'd been fighting James and then Victoria and the newborns there had been something I could do, some action I could take. Doing nothing but waiting for the next catastrophe was beyond frustrating.

"I appreciate that. But right now, actually..." she looked at me sheepishly. "I'm getting hungry again."

"All you have to do is ask, love." I smiled at the idea of something else I could do to make her feel better. "Seth? You haven't eaten since this morning. You'll need something before you go back out on patrol."

He hesitated, torn between the feeling that he really should go check in with Jacob and Leah and a very real desire to have some more of my cooking.

"Of course he'll eat," Bella stated, giving him no option. "Edward is cooking for me anyway, Seth."

He couldn't hold back a grin. "Okay. You've twisted my rubber arm. Edward," he added as I started to ease myself out from under Bella's feet. "Can I at least give you a hand? I help my mom in the kitchen sometimes. Unless..." he glanced back down at Bella, "you need me more, Bella."

She shook her head as she struggled to pull her arms from the blankets. "Actually, I think I'm almost ready for a snuggle from Rosalie. I'm starting to get hot again."

I almost rolled my eyes at the idea of anyone snuggling with Rosalie. I could barely understand how Emmett could stand it, except that he had strange tastes and tended to enjoy a struggle. Ugh. I didn't want to think about that too much right now.

Seth followed me to the kitchen, and I gave him the task of chopping a few vegetables to keep him busy. I didn't mind his company; his mind was so pure and positive it was a delightful change from the constant worry that permeated the thoughts of everyone else around me. For whatever reason, he was completely confident that Sam's pack would not attack, and that everything was going to turn out just fine in the end. It was like he simply wasn't capable of thinking any other way.

It wasn't until my cell phone rang and Bella answered it that Seth frowned a little. "Edward, man, I don't mean to eavesdrop...but is that Charlie she's talking to?"

I managed an ironic smile. Of course, he could hear nearly as well as the rest of us. "Don't worry, Seth. No one in this house expects any privacy. We don't consider it eavesdropping. And yes, it is Charlie. He calls Bella at least once a day. Her mother calls now and then, too."

He was surprised. "Really? I thought they weren't supposed to, uh...I don't know. I thought they weren't supposed to know about any of this."

"They don't. As you know, we told them she came back from South America with a contagious disease. Since this...situation was so unexpected, we didn't really have any time to think of a better story and make better arrangements. Originally, we had thought that after the honeymoon, we'd have plenty of time for Bella to see them and say a proper goodbye before her...transformation. But with the way things turned out, there was no way to manage that. We couldn't keep Bella from at least talking to them on the telephone. If we hadn't, knowing Charlie, he probably would have sent the FBI here to see what we'd done to her." I sighed, wishing we had been able to come up with another strategy. It would have been kinder to start preparing her parents for the time she would no longer be around. "We're lucky he bought the contagious disease story at all."

Seth nodded silently. He knew full well that after she became a vampire, Bella would not be able to see her parents or any of her other friends again. The wolves had the advantage in that respect: their families and friends were in on the secret, and they didn't have to worry about the uncontrolled desires of newborns.

But then an image of Emily crossed his mind, and the damage Sam had caused to her face.

I supposed it wasn't particularly easy for them, either. The supernatural world could be a cruel mistress.

"So what's gonna happen...after?" he asked tentatively. "What will she tell them? Or will you all just disappear?" I was touched that he didn't like that idea. We had so few friends.

I sighed. "We don't know yet. Bella has a few ideas, but none of us have really been able to come up with what I consider a workable plan. Bella hates the idea of causing her parents grief so much that she seems determined to maintain a relationship with them, but I have significant doubts about that."

He had visions of faking a funeral, Bella lying statue-still in a coffin and pretending to be dead so that her parents could bury her. The idea of standing there while Charlie and Renee mourned her and she forced herself not to move, not to go to them, made me shudder.

There was nothing she wasn't giving up to be with me. Friends...family...life.

I gripped the counter with both hands, squeezing my eyes shut against that vision. It made me want to tear my own head off. How could I have done this to her?

"Uh...Edward? You okay, man?" Seth stood with the dicing knife in his hand, frowning at me with concern.

I sucked air deep into my lungs and shook my head, trying to clear it of the picture of Bella in a coffin, letting her parents believe she had died, saying goodbye to everything she had ever known. Trying to clear it of the guilt I felt. I wasn't sure anything would ever alleviate that guilt, even if I lived—existed—to be a thousand.

"I'm fine, Seth," I murmured, still clutching the marble counter top. It was difficult not to crush it into dust in my hands. "Thank you for your help with the meal. I think that's all you can do for now. I'll finish up."

"Okay." He was kind enough to sense that I needed a few minutes alone. "I'll go see if Bella needs me yet."

As he slipped back into the living room, I let go of the counter and slid to the floor, pressing my forehead against the cupboards. I wouldn't indulge this moment of personal grief for long, but for now, I let it have me.

* * *

Seth left soon after eating dinner with Bella. He had sat to one side of her on the sofa while I sat on the other, each of us taking turns wrapping an arm around her to keep her warm or cool as needed. She found it impossible to eat while cocooned in the blanket.

We weren't without a wolf in the house for long. Seth had been gone for less than an hour before Jacob Black returned, letting himself in the front door without knocking. His presence didn't surprise us for obvious reasons, especially since Bella had specifically asked Seth to send Jacob to see her. Alice had seconded the request. It was much easier for her to be around Bella if a wolf was also in the room, and she was becoming tired of hiding upstairs away from the rest of the family.

Jacob panicked immediately upon stepping into the living room—neither Bella nor Rosalie were anywhere to be seen.

"She's all right," I managed to tell him. "Or, the same, I should say." I was on the couch with Esme, who had an arm around my shoulders as I rested my face in my hands. I had managed to fake it for Bella's sake when she was beside me, but it was becoming more and more difficult for me to fight the grief and anguish that were threatening to incapacitate me. The call from Charlie, listening to Bella assure him that she was feeling much better, getting his hopes up...it had hit me even harder than I had first realized.

Even if she made it through this, the idea of the sacrifices she was making for me was choking me. I had been fully aware of them all along, but for some reason the gravity of the current situation was making them all the more real.

"Hello, Jacob," Esme said mildly. "I'm so glad you came back."

"Me, too," Alice sighed, already floating down the stairs.

"Uh, hey," Jacob greeted her, uncomfortable with the idea that vampires were so happy to see him. "Where's Bella?"

"Bathroom," Alice replied. "Mostly fluid diet, you know. Plus, the whole pregnancy thing does that to you, I hear."

"Ah." He stood in one spot awkwardly, rocking back and forth on his heels, not sure what to do next.

"Oh, wonderful," we heard Rosalie grumble as she carried Bella back from the bathroom. I whipped my head up and plastered a neutral expression on my face. Rosalie was sneering at Jacob. "I knew I smelled something nasty."

Once again, Bella beamed to see Jacob in the room. "Jacob. You came."

"Hi, Bells."

Esme and I stood so that Rosalie could arrange Bella on the couch. It wasn't lost on any of us when Bella clenched her jaw and held her breath against the pain of the movement, even though she was determined not to let on how much it hurt her. The sight of the effort she made stabbed me in the heart, but made me even more determined not to let her see the true extent of my feelings, either.

I leaned over her and brushed a hand over her forehead and neck, trying to see if she felt feverish. "Are you cold?"

"I'm fine."

"Bella, you know what Carlisle told you," Rosalie said. "Don't downplay anything. It doesn't help us take care of either of you."

Either of you. I clenched my jaw. Taking care of that creature was hardly among my priorities.

"Okay, I'm a little cold," Bella admitted. "Edward, can you hand me that blanket?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Isn't that sort of the point of me being here?"

"You just walked in," she said with a small smile. "After running all day, I'd bet. Put your feet up for a minute. I'll probably warm up again in no time."

He sat on the floor next to the sofa and leaned carefully against her, acutely aware of his movements so that he wouldn't jostle her. He extended an arm alongside hers and took her hand, then placed his other hand against her face. It was an obviously tender gesture, and I fought my annoyance with it as I perched on the arm of the sofa near her feet. I loathed that there was anything at all he could give her that I could not.

"Thanks, Jake," she murmured.

He grunted a reply: "Yeah."

We all heard Jacob's stomach rumble. "Rosalie, why don't you get Jacob something from the kitchen?" Alice suggested from her place behind the couch.

Rosalie looked as though Alice had just recommended she douse herself in gasoline and light a match.

"Thanks, anyway, Alice, but I don't think I'd want to eat something Blondie's spit in," Jacob answered. "I'd bet my system wouldn't take too kindly to venom."

Rosalie was disappointed she hadn't thought first of taking the opportunity to do just that.

"Rosalie would never embarrass Esme by displaying such a lack of hospitality," Alice replied lightly.

"Of course not," Rosalie said in a falsely sweet voice. She had just come up with another idea for Jacob's meal and was running through a list of the capital cities of Europe to keep me from seeing what it was. She disappeared into the kitchen.

It occurred to me that I should go see what she was up to, but I couldn't tear myself away from Bella at the moment. Especially, I hated to admit, when Jacob Black was nestled up against her.

"You'd tell me if she poisoned it, right?" Jacob asked me.

"Yes," I sighed. I wouldn't let her do that.

There was some banging around in the kitchen, and the sound of metal bending. Rosalie was delighted with her plan, and let her guard down as she worked at a bowl with her hands. I sighed at it, but couldn't keep a small smile off my face. It was kind of funny, actually.

Rosalie returned quickly with Jacob's food, arranged into what had once been one of Esme's silver mixing bowls. It was now bent into the shape of a dog dish—complete with the word "Fido" scratched into the side with a fingernail. She set the bowl on the floor next to him with a smirk. "Enjoy, mongrel."

Jacob couldn't help being amused by her handiwork, and was pleased by the meal itself: a rare steak and a big baked potato. "Thanks, Blondie," he grinned. When she merely snorted in reply, he continued. "Hey, do you know what you call a blonde with a brain? A golden retriever."

She scowled. "I've heard that one, too."

"I'll keep trying," he promised, then tucked into the food.

After a few minutes, Bella reached out to ruffle his hair. "Time for a haircut, huh?" he asked.

"You're getting a little shaggy," she agreed. "Maybe—"

"Let me guess, someone around here used to cut hair in a salon in Paris?"

She chuckled at his joke. "Probably." The truth was that none of us had ever held such a job, but Alice was, of course, as good with a pair of scissors as she was with styling outfits. A photographic memory and the steadiest and most dextrous of hands tended to help with that kind of thing.

"No thanks," Jacob told her. "I'm good for a few more weeks." As he said it, he couldn't help wondering if she would be around that long. Once again, I suppressed a shudder. I was getting rather good at that these days.

"So...um...what's the, er, date?" he asked instead, trying to think of a polite way to ask when we expected the full-blown disaster. "You know, the due date for the little monster."

Bella smacked at the back of his head with the little effort she could muster. I wanted to tell her not to do that—she'd nearly broken a hand punching him once before, and we didn't need any extra broken bones now.

"I'm serious," he insisted. "I want to know how long I'm gonna have to be here." How long you're gonna be here, he added in his head.

"I don't know," she murmured in response. "Not exactly. Obviously, we're not going with the nine-month model here, and we can't get an ultrasound, so Carlisle is guesstimating from how big I am. Normal people are supposed to be about forty centimetres here"—she ran her finger right down the middle of her bulging stomach, as Carlisle had shown her previously—"when the baby is fully grown. One centimetre for every week. I was thirty this morning, and I've been gaining about two centimetres a day, sometimes more...."

I watched as Jacob did the math in his head. He quickly figured out, as we had, that that meant about another four days.

He suddenly found it difficult to swallow.

I knew the feeling.

I had to turn away to get my facial expression in order.

Four days until...God only knew what.

"You okay?" she asked, having noticed him go pale.

He merely nodded. He was wrestling with himself, trying not to feel so drawn to her but unable to help it for reasons even he could not understand. He was glad that he knew we weren't planning to leave town right away so that she would still be here for the last few days of her life—at least, best case scenario, the last few days of her human life—but he wished he could break free of her at the same time.

She reached out with a fingertip to trace the tear he wasn't aware had fallen down his cheek. "It's going to be okay," she murmured soothingly, in the way she had so many times before for my benefit.

"Right," he muttered. My reaction exactly.

She shifted slightly so she could rest her head against his shoulder. "I didn't think you would come. Seth said you would, and so did Edward, but I didn't believe them."

"Why not?" he asked gruffly.

"You're not happy here. But you came anyway."

"You wanted me here."

"I know. But you didn't have to come, because it's not fair for me to want you here. I would have understood."

I had managed to make my expression neutral again, and now turned to stare vacantly at the television. Rosalie was flipping through channels like a madwoman. Emmett must have taught her to do that—next to wrestling bears, it was just about his favourite pastime.

"Thank you for coming," Bella whispered to Jacob.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked her. He knew that I knew what he was about to ask, but I didn't say anything. I wondered what her answer would be as well.

"Of course."

"Why do you want me here? Seth could keep you warm, and he's probably easier to be around, happy little punk. But when I walk in the door, you smile like I'm your favourite person in the world."

"You're one of them."

"That sucks, you know," he grumbled.

"Yeah." She sighed. "Sorry."

"Why, though? You didn't answer that."

"It feels...complete when you're here, Jacob. Like all my family is together. I mean, I guess that's what it's like—I've never had a big family before now. It's nice." I was trying not to watch them as they spoke, but I could see from Jacob's thoughts that she had smiled at him. "But it's just not whole unless you're here."

"I'll never be part of your family, Bella," he grumbled again. The idea that he was some kind of brother or cousin to her rankled him. Though he knew I would hear it, he couldn't keep thoughts of what might have been from his mind, thoughts of her as his wife, pregnant—safely pregnant—with his child.

The thought made me nauseous, but I couldn't help acknowledging that at least in that scenario, she would have stayed alive.

"You've always been a part of my family," she disagreed.

He ground his teeth together. "That's a crap answer."

"What's a good one?"

"How about, 'Jacob, I get a kick out of your pain.'"

He saw her flinch, and I suppressed the urge to backhand him. I didn't care how conflicted he felt about her or how much we owed him for what he was doing. She doesn't need any added stress should be his mantra right now, too.

"You'd like that better?" she whispered.

"It's easier, at least. I could wrap my head around it. I could deal with it."

I could see her face through his eyes. She had shut her eyes and was frowning. "We got off track, Jake. Out of balance. You're supposed to be part of my life—I can feel that, and so can you." She paused for a second. "But not like this. We did something wrong. No. I did. I did something wrong, and we got off track..."

He hated the idea that anything she had felt for him in any kind of romantic sense had been an error, but it certainly made me feel better. Jacob as a brother I could handle. If I hadn't left her, that's probably how it would have stayed, saving them both—all three of us—this world of additional pain.

Was there anything I hadn't managed to mess up?

I noticed Bella had fallen asleep before Jacob heard her soft snore. I was extremely familiar with the signs that indicated when she slipped into a slumber.

"She's exhausted," I explained to him quietly. "It's been a long day. A hard day. I think she would have gone to sleep earlier, but she was waiting for you."

He didn't look at me. "Seth said it broke another of her ribs."

"Yes," I admitted. "It's making it hard for her to breathe."

"Great."

As if I were any happier about it than he was. A flash of possessiveness overtook me, and I had an impulse to shove him away from her. "Let me know when she gets hot again," I said instead.

"Yeah." She's still freezing, bloodsucker. Don't you at least have a...

I snatched a blanket off the arm of the sofa and spread it over Bella before he could finish the thought.

I can see where the mind-reading saves time, he thought grudgingly. And it will save me from having to say out loud how stupid I think you are to have let her talk to Charlie...

Again, as if I were any happier about that than he was. "Yes. It's not a good idea."

"Then why?" he demanded.

"She can't bear his anxiety."

"So it's better—"

"No. It's not better." I struggled to maintain a neutral, calm tone in my voice, even though I resented the implication that he thought I was a complete fool about this issue. "But I'm not going to force her to do anything that makes her unhappy now." She doesn't need any added stress... She doesn't need any added stress... "Whatever happens, this makes her feel better. I'll deal with the rest afterward."

She's not expecting you to have to do that, is she? She wouldn't just shuffle that burden off on you, or anyone.

"She's very sure she's going to live," I answered.

"But not human," I protested.

I buried my irritation with the indignation in his voice. He knew what the plan was. How many times did he have to be told? It wasn't his place to question it, no matter how much he was doing for us, for her. "No, not human. But she hopes to see Charlie again, anyway."

He finally turned to look at me, his eyes wide with incredulity. "See. Charlie. Afterwards," he repeated. "See Charlie when she's all sparkly white with the bright red eyes. I'm not a bloodsucker, so maybe I'm missing something, but Charlie seems like kind of a strange choice for her first meal."

I sighed. He must figure us for idiots, releasing her on Charlie if she couldn't be controlled. "She knows she won't be able to be near him for at least a year. She thinks she can stall. Tell Charlie she has to go to a special hospital on the other side of the world. Keep in contact through phone calls..." Even as I said it, it struck me: no wonder he thought we were idiots. That plan really was a foolish one.

"That's insane."

"Yes," I admitted.

"Charlie's not stupid. Even if she doesn't kill him, he's going to notice a difference."

"She's sort of banking on that."

Excuse me? He simply stared at me, waiting for the explanation for that one.

With another sigh, I continued to sketch Bella's idea out for him. I wished she had told him about this herself so that he wouldn't think I was in favour of a plan with so many obvious holes in it. "She wouldn't be aging, of course, so that would set a time limit, even if Charlie accepted whatever excuse she comes up with for the changes." I smiled ruefully. When she and I had discussed this, she hadn't even been able to give me an example of an excuse she thought might work. "Do you remember when you tried to tell her about your transformation? How you made her guess?"

I saw his hand tighten into a fist. "She told you about that?" He didn't like the idea that she had told me about any of their more personal conversations, but I had little sympathy for him on that point. We were married, what exactly did he expect?

"Yes. She was explaining her...idea. You see, she's not allowed to tell Charlie the truth—it would be very dangerous for him. But he's a smart, practical man. She thinks he'll come up with his own explanation. She assumes he'll get it wrong." I couldn't help snorting. "After all, we hardly adhere to vampire canon. He'll make some wrong assumption about us, like she did in the beginning, and we'll go along with it. She thinks she'll be able to see him...from time to time."

"Insane," he stated flatly.

"Yes."

I can't believe how you indulge her every whim. It's weak, just to keep her happy now. I suppose you assume she won't live long enough to try out such a crazy plan?

I bit back a growl. I was obviously far from perfect in the decisions I had made to this point, but I still found it beyond audacious that he thought he had the right to judge me. We owed Jacob Black, but he certainly didn't make it easy for me to resist cuffing him across the room.

Whether he was right or not.

"I'll deal with whatever comes," I replied simply. She doesn't need any added stress. "I won't cause her pain now."

"Four days?" he asked.

"Approximately."

"Then what?"

He was asking what would happen after the fourth day, but it wasn't clear what part, specifically, he meant. "What do you mean, exactly?"

He thought about what Bella had told him about the amniotic sac, that it was as tough as vampire skin. He wondered how the creature would get out of her.

I had done it so often now, it was becoming easy to suppress my shudders.

"From what little research we've been able to do, it would appear the creatures use their own teeth to escape the womb," I whispered. He couldn't possibly be more horrified by the idea than I was. It made my skin crawl.

"Research?" he asked weakly.

"That's why you haven't seen Jasper and Emmett around. That's what Carlisle is doing now. Trying to decipher ancient stories and myths, as much as we can with what we have to work with here, looking for anything that might help us predict the creature's behaviour."

There are stories? he wondered. Meaning...

I anticipated his next question. "Then is this thing not the first of its kind? Maybe. It's all very sketchy. The myths could easily be the products of fear and imagination. Though..."—I hesitated—"your myths are true, are they not? Perhaps these are, too. They do seem to be localized, linked...."

"How did you find...?"

"There was a woman we encountered in South America. She'd been raised in the traditions of her people. She'd heard warnings about such creatures, old stories that had been passed down."

"What were the warnings?"

"That the creature must be killed immediately. Before it could gain too much strength."

Just like Sam thought. Was he right?

Bella certainly didn't think so. Neither did Rosalie. They were more than content to dismiss those stories as old wives tales, even though they were both intimately familiar with the facts behind other legends. "Of course, their legends say the same of us," I told him. "That we must be destroyed. That we are soulless murderers."

Two for two.

I laughed humourlessly. You should see what they say about your kind, Jacob Black. Sometimes he seemed to completely forget how far from normal his own life was.

"What did their stories say about the...mothers?"

I thought of Kaure and the single word she'd spoken before she left the house on the island: morte. More practise suppressing a shudder, suppressing the urge to scream.

Rosalie saved me from answering by snorting dismissively. "Of course there were no survivors," she snapped. "Giving birth in the middle of a disease-infested swamp with a medicine man smearing sloth spit across your face to drive out the evil spirits was never the safest method. Even the normal births went badly half the time. None of them had what this baby has—caregivers with an idea of what the baby needs, who try to meet those needs. A doctor with a totally unique knowledge of vampire nature. A plan in place to deliver the baby as safely as possible. Venom that will repair anything that goes wrong. The baby will be fine. And those other mothers would probably have survived if they'd had that—if they even existed in the first place. Something I am not convinced of."

Despite the sarcasm in her voice, in a weird way her reply was oddly optimistic. It might have made me feel better except that it was so clear from her thoughts that the unequivocal emphasis in her mind was the safety of the...creature. She was barely even mildly interested in whether or not Bella would survive.

I wasn't as good at suppressing the urge to rip Rosalie's throat out. Without thinking, I was crouching into an attack position, my fingers twisting into claws.

Allow me. Jacob's thought surprised me enough that I paused, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow.

Silently, he lifted the now-empty silver bowl from the floor and hurled it at Rosalie's head as hard as he could. With an earsplitting bang it smashed flat and ricocheted across the room, snapping off the top of the newel post at the foot of the stairs.

Bella twitched in her sleep but miraculously did not wake up.

"Dumb blonde," he muttered.

Rosalie turned around slowly, her eyes blazing with hatred. "You. Got. Food. In. My. Hair."

Jacob started howling with laughter, doubling over as he shook with it. Alice joined in from her spot behind the couch, her bell-tinkling laugh mixing with his roaring one.

It was the laughing that finally woke Bella. "What's so funny?" she mumbled.

"I got food in her hair," he snickered, barely able to get the words out.

"I'm not going to forget this, dog," Rosalie hissed at him.

"S'not so hard to erase a blonde's memory," he countered. "Just blow in her ear."

"Get some new jokes," she snapped.

"C'mon, Jake. Leave Rose alo—" Bella broke off in mid-sentence and sucked in a sharp breath. I stood up immediately, pulling the blanket away in time to see her body shake, as though it were being moved for her—which of course it was. It was like something out of a bad horror movie, where one of the characters was possessed by an evil spirit.

"He's just...stretching," she panted, but her teeth were clenched and her lips were white with the effort of holding back a cry of pain.

I placed my hands on her cheeks gently and called for Carlisle.

"Right here." Carlisle was already in the room.

"Okay," Bella said, still panting, her breath hard and shallow. "Think it's over. Poor kid doesn't have enough room, that's all. He's getting so big."

Jacob's frustration was almost palpable at how lovingly she spoke about the creature that was killing her. Once again, I knew the feeling. For how much and how often he irritated me with his sanctimonious attitude about what was happening to Bella, as though we'd planned it and simply allowed it to happen, it was odd how often he and I were on the same wavelength these days.

"You know, he reminds me of you, Jake," she added.

He was almost apoplectic. "Do not compare me to that thing," he spat.

She looked wounded. "I just meant your growth spurt. You shot right up. I could watch you getting taller by the minute. He's like that, too. Growing so fast."

Carlisle was considering that comment, wondering whether there really were any similarities between the creature and the wolves. "Hmm."

"What?" Jacob demanded.

"You know that I was wondering about the fetus's genetic makeup, Jacob. About his chromosomes."

"What of it?"

"Well, taking your similarities into consideration—"

"Similarities?" he growled, even more furious at the idea that there was more than one similarity between himself and the creature.

If you find that offensive, you should try being its father, I thought grimly, glad again for my new ability to suppress my involuntary shudders.

"The accelerated growth, and the fact that Alice cannot see either of you."

Jacob had forgotten about the issue with Alice, but it seemed obvious in retrospect. No one else was immune to her ability. It really was a peculiar similarity between the creature and the wolves.

"Well, I wonder if that means that we have an answer," Carlisle continued. "If the similarities are gene-deep."

"Twenty-four pairs," I muttered. So we were dealing with not only a half-vampire monster, but a monster that might also somehow resemble the wolves, if only at a genetic level? Lovely.

"You don't know that," Jacob stated defensively.

"No. But it's interesting to speculate," Carlisle shrugged.

"Yeah. Just fascinating."

We were all momentarily distracted by the sound of Bella's light snore. She had fallen back asleep again without any of us noticing. I supposed I really should take her upstairs to bed, but the notion that the creature had twenty-four chromosomal pairs had everyone preoccupied. Was there an answer there, a clue as to what we were dealing with? What we could expect if the creature could be delivered successfully? Carlisle's mind was racing, and Rosalie was excited by the possibilities. Even Alice had some ideas, based on the similarities between what she saw—or, rather, did not see—with the wolves and with the creature, and what she experienced in each case.

Plus, there was a small amount of comfort in the off chance that we might at least be able to arrive at some workable theories, if not some answers.

Deeply involved in our discussion—which Jasper, Emmett and Esme soon joined—none of us noticed when Jacob, too, succumbed to the need to sleep.

A/N: I've been trying to keep this version of this story relatively PG-rated to keep it in the ballpark of Ms. Meyer's version (though I couldn't resist adding SOME lemony detail...), but FYI for anyone who is interested, the R-rated version can be found on Twilighted under my "SarahHolmes" nom de plume. With the exception of the Isle Esme scenes, that version is the same as this – but those scenes are amped up, shall we say.

Thanks to all who have reviewed, favourited and alerted me...it warms the cockles of my cold heart.

Oh, and one last thing: I'll do my best to keep the updates coming, but I'm starting a major trial in a couple of weeks which may not only suck the life out of me, but may also occupy all of my waking moments. Just a heads up...but no fear, I won't abandon this story!