Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Chapter 37

EPOV

As we left Orlando and found our way to the expressway that would take us home, I listened to the voices of my family. They were discussing rides they had gotten on, garments that they had seen people wearing, the concert and they were even rehashing the bets that we had made, including our retrieval of the flags on top of Hogwarts and Cinderella's Castle.

A small part of my mind concentrated on driving the car as yet another portion relished the feeling of Bella's small warm hand in mine. A large portion, however was rehashing the events of the last year or so. My lie to her, leaving her . . . all the feelings of desolation and utter despair when I returned to look for her and she had left Forks. My joy and hell combined when I had smelled her under the pile of tangled metal that had been her motorcycle and my desperation to save her. The elation I felt when she agreed to marry me and the wholeness I experienced the first time we made love . . . our time alone, naked on Esme's island. I remembered the look on her face when she awoke for the first time in our bedroom in the new house I built for her . . . I remembered everything with perfect recall, perfect clarity as though it were a photograph.

Then there was yesterday morning.

The baby moved so that we could feel him. The baby. MY baby. My son Masen.

It was just short of unbelievable. It was unbearable, absolutely too much happiness for any one person to be able to withstand. I was consumed with love for this small being that I had never spoken to, never laid eyes on, never even smelled. It didn't matter if he was human or vampire, he owned me.

My heartbreak came when I considered that as much as he meant to me, as much as I longed to have a son, that it might not be possible. He might never be born . . . alive that is. I could not risk Bella, I would not risk loosing her for anything or anyone . . . even my son.

"Sweet heart", Bella called to me, shaking me from my musings and back to the present. The signs indicated that we were not yet to Gainesville, Florida, so I couldn't have been lost in my thoughts for too long, less than an hour anyway.

"Yes love", I finally answered, shaking off all the thoughts that were at the forefront of my mind and relegating them to a smaller section of thought, further back from my present focus.

"Sweet heart, it was really kind of you to do that for that little boy and his family. Especially calling it the Cinderella endowment", she told me.

"I rarely find a mind as wholesome as the boys father's was, love. Of all the minds I have to endure hearing, few are worth the listening. If the little boy is anything like his father he will be an amazing man and certainly deserves the chance to grow up."

"Well, I think you are an amazing man and I'm certainly glad you gave us a chance."

She knew. How was it that she always knew when I was thinking back, reflecting on our time together and the decisions that I made that nearly broke us both.

"I love you. I'm glad you allowed me back into your life after I was such an ass to you, lying to you and leaving you like that. I will never stop trying to make that up to you, Bella, not if I live forever. I am still so sorry I did that to you . . . to us, " I told her, squeezing her hand lightly as I continued to hold it and feel her warmth.

"Edward. We agreed. No more about this. It's over, sweet heart. I have you here with me and you promised you would never leave me again. Done", she said with a resolve that even I didn't dispute.

"Yes ma'am", I said. And that was all I dared say.

I heard the dispute escalating from the back of the car and my attention turned to my siblings.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"No. I so did not!"

Emmett was turned almost backwards in the center seat to face Alice and Jasper while Rosalie snickered beside him. Jasper was leaning forward almost nose to nose with Emmett to make a point.

"Emmett, you so almost lost it and threw up that day!", Jasper added to the discussion, "I can feel what you feel, remember?"

"Whatever. That's not what I was feeling. It was just different, that was all. I'm used to warm blood in my mouth and the cold, well it just didn't sit well. It seemed just so wrong!", Emmett answered, seeming to shutter slightly at the memory.

I couldn't resist. I had to interrupt my siblings and get the full story, the pieces I was picking up in their minds were so intriguing, not to mention conflicting and Bella had not heard the story either.

"Okay guys. Bella and I haven't heard this story yet. What happened on the Amazon after you dropped us off at the airport?", I asked, knowing I was opening a can of worms.

"Well", Alice started, eager to share the specifics, "After we dropped you guys off we went on up the coast and went up the mouth of the Amazon. It was amazing."

"Esme went wild over the lush vegetation, I think she has plans for something tropical in our future she liked it so much", Rosalie added, "She just needs to find a way to have all those plants grow in more of a shady area, if that's even possible."

"Anyway", Alice said turning back from giving Rosalie a 'look' for interrupting her, "We went inland for quite aways, almost a day, and then we turned off on one of the smaller, less inhabited tributaries up river. We were well away from anyone, even the native tribes that have villages spotted here and there along the river."

"The jaguars were amazing, Edward. Much better than the mountain lions in the States", Jasper added enthusiastically.

"I had one there while I was in Brazil and it really was tasty, you're right, Jasper", I answered.

"ANYWAY", Alice said, insistent now that we stop interrupting her story with our side discussions, "We all went into the jungle taking to the trees mostly so that we could stay over the wet areas and Emmett finally spotted this snake, had to be about 15 feet long, hanging out in one of the trees."

"It was 20 feet long if it was a foot!", Emmett interrupted, clearly insulted by the image of a smaller snake.

"Whatever", she said dismissively, "It was a really big snake. Emmett jumped to the same limb while we all waited in a neighboring tree. The snake coiled on the limb, still kind of holding itself onto the tree by it's tail. Emmett, well, you know Emmett."

"Hell yea!", Emmett yelled.

"Well, Emmett taunted the snake, trying to get it to strike at him. And it did. We all watched as Emmett became kind of a corn dog, all wrapped up in bands of snake. Soon as it moved to bite him, he reached out and grabbed both sides of its mouth and held them closed, biting into the side of the thing. It uncoiled trying to get away but Emmett held onto it as it squirmed, finally having to rip its head off to stop it from moving", Alice continued.

"Damn thing wouldn't stop squeezing me! I felt like I got caught between Rose's legs and she was angry with me or very very happy with me, if you know what I mean!", Emmett said as Rosalie slapped him so that he would hush.

"ANYWAY! We all moved to another tree cause all we could see was Emmetts back. First thing we noticed when we had a front view was Emmett's face screwed up into the most horrible, wrenching face imaginable and he was frantically spitting, trying to clear the snake taste from his mouth! I would have given anything if one of us had a camera", Alice laughed.

I nearly lost it. I saw the scene in Alice's mind as clear as though I had been there and Emmett in a tree with that snake wrapped partly around him and the most disgusted look on his face possible was one of the funniest things I had seen in an age.

"That thing tasted horrible, like cold liquid soap with salt added! It was disgusting", Emmett said, making a face at the mere memory of the taste.

"That must have been really funny! Alice, I'm so getting you a camera so that things like that can go into a family album", Bella turned to them and said.

Alice continued, "Carlisle heard a tree full of monkeys nearby, just after Emmett dropped the snake and we headed off to hunt them".

"I usually don't notice one way or the other, the differences in animal tastes", Jasper allowed, "but those were tasty, even to me."

"I have to admit, if we're not going to have humans, some of the varieties of monkey are quite a nice substitute", Rosalie added, looking up from her magazine.

The ride home continued, stopping for gas once and letting Bella use the facilities and get a snack. She soon fell asleep as we approached Macon and the conversation turned to different hunts that we had gone on in Africa and in different jungles around the world. We really had seen and eaten some amazing things over the years. My family discussed future hunts they would like to take and places to visit as the afternoon slipped away. At the current rate, we would barely make it home in time for us to go to the hospital and have Carlisle use the ultrasound to look at our baby. Carlisle had wanted to do it on a weekend when the normal staff wasn't there for the routine exams and we could have more privacy. I had no idea how much the machine would be able to pick up and how much the vampire portion would affect the image. I didn't even want to think about the image of the baby itself, if it would be normal with two arms and two legs or if some mutation would have occurred.

We passed Atlanta and headed into the mountains of North Georgia. The cabin was virtually at the corner of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia and we were only an hour or so away at this point. I phoned Carlisle to make sure we were still on for the test this evening and he confirmed that he was there waiting on us. My brothers still argued in the back as Rosalie and Alice looked through magazines they had brought and Bella slept peacefully in the front seat with me, her hand still in mine.

My mind raced, so many things at once. One thing was for sure, my excitement, anxiety, fear, whatever it was grew with each passing mile. Every inch closer we got to the hospital, to seeing our baby, the stress increased. My emotions swelled and if I had a heart, it would have been racing.

~oooOooo~

Carlisle POV

I knew he was anxious, so it didn't surprise me when the caller id on the phone indicated that Edward was calling. I expected them all back today and he had called this morning to make sure that the plan to do the ultrasound on Bella was still a go for this evening. It was all arranged. I had full run of the offices needed with no staff around to interfere . . . or to observe, just in case what we saw was unusual enough to arouse curiosity.

I turned on the machine for it to have plenty of time to warm up as I thought back to that phone call from Bella.

They had just arrived back from their trip out west and Edward was determined to take her to Isle Esme before going to Thanksgiving with her Mom in Florida. He was so overjoyed to have her in his life, elated in a way I had never before seen him. My son was whole finally, all because of this girl, the human that he would change and have join our family forever.

She was a delightful young woman really, full of life and quite intelligent. She completed him. Bella accepted us graciously and without reservation, knowing what we were and she alone had been able to convince Edward of something I had struggled with him about for almost a hundred years . . . the fact that he did have a soul.

The call came to me while Edward had been out hunting, she had not wanted him to hear the conversation, afraid we would all think she was crazy. A home pregnancy test she had taken had told her what she already suspected - that she was pregnant. I didn't know what to make of her tone, it wasn't that she was frightened, it was kind of a mixture of surprise and happiness. She sounded excited about the baby.

Edward had told her that he could not give her a child, he had mourned and lamented it actually. I had told him that vampires could not have children, that because we were frozen as our bodies were when we were changed, that children were not possible.

I should have checked.

I should have done a sperm count on his semen.

I should never have assumed.

Bella knew he would not suspect her of being unfaithful, in fact the topic had never even come up. I had not questioned it either. When she told me I immediately had her drive over under the pretense of bringing me a fresh lab coat saying that a nurse had spilled something on mine. She had all the correct symptoms and the blood test confirmed that she was in fact . . . pregnant. Going from her menstrual cycle, she should only have been about 4 weeks along yet from my measurements and the ultrasound I had done, she was at least 6 weeks pregnant.

She had taken it well, even when I told her some of the legends, the horror stories, the tales of the mother not surviving . . . ever. Since the moment she found out she was carrying his child, her concern had been for Edward. She knew his tendency to take on all responsibility for everything around him, especially things concerning her and she was well acquainted with his tendency to overreact.

"Do you want me to tell him with you, Bella", I had offered, hugging my new daughter to me and trying to comfort her, "You know he will be beside himself with worry."

"No, Carlisle. Don't tell him. Please. You're my doctor, not my father in law right now and I do not want you to tell anyone. Patient doctor privilege", she had insisted, looking up to me from her seat on the exam table.

"You're not going to tell him?", I almost gasped.

"No, no, no. Nothing like that, Carlisle. I just know how he tends to over react and I want to wait to tell him till we're alone. Alone on an island should give me time to reason with him", I mused.

"You plan to tell him then while you are on Isle Esme?", I asked.

"Yes, I want to surprise him. Carlisle, I want him to be happy about this and I want time for it to sink in. If you think there is any possibility that this baby can be born, that we can have a child together, then I want to try. He'll probably call you immediately, but at least he will have some time to think about it", she resolved.

I couldn't argue with her reasoning. She knew him better than anyone and she always seemed to be able to know just what he needed from her at any given time.

She looked at me with those pools of chocolate brown eyes and asked if I thought she could do this, if she and my son could have this child. I had to tell her the truth, that I didn't know. I told her that I thought it was possible, that she was perfectly alright for now and that it would be alright to take a few weeks and decide with Edward what they wanted to do . . . how they wanted to proceed. It was obvious that she wanted this baby, I only hoped that Edward could stick by his new resolve to share everything with her and not demand that I immediately take the child from her. I knew that he would know the dangers and panic.

I explained that the legends of women impregnated by the incubus always ended in the death of the mother, but that the births had occurred alone and in the jungle with no medical supervision. If we took the baby early, before she went into labor I thought she could deliver it safely . . . if the pregnancy got to the point that the infant could survive outside her body.

I wondered now what an ultrasound would show, how far along the child would be, assuming that it was a child they had created. Certainly it was a child, Alice had seen a child and I had learned better than to ever bet against Alice. I continued to wonder and surmise what indeed lay ahead as I prepared the equipment for their arrival.

~oooOooo~

"We're here. Bella, wake up love", I said into her ear as I gently lifted her out of the front seat of the car and hugged her to me.

"Hummm, what . . . where are we?", she mumbled quietly as she struggled to open her eyes and regain consciousness.

"You, my love, have been sleeping while we came up the mountain. Just as well, you might have gotten car sick. My driving might have been just a little faster than you like around the curves", I told her as I hugged her to me and nuzzled my face into the crook of her neck, "We are at the hospital in Highlands, Carlisle wants to do the ultrasound. Is that okay with you for us to go ahead and do it now, I really don't want to wait till next week to find the offices closed so that we can have privacy."

"Sure, of course . . . now is fine, sweet heart. I just have to wake up", she told me.

"We'll see you guys at home", I said as Emmett jumped into the SUV to take it and the others home, "Carlisle will bring us when we're through here."

I shut the car door and turned to walk into the hospital with my wife. I have to admit, I walked into that examination room like I was walking the plank on a pirate ship, terrified that we would see something out of the ordinary. Well, we knew we would see something out of the ordinary, quite out of the ordinary, but I was afraid we would see something horrific, something that said the child wasn't viable or that Bella would be ill advised to try and carry it till it could survive on it's own. I would make the decision if I had to, but I wanted to try, we had agreed.

Carlisle gestured to an exam room and we both entered, shutting the door behind us. She laid on the table and unbuttoned her jeans, pulling them and the lacy panties down and her shirt up. It wasn't as though there was a large baby bump there for all to notice, nothing discernible unless you knew her, unless you knew that there should be a hollow between her hip bones . . . a dip there in her stomach which no longer existed. Her abdomen, now that I was looking at her in a clinical setting, did in fact protrude past her hip bones. For Bella, that amounted to a very distinct baby bump.

I placed one hand on where the baby would be and stroked her hair with the other, placing soft kisses from the very corner of her mouth down towards her ear, along her jaw line. She tangled her fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck as she loved to do and held my head to her. It was a good thing my father walked in when he did, as the hand on her abdomen was sliding up her stomach with a very soft destination in mind, under that rumpled t shirt she wore.

"Well, you two. Let's see what's going on in there with the baby", Carlisle said.

"Masen", Bella told him.

Carlisle looked up from the dials he was adjusting to stare at Bella. His mind was racing and his normal ability to keep his face clear of emotion faltered.

Surely they haven't named him.

It would kill her to lose it, but it would kill him to lose her.

They shouldn't get so attached so soon.

We don't even know if what they have created is viable.

We haven't even decided clinically if they need to terminate the pregnancy.

Edward would never go along with naming it, he isn't even sure of what it is.

"Carlisle. The baby's name is Masen", I told him as I stared into his shocked face, his normal doctor's facade cracking into a million pieces.

"Bella and I have talked about it and we have agreed, not only on the name, but that we will do everything in our power to have this baby, Dad. Everything short of risking her life above and beyond the normal risks of pregnancy, though we realize this is far from normal", I told him.

He could only stare, then he looked at the dials for a long moment, regaining his composure.

You have truly come a long way, Edward.

I have never been more proud of you than I am at this moment.

You two have obviously discussed this and are deciding things together.

"Alright then, lets see what we can tell", Carlisle said as he reached for the lubricate. "This is going to be a little cold", he said as he squirted it onto her belly. "Sorry about that", he said as she jumped and goosebumps appeared across her belly.

The screen hummed slightly as an image started to show among the fuzz and dots. Carlisle changed the angle and moved the wand from place to place, trying to get something but so far, all of Bellas organs showed quite distinctly, but the uterus appeared only as a large ball with nothing inside showing any image.

"Well, the bladder and ovaries along with the fallopian tubes are in good order, the intestines are fine, but let me just try for a moment to adjust the settings. Last time it wasn't necessary, the sac wasn't nearly as thick as it is now. I wouldn't normally use the extra intensity, but in this case I think getting an image is that important, is that agreeable?", he asked me.

I didn't want to answer without Bella's opinion and agreement, so I explained to her and asked,

"Bella, normally it isn't done because the lower the less risk to the infant, but the extra intensity may just get through the apparent vampire quality of the sac surrounding our baby. Okay, love?"

"Well, Carlisle is the doctor and you've been through medical school twice. If you say it's alright, then it's okay with me", she said as she squeezed my hand.

Carlisle picked up the wand again and pressed it to her abdomen. It worked. The image was by no means clear, but it was obviously the image of what appeared to all to be a human baby, a fetus at about four months gestation. Bella had only been pregnant two months, but the baby's heart was beating, his arms were moving, legs were visible and it was definitely a boy. It really was a little boy and it somehow looked like a tiny me . . .

The machinery used allowed us to examine everything, right down to the heart valves, looking for any abnormalities, any flaws. There were none. For all appearances, it was a healthy baby boy.

I couldn't believe it. A thousand thoughts passed my mind in the quarter second I had been staring at the image, but they all came back to the fact that this might just be possible. We might be able to have this baby . . . I might be a daddy . . .

"Carlisle, say something. Tell me what we're seeing. I know you two know, but let me in on this, please!", Bella urged us, somewhat upset by our lack of talking and explanation.

Do you want to tell her?

I bent to kiss my wife softly on the lips. "It means love, that neither of us can see anything at all to indicate that this is not a healthy baby boy", I told her. "He just seems to be developing a bit faster than a human male, so I don't think he's entirely human."

"Well how could he be with a vampire for a father, Edward. I wouldn't want him to be!", Bella said dismissively.

"Love, you never cease to amaze me. You really do love me regardless of what I am, don't you?", I asked.

"Edward, I love you because of everything you are and I certainly want our child to have traits from his dad, vampire and all. How do you think he will feel when he grows up if he was just human?", she chided.

"What he will be like as an adult will be very interesting to see. We have to document all of this, and I'd like to do these ultrasounds every two weeks at least, to make sure we know just how far along you are. We will have to time the cesarean section just right", Carlisle stated, already in planning mode.

"Well for now, let's go home and tell the family that they are probably really going to be Aunts, Uncles and of course, Esme will love to know that she may be a Grandmother!", Carlisle said as he turned all the equipment off, giving Bella a wipe for the goo on her stomach, "Looks like we may have an addition to the family in January or February at this rate!"

"Don't forget, Carlisle", Bella stared at my father as she added, "This makes you a Grandfather."

He look shocked. He knew, of course he knew . . . but he just hadn't allowed the ramifications of this baby to sink in. The word kept playing over and over in his mind . . . Grandfather . . .

I snickered as I helped Bella off the table.

"Never thought you would have grandchildren, did you Dad?", I said with a smirk.

"Edward, in the 94 years that I have known you, you have never ceased to amaze me, and Bella is following along the same exact path, even as a human", Dad said, turning off the lights and heading towards his car.

~oooOooo~

BPOV

We headed towards our house, Carlisle pulling up to the front door for us to get out. He parked rather than just letting us out and it was in that moment that I noticed the lights on and movement in the house.

I saw Edward's eyes unfocused slightly as he obviously read something in Carlisle's mind before we headed up the stairs and into the house.

I had only to open the door to hear 'Surprise' coming from the rest of my family. They were all here, candles lit and balloons everywhere - baby blue balloons and a banner over the fireplace saying 'Congratulations'. My family was letting us know they were behind us, and excited with us at the coming of a baby.

The hugs were plentiful, and the cake was amazing. Edward even had a bite of frosting, well, he licked the frosting from my lips.

"Is this your doings, Esme?", I asked as she hugged me again.

"Yes, take it as a 'grandmother's privilege' to spoil her daughter. I have something to show you as well", she said as she led me to the kitchen counter.

She rolled out a set of drawings, three sets, really, showing different ideas for the design of the baby's room. All were amazing.

"Esme, I can't even think of this till after Christmas! I still have to do the other room upstairs before the middle of the week when Jake gets here and Dad is arriving Tuesday. There is so much to do . . .", I said, but she cut me off.

"Bella, here are some suggestions for the other room," she said rolling out drawings for it as well, "We knew you would need the other guest room what with your Mom and Phil in one, Charlie in the other and Jacob coming. Sue will be here after Christmas as well, right?"

"Yes, she is coming on the 26th for a few days, then she and Charlie are flying home together", I explained, "Mom and Phil are driving and should be here any day, though I don't know how long they are staying. Jake gets in Wednesday."

"Wow, we're being infiltrated by humans! Are we getting presents for them as well?", Jasper asked.

"You don't need to get them anything, Jaz", I said.

"Hell yea we're getting presents", Emmett allowed, "Charlie could always use more fishing gear, and there is winter fishing to deal with now."

"Bella, you didn't really think we would leave your parents off Santa's list, did you? Even your wer... I mean even Jacob is on the list!", Alice added.

"You can't fight it, love", Edward whispered to me, "But we can always go back to naked Isle Esme and avoid them!"

He was laughing, a full bellied laugh that sounded so carefree and so happy. I loved my new family and Edward was beyond anything my mind had ever dreamed up for me. He was amazing.

We flipped off the lights and covered the cake, our family having left only moments before. Edward pulled me to him and kissed me in a manner that made me dizzy, bending to put his arm under my knees and lift me, heading for the stairs.

Did I mention that I loved my new house and our bedroom. Our bedroom. The hear was on, the fire was softly crackling in the fireplace and my husband held me to him, placing me in the center of our bed and crawling up over me.

"I love you, Bella", he said as he allowed some of his weight to gently press me into the soft covers.

"I love you more . . . Daddy . . . "

And it was the last thing I said for many hours that night.