[Disclaimer] All things Twilight belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer.

[A/N] Hello everyone. I'm so thankful to all of you who keep reading and reviewing. Your positive feedback means a lot to me.

This chapter is dedicated to aurike and ifonlylifewassimple. Hope you'll enjoy.

#FAQ#

Is Alice going to die in this story?

No she isn't. In fact none of the main characters is going to die. Not even Cheat-ward and I bet some of you would be pretty happy if let his plane crash or something like that.

**Chapter 46**

"Are you sure that Rose is okay with this?" I asked him skeptically, while my fingertips stroked over the huge head of the russet colored dog next to me.

He sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead with his thumb before he spoke up again.

"I didn't tell her yet."

"Are you hoping that she just won't notice it when you show up later without the dog?"

"Not really."

He pulled two airline tickets out of his pocket and waved them at us.

"Well, firstly I'm going to convince her to visit my parents in Tennessee and when we're back I'm trying to think of a good way to break the news to her."

Lilly kneeled down next to the dog on the ground and wrapped her tiny arms around him.

"Is Fido really going to stay here with us?"

"Yes, sweetie…I mean if your mother and your aunt allow it."

"Mommy, are we keeping him?"

I nodded my head, knowing that my little daughter would throw a tantrum if I didn't agree to that. How difficult could it be to care for an animal?

"We are keeping him…tentatively."

"Hurray! Can he sleep in my room?"

"In your room, yes but not on your bed, Lilly."

The dog whimpered slightly and stood up again. Lilly looked like a little doll next to this russet colored fur ball.

Her tiny hands grabbed the metal collar on his neck as she pulled him after her.

"Come with me, Fido."

When she was out of sight, Emmett sighed deeply.

"Rosie is going to be so fucking pissed at me."

"Why don't you want to keep the dog?" Ali asked him, sipping on the glass of orange juice in her hands.

"He could hurt the babies when they are born. Not on purpose of course, but accidentally. I read in one of the pregnancy books that infants could choke to death on the hairs."

"I think the risk that they drown in his slobber is higher." Ali stated, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"We don't have to keep the dog if you don't want to." I told her, hugging her tightly from behind.

I buried my face against her neck and planted a soft kiss on the sensitive skin right below her earlobe.

"Of course we're keeping him, Bella. The thing is that I'm not really good with pets. I killed my goldfish by feeding it with chips."

Emmett chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I remember that. You insisted that we buried that thing in your parents' backyard instead of flushing it down the toilet."

XXXX

I put another pregnancy book into a small box. God, I had already forgotten how much of that stuff I had bought when I had Lilly. Unfortunately these books tell you a whole lot of theory and absolutely nothing about the reality. They tell you that you lose weight if you breastfeed and I wished that it would be possible to sue those liars for not keeping that promise. I still hadn't managed to get rid of the damn belly fat and no matter how often Ali told me how much she liked my body, I still didn't feel comfortable with it.

As if she could somehow read my mind she hugged me tightly from behind. She pulled my long hair over my shoulder and planted a kiss on the exposed skin of my neck.

"Bella, are you sure that you want to give all of them to my sister?"

I was really glad that the baby years were over now and I hoped that I would have a few less exhausting years with Lilly now until she reached puberty.

"Why should I keep them?" I asked her nervously.

"Well, I thought that maybe..." she started hesitantly, her pale cheeks turning into a bright crimson color.

"…maybe we might still need them ourselves…possibly."

Slowly I sat down next to her on the couch and took her hand in mine to rub small circles over her wrist.

"You want to have a baby? Is this some kind of joke?" My voice raised two octaves.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, while her caramel eyes starred down on the ground, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Ali?"

I leaned over and put one finger under her chin.

"Look at me."

Slowly she raised her head again.

"I'm not saying that I want one right now. There are still so many other things that we have to deal with, but in a year or two…"

"No way!" I croaked out hoarsely.

"Have you forgotten what Benjamin told us about your mother?"

"Two out of three of her pregnancies turned out pretty fine and my condition isn't as bad as hers was."

"Ali, you can't be serious about that. Look if this is about your sister being pregnant right now…"

She shook her head.

"It has nothing to do with Rosie, more with you, Bella."

"With me?"

She took my hand in hers and squeezed it gently.

"I never thought that I wanted to have kids but that was before I met you. With you…I want everything."

"You can't expect me to agree to you risking your life, Ali."

"Bella, you don't need to worry about me."

"Of course, I have to. This is the stupidest idea you ever had. Firstly, I would never…ever agree to something that would endanger your health and secondly, how should you get pregnant without a man. Isn't that sort of essential for that?"

She inhaled sharply between her teeth and stood up from the couch.

"There are…ways…"

"What kind of ways? Do you want to buy some frozen sperm from the internet?"

"I haven't really thought about that yet."

"And you shouldn't start doing it at all. Look, Ali, I love you, but…"

"But you don't want a child with me, do you? Of course, you don't want that…because you already have a child with my shithead of a brother!"

"Ali, calm down. This has nothing to do with Edward or Lilly. I just don't want to risk…"

"You promised me not to treat me differently because of my stupid heart and now you're acting as I were some sort of porcelain doll that might accidentally break."

"Ali, you can't be angry at me for being worried and even if your heart wasn't sick, what it is, no matter how much you try to play that down..."

"I'm not playing it down. You can call Carlisle…or maybe better Dr. Bennett if you want to."

"Maybe, I'll do that later. Your father might be able to convince you about the possible risks, so that you know what you are talking about getting yourself into."

"Bella, you can't tell Carlisle. He'll freak."

"If that breaks your stubbornness, I will. You can't expect me to agree to something that might be dangerous for you."

"I expect you to be supportive about something that's important to me…" her voice was trembling when she croaked out the last words. When I looked into her eyes again, they looked glassy from the tears she was trying to hold back.

XXXX

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Lilly asked me as she walked into the living room.

"It's nothing, sweetie." I mumbled, wiping my wet cheeks on the sleeve of my shirt.

"Where is Auntie Ali?"

Gone, I thought…officially she's helping Rosalie to pack for the trip to Tennessee but the truth is that she was too pissed at me to stay in the same room with me. God, what if she didn't come back? What if…

"Mommy, where is Auntie Ali?"

I pulled a tissue out of my pocket and cleaned my nose.

"She's at your aunt's house. Why are you asking?"

"Because I heard you crying and normally, Auntie Ali, is there when you are sad about something."

"Oh Lilly," I croaked out, pulling her on my lap. It was wrong to let myself go like that in front of her but I couldn't bring up the strength to fight back the tears.

She stroked up and down my back in small circles until the sobbing finally subsided.

"Are you and Auntie Ali angry at each other?"

I nodded my head.

"Kind of…"

Slowly I stood up from the couch and walked over to the window, recognizing that it was already dark outside.

"Why are you angry at each other?"

My fingertips moved over a silver-framed baby picture of Lilly that was standing on the windowsill. Her smile exposed a single milk teeth and I thought about the nights I had spent sleepless nights until she had it.

"Don't you know why you are angry at each other?"

"Yes, I do." Or I don't.

"I just don't want to talk about it, Lilly. Do you think that you're old enough to understand that?"

She nodded her head.

"Of course, I can. I'm not a baby anymore."

I planted a kiss on the tip of her nose.

"And I'm too old to get kissed, Mommy."

"Too bad," I mumbled, suppressing a low noise that almost sounded like a giggle.

I heard the key turn around in the lock and my heartbeat increased suddenly while my palms started sweating.

The dog that had been taking a little nap on a blanket in a corner of the kitchen rushed to the front door.

A moment later Ali walked into the living room, trying not to stumble over the dog that started rubbing himself against her. Maybe he did it because her scent reminded him of Rosalie. Maybe he had missed her too. Who knows what's going on in a dog's head?

Then I realized how red and puffy her caramel eyes looked and something cramped painfully around my heart.

"Lilly, sweetie, can you do me a favor and let the dog out in the garden?" I croaked out.

As soon as she was out of sight I turned to Ali. Hesitantly I put one arm on her shoulder, not sure if it would be a good idea to touch her now.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close to her, close but not close enough for me.

"I'm so sorry, Bella." She mumbled against my neck, while I felt warm tears rolling down my cheeks again.

"No, you don't have to be sorry, Ali." because I'm the one who should be sorry not her.

We sat down on the couch and I took her hand in mine. Then I put it to my mouth and planted several kisses all over her palm.

"I'm sorry. If you really want to have a baby, I should be more supportive about that."

She sighed deeply and rested her head against my shoulder. The short curls of her dark hair tickled my skin and I twisted my fingers into the silkiness.

"I love you, Ali." I whispered before I leaned down to kiss her full lips tenderly. The tip of her tongue licked over my lower lip and a low moan escaped my throat.

"And I love you, Bella." she mumbled against my mouth when she pulled back.

"I shouldn't have been so angry that you were worried. If the situation were the other way round I would be worried too."

I kissed her again, sucking her upper lip between my teeth to nibble on it.

"If you had a baby…what would that make me?" I asked her while my fingertips stroked down the velvety skin on her collarbone.

"He or she is not going to call you Daddy-mom if that's what worries you."

"That's not how I meant it. It's just…I feel kind of excluded because…well technically I wouldn't even be related to the child."

She took my left hand in hers and rubbed her thumb over the rose-gold ring.

"But it's going to be a part of you," I continued.

"And that will be enough to love it."