We left in the evening. After an entire day of talking I was exhausted. Not physically, I never could be, but mentally. I needed to get away from the family.

And Edward saw it in my eyes. So he had quickly excused the both of us and led me out of the house.

We were quiet on our run to the meadow. The wind was in my face, pulling at my hair and I took deep breaths of wood air. Scents of resin, wood and the crumbling leaves filled my lungs.

The gray clouds were heavy in the sky as we lay down in the high grass. I could feel the slight dampness seep into my clothes but I ignored it. Forks was always wet.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward asked after some silence.

"Eleazar's revelation." I told him and turned my head to look at him. "About the implications for our future and what it might reveal about the past."

Edward furrowed his brows. "What do you mean, love?"

"For one, this breeding program is endangering us. You, me and the baby." I brushed my hand over my swollen abdomen. "If the Volturi learn that we both survived the pandemic they will search for us. And once they learn about our gifts we will be coveted." I reached over to brush my hand over his forehead. "You are an extraordinarily strong mind reader. Aros one weakness is that he needs to touch the victims of his thirst for knowledge. You have no such limitation. If you were to be a Volturi guard he would know every thought of those around him by just touching you."

"He would want you too." Edward said.

"Yes." I nodded. "My shield would essentially make the Volturi guard invincible. Both their minds and their bodies would be protected while the gifted individuals could work on the opposing force. Alec and Jane would be essential in defeating the foe but I would be the one who protected them from any harm."

Edward was quiet. Turning to stare up at the sky. He would not meet my eyes.

"And then there is our child." I said. "I have no way of knowing how its gift will manifest, but make no mistake there is little chance that it would be born without one. This child is the cross of two potent bloodlines. I am certain our child will be powerful. And that means it will be all the more at risk. We will always have to be vigilant, Edward. Our child will be born into a dangerous world. And it will be vulnerable. We have to protect it."

I put my hand on his cheek to turn his head. "Promise me, Edward. Promise me that you will protect our child."

"I promise, love." I searched his face. His eyes were strong. Open. Full of the solemn promise he made. "We will protect it from all the dangers this world has to offer."

I nodded, reassured, and lay back into the dry grass. A weight seemed to lift from my body.

Silence returned to the meadow. Wrapped us in a soft blanket.

Until Edward spoke again. "What was the second thing you thought about?"

"Dr. Cullen." I sighed.

"He would prefer Carlisle, you know." Edward told me. "You are no longer the wife of his patient. There is no need to be so formal. He sees you as a daughter now."

I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Or at least a daughter in law, love. He would certainly prefer to be called Carlise."

I shook my head. "I don't want to call him by his first name."

"Why not?"

I shrugged. "He took you from me. I did not forget that. And I never will."

"You said you would try to forgive him." Edward reminded me.

"Yes." I nodded. "And I did try."

He furrowed his brows.

"I do try." I corrected myself and earned a small smile from him. "But I just don't feel right about this."

"About what?"

"About this whole situation. I can't shake this feeling that he stole you from me. Dr. Cullen is the one responsible for a hundred years of suffering. And now I don't know if I even trust him to have had noble intentions when he did so."

"Would you explain that please?"

"I keep thinking about Eleazar's revelations. They keep circling in my head. And I can not help but think that Dr. Cullen changed you for a more nefarious reason than his compassion at seeing you die from the Spanish Flu."

Edward gritted his teeth. "Carlisle is one of the most noble people I know, Bella. You can't just accuse him of random crimes."

"I am not." I defended myself.

"Yes, you are." Edward said forcefully. "You are holding a grudge against him and because of it you are searching for any evidence, however flimsy, to suggest Carlisle is malevolent. Bella, this can't go on."

His words hurt worse than a slap in the face. He did not listen. He just dismissed my concerns. I froze for a moment, closed my eyes, willing myself to control the pain. I could not let him see how it hurt me that he doubted my views. I was resolved to prevent him from seeing that.

"Edward, I know you have the utmost faith in Dr. Cullen, but I can't shake this feeling." I whispered. "Please, think about it."

I lay my hand against his cheek. Brushing my thumb over his darkened under eyes. Edward exhaled at my touch and closed his eyes.

But then he shook his head. "Bella, you can't go on like this. You need to learn to let this go. Carlisle is a good man. You have only known him for a quarter year, but I spent nearly a century with him. He has no hidden agenda. He changed me because he was lonely. He wanted a companion."

My anger rose like a fueled fire. Like an open flame. And this fire was mine alone.

"And what right did he have to separate us because of it?" I hissed. "He took you, Edward. He knew I loved you. He knew you loved me. He knew we were married. As I know now, he even knew that I was carrying your child and he took you anyway."

"How could he have known that you were pregnant?" Edward asked coolly.

"Scent." I explained. "All the hormones change the scent. He would have detected it. If he didnt he would have been a horrible vampire and an even worse doctor."

Edward shook his head. "You don't know that. Once again you accuse him of something you do not know."

I closed my eyes and shook my head at the pain of knowing that he again doubted my views. "But even if he didnt know, Edward, he still separated us because he wanted you. He could have changed both of us. But he didn't. Because he wanted you for himself. Because he wanted a companion that is entirely dependent upon him. For leadership, moral guidance and for attention. And he would not have gotten that if he had changed us together."

"No." Edward closed his eyes. "Bella, this is all wrong. He did not change you because you were not dying. Carlisle has only ever changed someone that was on the brink of death. The fever was killing me. Esme's body was broken. Rosalie was bleeding heavily and hypothermic. Emmett was quite literally split open. But you were alive and well. And, if he knew about it, pregnant."

"I was not. Once he told me you had perished I was dead." I told him. Unblinking.

"But he didn't know that." Edward argued. "He might have seen you grieving, but how could he have known how devastated you were?"

"Then he would have seen when you sent him to check on me."

"He still couldn't see past your exterior. How could he have seen the agony my death put you through?" Edward replied stubbornly.

"This is ridiculous." I shrieked and threw my hands in the air. "Edward, I did not look good. I was a walking corps. There was little more to me than skin and bones and a protruding bump. The servants always tried to get me to eat. But I just couldn't. And everything I did force down my throat came up later.

But even if he missed that, Edward, my eyes were dead. I always heard the whispers behind my back. Little Leandra Banner didn't even want to continue visiting Mrs. Banner at my parents house because I scared her so much. Edward, you can not tell me Dr. Cullen did not notice my decline. He must have. If he actually checked up on me there is no way he missed that. And he did nothing to alleviate the pain. It would have been enough to know that you were alive. He could have told me. But he didn't. He let me suffer in my belief that you were dead. All the while he enjoyed the very thing I needed so desperately, your company."

"Bella, I wasn't ready to see you then."

"And he could have told me so. I would have understood, Edward. But I would have known that you were alive and well. That was all that truly mattered to me. I could have survived any necessary length of separation if I knew that you were well.

Instead he changed you. Out of all the dying people in Chicago he changed you. What are the odds of him being in Chicago of all places? And what are the odds that he ended up being the chief doctor of one of the Volturi's experiments?"

Edward sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Dr. Cullen spent time in Italy, yes?"

He nodded.

"While he was there he was close to the three brothers and they exchanged ideas and debated for decades, yes?"

"Yes."

"And then he left." I said. "Around the time our grandparents left Italy and France for the United States he left the Volturi and headed for America."

Edward nodded reluctantly. "But that does not mean that he was connected to this breeding experiment."

"No, not necessarily." I agreed with him. "He did, however, sail across the Atlantic Ocean around the same time as our grandparents did. And then he moved around a lot. Alone. Until he miraculously appears in Chicago just as a new wave of the Spanish Flu comes and brings you to the edge of death. And he decides, out of all the people he has seen dying over the years, that you were the one person he needed to save. Who is, coincidentally, part of a science experiment that his best friends for years have set up. Edward, why won't you even consider that this is a possibility?"

"Bella, I've seen Carlisle's thoughts countless times over the years. I've read his memories and his intentions. He's never shown any inkling of knowledge about a breeding program or any experiments." Edward ran a hand through his bronze hair. "And even if I did not have the advantage of seeing into his mind, his actions speak for themselves. Carlisle is a gentle man. He always searches for a peaceful solution. He even negotiated a treaty with the Quileute wolves, for heaven's sake. He would have no motive for turning me because of my powers."

"Except curiosity." I sighed. "He considers himself more of a scientist than a doctor, would you agree?"

"I suppose." Edward nodded.

"And don't you think he would want to save his work? Don't you think he would rather see the progress two generations of selective breeding would bring than see all of it die with you?"

"I suppose." He once again agreed reluctantly. "But, Bella, all of this does not explain why he would not change you as well. I was not the only one with an interesting bloodline in the city. You were as well. And all your anger stems from the fact that he didn't change you. But why wouldn't he if you are just as much an element of his research project?"

"Perhaps," I thought out loud. "He did smell my pregnancy and wanted to wait until I could give birth to the baby before changing me so he could continue the experiment with our child. Or-" It was very quiet. Edward did not interrupt me as I continued to think. "Or perhaps," I mused. "Irina changed me as a favor to Dr. Cullen. Who says they did not work together?"

Edward was quiet as he stared at me. For a moment I could only hear the forest around us.

None of us even dared to breathe.

Both of us were waiting for the other to speak.

"Bella, this is getting ridiculous." He finally spoke. Frustration was leaking from every pore. "You are creating this imaginary conspiracy in your head. There was never any indication of deceit from Carlisle. Not one single thought. Even when he did not know that I could read his mind. Before he knew that he needed to be careful with his thoughts he never let anything slip."

"How do you know he did not know to guard his mind?" I asked calmly. "Eleazar said you are descending from a mind reading bloodline. Why do you assume Dr. Cullen did not know to guard his thoughts?"

"Bella." He groaned, deeply frustrated. "Don't be so stubborn."

"Says the one who is stubborn." I seethed. "You are so blinded by your love for him that you don't see, Edward."

"No." He shook his head, his eyes stoney cold. "You are blinded by your hate."

I froze and pressed my lips together and stood. Anger twisted my insides.

"Bella." Edward looked up to me, his voice careful.

"Edward." I growled back. For the first time I was truly angry at him. Sure, I had been frustrated before. There was no way around it. But never angry. Never truly angry.

I could do nothing but stand before him and glare down, crossing my arms tightly.

"Bella, please." He was tense as he reached up to touch me.

I took a step back.

He paused to study my face. I could see the hurt in his eyes when I stepped back. But I was too angry to comfort him at the time.

"I need to leave." I managed to say before turning with a snarl. And then I ran. Zig zagging between trees. My breaths came in quick, sharp gasps. I did not pay attention to the green mosaic around me until I crossed a river. Instead of skipping over I decided to plow through. The water offered a nice resistance to my overpowered body. Every muscle was tense. My fists clenched and my toes furrowed.

The water slowed my movements and calmed my body. I ducked into the middle. Letting the cold surround me. Gently embracing. Enveloped me fully as it rushed past me.

The flowing water cradling my body stirred my memories. Reminding me of the time I was ready to surrender my life to the depths of Lake Michigan. The water had given me solace back then too. A respite from her pain and suffering. As the oxygen had been used up by my body, the water had become a serene sanctuary in the midst of turmoil.

I focussed on relaxing my body. Opening my fists, losing the tight muscles in my jaw.

The water seemed to carry away my worries and frustrations, leaving a sense of clarity and purpose.

And a need to apologize. I was suddenly painfully aware of how insensitive I had been acting towards Edward.

Although I was still adamant that Dr. Cullen was not to be trusted and clearly erred in knowingly separating us, even if he had no ill intent in doing so, I had not considered Edward's loyalty to him at all. Dr. Cullen had a hundred year history with him. And that hurt almost more than the fact that Edward didn't agree with my views. Dr. Cullen had been allowed to spend so much time with him. All the Cullens had. What was a year as a human against decades as a vampire?

I needed to come to terms with the idea that Edwards' loyalties would lie with his family. Not with me. And I would need to come to terms with that. Not let my jealousy dictate my words.

He was right. I had no evidence against Dr. Cullen. Only my contempt towards him for taking my Edward from me and the cumulation of all those questions that could not be answered.

I flinched when I remembered the pain in Edwards eyes when I had stepped away from his touch.

Pushing off the bottom of the river, I emerged and got back on land. Filling my lungs with new air that cleared the last of the fog from my brain. My drenched clothes dripped on the forest floor.

I felt bad for my actions. Guilty for the way I left.

And swiftly made my way back to the meadow, hoping Edward was still there.

He was still there. I heard his weeping from a distance. And it broke my heart all over again. How could I have done that to him?

Edwards' hands covered his face as sobs shook his thin body. He looked horrible. Curled into himself. I knew he must have yearned for the relief of tears.

He did not look up as I approached him. But his sobs quieted and he removed his hands from his face.

"Can you ever forgive me?" His voice broke.

I sank to my knees and wound my arms around his body. "I am the one in need of forgiveness. I am sorry for the way I acted, Edward. You are right, I have no evidence against Carlisle. And I can not judge him for actions he may not have done. And when you didn't agree with my view on the matter I was throwing this massive tantrum instead of respecting your opinion and the unique knowledge you bring to the discussion. I was overreacting."

Edward pulled me closer, shaking his head against my neck. "No, love. I was insensitive. You have genuine and understandable reservations towards Carlisle and I should not belittle them. If our roles were reversed I would feel the same way. And I cannot deny that you have raised some valid questions. Just as I can not deny that Irina was able to circumvent my ability. Even though I spent a much shorter time with Irina it is still shocking that I never even had an inkling about her changing you or that she was mated. I understand that you have some reservations when it comes to trusting my gift."

"Why aren't we just cautious from now on when it comes to any clues on Dr. Cullen's motivations?" I offered. "And I will try to appease my concerns. That will take time though."

He nodded against my neck. "I would like that."

I pulled back to smile at him. "I love you, Edward Masen. I tell you way too rarely because it is so very obvious to me. Water is wet, fire is hot and I love you. It is a principle of nature."

"And I love you, Isabella Masen." He said solemnly. "Forever and always."

Our lips met on their own accord. Moving in perfect synchronisation. I shivered when our tongues met. And we were breathing fast when we separated. A smile played on my lips.

"So," he reached up to push back the hair that stuck to my forehead, "will you tell me why you are so wet and glorious?"

I grinned at him. "I took a little swim. Care to join me for another one?"