"I feel like I never truly knew the sisters." Esme said sadly. "I thought I knew them. We have spent so much time with them after all, but it seems I never truly understood them."

"None of us did." Dr. Cullen consolidated his wife by squeezing her shoulder.

Edward nodded. "Even though I thought I knew their thoughts I do not understand their actions at all."

"Well, it seems to have something to do with Laurent, no?" I asked.

Dr. Cullen shrugged. "That could be the case. But we know too little to be certain." he said. "He certainly plays a role but he could just be acting on Irina's requests. If they are truly mated-"

"They are." Edward confirmed. "Laurents thoughts were clear on that part."

He nodded. "As they are mates he would certainly do a lot just because she asked him to."

"Even act as a mate for Bella?" Jasper asked. "I could not do that. Even if Alice asked me to."

"You are not Laurent, Jasper. He might think differently." Esme reminded him. "And we don't know the reason for it."

"It seems to be quite clear to me." He said. "What was special about Bella at that point in time? Not much. They didn't know her. There was no reason to save her life apart from the fact that she was pregnant at the time."

"Even that did not make me special though." I argued. "There are many many women out there who are pregnant. Why me specifically?"

"You were, and still are, absolutely beautiful." Edward said as if that explained anything.

I raised my eyebrow.

He shrugged. "If you were Laurent and set aside all your morals and beliefs to play mate with someone wouldn't you want them to be at least physically attractive?"

"I suppose so." I said uncertainty.

"And Isabella was ideal in another way," Dr. Cullen remarked. "She had lost all the people closest to her. Her parents, her in-laws and her husband were claimed by the Spanish Flu. There were not many people who would notice her disappearance. And the people who noticed understood it to be a suicide because of her prior state of mind."

I nodded thoughtfully.

"So, you think they spied on her beforehand? They specifically chose her?" Edward asked.

"I do not know."

"But why should they even come to Chicago?" He questioned his fathers logic. "As far as we were told the Denalis have always lived in Alaska or Canada ever since they came here from Europe. How did Laurent and Irina find Bella in Chicago?"

"I do not know anything about that." Dr. Cullen told him. "I'm just trying to come up with some explanation. But my answers are not based on any knowledge. You know that, son."

"But none of this explains why the sisters won't visit us." Rosalie interjected. "You would think they would jump at the idea of meeting Edwards mate."

"Right." Jasper nodded in agreement. "Carlisle, when you first informed Tanya of that development there was little possibility that Laurent had warned them beforehand. But she acted strangely even then."

"That could have just been her damaged pride." Edward said.

"You think that was the only reason?"

"It's Tanya." He shrugged, as if that was explanation enough. "So, who knows. I gave up trying to understand her thoughts a long time ago."

Jasper chuckled under his breath.

"So," Emmett exclaimed, slapping his thighs. "What do we do about that arm?"

"We keep it." Dr. Cullen said firmly.

He looked at him in disbelief. "What?" he blurted. "We should burn that filth."

Dr. Cullen shook his head. "No. We keep it. We should not deliberately mutilate him forever."

"And we might not want to antagonize both him and in turn Irina when we don't even know the background. They might not have any bad intentions." Esme agreed with him. "They would absolutely turn hostile if we burn his arm."

"I can't imagine any valid reason that would justify them changing Bella only to pressure her into mating with Laurent." Edward crossed his arms, growling. "He tried to use her vulnerability and inherent desire for blood as a newborn to manipulate her. I think he is lucky to only lose his arm. If I cross his way again he will lose a lot more than that."

I turned in his arms and looked him in the eyes. It was a challenge to focus so completely on them without being drawn into the molten gold. "Edward, nothing happened. And there was never any threat of something happening. I just ran. He lost me. I am in your arms right now. Your baby once again grows in my stomach. And it feeds from your venom. There is no need to be vengeful."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead and put his temple to mine, closing his eyes.

"We should not act rash. Once we burn that arm it will be gone forever. Nothing would ever bring it back. When this conflict is resolved we will either forgive them and your cousin will be grateful for keeping it safe or you can still burn it. There is no need to do it now when we might regret it later."

He took a deep breath and nodded. I felt his hair brush against my face.

"So we wait?" Rosalie asked, frustrated.

"So we wait." Dr. Cullen acknowledged.

"Not quite." Alice jumped from Jasper's arms. "We have a dance to prepare. It's next tuesday."

I could see Jasper roll his eyes behind her back and could not help but giggle.

"Rosalie, you did hear Bella arrange a shopping trip with Angela Webber and Jessica Stanley, right?"

She nodded cautiously.

"You will join us." Alice told her.

Rosalie shook her head decidedly. "Absolutely not."

"But you need a dress!" Alice protested.

"And I will get one." Rosalie told her. "But not together with those humans. You can go play dress up with them, Alice. But leave me out of it."

"Rosalie, why don't you meet up with the other girls later on and Alice will show you the dress you will buy?" Esme suggested in order to prevent an argument.

She took a moment to evaluate and then nodded. "Just at the end, though. I can't stand humans like Jessica Stanley for more than twenty minutes."

I gave her a grateful smile. "I'm glad you'll come too."

She gave me a nod in return.

"What do you think?" Jessica asked once again as she twirled in the bubblegum pink dress she had tried on this time. "I kind of like it." She told us as she looked at herself in the long mirror balanced against the wall. "It gives me some great cleavage. Don't you think?"

Alice, Angela, Jessica and I all had piled into my car Friday afternoon. We had decided to drive to Seattle to look for dresses. Angela and I had tried to convince Alice that Port Angeles would suffice but she would not budge.

Once again Angela nodded at Jessica's question and told her to get it if she liked it.

"No." Alice however shook her head. "The color does nothing for you. It drains you. You should go for a warmer color."

"And what do you think of the cut?" Jessica asked, in fact interested in her advice.

Alice shrugged. "I would go for something more classy. If you want to show something, decide what you want to show. Either legs or boobs. Don't show both."

Jessica nodded and once again disappeared in the changing room.

I sighed wearily, missing the simplicity of my true youth. I did not have many ready-to-wear dresses then. Most of mine were still made for me. And I liked the simpler process of it. There were no masses of dresses to try on.

As Jessica continued to change into countless dresses and push Angela into wearing something very sparkly I felt quite lost. I found it difficult to listen to Jessica's unfiltered gushing about her date with Mike Newton.

Alice had handed me a few empire waist dresses, each one carefully chosen to hide my pregnancy. And they were lovely, but I couldn't help but feel self-conscious about the revealing neckline.

Jessica, on the other hand, was on a mission to get me out of my comfort zone. She was relentless in her attempts to persuade me to try on something more alluring.

"Come on, new girl," Jessica said as she emerged from the changing room in yet another form-fitting red dress. "You've got to show off those curves while you can."

Angela gave me a sympathetic look.

I sighed. "Jessica, I don't feel comfortable in that style of dress."

"Bella's right, Jessica." Alice chimed in. "She should feel comfortable in what she wears. Why don't you focus on your own dress?"

I shot her a grateful smile.

Jessica, however, pouted. "Seriously, Bella, it's like you're allergic to anything remotely sexy," she complained. "You won't even try anything. How do you know you won't like it if you don't try it?"

"I know myself." I told her. "And I do not like being exposed."

Jessica pierced her lips. "I bet Edward Cullen would appreciate you putting in more of an effort. Boys like to have something to look at."

"I think I have that part covered, thank you."

"Doesn't seem like it." she said.

"I assure you, Edward will be more than happy with any dress I choose. You don't need to worry about that."

"Let's be honest, Bella could wear sweatpants and Edward would still worship her." Alice giggled. "Though he sure would prefer her in nothing at all."

"Alice!" I gasped at her comment.

"What? It's true." Alice shrugged.

"But surely not at the school dance." Angela blushed brightly.

"You are right." Alice nodded sincerely. "He would sever a few male heads if Bella was naked at the dance."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Could we just move on from any of those ideas?"

"But why?" Jessica continued inquiring. "Are you hiding something under those huge dresses? Is there a reason you're so dead set against showing off your figure?"

Angela shifted uncomfortably in her seat by the changing rooms.

"I simply prefer modest clothing." I tried keeping my tone as composed as possible.

Fortunately, Rosalie entered the shop at that moment and needed to be greeted enthusiastically by both Alice and me.

Angela greeted her with a shy nod, which Rosalie returned.

Her and Jessica however exchanged hateful glances. It seemed Rosalie's dislike was not one-sided.

Alice handed Rosalie her dress to try on and send her into the changing room.

"Seriously," Jessica continued arguing her point. "You've got this hot, gorgeous guy, and you're hiding yourself. Are you trying to drive him away? Trust me, guys love to show off their girlfriends. And you can always use some jealousy to your advantage." She threw me a wink. "Even Edward Cullen should learn to work for some things."

"Jessica," I sighed heavily. "I do not need to generate jealousy to enjoy Edwards company. And even if he were truly jealous I would find a way to assure him of my commitment to him alone and not try to manipulate him into doing something he would not otherwise. My love is not conditional. I show him always and in every way I can because I want him to feel loved. And he does the same. There is no need for any of this."

Angela anxiously bit on her lip as she watched our talk.

With a loud swish Rosalie pushed the curtain to the dressing room to the side. She looked stunning. Her dress was tight. It hugged her ample curves. But because it covers her from her wrists to the ankles it did look classy where Jessica's choices always looked both too juvenile and provocative at the same time.

"Jessica Stanley," Rosalie hissed. "I would refrain from judging any relationship you know so very little about. I have seen Bella and Edward's relationship. It is built on respect, trust and most importantly the desire to make the other person happy. Wearing revealing clothes might be needed to keep a man interested. But Edward is her man. And there is a big difference. You would do good to never forget that."

Jessica raised an eyebrow.

"You see, their connection goes beyond what you might understand. They're bound to each other in ways that go far deeper than appearances." Rosalie glanced at me. "They've made commitments to each other that tie them together even more tightly than you might think. But some things are meant to be kept private, they are too special to share."

I smiled at her.

"You can't fool me, new girl," Jessica said, her voice laced with accusation. "You're hiding something, and Edward's sisters and Angela know it too."

Angela's eyes widened as her head snapped to me.

"Wait a minute," Jessica said slowly, her eyes widened with realization, "are you… pregnant?"

I hesitated for a moment, exchanging glances with both Rosalie and Alice and sighed. I realized that hiding it from her would be illusory.

Jessica gasped excitedly, undoubtedly because she had just been given the ultimate gossip. "Oh my gosh. You really are." She laughed loudly. "Oh, I knew it! It was so obvious. Why else should you be engaged?"

I shook my head. "The engagement was long before any of this." I corrected her, though I had little confidence that would be what the rumors will be about.

"Oh my gosh!" Jessica repeated. "You really are pregnant."

Alice, Angela, Rosalie and I had soon after said goodbye to her. None of us could stand her presence any longer. Though Angela did not say so.

As expected the whole town knew by the following monday and I once again despised school because of the rumors flying through the corridors and the absurd amount of attention I was getting. The only thing that somewhat cheered me up, despite my husband's presence, was the phone call between Esme and Carmen. Carmen and Eleazar would visit by the 1th of November at the latest.

With or without the three sisters.