Rosalie Hale

I quietly opened the door of the animal/space themed room, a sound asleep Carter James clinging to my body as carried him in my arms. After a long three week trip to Egypt and a multiple hour flight, he was beat and needed a rest. I think the entire family needed a little rest –even though we're immortals who didn't physically need it anymore – or a pick-me-up to be honest.

Going to Egypt was a real eye-opener for us all. It helped us find out more about Carter's ability and the depth of it. Everyone thought his ability would somehow pose a danger to humanity if he couldn't contain it because it was pretty powerful but I didn't see it. I thought it was beautiful. But I also could see their point of view and that kind of scared me. I was scared for his life.

And Carter saw how unhappy I was and when I felt uncharacteristically jolly at some point, I knew he compelled me. I wouldn't reproach upon the child because I found it cute that he thought of making me happy.

Being able to love any child is the greatest gift of all. Children bring light into a dark world, I saw it with Nessie and now with Carter. Having a child and taking care of it isn't a duty, it is a privilege –which nobody should take lightly.

And just the thought that this man…this evil man would want to use this great privilege and use him as a tool for his own selfish desires is despicable, dishonorable and disheartening.

I placed the sleeping child in my arms gently onto his comfortable bed and tucked him in and fixed his pillow. I smiled as I watched him grin onto his astronaut action figure. Although he may be more advanced than normal humans, I loved how he didn't want to make it seem so. He craved a childhood. He wanted to live and breathe like normal five-year-old boys and since we don't know how long it would be until he'll stop aging, I want to do everything in my power to make sure he holds onto that childhood and never lets it go.

I widened my smile as I bent down to kiss his temple carefully and gently before stroking his curls and switching his Moon nightlight on.

I began walking out of the room.

"Mom?"

When I heard that word, I immediately halted in my tracks and if my heart worked, it'd probably stop. It's still surreal that I am that to someone, a mom. A mom. Wow! I never thought it would be possible in my more than a century of existence but here I am, mothering a child who isn't mine but loved conditionally as if he was.

I turned around. "Yes, sweetie?" I said as I went over to him.

"Is someone coming after me?" The six year old little boy with innocence all of his face asked me.

"No, honey. Why do you say that?" I furrowed my eyebrows as I situated myself on his small dinosaur bed and pulled him close to me, stroking his light coffee-brown hair with my hand.

"The man you, Uncle Edward and Dr. Cullen were talking about. He is after me isn't he?" My Carter whispered to me, his big amber-brown eyes staring up at me.

Dr. Cullen was the name Carter was comfortable referring Carlisle to after always hearing Jacob say it. He still wasn't comfortable with giving everybody in the family titles yet. He calls Alice and Bella by their names or occasionally –to Emmett and me of course – he gave Alice a superhero name called Chatterbox-Girl and Bella's alias was Awkward-Woman which Emmett found hilarious. He only called Edward uncle because those two hit it off really well in Egypt.

However, overall, the only people he truly felt content with was Emmett and I. He called me mom and sometimes called Emmett dad. I think he started referring to us as his parents after watching Renesmee with her parents at only seven and a half weeks old!

"Sweetheart. You don't need to worry about anything." I assured him, threading my fingers through his curly hair. His piercing amber eyes bored into my golden. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

He curved a small curvy smile and nodded his head before curling closer to me and using his small hand to grip onto my top as he closed his eyes and immediately fell into deep sleep.

I was stunned at how tightly he held onto me but gave in to it with a smile as I laid my lips on his head. I pulled the blanket over his body, tucking him in as he tugged onto me.

I closed my eyes as I lay there next to him. Of course I couldn't sleep but I just decided to close my eyes so that I could mesmerize this very moment…with…with my son.

I had no idea I was in his room for that long until my husband, Emmett popped his head through the door.

"Hey, kitty!" He called. "You good?"

I shushed him and gestured to the sleeping baby latched onto me.

He nodded his head. "Okay! Sorry, babe!" He whispered so low, I even had to be sure I heard it right.

I rolled my eyes at my literal husband.

"He looks so peaceful." He said to me.

I smiled, staring down at the young child. Emmett was right. He was peaceful.

"He's going to ask questions, heck, he already is but…But I am afraid to tell him the truth. I don't even know if we should tell him. I mean, will he even be ready?" I asked my husband but didn't dare to move my eyes from Carter.

"He's a smart kid. He'll find out eventually."

I sighed, nodding my head. "That's what I'm afraid of. Will he hate us for not telling him the truth? Or worse…"

"Will he not see us as his parents anymore?"

I finally peered my eyes from my Carter to fix them on my husband who had uncharacteristically sad expression. So he knew exactly how I was feeling because he felt the same way. He was under Carter's spell just as I was.

"Does it make us selfish for wanting to be the only thing he wants…he needs?" I asked.

He smiled slightly as he made his way over to us and sat on the edge of Carter's Pterodactyl bed, his large frame causing the bed to sink and Carter to shift in my arms but not wake up.

"I don't think it makes us selfish. I think it means we're parents." He said with a smile. "It means we love and care for him and all we want is for him to be safe."

I nodded my head. "I still cannot fathom how anybody could even…" I paused, not wanting the child in the room to hear but hoping Emmett understood.

Thankfully, he understood.

"Yeah, me too babe but that's the world we're in. People are just as jerky as beef!" He said.

I giggled, shaking my head at my comedic husband. I began stroking Carter's curly light brown hair and using my freehand to hold onto his fiery hand as he snored in his sleep. I smiled. He looked so precious and sweet. Incapable of enlisting any pain on anybody.

This kid has probably been in more pain than many other kids in this world, yet he doesn't know it yet. His biological mother walked out on him, and although her intentions were noble, she still abandoned her son. Charles only wants to use him, he could care less whether or not he'd be hurting his flesh-and-blood.

But that's the thing, blood isn't always thicker than water.

I loved him as if her were my own, as I was the one who carried him in my womb. That's how big my connection is with him. Emmett was my light when all things were dark for a while but now that I also have Carter, he's made that flickering light even brighter. The two lights of my life are here with me.

And I want more than anything for it to stay that way.

I looked up to my husband staring adoringly at the young toddler.

"I love you both so much." I told him.

How did I get this lucky?

For years, I never thought I'd find love, and the world brought me Emmett. For a century, I never thought I'd be a mother and the world brought me Carter. It's like train ride, the journey takes forever but you do get to that destination at some point in time.

Maybe I've finally reached my destination.

He looked at me.

"Oh, we love you too, babe." Emmett said with a skew grin.

I smiled back as I took his head in mine.

"Hey, will this be a good time to let you know that I kinda left Carter's duffel bag of clothes back at Amun's crib?"

I closed my eyes.

Oh gosh…

"No. No. it's not a good time to say that, Emmett." I expressed calmly because I didn't want to flip in front of Carter.

He shrugged.

"Please tell me you're joking?" I questioned.

He smirked. "I'm joking."

I rolled my eyes.

Oh my bear-bear.

… …

Renesmee Cullen

After the chat with my mom and after she told me Carlisle wanted to speak to me, I made my way down to his office/library. I knocked three times on the mahogany office double-doors downstairs. I waited for a response.

"Come in, dear!" He whispered, but I heard him clearly.

I wrenched the two large doors out of my way and slowly waltzed into the enormous, bookshelf-infested, business-type office. I closed the doors behind me and w

"Thanks for meeting with me." He said with a small smile as he pushed his chair in.

I furrowed my eyebrows at how formal my granddad was. Which wasn't unusual but this time it was particularly odd. He was addressing me as if I was his client or patient or something.

"Sure, Dr. Cullen?" I replied, straining the word as I cocked an eyebrow at the oldest man of the house. "Thank you for having me – by the way, why am I here?"

He chuckled softly. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about the kind. Take a seat." He said, gesturing to the chair.

I frowned as I took my seat on the opposite side of his desk.

He exhaled an unnecessary sigh before giving me a huge smile.

"First, before we begin. How are you?" He asked me as he locked his fingers together and placed them on the desk as if he was having a conversation with one of his patients.

He looked so professional and formal. I mean, Carlisle's always been formal but today specifically, the way he's dressed, how he's addressing me. I don't feel like I'm talking to my granddad but rather an orthopedic surgeon.

"I'm okay, I guess." I replied.

"That is good to hear, child." He told me before pulling out a file from his drawers. "Without wasting any time, we should probably get to it. Shall we?"

I smiled.

"So I looked at some of your blood work from over the years and I caught onto something peculiar." He pondered.

"Is there something wrong?"

What did he notice? Was I going to die at some point or something? Okay! I shouldn't think morbidly but I never had something terribly wrong with me so I'm thinking of all the possibilities!

"Oh, no! I assure you there's nothing wrong." He dismissed my thoughts. "I just wanted to bring to your attention something I find quite fascinating about your species."

I frowned.

"It has to do with your reproductive system."

Oh! I didn't like where this was going.

"W-what about it?"

"Well, I've always found your reproductive system quite an interesting thing in your development. Obviously, you menstruate which is a perk of being half-human –"

"A perk?" I scoffed. I'd like to think of it as torture.

"My apologies," He said with a soft chuckle.

"Nevertheless, from my understanding. Since your third year of existence, that was when your reproductive organs began developing fully yet still being somehow slower than a normal human. For instance, you menstruate every now and again. I presume this is still a known fact?"

I nodded. "Every three-to-four months."

"Figured." He added. "My initial speculation was that your irregular cycles were due to the fact that you had some vampire genes in you which semi-halts certain human attributes. So, you may have been developing at a rapid rate in all other aspects except when it came to the female anatomy and my thought was that as you grew older it would somehow come to a stop as you stop aging. However, after your seventh birthday, things still remained the same which raised even more questions. You may have halted in aging, but your reproductive system still continued which made me wonder that maybe not everything of your body becomes frozen after full-growth.

"And when Jennifer came along, my thoughts were proven correct after I asked her about her experience for the past two decades of her existence. Apparently, her cycles had stayed the same ever since. And the same can be said of her sisters which was good news to say the least so I continued on the investigation to see whether or not reproduction can take place between hybrids."

I listened intently to what he was saying.

"I had a few theories that I talked to your father about but before I let you in the know, I just want to confirm something." He began as he held on a not so comfortable facial expression.

"You and Jacob have taken the next step with your intimacy in your relationship, am I not mistaken?" He felt the need to ask.

He probably already knew, thanks to Emmett's slip-up but in order to impose, he felt the need to ask.

Which was pretty awkward to have to answer your Grandfather!

At least it's a lot better than how it would be with Charlie.

Either way, I couldn't hide my blush.

I just nodded slightly.

"Well, I studied Jacob and your species while your mother was still pregnant with you and have concluded both you and Jacob are completely different from humans in terms of your genetic make-up."

"Every normal human cell contains 46 chromosomes, except for the human male sperm and human female eggs. These contain 23 chromosomes each, which I'm sure you already know. But over the years, I've concluded that hybrids (or female hybrids) have 48 chromosomes –twenty-four pairs – the same as wolves.

"This means both you and Jacob have or carry an extra set of chromosomes/genes. Which doesn't seem to be a problem in reproduction with humans as many of the Quileute wolves reproduce with females with 23 pairs. Since it's males, they are XY chromosomes so that means there can be nothing carried on the Y chromosome, what is regarded is the X chromosome (which can be interpreted as a reason why Leah as the only female wolf cannot bear children because of the extra set of chromosomes disrupting her reproductive system). Anyway, I am getting off track so I'm going to skip a few.

"But I wouldn't know how a procreation with a human/hybrid or wolf/hybrid would look like because I've never seen it yet. So, enlisting the help of Edward, we started speculating what could happen if you and Jacob do procreate. What would happen? Would it even be possible? What would be the breed of the offspring?

"A normal human female who menstruates monthly ovulates each month when an ovum is released from one of the ovaries but you menstruate irregularly –which isn't uncommon in humans as well – so you ovulate on a once-in-a-while basis. Which is no problem and can be beneficiary if you're not trying to have a baby. But when you would ever want to try, there'd be the problem."

"A problem?" I asked.

He nodded. "You see, your genes…there's just something about them. I always asked myself why you don't develop venom like Nahuel. How Nahuel's eyes tint in color after hunting yet you don't, why he endures longer when hunting, why he's faster than his sisters or even why you're able to sleep longer than Nahuel does. Maybe it because he resembles as a full-vampire because his a male and you resemble as a human because –"

"Of my female anatomy." I answered.

That was slightly misogynistic theory. Why couldn't female hybrids do what male hybrids can?

"So it's a limitation." I said.

"Precisely, but that's beside the point. I'm pointing out that being more human is good because if my theories are correct, a female hybrid could have a normal pregnancy."

"With a human, right?"

He nodded. "And Jacob is also half human essentially, so if both your human genes are dominant and meet together during the phase of meiosis in reproduction then a normal, safe pregnancy can occur."

I gathered the information in my head.

And I managed to smile slightly.

"But that's just my first theory. However, there could be a problem with that as well seen as you both have extra chromosomes. Obviously that didn't affect you but if you and Jacob manage to reproduce a fully-human child, which could bring complications with him."

"What complications?" I asked as I thought carefully about it before I answered my own question. "Genetic disorders?"

He nodded.

"But doesn't a genetic disorder occur if one of the parents carries the genetic disorder gene and the other doesn't? Jake and I would both be having an extra set of chromosomes."

"That's a valid question that I also asked myself but remember, a human is supposed to only have forty-six chromosomes. Not forty-eight." He told me.

"Then the child isn't human, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Or he has some type of mutation but is still a human."

Mutation?

If Jake and I have a human baby, he/she could have a type of mutation?

"Like Down Syndrome?"

"Or something totally different, something not known to man."

I widened my eyes.

But a genetic disorder like Down syndrome would be carried on the 21 chromosome or something right?

Okay! I'm officially confused.

"Of course, if it were a human and hybrid in this equation, a safe, clean pregnancy would be inevitable."

I couldn't answer.

"What's the other theory?"

"The second theory, well… I'll need to also consider the idea of two opposing supernatural genes you both have. The shape-shifter and vampire genes. If those two are both dominant in your reproductive systems, then it could cause a clash, thus, limiting a potential pregnancy."

"Or it create a strong, faster-growing, totally different species." I added, mostly confirming my own ideas.

He nodded his head.

"I know this information is daunting and I shouldn't have thrown this on you so abruptly but I thought you'd like to hear my theories. I kind of feel like Jacob should have been here but I thought it would be better to tell you first. Of course, this doesn't give us a clear indication of what will happen. It's something that we'll just have to wait and see on but that's if the prospect of children is on your minds. If not, then that is fine."

I nodded, not replying.

"In the meantime, I'd like to give you this." He said as he pulled something out of his drawer and placed it in front of me.

It was a birth-control pill box.

"Oh, um…Bella kind of already got that covered for me." I said to him with a chuckle.

He smiled. "Okay. Well, keep it for when those run out."

I laughed nervously. Wow! Carlisle sure does know how to tease a person without intending to.

I blushed hard.

"Thanks, granddad."

He smiled and nodded his head.

"Before I let you go, if it's not too much to ask but I want to run more tests but since I can't pluck needles on your skin, I thought another means would do." He said, handing me a plastic cup with a lid.

Oh! He wants me to emit urine so that he can run tests.

Wow! This is a lot a girl can take for one day!

I think he saw my expression because I watched as his face completely change.

"You know what, it can wait." He told me as he put the cup back into his cabinet.

I smiled nervously, nodding my head.

Thank you!

"Um…is that all?"

He nodded with a warm smile plastered on his face.

I got up off my seat and headed for the door but halted.

"Carlisle?" I called. He looked up. "The Charles thing…Do you think we should worry much about it? I mean, what will we do when he comes back?"

"I don't think we should concern so much about it now that we are all back. Yes, it is something we should be cautious of but I believe that as a family we can overcome whatever challenge that can come our way."

I nodded. "But he's dangerous, granddad. He's capable of anything." I said.

He nodded. "We're well aware of that but, I was a man of faith in my past human life. My father was a priest so I believed that if we put our faith in something, we can surely prevail."

I smiled. He was right, I guess.

It's just Charles.

Whilst we're a family.

It's safety in numbers.

"Okay." I simply replied and averted my eyes over his library collection. "Uh, you don't happen to have by any chance William Shakespeare's autobiography do you? I'm writing this research report of A Midsummer's Night Dream and I need background of the author and play."

He thought for a moment before shooting up from his seat.

"Not that I recall." He said as he superhumanly ran to his large bookshelf collection and began climbing up the ladder. When he reached to the top, he skimmed through the line of books before quickly snatching a book in a matter of seconds.

"However, I do have his biography." He said as he flew to the ground and came up to me in a blinding flash. "I hope this may assist you."

I took the book and stared at the mahogany, leathered, ancient book and ran through some of the pages. I smiled when I got a few things I needed.

"It's actually great. Thanks, granddad." I told him.

"My pleasure, Nessie." He replied as he kissed me on the forehead briefly.

I smiled as I went to grab the door handle and strolled out of the office/library with the book in my hands.

Whew! Well that was a relief.

That's a lot of information to think about for one day.

Today had been a long day, all I needed to do was watch a movie or something with my wolf.

And when I felt his scent reach my nostrils, I finally felt whole again.