Alice and Rosalie stood in front of Carlisle and Esme's room, just inches apart, Rosalie towering over Alice with nothing but malice in her eyes. "Stay away from her or I'll crush you."

"Hop to it then." Alice hissed, "jump little froggy, jump."

"Stay away from her!" Rosalie yelled, "Go away. Bella didn't ask for you."

"You stay away from her!" Alice yelled. "You don't care about Bella's life, Rose. I've seen it!"

Carlisle pushed the door open with the toe of his shoe. "Alice, Rosalie "Get away from that door," he demanded, calm but firm."Take it outside."

"Bella told me to help her," Rosalie spat.

"She doesn't need your kind of help." Alice insisted, with her hands on her hips. "Leave her alone. She needs someone to talk some sense into her before something terrible happens."

"Out!" Esme pointed to the staircase. "Both of you." Her voice softened, "Your father and I will handle it."

"She's yelling for me," Rosalie protested and reached for the doorknob.

"No." Esme said, blocking Rosalie's entrance. "She's just yelling. Carlisle?"

"I've got her," He said, Esme shifted out of his way and he slipped through the door.

Esme turned back to her daughter, "I'm taking care of her, Rose. Everything will be alright."

"Don't leave Carlisle alone with her." Rose was nearly begging now. "Please don't leave her alone with Carlisle and Edward. "It's not safe."

Esme nodded, the thought that Carlisle, of all people, would be a danger to Bella…Rose was delusional; but a part of Esme knew that Rose had a good reason for her fear. "Bella and the–" Esme cleared her throat. "Bella's safe."

"Baby." Rose corrected, "Bella and the baby."

"Go hunt, Rose."

A second later, Esme let herself in, finding Bella arched toward the ceiling, her hands twisted above her head, clawing at the pillows. Unholy screams tore from Bella's throat.

"Bella," Esme rushed in and knelt down into her eye line and took her hand. "You're okay. Shh…"

"No," Bella's jaw clenched. "I'm not."

"Hold my hand, Honey." Esme linked her fingers around Bella's. "It won't hurt much longer." Esme had no idea if her words were true or not, but she wanted to comfort Bella.

Esme shot a glance at Carlisle, he stood over Bella, running an ultrasound probe over her abdomen. "What's happening?

The leader and protector of this family was completely out to sea and it was starting to show. "I can't get an ultrasound, I can't see the fetus at all."

Esme watched as Bella's belly twisted and stretched, pulling and tearing the skin from the outside. Bella's jaw clenched in pain, trying to keep quiet. "Why is it so big?" She huffed once the fetus' movement slowed.

"It's too early for this much movement." Carlisle grabbed a measuring tape from his medical bag and turned to Bella. "I'd like to move your shirt and measure you."

"Do it," Bella insisted and lifted her shirt. She wanted to say that he could do what he wanted, but she was still afraid Carlisle would take too much liberty.

"Just do your best."

"Nineteen," Carlisle held up the tape measure for Bella to see. "I'm just estimating, of course. We'll keep measuring to see how the fetus is growing. When you reach 40 cm then it's safe to assume the fetus is ready for delivery."

Bella nodded, "I guess that makes sense."

"It's stretching," Esme pointed out. "It's a lot stronger than a human at this stage."

"And growing rapidly. Great…" Carlisle trailed off… "Something so simple has turned terrifying. That's pretty on brand for this family." The humor didn't meet his eyes."A warm bath might help you both settle down."

"You sound like Charlie," Bella forced a smile when she thought of her dad. "He thinks a hot shower will cure everything."

"This time," Esme stage-whispered, "he's not totally wrong."

"I'll start the water," Carlisle volunteered and headed for the bathroom leaving Esme alone with Bella.

"Do you think Carlisle's right?" Bella wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer and she kept a protective hand over her bump. "That the baby will be healthy?"

"It's an educated guess. We don't know anything about this, we're all doing the best we can." Esme stayed gentle, "We'll keep looking for more information and go from there. Let me get you some clothes." She went to the closet when she heard Carlisle turn off the faucet in the bathroom.

"Ready when you are," Carlisle announced, stepping out of the bathroom. "There's extra towels and a robe, too."

The bathroom was warm and fragrant with bubble bath and steam. The water lapped over Bella's abdomen in smooth, warm waves.

"How's it feel?"

Bella sighed in relaxation. "Feels great."

Esme's face brightened, "Fantastic!"

"Why…" Bella paused to gather her words. "Esme, why do you know this stuff? How did you know…about the tub and the… baby's movement?"

"I've talked about my first son with you. Haven't I?" Everyone else in the family knew about him, surely she'd mentioned him to Bella.

"I didn't realize you had gotten that far…"

"He was full term," Esme concentrated on distributing a glob of shampoo into Bella's hair. "But he got sick."

"And then you…" Bella knew what Esme had done, but she couldn't say it out loud.

"I jumped, Bella." She was direct. "I jumped because my baby was gone and I didn't have anything left to live for."

"What about your…" Bella cleared her throat, this was more personal than she'd anticipated. "The baby's father?"

Esme shook her head, "he wasn't someone who was built for marriage and children. He was very different from Carlisle,

"I see…" Bella wasn't sure why, but suddenly she needed to hear the rest of Esme's story, all the parts Edward left out to paint his mother in the best light possible. She still said, "We don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to."

"I wanted to live in the tub when I was pregnant…" Esme paused, she hadn't talked about any of this in a very long time. "I was staying with a friend in Milwaukee, she had a big deep cast iron clawfoot tub and the water went up to my chin." Esme paused again…thinking back to the finer details of her life before the baby. Before Carlisle. "And uh.." she cleared her throat. "Baby liked floating."

"Edward said you broke every bone in your body."

"That's what Carlisle says, too." Esme shrugged, "I'm sure I was in rough shape. I jumped 500 feet and into the water. That's when Carlisle found me."

"And he changed you?"

"He did."

"Did he-the venom-did it heal you completely?"

Esme shrugged, "For the most part. We know that venom doesn't fix everything, I still have…some evidence of my first husband; but, unlike Edward, I don't have any hard feelings toward Carlisle for changing me. If he hadn't, I wouldn't have known how it felt to be loved."

"You're saying it was worth it? Was it worth the pain?"

"I still lost my baby… but I.." She focused on her hands, being careful to be gentle as she picked through the tangles in Bella's hair with her fingers. "I gained something too. I have a family now, a real, almost- traditional family. I'm not a single mother on the run from my husband; anymore. I'm sad that I couldn't bring my baby with me, but if I had to lose him again, I think I'd still jump and hope Carlisle found me."

Bella reached her hand out of the water to hold Esme's. "I'm glad he did."

"You're very sweet."

"I don't think Edward would've turned out so well, without you. I wish he'd just talk to me." Bella looked up at Esme, pleadingly. "I can make him see things my way… the venom worked for you. Why wouldn't it work for me?"

"It's not a perfect system, Bella. You have to know that, you could still-"

"Or" Bella cut in. "It'll work perfectly."

"Edward's not showing his best side right now and I apologize for it. His coping skills are uh…" She held her hand out flat and moved it side to side. "Not great."

"He's scared, Esme. He didn't ask for any of this, I know you're angry with him. You haven't said a word to him since we got here."

Esme smiled, impressed. "I'm upset with him because he knows what he should be doing and he's choosing not to."

"Just-please don't yell at him, okay? He's already stressed–"

Esme gently squeezed Bella's shoulder. "I'm definitely going to yell at him."

"I can't believe this," Esme shook her head in disbelief as soon as Carlisle filed out of their bedroom behind her. Bella was back in bed and sound asleep. "Carlisle, Edward needs to put his head on straight. "We did not teach him to act like this. Bella doesn't want us hovering over her, she wants her husband. He's just across the hall, but he may as well be on another planet."

"He's too busy brooding, when he could be doing something useful," Carlisle agreed, following Esme down the stairs into the living room. The lights were dim and someone had repositioned the throw pillows on the couch. Carlisle and Esme were about to sit down when Edward appeared from upstairs and stood in front of his parents. His eyes were wide, like a frightened animal.

"You think I'm not doing enough?" He demanded, practically vibrating with emotions.

"Son," Carlisle's tone was gentle, with undertones of disappointment. "You're not doing anything at all. You're chastising yourself and apologizing but you're not helping Bella."

"I'm researching–" Edward jumped to his own defense. Esme didn't know what he was doing because she didn't care to go look. How dare she jump all over him. Reading her thoughts would have been redundant, she would tell him exactly what she was thinking.

"You're up there," Esme gestured toward the staircase. "And the books are open, but you're not reading them." She chastised, "Helping Bella means going out with Emmett and Jasper to get the medical equipment, buying food, or just sitting with her so she doesn't feel like she's in this alone. But you couldn't be bothered with any of that because you're too–"

"Esme," Carlisle spoke low in her ear. "Don't." She felt her husband's hand on her back. "Don't say it."

"Let him hear it twice, maybe it'll sink in. You're acting selfish, Edward. A selfish, greedy little boy who isn't getting his way. So go ahead and run away, like you do every time life gets hard. We will take care of Bella, don't worry about her." She picked up a set of keys from the coffee table and threw them to him. "If you run away from this, and you break her heart again–" Esme didn't have to finish the sentence.

His voice was hollow, "I can't come back."

"No." Carlisle shook his head with sorrow in his eyes and genuine pain in his voice. "If you abandon your wife while she's already suffering at your hand, we will help you in other ways, but you'll never darken this doorstep again. You can't live here and we will not come with you wherever you decide to go."

"It's not my fault!" Edward thundered, "How could I know? Carlisle, did you know–why didn't you know? 300 years and you never checked your–" Edward winced internally at the thought of Carlisle's sperm. This family was too damn close.

"Wait a minute." Esme held up her hand. "Exactly how many times did you take Biology Edward? What about Sex Ed? Medical school?"

Edward's voice was strangled, "she wanted to have sex. I didn't."

"Oh," Esme's eyebrows raised. "I see, she pressured you? The 18 year old girl pressured a 110 year old vampire into having sex. Try that again and see if it sounds as stupid the second time around."

"Esme," Carlisle squeezed her hand. "You're being too harsh on him."

"Harsh?" She repeated, rounding on her husband. "Are you serious? We're talking about a 100lb human girl, carrying God only knows what, inside of her. She's willing to die to keep it alive, because it's a part of Edward while he can't even be bothered to speak to her. I don't think I'm being harsh enough."

She turned back to Edward. "What was stopping you from using protection? I'm guessing it's because there wasn't a gas station or a grocery store somewhere between Washington and Brazil."

"Didn't have any." He looked at the floor and his lips barely moved.

"Yes you did," Esme countered, "there's a box in your suitcase. If you'd bothered to unpack, you would have seen it."

"Could you," Edward spoke through clenched teeth, barely holding back his temper. "Could you please go and knit or something."

"Go take care of your responsibilities, please. She's upstairs, in my bed, terrified and begging for her husband."

"I've told her I'm sorry!" Edward hit his knees, "Who's to say the condom would have even worked? We all know that I did this. How much more contrite do you want me to be!"

"It's not about contrition, Edward." Carlisle's tone was much more genteel than Esme's. He moved to stand beside his son, with his hand on Edward's back.

"This…" Esme gestured towards Edward, who was still on the floor. His face was buried in the carpet. "Is performative and I'm unmoved. I just told you what to do to make things right and you're kneeling on the floor, pulling up my carpet. Stop screaming, Edward. It's incredibly rude. You know Bella's trying to sleep."

"No one hates me more than I hate myself." Edward stared up at Esme. The light behind his eyes was all but gone.

"No one hates you, Edward." Esme assured him. "But you cannot be the priority right now. You of all people should see that. Figure out a way to hold yourself together."

"While I'm not fond of the delivery," Carlisle said as they stepped out onto the back porch, overlooking the woods. "What you said to Edward wasn't wrong."

"What kind of mother would I be if I let him get by with his behavior?" Esme asked, begging for a real, useful answer. I don't like jumping down his throat but I can't stand back and watch him treat her like this, Carlisle. I'm not fond of how soft you are towards him. He needs to man up and take some responsibility."

"Man up?" Carlisle echoed, his lips switched into an amused smile.

"Yes. He needs to act like a man instead of an angry child throwing a tantrum; but at least he and Bella have one thing in common."

"What's that?" He was playing along now, covering her hand with his.

"They both want Edward to feel better."

"Alright, that's enough. Now you're just being mean." Carlisle turned away from the railing to look at her. "Eyes." He kept his voice soft, but it wasn't a request. "Esme, let me see your eyes." He lifted her chin, shining his penlight in front of her. "Huh. Perfectly golden."

"Of course they are. We hunted last night. I can't merely be angry with him? There has to be a physical reason, Carlisle?" She glared at him. "Are you seriously implying that I'm angry because I'm hungry?"

"Just checking." He mumbled, "I'd say to take Edward with you, but I don't think Bella would feel comfortable with both of you gone; and I'm terrified that one of you won't make it home. Take Alice, Emmett and Jasper. A herd of deer are coming through," he checked his watch, listening closely. "Right about now. Have two then come home and tell me if you're still angry."

"You're still too soft on him." Esme threw over her shoulder, "And I'm not thirsty."

"Alright," Carlisle smiled, shaking his head in amusement. "Be careful and hurry home."