A/N: Quick shoutout to andrewpine, who was the 500th (!!) reviewer for this story. I sent you a DM in case you want a prize.

Some stuff is kind of glossed over in this but it'll be addressed in next chapter. As always, thank you for reading:)

Hope

When Alice came inside and told the family she was planning to leave for South America, that she was going to investigate the other blind spot in her vision, Bella silently listened to the conversation and felt a spark of hope flare to life inside of her. Was it possible that Brazil held the answers she needed? As much as she didn't want Alice to leave her when she was at her most vulnerable and most frightened, she was also filled with gratitude that her best friend was willing to travel so far just on the off-chance that she might find other hybrids. Might find information that could possibly save both the baby's life and her own.

With all the talking she'd done with Carlisle and Esme, she knew she was in a very precarious situation and knew it was unlikely that she would make it out of this human, but all she needed to do was just hold on long enough for the baby to grow to where it could survive outside the womb.

"And you're sure this is the best time to leave?" Esme asked Alice a little worriedly. Honestly, her heart was torn right in two. She understood why Alice was determined to travel to Brazil, and part of her wanted to go with her. She would have gone with her if the situation was different. She was desperate for information that could help Bella. They all were. But conversely, because the situation wasn't different, the thought of the family splitting up just then made her uneasy.

Alice shrugged a little uncomfortably. "To be honest, I'm not really sure about anything right now. But unless there's some book about vampire mythology floating around out there that I don't know about, this is the only place I can think of where we might find answers."

Feeling like her emotions were choking her, Bella pushed herself off the couch and tripped her way over to Alice. Being pregnant, on top of her already questionable equilibrium, wasn't doing her balance any favors. "Thank you," she whispered as she hugged the seer, her eyes stinging with fresh tears. "Thank you doesn't feel big enough to tell you how grateful I am," she added with a sniffly laugh.

Alice just smiled a little sadly and held her as tight as she could without hurting her. "Of course. You're my sister, Bella. I will always try to protect you."

Bella felt a wrenching in her heart at those words but she pushed it aside for the moment. She couldn't think about the fact that it should have been her husband saying those words. She wasn't ready for that yet.

Instead, she pulled away and wiped her eyes and then looked at Jasper. "I'm assuming you're going also?" she asked a little nervously. She knew he'd been keeping her at a relatively even emotional keel since he'd asked her permission at the airport and she was beyond grateful that he had the gift he did. She didn't mind the toxic stew of her emotions for her own sake all that much, but he'd made a good point. It couldn't be good for the baby. How much more of a mess would she become with him gone?

Jasper shook his head. "No, I'm staying here," he reassured her, smiling a little at the surprise on her face. If he didn't need to be there for Bella's sake, of course he would have gone with Alice. Bella knew enough about their friendship, and about Jasper, to know he wouldn't want her to embark on a potentially risky search without him.

"I'm gonna go with her," Peter explained to the surprised human. "Charlotte will stay here with Jasper and I'll tag along with Alice."

Bella felt that stupid ball of emotions start choking her again. Not only would Jasper be staying, potentially saving her sanity, but Peter would be out there making sure Alice was safe. Peter, who she still barely knew, was willing to be separated from his mate just to try and help her.

She put her face in her hands and started crying in earnest, but these weren't tears of sadness or frustration. Her gratitude and appreciation for these people were just too big to contain inside her.

Peter didn't even bother looking at Edward to see if he would object before stepping forward and wrapping the girl up in a hug. As far as he was concerned, Edward could go fuck himself. Until he started acting right and got to work fixing the damage he'd done to his relationship and the very emotionally-fragile human in his arms, Peter didn't have a single thing to say to him.

"You know Jasper's our family," he told Bella quietly. "Which means his family is our family too. And you are his family, Bella. So now, for better or worse, you're stuck with us."

Bella sniffled another laugh. "For better. Definitely for better."

"Give it a few decades," Jasper said dryly.

Peter turned to him, pretending to be outraged. "You wound me, brother."

Grateful that the tension in the room had eased even a little bit, Leah figured she might as well speak up. "I'm going too," she said, bracing herself for Paul's reaction. "In case it is a shapeshifter, or a group of them, they should have one of the wolves with them."

"Think your mom would write another note to vouch for me?" Peter asked her with a laugh, hoping it would dispel a little more of the tension in the room.

Paul was giving Leah the very look she expected, but it wasn't for the reason she'd thought it would be. "You really think this is the best time to leave him?" he asked her, gesturing to the empath. "Even I can feel how heavy it is in here, so imagine what it's doing to him."

Leah felt guilt twisting in her gut because she knew he was right. But she couldn't ignore the fact that Alice and Peter would be safer having a wolf with them.

Catalina put her hand on Paul's arm and the two of them had a brief silent conversation. At Paul's nod, Cat looked at Leah. "We'll go with them. Assuming Alice and Peter have no objection, we'll travel with them. Paul's right, you should stay with your imprint. He needs you now."

"I'm sitting right here," Jasper huffed. "And I'm fine."

"Okay," Charlotte scoffed a laugh. "You might be fine, but you're not good. And if Leah bails on you we're all in trouble."

Jasper just rolled his eyes. Did he want Leah to go? Of course not. Would he be fine if she did leave? Well… maybe not fine, he acknowledged to himself, but he'd definitely survive.

"Really?" Leah asked Paul, both surprise and hope clear on her face. "You'd do that?"

Like Jasper, Paul just rolled his eyes. "Of course. We have no obligations here right now. And aside from my personal preference that Bella survives this, regardless of whether or not she comes out the other side with a heartbeat, I think we both know the pack's reaction will be dependent on whether or not she can survive this. It's in everyone's best interest to find answers, not just Bella's and the baby's."

Paul started to turn back to Cat to tell her they should go back to La Push to pack a bag and so he could talk to Jared, but he stopped when he saw the expression on Esme's face, making Jasper and Alice laugh a little.

"What?" Paul asked no one in particular.

"That's her proud-mom smile," Alice reminded him.

Looking at Esme, Leah saw the same smile on her face as she looked at Paul that she'd seen so often on her own mother's face. And to be honest, Leah was feeling pretty fucking proud of Paul too. Something inside him had softened slightly when he met Catalina, and the boy had done an awful lot of growing up since then.

Hearing that Paul and his imprint were discussing going back to La Push, Carlisle walked back downstairs from his office, where he'd begun trying to arrange yet another private plane. Given Bella's current state, it felt like they were racing against the clock and there wasn't time for the group to run all the way to Brazil. He also didn't want them to have to waste time with stops and layovers.

"Before you go, I'd like your input on something," he said to Paul and Catalina before looking at Alice. "I know we'd discussed the possibility of you looking for the Amazon coven when it was shapeshifters you believed you were looking for, but if hybrid children really do exist in that part of the world, there's a chance that they would know about it."

Alice's eyes lit up at the reminder. She'd happily accept any scrap of help she could scrounge up right about then.

Carlisle looked at all four of those who would be making the trip. "They live completely separated from the human world so I have no way to contact them, but I can show you on a map the general area of where they typically reside. I only bring it up now because if you decide it's best to start with them, I might suggest changing your itinerary."

"What was the original itinerary?" Paul asked, not remembering where Leah had told him she, Alice, and Jasper were flying into.

"We were going to land near the border with Colombia and then work our way southeast," Alice answered.

Carlisle nodded. "Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna stick fairly close to the Pantanal wetlands, which is much farther south. Closer to the borders of Bolivia and Paraguay."

Jasper let out a low whistle. "That's a hell of a distance. What is it, three-thousand miles?"

"Three or four," Carlisle nodded again. "Which is why it's relevant to what arrangements I make in organizing the flight. I can keep the itinerary the same as it was, or I can fly you closer to where you might find them."

Paul gave the telepath who was silently brooding in the corner of the room a hard glare. "It's a real shame there wasn't anyone already in that part of the world recently."

Surprising even herself, Bella snorted a laugh at Paul's caustic tone. She didn't really know all that much about the geography of South America, but she knew enough to know that Isle Esme was much, much closer than three-thousand miles from the area Carlisle was talking about. If Edward had handled the situation even slightly differently, if he hadn't jumped to the worst possible conclusion and then immediately decided on a drastic course of action, maybe four of their family and friends wouldn't need to be racing down to South America to try and save her and her baby's life.

She sighed in frustration. If only he'd been willing to talk to her, communicate with her.

As Bella's mental state started to take a dive, so did her stomach. Just as she frantically looked around for somewhere to throw up, Jasper appeared in front of her with a small trash can. Bella couldn't even find it in herself to be embarrassed that she was vomiting in a room full of people. She was just grateful Jasper had somehow managed to interpret her emotions well enough that he prevented her from throwing up all over the beautiful carpet.

Alice gently rubbed Bella's back as she was sick, her worry growing by leaps and bounds. She knew Jasper was right, that it was the turmoil in Bella's mind that was making her feel ill, not the turmoil in her body. When Edward looked like he was going to attempt to play the concerned husband and come try to help his mate, Alice hissed at him.

"Don't fucking come near her," Jasper warned him, too quickly and quietly for Bella to hear.

When Edward took another step forward, everyone else in the room moved so he was faced with a wall of people between him and his sick wife. He could hear in their thoughts that they were all fully prepared to physically stop him if he tried to get any closer to Bella.

While part of him was screaming at him to run, which was his unfortunate coping mechanism in any situation he was uncomfortable with, particularly when his shame was tearing at his insides, Edward forced himself to stay. He couldn't leave Bella again. Wouldn't leave her again. Instead, he slowly nodded that he would keep his distance for now, and he went back to the chair in the corner of the room.

"Sorry about that," Bella apologized to everyone with a sheepish smile when she was finished. Seeing the worry in the room, she waved it off. "I feel better now. Sometimes you just need a good puke."

"Having eaten human food, I can attest to that," Jasper laughed, handing the garbage can to Esme when she reached for it to go clean it out.

Bella gave Leah a grateful smile for the cold glass of water she'd gotten for her, then looked at Alice and Jasper. "Thank you for that, by the way. I know you both ate human food for my dad's sake on more than one occasion."

Mentioning her dad made sadness well up inside her. They'd gotten so much closer since the spring and she wished she could have a little bit of his support right now. The Cullens and Whitlocks were being nothing but helpful and kind, but sometimes a girl needed her own family. He was also potentially going to be a grandfather, assuming she and the baby could survive this, and it hurt her heart that she couldn't tell him without putting him in danger.

After a few more minutes of ironing out some details, the group split to finish making their final preparations. Carlisle and Esme went back upstairs to arrange the flight, Paul, Catalina, and Leah headed back to La Push so Paul and Catalina could get their things together and Paul and Leah could talk to Jared, Alice went upstairs to pack her own small bag, and Peter and Charlotte left to have a little bit of time together before their separation.

Jasper, having been monitoring her emotions, asked Bella if she'd like to go for a drive. "Maybe some fresh air would be good for you," he suggested. His goal was just to get her far enough from the house that they could talk without anyone overhearing them, but he didn't think a run was the best idea at the moment.

Bella jumped at the offer. She'd been in the extremely tense living room for way too long and she was glad for an excuse to get a break from it. And maybe also to get a break from the weight of her husband's stare.

"Do you really think that's–"

Jasper cut Edward off. "She'll be fine."

Then he silently let the telepath know that he was the one making his wife ill, not the baby. Jasper would be lying if he said he didn't get a little satisfaction at feeling the shame rise in the telepath. He should be ashamed and Jasper hoped he choked on it.

Bella was trying not to let her anger and frustration at Edward swamp her. As far as she was concerned, he didn't have the right to say anything about what she did or didn't do. "I want to go," she told him in the most polite voice she could muster up, which, admittedly, wasn't all that polite. Her tone was short and sharp. "I'm sure Jasper will make sure nothing happens to me."

Jasper led her towards the garage, then quickly doubled back to grab the clean garbage can. Seeing the confusion on Bella's face, he assumed because she'd said she felt better, he shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

Jasper drove them away from town and towards the coast, and smiled a little when Bella rested her head back and closed her eyes. Just being out of the house and away from the tension did her emotional state a world of good. She was feeling relatively peaceful, and when she cradled her baby bump, she was warmed through with love and hope. Jasper had a feeling that small kernel of hope inside her was partially responsible for her mood shift. It meant everything to her to know Alice and the others were going in search of answers.

Bella opened her eyes when the truck stopped and saw they were parked on the side of one of the cliff roads at a lookout area that faced the Pacific.

"Feel up to walking a couple feet?" Jasper asked her.

Bella nodded and carefully climbed out of the truck, only losing her balance for a second before righting herself. "It's beautiful here," she said in a quiet voice, staring out at the wide expanse of ocean.

"It is," Jasper agreed as he unfolded a blanket from the bed of the truck and helped Bella sit down. "This is a pretty corner of the country."

The two of them sat in a peaceful silence, both grateful for the emotional reprieve.

"Am I right in assuming you have an ulterior motive for this outing?" Bella asked him after a few minutes.

"Yes," Jasper chuckled. "While I do think getting out of the house is good for you, for both of us honestly, and I'm relieved your mental state has settled some, I wanted to talk to you about your dad."

"Right," Bella nodded, guessing that he'd felt her emotions shift when she mentioned him. "Well, I won't lie and say I don't want to talk to him, because I do, but I'm also aware that I can't. I have no idea how I would explain this to him in a way he would accept that doesn't put him at risk."

Jasper had done some thinking about Charlie Swan over the previous day and he didn't actually agree with Bella's assessment. "If you want to talk to him, if you want him to know you're pregnant, I think we can find a way to do it. He already knows we're not human and he's already come to terms with the fact that you were planning to become like us in order to stay with Edward. He's scared for your sake, but he's accepted it," he told her. "Knowing Edward's a little 'other' and knowing he's the one who got you pregnant, I can't imagine anything will surprise Charlie after that. Including how fast the baby is growing."

Bella worried her lip as she thought about it. "You don't think he'll demand answers?"

"I'm sure he will, but all the other times we've told him we can't answer a specific question, he's just accepted it and let it go," he reminded her. "Honestly, your dad's a rare jewel in that respect," he added with a laugh. "You tell him your lips are sealed about something and he just nods and moves the conversation along."

"Yeah, he's pretty great," Bella agreed with a smile tinged with some sadness and remorse.

Jasper just gently nudged her shoulder. "None of that. You guys have a great relationship now and the man is nothing but thrilled about it."

Bella just smiled at the reminder. They did have a good relationship now. "So you think we just say 'surprise, I'm pregnant but don't ask any questions and maybe don't acknowledge all the weird stuff out loud?'"

"Yep, pretty much," Jasper laughed.

"What about the others?" she asked. "As far as I know, most of them are still unaware that my dad learned anything about the supernatural world that night Victoria tried to get to First Beach."

Jasper looked out at the water and was silent for a minute before turning back to her. "You want my honest opinion?"

Bella nodded a little nervously. She wasn't sure she'd ever heard those words when they weren't immediately followed by something she didn't want to hear.

"I think what happens between you and Charlie is only your business. It's for you to decide, not us," Jasper told her. "Yes, my first instinct is always going to be to keep my family protected and safe at all costs. But protection and safety don't just apply to one's physical well-being. We both know there's a high chance you won't make it out of this human, and a small chance you won't make it at all. If you want your dad to be around during what are undoubtedly the scariest moments of your life, especially because there's a chance he could lose you… well, I don't think I, or anyone else, have the right to stop you. Your emotional well-being is just as important to me as your physical well-being, and if having your dad around makes you feel even marginally better, then I'll support you in that decision. I'll back you up with the family if anyone tries to argue against it. This is your life, Bella. And whatever you decide, we'll deal with any fallout that comes. But I'll tell you now, regardless of what you choose to do, we will all, always, do everything in our power to keep your dad safe. And the pack feels exactly the same. He's got a whole crew of protectors of his own."

Bella felt the sting of tears again and shook her head at how quick she was to cry now. She didn't know if it was pregnancy hormones or what, but it felt like her eyes hadn't stopped leaking since she saw that box of tampons in the bathroom on Isle Esme. When Jasper put an arm around her she just leaned against his side and let the tears come. Just like you sometimes needed a good puke, sometimes you just needed a good cry. At least these tears weren't from despair or sadness. What she felt most in that moment was a bone-deep gratitude and a sense of belonging.

Every Cullen and Whitlock, with only one obvious exception, had let her know in both words and actions that she mattered to them, that her choices mattered. There had always been a part of her that didn't feel like she was a real part of the family, though not because of how anyone treated her. It was because she wasn't a vampire. She didn't feel like she completely belonged with the Cullens because she was human. But now? With the respect and consideration they were all showing her? Each in their own way doing their best to keep her safe, to keep the baby safe? To take care of both of them?

As Bella silently cried her grateful tears, something Peter said months and months ago came back to her. It was the night she met him and Charlotte for the first time, when she'd made such a mess of their training session. It had been a night of very uncomfortable truths for her and it was the catalyst that made her start looking at her behavior more critically and making some much-needed changes. But one of the things Peter had told her was that she needed to learn what it really meant to be a Cullen.

"They are loyal to each other in everything they do."

For the first time, Bella truly understood what he was trying to tell her that night. She didn't just understand it, she felt it. Because since the moment she stepped off that plane, the Cullens had done nothing but show that they were loyal to her, even when Edward was trying to convince them that his way was the right way.

Now, a little over a year and a half after Edward first introduced her to his family, she finally understood what it meant to be a Cullen.

When Bella and Jasper arrived back home, Esme was waiting for them on the front porch and she smiled at seeing the color in Bella's cheeks. Getting out of the house for a little while had obviously done her some good. When Bella walked up the steps and threw her arms around her, Esme was a little surprised but she just wrapped her arms around her and accepted the hug. Alice wasn't the only Cullen who loved a good hug.

"Thank you," Bella whispered into her shoulder.

Esme had no idea what she'd done to be thanked so she looked at Jasper, but he just smiled and shook his head. Hmm. No help there. She gave him a little glare with no real heat, making him laugh. That, in turn, made her smile. Seemed some time away from the house had done them both some good. She'd have to try to give them excuses to get away when it looked like they needed it.

"I don't know what I did, but you're welcome for it regardless," Esme said with a light laugh when Bella stepped back. "You look better," she added, gently cupping her cheek.

Bella nodded. "I feel better. Jasper was right, fresh air was a good idea."

"Well, there's no reason for you to be stuck indoors as long as you're comfortable enough moving around," Esme reassured her. "The weather's been gorgeous so even if you don't feel up to going anywhere, we can always sit out on the back patio. Actually, you just might be the accomplice I'm looking for," she said with a grin, then leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Don't tell him I told you, but Carlisle got such a kick out of reading to you. You know he spends too much time inside those hospital walls, so if you're willing, maybe you could ask him to read to you again? Only tell him you'd like to sit outside for it. You know, let him get a little bit of fresh air too for a change."

Thrilled to be part of any Cullen scheme, Bella easily agreed. "He liked reading to me?" she asked curiously.

Esme's smile turned soft. "He did," she nodded. "Now please, don't take any offense to this because neither he nor I view you as a child. We see you as the lovely, strong young woman you are. However, reading to you like that felt a bit to him like what he imagined it would feel like to read to a child before bedtime. A soothing ritual, for both the person reading and the person listening."

And damn if those tears didn't start stinging Bella's eyes again. Because Esme was right, it was soothing. Sitting on the couch, snuggled between her and Carlisle, with Carlisle's soft voice reading a book that she'd never read before was about the most calm she'd been in quite some time. Even before the surprise of the pregnancy. The lead-up to the wedding alone was hectic and busy, and then add in that she was trying to ensure Billy Black had a freezer full of home-cooked meals on top of it, and she'd barely had time to sit down for weeks.

"I'd love for him to read to me again," Bella admitted through her sniffles. "So yes, I'll be your accomplice. But only if you agree to sit with us."

Esme laughed and nodded. "I'll do anything at all if it makes you glow like this," she said, cupping Bella's pink-tinted cheek again and then pulling her into her arms. "I love you so much," she whispered, kissing the top of Bella's head. "Now come on, I've got a surprise for you inside."

A throat being very pointedly cleared made Bella turn to the front door and she saw Leah standing there with her arms crossed, looking at Esme with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh fine," Esme huffed. "Leah brought a surprise for you. It is in my kitchen though, so I still say it counts as also being a little bit from me."

Leah just shook her head with a laugh and followed Jasper inside. She'd let Esme have the glory of telling Bella there were some of Sue's chocolate chip cookies waiting for her inside.

She squealed in surprise when Jasper suddenly spun her around and practically pinned her to the wall, but the squeal was immediately cut off when he leaned in and kissed her. Hard. She certainly wasn't going to argue about it, so she just wrapped her arms around him and held him as close as was humanly possible while they were both still dressed.

"What the hell was that for?" she gasped when he pulled away and rested his forehead on hers.

Jasper was going for a nonchalant shrug but his widening smile gave him away. "I'm just glad you're staying with me," he whispered, kissing the tip of her nose. "Plus I know how badly you want to eat all the cookies yourself, so I think it's really kind of you to hold back so our pregnant human can enjoy them."

"She deserves a little something sweet. She looks better, by the way. She still doesn't look all that good, but at least she looks better. Where'd y'all go?" she asked. Jasper didn't answer her, he just looked at her with a mile-wide grin on his face and his eyes sparkling with amusement. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Maybe replay that sentence back to yourself."

Leah gave him a weird look. "All I said was she looks better and where'd y– Oh goddamn it, Whitlock! You've got me speaking Texan!"

Peter walked over and flung an arm around her shoulders. "Probably should have warned you this was possible after we taught you to two-step," he laughed. "You've gotta be a little bit country now that you're almost an official Whitlock."

Leah smiled at him. Picking up a y'all here and there didn't seem like such a bad trade-off when the flip side was that she got to marry her imprint.

"Ready?" Alice asked as she skipped down the stairs with a backpack over her shoulder.

Since Rosalie and Emmett still hadn't returned home, Jasper and Leah decided to stick around to act as an additional buffer between Bella and her husband. So after more than a few rounds of hugs - and Bella thanking all four of them at least six times - Esme led Peter, Alice, Paul, and Cat out to her car to drive them to the airport.

"Are you hungry?" Leah asked Bella, figuring her stomach was probably empty after her earlier vomiting. The chocolate chip cookie the human was nibbling on was good for her soul, but she needed more nourishment than that for her body. "Want me to make you something?"

Feeling rejuvenated from her talk with Jasper, Bella made a counteroffer. "I'm sure we can find a way to make my enchiladas at least a little bit pregnancy-friendly, so how about I teach you how to make them?"

Leah cheered in excitement and started towing Bella to the kitchen. Bella's enchiladas were one of the best things she'd ever tasted, but even more importantly, they were one of Sue's favorites and she would love to be able to make them for her mom any time she had a craving. It might just bump up her status to be favorite Clearwater child for a change. Temporarily, at least. Seth would probably always come out on top in the end. Not that Leah could really blame anyone, the kid was adorable. But at least maybe with the enchiladas she could gloat for a day or two.

Within a few minutes, just about everyone left at home had followed the girls into the kitchen. Charlotte had bought human food before when Leah and Paul stayed at the ranch, but she'd never actually prepared any, so she was right in there with Leah, listening carefully to every instruction Bella gave.

Carlisle came to sit beside Jasper at the table. "Should I be concerned that Rose and Emmett have been gone so long?" he asked quietly.

"No," Jasper shook his head. "They're fine, they just needed a little time alone. I'm sure they'll be back soon."

Carlisle just nodded. He wouldn't try to pry answers out of Jasper but he couldn't deny being worried about Rosalie and how she was coping with everything. "No one would blame them if they needed to take some time away. Her well-being is no less important just because we're facing some difficult things here."

Jasper smiled at the coven leader who always put the needs of his coven about his own. They both knew this was hardly the ideal time for Rose and Emmett to take off, but Carlisle was being absolutely genuine about caring more about Rosalie's emotional well-being than on having them here to help out. If the two of them decided they needed time away, Carlisle wouldn't object, he would just tell them to take care of themselves and come back when they were ready.

Jasper laughed and shook his head. Going from Maria to this guy was wild. "I honestly don't think she'll want to leave. She needs Emmett, but she needs the rest of us too."

Carlisle was quiet for a few moments, his mind trying to sort through every potential problem they were facing, big or small. "Do you know how it went with Jared?"

"No, I haven't had a chance to ask. But Leah's not in a panic about anything new, so I'm guessing it's not bad news," Jasper answered. "But I also wouldn't be surprised if he showed up here wanting more information directly from us," he added.

Carlisle nodded. He wouldn't be surprised by that either. Having gotten to know Jared and having seen how he cared for and led the pack, Carlisle had come to have a lot of respect and admiration for the young man. He was a good Alpha and he'd done an admiral job stepping into the role so unexpectedly.

He turned to Jasper and put his hand on his shoulder. "And you?" he asked quietly. "Are you doing alright?"

Jasper smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Bella's lightened up some, which helps."

"She looks better. She's got some color in her cheeks again. I fear it's less the baby making her ill and more her husband," Carlisle said with a sigh, both angry and disappointed in Edward's behavior. He couldn't deny that Bella looked happy in that moment. Her eyes were bright and she was laughing with Leah and Charlotte.

"Absolutely," Jasper nodded. "She was peaceful while we were out. I don't know where you sent him, but thank you."

Carlilse chuckled. "I just told him to go for a run and to get in a hunt if he thought it might improve his disposition."

Jasper hesitated a moment before addressing one of his bigger worries, not wanting to reveal too much about Bella's emotions. "This has the potential to end very badly for Edward. If he doesn't fix this, and soon, there's no guarantee that he will ever be able to fix it. We both know if she were to be changed right now, in this moment, it would be a steep uphill climb to ever gain back her trust. Bella's changing minute by minute and Edward is stuck in his same old rut. He'll lose her forever if she outgrows him. And honestly? I wouldn't blame her one bit."

Carlisle just nodded with a sigh. "I know. And I can't even say with any certainty that he'll step up and be the man she needs him to be."

Jasper watched Bella for a few moments - watched her patiently teaching Charlotte how to measure out spices, watched her smiling at Leah, who was laser-focused on her task of cutting up some cooked chicken in exactly the way Bella showed her, watched her wave Bree over when she hovered uncertainly in the doorway. And he watched her do it all while keeping one hand on her baby bump. "Whether he does or not, I think Bella's in the process of becoming exactly the woman she needs to be. And not for Edward, but for herself. So either way, I think she's gonna be just fine."

Carlisle looked at him for a long moment. "You really believe she can survive this?" he whispered.

"I do," Jasper nodded. "I don't know if she'll survive this human, but I honestly think she's going to surprise us all."

If Carlisle had learned one thing in the seventy years since Alice and Jasper had joined the family, it was that he could trust any words that came out of Jasper's mouth. And more often than not, his instincts were right. So if Jasper was saying he thought Bella could get through this… well, Carlisle finally felt a tiny bit of hope rise inside him.

Jasper smiled to himself when Carlisle's emotions shifted slightly, becoming a little less weighty. He knew the family as a whole was still facing plenty of unknowns they had no idea how to navigate, just like Bella knew she was facing a slightly terrifying unknown with nothing to guide her.

But in Jasper's experience, sometimes a little bit of hope went a long way. Hope made facing those unknowns slightly less daunting. Sometimes, just like Jasper had learned seventy-two years ago in a diner in Philadelphia, a little bit of hope made all the difference.