A/N: Okay, first off, if you haven’t read up to Book #3 in Breaking Dawn yet…don’t read this story. It’ll obviously spoil big parts of it.

So, for this first chapter, I’m going to backtrack a little bit, starting right before Edward leaves to tell the cleaning crew to go away. This chapter will be pretty similar to the real version in Breaking Dawn because it was already written by Stephenie. The rest of this story will either be the scenes where Jake is there (in which the dialogue will remain the same) or original writing in the places where Jacob was absent.

I own none of this. The credit goes to the very talented Stephenie Meyer and her publishing company.

Chapter 1: Phone Call

“We’re going to get that thing out before it can hurt any part of you. Don’t be scared. I won’t let it hurt you.” Edward said. His voice was urgent and intense, nothing more than a whisper.

“That thing?” I shrieked, feeling my composure quickly slipping away.

“Dammit! I forgot Gustavo was due today. I’ll get rid of him and be right back,” He said hastily, bolting out the door.

My head started spinning, causing dread to wash over me. I knew what it felt like to faint, and I was getting to that extreme. Automatically, I clutched onto the nearest thing (which happened to be a counter) to hold myself upright. A fainting spell would do nothing to improve Edward’s mood, and it most definitely wouldn’t make him see that I wasn’t so delicate that I couldn’t handle a baby.

I felt utterly bewildered, shocked, slightly betrayed, and a tiny bit pissed. In a nearly silent voice, I uttered the word that was echoing in my head. “No.”

Edward had always been so kind. So loving. How was it possible for him to throw that aside so suddenly? This wasn’t the Edward that I knew; he would never want to hurt the baby. But… he did, and my little nudger would be entirely helpless without me. But what could I do? I wasn’t strong. I wasn’t powerful. Edward clearly had the upper hand…again.

But, in that moment, I made a decision. I would be strong. It didn’t matter that I was still human. I would be strong… because I had to be. My weakness couldn’t and would not cost the beautiful baby boy I saw in my head his life. I wouldn’t let it.

“No.” I repeated shakily, though still sounding clearer than I had a few seconds ago.

In the distance, I could hear Edward muttering something in Portuguese. When the time came for a response, I unexpectedly heard a woman’s shy voice reply to what he had said, instead of Gustavo. As they continued arguing, or whatever they were doing, their voices steadily became more pronounced as they moved closer to the place where I stood.

A few seconds later, Edward, with the woman in tow, appeared in the doorway. Noticing the fresh trail of tears on my face, he left her in the doorway as he made his way over to me and gingerly wiped them away. Once the majority of Edward’s concern passed, his face darkened and, with a scowl, he told me, “She’s insisting on leaving the food she brought—she made us dinner.” I could tell that he was resisting rolling his eyes. “It’s an excuse—she wants to make sure I haven’t killed you yet.” I heard his voice go flat at the end, almost cracking.

I wished that I spoke Portuguese. I was sure that Edward must have scared the heck out of her, being so tense and distraught. I was considering asking him to thank her for her concern for me, but, feeling embarrassed, I decided against it as she measured my tearful eyes and blushing cheeks.

She quickly set the dish on the counter near me, and mumbled something under her breath, causing Edward to sharply snap something at her. It was unsettling. Edward was always polite to people, even if they didn’t deserve it. Yet, this woman was simply making sure I was okay and Edward was being rude to her.

And then, I smelled the food that the woman had brought; fish and onions. Knowing what was sure to follow, I hurriedly turned towards the sink. Edward put a cool hand on my forehead, attempting to soothe me in a low murmur. It didn't really help much.

Thankfully, a few seconds later, his hands busied themselves shoving the food into the fridge. Not even five seconds later, he pressed his palm back against my forehead.

While he gently caressed my face, I washed my mouth out to get rid of the nasty taste. As this was happening, I felt my little nudger yet again. There was a fairly good chance that he couldn’t hear me, but I still felt like he needed to be reassured. It’s okay. We’re okay, I told him.

Edward whirled me around and pulled me into his arms while I rested my head against his shoulder. Without even needing to think about it, my hands dropped down to cover my belly. Behind me, I heard a quiet gasp, making me look up.

Oh. I had assumed the woman had left, but I was wrong.

I took in her expression, feeling thoroughly confused. She looked upset, her eyes wide as they surveyed my hands on my stomach. It was kind of disturbing. Her hands were both outstretched towards me. It was as if she wanted to…help me.

It was even more surprising was when Edward gasped too, turned towards the woman, and gently pushed me behind him. His hands were wrapped around me, like he was holding me back.

Weirdest yet was when the woman started screaming at him. She raised her fist, shaking it at him and moving towards us. I could see that she was beyond terrified of Edward, though she refused to let that stop her.

As she stepped forward, so did Edward. Almost dazed at this latest turn of events, I grabbed his arm. Edward had never been one to let his temper get the best of him, but right then, I genuinely feared for her. So, I was taken-aback when he interrupted her in a low, almost pained voice. He seemed to be pleading with her, but it didn’t sound like he was speaking Portuguese anymore.

For a few seconds, she gazed at him in confusion. Then, her anger seemed to return. In a questioning tone, she shouted something. In response, he nodded once. Her wrinkled face fell and turned serious. She stepped back and crossed herself.

Edward seemed to be trying to reason with her again as he gently caressed my cheek, proving that he cared about me. Doubtfully, she glanced between us, before holding her gaze on me. To my surprise, she imitated a balloon jutting out from her belly.

…Wait a second. Could her legends of the blood-drinker include…this? Did she know something about what was growing inside me right now?

Deliberately, she took a few slow steps towards us, continuing her interrogation. When she finally seemed satisfied with the responses that Edward gave her, she let him became the questioner. Before answering, the woman hesitated. Then she shook her head.

Edward asked something else in a quivering and weak voice. I bit my lip, realizing that I had never had a reason to use the words ‘weak’ and ‘Edward’ in the same sentence. Until now.

To answer him, she slowly closed the gap between the three of us and placed one of her hands on top of the ones on my stomach. Faintly, she murmured, “Morte” before leaving the way that she’d come.

Great. I’d taken Spanish for a few years back in Phoenix, so I definitely knew that one. Death.

After everything that had just happened, it felt wrong to stand silently, doing nothing. I needed to do something. It didn’t really matter what it was, so I turned and headed back towards the bathroom. A few seconds later, I felt Edward’s hand on my shoulder.

“Where are you going?” He questioned, sounding like he was about to be sick.

“To brush my teeth again,” I stated quietly.

“Don’t worry about what she said. It’s nothing but legends, old lies for the sake of entertainment.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t understand anything,” I lied, knowing that legends and myths shouldn’t be discredited simply because they were legends and myths. It was all true. I’d learned from experience.

“I packed your toothbrush. I’ll get it for you,” Edward said, missing the way that my heart beat had sped up, signifying that I was lying.

He walked ahead of me towards the bedroom.

“Are we leaving soon?” I called.

“As soon as you’re done.” With the amount of pain alone that I could hear in his voice, I didn’t even want to know what his face looked like.

He paced while I brushed my teeth; he couldn’t bear to stand still either. Immediately after I was finished, he took my toothbrush back when I was done and re-packed it.

“I’ll get the bags into the boat.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to say, but there had to be something that could get me a few crucial seconds alone to think. “Edward—“

“Yes?”

“Um, could you...pack some food? Um, you know, in case I get hungry again.” It was kind of a lame excuse, but I couldn’t imagine him refusing.

“Of course. Don’t worry about anything. We’ll get to Carlisle in just a few hours, really. This will all be over very soon.”

But I didn’t want it to be over, not by a long shot.

I needed someone who was strong and powerful to help me. But who? Alice probably wouldn’t, not if Edward could convince her that I was going to die. And Jasper? Not if Alice wouldn’t want him to. Emmett? Um… no. Carlisle was a definite ‘no’.

I paused briefly over Esme’s name; she understood a mother’s love for her children. Then, that idea flew out the window because she understood. Edward was like her child, and she wouldn’t want to hurt him in any way. Allowing something, even if it was something as precious as a baby, to threaten my existence would cause him a lot of pain. Pain that Esme wouldn’t force upon him.

That left…Rosalie. I furrowed my eyebrow, thinking it over. Her name circled through my mind. She was my last option. I was getting desperate, trying to come up with some way to convince her to help me, but to no avail.

But then, I heard Rosalie’s voice, as clear as it would be if she was standing next to me. “I yearned for my own little baby.”

I came back to reality and saw that Edward was waiting for some kind of response from me. Not wanting to give anything away with my voice, I just nodded and watched him walk away. As soon as he was gone, I turned around and picked up the phone that he had forgotten on the counter. Edward was rarely forgetful, but it couldn’t have come at a better time.

I looked through his already-programmed numbers, just waiting for him to appear over my shoulder and snatch away my nudger’s chance at life. I found the number I needed, and after hesitating for only a second, pressed the ‘send’ button.

“Hello?” Rosalie answered after only a few rings.

“Rosalie? It’s Bella. Please. You have to help me,” I whispered, speaking quickly; a habit that I had when I was nervous. There was a brief pause on the other end of the line.

“Bella?” She repeated in disbelief. “What’s…what’s going on?”

“Listen, Edward…well, he could be back any minute, and he can’t know that I talked to you.” I took a deep breath before beginning my monologue. “Rosalie, I’m sure you’ve heard from Carlisle what happened.” I paused briefly, and when she didn’t contradict me, I moved on. ”I know that we don’t have the closest relationship in the world, but I need your help. Please. Edward wants to kill the baby. My baby. And on my own, I can’t do much about it. But you’re strong… You could.” I sucked in a deep breath, waiting for Rosalie to realize what I was asking. After a few crucial seconds of silence, I added, “Will you help me to protect the baby when I get back?”

There was another small pause before Rosalie said fiercely, “Yes.”

As soon as she uttered that single word, I felt like I could fly. My baby boy was going to be alright, as long as I didn’t clue Edward in on this plan until it was too late for him to change it. “Th-Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me. Now, I’ve got to go before Edward gets back…Thank you.” I added again, choking up, before clicking the phone off.

Edward returned just a few seconds after the phone was back in its place. I grimaced, imagining what would have happened if Edward had come just a few minutes earlier. Everything would have been ruined.

END CHAPTER 1

If you've got a second, please review :)