VIII. Thing.

It's been five minutes. Five minutes since Edward had moved or said a word. I still sat on the closed toilet lid, staring at him with concern on my face. One hand was resting on my stomach while the other rested on my thigh, nails digging into my skin.

Edward's phone rang in the pocket of his pants but he remained completely frozen. If I hadn't known any better, I'd have assumed a strange life-like statue stood before me. I got up and approached him, pulling his phone out of his pocket. I looked at the screen, seeing Alice's name.

"Alice," I answered, my eyes drifting towards Edward as my eyebrows furrowed. He was worrying me, the whole situation was worrying me. How could I possibly be pregnant when it was supposed to be impossible?

"Ana? Are you all right?" Alice asked frantically from the other end of the line.

I was silent for a second, my eyes drifting toward the full-length mirror in the corner of the bathroom. I looked at my stomach while shaking my head. "I'm not 100% sure," I admitted as my free hand returned to my stomach.

"Why? What's wrong?" Alice asked with worry. "I just..." She began to mutter but quickly cut herself off.

"You just what?" I asked as my eyebrows furrowed even deeper. I immediately knew she must have had a vision. Did she see I was pregnant? Could she see my baby? "Alice, what did you see?" I asked her.

Alice was silent for a second before letting out a heavy sigh. "Here's Carlisle."

There was shuffling on the other end of the line before Carlisle cleared his throat. "Ana, what's going on?" he questioned.

"I don't know," I admitted as I shook my head. I looked towards Edward and I frowned deeply. If it wasn't for his complex and intense emotions swimming around with my own, I would have sworn he was dead. More dead than usual. "I'm a little worried. Can vampires go into shock?" I asked.

"Has Edward been harmed?" Carlisle asked with worry in his voice.

"No." I quickly assured as I shook my head. A cramp in my stomach brought me back to the real problem and I rubbed a soothing hand against my stomach. "I know that it's impossible, but he thinks that I'm pregnant...and I think he might be right," I told Carlisle. "I thought I had cramps...but I think it's something else. And I've been eating and sleeping so much more than usual." I explained. "And Edward says he's hearing another heartbeat besides my own."

"When was the last day of your last menstrual cycle?" Carlisle asked bluntly.

"Sixteen days before the wedding," I replied as I let out a shaky breath, eyes briefly darting to Edward before returning to my body in the mirror.

"How do you feel?" Carlisle asked.

"I...I don't know." I admitted as I shook my head, running a hand through my hair. Before I could elaborate, Edward came back to life beside me. He grabbed his phone from me and put it up to his ear.

"Is this even possible?" Edward asked his father, his voice tight and his face scrunched into a worried and angry scowl.

I watched silently as Edward listened to something his father said on the other line. I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned. "What's he saying?" I questioned.

Edward didn't answer me as he continued to listen to his father on the phone. He frowned as he nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah, I will," he said, and a second later, he hung up the phone, shoving it back into his pocket.

"Well? What did he say?" I questioned, following Edward as he walked out of the bedroom. My eyes struggled to keep up with him as he flashed around, grabbing our bags and shoving our things into them.

He came to a stop by the bed, clutching one of my shirts tightly in his hands. He stared down at the bed, his jaw clenching tightly. After a long moment of silence, he hesitantly looked at me. "He...he thinks you could be pregnant," he admitted.

I let out a soft gasp, my eyes widening as I looked down at my stomach, pressing a gentle hand against it. I looked back towards Edward as he pulled out his phone and my eyebrows furrowed again. "Who are you calling?" I asked.

"The airport," he replied as he dialed a number on his phone. "We're leaving," he informed me before walking out of the room to make the call.

I went into the bathroom and stood in front of the full-length mirror. I lifted my shirt to expose my stomach. There was the smallest bump that could easily be mistaken as having had a large meal. But I knew better.

I heard a knock at the front door, breaking me from my trance. I walked out into the open living room and saw Edward talking to the housekeeper, Kaure. She was talking frantically in her native language as she stared at Edward.

Edward let her into the house and turned to look over at me. "Kaure's making sure you're still alive," he explained and I frowned as I looked at the woman. Her eyes widened as she met my gaze. She stared silently for a second before turning to Edward and yelling at him.

Edward frowned as he looked at her. "What do you know about this?" he questioned as he motioned towards me.

"What?" I asked as I walked closer to the two of them and Kaure looked at me with wide eyes once again, her gaze drifting to my stomach. On instinct, I put a protective hand over my stomach.

Edward looked at me. "Her people have legends. She might have seen this before," he explained before turning back to Kaure. "Please. Tell me how to help her. I am begging you. I will do anything. I love her. Please. Tell me how she can survive this." he pleaded.

The woman said a few angry words in her native language and Edward's shoulders slumped in defeat. Kaure turned around and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her. I flinched before turning to Edward with confusion on my face.

"Don't worry about what she said." He told me, shaking his head before stalking back towards the bedroom.

"Well, I didn't understand any of it..." I muttered as I shook my head before following Edward back into the bedroom.

He began frantically packing again before turning to look at me. !I'm not gonna let it hurt you. Carlisle will get that thing out." he assured, his voice spitting venomously as his eyes flicked to my stomach with disgust.

My eyebrows furrowed and my lips parted. "Thing?" I questioned.

"Yes, that thing, Ana." He confirmed in a sharp tone of voice.

My eyes widened. Quickly realization dawned on me that me and Edward were not on the same page in this matter. This was a baby, our baby. Not some thing. It was a baby I have always wanted when looking at my future. My little baby.

On the drive to the airport, Edward's words haunted my head. Carlisle will get that thing out. Was that really the only option? Edward saw this baby as some sort of monster. But what if it wasn't a monster? It didn't feel like a monster. I didn't want to believe that it was.

If Carlisle could tell me with certainty that some sort of parasite that was close to the anti-Christ was growing inside me, then yes, I'd take it out. But if it was an innocent little baby, one that I wanted, I couldn't bear the thought of letting Carlisle get close to me.

But that was the problem. We didn't know what this was and Edward had already made up his mind.

When we got to the airport, my mind was made up as well. This was my baby. I couldn't find it in my heart to believe it was a monster or thing. I couldn't explain it, but I could feel it in my heart, that this was my little baby. I looked over at Edward, a frown tugging at my lips. I felt scared to go home. Scared of what Edward and Carlisle would do.

We walked through the airport and Edward turned to face me. "Wait right here," he told me.

"Actually, I'm going to run to the bathroom really quick," I told him as I pointed to the hallway that led to the bathrooms. He nodded his head before walking off to buy our tickets.

I walked into the bathroom and made sure it was empty before pulling out my phone. I dialed a number I never thought I'd call ever in my life. But I remembered Rosalie telling me of her life, and how much she wanted a baby. She was my only hope now. The phone rang for a second before Rosalie answered. "Hello?"

I let out a shaking breath as I wrapped one arm around my waist. "Rosalie, I need your help," I told her softly.

"What is it?" Rosalie asked.

My eyebrows furrowed as I frowned. "You haven't heard? Carlisle didn't tell you?" I asked her as I shook my head.

"I'm hunting with Emmett," Rosalie replied. "What happened?" she questioned.

I let out a deep sigh, leaning against one of the sinks. "I'm...pregnant," I admitted hesitantly as I ran a hand through my hair.

"What? How?" Rosalie questioned in confusion.

"I don't know," I admitted as I shook my head. "Edward's taking me home to see Carlisle. Rosalie...He wants Carlisle to take it out of me." I told her, sniffing softly as I looked down at the floor.

"What?" Rosalie questioned sharply.

"He thinks it's gonna hurt me...but it's not." I explained as I shook my head once again, "It's not." I repeated firmly. "It's my baby, I can feel it," I told her as I rested a hand against my stomach. "I don't know what's going on and I'm scared. I'm not strong enough to stop Edward and Carlisle."

"Don't worry, I am," Rosalie assured me before hanging up the phone.

I lowered my phone, looking down at it with furrowed eyebrows. Edward called for me outside the bathrooms a second later, and I went to him. A few minutes later we were on a plane, heading back home.

Neither me nor Edward spoke a single word on the entire flight. I grew more and more worried the closer we got to home. I knew an argument was going to start between Edward and me because we were on the opposite ends of this situation.

I wasn't scared of Carlisle or Edward. But I feared neither would take a second to listen to what I wanted in their haze to get the baby out of me. It was clear they didn't agree with what I thought, as their immediate reaction was to immediately take the baby out.

We arrived in Seattle, and Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie were waiting for us in the airport waiting area. Edward's eyebrows furrowed as his father approached. He looked at his father. "What is Rosalie doing here?" he questioned.

Carlisle looked over at Rosalie. Esme was restraining the blonde from heading for us. He looked back at Edward. "She insisted on coming with," he explained as he shrugged his shoulders.

Edward looked at his sister as she broke free from Esme and approached us, Esme following behind her. Edward's jaw clenched as he turned to me. "You called her?" he questioned sharply.

"Yes," I admitted as I nodded my head.

Rosalie stepped beside me, placing a hand on my arm, and pulled me away from Edward. He looked at his sister, eyes squinting as he glared at her. "Rosalie, this doesn't concern you." he snapped at her. "Let go of Ana," he demanded.

"Try me." Rosalie challenged him.

"Let's not do this here," Esme begged them as she shook her head. She looked around, making sure we weren't drawing attention to ourselves.

"Ana will drive with me." Rosalie insisted firmly.

Edward's jaw clenched as he continued to glare at his sister. "Rosalie-" he gritted out through clenched teeth and Carlisle placed a hand against Edwards chest to restrain him from attacking Rosalie.

"I do not trust either of you with her." Rosalie snapped as she pointed between Edward and Carlisle.

"This is not your place." Edward snapped at her as he shook his head.

"If you think Ana felt safe with either of you, she would have called me?" She questioned Edward and Carlisle as she raised his eyebrows. My eyes widened at her words.

Edward frowned and looked at me. "Ana..." he mumbled softly and I gave him an apologetic look before lowering my gaze. I wasn't going to let them take this baby from me. I couldn't trust them with my baby, that much was clear.