"Where is she?" I asked as soon as my feet hit the driveway, Carlisle standing on the porch as he waited for us. His face appeared to be exhausted, momentarily human-like as he held the door open.

"In the living room." Carlisle glanced from me to Jacob and back again. "Just... go see for yourselves."

Just as we crossed the threshold, I could hear voices carrying from the living room. Bella's voice grew in volume as I slowly took the stairs one at a time, preparing myself for what I was about to find.

"I'm not keeping secrets from Autumn, and that means no secrets from Jacob either." She said to someone, her tone hard despite her condition. Jacob raised an eyebrow at me when I abruptly stopped on the stairs.

"Jake, before we enter that room... you need to know that Bella wanted to tell you herself. She needs you to know the truth, so you can help bring the pack around."

"Okay?" Jacob wrinkled his face in confusion.

"Just... come on."

The last time Jacob had been in the living room, it had been decorated for a party; now, the room was bright and pale, much like its occupants scattered inside. They surrounded the white sofa near the middle of the room, none of them moving when we walked in. Jacob stopped in his tracks as his eyes landed on Edward, his body going rigid as soon as he realized that the expression on Edward's face was beyond agony.

Eyes half-crazed, Edward didn't look up from the spot on the couch beside him. One look at Jacob and I could tell he was thinking the same thing: Edward looked like someone had set him on fire, his hands rigid at his sides. Jacob followed his gaze downward; I knew the moment Jacob saw her, when a broken gasp escaped from his throat as the scent of her warm, clean human blood filled his nostrils.

Half-hidden by the arm of the sofa that Edward was perched on, Bella was curled into a fetal position with a gray blanket draped over her lap, despite the heavy cardigan wrapped around her body. Her eyes were encircled with dark bags that popped out against her hauntingly pale skin. She was thinner, her skin appearing tight - like her cheekbones might break through any second. Most of her hair was pulled into a bun, a few strands stuck to her forehead and neck due to the slight sweat coating her body.

Bella did look sick, and it was terrifying to see her like that.

"Autumn..." Bella said softly, her eyes shining. "You came."

"Of course, I did." I moved towards her, Jacob frozen in place.

Rosalie hovered near her, bent over Bella in a protective manner; Jacob's face twisted into confusion again as he tried to figure out what was going on. He knew as well as anyone that Rosalie and Bella weren't friends; yet, there they were, sharing secretive smiles and knowing glances. It bugged Jacob that he didn't know what everyone else already knew.

"Rose, would you mind helping me up?" Bella looked up at her before nodding to me. "Autumn?"

"No, Bella... don't get up." Jacob said weakly, dropping to his knees.

"I'm answering the question in your eyes." Bella snapped at him, sounding a little bit like her old self.

Jacob pressed his lips together, his gaze shifting to me; giving a slight nod, he waited as Rosalie and I moved to help Bella to her feet. Edward sat like a statue on the floor, his eyes unmoving as we steadied Bella on her feet, the blanket falling off of her into a heap on the ground. Jacob's eyes widened in shocked horror as he looked at her.

Bella's body was swollen around her torso, straining against the t-shirt under the cardigan in an unnatural way. The rest of her body was thinner, her arms and shoulders barely holding her clothes upright. Realization dawned on Jacob as he studied Bella leaning on my shoulder, Rosalie hovering behind her.

"You're... but... you've only been gone a month!" Jacob stuttered, bewilderment raising in his tone.

For a brief moment, Jacob's thoughts echoed inside my head, his unspoken words loud enough to reach me across the room. Loud enough for me to nearly stumble from the weight, almost taking Bella down with me. I couldn't help but stare at my fiancé in disbelief.

Whatever was inside of Bella was taking her life to feed its own, because it was just like its father. A monster.

"How dare you?" I growled as Edward's head snapped up, his eyes drawn to Jacob. In a second, Edward was on his feet, towering over Jacob as his black eyes burned with a fiery glare.

"Outside, Jacob. Now." He snarled.

"Fine, let's go." Jacob staggered to his feet, towering over Edward.

"Boys..." I warned as Emmett and Jasper flanked Edward, matching glares on their faces.

"No." Bella gasped, stumbling towards Edward, her eyes pleading with him silently.

"I just want to talk to him," Edward reassured her, reaching up to stroke her face. "Please just rest. We'll both be back in a couple of minutes."

Bella studied his face carefully before nodding and dropped back into the couch cushions with Rosalie's help.

"I'll be right back too," I promised to her, my eyes flickering towards Edward. A small, hollow smile tugged on his lips before he tilted his head towards the door.

Out of Bella's sight, I shoved Jacob through the front door, my anger bubbling from my gut. Edward followed us outside, keeping a distance from me.

"How dare you?!" I shrieked, slamming the palms of my hands into Jacob's chest, pushing him backward away from the house. "Are you kidding me right now?"

"I didn't mean it, Autumn!" Jacob held his hands up in surrender.

"Like hell, you didn't!" I yelled at him. "How would you feel if that was me, Jacob?!? That Edward thought that about you and your unborn child?!?"

"This is all my fault," Edward groaned quietly, ignoring my question as he kneeled on the ground with his head in his hands. "It's killing her, and I can't do anything to stop it."

"Can't Carlisle take it out of her?" Jacob asked curiously, his eyes shifting to Edward behind me.

"Regardless of if Carlisle can or cannot, that's up to Bella!" I hissed, whirling around to glare at Edward.

"She won't let us," he replied.

"Good! Edward, I know you wanted to give her every humanly experience possible and none of us knew that this was possible," I knelt beside him to look him dead in the eyes. "But she is pregnant with your child. This is the one thing that you can't take away from her, or your family. And we both know that you know you shouldn't."

"I do." he agreed. "Even if I did convince her to... Rosalie wouldn't allow anything to happen. Emmett and Esme are backing her up... and Carlisle won't help since Esme is against it." Edward glanced at me for a brief moment, his eyes thoughtful. "I did consider another option, but..."

A light bulb clicked in my mind as his voice trailed off, and I shook my head to halt his train of thought.

"Bella wouldn't go for it. For either plan. And you know that."

"What?" Jacob asked, his eyebrows raised.

"He was going to see if you could convince Bella to have a baby with you... or if I could carry the baby for her."

"Have you lost your mind?!?"

Jacob spun around so fast to stare at Edward in disbelief, the motion made me slightly dizzy just from watching. Edward held his hands up in a sort of surrender, his eyes full of guilt.

"It's the last thing I want to ask of you, but Bella's dying and she will die if she carries that... that thing to birth." He pleaded. "I just want to save her life."

"You have." Jacob began to pace, shaking his head. "You have officially lost your mind."

"Autumn, please." Edward turned to me. "You have to understand why I'm asking this of you. Losing her, actually physically losing her, will destroy me. you saw what happened when I left her before."

"It wasn't good for anyone," I agreed quietly. Jacob paused to stare at me.

"You're not actually thinking about this, are you, Leaf?"

"I don't know!" I threw my hands up in the air, the panic settling in my chest. "I don't know, okay? I don't want to lose my best friend... but she will never go for this, Edward! You have to know that."

A deafening silence washed over us as the wheels in my head churned. I knew there was no way Bella would give up the baby growing inside of her. Even if there was a way to magically transfer the baby from her to me, I wouldn't rob Bella of the experience of motherhood. Maybe there was another way to help... there had to be another way.

"We'll go talk to her." I said pointedly to Edward, who was still on his knees in the dirt. "But this isn't going to work, so don't get your hopes up."

"That's all I'm asking." Edward grimaced, slowing rising to his feet.

"Come on, Jake." I sighed, turning back toward the house. "We have some work to do."

"I can't believe this." Jacob muttered under his breath as he followed me.

"Tell me something honestly, Jacob." I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. "If you hadn't imprinted on me, would you be considering Edward's offer right now?"

My question stunned Jacob into silence, his eyes shifting to his feet as he mulled over it.

"Exactly."

I took a deep breath and released it in a puff, heading into the living room where Bella was laying on the couch, still surrounded by the other Cullens. Their eyes were full of confusion and suspicion, which made me wonder if Edward had purposely drawn us away from the house so no one could hear his pleas. Bella's face lit up when she realized that all three of us came back in one piece, as promised; her eyes immediately flashed to Edward, who walked into the middle of the huddle, anxiety radiating from them both.

"We're going to let Bella talk to Jacob and Autumn in private," Edward said, his voice robotic.

"Over my pile of ashes." Rosalie hissed before glancing softly at me. "No offense, Autumn."

"It's okay, I understand." I reassured her, a small smile on my lips. We were supposed to protect Bella and the baby - that was the agreement we made on the phone earlier - and for all Rosalie knew, Jacob was there to talk Bella out of having the baby, on Edward's behalf.

"Rose, it's okay. Jake won't hurt us." Bella motioned for Rosalie to go with the others, who had already left the room.

"Fine." Rosalie huffed, stalking out of the room after Edward.

Once we were alone, I nodded to Jacob who sat down next to Bella and took her hands into his, rubbing them carefully to warm her skin.

"Thanks, Jake. That feels really good." Bella murmured, her eyes watching us curiously. "I'm a big girl, I can handle whatever it is Edward asked you to say to me."

"What were you thinking, Bells? Seriously!" Jacob shook his head as he continued to rub her hands.

"Did he ask you to yell at me?"

"Sort of." I interrupted, throwing a dark glare Jacob's way. "He wanted us to try and talk some sense into you. I told him you weren't going to listen, but here we are."

"I'll listen," Bella promised me, her eyes shining sadly. "Just tell me."

"He wants us to convince you to not have this baby. I told him that he's wrong for even suggesting that," I quickly interjected, silencing the protest bubbling inside Bella's mouth. "I know what this child means to you, and I told him exactly that."

"But he wanted us to offer, anyways," Jacob added quietly.

"Offer what?" Bella asked cautiously, her voice a tad suspicious as she glanced between us. A lightbulb finally flickered on in her mind and she groaned. "What, he wants me to kill this baby and replace it with some... substitute? Like, with a stranger?"

"Well... not a stranger, exactly." I looked at Jacob, and Bella's face flushed a slight pink.

"Whoa." She deflated into the couch, her eyes wide with shock. "He would really do anything, wouldn't he?"

"He's scared of losing you, Bells. We all are." I took a deep breath to steady the storm brewing inside of me, tears threatening to blur my vision. "And if you said no... there was another offer."

"What?" She mumbled, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"For me... to carry the baby."

"How would you do that?"

"There has to be some kind of spell that would transfer the baby from your womb to mine. I'm sure my grandma had something written down somewhere, or even Giuliana."

"But?" Bella tilted her head to the side, her eyes sparkling with a little humor. "Come on, Leaf. I know there's a 'but' attached to that sentence."

"I won't take this away from you, Bella. This is your child, and if you want to carry him or her, then that's your choice. Honestly, I'm surprised no one else has caught on yet." I gave her a knowing smile and rolled my eyes.

It took a few seconds for my words to sink in before Jacob cursed under his breath.

"You... you don't plan on coming out of this as a human."

"It worked for Esme," I answered, recalling the story of how Carlisle saved his love's life. "I understand why you want to do this, Bells. You have your options if you change your mind, but I know you. I know this is what you want. And I'm going to do everything that I can to make sure you come out of this okay. I want you alive. We all do."

"Thank you, Autumn." Bella murmured weakly.

"I have to go." Jacob swiftly got to his feet and bolted from the living room. Bella gave me a strange look and I sighed.

"Don't worry about him." I clambered to my feet and called out for Rosalie who instantly appeared beside us.

"Are you serious?" Rosalie asked bewilderedly, helping me pull Bella to her feet and back onto the couch. "He asked that of you guys?"

"Yeah." I wiped my hands on my jeans before chewing on my bottom lip. "I knew it was a lost cause, but like I told Bella, she has at least one option if she wants it."

"A surrogate mother." Rosalie echoed, losing herself in thought.

Before I could speak again, a sharp pain coursed through my body, leaving my veins on fire. I doubled over as my cries came out almost like howls, Rosalie grabbing me before I collapsed to the floor. In seconds, the rest of the Cullens were in the living room; Edward on my right side, his hands wrapped around my elbow.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked urgently.

"She was fine a second ago!" Rosalie pushed my hair out of my face. "Autumn, can you hear me?"

Autumn, are you okay?

Edward's voice rang in my mind as if he was whispering in my ear.

With as much strength as I could, I forced my mind open to Edward, who gasped as my vision became his.

Jacob running through the woods in wolf form, the pack anxious for his return; their voices calling his name out in relief. Paul fading out, probably going to tell Billy his son was okay. Images of the Cullens flashed through - Bella's stomach, bruised and bloated, her raspy voice, the look on Edward's face, Rosalie crouching over Bella's body. Then me - standing up to Edward, offering Bella a different option, my declaration of loyalty and alliance, Jacob bolting out of the room.

With a flash of blinding white light, my body fell limp into Edward's embrace; my breaths were uneven and full of anxiety as I met his gaze. The other Cullens shifted out of the way as Edward led me to the couch, the end opposite of Bella.

"What is it?" Esme asked, pulling a blanket over me as I shivered violently.

"The pack... they know about the baby."

The room stilled at my words, the implied horror bringing everyone to a complete halt.

"Alice?" I broke the silence, turning my attention to the small psychic. She shook her head.

"I haven't seen anything yet."

"Then we prepare for the worst," Carlisle spoke, subconsciously drawing closer to Esme. "No one does anything irrational in the meantime."

Low murmurs erupted at Carlisle's nod, the Cullens breaking into small groups. Bella and I stayed on the couch, curled at each other's feet as we shared an uneased look.

"You don't think...?" She trailed off.

"No, I don't think Jake will. The others, though... I'm not sure, Bells. I'm not sure at all."