The Phone Call

AN: This is section one of my Missing Moments series. It follows directly on from the end of Book 1 in Breaking Dawn. I've redone this chapter after I got an INCREDIBLY useful review.

Disclaimer: Fortunately, I do not own Twilight or any of the characters. Stephenie Meyer does, and she writes far better than me! Text in bold is taken directly from Breaking Dawn.

BPOV

I flipped my husband's phone open and scrolled through the preprogrammed numbers. I was glad he had the sound turned off, afraid that he would catch me. Would he be at the boat now? Or back already? Would he hear me from the kitchen if I whispered?

I found the number I wanted, one I had never called before in my life. I pressed the "send" button and crossed my fingers.

While the ringtone droned interminably on, I couldn't stop my mind replaying Edward's words.

"We're going to get that thing out before it can hurt any part of you."

"... get that thing out..."

"... that thing..."

I wanted to scream in fear, and anger, to tell him that 'that thing' was our child, to tell him that it was my child, to tell him that he was wrong.

When I had first worked it out, I had been too numb to consider what it meant that I was pregnant with a baby of unknown species. I hadn't considered what to do at all, I hadn't got my head round the fact that I was pregnant. Pregnant! At eighteen! With the child of a vampire!

And then it had nudged me.

Suddenly, everything was clear. Yes, I was pregnant, and yes, it was Edward's child, and most of all, it was my baby. My baby. The feeling that coursed through me then was impossible to describe. The closest comparison I had was that it felt like falling in love all over again. For the third time in my life, I was in love, and I knew that I would always love my baby. The dreams made sense now; I felt the same protective urge to save the child I already loved. I could only be thankful that, unlike in my dreams, there was no danger.

I hadn't even considered abortion.

I wasn't one of those pro-life activists or whatever. I always thought abortion was a personal choice, and who was I to say what was right for someone else? Surely in some cases it was better for the child in question not to be brought into a life where it wouldn't be loved or where there wasn't enough money to provide it with the life it deserved. So all in all, I was pretty neutral on the subject, or I had been until this moment.

I didn't understand now how Edward could do that! How could he possibly even consider... our child... I shuddered in absolute horror. He hadn't even asked me what I'd thought. Maybe I would have understood if he'd reasoned it out with me, and I knew he was worried about my safety, but he had simply assumed I wanted to do this. Assumed I wanted to abort his child. What kind of a person did he think I was? What kind of a person was he? A small gasp escaped me at the traitorous thoughts running through my mind, before the ring tone suddenly cut off. I jumped, and pressed the phone even closer to my ear to block out the noise.

"Hello?" the voice like golden wind chimes answered.

"Rosalie?" I whispered. "It's Bella. Please. You have to help me."

She cut me off before I could explain further, and my sister-in-law's voice turned icy. "Oh? And what do I have to help you with? After everything I said to you, you still make the wrong decision Bella! Will you ever make the right decision?"

It was the most passion I had ever heard from Rosalie. More emotion even than when she'd told me her horrific story, and I realised what she must think of me. She had obviously heard the news of my unexpected pregnancy, and assumed I was to blame for Edward's horrific decision. A pang of guilt hit me, even though I had had nothing to do with it.

"Wait, Rosalie!" I whispered urgently, desperately. "That wasn't my decision! It's Edward who wants to…" I choked on the word "abort… our baby. I need your help to stop him!"

That silenced her, and I was forced to wait, growing ever tenser. How long would it take Edward to get back? When she finally spoke, Rosalie's voice was quiet, hesitant, and yet full of emotion, such a contrast to her usual arrogant tone. "I… oh, Bella, of course I'll help you. I'll stop them," she added, and her voice was fierce now.

I felt an overwhelming surge of relief and my hand dropped to my stomach to caress my bump. I barely realised I was doing it, it felt so natural. So right. "Thank you so much, Rosalie. You can't know how much this means to me." The tears streamed thickly down my face and I had to fight to keep my voice coherent. I fair near dissolved in gratitude; there was still a chance for my baby.

"I'll have to disagree with you there," she said. "I know exactly what this means. If I can't be a mother, thank you for letting me be an aunt. In fact, you know what, Bella? Even though I know you'll still want to be changed after this, even though I'm insanely jealous of you, I'm glad you're my sister."

It was the closest Rosalie had ever come to saying she liked me. I felt like I would have burst into tears if they hadn't already been blinding me.

"Thank you," I whispered. Struggling to pull myself together, I thought I heard a noise from the boat. It was a mark of Edward's stress that I could hear anything at all; usually he moved in silence. "I have to go, Edward-"

"I'll be at the airport," Rosalie promised. "We'll get through this, Bella."

I heard the click of the phone as she hung up, and I hurried to place Edward's cell exactly where it had been on the counter. As I did so, I marvelled at how a phone call that had lasted less than three minutes had changed everything. It was unbelievable how quickly Rosalie and I had become a team. Like Edward and Seth, forming an unusual alliance, fighting a common enemy. It broke my heart that the enemy was the man I had previously thought was perfect, the man I had married only two weeks ago. The man who now walked into the kitchen and pulled me into his arms, brushing away my tears with cool fingers.

"Are you ready to go?" Edward murmured.

Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded against his stone-hard chest, his silent heart a constant reminder of his heartlessness. I had never thought of Edward like that before, not even when he left me. I had forgiven him then without question because I loved him beyond all reason. Now, however, I had someone else I loved just the same, more than I had ever loved Jacob, no matter what either of them thought. I had forgiven Edward for wanting to kill Jacob, and I had forgiven Jacob for wanting to kill Edward, but I didn't know if I could forgive Edward for wanting to kill our baby. It scared me, the possibility that I might not forgive him. We had survived so much together, from battles and death attempts to the more human tests like separation and marriage. Would this, what was supposed to be the final mark of how much we belonged together, finally pull us apart?

No. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't lose either of them, my husband or my baby. But the two of them were impossible to reconcile.

Hastily, I pulled away and headed straight for the door, scared to show him my face in case he saw in my eyes what I was agonizing over. Yet again, I fervently thanked God for my silent thoughts as I considered the prospect of hiding this - my plan to save our baby and my horror at his early hatred towards our baby - from him for an entire day.

It'll be alright, I thought to my little nudger. Auntie Rosalie and me will save you. I love you.

I left my honeymoon island without a backwards glance.

Next chapter is the phone conversation from Rosalie's POV, the family reacted upon finding out Bella was pregnant.