Edward's POV

I ignored the burn in my throat as her blood nipped at my tongue, its sweet taste making me yearn for more, but I pushed on, piercing Bella's skin with my sharp teeth and licking the top of the cut to keep the blood in. Eventually, Carlisle put a restraining hand on my shoulder.

"That's enough, Edward," he said, "She'll be fine."

"She will?" I asked him, gazing at her. Her face showed no sign of the burning that I knew would hit her soon yet.

"Yes," Carlisle said, "I knew that you'd make the right decision."

"It's not the right decision, Carlisle," I whispered, agonized, "I've taken it; I've taken her soul."

"Nonsense, Edward," Carlisle shook his head, "She gave it to you. And you gave her a life in return. And you've given your son a mother."

I tore my eyes away from Bella to look at the baby, who had now stopped crying and was watching me with familiar chocolate brown eyes, just like his mother's. Apart from his eyes, he could have been my clone. He had my messy bronze hair and my defined cheekbones, all of my features were there in my son; whatever doubt there had been about the child's parentage had now been completely erased.

"That's why I did it," I admitted in a whisper, "Obviously, I didn't want Bella to die, and neither did she, but I couldn't take her soul as though it were worthless. It was him who made up my mind; I couldn't justify making him an orphan."

"He'd still have you," Carlisle pointed out, but I was shaking my head before he had even finished.

"I couldn't love something that had killed Bella," I told him.

"He's your son, Edward. You have to love him," Carlisle sighed. The baby reached up and touched his face, as though he was comforting him.

"No I don't," I said, looking back at Bella again.

"Edward?" Carlisle said. I looked back over at him again to see that he was holding the baby out to me.

"What?" I asked.

"Take him," Carlisle nodded at the baby. I hesitated.

"Take him, Edward," Carlisle repeated firmly. I reached out and tentatively took him. He looked up at me, his gorgeous eyes unblinking. I could feel his pulse under his thick, sturdy skin and could hear his heartbeat, but he was clearly not human. The sun came out from behind the clouds and his skin glittered faintly. He wouldn't be stuck inside on sunny days like I was… and Bella soon would be.

Suddenly, something occurred to me that I should've realised much earlier, "Carlisle," I gasped.

"What?" he looked at me, alarmed.

"I can't hear him. I can't hear his thoughts either," I said, astounded.

"Oh." Carlisle's brow furrowed, "Maybe it's a genetic thing?" he suggested.

"Maybe…" I speculated, but then I jumped as the baby's cold hand came into contact with my cheek and a picture flashed in front of my eyes. I was bent over Bella, my mouth scraping her skin, cutting it over and over again. There was a tenor to the memory telling me that he was curious. I gasped as the thought ended and he grinned widely at me, showing me a perfect row of sharp, white teeth.

"What?" Carlisle asked again.

"He just… showed me his thoughts…" I said. I was sure that that was what he had done because the images that I had seen were clearly from his own head, and similar to the thoughts of others who were not immune to my talent. There had also been a feel to the images, also like the thoughts of others. He had, in effect, asked me a question through the medium of his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle's voice was guarded.

"Here," I held out the baby. His brown eyes blinked at me, as though asking what I was doing, "Show him," I told him, gesturing towards Carlisle. Carlisle took him, but he just stared at me.

"Go on," I urged. Slowly, he reached his tiny hand out and touched Carlisle's face. Carlisle's eyes misted over and he, too, gasped.

"See?" I said.

Carlisle opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden scream stopped him. I turned to Bella, who was writhing, her face contorted in pain.

"Bella?" I asked her.

"Edward," Carlisle said, and I looked back over to him. The baby was struggling, his little arms outstretched to me. I took him easily and he touched my face and replayed the scene before him in my head. He was worried. This astonished me; he knew who Bella was and how important she was. He knew to love her and not to hurt her, and he knew how worried I was.

"Bella, can you hear me?" Carlisle asked while I was distracted. Bella's body shook, her face screwed up, her eyes glued shut, "Bella?" Carlisle repeated.

"Bella?" I asked, and the baby looked over at his mother. I passed him back to Carlisle, although he struggled, not wanting to leave my arms. This pleased me, though I couldn't imagine why.

"Bella, can you hear me?" I took her hand again, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Edward, it's burning me!" Bella cried out, anguished.

"Don't worry, Bella, it will stop soon," I promised.

"I don't want to die, Edward," she whimpered.

"You won't," I told her.

"It's burning me!" she said again, "Edward put out the fire!"

"Bella, it's saving you. I'm so sorry." I felt agonized. Bella was hurting because of me. But as I looked back at our son, I reminded myself that it was for the best.

"Edward, please, it hurts," she said, clutching at my hands as her muscles clenched. I could already notice the difference in her strength and I breathed a sigh of relief; it was working.

"It's okay, Bella, trust me," I said. Suddenly her eyes snapped open; they were already a strange shade of burgundy. I looked at Carlisle; surely the transformation couldn't have happened that fast, could it?

"How do you feel Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"Fine," she said surprised and her eyebrows rose as she heard the sound of her voice. It was even better than it had been before, as was she. She hadn't taken her eyes off of me, "You changed me?" she whispered. I nodded.

"But… why? You… I…" she stuttered.

"I couldn't leave your son without a mother," I whispered. She wouldn't usually have heard it, but her new senses picked it up.

"Edward…" she gasped quietly.

"What?" I asked.

"Where is he?" she now tore her eyes from my face and looked at Carlisle.

Bella POV

It had taken me much longer than it should have done, with my fast new mind, at least, to realise why I felt so different. He had changed me for our son.

"Where is he?" I managed to look away from Edward's face, something I didn't think that I would ever be able to do. It was like seeing him for the first time; his real beauty was just overwhelming. But what I saw next was even better. Carlisle held a tiny child in his arms and I gasped; that couldn't have been the same infant, surely?

But he was gazing at me intently with my own chocolate brown eyes and he already had a mop of bronze coloured hair. There was no way that this baby could be anything other than Edward's son because he could have been his clone. We studied each other avidly for a long moment, but then he grinned at me, a lop-sided grin, just like his father's, showing me a perfect row of sparkling teeth. His arms reached out for me and I reached out and took him as well, the speed of my movements startling me.

"Be careful, you'll be very strong now," Carlisle warned me. Both he and Edward watched as I took our newborn son in my arms and cradled him. (A/N: I have made the process of changing shorter so that she can be one of the first people to hold her own baby- I think that it wasn't right to let everybody know Renesmee in Breaking Dawn so I did things differently.)

I felt a surge of love for my baby as I smiled at him. Suddenly, he reached out a little hand and patted my cheek, before resting it there. Suddenly a picture flashed in front of my eyes. It was me, writhing on the ground, clutching at Edward's hand. I gasped as the picture came to a close and he patted my cheek again.

"What was that?" I looked over at Edward, who was watching me with a smile on my face.

"What did you see?" he asked.

"It was me," I whispered.

"He's showing you his memories," Carlisle told me, "He's telling you that he knows who you are."

"He does?"

"Yes," Edward wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my forehead. It was strange to notice that he felt almost warm to me now and his granite skin almost soft, "He loves you. A lot."

The baby gurgled happily in my arms. His skin was softer than Edward's and mine and I could feel the pulse beneath it. There was a burn in my throat when I felt the fresh blood flow, but it was easily dealt with.

"What's he thinking?" I asked Edward.

"I don't know," Edward replied, and I may have been imagining the hint of annoyance, "He's as silent as you are."

"Was my glitch passed on?" I worried.

"You were okay with it," Edward pointed out, "I just hope it isn't possible to inherit bad luck…"

I laughed and revelled in the sound. Would this, could this, be the start to a new and better life?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Okay. Firstly, I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY WITH MORE SORRYNESS ON TOP FOR THE DELAY!!!!!!!! You see, there's this thing called a life (which I seriously lack) and I have to do other stuff as well. I also couldn't think of a name for the baby. I was going to call it Edward, but a load of people kinda yelled "DON'T DO THAT!!!" so I haven't. The name isn't in this chapter but will be in the next. Yep, you guessed it- I haven't written it yet so (sorry again) no quote. :(

God I am so terrible at this updating thing and I'm very sorry. Hows about if I promise you an Edward - or Jacob- if you swing that way ;) (which I most certainly DON'T might I add) - muffin?

THIS BIT IS IMPORTANT- To save a load of questions on your part and answers on mine (though feel free to ask away about other stuff) yes, I have made the baby different from Nessie. I didn't want to just copy everything S.M. wrote so I changed it a bit. For one, he is a boy. Two, Edward can't hear his thoughts. Three, though this isn't really about the baby, I made the change shorter for Bella (find out why later on) because I was really annoyed when everyone got to cuddle Renesmee before Bella. I really think that the mother should be one of the first people to hold their OWN BABY. There are probably other differences that I've already forgotten about (lol) but he's different from Nessie. That is all I am trying to say. Okay, not that important, I know, but I thought I should make sure you read it all the same.

Also, check out some of my favourite stories that are on my page. Some are seriously amazing. I would recommend "Wedding Cake", "Maria" and "You Got Love!". I know they're all human fanfics, but I used to dislike AH Twilight fanfics and these three are serious geniusness.

And a good story is on my fictionpress account (wink, wink). It's called "Behind Closed Doors" and I promise you that it's okay. I accept anonymous reviews so… head over there and say hi! Please?

And another thing, if you feel like PM-ing me, I am a right chatterbox (as you can probably tell XD) so go right ahead.

Only one thing left. PLEASE REVIEW! The button, as I may have said before, isn't there just to look sexy, people. I can see you, you know, and I can see you going to exit this window… don't even think about it. I write these lovely stories for you; it is all I ask in return. XD Two words is absolutely fine. Let's make an aim of… 100 reviews for the whole story? Maybe. Because there are so many fanfics out there that have over 1000 and I'm like "And I can't even hit 75". I'm not sure how much left there is to go, but I believe in you people. Your feedback is also the motivation I have to keep going and I promise quicker updates if there are more reviews!! (I really am sorry about that :S)

So, that's about it for this novel of an author's note, and I doubt many people have actually read all of it. If you did, you can have an extra Edward muffin XD.

I love you all for the wonderful reviews so far, but please keep it up!!! We have a target now, let's (please) get there!

Steph

(PS- sorry about the long A/N, but it had to be done… well, most of it did. Well, ok, hardly any of it did, but there you go XD)