As the dog and Edward left, I saw my opportunity. He was still close enough to hear my thoughts, I just hoped he wasn't paying attention.
"Guys, can I have a moment alone, with Bella?"
In their glum, troubled eyes I saw a glimmer of hope, but I didn't mention it. They nodded and silently left. I waited until they were out of hearing range before kneeling beside Bella on the sofa.
I pushed a lock of damp hair from her forehead. Her sunken eyes locked with mine and she waited for what I had to say.
"Bella," I wasn't sure how to word this. By keeping my thoughts from Edward I hadn't exactly had a chance to rehearse. I didn't want her to feel all alone but I had to make sure. "Bella, I'm not going back on my word, but I have to be certain. I think there's a very real-" possibility? Chance? Best not to sugar coat it. "Likelihood that you are going to die. You are so very fragile, Bella, I need to make sure this is still what you want?"
I wanted a child, undoubtedly, and I wanted to protect this baby, but not at the expense of Bella's life. I wasn't a monster.
Bella's left hand gripped mine tightly. I could easily have broken the hold, but she was surprisingly strong considering her weakened state.
"I haven't changed my mind," she assured me.
"But what good does your dying do?" I asked. This child was killing her. I was 90 percent sure she wasn't going to survive and the remaining 10 percent was just wild hope I clung to.
Bella looked pained as she tried to explain.
"Could you kill Emmett?" she asked.
That was hardly the same thing. Emmett was real, I knew him, loved him. "Of course not."
"I can't hurt this baby, Rose. I physically can't."
"What if it kills you?"
"I realise I might die," she said sadly. "But I've seen enough to know there's always hope. I honestly believe we'll find a way."
I had to ask. "And if we don't?"
Bella smiled then, a bright radiant smile. "Doesn't matter. I love him, Rose. He is a part of Edward and I and I could no more kill the baby than I could kill Edward. I know it doesn't make sense but I feel connected to him. Or her." Her head sank back down onto the sofa. "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try, Rose." She whispered.
I had resented Bella for a long time, for the complications she brought into my life, for the choices she was making, and, if I was honest, for her feeble human state. I viewed her as the weak link in our family, she always had been.
But in all honesty, I wasn't sure I could ever give my life for an unborn child, I didn't have that selflessness and as I gazed down on her now, I realised her spirit was probably stronger than all of ours.
"Okay then." I cupped her face in one hand and gently brushed my thumb across her cheek. "You have my word."