"What?" I demanded.

　　"You look so guilty—like you've committed a crime.""I feel guilty," I muttered.

　　"So you seduced your all-too-willing husband. That's not a capital offense."He seemed to be teasing.

　　My cheeks got hotter. "The word seduced implies a certain amount of premeditation.""Maybe that was the wrong word," he allowed.

　　"You're not angry?"He smiled ruefully. Tm not angry.""Why not?""Well. . ." He paused. "I didn't hurt you, for one thing. It was easier this time, to control myself, tochannel the excesses." His eyes flickered to the damaged frame again. "Maybe because I had a betteridea of what to expect."A hopeful smile started to spread across my face. "I told you that it was all about practice."He rolled his eyes.

　　My stomach growled, and he laughed. "Breakfast time for the human?" he asked.

　　"Please," I said, hopping out of bed. I moved too quickly, though, and had to stagger drunkenly to regainmy balance. He caught me before I could stumble into the dresser.

　　"Are you all right?""If I don't have a better sense of equilibrium in my next life, I'm demanding a refund."I cooked this morning, frying up some eggs—too hungry to do anything more elaborate. Impatient, Iflipped them onto a plate after just a few minutes.

　　"Since when do you eat eggs sunny-side up?" he asked.

　　"Since now.""Do you know how many eggs you've gone through in the last week?" He pulled the trash bin out fromunder the sink—it was full of empty blue cartons.

　　"Weird," I said after swallowing a scorching bite. "This place is messing with my appetite." And mydreams, and my already dubious balance. "But I like it here. Well probably have to leave soon, though,won't we, to make it to Dartmouth in time? Wow, I guess we need to find a place to live and stuff, too."He sat down next to me. "You can give up the college pretense now—you've gotten what you wanted.

　　And we didn't agree to a deal, so there are no strings attached."I snorted. "It wasn't a pretense, Edward. I don't spend my free time plotting like some people do. Whatcan we do to wear Bella out today?" I said in a poor impression of his voice. He laughed, unashamed.

　　"I really do want a little more time being human." I leaned over to run my hand across his bare chest. "Ihave not had enough."He gave me a dubious look. "For this?" he asked, catching my hand as it moved down his stomach.

　　"Sex was the key all along?" He rolled his eyes. "Why didn't i think of that?" he muttered sarcastically. "Icould have saved myself a lot of arguments."I laughed. "Yeah, probably.""You are so human," he said again.

　　"I know."A hint of a smile pulled at his lips. "We're going to Dartmouth? Really?""I'll probably fail out in one semester.""I'll tutor you." The smile was wide now. "You're going to love college.""Do you think we can find an apartment this late?"He grimaced, looking guilty. "Well, we sort of already have a house there. You know, just in case.""You bought a house?""Real estate is a good investment."I raised one eyebrow and then let it go. "So we're ready, then.""I'll have to see if we can keep your 'before' car for a little longer___""Yes, heaven forbid I not be protected from tanks."He grinned.

　　"How much longer can we stay?" I asked.

　　"We're fine on time. A few more weeks, if you want. And then we can visit Charlie before we go toNew Hampshire. We could spend Christmas with Renee___"His words painted a very happy immediate future, one free of pain for everyone involved. TheJacob-drawer, all but forgotten, rattled, and i amended the thought—for almost everyone.

　　This wasn't getting any easier. Now that I'd discovered exactly how good being human could be, it wastempting to let my plans drift. Eighteen or nineteen, nineteen or twenty... Did it really matter? I wouldn'tchange so much in a year. And being human with Edward... The choice got trickier every day.

　　"A few weeks," I agreed. And then, because there never seemed to be enough time, I added, "So I wasthinking—you know what I was saying about practice before?"He laughed. "Can you hold on to that thought? I hear a boat. The cleaning crew must be here."He wanted me to hold on to that thought. So did that mean he was not going to give me any moretrouble about practicing? I smiled.

　　"Let me explain the mess in the white room to Gustavo, and then we can go out. There's a place in thejungle on the south—""I don't want to go out. i am not hiking all over the island today. I want to stay here and watch a movie."He pursed his lips, trying not to laugh at my disgruntled tone. "All right, whatever you'd like. Why don'tyou pick one out while I get the door?""I didn't hear a knock."He cocked his head to the side, listening. A half second later, a faint, timid rap on the door sounded. Hegrinned and turned for the hallway.

　　I wandered over to the shelves under the big TV and started scanning through the titles. It was hard todecide where to begin. They had more DVDs than a rental store.

　　I could hear Edward's low, velvet voice as he came back down the hall, conversing fluidly in what Iassumed was perfect Portuguese. Another, harsher, human voice answered in the same tongue.

　　Edward led them into the room, pointing toward the kitchen on his way. The two Brazilians lookedincredibly short and dark next to him. One was a round man, the other a slight female, both their facescreased with lines. Edward gestured to me with a proud smile, and I heard my name mixed in with aflurry of unfamiliar words. I flushed a little as I thought of the downy mess in the white room, which theywould soon encounter. The little man smiled at me politely.

　　But the tiny coffee-skinned woman didn't smile. She stared at me with a mixture of shock, worry, andmost of all, wide-eyed fear. Before I could react, Edward motioned for them to follow him toward thechicken coop, and they were gone.

　　When he reappeared, he was alone. He walked swiftly to my side and wrapped his arms around me.

　　"What's with her?" I whispered urgently, remembering her panicked expression.

　　He shrugged, unperturbed. "Kaure's part Ticuna Indian. She was raised to be more superstitious—oryou could call it more aware—than those who live in the modern world. She suspects what I am, orclose enough." He still didn't sound worried. "They have their own legends here. The Libishomen—ablood-drinking demon who preys exclusively on beautiful women." He leered at me.

　　Beautiful women only? Well, that was kind of flattering.

　　"She looked terrified," I said.

　　"She is—but mostly she's worried about you.""Me?""She's afraid of why I have you here, all alone." He chuckled darkly and then looked toward the wall ofmovies. "Oh well, why don't you choose something for us to watch? That's an acceptably human thing todo.""Yes, I'm sure a movie will convince her that you're human." I laughed and clasped my arms securelyaround his neck, stretching up on my tiptoes. He leaned down so that I could kiss him, and then his armstightened around me, lifting me off the floor so he didn't have to bend.

　　"Movie, schmovie," I muttered as his lips moved down my throat, twisting my fingers in his bronze hair.

　　Then I heard a gasp, and he put me down abruptly. Kaure stood frozen in the hallway, feathers in herblack hair, a large sack of more feathers in her arms, an expression of horror on her face. She stared atme, her eyes bugging out, as I blushed and looked down. Then she recovered herself and murmuredsomething that, even in an unfamiliar language, was clearly an apology. Edward smiled and answered in afriendly tone. She turned her dark eyes awayand continued down the hall.

　　"She was thinking what I think she was thinking, wasn't she?" I muttered.

　　He laughed at my convoluted sentence. "Yes.""Here," I said, reaching out at random and grabbing a movie. "Put this on and we can pretend to watchit."It was an old musical with smiling faces and fluffy dresses on the front.

　　"Very honeymoonish," Edward approved.

　　While actors on the screen danced their way through a perky introduction song, I lolled on the sofa,snuggled into Edward's arms.

　　"Will we move back into the white room now?" I wondered idly.

　　"I don't know.... I've already mangled the headboard in the other room beyond repair—maybe if welimit the destruction to one area of the house, Esme might invite us back someday."I smiled widely. "So there will be more destruction?"He laughed at my expression. "I think it might be safer if it's premeditated, rather than if I wait for you toassault me again.""It would only be a matter of time," I agreed casually, but my pulse was racing in my veins.

　　"Is there something the matter with your heart?""Nope. Healthy as a horse." I paused. "Did you want to go survey the demolition zone now?""Maybe it would be more polite to wait until we're alone. You may not notice me tearing the furnitureapart, but it would probably scare them."In truth, I'd already forgotten the people in the other room. "Right. Drat."Gustavo and Kaure moved quietly through the house while I waited impatiently for them to finish andtried to pay attention to the happily-ever-after on the screen. I was starting to get sleepy—though,according to Edward, I'd slept half the day—when a rough voice startled me. Edward sat up, keepingme cradled against him, and answered Gustavo in flowing Portuguese. Gustavo nodded and walkedquietly toward the front door.

　　"They're finished," Edward told me.

　　"So that would mean that we're alone now?""How about lunch first?" he suggested.

　　I bit my lip, torn by the dilemma. I was pretty hungry.

　　With a smile, he took my hand and led me to the kitchen. He knew my face so well, it didn't matter thathe couldn't read my mind.

　　"This is getting out of hand," I complained when I finally felt full.

　　"Do you want to swim with the dolphins this afternoon—burn off the calories?" he asked.

　　"Maybe later. I had another idea for burning calories.""And what was that?""Well, there's an awful lot of headboard left—"But I didn't finish. He'd already swept me up into his arms, and his lips silenced mine as he carried mewith inhuman speed to the blue room.

　　7. UNEXPECTEDThe line of black advanced on me through the shroud-like mist. I could see their dark ruby eyes glintingwith desire, lusting for the kill. Their lips pulled back over their sharp, wet teeth—some to snarl, some tosmile.

　　I heard the child behind me whimper, but I couldn't turn to look at him. Though I was desperate to besure that he was safe, I could not afford any lapse in focus now.

　　They ghosted closer, their black robes billowing slightly with the movement. I saw their hands curl intobone-colored claws. They started to drift apart, angling to come at us from all sides. We weresurrounded. We were going to die.

　　And then, like a burst of light from a flash, the whole scene was different. Yet nothing changed—theVolturi still stalked toward us, poised to kill. All that really changed was how the picture looked to me.

　　Suddenly, I was hungry for it. I tvanfec/them to charge. The panic changed to bloodlust as I crouchedforward, a smile on my face, and a growl ripped through my bared teeth.

　　I jolted upright, shocked out of the dream.

　　The room was black. It was also steamy hot. Sweat matted my hair at the temples and rolled down mythroat.

　　I groped the warm sheets and found them empty.

　　"Edward?"Just then, my fingers encountered something smooth and flat and stiff. One sheet of paper, folded in half.

　　I took the note with me and felt my way across the room to the light switch.

　　The outside of the note was addressed to Mrs. Cullen.

　　I'm hoping you won't wake and notice my absence, but, if you should, I'll be back very soon. I've justgone to the mainland to hunt Go back to sleep and I'll be here when you wake again. I love you.

　　I sighed. We'd been here about two weeks now, so I should have been expecting that he would have toleave, but I hadn't been thinking about time. We seemed to exist outside of time here, just drifting along ina perfect state.

　　I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I felt absolutely wide awake, though the clock on the dresser said itwas after one. I knew i would never be able to sleep as hot and sticky as I felt. Not to mention the factthat if I shut off the light and closed my eyes, I was sure to see those prowling black figures in my head.

　　I got up and wandered aimlessly through the dark house, flipping on lights. It felt so big and emptywithout Edward there. Different.

　　I ended up in the kitchen and decided that maybe comfort food was what I needed.

　　I poked around in the fridge until I found all the ingredients for fried chicken. The popping and sizzling ofthe chicken in the pan was a nice, homey sound; I felt less nervous while it filled the silence.

　　It smelled so good that I started eating it right out of the pan, burning my tongue in the process. By thefifth or sixth bite, though, it had cooled enough for me to taste it. My chewing slowed. Was theresomething off about the flavor? I checked the meat, and it was white all the way through, but I wonderedif it was completely done. I took another experimental bite; I chewed twice. Ugh—definitely bad. Ijumped up to spit it into the sink. Suddenly, the chicken-and-oil smell was revolting. I took the wholeplate and shook it into the garbage, then opened the windows to chase away the scent. A coolish breezehad picked up outside. It felt good on my skin.

　　I was abruptly exhausted, but i didn't want to go back to the hot room. So I opened more windows inthe TV room and lay on the couch right beneath them. I turned on the same movie we'd watched theother day and quickly fell asleep to the bright opening song.

　　When I opened my eyes again, the sun was halfway up the sky, but it was not the light that woke me.

　　Cool arms were around me, pulling me against him. At the same time, a sudden pain twisted in mystomach, almost like the aftershock of catching a punch in the gut.

　　Tm sorry," Edward was murmuring as he wiped a wintry hand across my clammy forehead. "So muchfor thoroughness. I didn't think about how hot you would be with me gone. I'll have an air conditionerinstalled before I leave again."I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. "Excuse me!" I gasped, struggling to get free of his arms.

　　He dropped his hold automatically. "Bella?"I streaked for the bathroom with my hand clamped over my mouth. I felt so horrible that I didn't evencare—at first—that he was with me while I crouched over the toilet and was violently sick.

　　"Bella? What's wrong?"I couldn't answer yet. He held me anxiously, keeping my hair out of my face, waiting till I could breatheagain.

　　"Damn rancid chicken," I moaned.

　　"Are you all right?" His voice was strained.

　　"Fine," I panted. "It's just food poisoning. You don't need to see this. Go away.""Not likely,Bella.""Go away," I moaned again, struggling to get up so I could rinse my mouth out. He helped me gently,ignoring the weak shoves I aimed at him.

　　After my mouth was clean, he carried me to the bed and sat me down carefully, supporting me with hisarms.

　　"Food poisoning?""Yeah," I croaked. "I made some chicken last night. It tasted off, so I threw it out. But I ate a few bitesfirst."He put a cold hand on my forehead. It felt nice. "How do you feel now?"I thought about that for a moment. The nausea had passed as suddenly as it had come, and I felt like Idid any other morning. "Pretty normal. A little hungry, actually."He made me wait an hour and keep down a big glass of water before he fried me some eggs. I feltperfectly normal, just a little tired from being up in the middle of the night. He put onCNN—we'd beenso out of touch, world war three could have broken out and we wouldn't have known—and I loungeddrowsily across his lap.

　　I got bored with the news and twisted around to kiss him. Just like this morning, a sharp pain hit mystomach when I moved. I lurched away from him, my hand tight over my mouth. I knew I'd never make itto the bathroom this time, so I ran to the kitchen sink.

　　He held my hair again.

　　"Maybe we should go back to Rio, see a doctor," he suggested anxiously when I was rinsing my mouthafterward.

　　I shook my head and edged toward the hallway. Doctors meant needles. "I'll be fine right after I brushmy teeth."When my mouth tasted better, I searched through my suitcase for the little first-aid kit Alice had packedfor me, full of human things like bandages and painkillers and—my object now—Pepto-Bismol. Maybe Icould settle my stomach and calm Edward down.

　　But before I found the Pepto, I happened across something else that Alice had packed for me. I pickedup the small blue box and stared at it in my hand for a long moment, forgetting everything else.

　　Then I started counting in my head. Once. Twice. Again.

　　Theknock startled me; the little box fell back into the suitcase.

　　"Are you well?" Edward asked through the door. "Did you get sick again?""Yes and no," I said, but my voice sounded strangled.

　　"Bella? Can I please come in?" Worriedly now.

　　"O... kay?"He came in and appraised my position, sitting cross-legged on the floor by the suitcase, and myexpression, blank and staring. He sat next to me, his hand going to my forehead at once.

　　"What's wrong?""How many days has it been since the wedding?" I whispered.

　　"Seventeen," he answered automatically. "Bella, what is it?"I was counting again. I held up a finger, cautioning him to wait, and mouthed the numbers to myself. I'dbeen wrong about the days before. We'd been here longer than I'd thought. I started over again.

　　"Bella!" he whispered urgently. "I'm losing my mind over here."I tried to swallow. It didn't work. So I reached into the suitcase and fumbled around until I found thelittle blue box of tampons again. I held them up silently.

　　He stared at me in confusion. "What? Are you trying to pass this illness off as PMS?""No," I managed to choke out. "No, Edward. I'm trying to tell you that my period is five days late."His facial expression didn't change. It was like I hadn't spoken.

　　"I don't think I have food poisoning," I added.

　　He didn't respond. He had turned into a sculpture.

　　"The dreams," I mumbled to myself in a flat voice. "Sleeping so much. The crying. All that food. Oh.

　　Oh. Oh"Edward's stare seemed glassy, as if he couldn't see me anymore.

　　Reflexively, almost involuntarily, my hand dropped to my stomach.

　　"Oh!" I squeaked again.

　　I lurched to my feet, slipping out of Edward's unmoving hands. I'd never changed out of the little silkshorts and camisole I'd worn to bed. I yanked the blue fabric out of the way and stared at my stomach.

　　"Impossible," I whispered.

　　I had absolutely no experience with pregnancy or babies or any part of that world, but I wasn't an idiot.

　　I'd seen enough movies and TV shows to know that this wasn't how it worked. I was only five days late.

　　If I was pregnant, my body wouldn't even have registered that fact. I would not have morning sickness. Iwould not have changed my eating or sleeping habits.

　　And I most definitely would not have a small but defined bump sticking out between my hips.

　　I twisted my torso back and forth, examining it from every angle, as if it would disappear in exactly theright light. I ran my fingers over the subtle bulge, surprised by how rock hard it felt under my skin.

　　"Impossible," I said again, because, bulge or no bulge, period or no period (and there was definitely noperiod, though I'd never been late a day in my life), there was no way I could be pregnant The onlyperson I'd ever had sex with was a vampire, for crying out loud.

　　A vampire who was still frozen on the floor with no sign of ever moving again.

　　So there had to be some other explanation, then. Something wrong with me. A strange South Americandisease with all the signs of pregnancy, only accelerated...

　　And then I remembered something—a morning of internet research ............