Carlisle tapped his hands on the clipboard, and a broad smile came onto his caring face. "James and Mike have come through the surgery very well," he said with a smile. "Your mother is on the way, Edward. She just needs to see you."

"I'm sure she does," said Edward, shaking his father's hand. "So, when will we be able to see James and Mike?"

"They are in recovery sleeping it off," said Carlisle. "It would be best if you two got back to your respective schools, got some sleep. We'll call you tonight if there's any change. You can come in around nine tomorrow morning, if that's agreeable to you."

"Thank you, Carlisle," said Bella quietly as she wove Edward's arm through hers. "Thank you for the news. It's everything we hoped for." After wishing the doctor good night they walked out of the waiting room, down the hall, and into the elevator. They caught it without any trouble and made it down to the lobby and out the main doors and into the parking lot.

"You doing okay?" asked Edward, putting his arm around her waist as they walked through the parking lot and automatically unlocking the car. "I mean...other than thanking Dad, you didn't say much."

Bella shrugged. "Well, I was tired. I'm sleeping for two, you know."

"Oh, I know," said Edward, opening her door for her and letting her in. He shut the door and circled the car, getting in himself.

Bella blinked. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked, putting the keys in the ignition and starting his car. "I'm just tired."

Bella shook her head. "Oh, no," she said. "I already used that excuse."

Edward sighed, navigating his way out of the hospital parking lot, whilst drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "Don't tell me what excuses I can and cannot use, okay?"

"Is that how you're going to treat our child?" Bella demanded.

Edward stopped for a stop sign. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know what?" asked Bella, shaking her head as a rather large truck passed through the intersection opposite them. "I'm just...I'm just going to walk," she said, unbuckling her seat belt as quickly as she could. "You've had a very stressful day—what with your friend going in for surgery and all that—and maybe you need some time away from your fiancée and your unborn child," she said, opening her door.

"Bella, please, don't be like that..."

"Be like what?" she asked, shrugging at him.

"Like...temperamental..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I not Stepford wife enough for you?!" she cried, her voice shaking. "I'm sorry; maybe you didn't get the memo. Maybe I should just hang a sign across my forehead that says, 'Pregnant; may experience mood swings."

"Bella, please..."

"Please, what?" she asked, mockingly putting a hand to her ear. "Oh, of course, I'm sorry," she said, and promptly threw the ring in his face, trembling with rage. "I don't think that I can be with a guy who isn't supportive of my condition—which he caused, no matter if it was an accident or on purpose!" she screamed, slamming the door behind her and running down the street.

"Bella, wait!" cried Edward, getting out of the car.

"What?!" she demanded, turning and facing him. She was crying again, and she hated showing her vulnerable side to him. "I'm upset, too, okay?! One of my best friends just donated one of his kidneys to your brother—who happens to be the father to my son! Don't you think I feel this too?!"

Edward stopped walking. "I didn't mean that..."

"No, I knew what you meant," she said. "I'm going to change my acceptance and all that. I'm going to go to a different school next year. Maybe this one will actually provide daycare so I can keep the baby. I don't know. Now that I'm single..." She turned and walked away from him, down the rain-soaked highway.

"Bella..."

But his words were lost as she walked away from him, dumping The Ultimate Wedding Planner & Organizer in a Dumpster as she went.

~*~

Bella got back to the dorm two and a half hours later. She opened the door and found Alice and Katie on the couch, completely absorbed in some movie on the flat screen. Jasper was cramming for a final and Tanya was in Denali for the weekend to attend to her sick mother. Bella dropped her keys and her purse beside her bed and collapsed onto it.

"I'm home," she said.

"Yeah, hey," said Katie.

Alice turned and looked at Bella. "Um, excuse me?!" she cried, getting to her feet and quickly abandoning the modern technology as she instantly dashed towards Bella and picking up her left hand. "You want to tell me what the hell is this?!" she demanded. "Edward better get the diamond re-carated or cleaned or something..."

"I called off the wedding," Bella said quietly.

Katie finally turned off the flat screen. "You what?!" she demanded, running towards the bed. "You did not."

Bella shrugged dramatically by throwing her hands into the air in an interesting sideways position. "Guilty," she replied.

"Why?" asked Alice. "He didn't hit you, did he?"

Bella smiled; the thought of Edward hitting her was ridiculous. "No," she said. "We just got in a fight. I just...I just felt so belittled and stuff that I couldn't take it anymore. I threw the ring in his face and I told him I'm going to college somewhere else." She turned and looked at her laptop, given to her what seemed like a long time ago. "I really hope that I won't have to give that back..."

Katie laughed. "No, I don't think so."

Bella bit her lip and lowered her eyes. "I can't raise this kid on my own. Maybe... maybe I should find a nice family for it..."

"Bella, listen to me," said Alice. "We are out of here in, like, three weeks. And if you keep the kid, who knows, maybe Edward will pay through the nose..."

"I don't care about that," Bella said. "I love...d him," she said.

"Wow, that was fast," Katie said quietly.

Bella shot her a look before going on. "I mean...yes, I always said I wanted a rich guy to take care of me, but it's more than that. Yes, I want my child to have every opportunity possible, but..."

"But what?" asked Alice.

"Well...my first was Mike, after all," she said, shrugging. "Doesn't that make it a little awkward or something, Allie?"

Alice shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I'm not one to judge."

"Katie?" Bella asked, turning to her.

Katie shrugged as well. "Can't judge either," she said.

"Okay," said Bella. "I guess...let the games begin..."

~*~

Bella went to sleep soon after that. The same thing happened the following night as well. She plugged in her phone and unplugged her mind as she drifted off. It was several noises of vibration which interrupted her dream of an enchanted meadow to something resembling Twilight with an intimate wand. She shook the thought from her mind of vampires going at it in an erotic manner and managed to discover that her phone was ringing practically off the sexy hook, or...whatever made sense to her at that time.

"Hello?" she whispered, careful not to wake Alice or Katie across the room. "This..." She cleared her throat. "This is Bella Swan."

"Bella, it's Carlisle," he said.

Bella sat up in bed. "Are you calling about James and Mike?" she asked.

"That, and...you seem to be farther along than we originally thought. There's a girl here named Ella Swinford and it seems that her paperwork got mixed up with yours. She is ten weeks pregnant, and you're actually approaching your sixteenth week."

"So, what...what does that mean?" Bella asked, fully awake now.

"It means we need to get you down here for an ultrasound as soon as possible to figure out what's going on in there. You need to come down to emergency right now."

"Did...did you call Edward?" she asked.

"Yes. He is on his way to get you."

A knock on the door confirmed his statement.

"Thanks for the warning, doc," she said. "See you soon." She hung up and crossed the dark room to the door. She'd fallen asleep in her clothes, naturally,, so she just grabbed her shoes, keys, and her purse. "Let's do this," she said as she opened the door, and hopping from one foot to the other so as to put her shoes on.

"No, 'hi'?" asked Edward in a mellow tone.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Not in the mood." They walked in silence to where Edward had illegally parked his car—next to the stables; apparently Coach Clapp wouldn't mind—and she got in. As they drove, Bella had the strong urge to sleep to spite him, but she decided the silent treatment was better.

"So...you look good," said Edward casually.

Then again, maybe not. "It's been a day, Edward." Dammit, she was supposed to be giving him the silent treatment...!

"I know. I was just saying..."

"Your dad get to you?" she asked.

"Maybe a little..."

"Right..."

"I'm worried."

"About...?"

"The health of the baby," Edward said.

Bella nodded and they continued in silence the rest of the way to the emergency part of the hospital. They went in and Bella was, thankfully, admitted into the facility immediately. Carlisle showed up at once with the ultrasound equipment and an ultrasound technician to help.

"How are we doing?" Carlisle asked.

"Tired," said Edward.

"Pregnantly tired," said Bella.

"Good use of the original word 'pregnant', Bella," said the tech, a dark-haired woman with amber eyes. "Good to see you, Edward," she said as she squirted the goo onto the stick-like thing and smiled at Bella. "This may be cold."

"It's all right," said Bella as it hit her skin.

"Okay," said the tech—whose name-tag read Renata—as she turned towards the screen. "Let's see what we got here."

The room was suddenly filled with something that could only be described as a whooshing noise and Bella's eyes widened. "What's that?" asked Edward, looking worriedly from Bella, to the screen, to Renata.

"That whooshing sounds is one of the heartbeats," Renata replied, clicking various buttons and zooming in and out.

"See, Edward?" Bella said, turning to him. "Everything's all right. It's just one of the heartbeats." Suddenly, Bella felt like she was going to have a stroke. "Did...did you just say 'one of the heartbeats'?!"

Renata smiled and moved the wand. "I did. You see?" she asked, pointing with a perfectly manicured finger to the screen. "Your two little girls are lying side by side. Look, the one on the left has her thumb in her mouth. And the one on the right is kicking. Do you feel her?" Renata asked.

Bella nodded, her eyes widening at that. "Oh, god, I feel her!" she gasped. "Wow... Edward," she whispered, guiding his hand, noting in satisfaction that his hand would have to make contact with the goo.

"Oh, god," Edward whispered, laughing a little. "Twin girls..."

"My darlings, can you hear Mommy?" Bella asked, feeling her eyes filling with tears.

"Daddy's here, too," said Edward, but strangely Bella wasn't annoyed.

"So, we're at just about sixteen weeks," said Renata in a soft voice. "Both girls are perfectly healthy."

Renata wiped the goo off from Bella's belly and she and Carlisle slipped quietly from the room, with the latter already on his phone, leading Bella to believe he was calling Esme.

"What do you want to do?" asked Edward as Bella pulled down her shirt.

Bella sighed and accepted Edward's hand to get off the table. "I don't know..."

"So...is it too soon to see if the engagement can be back on?"

Bella smiled a little. "Yes. Way too soon, buddy."

Edward chuckled. "Well..."

Carlisle tapped on the door and came back into the room. "I've just been paged that James and Mike are awake."

Bella smiled broader and took Edward's hand. "Right now, maybe we should focus on the two of them."

Edward smile broadened as well and squeezed Bella's hand back. "That sounds like a great idea," he replied.

The two of them left the ultrasound room hand in hand, ready to see two more souls whose lives could possibly change forever.