Still In Bloom ↠ Twilight ✓

32 ; a parent's sacrifice

Here's the thing: Bella's health declined rapidly.

Even with the diabolical of Bella beginning to drink blood, from the storage that Carlisle had kept inside of the house, everyone seemed to know that the end was near. Much to the complete horror of Wallace and Edward, who of which hadn't left Bella's side.

The three of them were perched on the couch, Bella in between the two of them. A hand was clasped in Wallace's grasp and the other in Edward's, and they were tremoring. As Wallace scanned Bella's face, taking in the stark features which had once been plump with baby fat, he felt his heart begin to tear inside of his chest.

"Are you still cold?" Edward asked, Victorian accent slipping from his mouth as he motioned to get up to no doubt gather more blankets. "I can see if there's a heating blanket-"

"No, stay here," Bella spoke, voice hoarse. 

Edward's face drew tight at the sound of their Bella, so unlike herself, but did as told. Slowly sinking his lithe body slowly back down onto the couch, though Wallace noticed Edward was sure to keep his cold body a few feet away from Bella's shaking form. 

"I think I'm going to have the baby soon," Bella spoke for a moment, then spared them each a glance. "I don't-I know I've been optimistic, but I need to make sure that if-If I die, you two will stay together."

The words sent ice down Wallace's spine and his chest felt tight. Edward seemed much of the same, his black eyes turning darker in misery. Bella seemed to sense the change in emotion like she always did whenever it came to the men she loved, and she sighed softly. 

"If I die, I want you two to stay together," Bella spoke, and her bottom lip wobbled for a moment before she caught it with her teeth. "Our baby will need parents that are together. I need you to promise me that before anything else can happen."

"You're speaking like it's going to happen today," Wallace states, and when Bella doesn't reply with a negative, Wallace nearly gags with dread. "Bella? It can't happen today."

"I know my body," Bella says softly, and her hands leave their laps to caress her swollen abdomen. Rubbing veiny hands along her stomach, Wallace notes the way in which he can make out the shapes of the bones in her wrist. "I have a hunch it'll be tonight."

"So soon?" Wallace asks, and even he knows it's a stupid question. To say these words as if this pregnancy has ever progressed with a normal timeline. 

"Don't be scared," Bella states, and when she looks at Wallace, her eyes are faintly watery. She gives him a gentle smile, closed mouth and taking all of her energy. "I'm not scared."

For a moment, Wallace wonders if his mom was ever scared. If she had stared at her belly all those years ago while she had been pregnant with Daniel and had wanted nothing more than to run away. Unknowing of how her fate would end, but yet still afraid of it. 

Wallace always thinks about how his mother stayed, how she had loved Daniel and then Shelby and himself a while later. His mother had never truly been happy with the cards life had dealt her, but she had never taken it out on her children. She had always loved them, cherished them, and nurtured them. Wallace could only hope that when his baby came, even if it resulted in Bella's death, that he would be able to love his child as much as his mother had loved her own. 

And while his mother hadn't died giving birth to them, Wallace knows a piece of her - her dreams perhaps - had gone to the grave the moment Daniel had been conceived. 

"I'll stay," Wallace promises, because he can't promise anything else. "I promise Bella."

Bella blinks at him for a long moment and then she's stating softly, "I love you,"