Breaking Dawn

The night before her wedding, Bella lays with Edward in her bed and they kiss. Edwards asks her if she is sure that she wants to marry him, and she insists that she is. She thinks of how perfect he is, both in his calm, intelligent demeanor and his looks. She is grateful that his vampire gift—the ability to read minds—does not work on her, though no one is sure why.

Edward’s brothers, Emmett and Jasper, come to Bella’s window. They tell Edward that he needs to come with him for his bachelor party. Bella insists that he join them, and Edward leaves.

After they are gone, Bella starts to worry about the wedding. Specifically, she’s nervous about their guests, as there are members of Jacob’s Quileute reservation—the Clearwaters and Jacob’s father—coming to the wedding. Although she trusts Edward’s family to be around them, she worries about the other vampires invited, the Denali clan. The Denali clan is similar to the Cullens in that they’re a group of five siblings living together for centuries who avoid feeding on humans, choosing to live differently than most vampires.

Bella thinks back to a story she heard from Edward’s dad, Carlisle, about their family. One of the siblings, Tanya, told Carlisle that their mother was killed by the Volturi clan. The Volturi, who are in charge of keeping peace and enforcing the laws of the vampires, have one central rule: to keep vampires a secret from the human world. Tanya’s mother, centuries ago, worked with other vampires to turn human toddlers into vampires so that they could have children. However, the children never aged and could never be taught. As a result, they often went on killing sprees because of their thirst. The Volturi determined that the existence of the children would be a threat to their secrecy. They chose to kill all the children and Tanya’s mother as punishment.

After hearing the story, Bella dreams of one of these children. He sits on a hill in a field. From a distance, he looks perfect, and Bella is desperate to save him from the Volturi. However, as she gets closer, she realizes that the child is sitting on a pile of her friends’ bodies.

The next day, Bella spends hours with Alice getting ready for the wedding. Alice’s sister, Rosalie, helps Alice braid Bella’s hair, which surprises Bella, as Rosalie has been angry at her for choosing to give up her humanity and turn into a vampire.

As Bella prepares to walk down the aisle, she is awed by the decorations that Alice, Esme, and Bella’s own mother put together. She feels nervous because of the crowd. However, when she sees Edward, she feels better about everything.

After the ceremony, Bella kisses Edward and thinks of how “he loved [her], that he wanted [her], that [she] was his” (50). She recognizes a “deep joy” in Edward’s eyes that reflects her own.

Bella then gets lost in the crowd, hugging each of the guests at her wedding. When she gets to Seth, she thinks of how grateful she is that he is willing to bridge the gap between the vampires and wolves. However, seeing him also makes her miss Jacob.

During the reception, Bella is happy that Seth and his sister, Leah, and mother, Sue, came; they also brought Jacob’s father, Billy. She wonders what will happen when Edward turns her into a vampire. The Cullens and the Quileute nation have a peace treaty, but it states that the Cullens can make no new vampires. Bella assumes that the Quileute know she will become one willingly and hopes that their new friendships will allow them to forgive her.

Bella and Edward dance together. She feels him sense something as he takes her to the edge of the dance floor by the forest. To her surprise and delight, Jacob is waiting for her in the darkness. Edward excuses himself to give them time together.

As Bella and Jacob dance, she thanks him for coming back for her wedding. He insists that he wanted to see her human one last time, before she changes, despite how much it hurts him to lose her. He tells her that she is still his “best friend.”

Jacob asks Bella when her transformation will happen. She tells him that she wants to have her honeymoon first, which prompts Jacob to make a comment about how she can’t have a “real” honeymoon with Edward while she’s still human since sex is too dangerous between vampires and humans. She tells him that she can and it’s none of his business, which enrages Jacob. He tells her that Edward is reckless for considering having sex with her while she’s human. He grabs her by the arms, tightly, causing Bella to yell out. Edward intervenes, threatening Jacob, as two wolves come out of the forest and stand between them. Seth restrains Jacob, who continues to yell angrily, as one of the wolves pushes up against Jacob. Finally, they leave.

After the wolves are gone, Bella apologizes repeatedly, saying that it was her fault for telling Jacob anything. However, Edward thinks aloud that perhaps Jacob is right—he is wrong for trying to sleep with Bella while she’s human. Bella insists that it’s what she wants, and makes Edward promise to stop thinking about it.

For their honeymoon, Edward and Bella fly to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They get on a boat in Rio and Edward drives them east out to an island which Edward tells her is Isle Esme—given to his mother by his father.

As Edward and Bella enter the house on the island, she realizes that she is extremely nervous. As Edward tries to make small talk, she recognizes that he is, too—which is strange for him. Edward asks her to go for a midnight swim, then leaves her to change.

Bella has a panic attack while getting ready. She admits to herself that she is afraid because she feels vulnerable and has never done this before. She is certain that she wants to have sex with Edward but is still nervous about the idea of being vulnerable with him. She manages to calm down, repeatedly telling herself that she and Edward love each other completely.

Edward and Bella have sex. When she wakes up the next morning, she feels extremely happy. However, when she looks at Edward, she realizes that he is angry. He tells her that he needs to know how badly he hurt her. She insists that she was not hurt at all, then Edward points out the bruises on her skin that were left by his fingers. She continues to say that he didn’t hurt her, but she fails to calm Edward down. She struggles to process how he feels, given that it is “so contrary to the way that” she feels (90).

Bella tries to explain how much she enjoyed sex with him. She starts to apologize, thinking that maybe he didn’t enjoy it, but he tells her it was the best night of his life. However, he continues to insist that she is lying about her pain to make him feel better. She then grows angry, telling him that he is ruining her mood and that she wouldn’t lie to him about how she feels.

After Bella eats breakfast, she kisses Edward, and he pulls away. He tells her that he won’t have sex with her again until she is no longer human.

For the next week, Edward spends the days finding different things for him and Bella to do, like snorkeling, swimming, and traveling the island. At night, she is so tired that she does not press the issue of having sex again—which she realizes is part of his plan.

Bella also has nightmares so vivid it feels almost like she’s awake. She often dreams of the child from Carlisle's story; however, this time, the child is not dangerous, and Bella feels the need to protect him from the Volturi.

One night, Bella wakes up in the middle of the night. She realizes that she is crying. Edward comforts her, but she insists that her dream was a happy one. She kisses Edward, then the two have sex again.

The next morning, Edward admits that it was easier for him this time, as he knew what to expect. Bella has no new bruises. However, when she tries to get out of bed, she is overwhelmed by vertigo. She tells him that she is just hungry, and he comments on the extreme amount of food she has eaten while they have been on the island, including several cartons of eggs.

Bella wakes again in the night from a nightmare and finds that Edward has gone to hunt, so she goes downstairs to make food. When the chicken she makes tastes funny, she decides it’s not safe to eat. She goes into the living room and opens the windows—feeling extremely hot—and falls asleep on the couch.

When Bella wakes up several hours later, Edward is back. She feels a pain in her stomach and runs to the bathroom to vomit. Edward comforts her, and she explains that she thinks she has food poisoning.

When Bella gets sick again, she opens the medicine bag that Alice packed for her. When she sees a box of tampons, she tries to remember the last time she had her period and realizes she’s a few days late. At the same time, she notices a bump forming on her stomach. She instinctually knows she’s pregnant even though it’s much more accelerated than it should be.

Edward finds Bella in the bathroom. She tells him what she thinks is wrong, and he goes into shock, not responding to her as she tries to explain. His phone starts ringing, and Edward doesn’t move, so Bella answers it. Alice asks Bella what’s wrong. Bella assumes that Alice’s vampire ability showed her something from the future related to the baby. She asks for Carlisle.

Bella explains the pregnancy to Carlisle. He asks to speak to Edward, who manages to recover enough to talk on the phone. After talking for several moments, Edward hangs up. He tells Bella that Carlisle thinks she is pregnant, too. He tells her that they need to leave as soon as possible.

As Edward packs, Bella realizes that he seems angry and is extremely focused. She assumes that he’s nervous about the baby. She thinks of how much love she already has for it as she feels it move inside her. However, Edward tells her not to worry—that they are going to get “it” out of her. Bella is shocked to realize that Edward is planning on aborting her baby.

Just before Edward and Bella leave, she asks him to pack some food for her. She uses it as an opportunity to take his phone and secretly calls Rosalie.