Chapter Two: First to Know
"Fuck," I hissed, pulling Bella down to me, pressing my lips to hers as I came.
She panted my name, trembling in my arms after the third time I'd made her come tonight. It was Friday — well, Saturday morning, technically — and Little One was at my parents' house for the night. It was just Bella and me for once, and we took advantage of the empty house.
Once she'd calmed down, Bella rolled off of my chest, curling into my side as I pressed a kiss to her temple. She was so fucking gorgeous . . . red cheeks, light sweat, big eyes looking up at me. Tonight had been amazing, especially after the stress from the last week with starting Sofia in school and falling back into a normal routine.
"You're so beautiful," I said, moving a strand of hair from her forehead.
She smiled up at me. "Thank you. I'm . . . I'm going to need a break now," she giggled softly as I grinned proudly.
"Yeah, me too."
She rested her head against my chest as I caressed her lower back. We just laid there for a few moments, talking about nothing of importance before walking downstairs together. She pulled her robe tighter before opening the freezer, pulling a tub of Ben and Jerry's out and grabbing two spoons.
"Ice cream after sex . . . nice," I said, smirking and sitting down at the bar. She sat down next to me and peeled off the lid before digging right in.
"I think it tastes better this way," she giggled. "Either that or I was really craving Cherry Garcia, which means you can thank the baby."
I smiled, resting my hand against her flat stomach. From her last period, I'd estimated that she was about six week along. Her first prenatal appointment wasn't for another two weeks, so we really didn't know any certainties yet. I wasn't thrilled we had to wait so long to get in, but I knew most OBs didn't see a woman until she was eight to ten weeks anyway. It wasn't like an ultrasound would show anything yet, either.
I was just so damn anxious about everything. I'd never experienced a pregnancy before, so this was all new and . . . well, it was pretty fucking scary. I worried that there was something wrong with the baby or something would happen to Bella. Hell, I'd even gone over all the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy with her, making sure she wasn't experiencing any of them.
"Does everything, you know, seem all right?" I asked.
She nodded, smiling. "I'm fine, Edward. The amazing sex we just had didn't hurt the baby."
I laughed. "I did know that. I just wanted to make sure you were feeling okay."
"I'm great, actually, though . . . the house does seem kind of empty without Sofia."
I sighed, nodding. It really did. We hadn't been loaning the kid out much recently, which meant less alone time, but more time to spend with our daughter. Tonight was actually the first night she'd stayed with my parents in months, and it was just strange not having her here. I missed my little one. There was no bathroom disaster, no bedtime story, or kiss good night.
"I guess we should enjoy it, though," Bella said. "I mean, in a few short months, we'll have two kids to take care of. Back to midnight feedings, poopy diapers, nonstop crying . . ." She trailed off.
"But we're ready for it, right?"
She smiled, caressing her stomach. "Yes. I can't wait to see you with another baby. You know, that's really why I fell in love with you. You're lucky the attraction's still there," she teased.
"Ha, good one."
She put her spoon down and licked her lips before scrunching her nose up. Her tells were pretty simple — or maybe I just knew her well enough — and the nose scrunch was the most obvious. Naught but moments later, she hurried off of the stool, head over the trash can. It hadn't happened that many times — for which I was thankful — but if Bella hadn't figured out she was knocked up a few days ago, it'd have been pretty obvious now with the morning sickness.
I rubbed her back after grabbing a napkin, holding it out for her once she finished. "Maybe after-sex ice cream wasn't the best idea," I said, brushing her hair from her eyes.
She huffed, balling the napkin up in her hand and tossing it into the bag. "No, but at least that's easier than the Chinese food yesterday."
"Yeah, you should probably avoid spicy shit for a while. Here, I'll take this out while you get a bath."
She nodded, smiling lightly. "Thank you, and I expect you'll join me?"
I kissed her forehead. "Of course, Nibbles."
. . . . .
After I'd taken the trash out, I found Bella upstairs in our bathroom, filling the giant ass tub with half the bottle of bubble bath shit. She just smirked and took her robe off, stepping into the half full tub.
"It smells like my mother's flower shop in here," I chuckled, dropping my pants.
"Lovely, right?"
"Sure, we'll go with that."
She giggled, moving forward as I slid in behind her. She rested back against my chest, taking my hand and putting it over her stomach. "Do you want another girl?" she asked.
"I don't care." Okay . . . maybe I was rooting for a boy a little bit. I needed to reclaim my masculinity after all the tea parties and playing house I'd done. I didn't want to say it out loud, though, because I'd sure as hell get another girl. "As long as it's healthy, I'll be happy."
"I kind of want a boy." She looked back at me, pressing her hand to the side of my face. "He'll be just as handsome as his daddy, and I'm sure he'll be quite the charmer, too."
"Oh, I'm charming?"
"No, I am," she laughed. "Admit it. You want one, too."
I shrugged. "I don't want to jinx it."
"Its gender is already decided, doctor."
"True, and I've already made one girl, so . . . I really do just want it to be healthy. I think if I survived Sofia, I'll survive another girl. I won't let you corrupt this one with pink shit, though."
She rolled her eyes before laying her head back against my shoulder. "You looked dashing in that tutu."
I moved my lips against her neck, sucking softly. "I'm always dashing."
She tilted her head more, letting me move up and down along her jaw. My hand moved lower on her stomach, between her legs as she parted herself more for me. I moved my thumb against her clit, grinning at the gasp that came from her. I pushed two fingers into her, enjoying her warmth around me.
"You're so fucking perfect, you know that?" I asked, nipping at her ear.
She moaned as my fingers moved quicker into her and my thumb circled her clit. Her hand came up around my head, grasping my hair between her fingers. My other hand cupped her breast, brushing over her nipple.
It wasn't long before I felt her tighten around my fingers. "Edward," she cried breathlessly, pushing her body against my hand, moving with me. My name continued to pour from her lips, joined by God's and a few fucks. My wife was so damn perfect, and I could honestly listen to her all night long.
. . . . .
The bathroom was mess by the time we were done, and we'd decided to worry about it the next day. Bella and I lay down and I wound up sleeping until nine — which was practically unheard of. I got up, leaving Bella alone in bed. She was exhausted, so I didn't dare wake her on a day I didn't have to. The first trimester of any pregnancy was exhausting, adding that to caring for a rambunctious five year old and working, she had every right to stay in bed as long as she damn well pleased.
I went downstairs and started coffee so I didn't bother her. As I waited for her to get up, I did some work I'd brought home and enjoyed not watching cartoons for once. The silence was beautiful and without having Little One here to distract me, I finished my work quickly. Of course right after I closed my laptop and put my shit away, my phone began ringing.
It was Mom, so I quickly put it to my ear. Before I could say anything, though, Little One did. "Hi, Daddy!"
"Hi, baby girl," I said. "Does Nana know you have her phone?"
Sofia's ability to swipe phones and use them better than most adults was a little freaky at times. I actually had to put a fucking password on mine to keep her out, but apparently four eights wasn't very hard to break and I'd wound up with a new background of her eye.
"Uh-huh, she told me to call you," she said. "We gonna go to a movie, okay?"
"You have to ask him, sweetheart," I heard Mom say.
"Oh, can we go to a movie, Daddy? Please?"
I chuckled, nodding to myself. "Yes, but may I talk to Nana?"
"Thank you!" she yelled before Mom took the phone from her.
"We saw a commercial and she begged, Edward," Mom laughed. "They're playing The Lion King in theaters again. I didn't think you'd mind, but I wasn't sure what your plans were today."
"It's fine," I said, pouring another cup of coffee. "We really don't have any, so as long as you guys want to take her, I don't care."
"Great! And why don't you and Bella just come over for dinner this evening and pick her up then?"
Actually, that sounded pretty fucking great. It'd give Bella another night off of cooking and meant she could just relax all day. "I'll ask Bella when she gets up, but that sounds good to me. Thank you for taking Sofia last night. Was she good?"
"Of course! Her and Pawpaw had a pretty intense game of hide and seek, and then we watched Tangled together and ate ice cream way after her bedtime."
I smiled to myself. My kid probably just had to bat her eyelashes at Dad to get ice cream when she should have been sleeping. He was the biggest pushover in the world for his only granddaughter. "Sounds like she had the same thought as Bella," I said. "Just let me know when you want us there, all right?"
"I will. I'll see you later. I love you."
"Love you too, Mom. Bye."
After I hung up the phone, I looked toward the staircase and found Bella finally coming down. She looked at the cup of coffee in my hand and pouted. I tried so damn hard not to laugh.
"I don't think you should get to drink coffee if I can't," she said, walking into my out stretched arm. She tilted her head up and I kissed her softly.
"I can start a pot of decaf."
She narrowed her eyes. "That's not even funny."
While she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, I hid my amusement and pulled the box of Cheerios from the cabinet for her. As she ate, I told her about Mom's offer and she was fine with it, of course. We hadn't told anyone about the pregnancy yet and I promised I wouldn't spill it over dinner because, well, I'd be the one to do it.
We spent the day around the house and I helped her with laundry between shitty old movies that she happened to love. I wound up taking a nap through one of them, actually. It was heaven.
"We need to do Sofia's speech therapy homework tomorrow," Bella reminded me as she sat back down on the couch, moving against my side as I wrapped my arm with her.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'll help her with it before dinner or something."
Even though we'd always tried to get Little One to and pronounce the R sound, it just wasn't happening. I found the mispronunciation fucking adorable, but I knew that if we didn't try to get her to talk correctly now, it'd be even harder as she got older. Luckily, the school had a speech therapist and she was put into the program. She had a half hour session twice a week, and she said it was fun so far. Plus, the teacher gave the kids stickers. Stickers were like crack for Little One.
"And you have to be at the school next Friday for career day," she said. "You have the morning off, right?"
My blank stare made her eyes grow wide. I'd kind of forgotten, actually. "I'll get it off."
"You said you would last year too, but you couldn't! Edward, you promised."
"I'll be there." I tightened my arm around her, kissing her temple. "Stop freaking out, okay? I'm pretty sure I don't have anything scheduled, so I'll just go in late."
"Did you at least make sure to take off the eighteenth for my prenatal appointment?"
"Yes, I did do that. See? I'm not that awful . . . just a little bit." I smirked.
The corner of her mouth turned up slightly. "Yeah, just a little awful. I'm sorry. I'm just . . . frazzled, I guess. You did forget career day, though, so I get to be upset with you."
I nodded. "Yep, so do I have to suffer through another movie?"
"No, but only because I need to go shower. Maybe I'll spank you tonight," she laughed.
"I'm not sure I'm into that, but if it ends with sex, I'll try it."
She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Nope, you've gotten plenty lately. I think the thing inside of me, sucking every bit of energy out of me is proof of that."
The only reason I didn't cry was because her hormones would eventually go apeshit, and she'd jump me soon enough. I was looking forward to that . . . along with her boobs that already seemed to be a little fuller.
AFMFW
When we got to my parent's house and walked inside, Little One was quick to come running. I swung her up into my arms, kissing her cheek as she squeezed my neck before she went after Bella.
"I missed you, sweet girl," Bella said, taking her hand as she led us into the living room.
"I missed you too, Mommy," Sofia said. "Guess what I got to see today? Lion King!"
"Oh, really? I bet that was awesome!"
Little One nodded her head fervently. "It was! Nana and Pawpaw took me and it was sooo awesome! I even gots a special cup! Look!"
She picked it up off of the couch, holding it out to Bella and me. Dad told me she'd been good and didn't throw a hissy fit when they refused to get her more candy. That wasn't a small feat, let's just say.
"I'm going to see if your mom needs help with dinner," Bella said as I sat down on the couch and Sofia crawled up onto my lap. "I'm so glad you had fun, sweetie."
Little One went on to tell me more about her night with my parents, looking at Dad to confirm everything. He was grinning, nodding along and adding details she'd forgotten.
"I'm gonna go see Mommy," Little One said, sliding off of my lap.
"Okay, but don't get in their way," I said.
Once she disappeared into the kitchen, Dad and I talked a little about my work. I hadn't been named chief of surgery yet at Forks, but it was looking like a distinct possibility within the next year or two. Dr. James would be retiring soon, handing his job to the current chief of surgery, Dr. Aro Valente.
"How's the clinic?" I asked.
Dad had been working part-time at the free clinic in town since he'd retired years ago. He and Mom actually donated a shit load of money to it each year, so he worked whenever he wanted. It wasn't something I'd want to do, but he enjoyed it. I couldn't imagine not being in an operating room.
He smiled. "It's doing very well, actually. The hospital has asked me to run it, though I turned it down. I've grown too accustomed to my free time and spending it with my grandchildren."
It took a while and few failed attempts for Rosalie and Emmett to conceive again, but they finally had another boy last December. His name was Felix, and Sofia fucking loved him, so I hoped that'd mean she'd adjust to her new sibling when it came time. I wasn't sure, though, because she tended to get jealous if Bella held Felix for too long. The new baby would be a huge change and though I was excited, I worried about my little girl. When we were able to tell people, I planned to ask Rose for some tips. Ben seemed to transition well enough.
Once Mom came out to tell us dinner was ready, Dad and I headed into the dining room. I hadn't seen Mom yet, so I quickly hugged her, thanking her for inviting us. Dinner was fucking amazing, of course, and we talked about our lives and what had been going on. Little One was thrilled to tell my parents about her new friends in school.
"She was actually pretty scared her first day," I said, reaching for my glass. "But by the time I'd picked her up, she was back to herself, telling me she couldn't wait to go back."
"I made soooo many fwiends," Little One said. "It's fun! And Mommy's class is wight next doowah and we have lunch togethewah and I gets to play with hewah at wecess."
Bella smiled, nodding. "Her teacher says she's been very good in class, too. We're so proud."
Little One just grinned, spooning another mouthful of Mom's homemade macaroni and cheese into her mouth.
As we continued to eat, I glanced next to me to find Bella putting her fork down. Oh, shit. I took her hand, squeezing it lightly as she looked up at me, grimacing. "Um, if you'll excuse me," she said, pushing her chair back.
She hurried out of the room toward the bathroom, and I quickly followed behind her. I held her hair back as she lost her dinner, apologizing between bouts. I figured we could pass it off as gastroenteritis, but my parents might know better.
"Are you okay?" I asked, helping her up off of the floor.
She nodded, wiping her mouth with a tissue. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't keep it down."
I kissed her forehead and shook my head. "It's fine, Bella. We'll play it off as a stomach bug, all right?"
"Maybe we should tell them? I don't like lying."
"But if we tell them tonight, Sofia might hear. I don't want her to know just yet."
I really doubted there would be any issues with the pregnancy, but I didn't want Little One to know and then something happen. I mean, it was estimated that one in four pregnancies ended in miscarriage and Sofia was just too young to understand that.
"Me either," she sighed. "So . . . stomach bug? Will your dad buy that?"
"I think it's Mom we have to worry about," I chuckled lowly.
When Rosalie called a family dinner to tell us she was pregnant again, she barely got the words out before Mom said that she just knew it. The same thing happened when Alice and Jasper told her they were expecting Cynthia two years ago. Mom wasn't just a baby whisperer, but apparently a uterus whisperer as well.
"Shit," she cursed. "She probably knows already!"
"At least I didn't spill the beans." I smirked.
She slapped my chest, glaring at me. "Not funny, Edward. I need to get the bottle of mouthwash from my purse."
When we left the bathroom, Bella headed to the foyer for her purse while I went back into the dining room. Of course all eyes were on me, waiting for an explanation. I fucking sucked at lying to my parents.
"I think Bella's coming down with something," I said, putting Bella's plate over mine. "We should probably go."
"Is she okay?" Dad asked, brow furrowed in concern.
I nodded. "Yeah, yeah, just gastroenteritis probably. We'll stop at the pharmacy on the way home and pick up medicine. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"We should keep Sofia again tonight then," Mom said, standing up and taking the plates from me. "I wouldn't want her to get sick."
Dad nodded. "That's probably for the best, actually."
"No, I'll be fine," Bella said, coming back into the room. "I really don't even feel that bad. I'm so sorry for ruining dinner."
"Nonsense," Mom said. "You can't help feeling ill. Really, we have no problems with keeping Sofia another night."
"I can stay?" Little One asked, smiling.
I glanced at Bella, pleading for her to come up with a reason to take Sofia home. I really didn't like lying to my parents and having them keep Little One again because of it.
"Why don't you go wash up and play with your toys for a little bit?" Bella asked. "We need to talk to Nana and Pawpaw."
"I wanna stay again, though."
"Maybe," I said. "Go on upstairs and we'll talk about it."
She nodded, sliding off of the chair and heading upstairs to the room my parents had for her. Bella and I sat back down as Mom and Dad watched us closely. Suddenly, Mom smiled, looking at Bella.
Well, that didn't take long.
"Why don't you tell them, Edward," Bella said, looking up at me.
Okay, so I was pretty damn excited to share the news, and though waiting might have been better, this worked out pretty well. I grinned, squeezing Bella's hand. "Bella's pregnant. It's still early, but we're sure."
The high pitched sound that came from my mother about made my ears bleed. "Oh my God! Really?" she asked.
I nodded. "She's about six weeks. Her first prenatal appointment isn't for another two weeks, so that's just a guess. We were going to wait until after the appointment to tell you guys, actually."
"We just wanted to be sure everything was okay," Bella said.
"Well, morning sickness is always a good sign," Dad said, smiling. "Congratulations. I'm so happy for you both."
"Yes! This is wonderful!" Mom said, standing up. She came around the table with Dad as we stood and embraced Bella tightly, kissing her cheek.
I shook Dad's hand and he pulled me into a hug. "You're going to be a father again, son."
"Yeah, I can't wait," I said, nodding.
"Another baby!" Mom said, throwing her arms around my neck as Dad hugged Bella. "Oh, I'm so thrilled!"
"We both are," Dad said. "I take it Sofia doesn't know?"
I shook my head. "We're going to wait until after the appointment to tell her and everyone else. Sorry about, you know, lying."
Mom rolled her eyes. "You didn't do a very good job of it. I'd already suspected when Bella rushed to the bathroom."
"Of course you did," I laughed.
"I want that sonogram picture, got it?" she asked as Dad nodded. "Bella, if you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask, okay?"
Bella smiled. "Thank you, Esme."
"But overall you feel all right?" Dad asked.
She nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I'm tired, but the morning sickness hasn't been that awful — nothing like the horror stories Rosalie told me about. I'm really excited."
"Of course you are, dear. We're here for you both if you need anything."
"Just say the word," Mom added.
I knew my parents would be happy for us, so I was really fucking happy we told them earlier than planned. It made it all so much more real. I didn't have this part of it with Little One, but I was actually pretty glad I got to experience it all with Bella and not Kate — though I did wish I could have been there for Sofia earlier.
This was another new chapter of our lives, and I planned to enjoy every moment of it.