Monday morning rolls in with an obnoxious beeping and I realize that it is my alarm. Edward shut it off and rolls over to me, placing a hand on my protruding belly and kissing the back of my neck lightly. "Bella. Time to get up."
I stir a bit and groan. "I don't want to get up."
He chuckles. "Come on. Only one more week and then you'll be off for Christmas."
I get up and shower. Edward gets up to get Abby some breakfast and get her and him ready for the day. I jump in the shower and it seems to wake me up some. I blow dry my hair and grab some clothes to wear. I apply a little bit of make-up to my face and put my shoes on.
Abby is eating cereal when I walk into the kitchen. Edward's also eating breakfast. I pack my lunch and grab a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast. Some small talk is made at the table between us. I try to get Abby to talk some more to me.
"Hey, Abby. Do you want to help me get some things in the nursery done while I am home for a few days?"
She doesn't look up when she answered. "Sure, I guess." she grumble. I'm not sure if her grumbling is because of the subject matter or the fact that it's 6:30 in the morning.
I glance at Edward. He nods his head, encouraging me to go on. "Abby, is something wrong? Did I do something to upset you?" she only shrugs her shoulders. I don't know what to say next.
Edward steps in. "Abby," she looks him directly in the eye. "Is something wrong?"
"No. I'm happy, daddy." and she smiles.
"Good." I look at the clock and see that I need to leave. Edward notices, too. "Say good-bye to momma and go upstairs to get ready."
She comes over and hugs me lightly. I kiss the top of her head and say "I love you." She says it back while walking away from me. I still have the impression that something is wrong.
Edward walks to the front door with me. He helps me put my coat on and hands me my car keys. "Something is definitely up with her." He says.
"I know. And I have yet to figure out what. At least if I knew, I could try to fix it."
"Yeah. She will come around. We can try to talk to her more at dinner tonight."
"Yeah. I hope she does. I'm getting tired of her being so distant from me and I want to know what's wrong so that I can help her. I think it has something to do with the baby. I don't want her to be like this when the baby comes and I just have a feeling that her mood and attitude she has now is only going to get worse."
"Baby, we'll figure it out. Don't worry about it. Have her help with the baby's room. We can take her to your doctor's appointment next week. We get to find out what we're having. I'm sure that she'll be excited about that."
"Alright." I sigh. "I got to go."
He gives me a kiss good-bye. "I love you. Be careful."
"Love you too."
The drive to school is long and slow. The roads aren't great, but they aren't bad enough to delay or cancel school. I am glad that I left early. I pull into the parking lot as Jasper is getting out of his car. We greet each other and he holds the door open for me as we walk into the building. We go our separate ways to our classrooms.
I sit at my desk and wait for the computer to turn on. I log in and continue to work on getting the exam written. My students are finishing watching Macbeth today since we just read it. This gives me almost all of today to finish the exam and I am hoping that I will have it done by the end of the school day so that I don't have to stay after school or work on it during my conference period tomorrow. I will be discussing the novel they are reading with the class in Modern Lit. All in all, it is going to be an easy week.
The first three English classes come and go. The day is passing by slowly. I hate days like this. Fourth period comes and I figure that it might go a little faster since it is Modern Lit. and I am going to be leading class and not just typing up my exam.
"Alright, class. You were supposed to read chapters 14 and 15 this weekend. Put your books away. You need a pen or pencil." I grab the pop quizzes from my podium at the front of the room and start handing them out.
"Mrs. Cullen," one student, Lauren, complains. "It's exam week. We shouldn't be having a pop quiz this week." The class all agrees with her.
"I don't want to hear it. You should expect a quiz at any time in this class and if you read, you should be fine. This is my classroom and I don't need help running it. Turn these in at my desk when you're finished." My patience is starting to wear today. The day is going so slow, Abby hardly wants anything to do with me, the English exam is in four days and I still haven't finished writing it, students are complaining about this quiz and 8th period is coming up. Let's just say, 8th period is the most entertaining class of the day. Sometimes in a good way, but usually not. The boys in that class are sometimes so…I can't even think of the word. Flirtatious, obnoxious sometimes.
The kids stop complaining and take their quiz. I sit down and continue on the exam until they are done. We start up on the class discussion and I tell them that they have five chapters to read over break. From what was said earlier, they know not to start whining about the amount they have to read and I am grateful for that.
I finish the exam during lunch and I am ready to go home once the day is done.
As my last class of the day is walking out of the room, I quickly remind them to buy notecards for the senior research paper that they are going to be starting after break. I don't stay after school for very long. Only enough time to finish printing off the exams and pack up my stuff.
Abby comes running to where I am as soon as I walk in the door. "Mommy, Daddy took me to Miss Courtney's house today." Courtney is our babysitter.
"Really? You weren't supposed to go there today. Where is he?"
"In his office. He's talking on the phone to someone important and he said that I can't bother him unless it's really important." She says it with a very serious face.
"Ok. Did you have fun today?"
"Yeah. But I fell off of my chair at lunch and got a booboo. So Miss Courtney gave me a Band-Aid. It has Dora on it, see?" she lifts her pant leg up to reveal her Band-Aid.
"I see that, baby. Were you ok?"
"After I got the Band-Aid I was. Miss Courtney made it feel all better."
"Good. I'm glad you're all better." I hear Edward say good-bye to whoever he's talking to on the phone. He breathes out a heavy sigh; a sigh I know means he is working on something. "Go play, Abby. I need to talk to Daddy."
Abby skips off to the living room and continues watching her cartoons. I walk into the office and I see Edward sitting with both elbows on top of a book and fingers in his hair. He is concentrating hard on writing something and doesn't seem to notice me walk in until I lightly knock on the wall by the door. He looks up. "Hi." I says. "I heard she went to Courtney's today?"
"Yeah. I had to go into work for a couple hours to talk to a patient."
"Oh. I thought you weren't on call?"
"I wasn't, but one person came in yesterday having to be put on suicide watch and another came in today. They needed the extra help. How was your day?"
"It was ok. I got my exam done. I'm just ready for a few weeks off."
"I wish I got a few weeks off." he grumbles.
"I know. At least you get Christmas off, though."
"Yeah."
"What are you writing?" I ask curiously.
"Just an evaluation form."
"Alright. Then I'll let you get back to work. Is there anything in particular you want for dinner?"
"No. You can just make whatever." he says. He seems a little distracted having his eyes focused on the paper in front of him.
I turn to walk out the door.
"Hey," Edward calls.
"Yeah?" I turn back around to face him.
"Are you ok? You look like something's wrong."
"I fine. My back hurts a little, but that's it."
Edward puts his pen down and shuts his computer. He stands up, walking over to me and wrapping his arms around my waist. He gives me a kiss and says, "Bella, how 'bout you go sit down and rest and I will make dinner tonight."
"No. I can do it."
"Bella, you just told me that your back hurts."
"It's manageable."
He raises his eyebrow. "I will make dinner." he tells me firmly.
"Can I clean up?"
"No. I'm sure you've been on your feet all day dealing with high-school kids."
"Not really. I worked on the exam most of the day while the kids finished watching a movie. At least let me do something productive."
He thinks about it for a second. "There's a whole load of laundry that needs to be folded."
"Fine."