A/N

Twilight and the characters are property of Stephenie Meyer.

I only own the plot.

Locations mentioned in the story are real and the links to them are on my profile.

Thanks for reading my story and for the comments. I'd love to hear from you all what you think.

Chapter 7 The Empress

Characters: Alice, Jasper, Edward, Bella, and Kitty

Alice POV

"Jasper, you know how much I love excitement, but right I'm more than happy that things are normal. Bella and Kitty have settled in and now Mom and Dad have gone home. Finally we can all live happily ever after," I said to Jasper.

Jasper chuckled. "I wouldn't be so sure sweetheart. Bella is a danger magnet. You have a flair for drama. With you two together I think things will never be normal and I would never be bored."

"Never say never, Jasper." I warned him.

Jasper chuckled again. "Whatever you say sweetheart. We're almost at South Coast Plaza now. Where do you want me to park?" Jasper asked.

"Park in the North structure. That way I can see Nordstrom and Chanel first." I said to Jasper excitedly as I now could see the mall complex.

"I'm a bit thirsty and I could have a bite to eat. Let's take a break at Quattro Caffé before we start shopping." Jasper said. I wanted to go straight to Nordstrom but I felt that if I let him have this he would be more inclined to me dragging him around the mall so I decided to agree.

"That actually sounds like a great idea Jasper! I think I'm going to order a Panini. Oh but pizza sounds good too. Maybe we should share a pizza, oh but their appetizers are great too maybe we can get several different antipasti. Oh I can't decide."

Jasper chuckled again. "I'm glad that you really like my idea of going to Quattro Caffé. We can order anything you like sweetheart. No one's stopping you. They'll just have to add another table to ours. I'm used to the servers telling us we are ordering too much food. I love the look on their faces when they see you finish most of it yourself," he said laughing.

We were lucky to get seated at the patio. We ordered various antipasti, Ravioli ai Tres Formaggi, and Linguine Vongole. After we ate we quickly made our way to the stores.

While I waited for Jasper to return from the car to drop off the bags of items I already purchase I got a call from Bella. I panicked when I heard distress in her voice.

"Alice I'm sorry to call but I need help." Bella said in a faint voice.

"What's wrong Bella? Are you all right?" I was afraid to hear her reply to my question.

"I'm not feeling well but I'm better than I was 5 minutes ago. I felt dizzy and nauseas. Do you think you can watch Kitty for me when you get back?" she asked me.

"Bella do you want me to call 911 for you? Where's Kitty?" I was now starting to hyperventilate.

"She's with me here in the bathroom. I don't need to go to the hospital." Bella said but she sounded too weak and I could tell that she could barely speak.

"Hang in there Bella. I'm sending help your way." I hung up and called Edward.

"Get to Bella's now!" I screamed into the phone when Edward picked up his phone.

"Slow down Alice. You're scaring me. What do you mean get to Bella's now? I dropped her off at her place few hours ago." Edward replied to me confused.

"Just drive to Bella's. Where are you anyway?" I asked Edward hoping he wasn't far from Bella like I was.

"I'm in the car Alice. I'm actually in Santa Monica so I can get to Bella's in minutes but why do you need me to go to Bella's?" he asked me.

"I got a distressed call from Bella. She said she felt dizzy and nauseas but she says she doesn't need to go to the hospital. She's really stubborn and normally refuses to go to the hospital. I need you to check her out and take her to the hospital if you think she should." I explained to him how Bella reacts to going to the hospital.

"All right Alice I'm gonna let you go. I'll give you a call after I have a handle on the situation." Edward said and I could sense panic in his voice.

"Alice what's wrong?" Jasper asked me when he came back as I was getting off the phone with Edward.

"I got a call from Bella that she wasn't feeling well so I just called Edward to send him to Bella's. He should be there in a few minutes. Luckily he was in Santa Monica when I called him. He'll call me back when he gets a handle on the situation. Let's get our car and start heading back home," I told him.

Edward POV

I started to pound on Bella's door. From the window I saw Kitty run towards the door carrying a step stool. I was afraid Kitty might fall running with the step stool that looked half her size. Thankfully she managed without falling and opened the door for me although it took several minutes but it felt much longer waiting outside the door.

Kitty grabbed my hand and ran towards the bathroom with me behind her. I was shocked to find Bella blacked out on the bathroom floor. I sat beside Bella to check her breathing and her pulse. I checked her head to see if there was any injury. I called out to Bella but she wouldn't wake to my call. I picked her up gently and carried her to the couch.

I checked to make sure that Kitty was all right. Her face was all red and her eyes puffy from crying. She was still sobbing and looked exhausted from crying. I picked Kitty up and told her that everything was going to be all right.

"Is Mommy going to wake up? Is she going to the clouds like Daddy?" she asked terrified.

"We'll take Mommy to the hospital. She'll get all the care she needs there. Hold on to my shirt I need to carry your Mommy." I said to Kitty as I picked Bella up to take her to St. John's.

I called Alice to tell her that I was taking Bella to St. John's and that I needed her to call Eleazar to ask him to call his friends at St. John's so that they would be ready to assist as soon as I get there with Bella since we weren't going in on an ambulance.

As soon as I pulled up to the emergency entrance a gurney was brought so that we could transfer Bella on to it. The doctor and nurses took Bella, and I was led to fill in medical information.

Kitty and I sat in the waiting room while Bella was being treated and we waited for Alice and Jasper to arrive. In a few minutes Kitty fell asleep in my lap. I don't know how much time had passed when Alice and Jasper joined me in the waiting room. I told Alice I'll go and ask information from the doctor but Jasper said they'll go do that since I had Kitty asleep in my lap.

Jasper and Alice came back to let me know that the nurse said they ran tests on Bella and nothing serious was going on. They said that Bella just needed to rest.

"I'll stay with Bella till she wakes up and take her home when they release her," I said to Alice and Jasper.

"I want to stay." Alice said.

"Since Ally wants to stay it doesn't make sense for all of us to stay here when we should be tucking Kitty in bed. I'll stay with Ally and take Bella home. Would you be able to take care of Kitty?" Jasper asked me.

"Let me talk to the doctor so that I can know exactly what is going on with Bella and what kind of tests they ran on her. Once I'm satisfied with the treatment they've administered to Bella I'll take Kitty back home." I said as I transferred Kitty from my arms to Jasper's.

I spoke to the doctor in charge and although what they have done to Bella was not exactly standard procedure I was satisfied enough. I was a little annoyed they wouldn't let me see her file. I didn't want to argue right there so I decided to just ask Eleazar later. I went back to the waiting area and got Kitty and left the hospital.

Kitty woke up on the drive back home. "Where's Mommy?" she asked with panic in her voice.

"Your Mommy is fine Kitty. She's sleeping at the hospital. When she wakes up Alice and Jasper will bring her home." I assured Kitty.

"I wanted to see Mommy," she said with a frown.

"Don't worry baby we'll see Mommy real soon. Are you hungry Kitty? Do you want me to make something at home for you?" I asked Kitty when I realised that now it was way past dinner and bed time for her. Kitty smiled and nodded.

When we got back into the apartment I took Kitty to her room and told her to play there while I made something for her to eat. She told me she wanted to eat Mac and Cheese.

I went to the kitchen and found a box of Dinosaur Mac and Cheese. I rarely cooked so I was out of practice and was glad I only had to make Mac and Cheese.

I finished making Mac and Cheese, set the table, and helped Kitty into her chair. Kitty shook her head pointed to the plate I set for her. "Not pink," Kitty said and pointed to the dishwasher. When I looked inside the dishwasher I found several child size pink plastic plates and bowls. They were really small. I pulled out the plastic bowl and scooped some Mac and Cheese and placed it in front of her.

While I watched her eat I understood what Bella meant that she didn't have time to eat. I had to keep picking up food that she dropped that didn't make it into her mouth and I had to keep wiping the food dribbling down her chin just like Bella had said. I felt like just spoon feeding her as it would be so much easier but I realised that Kitty needed to practice to eat on her own. As I watched Kitty eat I couldn't help but wonder what kind of baby Bella had been. I see a lot of similarities between them like the way they held themselves, facial expression, and the way they bit their bottom lip.

Once Kitty was done eating we went to sit in front of the TV. While she was watching TV I went to the bathroom to run a bath. Bella hadn't bathed Kitty after they got back from the beach. Kitty's hair was sticky and there were sand caught in them. I was sure Bella had planned on bathing Kitty before tucking her in bed so I decided I needed to manage it myself. I looked around and found a funny looking colorful bottle of baby shampoo and baby body wash. As soon as the tub was full I went to Kitty's room and looked for her pajamas and set it on her bed.

I went back to the living room, led Kitty to the bathroom, helped her undress, and sat her in the tub. I got a washcloth and squirted body wash on it. "Can you wash your body yourself or does your Mommy wash you?"

"Mommy," she replied. I took a deep breath and exhaled and told myself I can do this. I quickly washed her body and told her to close her eyes tight and lathered her hair with shampoo. Then I realised I didn't know how to wash the shampoo off her hair since I had poured bubble bath in the water. She was so short and the shower head was so high up compared to her height I didn't think the water would hit her properly. After trying to figure out how to get the suds out of her hair I decided to pick her up and placed her head right under the shower head. Kitty squealed and laughed when the water from the shower hit her head. The shower curtain wasn't really doing its job I now had water spraying out of the curtained area as the water bounced off both Kitty's head and mine. Although I had made a huge mess in the bathroom I was satisfied that I was at least able to get the suds out. I'm sure this isn't what Bella would normally do but it worked so I was happy. I set Kitty on the bath mat and dried her. I wrapped her in the bath towel, picked her up again, took her to her bedroom and helped put on her pajamas. Kitty was giggling the whole time.

"Why are you giggling Kitty?" I said raising one of my eyebrows. "Did I do something funny?"

"Yup" she said and giggled again.

I'm sure everything I did in the bathroom was not the way Bella bathes Kitty but I really didn't want to call Alice to ask her. Kitty's clean and I didn't get any shampoo in her eyes. I was proud I managed to bathe Kitty without drowning her. Now I just have to brush her hair and get the tangles out. At the moment she looks like a drowned cat but thankfully she looks happy as she was still giggling. Drying and getting the tangles out of her hair was quite a challenge. I ended up pulling out a lot of her hair and Kitty looked really annoyed. I kept apologizing to her every time I brushed her hair.

I was going to tuck Kitty in her bed but she refused. She told me she wanted to sleep in Bella's bed. She said she wanted to sleep where it smelled like Mommy. I didn't know if Bella allowed her to sleep in her bed but considering the circumstance of Kitty missing her Mommy I was sure Bella would understand so I tucked Kitty in Bella's bed. Kitty asked me to read her bedtime story so I went to Kitty's room and grabbed the book from her nightstand.

When I was about to start reading to her Kitty lying on top of Bella's bedspread Kitty told me to get inside the bed too. I didn't think Bella was going to like this but her bed smelled so good I couldn't resist Kitty's offer. I got inside the bed and the sheets and the pillows smelled like Bella.

After I started to read a little Kitty's eyelids started to look heavy. The comfort being in bed was also making it increasingly hard for me to keep reading the story. My eyelids started to feel really heavy too and I struggled to stay awake.

I stirred awake when I felt something on my chest. It smelled floral and fruity. I opened my eyes to see what it was and found Kitty's head resting on my chest. It was my first time to sleep with a little child in my arms in bed since I don't have any nieces or nephews yet. It felt wonderful. I felt a sense of purpose that she needed me to keep her safe and protect her from harm. I looked at the clock and realised I had slept for 2 hours.

I made it to the kitchen to make some coffee. I felt a little hungry and looked inside Bella's fridge. It was well stocked but I was too tired to cook. Then I saw some leftover cupcakes I brought to Bella to her housewarming. I grabbed one of them and went to sit on the couch to watch T.V.

I checked my phone and saw that I had received a message from Alice. The text said that they were on their way back with Bella. When I saw shadows go past the window I went to the door to see if they would need any help. Alice came into the apartment and Jasper came in with his arms around Bella to keep her steady. Bella looked up and smiled and me and said, "Thank you Edward. I'm really sorry I ruined your day. You must be really tied," she said worriedly.

"No need to thank me Bella, I hadn't done anything I didn't want to. Kitty's been great. She's fast asleep in your bed. She refused to sleep in her own. I hope it's all right with you," I said hoping she wouldn't have a problem with it.

"Not a problem at all. It happens lately. When she is nervous or scared she asks me if she can sleep in my bed," Bella said while we walked to her bedroom.

Jasper, Alice and I went back to the living room to have coffee after we tucked Bella in her bed. In a little while Alice left to go to the bathroom. "Judging by what the tub looks like I take it you had quite a struggle bathing Kitty." Alice laughed when she returned from the bathroom. I shrugged at her.

"I think we all had a long day. Why don't you go home and catch some sleep. Jasper, that goes for you too. I'll take Bella's guestroom." Alice said.

"All right Alice. Take care of Bella. I'll be back later to check on Bella." I said to Alice and left Bella's apartment.

Bella POV

It's been 2 weeks since the incident in the bathroom. What the doctor revealed to me at the hospital was something I had not anticipated to hear. I was pregnant again. I shouldn't have been so shocked since I missed my last Depo shot but for some reason I just never thought Stephen was healthy enough to be fertile. But I was wrong I guess it's really true that all it takes is once and one little swimmer. I had been intimate with Stephen when he was in remission right before his final hospitalization. The doctor told me to think carefully what I want to do. She had warned me that there is a risk of miscarriage or problems with my pregnancy due to the fact that Stephen had chemo. I had blamed my non cycle as a result from stress and never anticipated that I was pregnant. I was always irregular so the fact that I only spotted over the last few months didn't alert me that I may be pregnant.

When I told Alice about my pregnancy she was shocked and she cried with me. She called the baby Stephen's miracle baby. I still don't feel mentally prepared. Alice went with me for my first ultrasound last week. I'm still not showing but I should be really soon. Alice is excited that she can design maternity clothing with me in mind. I had asked Alice not tell anyone except Jasper that I'm pregnant. I'm not quite sure why I had asked that, whether it was fear from miscarriage, or whether I just didn't feel prepared to be having another baby. I also don't know why I feel nervous to tell Edward that I'm having a baby.

I should be happy that now I have a baby growing inside me that the love Stephen and I had for each other created. Stephen is gone but he is going to be reborn through my baby. Why am I not thrilled like I was when I found out I was pregnant with Kitty? I should be squealing and running around with Alice that I was going to have another baby. I should be out with her buying T shirts and other things that have Mommy on them. It's different this time. I don't have Stephen. I don't have Stephen to make my midnight run for food I crave, he's not around to massage my feet, he's not around to tell me how beautiful I look despite looking like a whale, he's not around… he's not around anymore. How will I do this alone? My baby will never know his or her father.

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A/N

I'd love to hear what you think of Bella being pregnant with Stephen's baby. Yay or Nay? I've been pondering on this since I started writing this story. I wanted a little drama between Edward and Bella. I did some research and also got some feedback from my friend who is a doctor that it is medically possible that Bella could get pregnant and have a healthy baby depending on the chemo Stephen had even if he wasn't in remission.