Disc: I don't own Twilight.
Eternal
Chapter 7: Endings and Beginnings
Bella looked longingly back at the room. "Do we have to go?" Edward wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to go either." He kissed her neck. "I actually have to go into work on Monday."
"Oh right, you're working now." During the last semester of college Edward had started taking some classes to go towards a medical degree. He had already taken some of them and he had been able to test out of a lot of it. Lately he had been picking up shifts at the hospital helping Carlisle. "Soon you'll be doctor Cullen."
"Maybe doctor Edward. Doctor Cullen might get confusing. Come on. We'll miss our flight." He kissed her again then picked up their bags and headed out the door. Bella followed. The rest of their honeymoon had been amazing. Edward had taken her out every night to walk on the beach or through the town. One day he had rented a boat and had taken her out on the ocean. Each night he would bring her back to the hotel and they would make love until very early in the morning. They were being more careful now, but it was still amazing. Despite all of this, Bella still couldn't quite get rid of the anxiety that hung over her. She couldn't wait until she would be able to tell whether or not her mistake would make them parents. Edward kept telling her that it would be alright, that they would get through it together, but she knew that he was panicking too. "Bella." She snapped out of her thoughts and focused on Edward who was holding her car door open for her. She smiled sheepishly then got in. He closed the door then went around to his side and got in. He started it up and headed for the airport. "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm just…" she looked over at him. "I'm worried about being pregnant. Edward, we're not ready to have a baby." He looked straight ahead.
"We'll be okay. We don't even know if you are pregnant." He reached over and took her hand. "We'll get through this no matter what happens." He kissed her hand. She smiled over at him softly. He really was an amazing man. Before too long they reached the airport and found the plane waiting for them. As they boarded the plane Bella looked back and waved goodbye to beautiful Jamaica. She hoped that they would be able to make it out here again.
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Charlie parked the cruiser at the airport in Seattle and helped get Renee's bags out of the trunk. He helped her get inside and check her bags. She turned to face him. "Well, Charlie. Thank you for letting me stay, I hope I wasn't too much of a burden." She smiled.
"No, it was no problem. It was fun." After a slight awkward silence Renee hugged him tightly. She felt him shift uncomfortably, but he wrapped his arms around her. "It was really good to see you again, Renee."
"You too. Maybe I can come back and visit again sometime."
"You're welcome anytime." She let go of him and headed through security. He watched her until she disappeared. Sighing, he headed back out to his car. He was going to miss Renee. It had been nice to have her around again. Having her around had reminded him of how much he still loved her. He grumbled at himself as he got back into the car. That kind of thinking wasn't going to help anyone. She was married and as far as he knew there was nothing that would make her want to come back to Forks. He knew he certainly wasn't prepared to leave Forks. Even through all the protesting he couldn't make himself stop thinking about her. He had never stopped loving her. He slammed his door and started back towards Forks. He wondered how long it would be before he heard from her again.
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As soon as Edward and Bella got off the plane, Bella was tackled by Alice. "Tell me about everything!" Alice shouted at her. Bella laughed.
"I can't tell you about everything."
"I don't want to hear about those parts anyway." She helped them drag the stuff back to Edward's waiting Volvo as Bella told her about all of the fun stuff they had done. "That sounds so romantic. I wonder if Jazz would take me to Jamaica. How'd it work out with the not having your pills." She saw Edward tense in the driver's seat.
"I don't know yet. I probably won't be able to tell until the middle of next week at the earliest."
"Can I babysit?"
"Alice, we don't know anything yet." Bella tried desperately to get Alice to change the subject. Alice seemed to get it.
"When are you going back?" Bella shrugged.
"I don't know. Edward's going to be busy with medical school for a while."
"Didn't you test out of a lot of it?"
"I did test out of part of it, but not all of it. I still have to do an internship at the hospital too. Carlisle's letting me work with him."
"Doctor Edward. It sounds good." Bella smiled and took Edward's hand. They dropped Alice back off at her house and said hi to Jasper before going to their apartment. Once they were inside, Bella threw herself down on the sofa. "I liked Jamaica, but it's really good to be home." He put their bags down then came and joined her.
"I know what you mean." He kissed her softly. She reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair to pull him closer. He brushed his finger over her cheek, down her neck, and down her arm finally wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. She pulled back and looked into his eyes.
"Nice comfy sofa." He chuckled. "I love you, Edward."
"I love you too."
"I need to go take a shower." He let her up.
"Do you need help?"
"Tempting." She kissed him. "I'll be right back. I'm a little hungry."
"Okay. I'll see if I can get something together." She headed into the bathroom. Edward got up and headed towards the kitchen. He hit the button on the answering machine as he passed.
"Hey Bella. It's mom. Give me a call when you get home so that I'll know you got there okay. I'm at home now so you can reach me there. I'll talk to you soon. You better call so I don't have to worry. Bye."
Edward got in the kitchen and began pulling things out of the cabinets and the refrigerator to figure out what he could make. In his mind he replayed the last week. He smiled. It was amazing, the whole entire week. He couldn't believe how lucky he had gotten. She had actually agreed to marry him. In thinking about the honeymoon his mind began dredging up things that he hadn't wanted to think about. Bella might be pregnant. They might be parents soon. A sudden new wave of panic washed over him and he gripped the counter tightly. He kept telling Bella that it would be alright, but he was scared. He wasn't ready to be a father. He didn't know the first thing about raising a baby. He and Bella were still kids themselves. He had taken care of Alice when she was a baby, but it was different. He took several deep breaths and forced the thoughts to the back of his mind. They didn't even know if they had anything to be worried about yet. He began putting dinner together. Soon he heard Bella coming out of the bathroom.
"That smells good." She was dressed in his sweats. They looked great on her.
"Thanks. Your mom called. She wants you to call her and let her know that I got you home alright. She went home so you can call her there." Bella went over to the phone and dialed her mother's number. Phil picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Phil."
"Bella, hi. I was wondering who this Edward Cullen was on my caller ID. How was the wedding?"
"It was really great. I had a lot of fun."
"Sorry I couldn't be there. I had a game."
"Oh, it's…okay."
"Are you calling for your mom?"
"Yes, is she there? She said she was going home."
"She did come home, but she left. I think she went to her friend's house."
"Is everything okay?" She heard Phil sigh.
"I don't know. Everything's fine. Listen, let me get you that number. It'll just take me a minute to find it." He put the phone down. She looked up at Edward. Soon Phil came back. He read her the number. "Bella, do you know if-? When she was staying with your father, did they-?" Bella understood what he was trying to ask her.
"I highly doubt that anything happened. I wasn't there, but I know my mom."
"Right, sorry. Anyway, you should be able to find her there. Have a good night." She said goodbye to Phil and hung up. Then she picked the phone back up and called the number Phil had given her. A woman picked up and Bella asked for her mother. After a moment Renee came to the phone.
"Hey sweetie. You got a hold of Phil I guess."
"Mom, what happened? Phil was asking me about you and dad."
"He was asking you about it too? I can't believe him. I told him to let it go." Bella was a bit startled by her mother's outburst. "I came home and Phil was there. Instead of being happy to see me he started in on the interrogations. He wanted to know why I stayed in Forks so long after the wedding. I told him I knew he would still be away and I didn't want to come home to an empty house. He told me I should have stayed in a hotel that it was weird that I spent so long with my ex-husband. He was implying that I was having an affair. I can't believe he doesn't trust me, Bella. I've never done anything that would give Phil cause not to trust me. I just don't understand why he's being like this." Renee's voice cracked. Bella let her head fall into her hands. She wished she could do something for her mom, but she was all the way across the country. Edward came and sat next to her. "Bella," her mom continued, "I don't think this is going to work. We keep fighting over stupid things and we can't seem to resolve things. He's too young. He doesn't know how to compromise. He's not good at talking things out."
"Mom, I'm sorry things aren't working out with you and Phil." She took Edward's hand.
"Bella, I'm sorry to rant at you. How was your honeymoon?"
"It was fun. Edward was amazing."
"Hold onto Edward, Bella. He's a really great guy."
"Is there anything that I can do mom?"
"Oh, I'll work it out sweetie. You worry too much about me. It was nice to talk to you about it though. I'll keep you updated. For now, you'll be able to reach me here."
"Okay, I love you mom."
"I love you too. You and Edward have fun." Bella and her mother hung up. She leaned against Edward. He didn't say anything. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She really had gotten lucky. She couldn't imagine finding a better guy.
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"Alice what am I going to do?" Bella had to restrain herself to keep from hitting herself with the phone. It had been a week since she and Edward had returned from Jamaica and Bella knew she should have started her period 3 days ago.
"Bella," Alice said in a soothing voice, "it's only been 3 days. That's not really enough to decide that you're pregnant. We need to get a test and you need to stop freaking out until you take it."
"Are you going to come over and help me?"
"Of course. Is Edward there?"
"No, he went into the hospital today. There's a phone call I'm not looking forward too."
"That's it. I am going to go pick up a test and I'll be over. Stop freaking out for a little bit okay?"
"Okay, I'll try. I'll see you in a little bit." She hung up and curled up on the couch. It wasn't long before Alice was knocking on the door. Bella let her in and she steered Bella into the bathroom to take the test. "How long does it take?"
"The package said two minutes." They sat down on the edge of the tub and watched it.
"Has it been two minutes yet?"
"Not yet, Bella, calm down." Bella tapped her fingers. It was hard to wait for two minutes. Finally Alice's hand shot out and she picked the test up and stared at it. Bella couldn't look.
"What is it?" She peeked out from between her fingers and saw the plus sign. She groaned. "That means yes right?" Alice squealed and threw her arms around Bella.
"I'm going to be an aunt!!" Bella managed to smile weakly. "So can I babysit?"
"Of course." She got up.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go to the hospital to talk to Edward."
"I'll come with you." She smiled gratefully at Alice. Having Alice with her made it easier somehow. While Alice drove to the hospital Bella thought of several ways to tell Edward. By the time Alice parked she hadn't really managed to think of anything. They went inside and Alice steered her up to the front desk. "We need to see Edward Cullen." The woman behind the counter paged him and moments later he was walking towards them. The look of concern on his face was overwhelming. He reached them quickly.
"What's wrong?" Bella took his hand. "Bella, is everything okay?"
"Edward, I'm fine." She heard a relieved sigh escape his lips. "I'm pregnant."
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Renee stared through the rain at Charlie's house from the back of the cab. His cruiser was in the driveway so she knew he was home. She hadn't called so he wasn't expecting her. She just hoped that he wouldn't turn her away. Even though they had been divorced for a long time they were still friends and she hoped that friendship was enough for him to let her stay. "Miss, is this the place?" Renee turned towards the cab driver.
"This is. How much do I owe you?"
"20." She paid the man then got out of the cab, grabbed her bags and headed up to the door. She knocked softly and a surprised looking Charlie answered the door.
"Renee."
"Charlie, I'm sorry to just burst in on you like this, but is it okay if I stay for awhile?" He stepped out of the way so that she could come in.
"Is everything okay?" She turned towards him fully intending to say yes, but his kind eyes were so concerned that she couldn't hold back her emotions. She felt the tears well up and roll down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around him. She could tell that he was uncomfortable, but he didn't push her away. He just held her and let her cry on his shoulder.
A/N: Here's chapter 7. I hope that it's okay. Thank you all for your reviews, I really do appreciate them. There is sort of a side story running through it now. I really like Charlie in the books so I thought that he should get something too. Enjoy. I'll have chapter 8 up soon.
