Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sorry that the chapter's slightly shorter than usual, but hey! I updated earlier. :) Also, lemon!
Time had a tendency to fly by when you most wanted it to pass by slowly.
The months passed by much too quickly for Bella's taste —one moment it was the end of November, and suddenly it was already June. The holidays had come and gone in the blink of an eye: Christmas had been spent with the Cullen-Clearwater clan and New Years had been spent with just Edward, Bella and Alex. Valentine's had been unremarkable —Bella had a deadline due on the 16th so she'd been locked away, not to mention Edward had been swamped with work. For Alex's birthday (he turned eleven in April), Bella took Alex, Seth, Jane and Eric (who'd transferred in for the second semester and had become fast friends with Alex) to play laser tag, followed by movies and ending with cake at her place. Edward had been torn between wanting to stop Bella from spending so much and thanking her for spoiling his kid in a way he was hardly capable of. By the end of it all, he'd had no choice but to kiss his girlfriend silly and thank her a thousand times for her wonderful gifts. Bella had shrugged it off —Alex had been happy enough to be worth every single penny she'd spent on him.
And spend on him she did. It was incredible how many video games Alex now had from one of Bella's shopping sprees; it had gotten so bad that Edward and Alice had had to sit Bella down to explain, as kindly as they could, that she had to fucking knock it off. Alice said Bella would make Alex love her for the gifts she gave, not to mention she was so stupid for not spending even an eighth of that money on herself. Edward's argument had been pretty much the same, placing an emphasis on how much Alex did not need more toys or ties or shoes or anything else. It had been incredibly hard, but Bella had learnt her lesson… almost. She still slipped Alex music sheet she bought here and there every month. It wasn't expensive, but every time Edward caught her his glare made her cower a little bit. Not enough to not do it, but enough to care.
Another new development was that Edward had agreed to go to church with Bella once a month. The first time he'd gone with her had been for Christmas; she'd subtly reminded Edward that the whole point of Christmas was to celebrate the birth of Jesus and not just receiving gifts, which was Alex's assumption so far as to what the holiday was about. Edward had given in (Alex hadn't been a happy trooper, but he'd gone along), knowing that this was a small gift he could give the woman he loved on what was clearly a spiritual occasion for her. From then on, seeing how happy she'd been, he'd agreed to go visit God once a month. Her smile from that time was still engraved in his heart.
Now, in the first week of June, they were currently celebrating another milestone: Alice's graduation from high school.
"Oh, I cried with your speech!" Bella said, still crying. The moment Alice's valedictorian speech had ended, Bella had nearly jumped out of her seat in her need to go hug Alice; Edward had held her back, reminding her the ceremony wasn't done just yet.
"I saw you and almost started crying, too," Alice cried, hugging Bella back fiercely. Once Bella had found herself able to cry once more, she'd found that between her and Alice they'd become a pair of crybabies. Any time one started crying, the other soon followed.
"I'm so proud of you, Ali-cat. You're valedictorian, you're going to Berkeley… You're so, so talented, and you deserve every bit you've earned." Bella whispered in Alice's ear, making the teenager cry harder. The two girls were incredibly excited about Alice's admittance into the college, but they were also sad about the distance that would be between them come the fall. The one reprieve they had from this sadness was that, as Bella had promised, she was taking Alice to Greece in the summer; though she hadn't managed to pay for all of Alice's expenses (her parents had refused unless they could at least pay for the plane ticket), this was still her graduation gift to her best friend. They'd be leaving for the whole of July, at the risk of dying of a heatstroke in their trip. There were two incredibly unhappy troopers regarding the trip and they went by the names Edward Cullen and Jasper Whitlock.
"You'll be gone for a whole fucking month?" Edward's reply had been upon learning of the trip.
Jasper's had been adapted to his girlfriend: heavy whining.
"But, Alice."
The two girls had remained firm, though, in the length of their trip. Traveling was a treat, one Bella had never indulged in before; she was going to enjoy it and she was going to do it thoroughly. Besides, neither had ever been the type to pass up on traveling because of a boy.
"Bella, why are you always hogging my girlfriend?" The class A whiner, Jasper, arrived beside the two girls (Edward had accepted his fate and gone to greet Alice's parents).
The first time that Alice had introduced Bella to Jasper, the meeting hadn't gone as expected. Instead of loving Bella, as rational people did, Jasper was one of the extremely small amount of people that thought Bella's niceness was an act. He'd been aloof and hadn't seemed to care much for her; this, though, had been well before the two had started dating. When they did begin dating, and found out that Bella hadn't pushed for Alice to drop his stupid ass (as friends tended to do with your best interests at heart), Jasper had realized that he'd really been a stupid fuck and that this woman had simply been too nice for the comfort of his not-so-nice ass. It wasn't that he thought himself not nice —he just didn't know how someone could really be so altogether nice like Bella. He was, for lack of better words, skeptic. Not anymore, though. The moment they'd started dating Jasper had done a switch in his behavior, keeping in mind as well that Alice would never forgive him if he mistreated her best friend. The one time he'd been aloof? Alice hadn't talked to him for a week; every time he'd sent her a text asking what was wrong she'd replied with 'Dick'.
So yeah, lesson learnt.
"She's not hogging me, she's hugging me," Alice sneakered at her bad joke, and though Jasper rolled his eyes, Bella laughed right along with her. The two of them loved bad jokes. "And jealousy doesn't suit you, Jazzy."
Jasper smiled good-naturedly, rolling his eyes at her teasing.
"Well, it's hard to keep this jealousy of mine in check when you give me so much to worry about," Jasper joked. After the whole fiasco with Karin, Alice had been very clear with Jasper that making each other jealous was a no go. Apparently, it had all been Jasper's ploy to get Alice to be clear with whether or not she liked him —not the kiss (which had been forced on Jasper, or so he said)— but the whole giving Karin more attention than he wanted to give her. Alice had been pissed when she'd heard the reason for her suffering, but ultimately understood that he hadn't known he was hurting her, too; he'd been unaware of her seeing the kiss, and was horrified once he'd understood what his actions had caused. Instead of making the girl he loved jealous (and in that wrong but socially accepted way confirming her feelings for him) he'd ended up making her doubt her feelings for him. He'd agreed he'd never go there again, and in return Alice had promised she'd never do that to him, either. If there was one thing Alice had learned from Bella's self-improvement it was that some things weren't worth holding onto, and especially not when she was as sure as she was that Jasper was the only one for her.
"She is quite prone to clinging onto me," Bella teased, finally releasing her friend. Inspecting her friend's makeup, she gave a nod when she verified nothing was out of place.
Jasper immediately grabbed his girlfriend and brought her to his side.
"Mine," he said, sticking his tongue out. Bella pretended to gasp in outrage.
"I saw her first."
"Well I kissed her first," Jasper said smugly.
"Not really," Alice shrugged, and both she and Bella burst out laughing when Jasper's jaw literally dropped. "Kidding, Jazz. So kidding."
He huffed.
"I have been fooled."
In that moment, Edward and Alice's parents came around to congratulate Alice on her speech; Mrs. Brandon was also crying, and Mr. Brandon was the proudest Bella had ever seen him. And Alice was great at pretty much everything.
"We're so proud of you, dear," Mr. Brandon said, needing to cough to get the words out.
"Your speech was wonderful. You're such an amazing girl, Alice," Mrs. Brandon cried, ripping her daughter out of Jasper's arms and burying her face in her neck.
"Thanks mom, thanks dad," Alice managed to get out. She enjoyed making her parents proud, there was no question about it.
"Well, Edward and I should get going," Bella said once Alice separated from her mother.
"Oh, well we're about to go have dinner with Jasper and his parents. Do you want to come with us?" Mrs. Brandon said, and though her invitation was genuine, Bella could see that the woman wanted this to be a family event. Bella couldn't fault her, though it did sting a bit; Mrs. Brandon was always a little jealous of the relationship between Bella and Alice, given how much her daughter relied on Bella instead of her. So though it stung, Bella understood. She'd known so much this would be what would happen that she had in fact made plans with Edward beforehand.
"Thank you Mrs. Brandon, but Bella and I have another engagement in half an hour. We just really wanted to come to support Alice." Edward said, slipping his hand into Bella's. Alice shot Bella a half smile, also conscious about what was happening. Alice loved her mother immensely, but she also knew she'd never be able to quite explain the bond between children who'd been in the system. Children who'd sought refuge in each other when the world seemed to have turned its back on them.
"Oh, well, then I hope that y'all can celebrate another time," Mrs. Brandon said, and Bella could see that this wish was genuine. Whenever Bella and Alice treated each other as sisters, Mrs. Brandon was conflicted; if they treated each other as best friends, it was easier to assimilate. Again, Bella didn't hold anything against the woman; she did her best where she could, but wasn't capable of helping how she felt. Perhaps, if Bella had been a nicer kid, Mrs. Brandon wouldn't have such trouble. It was hard to break out of the shadows you cast, especially when the ones who knew your misdeeds were overprotective mothers.
While Mr. and Mrs. Brandon started talking with Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, Alice and Jasper watched as Bella and Edward walked away hand in hand. Edward hip-checked Bella teasingly, and when she tried to retaliate Edward swung his body the other way, making her miss and stumble. They watched as Edward laughed loudly and switched to put his arm around Bella's shoulders, kissing her temple.
Alice sighed dreamily.
"Do you think we'll be like them when we grow older?" Alice asked, feeling as Jasper slipped his hand in hers.
"You mean if I'll dye my hair and you'll grow taller?" Jasper asked, squinting at the couple as they moved further and further away. "Dunno. Red's not my color."
Alice pinched his love handle (recently acquired, gift from the stress of final exams).
"You dork, that's not what I'm talking about," she said, finally turning to Jasper when the couple had disappeared from their sight. "I mean that we'll be so… mature in our relationship."
Jasper snorted.
"Al, five minutes ago I saw Edward sneak a peek at Bella's rack. Maturity's not a thing."
-.-
"Ready?"
Edward sighed in exasperation.
"I've been ready for fucking forever, Bells. I'm on pins and needles here."
He heard her tinkling laugh next to him, which as always, warmed his heart.
Currently, they were in Edward's house enjoying what remained of the night. Their 'previous engagement' consisted of watching sci-fi/fantasy movies and comedy stand-ups. So far, Edward could tell Bella's favorite genre was actually comedy; they put on Ryan Hamilton's Happy Face, and Edward was pretty sure his girlfriend peed a little and was completely sure she stopped breathing at one point from how hard she was laughing. They'd sent Alex off to Eric's house, wanting alone time for themselves. Not that Alex minded; he'd spent so long without friends that he was more than willing to have sleepovers with friends. Midway through watching Blade Runner Bella had put a stop to the movie and had suddenly asked Edward to close his eyes tightly. Confused, but ever-trusting, he had. Then Bella had suddenly disappeared from the bed, and even as he heard her shuffling around he kept hearing her call out to him not to open his eyes. He hadn't, but Bella had persisted in calling it out.
Now, she was back to sitting next to him.
"Open your eyes."
Blinking out the haziness, Edward looked to his left and saw that Bella was sitting back on her knees, holding something behind her back excitedly. He arched an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
Almost bursting with happiness, Bella took out her hands from her back, and she was suddenly presenting a book to Edward.
"This is the last of the trilogy in The Alloy Nation! And it's yours," Bella said, getting happier and happier as Edward registered what was going on.
"I thought you weren't releasing it until August?" Edward said in awe, all but snatching the book from Bella's hands. She felt high on the feeling of seeing someone love her books so much.
"I am, but I couldn't wait to give this to you," Bella said, switching her sitting position so she had her back to the bed-frame; she linked arms with Edward. "Come on, read the inscription."
Curious, and also anxious to start reading the book, Edward flipped to the first page. It read:
I used to carry demons on my back; when I crawled, when I walked, when I talked. God started whispering sweet ideas in my ear: "What would happen if you should let ghosts die?" I could never let myself entertain such thoughts, though: mine were demons, not ghosts. Then along came the father I never had, whose last gift to me was his family and mine to his was my tears; the demons became ghosts I had no way of laying to rest. Then you and your treasure came along, and you taught me the chants that would banish them. "I love you, I love you, I love you," you sang, but I knew not what you spoke of. And so you taught me the meaning, and I was able to sing back: "I love you, I love you, I love you." The ghosts died, and I answered God's query: "I got him."
Edward instantly forgot about the book, whipping his head up to look at Bella.
"Bella?"
With a wobbly smile, Bella spoke.
"Can I explain a bit?"
Edward enthusiastically nodded.
"My mother, she…" Bella cleared her throat, feeling it dry. It was the first time she'd ever told anyone what had happened with the exception of Alice, and even she didn't know the full story. "She committed suicide. She left me a letter telling me sorry, how sad life was without my father, and that she wished she could've loved me in another life. I was the one who found her hanging from her closet —I broke down crying like I'd never cried before, looking at the dead body of my hanging mother. I couldn't speak a single word for more than a month after that, too scared that if I opened my mouth I'd start crying. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw mom —dead— and so I also stopped sleeping until one of the people in foster care started sneaking sleeping pills in my dinner. I realized what was happening after a couple of weeks, but I let it go on: I was tired of not sleeping and the nightmares that came with the day."
Bella took a shaky breath, smiling when Edward kissed the back of her hand.
"Edward, for so many years I spent every waking moment trying to forget my mother's dead face, the note she left, the fact that she hadn't loved me more. The drugs, the rebellion, the anger… all I wanted was to never have to think again about Renée. Alice helped, but she couldn't fix me —no one could. Nobody tried, either. I had to put myself back together even though I'd never known what a whole person looked like. With Harry and God's help I managed to stop seeing my mother's face everywhere I went, which brought me an immense amount of happiness. I was anxious to fill the void with as many people as I could; I'd learnt that they key to keeping my demons at bay was to surround myself with happy people. I think this decision saved me, because their happiness gave me the illusion of love. I'd been skeptical of Harry and Sue loving me, and I'd even been hesitant to believe Alice liked me. I had such a huge gap in understanding what familiar love was like that I couldn't even begin to process what falling for someone was."
Bella grabbed the shut book and put it behind her, shifting so she was now sitting in front of Edward, between his legs. She grabbed both of his hands, trying her best to convey what she felt.
"March's a hard month for me, but I've never told anyone. My mother killed herself that month, so you could say my life derailed from there. This March? All I could think about was how excited I was to spend more time with you and Alex during Easter, and how excited I was planning for my trip to Greece with Alice. On my mother's death anniversary, I couldn't help the usual antagonistic thoughts from invading. I'd forgotten what day it was and had made arrangements to go drop off your lunch at the shop. So I went, feeling down, and…" Bella couldn't help the tears from falling. "The moment you saw me, your face lit up and you rushed over to me, saying you'd missed me even though we'd only been apart three days. I tried thinking of a single time my mother had gotten so happy about seeing me, and I couldn't think of one. It's then that I realized I'd been thinking of love as a warped thing because in my mother's final moments she'd written that she loved me when, in fact, she'd stopped knowing what love was when my father died. I thought, 'He's happy to see me', and I realized that whatever weighed me down wasn't there anymore because I was also happy to see you. So, so happy. I started wondering when was the last time I'd ever felt so… whole. Not just happy, but excited for every coming day. Your mere existence makes a dull day colorful. I went home that day thinking of it, and I just… I understood. I love you, Edward Cullen. I never knew I needed you until I found you, but I'm so glad I did."
Edward gave her a bruising kiss, needing to hide his tears and show his own love at the first time. He'd spent the last few months agonizing almost every single day over whether or not Bella loved him because —because he was madly in love with her. Because he couldn't even remember what days were like before she arrived in his life. Because he needed to know, with a desperation he'd never felt before, that he was loved back just as ardently. Some days, the love would overwhelm him so much he thought he'd be physically sick; too much love to hold in a single body. If his love for Alex was one that enveloped his body in a warm blanket, his love for Bella burned as it traveled down his veins. He'd thought, briefly, that he was going mad; because adults weren't supposed to feel so much. He was supposed to be cautious of such feelings after his divorce, but how could he? He felt like he was high, his head flying above the clouds and his stomach switching places with his heart. This lone woman had righted what wrongs had been done to him —she'd returned the confidence he'd lost and gave his lonely son a friend. She'd effortlessly brought him up from the hole he'd been in.
So Edward continued his bruising kiss, his mouth and hands moving faster than his brain. He was taking off her shirt, his, her panties, his boxers. Bella's cooperation to the equation was turning off the TV so they wouldn't have Netflix asking if they were still there. Apart from that, she let Edward lead, feeling like she'd won the lottery with finding this man.
"Fuck, I love you," Edward said, sucking Bella's tongue into his mouth as he dipped a finger inside her. She moaned, feeling as her heart stuttered with the words.
"I love you too," Bella said, gasping when Edward's fingers found her clit. His strength doubled, making Bella's eyes roll into the back of her head; her back started arching, so Edward took the momentum to re-accommodate her so she was lying on her back. "Edward, Edward…"
This was music to his ears; whenever Bella was close she'd start repeating his name, making some animalistic side of him purr in satisfaction. Yes, it was him bringing Isabella Swan satisfaction. It was him and nobody else.
Surprising Bella, Edward suddenly removed his fingers and replaced them with his tongue. He loved doing this for Bella, but she always said no when he offered. Not because she didn't like it, he knew, but because she overthought it. Now, for instance, she was so far gone that she just screamed his name and buried her fingers in his hair, tugging for all she was worth as she felt her orgasm begin. Her hips started wiggling as if trying to escape the mountain of pleasure, but Edward was stronger and he held her down, wanting her to ride out her climax. She did, with his help, her back arching off the bed as pleasure pulsated throughout her whole body.
He made a trail of kisses as he reached Bella's mouth; he sucked in her upper lip, moaning when he felt her fingers start stroking him.
"Please, can I have you now?" Edward whispered huskily. Bella let out a breathless laugh against his mouth.
"You can have me always."
Pulling back, Edward grabbed Bella's left leg and lifted it; he kissed the calf lovingly, sucking there lightly.
"Ed-ward," Bella gasped out, desperate to feel him inside; she leaned on her elbows to try and see what he was doing. Inwardly smirking, loving how desperate she was for him (but no more than he was for her), he finally gave in. Putting her leg over his shoulder, Edward grabbed himself to angle into Bella. Eyes intent on the action, just as Bella's was intent on his dick, he watched as he buried himself little by little into her warmth, nearly crying in gratitude to this woman who'd decided to go on the pill a few months ago. As enraptured as he was with watching himself be enveloped, Bella was entranced by Edward's face of pure, unadulterated pleasure. He was beautiful to watch —his eyebrows pulled together in concentration, his messed up hair, his half-open mouth. The further in he went the closer his face got, until finally they were nose to nose. Bella felt full, almost unbearably so. Edward was thinking of something horrible (his go-to thought was Trump winning re-election or that one time he got stung by a jellyfish and Emmett peed on his leg) to try and not instantly come, so he was trying not to think of how warm and fucking tight his girlfriend was.
Bella clenched around him, and he lost control.
"Fuck," Edward groaned, thrusting sharply into Bella before pulling back. "God, I fucking love you."
Bella gasped, her hands finding their way to Edward's butt.
"I love you," she repeated, her breath stopping when Edward thrust back in. "Edward."
Edward started thrusting harder and harder, then going slower when he felt Bella start to lose it; he wanted to make this last.
"I never thought I could love someone this much," Edward said, and suddenly Bella felt something hot fall on her cheeks, and when she opened her eyes she realized they were Edward's tears. He had his green eyes trained on her, the amount of love in them making everything inside of her clench and melt.
"I never knew I could love," Bella whispered, gasping at Edward's particularly hard thrust. "Thank you for loving me."
Edward buried his face in Bella's neck, unable to stop the tears from flowing. He felt too bare, too open to the world and for her to see. He loved this woman so much it should've scared him, but he was too in love to withstand cowering. His heart already belonged to this woman, and he couldn't see himself trusting it to anybody else.
Bella came around him without warning, making him motivated to prolong her pleasure by thrusting harder and faster. She dug her fingers into his ass, and in the moment that Edward buried himself balls-deep into Bella he felt her come again, this time with him.
He collapsed on top of her, waiting a couple of heartbeats before flipping them so she was lying on top of him. They were a sweaty mess, albeit a happy one.
"I love sex with you," Bella sighed, her cheek resting against Edward's chest; he had one hand on her butt and the other one tracing lines across her back. "I wish we could do it all the time."
Edward agreed enthusiastically.
"Yes please."
Bella giggled at his eagerness.
They remained in perfect, comfortable silence for a while. Then Bella heard Edward's heartbeat pick up pace, and somehow she understood.
"You want to read the book now, don't you?"
Edward kissed the crown of her bead before turning to dislodge Bella from on top of him.
"So fucking badly," he said, crawling over Bella to reach the book which had fallen to the ground. "I'm gonna need like two days before we can resume in basking in our love."
Bella laughed, watching as Edward sat back against the bed-frame, stark naked and unabashed as he opened the first chapter.
Smiling indulgently, Bella got up to pee.
She'd lost her boyfriend to her own creation.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Edward, happy birthday to you," everyone sang, cheering when Edward blew the candles on his cake.
"D'you make a wish, dad?" Alex asked, hugging Edward around the waist. Edward patted his son's head, grinning.
"For you to behave in sixth grade," Edward said, chuckling when his son huffed in indignation.
"You should've asked for Bella not to go away," Alex grumbled, watching his father's girlfriend as she chatted with Aunt Tanya and Leah. Edward pinched Alex's cheek lightly, bringing his eyes back to his.
"She's going on a trip with Alice, son. And she's very excited to go, so we should be happy for her, alright?" Edward said, thanking everyone as they congratulated him. He saw that Alex still had a face set on unhappiness, so he brought him apart where he knew others wouldn't hear him.
"What's wrong?" Alex had his arms crossed, looking at the ground. "Alex?"
"What if she finds someone else in Greece?" Alex mumbled, pouting. "I mean, you're good looking I guess, but what if men in Greece look better? Or she finds some millionaire who really likes her?"
Edward felt like Grumpy Cat for a moment; the confidence his son had in him was staggering. But Alex wasn't done.
"What if… she doesn't want to come back?"
Edward sighed in frustration, cursing Lauren for the hundredth time for the harm she'd done to their son.
"Alexander Cullen," they suddenly heard, and then Bella was there, hands on hips and a furious scowl in place. The two men gulped. "What do you mean, what if I don't want to come back?"
Alex started mumbling, digging his toe into the ground.
"Alex," Bella said, losing her scowl and bending slightly so she was in his line of sight. "I love you and your father. No way would I ever not come back; I need my favorite men with me. The next trip is going to be with you, your dad and I, ok? I promise. And about me finding someone else in Greece?" Bella got closer to Alex so she could whisper in his ear. "Your dad's the best guy I've ever met. Don't you think so, too?"
Alex hesitantly nodded.
"But don't you want a rich man?"
Bella pulled back, smiling. She winked.
"Like Cher said, I am a rich man." She smacked a kiss on Alex's cheek, making him blush. He didn't even ask who Cher was. "If I already know your dad's got everything I need, why would I go looking for someone else? Not to mention any other millionaire won't have you as their son."
Getting caught off-guard, Bella rejoiced when Alex flung his arms around her neck and gave her a tight hug. She hugged him back just as tightly.
"I love you, Bella," Alex mumbled, and Bella did her very best to swallow down her tears. She was grateful to God every single day that she'd found this little boy all by himself in Rose's house.
"I love you too, Alex. So, so much," Bella said, squeezing him for a few more seconds before letting him go. "Now, I see Seth glaring at me for taking you away. Wanna save me from his wrath?"
Nodding, Alex ran off to see what his best friend wanted.
Straightening her back, Bella turned to Edward, who was looking at her with an indulgent smile.
"You want to cry, don't you?"
Letting out a pitiful sob, Bella nodded and buried her face in Edward's chest.
"Alex is just so cute!" Bella cried, feeling as Edward planted a kiss on top of her head. Laughing, Edward let his girlfriend cuddle against him, knowing she didn't want to be seen crying. Time went on, and as his thoughts started drifting off somewhere random and Bella's tears dried, he was suddenly brought out of his trance by the sound of a shutter going off.
Looking up, he saw Emmett holding a camera seeming mighty proud of himself.
"You adorable cuties," Emmett made a kissy face.
"You dick," Edward grumbled, giving Bella's forehead a last kiss before letting her go. "You better have taken a good picture."
Emmett ran off, cackling, going to find his wife.
"Are you all set for your trip to Greece, dear?" Esme was suddenly by Bella's side, and smiling, Bella nodded enthusiastically.
"I've always wanted to go, and my friend is also so excited to travel. It's our first trip together," Bella explained. Esme smiled, thinking absentmindedly how lucky her son was to have found such a nice person. Especially after (sneer) Lauren.
"It's quite beautiful. I'm sure the two of you will have a marvelous time, even if I'll have a son and a grandson who'll be pouting for a whole month."
Bella giggled, observing from afar as Alex got in a heated discussion with Seth and Edward tried wrenching the camera out of Emmett's paws. They were precious to her.
"Will you keep an eye on them for me? They better be a pair of angels or else I'm not bringing them any souvenirs," Bella stated, making Esme snort.
"They're redheads, dear. The rumors about their tempers are real, so no way can I keep an eye on two of them."
"So, how's Athens?"
"Wonderful!" Bella chirped, and in the background, Edward heard Alice shout "Fucking hot as hell!"
He chuckled.
"It is quite hot," Bella admitted; she'd barely been gone twenty-four hours and he already missed her. "But it's so beautiful here that we can't complain."
"I can!" Alice whined again, making the couple crack a smile.
"How's the hotel? Did you get there ok?"
Bella nodded.
"It's quite spacious, you know. And the locals super quite helpful, so we had no problems," Bella said, and suddenly Alice was in the background slack-jawed and shaking her head. Bella didn't see her, but Edward got the message: his girlfriend was an optimist by choice. "The only little issue I've got is that apparently, I forgot my birth pills at home. The only thing I'm worried about is my period getting wacky or something."
"Why don't you buy more there?"
He was pretty sure Greece had to have birth pills.
Bella shrugged.
"Nah, I'll just go to the gynecologist when I get back home. I think this is proof I should get the shot, anyway. It's easier," Bella said, yawning. "I think I'm going to hit the sack. Alice and I have an early start tomorrow and both of us are a little sleep-deprived."
Edward nodded, sad the video call was ending already.
"Alright, sleep tight. I love you."
Bella grinned sleepily.
"I love you, too."
-.-
"I'm so excited to see you," Bella yawned, smiling sleepily at Edward. Three weeks had gone by, and there was only a week left till Alice and Bella went back home.
"Me too," Edward said, taking note of how Bella seemed to not have taken well to difference in time zone. Her jet lag should've lasted only one week, but she was sleepy throughout the whole trip. Not that it had stopped her —she and Alice had done as planned and more. They'd even braved through the Greek heat somehow and had bought themselves mini fans. They'd also seemed to like Greek food —Alice had gained about four pounds and Bella five, or so they said. The first week in Greece they'd eaten in some dingy place, and both girls had spent the next morning puking; after that, they'd learnt their lesson had gone to more sanitary places, which coincidentally tended to be so delicious they couldn't stop eating. Alice was constantly complaining how much pita bread Bella ate, though, because quite often she'd get full from it and would have no more space for real food. "How are you sleeping?"
"Very well," Bella said, yawning again. "I'm just sleepy from the weather, I think. It's the type of heat that makes you want to laze around, you know?"
Yeah, he knew. He and all his workers had a hard time working through the summer heat.
"I think I do know," Edward chuckled, looking fondly at his girlfriend's sleepy face. "What're you doing tomorrow?"
"Going to the Palace of Knossos," Bella said excitedly; that day, they'd crossed over to Crete by ferry in the morning. Apparently, Bella had gotten seasick, so they'd postponed going to the palace for the next day and instead had walked around that day. "I really want to see it. The myth of the minotaur takes place there, you know?"
He did not.
"That's so fucking cool," Edward said honestly, and when Bella yawned again, Edward gave her an indulgent smile. "You should go to sleep, love. You've got a long day ahead of you."
Sleepily, Bella rubbed her eyes and nodded. She threw him a kiss.
"I love you, Edward," Bella smiled, and everything in Edward wanted to get a ticket and fly across the ocean to see this woman. That, or speed up time.
"I love you too, baby. So fucking much."
One week and two days later, already back home, the gynecologist looked Bella dead in the eye with an unamused face.
"Bella, you can't get the shot. You're pregnant."
Huh?
"You say the last time you had sex was roughly four weeks ago, so I'm gonna take a shot at it and say you're thereby roughly four weeks along." The gynecologist explained, removing her gloves. The moment she'd heard of Bella's last month, she'd gotten her patient to pee on a stick. Smiling sympathetically due to Bella's shocked face, the woman said the only thing she could think of:
"Congratulations, Bella. You're gonna be a mom."
Hey people! Once more, thanks so much for reading and favoriting and following and reviewing. It means the world to me. And thanks to everyone who rejoiced with me in finding my phone! I was happy you were happy for me. :)) Again, I'm so glad that you've all enjoyed this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. The only thing I want to mention is, if you've read any of my other stories you'll know I'm not political here, but I couldn't help getting in a little comment hehe. I mean no ill will towards anyone, nor will I make another comment. That being said, I hope y'all understand that there aren't many chapters left. I've really enjoyed writing this, I love this story, but I think it's better not to stretch it. I'd originally planned for this to be just ten chapters, but I'm thinking perhaps eleven and an epilogue at most. And remember: the longer I make it, the higher the chance that I fuck it up. Lol. Hopefully I won't, but that's what I'm trying not to do. Anyways, thanks so much for your kind reviews!
Leah.
