CHAPTER 10

November 24

"Welcome home, Princess." Edward whispered in my ear pulling me from my slumber. I groaned as I sat up straight in the seat blinking my eyes open as I stretched as best as the confines of the car would allow.

Looking around I noticed we weren't at the Brandon's unless they had moved in the five days we had been in Chicago. "Where are we, Edward?" I asked as I sat up looking out the windshield at the gray stucco house that sat before me.

"Home." He said with a smile as he killed the engine.

Glancing from the house to Edward several times did nothing but add fuel to my temper. "What in the HELL did you do? I haven't consented to being your wife yet!" I snapped at him angrily.

He held his hands up in surrender before turning sideways in his seat. "Let me explain. Aunt Lillian called yesterday explaining that the renovations were being stalled by asbestos and mold so I had Alice look into rentals in the area. This is the one I picked from the list."

The tears came unwillingly and poured down my face. "I can't afford to rent somewhere, Edward. That was why living in the Brandon's pool house was perfect." I complained as I wiped away one stream of tears just for it another to appear in its place immediately.

"You may not be able to alone but together we can. Princess, when are you going to get it through your thick skull that you are not alone anymore." He said softly as he reached over swiping my cheeks clear of tear tracks. "I'm here for the long haul. Wanna go look inside?"

I smiled and nodded. "Okay." I conceded softly.

The house was perfect. Smaller than I was used to but still perfect for me and the girls. And Edward. I found out when we entered the third bedroom that it was the one he was taking, giving me the master. The thought of us living together hadn't crossed my mind when he mentioned that "we" could afford to rent if we did it "together". The place came with appliances only so now we would have to figure out the furniture issue. I had my bedroom suit and a rocker but not much else furniture wise. "Are we allowed to rent a place at 16?" I asked as I scooted myself onto the kitchen island counter.

He shook his head. "No. But when I explained my suggestion to my mom she agreed to sign the lease for us. She also called your dad and got him to agree to this spur of the moment plan too. There is a signed lease for 12 months on this house." He explained pulling some papers out of a kitchen drawer handing them to me. I cried at seeing Charlie's name underneath Esme's on the long term lease agreement.

"This is amazing, Edward." I whispered to him as I read over the paperwork. "I don't wanna ruin this moment but we're tired. Are we sleeping here or at the Brandon's?"

That was the first night spent in our house. We shared my bed since it was the only piece of furniture in the house but I couldn't deny that I slept better with Edward wrapped tightly around me from behind. Edward and I decided to stay home from school the next day which turned out to be a good decision since Alice had gone ahead with ordering the internet and cable to be hooked up that day without informing anybody. After the cable guy left I looked around the empty living room and sighed. "Should we go get some furniture?" I asked Edward who was leaning against the counter looking sinful in just low riding jeans and nothing else. No socks. No shirt. No boxers.

He shrugged. "That's up to you, Princess. If you want to wait until this weekend we can or if you feel up to it we can go knock it out today."

I nodded. "Today. That way we can relax this weekend." I told him as I wound my hair up on top of my head.

Who knew that shopping could be so difficult. Hell, just deciding where to shop was a huge debate. Edward wanted to get brand new furniture that was going to cost an arm and a leg while I wanted to shop the local thrift stores since we would soon have two newborns. I won that argument when I told him that not only did babies make a lot of messes, they were also expensive. It took four stores to find something that was up to his tastes. We ended up with a dark gray microfiber sectional with three reclining sections, a set of wood and etched glass table pieces, a small round dining room table with four chairs, and Edward a bedroom suit for $1300.

Edward talked me into waiting on buying things for the nursery by explaining that a baby shower was in the works.

"I'm pregnant, Jackass, not helpless." I snapped at Edward as I snatched the bags of essentials that we bought at Wal-Mart from his hands before stomping into the house.

He followed after me with another handful of bags. "I was just trying to help, baby. I'm sorry if I offended you." He said softly as he sat the bags onto the counter.

I waved him off as I began emptying the bags. I felt like I was going to be doing laundry for days…once I found the laundry detergent.

Over the next few weeks we settled into what resembled a fairly normal routine. Breakfast, school, doctors appointments, dinner, bed. I had started the maternity program so I spent the morning at the high school and my afternoons at the community college learning domestic skills and parenting skills.

Edward and I made plans to go to Chicago and Forks for the holidays if the doctor cleared me for flying. I was 24 weeks pregnant and absolutely miserable. "On one hand I hope she clears me for travel and on the other I hope she doesn't." I admitted as we rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. The doctor that my mom had set me up with was friends with Phil so I had changed doctors when she had kicked me out. This was my third time seeing Dr. Fitzgerald and she was amazing and had just moved to the area from Utah so there was no chance of her relaying information to Renee or Phil.

"Either way we will have a memorable holiday together. Promise." Edward said as he guided us out of the elevator.

Once the nurse checked me in Edward and I were left in the sonogram room since it was time to peek in at our girls. "Well at least my blood pressure was good." I mumbled as I hefted myself up onto the exam table.

"What's wrong, Princess?" Edward asked softly as he rubbed a hand over my stomach where our girls were rolling all around inside.

I sighed heavily before looking him in the eyes. "I'm just nervous about going back to Forks."

He nodded in understanding. "I get that. What are we going to do if we see the douchebag while we're there?"

I shrugged because I honestly didn't have a clue. On one hand I wanted to terminate Jacob's rights to my girls but on the other I felt guilty because that would be taking away Billy's rights as their grandfather. "I guess we will just have to play it by ear." I said just as Doctor Fitzgerald walked into the room.

As the good doctor measured my stomach she asked the one question that everybody we knew was asking. "Have you picked out names yet?"

Edward looked at me grinning from ear to ear waiting for me to give him the go ahead. "Jordyn Alice and Brayden Rose."

"Those are beautiful names for beautiful little girls. Shall we take a peek at them?" she asked as she tapped on the keyboard that controlled the sonogram machine.

I was instantly curious because normally an ultrasound tech did the sonogram, not the actual doctor. "Is everything okay with the girls?" I asked as I gripped Edward's hand.

The doctor nodded as she smiled at me. "Yes, I just wanted to get as accurate of a size of each baby as I can because you are measuring bigger than I typically see at 24 weeks. You may just make big babies." She said with a laugh as she squirted the warm gel onto my stomach.

Edward and I kept our eyes glued to the screen as Dr. Fitzgerald ran the wand from side to side and top to bottom. When she was right below my rib cage something caught my eye.

"Was that another…"