A/N- hi again! I'll try to make this chapter long for you guys! Bella's still pregnant, but she's due soon and Lucy's about to start 1st grade. I decided on Duke for the dog's name because the majority of you guys liked. To those who didn't, I'm sorry! Anyway, the baby is born this chapter; Lucy starts first grade, and… some other stuff I haven't thought of yet. Enjoy!
Chapter 10 (w00t! double digits!)
Bella's POVLife was going rough. In so many ways it could be worse, but this was the longest feeling and hardest pregnancy yet. I ached all the time, complete and constant pain. Throwing up every morning was torture; wiping me of the energy I so desperately needed to handle a Mason and Lucy. My mood swings were all over the map, going from crying my eyes out to sheer anger and unfortunately for Edward, that anger was normally directed at him. Cravings had been off the charts and I could tell Edward couldn't wait for this baby to born almost as much as me and I was praying I wouldn't be put on bed-rest like the doctors had been suggesting of late.
On the other hand, I had Duke, and that was making this so much better on me. When Edward was off at work and I went off on one of my crying tangents, Duke was my choice of preference to cry into. I'd bury my face into his fur and wrap my arms around him and sob my heart out. He'd sit still, occasionally licking my arm, and wait for me to cry myself out. It went farther than that though. While Edward was always protecting me from myself, Duke protected me from everything. If I were to be sitting on the couch he'd curl himself around my side and growl at anyone who approached me unless they came slowly, hands held palms forward like a criminal approaching police, showing they were unarmed. Duke didn't really do that to the kids unless they came running to me, but he always did it to Edward. Duke seemed to have the idea in his head that Edward was out to get me most out of the entire family. I found it hysterical. Edward found it irritating, often saying things like "I need to do all this to approach my wife???"
Finally the fateful day came where, while sitting folding laundry on the bed in my room with Lucy and Mason watching TV at the foot of the bed and Duke on the alert next to me, the first pangs of contractions. Edward was downstairs, fixing a pipe under the sink.
"Edward!" I called from the bed, "It's time!" I heard a loud thump and muffled cursing before pounding footsteps on the stairs. He ran over to the bed, planning on helping me downstairs. Instead, he got to the bed to find a growling, menacing lab standing in front of me on the bed, eye-to-eye with him. Duke stood growling while the kids stood at the end of the bed, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Duke," I said reproachfully, attempting to get him to stand down. He turned his huge head and whined like he was saying, "But I want to kill him…" I shook my head at him. He slunk to my side and made grumbled quietly as Edward pulled me off the bed. After that, it was very much like when I had Mason. We dropped the kids off at Rosalie and Emmett's, Edward drove like a maniac to the hospital and, by the end of the day, in had a new baby girl in my arms.
She had my brown hair and Edward's bright green eyes. She seemed in a good mood as she wiggled in Edward's arms next to me while Mason and Lucy happily observed their new sister, Katie.
The weeks passed by quickly after Katie's birth. We got into a rhythm, with Lucy going to school everyday, Edward at work, and Mason and Katie at home with me, fully occupying my time. Mason was rambunctious and enjoyed exploring the backyard, but was very reserved at the same time. Katie was fussy, enjoyed being the center of attention, and truly the baby of the family. Lucy was the big sister she was truly meant to be, looking out for her little siblings already. I could tell Lucy and Katie were going to be quite beautiful and Mason was going to be extremely handsome. I mentioned it to Edward before and he said he could tell about Lucy, but asked how I could picture Mason and Katie when they're so young. I answered simply with mother's instinct, making him laugh.
Edward's POVMy kids were growing so fast it was scaring me. Time was flying by and before I knew it, Lucy was in third grade and nine years old, Mason was four and in Preschool, and Katie was already a year old. It was astounding the changes that can take place in just one year I mused as I helped Lucy and Mason struggle into Halloween costumes. Bella was pulling a tiny princess dress over Katie's head to match her sister's so she could join the fun. Lucy beamed at her reflection in the mirror and twirled around, letting her medieval princess dress flare out around her legs. Mason joined her in front of the full-length mirror and growled slightly in his vampire costume. (A/N- haha! Had to add that!)
We set off at dusk with Lucy and Mason leading the in front with Bella and I trailing behind, pushing Katie in her stroller. As we walked among the other families, Lucy and Mason skipped along, their bags growing heavier house-by-house. We reached the end of yet another street when a boy dressed as a werewolf (A/N- the enemy! Haha!) sidled up to Lucy. Bella and I were too far behind and it was too loud from passing children to hear what they were talking about. Anger built as I watched Lucy laugh at something the bay had said. How dare he come up to my daughter like that! She's only nine years old. Bella on my other side seemed to be watching the exchange as well.
"Aww…" she sighed watching Lucy chatter animatedly with the unknown threat.
"What do you mean aww?" I hissed, " That boy is obviously no good, talking to our daughter like that." Bella laughed at my annoyance.
"What are you talking about? He's a third grader. He's definitely going to be putting some big moves on her tonight." Bella's sarcastic response was followed by a snort and more laughter.
"Fine." I said flatly. "But if I see him go a single inch closer to her, I'm doing something about it. The night passed slowly after that. The boy stayed and walked next to Lucy while I stared daggers at his back. No guy was going to be getting to my daughter any time soon.
A/N- and so it begins! The battle between Edward and the guys. Ha! Anyway, now that the family is complete, I was thinking about skipping a few years, not too many, but some. I was also wondering if you guys would mind if I went a few years foreword, then a year back and then back foreword in some slightly random pattern. Just skipping back anf forth between years because I find I'll be finishing a chapter when I'm just like oh! I should have done that! But, they'd need to have been younger for that… so if that happens would you mind too terribly much? Review and let me know!
-Cullens4everandever