AN: Ok folks, here is your last update for the week. I didn't get much writing done so I may not have as many updates next week for you but should at least have two. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was fun to write.

On another note, I want to thank all my reviewers. It appears that I have a lot of readers but only a few that leave me a review and I'm so happy to receive them, so thank you. To everyone, thanks for sticking with the story so far!

Have a nice weekend.

Chapter 10

Bella

The first week I went back to work went by pretty quickly. My first day it was nice to have Edward pick me up and walk me up to the front door. I don't know why but I felt like it was my very first day of nursing all over again, and I wanted to have someone that was there for me in case I just couldn't do it. That was Edward.

Once I got to the floor I was relieved to see Tanya was working and she didn't come running up to me, asking me how I was doing. She looked at me, gave a warm smile and said, "About time you got your ass back here, it's been insane without you." That's what I liked about the friends I had made in Nashville, they were loyal but not pushy. They knew when to back off and they knew when to step in. I was very lucky.

I got the run down of everything going on that day and looked at all the patient names and saw that Seth Clearwater was here. He apparently had a test run yesterday and they wanted him to stay over night. I couldn't think of a better patient to have on my first day back. I quickly got all my charts and made my way to Seth's room.

"Hey big guy, time to wake up."

"Bella! I thought you were never going to come see me. They said you've been off for a couple of weeks…I'm so glad you are back. I'm not here very long and I don't want to come back for a while so I'm glad I got to see you today."

"Me too. And as much as I love you, I don't want you back for any length of time. I want you home with your family and being a little boy. Hey, where's your mom, kiddo?"

"You know I'm not little. I'm getting strong….and my Uncle Jake thinks I may get to play baseball this spring if I'm feeling up to it. Which I will be. Mom went down to get coffee…she mumbled something about wishing you could bring her an IV of it."

I laughed. Seth's enthusiasm was completely contagious and I'm so glad I came to his room first. As I listened to all his chatter about baseball, I made my way around the room to check on everything and get his vitals. Everything was nice and strong and things were really looking up for Seth.

"So, where were you?" He asked.

Such an innocent boy and I couldn't fault him for asking but it was all I could do to not break down. "I had a funeral to attend in Washington so I went back there for a week or so." I couldn't bring myself to tell Seth exactly whose funeral I had been attending. Seth was so young and he'd fought like the devil to get healthy and I wanted nothing to bring him down.

"Oh. That's sad, I'm sorry. Well, now you get to see me….I'm sure I've made your day."

"You know it good looking. How's school going?"

"It's going well. You know, the girls are chasing me around. Uncle Jake is teaching me how to play the field and keep the ladies around and mom is about to beat up Uncle Jake. All in all another eventful day in the Clearwater household. How's your husband doing in Afghanistan?"

I choked up a bit as I answered. "Well, his until is still in the thick of things. They are just ready to get home." I kept my answer as truthful as I thought he needed it to be. I looked up at Seth and he just stared at me. I told him to tell his mother "hello" for me and to tell his Uncle Jake not to teach him anything bad and then let him know it was time to go see the other patients.

When I slipped out of the room I could feel the tears stinging the back of my eyes so I made my way down the hall towards the bathroom. As I rushed I briefly ran into something HUGE and then heard. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" I didn't look up and as rude as it was I kept on walking and just said, "No problem, I'm fine." As I was walking down the hall all of a sudden I heard "Uncle Jake, you just missed my favorite nurse." And with that I ducked into the bathroom.

Later that day we got Seth discharged, I handled the rest of my patients and got the night nurse briefed with the status of the patients. I grabbed my purse and headed to Edward's car to meet up with him. He had given me the code for the keypad so I could just get in if I beat him there so that's what I did. Ten minutes later I heard the door open and looked to my left.

"Hey you. How was your day?"

"Eh, what can I say? I pretty much made it through the day fine but a 6 year old was the one person that brought tears to my eyes." Edward looked furious. "Don't get worked up. He's a kid, his name is Seth. I've known him for a while and he knows about my husband being deployed, etc. and asked me how he was doing. I didn't lie but I didn't tell him he'd died. This kid has been fighting leukemia for a while and is in remission now and I just want him to be positive, you know. Oh, but he did let me know that his Uncle Jake is teaching him to be a player…what a jackass." I stopped and looked Edward dead in the eye. "Edward, if this is a boy then you have to help me teach him manners and all that." I said pointing to my stomach. "Oh yeah, and to pee standing up."

Edward cracked up and was laughing so hard he hit his head on the steering will. "Will do, but we have a while."

With that Edward started the car and headed to my house. Once there we said our goodbyes and I headed inside.

The next few days flew by….mostly because Alice arrived on Saturday morning and once she hit town things never stopped. It was shopping and eating and getting the house fixed up to put it on the market. For the first day we didn't talk about James but on Sunday we sat down and relived all the memories we had of him…and we both ended up bawling our eyes out.

I worked Monday and before I knew it, it was Tuesday and time for my appointment. Alice and I hopped in the car and headed back towards the hospital to see Dr. Pickard.

I signed in and sat down next to Alice.

"Alice, stop shaking your leg…you're making me nervous."

She stopped immediately. "I'm sorry, I'm just so excited. I've never seen an ultrasound before, what does it look like?"

I laughed. "It looks like a peanut with a huge head. I don't know what all you'll see today, only one part is really important, you know." Alice nodded and started laughing.

"Isabella Cullen"

I stood and Alice followed. The nurse took my weight and blood pressure, all fell within the normal range, and then lead us to our room. I changed into the worse outfit ever and Alice sat with that damn bouncing knee.

A knock on the door brought a halt to Alice's leg and when it cracked open Dr. Pickard and the nurse stepped in.

"Bella, how are you feeling, hon?"

"I'm doing ok. I had a couple of dizzy spells around the time I found out about James but Edward, well Dr. Masen, was with me and figured it was dehydration. Once I got something to drink I was fine."

"Good, I'm glad Edward was with you. His Name is familiar. Is he a surgeon at the hospital?"

"Yes, he is. He and James went to undergrad together so he's been around and very helpful through everything." I looked towards Alice at that point an introduced her to the doctor.

"Ok, well let's finally look at that baby. Now, you would like to know the sex, right?"

I nodded. "Absolutely." I said with a huge smile.

Dr. Pickard got out the doppler and started up the machine. After about 30 minutes of taking tons of pictures, she looked at me with a smile.

"Ok, last chance. You sure you want to know?"

Alice and I both answered, "YES!" in a loud voice.

Dr. Pickard started laughing and moved the wand around a little more. "Ok ladies, take a good look at the screen….Every baby only has two legs, I promise yours isn't the first to have three. You are having a boy."

I looked at Alice, her eyes were huge. She gave me a sweet smile and then the tears started rolling down my face, and Alice's. I couldn't speak and the tears turned to sobs. Finally I was able to look at the doctor and she also gave me a kind smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think I'd be this overwhelmed."

"Bella, you've been through a lot….no need to apologize. Everything looks great and is measuring right on schedule. Just keep taking care of yourself and no more dizzy spells." I nodded in agreement. "I'm going to let you get changed and give you girls some time. No rush. Whenever your are done head to the front desk and make an appointment for 4 weeks."

"I will. And thank you!"

"You're welcome, Bella. I can't wait to meet that little Cullen, I be he's going to be so handsome."

I just laughed. Dr. Pickard left, Alice and I cried some more, she called Esme and I got dressed. I made my way to the front and made the appointment for my next appointment. As Alice and I stepped out of the office I looked at her and said, "Can we make one more stop?"

"Sure, where are we going?"

"Across the street to the hospital. Edward is working today and I have to go tell him. He was really excited to find out."

Alice just laughed. "Bella, he's a great guy. Let's go tell him he's going to be an Uncle to a miniature James. You know James was a hellion as a child, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. He actually told me that at our wedding reception. Come on, let's go tell Dr. Masen."

Edward

I was just walking out of the OR and towards the on call room when I got paged. I walked to the closest phone and picked it up.

"This is Dr. Masen, I was paged."

"Oh Dr. Masen, this is Sally up at the front desk. There is a very disheveled lady up here that is asking to see you. A Ms. Cullen? Should I tell them that you are busy?"

"No, Sally. Tell her I'll be up in 15 minutes. I just got out of surgery and need to clean up."

"Ok, will do."

"Wait, Sally."

"Yes?"

I whispered the next part. "Does she look upset?"

Sally started laughing….hysterically. "Oh Dr. Masen, no she doesn't look upset. She's got a friend with her that looks like she's running late for something important but Ms. Cullen looks fine. I'll tell them you'll be right up."

"Thanks, Sally", then I hung up the phone. I hustled to the locker room and took a quick shower and then headed to the lobby area. Once I was through the door I scanned the room for Bella and saw both she and Alice on the far side of the room. I was about halfway over when she spotted me and took off in my direction. By the time she reached me she was a bit out of breath but had a huge smile on her face.

I gave her the most serious face I could muster. "Hey, you ok? You training for a marathon?"

"Shut it. Guess what?"

"What?"

"It's a BOY!"

I had no words so I sat there looking like a fool and grinned down at Bella. She jumped into my arms and gave me a huge hug.

"Remember what I said, Edward. No teaching my son how to be a player."

I laughed. "I promise, I promise. So the appointment went well?"

"Yes, great. Everything is on track, he's perfect in size and the heart beat sounds good. Dr. Pickard said I don't have to come back for 4 weeks. According to Alice now it's time to shop."

Alice piped up at that point, "Hell yes it is. Bella has nothing and there is a sea of blue stuff out there that we need to get for this little one." She pointed at Bella's stomach.

"I agree with Alice, you need to get going on all that buying. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, Edward. You are going to have to help me though. You dealt with James in his wild college years so you can help me deal with this little one."

"I promise."

"Ok party people it's time to get going. Bella, we have to at least get you registered."

"What, no we don't. I'll just get everything I need." Bella looked over at me and rolled her eyes.

In all seriousness Alice said to Bella, "I know you think this is all on you now that James is gone but Bella this is your first child and we are going to treat it as such. Everyone has a baby shower and you will be included in that."

"I agree with Alice, Bella. You deserve to celebrate this little one." I put my hand on her stomach and gave it a little pat. I was met with a kick back. "Holy shit, was that what I thought it was?"

Bella's eyes were huge. "You felt that?"

"Yes."

"I think you just felt his first kick. Congrats!"

"I want to feel." Alice squealed.

And all at once Bella had three hands on her stomach, including her own. We all sat around waiting for this little boy to give us another swift kick but he must've decided once was enough.

I looked into Bella's eyes and said, "Wow, you are obviously going to have your hands full with that one. Have fun."

"Ha, you promised you'd help if I asked…consider this me asking. I'm putting you on retainer."

I shook my head. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry to break this up but I have to head back. I'm so glad you came by to tell me, you totally made my day. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Ok, Alice and I are off. If you get an ER call about a girl that shopped until she dropped, that's me."

Alice was the one to roll her eyes this time. "Very funny. Don't worry Edward, I'll make sure she eats and drinks."

"Thanks, Alice. It was good seeing you."

"You too. I head back tomorrow and I don't know when we'll be back. We can't make it for Thanksgiving and Bella is coming home for Christmas. Maybe after New Years?"

"Ok, see you then." Then I turned to Bella. "Rest if you start feeling tired and no more dizzy spells. That scared the crap out of me and I don't want to see you that pale again."

Bella held up two fingers. "Scouts honor. Ok, we'll see you later."

"Bye, ladies. Be good." And with that they were off to the mall….I guess. I headed back to the Surgical Ward but was stopped by Sally at the front desk.

"So, you are going to be an Uncle?"

"Yes. Apparently to a little boy. And having known his father in college, he's going to be a wild one."

"Oh, his father must be so excited." She said.

I gave her a thoughtful look before answering. "He was. He was an Officer in the Army and was just killed while deployed to Afghanistan. But, he was so excited."

Sally gasped and all the color left her face. "Oh, that's so sad. How is that woman even coping?"

I looked back over to the area where Alice, Bella and I had been standing. I nodded, "Yes, it is sad but Bella is probably the strongest person I know and she's taking one day at a time. I think it really helps that she just started feeling the baby move." At that moment I looked at Sally and gave her a big grin. "I actually just felt him kick. He's going to be a strong little booger."

Sally grinned and me. "Edward, you are a sweetheart. I think you are just as excited about the kick as Bella probably is." I nodded in agreement. "Well, make sure to take care of that one, she's a special lady and deserves to be taken care of."

"Already on it, Sally. Ok, I have to run. Technically I'm on the clock."

"Ok, young man. Be good to that mama, I think she's going to need you more than you want to admit."

"Will do. I'm off to save some more lives. See you later, Sally." And with that I was off to finish up the last 15 hours of my shift. What a great day it's been so far.