Disclaimer(s): All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. TY lovely Twilight ladies for the great sample, this disclaimer is also not mine.

Yeah, I know it's been forever. Not going to give excuses, just know I've already written ahead for the next couple chapters. :) Thanks to THE READERS (seriously you guys are AMAZING and ILY), my Kassiah for keeping me grounded and always pushing me to be better, my beta and friend Kris, Teacher1209 for prereading, and Amber for always doing polyvore for me! Smooches girls!

Previously

We were each taking turns opening a gift when my cell phone rang from an unknown number.

"Hello?"

I heard static and then the sound of Edward's voice.

"Baby?"

"Oh, Edward! It's so good to hear your voice. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too, baby! I miss you and sure wish I could be there."

"Me too," I sighed as I frowned and looked at the faces of my friends and family as I stepped out of the room for a bit of privacy.

"Listen baby, I am sorry to rush this but the CO gave us each five minutes to call home as kind of a Christmas gift. So I don't have too long. I got your letter the other day and I have been itching to open it. Do you have your envelope, baby?"

"Yeah," I whispered as I wiped the tears that started to fall. "I have it right here."

"Don't cry, baby. You know I hate it when you cry, especially since I can't be there to make it better."

"Sorry," I sniffled. "You know I can't control it."

"I know," he sighed, sadly. "I'm going to break the seal and then we'll pull them out and look at them together, okay?"

I slid my finger under the flap of the envelope and heard the paper tear as I loosened the bond. The sound was heavy in the deafening silence of my empty room.

"Kay, mine's open."

He counted to three and I pulled the sonogram picture out of the envelope and gasped.

"We're having a boy," we both said at the same time.

Mid January 2002

EPOV

"Bella."

I shot up in bed and realized all too soon that it was just another dream. The restless naps were few and far between, but I was always thankful for the little shut eye I could grab here and there. I'd been having a lot of dreams lately and I was just glad my mind could still see her. Of course, staring at her before I fell asleep at night or took a nap was a sure-fire way to guarantee I'd have sweet dreams staring at my beautiful wife. Looking down to my right, I confirmed that I was alone and not at home with her where I wanted to be more than anything. Even though I slept on a small single bed I still slept a little to the left.

Bella sleeps on the right side.

I let my mind run through the pictures of her I had in my head for another minute or two before I opened my eyes again and rolled out of bed. I had to get a move on, we had patrols in fifteen minutes.

The days were getting longer the more time we spent over here. With the war itself no longer being a "new thing", our downtime seemed to be getting longer. The guys and I found ourselves having more time to goof off and write letters to our loved ones. So recently I found myself writing small notes to our baby boy.

Hey little guy,

I hope you're being good to your momma. It kills me to have to be away from her and miss out on watching her stomach get bigger while you grow in to the strong man I know you'll be.

As much as I'd love to have you follow in my footsteps and fight for our country, I pray everyday that the world will be at peace when you're all grown up and making decision regarding your own future.

Speaking of peace, and quiet...I can hear the guys rough housing outside. They only have one volume. Loud. You better not be a crier, because I just don't know how I'll handle sleepless nights for more than a few months.

I love you little guy. Take care of your momma.

Love,

Your Daddy

I knew I would never send these, that would definitely not help any with the my emotional wife back home. Other than a few letters I'd received, I hadn't spoken to Bella in weeks and was seriously missing the sound of her voice. Her laugh. The soft snores that I swear I'll take to my grave because they're so damn cute that I don't ever want her to worry about snoring. Just to be woken up by her snores again would be a dream come true.

She should just be getting another of the gifts I'd put together for her this weekend. It's early morning back in the State's and I know my girl's probably cranky because Alice and Rosalie are waking her up to get going. She'll get over it when she gets there, I'm sure. I just wish I could be the one giving her the massage. Damn. I can't think of her like that or I'll end up with a BIG problem. I glanced at her picture for the thousandth time today and smiled at the thought of returning home to her.

I'd been writing letters to Bella whenever I found the time. It made me feel closer to her just putting the pen to paper and telling her about how my day had gone, or at least the stuff I wanted her to know. Some stuff she would never know. Some things I wish I had never had to see or do.

I had also started a letter to my dad, he was a little more difficult to write to though. I always felt like I could be as real with him as I was with Bella. Mostly I just spelled out all the reasons I missed being back home and touched on a few other things about being here. I pulled out the letter I had started to him a while ago.

Dad,

Things here are okay. They aren't good, obviously, but they could be worse. We haven't had a casualty in my division in days and that's certainly something to be thankful for. Bella and I found out what we were having. I'm sure she's shared the good news with you, but I thought I'd tell you since I've been telling everybody in sight.

We're having a BOY!

Sometimes I can't believe that I'm going to be a father. I wish I could be there with Bella so much, but I know what I'm doing is good so I just keep hoping and praying that I don't miss out on too much of his life. I know I'm missing so many important parts of the pregnancy with Bella and that just kills me. Then I think about the fact that I'll get to see Bella again soon, but neither of us will see Mom again. I'm reminded that even though I'm missing out on so much, at least I still have her. Them. We're a family. I still miss Mom so much; I don't know how you did it without her. I know that if I lost Bella that I could never survive.

Are you excited to be a grandfather? As much as I would love having a daddy's girl, I'm excited that our first child is a little boy. That way when we do have a little girl, she'll have a big older brother and I won't have to worry about her being taken care of as much when she gets older and ends up as gorgeous as her mother.

I hope he has her smarts, beauty, both inside and out, her willingness to love so many people with little to nothing in return. I know he's gonna have my humor, he's gonna be one smooth talker and I hope he has my strength.

I think the guys are ready to head back out. When you see Bella, tell her I love her and I love you too, Dad.

Your Son,

Edward

"Hey Edward. Let's play another round of football before we head out on patrols today."

I waved my hand at the guys as they quickly disappeared out of the tent and laced up my boots. It seemed like my day is just getting started since we'll be headed out on patrols later. Things may be laid back now, but I know that could all change in an instant.

BPOV

"Are you sure it's not more than four hours away?" I asked Alice as she glanced over at me and smiled.

"Trust me, Bella. I knew you would be uncomfortable sitting in a car for more than a couple of hours." Her happy demeanor wasn't helping the fact that we would be in the car for an unprecedented amount of time. I guess I would just have to relax and learn to trust Alice on this trip.

I sighed and turned back toward the window, trying to get comfortable in the front seat. I couldn't help but be excited about Rose being here. She had surprised me when she showed up at my door with Jasper last night. She seemed happier than I expected her to be given that she was spending the next few days away from Emmett. From what she'd told me they had become inseparable since I had moved away and she had hopes that he would be popping the question very soon.

"Bella, if you need to, you can move the seat back," Rose whispered in my ear as she leaned up to rub my shoulders. I shook my head and mumbled that I was fine as I relished in the feel of her hands relieving the tight muscles of my neck and shoulders.

Rose had been given the back seat since Alice was driving the rental car and knew where we were going. I was definitely looking forward to whatever they had planned. In my last letter from Edward, he had hinted at a girls weekend, but other than wishing me a relaxing time I had no idea what was in store for us.

We were driving along the Gulf Coast, headed South. Since Alice assured me we weren't going more than a few hours, I could rule out anything too far south like Palm Beach or Miami. Especially since we'd have to cross to the other side of the state for those destinations. While I was pondering the places we could be going I must have dozed off because I was woken up when Alice knocked on my window and motioned for me to sit up so I wouldn't fall out when she opened the door.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you when I went inside to check in. But you're going to have to wake up now, you're not going to want to miss this!"

"Where are we?" I asked as I yawned.

"Naples. We're at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and Spa, isn't it great?" she asked as she stepped back and let me out of the car.

She was all smiles as she tossed the key to the valet who was busy removing our luggage and loading it onto a cart.

I followed her inside the hotel. Without pausing to allow us to take in the beautiful lobby Alice had us loaded into the elevator before I could even ask what floor we were on. I would have to sneak back downstairs and take some pictures for Edward. Just because he wasn't here didn't mean he'd want to miss seeing what he was giving me.

We made it up to our room with the baggage arriving shortly after we settled in. I laid down on the bed the girls had said was mine. All the driving had made me exhausted, even if I had slept for a little while in the car. I was pregnant. I was tired a lot more than the average non-pregnant person.

Alice pulled out her laptop to confirm a few things and within minutes she had made her way onto my bed with Rosalie peering over our shoulders.

Apparently Alice has been subscribing to and receiving emails from various baby product websites. She opens one from a very high end baby boutique.

"Oh, Bella! That one's so beautiful," she comments on what appears to be a diaper bag.

"I know, I really like the metallic coloring," I whispered, enjoying the comments the girls were making. This was something I had missed while I had been living here over the past few months, that was until Alice came into my life.

"I think she should go with the silver one, because you know it will go with everything," Alice commented

"I couldn't agree more," Rose whispered as she ran over to her purse and pulled out her wallet.

"What are you doing?" I asked as she shooed me out of the way and clicked on Add to Cart.

"Buying you a baby shower gift. What's it look like?"

"I just, I mean isn't it a little soon?" I haven't even registered yet.

"What do you mean you haven't registered?" Alice asked like she had no idea why something so important hadn't been done like five minutes after peeing on the stick. "We're so doing that as soon as we get home."

"I just thought I had a little more time. Besides, we didn't know what I was having until recently so it's not like I have had a whole lot of time."

As we talked about not having the baby registry done it dawned on my why I was putting it off.

As if she could read my mind, Alice asked"It's because Edward's not here, isn't it?" She rubbed my arm and pulled me in for a comforting hug.

I shrugged. I guess I had the probability of being a real mood killer this weekend.

The afternoon was filled with various appointments at the hotel's spa. Each of us had different things scheduled but would be done at relatively the same time. When the masseuse appeared to collect me after my pedicure I asked her what the girls had booked for me and she smiled as she laid her hands on my belly and said, "A Mellow Mama."

The Mellow Mama was the best massage I had had in a long time, including the many massages I had even before I got pregnant. Well, except for the full body massages Edward had given me. Though I guess those were a little more than a massage.

Edward amazes me everyday. He seems to remember everything. The fact that he thought to make sure I was being taken care of while he was gone, physically and emotionally, is just another reason in the long list of why he's so perfect and I love him.

After my hour-plus massage all I wanted to do was go back to the room and fall asleep, but the girls wouldn't hear of it. Instead they shoved me into a flowing maternity dress and ushered me downstairs and out by the pool where the dining area was hosting a luau.

We laughed at the silliest things as the dancers brought up members from the audience to test out their hula skills. When the girls insisted I get up and join them, I made it around the table before I stumbled and complained of a sudden on-set headache. The girls were kind enough to cut the evening short for me and we ended up back in our room watching a movie as we relaxed and discussed the plans for the next day.

Waking up, I heard Rose and Alice whispering as they stumbled around in the dark room.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked, my voice raspy with sleep.

"Sorry," Rose whispered as she approached my bed. "We were trying to be quiet. We're just going to run down the street and grab some Starbucks. Do you want anything? Some tea?" she asked as she grabbed her purse.

"No," I shook my head. "I think I'll just grab a shower since it looks like you two are already ready for the day. That way I will be ready to head out when out guys get back." I got out of bed and told them I'd see them in a little bit.

Standing from the bed I was a little bit dizzy, but decided I just needed some food in me. Grabbing a couple of leftover cookies from the table where we left them after our midnight snack machine run, I grabbed my robe and shower bag. Steam quickly filled the room as I started the shower and pulled out the things I would need. I decided to fore go shaving as I had just done that yesterday and it wasn't like I was trying to impress anybody. It was also becoming increasingly more difficult with my growing belly.

Stepping into the shower I didn't realize how slippery it was until it was too late.

A/N: Yeah, I know cliffie? Bummer. No worries, next chap's already done. It'll post next week! What are good days/times to post chaps? Weekdays? Weekends?Evening? Morning? just curious. :)

The Mellow Mama is actually a real sevice on the spa menu at the Ritz Carlton in Naples. Check out all the services they offer along with pictures of the hotel and the room here www ritzcarlton com/en/Properties/Naples/Spa/Menu htm (Don't forget to put the dots in.) You can check out that link and other things from this chapter as well as polyvore by amberdk on my blog www(dot)hdinkff(dot)com :)

There are TWO contests I want to tell you about because I WANT to read some preggo Bella/daddyward fics!
-Beautiful Bellies Contest (www fanfiction net/~beautifulbellies) and Trying For A Baby Contest (www fanfiction net/~tryingforababycontest) are two contests going on this Spring. Please be checking them out and writing for them, I need babyfic!