I am so sorry this took longer than normal. My husband is in the military and we just received official orders to move yesterday so I have been spending the better part of the last couple of weeks getting ready to put our house on the market—I think I will be ready on Sunday!

Chapter 9 A wedding and a baby

(BPOV)

Alice and Esme had a bunch of fashion magazines spread across the kitchen table. They were trying to get costume ideas for their auditions for the Phantom of the Opera that was being performed that summer. The Seattle Opera and the Pacific Northwest Ballet were joining together to perform and both of my eldest daughters wanted to secure a role. Since Esme didn't dance and Alice didn't sing, both knew they would not have a leading role, but they wanted to showcase their talent. Alice already had a primary role in Pacific Northwest Ballet School's performance of Sleeping Beauty at the end of May and Esme was performing in the role of Micaela in Carmen with the Seattle Youth Opera in mid-May.

Rosalie was sketching different costumes using the pieces of pictures Esme and Alice were tearing out of the magazines as her guide. Creating their own costumes wasn't a requirement, my daughters simply liked dressing for the roles they wanted. Alice loved making clothes and costumes so she always had plenty of material for any costume she imagined.

I lowered myself onto one of the kitchen chairs and picked up the pile of pictures Rosalie had created. She was incredibly talented and her drawings were very detailed. One design, buried in between two pictures of ballet costumes, appeared to be a wedding dress. It was simple but elegant. The neckline was just below the collarbone and the sleeves were long. The dress was tight to the waist and then flowed gently to the ground in a slim bell shape. A thin ribbon tied around the waist and its ends reached the hem in the back of the dress.

"Is this how you imagined your wedding dress?" I asked quietly.

She gave me a soft smile in reply and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, maybe? I never really thought much about my wedding. I had only ever imagined my father walking me down the aisle and bringing me to the man I loved. Even though he's an ass, I always thought he'd be there for me."

I pulled her into a hug as best as I could. She leaned her head on my shoulder and I patted her back. "Rosie? Do you regret marrying me?" Emmett asked from the doorway of the kitchen. His face was panicked. Rosalie pulled away from me and got up from the table and rushed to his side.

"Never, Emmett. I don't care that we got married at the courthouse on a Wednesday night. I don't care that I was wearing my homecoming dress, even though it was a little too tight. I don't care that it was blue instead of white. I don't care that we didn't have a long engagement. I don't care that we didn't have a reception. I don't care that we didn't have a honeymoon. All I care about and all I will ever want is you. I love you and I'm so happy you love me," Rosalie said as Emmett wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

Alice, Esme, and I all smiled as we heard him whisper, "I'll love you forever, Rosie."

"Are you sure this is okay with you Bella?" Edward asked as we sat in his car outside the courthouse.

"Isn't it okay with you? Are you having cold feet?" I asked panicking.

Edward shook his head and exclaimed, "It's more than okay, Bella. You're everything to me; I just want to make sure that the courthouse is okay. I know it's not a big church wedding or anything fancy, but…"

I interrupted him and said, "Of course this is okay Edward. I get to become Mrs. Masen today. I've dreamed of becoming Mrs. Masen since you kissed me on the playground, under the slide, when we were five years old. I don't want a big wedding where I would have to stand up in front of everyone. I just want to marry you. Now come on. I only have a few minutes to get pretty before our wedding. Jane and Mom are waiting inside for me."

Edward leaned across the center console in the car and kissed me. "You're already pretty."

Smiling, I rolled my eyes and then we both got out of the car. Jane whisked me away from Edward and into the public bathroom the second we entered the courthouse. My mom was already in the bathroom with everything to do my hair and makeup spread out on the small counter.

Mom pulled me into a fast hug before she said, "Hurry and change, Bella. I think I have enough time to braid your hair while Jane does your makeup before we have to meet your father in the hall."

Ten minutes after our arrival, I stood next to my father in the hallway outside the office of the family court judge. Jane and my mom had gone in the office already and even though it wasn't a church wedding, my dad still wanted to walk me in.

He pulled me into a hug and said, "You look beautiful, Bella. I'm not really ready to give you away yet. I still look at you and see the little girl that needed a pedal extender on the piano to reach the pedals at your first recital so you could play. You were four and had memorized a piece of music that was more difficult than every other student was playing, even the graduating seniors. I know you and Edward are having a baby and you'll probably be going to college in the fall; but you're still my baby girl. If it was anyone but Edward on the other side of that door, I would be dragging you back home and locking you in your room. It's always been the two of you against the world."

"Oh, Daddy," I said with tears in my eyes. He reached over and held my cheek in his hand for a moment, just staring into my eyes.

Then he sighed and said, "I'm ready to go in there if you are."

I sniffled once and blinked back a couple of tears. I nodded and took a deep breath. "Don't let me fall," I whispered. "Never," he replied.

My dad opened the door and led me into the office. There was no aisle to walk down, but as we crossed the room to get to Edward and the judge, I clung to my father. The moment I saw Edward in his grey suit, I wanted to run to him, I wanted to fly to him. My father kept me grounded. When we arrived at the front of the room, he gently handed my arm to Edward and said simply, "Always love each other."

Edward stared at me with a smile on his face. His eyes scanned me from my low silver heeled shoes to the silver combs my mother had tucked into my braided hair. He smiled softly as he recognized my dress from the previous year's winter formal. It was a little tight, especially in the chest, but the light silver fabric sparkled and flowed just past my knees. "Beautiful," he whispered.

There was no drawn out ceremony, just a repetition of vows to love and honor one another. I was so wrapped up in Edward that it wasn't until the judge asked for witnesses to sign the marriage license that I noticed Elizabeth. She had been sitting with my mother the whole time.

She and my father signed the license before she approached us. She pulled Edward into a hug and held him tightly for a long moment. When she let him go, she turned to me and did the same. Then she took a step backwards, looked at us both and said, "My son, and now my daughter. Congratulations. I'm so glad I got to be here to watch you two get married."

"Dad?" Edward asked.

Elizabeth shook her head and replied, "Not yet. He's so stubborn. He'll come around eventually. I should go back home to him. Take care of each other." After one kiss to each of our foreheads, she left.

Seventeen years later, I looked at my first son and his new wife and wondered if her parents would ever be there for them. Every picture, letter, email, and text that Rosalie sent her parents remained unanswered. Her mother had even hid in a store one day to avoid coming in contact with Rosalie. I saw her freeze at the end of an aisle as Rosalie picked up a soft teddy bear to show Esme. Our eyes met, she shook her head back and forth a couple of time before turning around and quickly walking out of sight and toward the exit. Rosalie and Esme never saw her and I directed the girls to the other side of store.

I pushed back the chair I was sitting on so I could stand up and start dinner. Emmett saw me struggling and stepped away from Rosalie to help me. I kissed his cheek before I walked over to the refrigerator. I took out everything to make dinner for the family. I chopped onions and gathered all of the spices I would need. I was bending down to the lower cupboard to get out the pans when I felt my water break. I sighed and grabbed the roll of paper towel from the counter and pulled off a bunch of sheets to drop on the floor. I moved the paper towels around with my feet trying to clean up the mess. "Esme, can you get your dad on the phone please?" I asked her as calmly as possible.

Emmett turned around to say something and instead exclaimed, "Shit, your water broke!"

I raised an eyebrow at his language and he rolled his eyes at me. He quickly ran over to me and scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the bathroom. Alice and Esme jumped up from the table as we went past and ran from the room. Emmett had barely set me down before Alice appeared in the doorway with new clothes for me from the laundry room and some towels. Esme ran into the bathroom and handed me the phone. I could hear Emmett yelling at his brothers and Alice was yelling about cleaning supplies. Esme shut the bathroom door and tried to pull my wet pants off. I pushed her hands aside and took them off myself.

"What's going on, Bella?" Edward asked on the other end of the line.

I laughed and replied, "My water broke and the kids are flipping out."

I heard the phone drop and he fumbled for it for a few seconds. When he got it back I heard the engine in his car accelerate louder. "Shit, your water broke? Just stay calm. I have to pick up Susan and I will be home shortly."

"I am calm, Edward. I'm not even feeling contractions yet. Just drive safely," I told him.

After I had new pants on, I left the bathroom and returned to the kitchen. Every one of my children had disappeared. I rolled my eyes and got out a saucepan and started some refried beans to go with the tacos I had planned to make. I was putting different toppings into bowls when I felt my first contraction. I started to time it as I stirred seasonings into the meat and onions on the stove. Three minutes had barely passed when I felt the second contraction.

Rosalie appeared in the kitchen and made me sit down as she yelled for Esme. My daughter appeared pulling her shoes on and trying to zip up her jacket. She thrust my jacket at me and Alice followed with the bag I had packed for the hospital. "Get in the car Mom; I'm driving you to the hospital, I'll call dad and have him meet us there."

I started to breathe through the third contraction and just nodded. As soon as it passed, I followed Esme outside. Luckily the hospital was not very far from our house as my contractions were quickly getting closer together.

Esme pulled right up to the door of the maternity ward and jumped out to help me get inside the hospital. I made it just into the lobby before I had to stop as another contraction hit hard. The second it ended, Esme grabbed a wheelchair and made me sit down. She wheeled me to the desk to check in.

The receptionist was texting on her phone and not paying any attention to us. "Hey, if you don't check her in right now, my little brother is going to be born right here in the lobby," Esme seethed at the woman. The woman rolled her eyes at what she assumed to be just another hysterical family member. She turned to her computer and started asking me questions. With a glare, Esme left me to go park the car.

"What is your name, are you sure you're in active labor, like has your water broken, are you having contractions and if so, how far apart are they?" she asked rather bored.

I clenched my teeth as I tried to breathe through another contraction without screaming. "Isabella Marie Masen, yes, yes, yes, and less than a minute," I said while inhaling through my nose and out through my mouth. At that answer, the receptionist actually looked up at me and her eyes widened. She picked up the phone and made a phone call. Before the line connected, another contraction hit.

"I have a woman here who needs to come back immediately. I'm guessing she can skip triage, hurry." She hung up the phone and I handed her a folder that contained all of my pre-admission paperwork and insurance information. She pushed a few papers at me to sign and then started typing as fast as she could trying to get everything done that they needed to be able to bring me back. Esme got back inside just as a nurse was pushing me away from the desk.

"Wait for your dad and send him back as soon as he gets here," I managed to tell her. She nodded and watched as I was wheeled down the hall.

The nurse got me to an empty room and helped me put on a gown and get onto the bed. The second I got onto the bed I said, "I need to push."

She smiled and said, "You probably just think that you need to, don't push yet. Let's do an exam first."

I gritted my teeth and pushed anyway. She lifted up the gown and I watched her eyes get wide. She dropped the gown and ran to the door and yelled for the doctor and some assistance. It was during the third push that I saw Edward. He flew into the room and directly to my side.

"I got here as fast as I could," Edward said as he grabbed my hand and kissed my forehead. As I tried to catch my breath before I pushed again, he leaned forward to see how things were going. He stepped back and said, "I think one, maybe two more pushes and he'll be here. You're doing great, Bella."

I took one more deep breath and pushed as hard as I could and William Benjamin Masen came screaming into the world.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. The next one is one of my favorites where we will get to learn all about how the Masen children joined the family. It will also answer some of the questions I have been getting in reviews! Please leave me some love/feedback! Again, just pick the best letter and type it in the box—please—it only will take you 3 seconds and will make the hours I spent on the chapter totally worth it!

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