Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight

Edward's P.O.V.

What I expected to find at Bella's apartment, and what I actually saw there were two completely different things.

I expected there to be some crazed maniac holding her hostage or something equally fucked up like that, but instead, I found her sitting on the nasty floor, holding her round stomach with shaking hands.

Which, given her current pregnant state, was infinitely more frightening.

She looked up at me with an expression that was a mixture of fear and worry as I made slow steps toward her.

"Bella, love, what…what happened?" I knelt down to her and brought my hand to her soft cheek. It was streaked with dried tears and trembling with the promise of more.

"I-I don't know. One minute, everything was perfectly normal." She paused as fresh tears ran down her face. "Then I started feeling kind of woozy. I thought it was nothing really, so I got up to go lie down in the bedroom and I just…passed out. I woke up on my back in the hall, scared out of my mind."

It took me less than five seconds to gather her shaking frame in my arms and lift her, gently, so I could carry her.

"Edward, what the hell are you doing?" She yelped, but clung onto me.

"We're going to the hospital to make sure our baby, and you, are okay," I replied stiffly as we made it out of her apartment, where I stopped at my Volvo. I set her down, keeping an arm securely wrapped around her waist for support, as I opened the passenger door. I moved the seat back so she would be comfortable and helped her into the car.

"Bella, where's your purse, love?"

Her eyebrows scrunched together, "Uh, why?"

"You did transfer back to Dr. Henderson when you decided to stay in Forks, right?" She nodded, seeming to get where I was going with this.

"It's on the counter by the microwave."

I ducked back inside and retrieved her purse, quickly locking her front door as I exited. Once back inside my car, I handed her bag to her and told her to call the doctor.

"Hi, yes, I'm sorry for calling so late, Dr. Henderson, but I've ran into some...problems." She paused, listening to what her doctor was telling her. She nodded to herself and glanced at me for a couple of seconds before looking away.

After she hung up, she looked back over to me. "She said to take me to Labor and Delivery. She's going to be there in the morning, but they have other specialists on duty until she gets in."

With her apparently not saying anything further on the matter, I started the car and nearly flew out of the apartment complex's parking lot.

"Did you do anything…strenuous at all?" I questioned as I tried to not to drive like a lunatic.

"No. After Alice left, I was just reading in the living room and then started to feel light headed," she replied in a subdued voice.

I glanced at her, shoulders still shaking from crying. I grabbed her hand and began rubbing circles on the back of it with my thumb. It could turn out much worse if I couldn't get her to relax.

"Bella, calm down, I'm sure it won't be as bad as we think it is." I hope.

"Yeah, because all pregnant mothers are supposed to pass out, right?" She shot back with a sarcastic snort.

I didn't speak for the rest of the ride in fear of saying more to upset her. After a few moments of silence, I could hear her breathing even out, letting me know she had at least stopped crying. I turned to glance at her profile briefly, finding out that I was wrong; there was a silent trail of tears falling from her closed eyes. It broke my heart to see her cry. Even more so when there was a chance our baby could be in trouble. The very thought of something being wrong with the baby had that ache in my heart turn into a borderline hysteria.

Before I knew it, we were in the parking lot of the hospital and I was hustling Bella inside as fast as I could possibly go without hurting her, and having spent a lot of time here thanks to Carlisle, made it to Labor and Delivery quickly. The nurse at the desk looked up, startled at our entrance.

"Isabella Swan?" The lady asked quietly. When Bella confirmed who she was, the woman nodded. "Dr. Henderson let us know you were coming in. We're going to get you into a room to meet with the doctor on call here tonight."

We were in Bella's room for a few moments before a nurse came in to help Bella

"Miss Swan, once you get changed into this gown, I'm going to get your IV in. I'm also going to have to hook a monitor up to your stomach to check on your baby throughout the night."

She handed the hospital gown to Bella and after waiting while Bella changed, did exactly as she said and hooked Bella up with a bunch of wires, comfortable in the bed, but still visibly upset. After Bella was thoroughly situated the nurse took her vitals and then left swiftly; presumably to inform the doctor of our arrival.

Bella stopped crying maybe two seconds before the doctor came in.

"Miss Swan," he acknowledged, reading over the sheet I had filled in. "It says here that you're in your thirtieth week, and your due date is April first."

"Yes."

"And you passed out? For how long?"

"I don't really know exactly."

"Has this ever occurred before?"

"Um, no, this was the first time."

The doctor paused, probably looking over the tests the nurse took, before looking back up at Bella.

"Your blood pressure is very high, Miss Swan."

"But I don't have high blood pressure, and it doesn't run in the family." Her eyebrows came together in confusion.

"Sometimes these things happen during pregnancies. Especially if you're more stressed out than you should be."

This was my fucking fault that she was here.

"Now, this was most likely the reason for you passing out, but we'll run some tests to be positive, and we'll make sure to get an ultrasound to check on your baby, too." The doctor asked us if we had any other questions and left the room when we told him that we didn't.

I turned to Bella, "This entire thing is my fault, Bella, I'm so sor-" She waved a hand at me swiftly.

"Don't apologize. It's my fault. I should be taking better care of myself," Would she ever just stop being so damn selfless?

"Bella, I swear to Christ that if you keep blaming yourself for this, I'll have an aneurism." She narrowed her eyes and scowled, but remained silent as she turned her face away from me.

Being the master of changing the subject, she used her ability well. "Do you want to, you know, do the ultrasound with me? I mean, you were going to anyway at my next appointment, but…" Her hands fidgeted in her lap as she remained facing the opposite direction.

"I think you already know the answer to that." She finally brought her gaze to mine again; a soft smile lighting her otherwise sullen face.

"Thanks," she whispered.

For what seemed like two eternities, but was probably only an hour or so - silence really made time go by slowly - Bella was all ready for her ultrasound. Belly goo, and all.

I seemed to turn into the biggest fucking pussy of all time when I saw my baby, my baby, on that little monitor. I couldn't believe that something so small and fragile was actually inside of Bella.

I cried.

No, seriously. A single tear ran down my face before I hastily swiped it away. But, not before Bella saw it. She didn't comment. Instead, she just lied there smiling warmly at our baby.

Our. Baby.

"I hope you don't mind not knowing the sex, Edward, I just wanted it to be a surprise." She murmured.

"As much as the not knowing is killing me, I'm happy to wait if it makes you happy." Not knowing where my newfound, heartfelt boldness was coming from, I reached a hand over to one of hers and squeezed it lightly. To my shock, and complete joy, as I was pulling mine away, she gripped tighter and did not let go during the whole process.

"Everything seems to be perfectly fine, Ms. Swan. Your baby is just fine and so are you. Now, we're still going to have to have to keep you here overnight for observation, alright?" She nodded and then the doctor looked at me, but still seemed to be talking to Bella. "Hospital's policy is that you can have one guest overnight."

"Oh, yes, he'll be staying overnight with me." Bella said, without missing a beat. The doctor nodded and strode out of the room.

"Bella," I started, shocked, "are you sure you really want me to stay with you?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't want to be alone and I really don't want to bother anyone else by waking them up so late - er, early."

I was about to reply, possibly fall to my knees and beg her to take me back or whatever, but a nurse came and began to give Bella more information.

"Press the top button on the remote for the bed if you need to page the nurses' station, and that chair right there pulls out into a bed." She pointed to the small, cushioned chair to Bella's left.

It was going to be so fucking uncomfortable.

The nurse hand me a pillow and a blanket before leaving.

After preparing my makeshift bed, Bella shifted so that she could look at me.

And grab my hand.

"Thank you so much, Edward," she murmured.

"Bella, you don't have to thank me."

"I know, but I want to." She brought my hand up to her mouth and laid a gentle, fleeting kiss to it before letting go. "Goodnight, Edward," she whispered before closing her eyes and slowly ebbing into sleep.

"Goodnight, love."

After a short sleep filled with being woken up periodically by nurses coming in to check on Bella and the baby, we finally got to see Dr. Henderson. Seeing as how she actually did looked concerned for her patient - unlike other doctors who pretended to be empathetic - I decided that I liked her.

"Bella, your blood pressure is back to normal, but you'll need to take it easy and cut back on all those salty, cholesterol-filled foods I know you've been eating." Her pointed, but also playful stare made Bella blush and nod in understanding.

"Also, I'm not going to put you on bed rest just yet, but I'm going to have you come in next week to see if your blood pressure is still stable. If it isn't, I'm going to have to put you on bed rest, okay?"

"That sounds fine," Bella replied.

Dr. Henderson smiled warmly, motherly at Bella before she left after leaving a few more instructions for us. A nurse came in not long after that to get Bella unhooked from all the machines so she could get ready to be discharged. Once that was all good and settled, we found ourselves situated in my car, at a total loss of what to say or do.

"So, do you want me to take you back to your house? I can call Alice or Rose to let them know what's going on."

"Well, er, would it be alright if we went back to…your house? I don't want to wake them up so early and I'd really just like to get something to eat, if you don't mind." She peeked over at me shyly as she asked this.

"Didn't you just eat breakfast in there?" She shot me a dark look, which shut me the fuck up.

"Shut the hell up, Cullen, and drive me somewhere I can make some food!"

And I did.

My house didn't exactly have that much food, but I wouldn't tell her that.

We arrived in record time, Bella complaining I was driving too fast. I slowed down, grumbling the whole time.

One thing that I had totally forgotten about was the current state my home was in from my weeks of self-pity and wallowing.

"Your house," Bella paused to kick a piece of stray laundry on the ground in the living room, "looks like utter shit."

"Well, thanks," I shot back playfully as I led her into the kitchen. I made a move to open up the cupboards and fridge to see if I had anything edible, but she literally slapped me away and pointed to a seat at the table.

"Bella, you should relax. Remember what-"

"Like I'm going to let you cook me anything. I'd rather not end up back at the hospital because you gave me food poisoning," she scoffed and pulled out different items of food so fast that I couldn't even tell what she was trying to make.

In all honesty, I think she had the stacks of pancakes with eggs finished in 2.5 seconds.

"Whoa there, Speed Racer, how did that come out of my kitchen?" I could have sworn I only had, like, ketchup and mustard and Ramen left in there.

"Yeah, well, when it comes to a pregnant woman and her food, there's nothing she can't do." Touché.

"Besides, I don't see or hear you complaining when this is probably the first real food you've-" She stopped short, clutching her stomach with a small grimace. I rushed over to her in an instant.

"Bella?" I was frantic, but she wasn't saying anything. I guided her to a chair at the table with an arm around her shoulders. I knelt beside her and finally, her expression changed into a smile.

Huh?

"Our baby's gonna be a soccer star, I'm sure of it," she said with a laugh and I let out a relieved sigh, rubbing a hand over my eyes.

"You scared the hell out of me, Bella." She placed one of her hands on my cheek and stroked under my eye with her thumb. It was so gentle that I wanted to cry.

I loved it.

"I'm sorry, Edward, I didn't mean to," she said apologetically.

"Don't worry. It's just, if anything happened to you or the baby, I couldn't-" I cut myself off before I made her uncomfortable, and she looked away.

"Well, ah, let's eat." She was about to fix me a plate, but seeing as how she was probably up and on her feet for too long while making this breakfast and should definitely rest, I gently nudged her aside - earning an angry swat - and fixed two plates of food.

We ate in silence for a little while before she broke it.

"So, what's our situation?"

"What do you mean?" Does she mean what I want her to mean?

"Like, what are we going to do about the whole sort of bed-rest situation? I'm due soon, so I need someone with me. At least, until Craig gets back."

My heart sank. I had totally forgotten about that douche.

Douche? He's a lot better than you, fuckface Eddie.

"And, not that I want to impose, but would you maybe stay with me?"

"What about your dad? Wouldn't you much rather stay with him than with me? Or Alice?" An unreadable emotion passed over her face when I asked her that.

She fiddled with her napkin and said, "I want you there."

Wait, what?

"Really?" I asked, my eyebrows rising in incredulity. "I'm ecstatic that you do, love, but why?"

"I just - I just do, okay?" She huffed and threw her napkin down and moved to clean up her plate.

"Here, let me get that for you." Astonishingly, she let me clear the table. Unfortunately, it seemed like my question made her close herself off. Just as I was done with the dishes, she got up and stocked down the hallway to the living room. I heard the TV come to life and then she started flipping through the channels.

I closed the dishwasher's door and went off into the living room. She didn't acknowledge my even existence when I sat down next to her, probably too close for her comfort.

"I'm sorry for whatever I said to upset you, Bella." Her jaw tensed, but other than that, she showed no signs of hearing what I had said.

"Bella, please, just-"

"I'm not mad at you, Edward." She cut me off tersely. "Look, can we just forget that I even suggested that I wanted you to stay with me? It's pretty obvious you don't want to and I get that, I do, really."

"Fuck, Bella, I told you, I'm unbelievable happy that you want me to stay with you, I just didn't know why you would want to after everything."

She still didn't look at me.

"Edward, I meant it when I said I wanted to be amiable for our baby's sake, but I also don't want it to be superficial. I want-I really want to forgive you so that we can move past it. If I never forgive, there will always be lingering doubt or anger." She finally peeked over at me, a hint of a smile on her face. "Plus, I want my best friend back."

Who has two thumbs and is the happiest fucker on the planet?

This guy.

"I just have one suggestion about this arrangement. I think you should come and stay here for the time being, because that current place you have is a piece of crap."

"No, Edward. That would kind of defeat the whole purpose of me getting the place. Besides, it's only temporary."

"C'mon, Bella, will you please stay here?"

"I-I don't know, Edward. Let me think about it, okay? In the meantime, I think we should clean this sty up."

"Oh, no. I'll clean and you'll go lie down and relax," I countered, ignoring the pout as I helped her up and ushered back into the guest room.

"Oh, I saw it when I walked over here, but what did you do to that other guest room? There's nothing in it anymore and it looks like you just repainted it. Are you remodeling or something?"

Shit. How did that slip my mind?

"That's the baby's new room." Her eyes grew wide, but her mouth curved upward into a gentle smile.

"Thank you, Edward." She cupped my cheek - to which I relished by leaning into it. Surprised by her own actions, she hastily withdrew the hand and waddled over to the only working guest room.

After reveling in the traces of happiness and warmth her touch left on me, I tried to assess the state my house was in, and figure out where to start.

Let's just say I was screwed on the whole cleaning front, because my house resembled a hotel room after a rock star had stayed there circa the 1980s. But fuck, I couldn't give two shits about having to clean it, because Bella, Bella, was in my home and from how she was acting, I was slowly starting to gain something from her. I didn't know exactly what that something was, but it didn't matter. Anything from Bella was worth hopping around and dancing like a little fucking girl.

And I was hopping and dancing around like a little fucking girl on the inside.

After my inner self got done with his own impersonation of that Efron douche, I found myself standing right outside of where Bella was; just a door between me and my angel. Before her, I never thought someone, not even Tanya, could make me feel like this.

But, it wasn't just someone; it was my Bella, the woman I had hurt so many times, and the baby inside of her that I would make sure never to hurt.

My hand gripping the handle so tightly my knuckles were turning a ghostly white. I didn't know what I expected to happen. Did I think she going to leap into my arms the second I opened the door?

I pulled my hand away sharply as if it had been shocked.

I just want to see her. Wow, even my own thoughts sounded creepy to me. Was I really going to watch Bella sleep while she was unaware?

Yes.

The door was open in a blink of an eye and the vision before me nearly brought me to my knees with its innocent beauty.

There, facing me with one tiny hand curled up under her cheek, hair strewn all around her like a dark halo, was a Bella that had never looked more peaceful or beautiful.

She was everything that was pure and good and right in the world.

And I was the monster that knocked her down every chance I got.

I fought with myself about spending a few more minutes in this angel's presence, but thought better of it just in case she woke up to my creepiness and we were sent back to square one.

I slipped out as quietly as I had come in and went back to the living room.

With newfound lightness in my chest and a smile on my face, I vowed to never hurt that angel ever again. I was going to do everything in my power to make her and the baby happy.

To start with, I went to clean up my fucking sty of a house.

A.N. : I know. I fail. A lot. I apologize for the epic lateness of this chapter. Life has been an ongoing clusterfuck. I'm especially sorry to those of you that I said something like "Oh, yeah, MDS/Hello will be updated..." and then never updated. This chapter is dedicated to you. Sarquan, your PM was what really kicked my butt into gear, so thank you and I'm sorry. Also, I have a twitter that I'll be using to talk about posting: VenomPwnage

Now, for this chapter, I've never been pregnant, so all this info was given to me by my fabulous beta, sweetishbubble, who made this chapter (which was awful before she edited it) so, so much better.

Also, I'm going to go back and edit the previous chapters, because I've noticed some problems with them. I'm sorry I didn't reply to all the reviews, but I'll try to this time.

Love,

ThankYouForTheVenom08