January

Sue enrolled me in birthing classes after Nonna left, and she told me she was doing them with me. Usually the baby's dad was involved, but there was no way in hell I'd ever make Edward do that. It'd be freaking mortifying.

The instructor was a total nut. It was all about breathing and feeling and pushing. By the end, I was so pissy that I could have smacked a bitch. Thank God Sue needed to go home right after, or else I probably would have ended up having a bitch fit.

Edward and I hung out a lot, which was cool. Rose was all about Emmett now; she was down with me finding someone else to chillax with. Alice seemed to approve of the entire situation, which was disconcerting. There was something freaky about that chick. I mean, I'm frickin' pregnant. How am I in any way good for her extremely popular clique?

The rest of the kids agreed with my logic. The whispers behind my back escalated. Instead of being invisible in the hallway, I was avoided and stared at.

My stomach was a decent size. It looked like I was trying to shoplift a small pillow. My jeans had elastic waistbands now, courtesy of Sue.

I tried to convince Charlie to let me work, but Sue said I needed to take it easy.

"And take some damn vitamins," she finished with as she quilted a blanket for the kid.

Edward had to babysit his younger sister, Katie, one random Saturday night, so I went to help him. His parents were going to some benefit supper in Seattle or some shit like that.

I was there a little early, early enough to actually meet Edward's parents for the first time. Mrs. Masen was putting on some earrings while she answered the door after I knocked.

"Oh, hello, Bella," she greeted with a quick smile. "I'll go tell Edward you're here."

"Thanks, Mrs. Masen," I replied, shoving my hands in my pockets. "You look smokin' hot tonight."

"Um, thank you," she murmured, her lips twitching. "Wait here."

"Sure." I rocked back and forth on my feet while she walked to wherever Edward was at.

In the meantime, Edward Sr. showed up outta nowhere, scaring the piss out of me.

I put my hand on my heart and swallowed a yelp. "Hey, Mr. Masen."

"Ms. Swan," he greeted with a nod. "How are you?"

I shrugged. "Not bad, how about yourself?"

"Good, considering."

"Right, you're running for mayor again. How's the campaign going?"

"Had to be tweaked a little. I was shooting for a good, Christian angle, but now that my son's knocked up the police chief's daughter, that would be a tad hypocritical, wouldn't it?"

"Dad!" Edward interrupted as he entered the room. "What the hell was that?"

Mr. Masen smiled briefly at his son. "Nothing, Edward. "He attached a cufflink quickly. "Coming, Elizabeth?"

"Yes, I'm here," she sighed. "Let's leave before you can say anything more."

They left the house quickly, silently arguing. A pair of arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me close to a lean body. A pair of lips ticked my neck. I sighed, closing my eyes and relaxing.

"I'm so sorry about that," Edward apologized quietly.

"He had a legit point," I replied, my hands covering his on my swollen belly. "I did fuck things up for him."

"Don't say that," Edward pleaded. "You didn't fuck anything up, you changed things. Some things weren't exactly ideal, but some of them were definitely for the better."

I smiled. "I guess."

Edward spun me around a kissed me on the lips quickly, twining our fingers.

"Come on," he breathed, tugging me towards the living room. "Let's watch movies with Katie."

She was already in the middle of Beauty and the Beast. She barely noticed up when we entered the room.

"I brought someone else to watch movies, Katie," Edward told her.

"Yeah, hey, Bella," she greeted, still not looking away from the TV.

"Hey, Katie."

"The kid moving yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Okay."

Katie was obsessed with touching my stomach. She wanted to feel the baby kicking really badly. She had never been around a pregnant woman before, so this was all new for her.

We watched the rest of Beauty and the Beast before popping in The Princess and the Frog, which was my new favourite Disney movie. The prince was just so damn cute.

"Okay, Katie-cat," Edward announced, slapping his thighs before standing up. "Time to go to bed."

"It's only ten!" Katie exclaimed.

"Which is an hour past your bedtime," Edward countered. "C'mon, stinky, get up."

"Fine," she huffed, a scowl on her face. "See you later, Bella."

"'Night, Katie."

Edward bent down and Katie hopped on his back. I started cleaning up while they climbed the stairs to Katie's room. I was washing the popcorn bowl when Edward wrapped his arms around my waist again, his hands resting on my stomach.

"You don't need to do that," Edward whispered against the nape of my neck.

"But I'm going to anyway," I murmured as his lips moved against my skin. "You dry."

Edward groaned playfully. I smirked as I handed him the towel.

"And then we can make-out, right?" he asked as he picked up a cup, drying it quickly.

"I guess so," I replied with a sigh.

"You want me," he declared, smiling at me crookedly.

"So sure of yourself," I chided. "You know, I was thinking of becoming a virgin again. Like, remain chaste until I'm married so I'm a born-again virgin or whatever."

Edward rolled his eyes, still smiling. "Babe, you're pregnant. That train is long gone."

"Well, if a certain someone hadn't seduced me at Homecoming...," I teased.

"If a certain someone hadn't been wearing a certain dress...," Edward replied.

I pulled the plug on the drain with a laugh. "Remind me to yell at Rose for that."

"Never," Edward mumbled, dropping the dish towel and catching my lips with his, fingers tangling in my hair.

I leaned against the counter, gripping Edward's shirt tightly, pulling him closer to my stomach.

We ended up having sex on the couch, Edward saying "I love you" when he came, as always. Of course we didn't talk about it. We never did. Those three words had way too much power to be toyed with.

Mr. and Mrs. Masen were spending the night in Seattle, so I spent the night at Edward's. He made me wear one of his shirts, even though I could barely fit into it.

"My clothes look better on you," he explained as we crawled into bed. "And if anyone walks into my room tomorrow morning without knocking, I want them to know who you belong to."

I rolled my eyes but smiled. "You're such an overprotective dork."

"Your overprotective dork," Edward corrected as he pulled me close to him.

I slipped my cold toes under his legs and closed my eyes.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"There's something I should tell you."

"Shoot, cowboy."

"I love you."

I froze. We were finally addressing this whole...situation.

"So I've heard," I whispered.

"I know I should have told you when we weren't...doing that, but I was nervous." He chuckled a little. "Still am, actually."

"Ninety-nine percent sure I love you too," I replied. "So, no worries."

"Only ninety-nine percent?"

"We'll see what happens after I pop this kid out." I yawned. "Now, shut up."

"'Night, Bella."

Sorry for being sort'a late on Wednesday. I was expecting to be leaving for Craven at about 6 PM tonight, and instead, my dad dragged me to the city, which is two hours away from where I leave, to get a brand spankin' new car! I'm now the owner of a red Cobalt, four doors, with no air conditioning, and power locks/windows/mirrors! It's a bare-bones Cobalt, lol. Anyway, I'm leaving for Craven tomorrow, and depending on how well the drinking contest I'm having with myself goes, I'll either be home on Sunday afternoonish or Monday afternoonish. Wish me luck!

They love each other. Awe.

There'll be a teaser Monday on A Different Forest!

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Rec for the week: How to Save a Life by unholy(.)something... Can't remember right now.. FAIL. Heart fail. I seriously cried, and I'm a stone-cold bitch. So that's sayin' something.