Beta'd by Dollybigmomma

Chapter 11: AMEN

Bella seemed nervous about me meeting her parents. I had always been a confident person. Parents usually liked me, but Bella was under the impression that I had two strikes against me already. First, moving in with her before we were married; second, I had knocked her up. I had a feeling the second one was the more serious of the two offenses. There was no way in hell I was going to let them in on the secret of me getting her pregnant while she was sleeping.

I felt a little in over my head with their visit looming just a day away. They were coming up to help Bella move in. According to her mother, the damage was done when I got her pregnant, so living together wasn't a worse sin than that. I wasn't sure I really understood her logic, but I was just glad her dad hadn't threatened to kill me…yet.

I thought I'd speak to my mother on the issue. She was somewhat religious, more so than me. I wondered what her spin was on things were and if she could help me find a way to win over Bella's parents. I didn't know why, but it felt really important to me that they liked me. We might not be married yet, but they'd eventually be my family. I didn't want them to hate me.

"Edward, just be yourself. When they see how sweet you are with their daughter and how much you love her, they'll love you for it."

"I don't think I'm especially sweet. Should I be sweeter than usual?"

My mother laughed at me and shook her head. "You still don't see it, honey. You're so sweet with her naturally. Don't act any different than you usually do, or you'll make everyone uncomfortable."

I didn't quite get what she was talking about. I took care of Bella as best as I could, but I didn't think my behavior was anything more than your standard serious boyfriend, was it? Was it another sign that I secretly wanted to marry her?

We were at her studio apartment. There wasn't much left there to move, since most of it was at my place, but we had packed the stuff that was at my place the night before and had it sitting in the truck. That way it would sort of look like we had just gotten a jump start on the packing, and she hadn't been living with me this whole time.

"Baby, would you please not lift the boxes. I know you want to help, but just not that way. You can be in charge of the tape," I reasoned with Bella, when she grabbed another box of knickknacks. I handed her the tape gun and kissed her pouting lips. "You know I love you, just be careful, please?"

"I'm more likely to get hurt with this demon tape dispenser than I would moving a box. Did you see how it tore up my thumb?" She held it up for inspection, and I kissed it for her.

"Okay, you're on marker duty then. You can write whatever you want on the boxes. Please, just leave the lifting to me."

"Well, I guess I don't have to kill you. I wouldn't want to leave my grandbaby an orphan, and you don't seem to be too bad of a guy. Keep in mind, my wife still believes you're a heathen, but you might still be worth saving," a dark-haired man said from the doorway.

"Daddy!" Bella said happily. I helped her up from her seated position, so she could greet her dad. "Where's mom?"

"One floor down. I guess your landlord is battling cancer. She's praying with him at the moment. Seemed like a pretty receptive guy. You know your mom, she's got a soft touch that can melt anyone's heart."

"Even yours?" Bella asked hopefully. I had a feeling there was more behind what she was asking than I understood.

"Babies are always a blessing, even when they aren't expected. Though I expected better behavior than this, Bella. Do you at least love him?"

"Yes, Daddy, you saw firsthand how great he is. Can you give him a chance?" Bella begged.

"Have you two discussed marriage at all?" he asked her.

My gut twisted. We had talked about it two days ago, but we hadn't touched on the subject since then.

"Yes, we did discuss it. We have a lot going on right now, though," she said deflecting.

He looked over her shoulder at me, and I shrugged. For some reason, he snorted and laughed.

"Have a blessed day," I heard a woman say from the hallway. She walked in and gave a sad smile to Bella. "Sweet girl, how are you feeling? Are you doing alright? Are you taking care of yourself? Are you taking prenatal vitamins?"

"Okay, you're starting to sound like Edward on a bad day. I'm fine, Mom. I'm well taken care of, and Edward makes sure I'm well fed and take my vitamin every day," Bella said with a smile. I wasn't sure why she said that. I didn't know what her parents would think of me.

"So, you're looking after my baby?" her mother asked.

"As best as she'll let me."

"He's a big softy, Renee. You should've heard him begging her to take it easy. I don't think the devil is in him like you worried. He's not a hoodlum. He probably just wasn't raised the same as we were. You know how the world condones so much sin as normal nowadays," her father shocked me by defending me.

Her mother walked up and took both my hands in hers. I let her, just waiting for her to say something, but she just closed her eyes and stood there silently. I looked over at Bella, not sure what to do. "Should I be closing my eyes?" I whispered.

When her mother heard what I said, she looked up at me with a big smile. "Ah, sweet boy, do you want to pray with me? I was just trying to get a feel for your spirit. I think my husband's right. You are a good one." Then she broke into prayer, so I quickly closed my eyes and listened. "Lord, bless this boy as he begins the journey of raising a family. Let him have the strength to provide and the will to love and tolerate all the world will throw at him, Amen."

"Amen," we all answered back.

"Thank you," I said, because what did you say after a prayer like that. I had been expecting more negativity, but Bella's parents were actually pretty nice.

"Alright, Renee, we got to get to work if we're gonna get our baby girl moved by the end of the day."

"Dear Lord, thank you for all the blessings you've bestowed upon us. Thank you for our new family. Please bless us so our work is swift and efficient and keep us safe from injury, Amen," Renee rambled off quickly.

"Amen?" I answered. It was a bit delayed, but Bella and her dad added an amen as well.

"Watch yourself, Charlie. Your lack of enthusiasm my leave you lacking when it comes to the blessing of not being injured," Renee warned. "Now, what are we doing, Edward?"

"Most of the stuff is already in the boxes. They really just need labeling and taping shut before I can move them. Bella doesn't like taping. She kind of hurt her finger on the dispenser yesterday, so she's on label duty." I leaned over and kissed her finger.

"Dear Lord, please bless my daughter so she'll heal fast and without infection, Amen."

"Amen," I said, and I again noticed Bella and Charlie's delay in saying it. Was I not supposed to say it, and they just said it after I said it so I wouldn't feel stupid?

As we moved boxes, her mother prayed over several more things, including the slow walking lady outside the window. I said amen each time, but the others didn't always say it. I finally caught Bella alone in the kitchen. "Are we not supposed to say amen? I was pretty sure you were supposed to say amen after someone prays. Am I doing it wrong?"

I didn't want to look like an idiot. Bella looked up at me sadly and then burst into tears. I pulled her into a hug, not sure what I had done. "I'm sorry I don't know a lot about this stuff. I promise I'm trying, if you just give me a few pointers or something, so I can hold my own while your parents are here…"

For some reason, that made her cry harder. I was getting worried her dad would come in and change his mind about killing me, when he saw how upset his daughter was.

"What's going on in here?" he said, stepping into the kitchen. I was a dead man.

Bella went to her father's arms and bawled on him some. He was glaring at me, until she started mumbling something that was muffled against his shirt.

"What did you say, hon?" he asked her to repeat herself.

"I'm a horrible person," she sobbed loudly. My eyes widened, worried. I sure hoped her father didn't think I had told her that. The way his glare hardened made me believe he did.

"You are not, honey," he tried to console.

"He asked me about prayer," she sobbed loudly.

Now her father looked completely confused. "What did you say to her?" he sounded a little curious.

"I just said I was taught to say amen after a prayer, but you and Bella don't always, and I thought maybe I was doing it wrong. I'm not sure what your religion is beyond Christian, so I don't really know your etiquette. I was just worried I was doing it wrong or something…" I said, trying to stop my rambling.

His expression softened, and he let out a sigh. "We don't always say amen, because my wife prays nearly twenty-four-seven. Jesus is my Savior, and he knows what's in my heart, so thinking amen is usually good enough for me." He looked down at his daughter and tipped her chin up so she'd meet his eyes. "Why on earth does being with a man asking about prayer make you a horrible person?" he asked, like even the idea of her being horrible was ridiculous. It was, of course. Bella was the furthest thing from horrible…Wait, was that another reason to marry her?

"He just loves me so much and wants to make me happy. He wants to fit in with our family, and he's trying, and I just left him hanging out there in the cold. He had to pull me aside and ask for help. He shouldn't have to ask for help," she cried all over him.

Her dad rubbed her back, and I decided to be bold. She believed she had wronged me, and I needed to let her know that she hadn't. Her father let me pull her into my arms. "Sweetheart, last I checked, you weren't a mind reader, and I don't expect you to be."

"But I should've known," she hiccupped.

I pulled her tighter into my arms and kissed the top of her head. "The only way you can know what's going on in my head is if I tell you, and I did. I came to you with my question, because I knew you'd help me. That's what matters, right? You come to me when you need help, too, don't you?" I tried to explain and ease her guilt.

"I love you so much," she cried into my chest. I was used to her mood swings by now and knew we were headed in the right direction. I gave her dad a thumbs up to let him know we were good.

"I love you, too." I grabbed a tissue and handed it to her. "Are you feeling good enough to help your mom, or do you need some rest?"

She sniffled. "I'm okay."

"Alright, let's go get you settled." I helped her over to the chair she had been sitting on and picked up a marker that had rolled away on the floor. I handed it to her. "You good?" I asked, giving her a kiss.

She took a deep breath, gave me a watery smile and nodded yes. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now, I need to get back to work, before your dad thinks I'm a slacker," I teased.

We were down to the last three boxes. I had passed Alice in the hall on the way to the truck, and when I returned, Renee had her hands on Alice's head.

"Jesus, please bless Alice and let her heart be softened to accept you into her life. Let her feel your love and know you died to save her soul. Please help her and her companion accept your love and enter the sanctity of marriage, so they can strengthen their relationship and receive your blessings."

"Did she just marry us?" Jasper asked from behind Alice.

Renee just kept on praying. Oddly enough, Alice just continued to go through the mail in her hands, like having a woman's hands on your head praying for your soul was a normal occurrence.

Once she heard Renee say amen, Alice looked up, gave her a tolerant smile and said, "Hello, Mrs. Swan. How are you today?"

"I'm doing as best as I can. Charlie did let me know that Bella and Edward have discussed marriage, so that's something. He's a nice boy, don't you think?" she asked, looking over at me.

"Yeah, he's cool," she said with a smile and handed Bella her half of the mail. Alice headed toward the bathroom, which was the only room walled by more than a curtain or blind.

I heard Jasper whisper again, "Are we married? What was that? We're not married, are we?" he worried.

"What's so bad about being married to me?" Alice snapped, obviously annoyed by his panic.

He looked at her wide-eyed for a moment and shook his head no. "Nothing, nothing. It'd be great." Yup, dude knew when to backtrack.

Alice let out a huff and turned her back to him.

"So, are we?" he asked, cringing. He should have stopped while he was ahead.

She smacked him with the mail in her hand. "No, we're not, you idiot. Now shut up about it, or you're going home alone."

"See, if they were married, that wouldn't have been an issue," Renee whispered to Bella.

Bella giggled. "They have more issues than that, Mom. Just let them be. You can always put their names in your prayer circle."

"That's a good idea. Smart thinking, honey," her mom said with a big grin.

They hadn't really said much to us about marriage. I guessed they were dropping the issue for the moment, since Bella had explained we were busy.

Or maybe they secretly didn't want me to marry their daughter, so they weren't encouraging it. I had thought I had been doing alright, so why weren't they pushing the issue more? Renee all but commanded Alice and Jasper to get married. Why wasn't she doing the same to me? Did they think I wasn't good enough? I wasn't sure what the reason was that they didn't want me to marry their daughter, but I wouldn't stand for it. She was mine, and no one would get between me and my girl!

Holy shit!

I wanted to marry Bella.