The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25 dot com

Prompt: #13
Pen Name: miairii
Pairing/Character(s): Edward/Bella
Rating: M
Word Count: 500

Photo prompts can be found here:
thetwilight25 dot com/round-eight/prompts


"It'll be okay," I try to soothe her. "Don't worry, baby, we'll figure it out."

She gives me "the look" before she bursts into tears. Again.

What did I say? Oh… fuck.

"Sorry," I whisper, rubbing her back.

She doesn't respond, just whimpers quietly, and my heart breaks a little more for my beautiful girl. She hasn't moved much since she crawled back into the bed. Curled up in the oversize sweater my grandmother knitted for her last Christmas, with red puffy eyes, runny nose, hair like a hurricane – she's still the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen.

I climb up behind her, pulling her to lean back against my chest. I rub her arms softly and she relaxes, if only a little.

"Tell me what you're thinking?" I don't want to push her, but god, I'm curious to know what's running through her mind right now.

"I-I don't know," she sniffles. "I wasn't expecting… I'm not ready for this! We're not ready for this."

My hands tense for a brief moment before resuming their path along her silky skin. I hope she doesn't notice. I asked for her thoughts, so I need to hear her out.

"I mean, there's school, and your internship, and … our parents."

She mutters the last part under her breath, and I have to suppress an actual shudder. It's no secret what would happen to me if I have to tell Police Chief Charlie Swan that I've knocked up his only daughter. Besides the fact that we're both still in college, I haven't even proposed yet – never mind the ring that's been burning a hole in my pocket for the past three months. I just haven't gotten up the courage, and now it seems like we might be preoccupied with other things for a while.

That's not to say I don't want this. Although I freaked out – like Bella still is – when she called me crying, asking me to bring home a pregnancy test (or ten), by the time I got there I had plenty of time to calm down. And plenty of time for the fantasies to start playing:

Bella smiling down at me, my hands caressing her swollen belly as I speak to our unborn child…

Hospital scrubs and ice chips, sweat and blood, the sweet sound of a newborn's cry…

A green-eyed boy, watching with wonder as I show him how to throw a ball…

A precious little girl with her mother's features, curled up in bed between us…

I'm jolted from my thoughts as the alarm on my phone breaks the silence. Bella rolls away and hides her head under a pillow. Her voice is muffled. "Can you…"

I can't help but feel a pang of hurt that she can't even look. I press a kiss to her head and take the short trek to the closed door across the room.

I can only hope that the answer waiting on the other side will make both of us happy, somehow.