A/N: Song: "Fearless" by Taylor Swift

Chapter 12: Fearless

And I don't know how it gets better than this
You take my hand and drag me head first
Fearless
And I don't know why but with you I'd dance
In a storm in my best dress
Fearless

I paced around the hospital lobby, impatient for Edward to arrive. I knew I was earning some looks from other visitors and nurses, but I could not sit down. I was going to have my first pre-natal visit. I knew it was too early in the pregnancy to have a good reason to do an ultrasound, but I was still anxious to make sure that my baby was doing all right.

"Bella!"

I turned around to see Edward quickly walking to me. Once he reached me, he wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a kiss.

"Hello Edward."

He grinned before asking, "Aren't you excited?"

"Nervous, more like it," I explained as he started to lead me towards the elevator.

"There's nothing to worry about. You and the baby are going to be healthy."

We stepped into the elevator, and since we were alone, I told him about my morning. "I spoke with Esme this morning about what you proposed last night."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Before I make a decision, I want to talk with you about what we would be doing." I bit my lower lip as I watched his expression.

"Okay. When would you like to do it?"

"How about dinner?"

"Sounds good. I'll pick you up when I'm done with my shift."

By time our conversation ended, the elevator had reached the floor where the OB/GYN offices were. Walking through the wing, I noticed many pregnant women in different stages of pregnancy. I especially noticed the woman in a wheelchair who was currently cursing at her husband for putting her in the situation she was in.

I tried to hide my laughter as I promised myself that I would not do that to Edward when my time came.

When we reached Dr. Denali's office, we checked in and the nurse gave me many forms to fill out. Edward helped me fill out the medical history for his side of the family, and soon after we turned the papers in, we were led back to an examination room, where I was told to put on one of those flimsy gowns, which caused an awkward situation for Edward and me.

"Umm," Edward averted his eyes from me. "Do you want me to leave the room while you change?"

I laughed. "It's not like you haven't seen this before." He gave a small chuckle, too, but I instructed him, "Just turned around while I get changed."

As soon as I was ready and seated on the examination table, I called him over. Immediately, he was at my side holding my hand. A minute later, the door opened and in stepped the doctor.

She was gorgeous. She must have been six foot tall with strawberry-blonde hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail. Her face was clear of any imperfection and she had the body of a supermodel.

"Hey Edward," she greeted with a smile before turning to me. "You must be Bella."

I held out my hand to her. "It's nice to meet you Dr. Denali."

"Please, it's Tanya," she replied, sitting down on the stool next to the table. "Any friend of Edward's is a friend of mine."

Tanya. That name seems familiar.

Before I could ponder her name any longer, she pulled out my chart and skimmed it. "It says here that you are just going into your sixth week. Is that correct?"

I nodded.

"Okay. Since your health history is clean, I don't see a reason to do an ultrasound quite yet. I'm going to do a routine pap smear and as long as everything checks out, I'll see you again in a month. Then we can use the Doppler and you can hear your baby's heartbeat."

"When does the baby's heart start beating?" I asked.

"Your baby's heart could be beating right now, actually," Tanya grinned. "It just takes several more weeks for it to be strong enough for us to hear."

Wow. Almost six weeks along, and my baby might already have a heartbeat. Amazing.

"Okay. I am going to just press around your abdomen and make sure everything feels okay." As she began putting gentle compressions on my stomach, she asked, "How are you feeling physically?"

I shrugged. "I have a bit of morning sickness, but I usually only get sick once a morning."

"That's good. How about fatigue?"

"I've been falling asleep much earlier in the evenings now. Sometimes I take a nap, but not always."

"If you can, try to take a nap, Bella. Your body needs its rest now." Then she said the dreaded words. "Okay, feet on the stirrups and scoot up."

Even after many years of having my yearly pap smears, I still dreaded this.

"Okay, you know the drill. I tried to warm the metal a little, so hopefully it won't be too uncomfortable. And remember to breathe."

A minute later, everything was done and she told me to sit up. I had to admit, she was very gentle. "Everything looks great; all we need to do is wait for the tests to come back, but I don't anticipate any problems." As she pulled off her gloves, she asked another question. "How have you been eating?"

Before I could answer, Edward finally spoke. "I'm making sure she's eating healthy."

Tanya chuckled, "That sounds like you, Edward. Always taking care of others."

He looked down at me and squeezed my hand. "Well, I have to make sure the two most important people in my life are healthy and happy." I could feel myself blushing.

Tanya smiled, "Well, it looks like they will be. Just remember, Bella," she turned to me, "ignore any old advice of gaining too much weight. With your height and weight, I would say to not gain more than twenty-five pounds."

"Okay," I nodded. Twenty-five pounds still seemed like a lot to me.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Bella. I look forward to seeing you next month," Tanya shook my hand again before turning to Edward. "See you later, Edward."

"Bye," we both said at the same time.

As I changed back into my clothes, I couldn't help wondering why my doctor's name was so familiar. She and Edward were friends at some level. Had I met her before?

No; I would have remembered a beauty like that. I decided I had to ask Edward about her.

As Edward and I walked hand-in-hand out of the office, Edward commented, "See? I told you everything would be fine."

"Yeah," I smiled. "But I can't wait to hear the heartbeat."

"Me neither." Edward squeezed my hands.

"So how long have you and Tanya been friends?"

"Since college. She was my girlfriend," he answered, looking down at me.

"Oh."

That's where I heard her name. She was the only other woman Edward had slept with. A tinge of jealousy began floating through my body. Why would Edward choose me when he had the beautiful Tanya?

"You're not jealous, are you?" he smirked after I was silent for a while.

"No," I lied as my cheeks turned red.

"You're such a bad liar," Edward chuckled as we entered the elevator to go back down to the lobby. As there were people in the elevator, we stopped talking until we reached the first floor.

Just before we reached the exit doors, he stopped me to turn me towards him. "Bella, there's nothing to be jealous of. There was a reason why we broke-up." I nodded, biting my lower lip. "And I wanted you to go to her because she is one of the best obstetricians in this hospital, but if it upsets you…"

"No," I shook my head. "It's just a silly feeling. I liked her as well. She was very gentle."

"Well, if you change your mind," Edward paused to push a piece of hair behind my ear, "just let me know."

"Okay."

"I have to get going, but I will pick you up after my shift. All right?"

"I'll be ready." I reached up to kiss him. "I will see you later."

"Bye," he leaned down to kiss me again. "Be careful."

"I will." And with that, I turned around to leave the hospital.

When I returned to the church, I made some final changes to my resignation letter, printed it off, and headed to Carlisle's office. When he invited me in, I went directly to his desk and put the letter on it.

"Here is my resignation letter, Carlisle."

"Thank you."

I turned to leave, but he stopped me. "Why don't you take a seat, Bella?"

I did as he told me, and waited while he read my letter.

"You have this resignation effective in two weeks," he commented. "Is that what you want?"

"Sir?" I asked, confused.

"Well, I figured that we did have some time before word got out about your pregnancy. Besides, we need somebody to remain in place while we look for a replacement, which I would like your input for."

"Oh." I hadn't thought about that.

"Would you be willing to stay on board until we do find somebody else?"

I nodded, "Of course. I would want as much time as possible with the kids."

There was a moment of silence before Carlisle spoke again. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, Bella."

"I know," I sighed. "I'm sorry that I even put you in this predicament."

"Things happen," Carlisle shrugged. "People make mistakes. I am proud of how you and Edward are handling it, by the way."

"Thanks."

"I heard you had a doctor's appointment today."

"How did you find out? I only knew about the appointment today."

"Edward called me when he had a break. He wanted to tell me that you and the baby are healthy."

I grinned, "Yes, we are."

"I'm glad," he smiled. "I need to tell you, Bella, as a pastor, I'm disappointed in what happened." He paused before smiling sheepishly, "But at the same time, I'm excited to be a grandfather." I chuckled at his confession. "Even though I'm much too young to be one," he added.

"But of course."

I couldn't help smiling at the conversation Carlisle and I were having. I was so frightened of his reaction, that when it turned out that he was going to be very supportive, it was a great relief. I knew as a pastor there were things that he could not change the course of, like me resigning, but as a father, he held a soft spot for the baby that was coming.

Soon after that, I excused myself to start working on the lesson for the middle school youth meeting that was the next evening. It was mostly done, but the thoughts in my head kept distracting me. I was determined to settle down and finish the lesson before I had to head home to get ready for my "date."

I smirked as I thought about the word "date." Were Edward and I dating? Or were we something more? Obviously, we were going to be parents together soon, and we were thinking about marriage, but what was our "title?"

Oh well. Titles don't mean much anyway.

As I found my hand go to my abdomen instinctively, I realized I wasn't bothered by what Edward and I were. All I knew was that we were together and that we created a life together.

And for once, I was fearless.