Chapter 12

When I awoke a few hours later my room was completely dark. I groggily looked at my alarm clock on the nightstand and grumbled when it read 8:30. I had slept the majority of the afternoon away. How was I managing to sleep so much yet still feel so tired all the time? I wiped the remainder of the sleep from my eyes and stood up from my bed stretching languidly. I chuckled to myself as I began to remember the dream. Edward had come into my room all nervous and everything and had asked me out to dinner this coming Friday and then Carlisle had come into the room to tell me that I was…

"Oh crap." I muttered to myself as reality clicked back in and I realized that everything I had previously thought was a dream was so not a dream. My tiny hands wrapped around my flat belly protectively. "It really is real. I'm really going to be having a baby." I whispered to myself still partly in shock. I heard a gentle knock on the door. "Come in."

"You're awake. I just wanted to check and see if you were okay. Do you want me to bring you some dinner?" Edward opened the door slightly and had popped his head. Did he still want to go on a date with me? I vaguely remember him saying that his feelings hadn't changed any even if he knew of my predicament.

"Edward, I'm sorry."

"What do you mean? There's nothing to apologize for."

"I'm sorry for all of this. I'm sorry for complicating your life. I'm sorry for…"

"You don't get to apologize for anything. None of this was your fault. Bella, you haven't complicated any of our lives. If anything, you have only managed to make them better. It's like you were the missing piece for all of us." He ran his hand down my cheek caressing it lightly. "We love you and that is all that matters. " He picked up my hand and gently placed a kiss on it.

"Why are you so nice to me? I don't understand. How could like someone so broken…so ruined like me?" I whispered looking into his emerald eyes.

"I thought we've been over this before. You were never damaged or broken or ruined. You are beautiful. You are the woman that has captivated my heart." He squeezed my hand and pulled me in for a gentle hug.

"Listen Edward, I know you don't think I'm broken but you can't not acknowledge the fact that I'm pregnant…with my step dad's baby. That in itself is something that even your calm nature can't handle. I understand if you want to cancel our date and I'm okay with that." I was attempting to hold back more tears.

"Would you listen to yourself? Having a baby doesn't make you incapable of being loved. It doesn't make you 'undateable.' It doesn't make you any less of a person in this world. If anything it makes you more beautiful of a person than you already are. Whether your decision be to keep this baby or to give it up for adoption it makes you more courageous than a lot of people on this great green earth." He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose like he always did when he was thinking hard or at a loss for words. "Bella, if it's alright with you I want to be there for you and the baby. I know we haven't known each other for very long but I feel this connection to you; it's so strong and it just pulls me in. I don't know what it is but it's there." Edward turned to face me grasping both of my hands in his.

"Edward I'm not quite sure what you're saying."

"Bella, we haven't really gotten to know each other completely. There are so many things that we don't know about each other but I've found my heart falling for you over these last few weeks. I think I've fallen in love with you. I want to share all of my firsts with you, my first love, my first time, my first and only wedding. I want to be a part of you and that baby's life…forever." He moved his hand down and set it on my non-existent stomach. I felt the same flutter I felt last night when I had made my decision to keep the baby.

"I…I don't know what to say."

"Just say that you'll give us a try. Just say that you'll at least let us attempt to work all of this out." His eyes had trailed down to my stomach; he must have felt the flutter too.

"I want to give us a try. I want nothing more than to be with you." I placed my hands over top of his on my belly. I saw his smile double in size and he actually looked like he was glowing.

"Can I try something?" He asked his voice barely above a whisper. His face had inched closer to my while he asked his question and I felt my breath coming in quick gasps as I anticipated what he was going to do next. I nodded my head unable to give an audible response. He looked into my eyes once before slowly crushing his lips on mine. We molded together perfectly and I felt an electric shock travel from his body to mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he ran his tongue along my lower lip, tugging it gently between his teeth. My fingers had curled themselves into his hair as I tried to bring us closer together. When we separated both of us were panting for breath our foreheads locked together.

"That was…"

"Amazing." He finished for me. I nodded my head too out of breath to say much else. "Have you decided what you are going to do?" I nodded my head as I waited for my thoughts to clear.

"I'm going to keep the baby. It was not the baby's fault that it was conceived and I don't want it to be punished for something it didn't do. I already love this baby so much." Edward's smile, if possible, became even bigger. I laughed slightly at his goofiness.

"I'll be here every step of the way for as long as you want me." He placed another gentle kiss on my lips.

Friday evening had come all too soon. Just like Edward had said he was on campus majority of the week and away from the house. I missed him a lot but I understood entirely that being a pre-medical major wasn't exactly a cake walk. Charlie pretty much lived at the Cullen house as well even though he slept back at our house. It felt weird not living with Charlie but I understood his reasons for allowing me to live here; I was constantly surrounded by people my age and there was always someone to talk to should I need to break down. The day after Carlisle had told me I was pregnant I had sat the rest of the family down and explained everything to them. Charlie had pledged his unfailing support for his grandchild and me. Emmett at first wanted to go after Phil and rip him to shreds for turning me into a teenage mother but after a few minutes he calmed down enough to realize he was going to be an uncle.

Alice and Rose and I had become a lot closer over this week. Since all three of our boyfriends were away from us this week we had plenty of opportunities to bond in the ways girls bond. Alice had unsuccessfully tried to get me to play Bella Barbie. We had done a little shopping at a cute boutique in Port Angeles. It was at this boutique that we had decided on the most adorable outfit for my date Friday night. Edward refused to tell me where we were going but he did say to dress nice but comfortable.

It was just the three of us girls at the house early Friday afternoon and I had finally caved into Alice playing makeovers with me.

"Please, just allow me this once chance! I promise after this one I won't ever beg you to let me give you a makeover again."

"Yeah right Alice. I think that'll happen when hell freezes over." I joked flipping through the magazine on my lap.

"Puh-lease!" She begged kneeling in front of me with her puppy dog eyes.

"Fine! But just this once." I added pointing a finger at her. She jumped up immediately tackling me in a hug.

"Rose! She agreed!" She cheered. Before I could register what was happening, Alice had yanked me up the stairs and into her bedroom. Rosalie had laid out the simple outfit we had picked out a few days before.

"You are going to look drop dead gorgeous when we are done with you." Alice claimed as she pushed me down into a chair in front of her vanity. Her tabletop was covered in hair supplies and make up. I gawked at the amount of beauty supplies she had. How much did one girl need?

"Bella, would you be okay if I did your hair?" Rose asked me looking at me in the mirror. I smiled at her and nodded. Rosalie was fabulous with hair even if she did not completely admit it. Her grin widened even more when I allowed her to be my hair stylist for the night. We spent most of the three hours we had joking around and doing very little work but by the time it came time for Edward to come home and pick me up the girls had successfully finished their job. They had covered the bathroom mirror so that I wouldn't be allowed to see myself until I had the outfit on.

"Well Alice, I most certainly think we have done our job. If we fail at what we're pursuing now we can always open up our own beauty shop."

"Definitely Rose. Bella you look HOT!" Alice smiled at her handiwork. I shook my head and made to get up from the chair I had been pushed into.

"We'll be outside waiting for you. Don't even think about trying to peak at yourself while you're changing. Now hurry up so we can see what you think." Alice and Rose left to give some privacy as I changed. I was thankful for the fact that after the last few weeks all of my bruises had healed. The brace on my wrist was taken off a few days ago so I was officially injury free, at least for now. I pulled on the dark washed skinny jeans and pulled on the deep blue sleeveless top we had found along with the light grey cardigan. I felt comfortable in the clothes I was wearing but I was still confident that I didn't look like every day Bella. I stepped out of the bathroom and heard both Rose and Alice's sharp intake of breath.

"Bella, girl, you look stunning. I don't even know if stunning encompasses you right now." Rose piped her opinion in as Alice brought me towards the full-length mirror in her room. I gave her one last look before turning my head and staring at my reflection in the mirror. I felt my breath hitch as I looked. That could not have been me standing in the mirror. Rosalie had accentuated my natural waves and pulled them into a ponytail leaving all the right wisps of hair hanging out. Alice had flawlessly done my makeup making it appear as if I was wearing none at all. I felt the tears pricking at my eyes; stupid hormones.

"This can't be me I'm staring at. Is this mirror fixed or something?" I mumbled going around to check behind the mirror for the magic button that would turn my reflection back into normality.

"Bella, dear, that is you in all of your beautiful glory." I hadn't even heard Esme come in but there she stood at the door staring at me as well as Rose and Alice.

"Bella, don't cry! You're going to ruin my makeup job!" Alice pouted. I laughed slightly.

"You would care more about your makeup Alice." I mumbled. "Thank you so much girls. I don't even think thank you is enough. You have no idea how much this meant to me." Both of them ran over and hugged me tightly.

"I'm beginning to enjoy this whole having a sister thing, I'm so glad you came Bella." Alice whispered to me. Rose nodded her head in agreement.

"Bella, I have a little gift for you." Esme piped in walking over to us girls. She carried in her hand a tiny box. "It was given to me by my father on my 18th birthday and I wanted you to wear it tonight. That is if you wanted to." I took the box from her and opened it to reveal a beautiful silver necklace that had three blue gems lined up.

"Esme, this is beautiful. Thank you and of course I'll wear it." She picked it up out of my hands and placed it around my neck latching it securely.

"Now I believe that Edward is waiting downstairs for you." My smile brightened even more as all four of us made our way to the staircase.

"Thank you again, all of you. I love you all so much."

"We love you too." Esme spoke for all of them. When I made my way downstairs I saw Edward sitting on the couch his knee bouncing lightly as he waited for me to come down. He looked up immediately as he heard footsteps on the stairs and I could visibly see his breath catch in his throat. It took him a moment but soon he was standing at the foot of the stairs lending me his hand to step down.

"Bella…you look…words cannot even describe your beauty at this moment." Edward choked out.

"Oh you forgot shoes Bella." She handed me a pair of silver flats, which I quickly slipped on with a tiny bit of difficulty.

"Now you two have fun tonight. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Alice pushed us gently towards the door. Edward grabbed my hand in his and walked me out to the car. He opened the door for me and helped me in before going to his own door and starting the car and driving away.

"Now will you tell me where we are going?" I asked him. He took my hand in his and brought it to his lips placing a gentle kiss on it and shook his head.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out." He gave me his signature crooked smile and focused his eyes on the road. "Can I just say again that you really do look fabulous? I had to pick my jaw off the floor when I first saw you." I found myself laughing maniacally at the mental image of Edward picking his jaw up off the floor.

"If you say so Edward. You look mighty handsome yourself." A comfortable silence fell over us as we continued to drive. We spent a few more minutes in the car before Edward pulled to a stop in front of a bunch of trees.

"You told me to look nice so we could climb trees?" I asked him entirely baffled about his choice of destinations.

"Silly Bella, we have to do a bit of walking before we get to our final resting place." He came around and opened my door helping me out of the car.

"You do know that I am the most klutzy person on this planet right?" I asked him in all seriousness. A playful smile adorned his lips as he nodded his head.

"I'll always have your back." He whispered in my ear. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I shuddered at his warm voice. He took my hand and guided me through the woods. We walked for a few minutes before we came to an empty clearing. I could hear running water and soon enough I saw an array of twinkling light adorning trees surrounding a crystal clear lake. There was a picnic blanket laid out along with a basket and some candles.

"Edward…" I choked out as I took in the scene before me. I couldn't hold back the dam of tears that had welled up in my eyes. I turned to face him completely as the tears began rolling down my face. "This is absolutely beautiful and is so much more than I expected." He gently wiped away my tears with the pad of his thumb.

"I wanted to do something special for you and something more than just a typical first date. I wanted this one to be memorable." Edward whispered bringing me in for a hug.

"Now I went and messed up my make up, I'm sure I look stunning now." I chuckled out swiping at the remaining tears and wiping under my eyes to catch any runny makeup.

"You look beautiful, seriously." I laughed at him. "Come with me really quick." He picked my hand up in his again and brought me to a ledge where he stopped bringing me in front of him. "I thought we could watch the sunset together before we start the festivities." We stood on the ledge as we watched the sky change from the blend of magnificent colors to a midnight blue. Edward had wrapped his arms around me at this point both to keep me warm and to make the moment more intimate. When the sun had finally crossed the horizon Edward gently pecked his lips on mine in a tender kiss.

"Let's go eat." He pulled me gently back to the picnic he had laid out earlier. We sat down on the blanket and he pulled the basket closer to us. "I tried to get your favorites but I wasn't entirely sure and Emmett wasn't either so I apologize if this isn't perfect." He pulled out a salad along with a bowl of pasta in a delicious looking red sauce. "I'll keep dessert a secret." I grinned at him as he unwrapped the salad and the pasta and served us both some.

"Edward, this is perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better first date, really." We sat in silence eating the delicious food that Edward had packed. A few minutes later we had finished and were putting our plates in the makeshift garbage bag that Edward had packed.

"What's for dessert?" He opened the basket back up and pulled out a white box that looked oddly familiar to me but I couldn't quite place it.

"Emmett told me a story about how when you were little these were your favorite things, specifically the ones from this bakery." Realization began to set in about this simple childhood memory and I blinked back the tears that were yet again forming in my eyes. Edward lifted the lid of the box to reveal two giant cupcakes.

"These are the ones from the bakery that my dad used to buy us on your birthdays." I whispered out as I took them in. Edward picked up one and handed it to me. I slowly unwrapped the sugary treat and took a bite savoring the familiar taste. "It's like bringing my childhood back to me."

"Emmett said these were your favorite so I figured it be a nice way to finish off dinner." He picked up his own cupcake and took a bite out of it getting a tiny bit of icing on his perfect nose. I giggled slightly and reached my finger out to wipe off the bit he got on his nose.

"Thank you Edward. This was truly a date I will never forget, ever." I whispered after we had finished off our dessert. My stomach was stuffed.

"It's not quite over yet milady." Edward pulled me to a standing position before pulling out a remote and hitting play. Soft music filled the air and he began to gently sway us.

"You really think of everything don't you? How are you so perfect?"

"I'm not perfect. I just want to make this night special for you."

"What did I do to deserve you?" I mumbled into his chest as I pulled us closer together.

"I think the better question would be 'what did I do to deserve you?' Bella, you mean everything to me. You're perfect." He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine gently. We continued to dance for at least an hour. The night air became chilly and I felt myself start to shiver slightly despite the cardigan. Edward being Edward shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders and also pulled out a light blanket and wrapped that to around me.

"You think of everything." He chuckled.

"Let's get you back to the house so you can sleep." Edward picked the trash up and set the other blanket back into the basket and turned unplugged the lights from whatever outlet they were plugged into. We made the slight trek back to the car. I only managed to fall once but Edward was there to catch me before I hit the ground. The car ride back was filled with the gentle noise of our breathing and the soft music playing in the background. Before I knew it we were back home. It seemed as if everyone had gone to bed. I didn't even realize how long we were out there until now. Edward escorted me up to my room and opened my door.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" I asked him.

"Of course, just let me go and change into some comfier clothes real fast." I nodded and went into my own room while he disappeared behind his door. I changed out of the outfit and into some sweats and a tank top before making my way to the bathroom. I washed my face of the make up and pulled the fallen pieces of hair out of my face and into a new higher ponytail. I heard the door open and Edward come back in making himself comfy on my bed. After brushing my teeth I made my way back out to my room climbing in bed myself and snuggling into Edward's embrace.

"Thank you for tonight Edward. I'm always going to remember this night." I mumbled into his neck placing a light butterfly kiss.

"It was my pleasure Isabella Swan. I'd do anything for you. Good night my sweet Bella."

"Good night Edward." With those last words I found myself falling into sweet dreams of a life with Edward.

A/N: As promised here is another chapter for today. Sorry it took so long for me to post, I kind of got lost on a road trip with some friends while looking for a house. It was rather...interesting. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I tried to make it romantic yet not overly cheesy but I'm not sure if I succeeded in that department, of course, I'm sure you guys will let me know in some way. Bella and Edward's relationship will develop a lot from here on out. Also, I apologize if it seems that their relationship has moved into the fast lane, if you think it is, let me know I'll slow it down. One other thing, I noticed that Emmett and Charlie really haven't been major characters but I promise you that they will be eventually. Edward isn't the only one helping her through this difficult time.

Thanks again to all of you who added me to an alerts list or a favorites lists, I've seen a huge jump in the numbers and it makes me feel fantastic and makes me want to update this story twice as much! I really do appreciate all of your reviews, you guys have really come through for me and that means a lot. Keep it up! Enjoy this next chapter and I can't wait to hear what you guys think.

~Jess