Disclaimer: All Twilight characters and core personality traits are the property of SM. I own nothing, nor do I plan on profiting from using her work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Nise7465 has mercifully agreed to beta for Thicker than Blood and has truly been a joy to work with. Its because of her you guys will be able to enjoy this chapter without wadding through 14 pages of typos I make when I write at 3 in the morning so she's clearly the woman of the hour.
If you aren't already reading her story 'Impact' you need to get on it. It's a far better read than this one. lol
Bella looked up at him with the full force of her breathtaking big brown eyes, her long lashes batting girlishly. She nuzzled her tiny nose into his chest as the couple sat in the living room, enjoying a movie after dinner.
Edward regarded her with suspicion; he'd had that darling kitten pout used against him years before he'd ever met this particular set of eyes. The intelligent man had a feeling that Bella's masterful gaze of manipulation had come from the few days she'd spent 'working' with his sister.
"Can I help you, Miss Swan?" he questioned the girl in his lap sternly, though his soft green eyes gave away his amusement and devotion.
Her mask of pure innocence didn't melt one bit. He was very impressed, even Alice got that mischievous shifty eye when she was called out.
"My feet hurt," she hinted sweetly, wiggling her naked toes for emphases.
One side of Edward's tightly clasped lips curled into a crooked smile. He grabbed one of her pretty feet and pulled playfully on its littlest toe. "I see," he narrowed his eyes as she giggled, "And I suppose you'd like me to rub them for you."
Bella beamed at him, pleased that he had caught on so quickly.
He looked at her with false incredulity. Of course he'd massage her little feet. She'd been on them all day with Alice, doing god only knows what, and he never passed up an opportunity to please her, let alone touch her. That didn't mean he wasn't going to give her a bit of a tease about it.
"You know, little one, I've been at work all week too. I think I'm the one that deserves a foot massage," he reasoned.
Bella's eyes grew impossibly bigger and more hypnotizing, "But Alice made me try on a thousand pairs of shoes today," she complained.
"I delivered a set of twins by cesarean section," he challenged.
His beautiful girl glared, the wheels in her head turning to think of something to top him. "I spent the day growing a child in my womb," she pointed out, crossing her arms like she'd stated the argument to end all arguments.
Edward laughed as he picked her up off of his lap and tossed her gently onto the cushion next to him.
"You win, darling. As always," he patted his thighs so that Bella could enthusiastically claim her prize.
Her little moans were torture as he worked his thumbs over her heel. "I should have a word with my sister. She gave you the tools to control me but she failed to make sure you'd use the knowledge for good instead of evil."
Bella sighed peacefully. She spread out across the couch and closed her eyes while she enjoyed his ministrations. "She said if I looked at you like that I could get anything I wanted."
Edward was reminded once again of why this girl was so special. All of the things he could provide her with and all she'd asked for was some care and attention. It thrilled him every time he saw how genuine and beautiful she was inside.
"So Alice made you go shoe shopping?" he questioned, mainly to quench his constant need to hear her voice, the yearning he had to know every detail about the time she spent away from him. He tried to pull her toes and get them to pop but narrowly missed a kick to the groin.
Bella nodded without looking up, "She wanted to put me in these crazy heels," she snorted, holding up her fingers to exaggerate an impossibly tall spike, "But she saw me stumbling around in them like a new born foal and changed her mind. Told me she'd teach me how to walk in them after the baby comes so I don't hurt us."
Edward bristled at the thought of Bella falling and injuring herself for something so petty. "You don't ever need to wear those things, darling. Woman strap themselves into them to make their legs look longer and yours are already flawless," he ran his hand up her smooth calf to prove his point.
Bella's whole face flooded red and he dropped his hands to stop the stirring in his groin. He wanted to touch every part of her but didn't have the heart to add sexual intimacy to the list of things that complicated their relationship. He'd know when she was ready for him to claim her in that way.
"Thank you," she whispered meekly, shy by nature.
He didn't say anything. She shouldn't need to thank him for telling her how gorgeous she was.
"Are you excited?" he asked her tenderly. The question was a change of topic but Bella knew what he was referring to when he pressed his large hand over her belly.
He'd scheduled her an appointment with Jasper the following day for her first-second trimester checkup and had spent the entire week dropping hints about having her come in during his break. He wanted so badly to earn an invitation into the room during her sonogram but so far she hadn't taken the bait.
He hated thinking of her going it alone. There always seemed to be something special about experiencing that with a partner and he really hoped that Bella had begun to see him as such. To be able to hold her hand as she looked at her child would be incredible. He'd die if Jazz got to be there and he was locked outside the door. Not to mention that everyone would find it odd if his pregnant girlfriend denied him access to the occasion as he'd yet to deny that the child was his.
The week had been filled with congratulations from his nosey co-workers and continued snubbing from the nurses. He couldn't get the lazy twits to do anything for him anymore. Though in contrast, they had doubled their efforts to get their hooks into Jasper and bent over backwards to be at his beck and call.
She smiled so sweetly it made his chest ache, "I am. I can't wait to see him again."
Edward had explained a few times that they wouldn't be able to find out the baby's gender until her next appointment in a month or so but she was unrelenting with her insistence that she was carrying a boy. Edward, though equally unfounded, felt other wise. He very clearly could see a happy baby girl bouncing on her hip, giggling with her mother's smile and an ivory face surrounded by Bella's mahogany curls.
In his mind the child was a miniature copy of the woman he adored and held no features to be attributed to her mystery father. A large part of Edward was keeping him from asking about the man in question. The less he knew about the person who sired the child he desperately wished was his own, the easier it was for him to pretend he didn't exist at all. Bella and the baby were wrapped in his arms, safe in his home, and that man had no claim to them anymore.
It was what he kept telling himself, and for the moment, he was content to believe it.
Edward continued rubbing up and down her hardened tummy, slipping his fingers underneath her thin t-shirt when the material road up pale skin.
"Nervous at all?" he tried to gauge her feelings. Last time she'd been in for medical treatment related to her pregnancy she had been tearfully considering its termination. A few short weeks later she was going into make sure her child was developing strong and safe. It had to be a lot to take in.
Bella leaned up on her elbows so she could see his face. She nodded thoughtfully.
"A little," she whispered in a tone that made it sound like a confession, "It's awfully vain to think that people care enough to judge me but when you're pregnant… at my age, doing anything baby related comes with a small dose of embarrassment."
Edward stiffened. He hated that. The thought that Bella couldn't be proud in her pregnancy because of the stigma that accompanied her age bothered him deeply. Years from now, when she was older and in a secure place with her treasured child, he never wanted her to think back and wish she'd gotten to enjoy her first pregnancy like other women.
Bella laughed sadly at the bitter expression that rippled across his handsome features. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me that you wouldn't look at a pregnant girl my age, unmarried, and think… 'What a shame.'" she blushed. "I know I probably would."
He scoffed. About a hundred inappropriate thoughts filled his mind every time he laid eyes on the flawless creature but that definitely wasn't the direction they took.
He pulled her legs and she squealed until she was back in his lap, wrapped in his arms where she belonged.
"Can I be honest?"
Bella nodded, cautious but curious.
"When I look at you I see a stunning woman who's going to be a wonderful mother and if anyone says otherwise it'll be out of jealousy," he told her softly, his lips against temple.
She pulled back and gave him a goofy, red-faced grin. "I think you might be biased."
He cocked his head back and forth, pretending to consider it objectively. "You're probably right. I'm absolutely crazy about both of you."
"Both of us?" she breathed, wide-eyed.
He prayed that he wasn't crossing a line, pushing her too hard, too fast. "You and the baby…"
She searched his face hard for any kind of falsehood. She wanted to believe him so badly. "Really, Edward? You don't mind?"
He saw the hope gleaming in her eyes and he couldn't hold back.
"Of course, sweetheart. My parents don't have any grandchildren yet and my mother's dying to get her hands on a baby. I don't know much about children but we can learn together. We can turn a guest bedroom into a nursery… There's not one facet of my life that wouldn't benefit from having you and the baby in it."
He felt like he was trying to put in a winning bid but he'd do anything to keep the woman he'd met less that a month ago. He could recall being little, and all the men that had fawned over his mother… until they saw him. He was always the deal breaker. It didn't matter if they were rich or handsome, if they couldn't accept him then Elizabeth wouldn't give them the time of day. In the end no one had really been willing to walk into a ready-made family and the only father he'd ever known had been Carlisle, seventeen years later.
Edward had been around countless new mothers and if he knew anything for certain, it was that Bella would choose her child over him without a breath's hesitation. He wasn't going to force her to do so. He wanted it all.
Bella was dizzy from the promises he was willing to make. It scared her that she was so ready to believe him. She hadn't told him anything about her life before she'd come to him and by his own admission he'd never held a real relationship.
"Do you even know what you're saying? You told me you don't have girlfriends," she pointed out frightfully.
He kissed her lips, soft and sweet, and held her little body against his like he'd never let her go. He could feel her tension and fear leave her as each individual muscle relaxed against his hold. Instead of the kiss leaving them breathless and heated as all past ones had, he pulled away leaving both parties content and reassured.
"How would I have? I hadn't met you yet," he smiled.
Bella beamed. She ran her small fingers through his copper hair, the other hand tapping the top of his nose, "That's a pretty cheesy line, Cullen."
"I'll only regret it if it didn't work, baby."
"Edward, are you trying to ask me to go steady?" she teased coyly. Her tone was fun and playful, like the very young woman she was, and even though the topic was serious, life changing even, Edward was content to keep it light. She was so fragile.
He was a thirty-year-old man. He didn't care how much he cared for the girl, the words 'will you be my girlfriend', or any variation, weren't ever going to come out of him mouth. He'd left high school behind a decade ago.
He gave her a cocky grin, "Well you're shacking up with me and I already have you pregnant, I should probably make an honest woman out of you…"
"There's a lot we haven't discussed." A warning from Bella.
"It doesn't matter. There's not a thing in the world that could change my feelings for you." As he said the words he was pretty sure they were true. "We don't have to get into that now," he leaned in again to press his lips to hers, imploring her to let it go.
As his hands roamed reverently over her rounding hips she didn't seem eager to press that conversation either. She moaned, just a little, against his lips.
"Tomorrow, when I go in to see the baby, am I allowed to bring someone with me?" she asked suddenly.
His heart started racing, hopeful in anticipating the direction of the conversation. He glided his hand back onto her belly as if to reaffirm his need for involvement.
"Of course. Most patients want someone to be there with them. Did you have anyone in mind?" He still wasn't as good at playing it cool when it came to Bella as he was in most areas of his life and his smooth voice fluctuated oddly, giving away his nervousness.
Bella tugged in the ends of his sleeves, pretending to not pay much attention, but her ever-expressive eyes sparkled with mirth.
"Oh I don't know… I was thinking about asking Alice..."
Bella squealed when she found her herself pinned to the couch in the next breath, Edward's lean body crouching over her like a possessive jungle cat. Her giggles were only interrupted by the gasp that escaped her when his teeth scraped gently across her throat.
"Wrong Cullen, Isabella."
"Esme? Do you think she's free?"
"One last chance…" he bent one elbow to hold him up, careful not to give her petite body any of his weight, and poised his fingers at her fleshy sides in perfect tickling formation.
Bella's eyes widened in fear. "I'm sorry! I want you to come with me! You!"
They both laughed as Edward patted her behind with the threatening hand and rolled into the space next to her. Bella assumed her favorite position in the crook of his arm.
"You kept me waiting all week for that question," he accused, lighthearted with glee.
"I was afraid I'd be asking too much. You've already done so much for me, for us."
He pulled her in tight, "It hasn't been without its rewards, darling. You haven't a clue what it feels like to be able to come home to you."
"Well then I should probably confess that Alice taught me 'the look' so that I'd have the courage to ask you to go with me."
Edward chuckled, "So the foot massage was a ploy."
"Had to make sure it worked," she nodded definitively.
"And it did."
"I guess a little bit… If you call that three minutes of rubbing a massage," Bella simpered, raising a challenging brow.
"Demanding little thing, you are," Edward sighed dramatically and sat up to pull her feet back into his lap for more attention, "Well I better make this right. We're going into my work place tomorrow and I won't allow rumors that I leave my girl unsatisfied."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Bella walked into the generic waiting room with her head held high and her heart pounding furiously in what felt like her throat. She was excited and terrified but above all else, she was just insanely happy Edward was going to do this with her.
She had been alone when she'd gone in the last time. It was the first and only look she had gotten at the child growing inside her, and it was almost painful to internalize the feelings she experienced upon seeing something so monumental.
Bella pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and tucked the keys to the Audi, which she had taken at Edward's insistence, into her new black 'hobo' bag. It was an insanely large purse that Alice had purchased for her no matter how many times she denied having enough possessions to fill it with. In fact, everything she wore had been picked out and paid for by her new employer, a pair of dark straight legged jeans tucked into black boots and a flowing shirt whose price tag made her wince.
Alice had told her that the outfit was 'casual elegance' and though that wasn't normally a priority of hers, she desperately wanted to look nice today. She didn't know if Edward had told anyone about her but she didn't want to embarrass him anymore than was inevitable. Even if they set aside her pregnancy, her age, and the fact that she'd met him without two dimes to rub together, they'd still have masculinity personified next to plain on a good day.
She couldn't fathom what he saw in her but when life gives you all you never dreamed to hope for- right as you hit rock bottom you don't spit in its face by questioning things too hard.
When she entered several nurses glanced sharply at the door, like they were expecting the anti-Christ to walk in. They stared at her hard as she made her way towards them and she started to second guess what Edward had said about people not judging her.
"Can I help you?" a girl in light pink scrubs assessed her through the window. Bella remembered a conversation she and Edward had in which he bragged that it was like getting to go to work in his pajamas every day and almost giggled.
"Isabella Swan?" she told the woman shyly, more of a question as she hoped she was in the correct wing of the large building, "I should have an 11:30 appointment with- Jasper." Of course she couldn't remember his last name to save her life.
The already snippy nurse's expression darkened noticeably when Bella said her name. "You mean Dr. Whitlock?" she corrected curtly, like Bella had addressed The Pope as 'Ben'.
The pretty brunette recoiled into her normal meek nature, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she nodded.
"You're early," she pointed to the clock behind her, and incase Bella was too stupid to decode the arms, added, "It's only 11."
"Eh, yes I know but, you see… I'm a new patient so I figured I'd have a lot to fill out and I'm supposed to meet Edwa- I'm mean, Dr. Cullen here before I go in-" She couldn't understand why her voice was so apologetic. She hadn't done anything wrong. The girls behind the counter looked like they were offended by her very existence.
She was handed, quite roughly, an alarmingly large amount of paper work and found a seat amongst a few other patiently waiting women. Bella was no stranger to hospital forms. She was an exceptionally clumsy child who had grown into an accident prone adolescent. She went to work filling out the empty lines, pausing sadly only for a moment when she came to emergency contacts before entering Edward and Alice's information.
"Is this seat taken?"
Her smile took over her face before she even moved her gaze, already familiar with the smooth, deep tones of his voice.
"Do you always pick up women in the waiting rooms of the gynecologist? I'm not sure that's ethical, Doctor," Bella teased in a voice too low too carry. She moved her huge purse onto the floor so that he could claim the seat next to her.
"Only the pretty ones," he grinned, leaning in to peck her lips chastely. Bella was surprised with how open he was in his place of employment and she realized she wasn't the only one when the nurse station broke into gasps and chatter. Their coldness towards her made a lot of sense all of a sudden.
"You aren't in your scrubs," she tugged on the hem of his plain black t-shirt that looked sinful over a pair of dark fitted jeans.
"I'm off the clock," he kept grinning like a fool and pretended to relax in the uncomfortable chair by crossing his bulging arms behind his head, "I didn't want anyone trying to bother me while I was in with you. This is strictly Bella and baby time."
She gazed over at him like he was the best thing that ever happened to her. And he probably was.
He gave her another brief but tender kiss and got up quickly. "I just wanted to say 'hello'. Finish up here, angel. I'm going to clear us a room so we can get in faster. I want to take you out to lunch after to celebrate but I only have until twelve so we have to hurry."
She almost whimpered as she watched him walk away, giving her a silly wave as he disappeared through the door. It was selfish to want him to hold her hand through the whole terrifying ordeal. He was already doing more for her than was reasonable.
Bella completed all that she was able to answer without her medical records handy, and shuffled reluctantly back to the pack of sneering woman. It was like high school all over again.
One of them took her paper work and let her walk all the way back to her seat before a different nurse promptly opened the office door and called her name.
"Ms. Swan," she called loudly, with an emphasis on the portion of her name that stated her unmarried status. Or it might have been Bella's self conscious imagination.
This woman's scrubs were a deep blue and unlike her predecessor she managed to muster a forced smile.
"First pregnancy?" she asked Bella conversationally as they stopped in front of the standard black scale.
The brunette nodded, as she abandoned her bag and heavy shoes on a nearby chair. "Eh, yeah. First time."
Bella stepped on and the nurse pushed the scales until they balanced. "115. That sound about right?"
"I've gained six pounds," she mused. Not a huge surprise. Edward fed her well.
The nurse's red lips curled into a sickly sweet smile. "Yeah. Our patients hate this point in the pregnancy. When you don't really look pregnant yet, you just look fat." she let the comment simmer as Bella's fragile self esteem took the hit, "Right this way…"
Edward was already waiting in the small exam room when they entered and Bella wondered if it would be too terribly rude to throw herself into his arms for a good cry. She needn't bother though because as soon as he saw her he lifted her up and deposited her onto the paper covered table, pressing a kiss into her temple when she let out a shaky laugh.
He held her hand tightly in his own and turned to the nurse expectantly. The blonde woman had been watching them with and expression that suggested she might become ill.
"Are you waiting for something, Alison?" Edward cocked a brow at her, the warmth he had when addressing Bella completely gone.
"My name's Anna." She paled.
He frowned like her correction was unnecessary. "And you're still not doing you're job…"
Bella genuinely tried to stifle a giggle but he felt the vibration in their joined hands. He angled his head to give her a playful wink.
The pretty nurse stuttered through an incredibly detailed list of questions for Bella, somehow managing to refrain from the snarky comments she'd enjoyed in the hallway. Bella answered them to the best of her ability and even Edward proudly chipped in with a few, since he'd been providing her with her current course of prenatals.
Bella guiltily enjoyed the nurse's discomfort. She wasn't a cruel woman, but she was a woman just the same. She was still relieved when the two were finally left alone.
"Boring parts out of the way. It's only fun stuff from here on out."
Edward smiled down at her and brushed a few wayward hairs from her face, brimming with pride as Bella handled everything with grace and maturity. Mainly he was impressed that she was doing so well when he was a complete basket case inside.
He'd been insistently pestering Jasper the entire morning, reminding him about the appointment before he'd ever had the opportunity to forget. The competent doctor had never been on this side of the arrangement before and he was as out of his element as it was possible to be.
He cared deeply for the women he looked after but had never shared such a personal stake in their pregnancies. He'd had hundreds of ultrasounds go smoothly but as he sat beside his girl, her tiny hand in his sweating palm, it was the ones that didn't go well that berated his weary mind. What if is something wasn't right? Bella would be heart broken and he wouldn't handle to news much better.
He had even seen to it that he was charged directly for Bella's care and her mother's insurance information had been discarded. The more he worried that 'Renee' would be able to find his Bella using the information, the more he convinced himself using it would be a bad idea. He felt no shortage of guilt in squandering a mother's hope of finding her missing daughter but it wasn't enough to risk Bella being taken from him. He knew he'd protect her with everything he had in him and he wasn't going to promote outside interferences until she welcomed them herself.
Of course he didn't tell Bella that he'd be footing the massive bill… Edward Cullen had money and he couldn't fathom a way he'd rather spend it.
Both 'first time parents' looked moments from passing out by the time Jasper waltzed into the room, whistling some unidentifiable southern tune like he hadn't a care in the world.
The blonde grinned at his newest patient trembling up on padded bunch, ignoring his rather green best friend.
"Button! How we feelin', momma?"
Bella's body relaxed at the site of a friendly face and cheerfully voice.
"I'm good, Dr. Whitlock."
Jasper wrinkled his nose distastefully, "Jasper or Jazz will do just fine, darlin'," he pulled a red tootsie pop from his coat's breast pocket and presented it to her like a long stemmed rose. "I swiped you a sweet from pediatrics. Know it doesn't do me any good with you to come empty handed."
Bella giggled and accepted the offering. Edward rolled his eyes but appreciated Jasper's soft touch. He'd always been much more popular with the patients than he was the administration. It was good to having his buddy there to ease his nerves.
"You stole candy from sick children for me? What a gentlemen," she snorted.
"I don't get a lollipop?" Edward eyed his best friend, displeased.
Jasper smirked wolfishly, "I love ya' bud but you just ain't as pretty as Button."
Edward scowled at Jasper's back as he set to work pulling on gloves. Bella gave him a gentle nudge with her shoulder.
"I think you're pretty," she whispered consolingly, already popping the stolen treat into her mouth. He smiled fondly down at her and pulled the sucker from her mouth, sucking into his own.
"I'll just hold onto this for you until we're all done here," he mumbled around the stick.
Bella got her arm pumped for blood pressure and her finger poked to check her sugar levels for common gestational diabetes. She yelped at Jasper when she was pricked but it was Edward that gave the doctor an anxious warning for hurting her, as if he didn't know it was unavoidable.
The Texan just rolled his gray eyes and threatened to kick him out.
"Alright, Button. Lean back for me. It's time to see that baby."
Bella and Edward were deathly pale as she laid back on the crinkling paper and rolled up her expensive shirt. Edward tried not to take notice, he really did, but her stomach was beautiful, lean and long and pale. He tore his eyes away long enough to make sure Jasper wasn't staring unnecessarily and gave his girl's hand a calming squeeze.
"I'm going to need you to unbutton your jean's for me, momma. They're too high."
Edward stiffened, worried Bella would be uncomfortable but the girl just blushed lightly and narrowed her pretty eyes and Jazz, teasing.
"You just brought me a piece of candy. You'll need to a least take me out to dinner before you start making demands like that, cowboy."
Edward snickered as Jaspers ears turned pink in embarrassment, a rare occurrence.
Bella promptly unfastened her pants and the off duty physician nearly groaned when he caught a flash of lacy pink panties before Jasper quickly covered the pelvic bones with a modesty cloth. Apparently Edward was the one that had problems when it came to professionalism.
Bella tensed as Jasper went to squeeze a liberal amount of pale blue gel on to her belly but looked pleasantly surprised when it hit her flesh.
"I thought that stuff was supposed to be uncomfortably cold," she wondered aloud. She had only been a few weeks along when she'd gotten her last ultrasound and they'd used the rather humiliating transvaginal wand.
The two men snorted a laugh.
Edward smiled. "Decades of technological advancement and we've finally managed to keep the gel at a reasonable tempera-"
The words died in his throat and his breath left him in one painful compression of his lungs because Jazz had used the distraction to press the transducer against her belly and suddenly there were four lives in the room, not three. Edward's trained eyes could make out every little beat of the baby's heart.
"Oh Bella," he whispered as she smiled tearfully and clasped his hand.
He'd been so worried about something being wrong with that little baby but he hadn't at all considered how it would feel to see its tiny body forming perfectly, his heart thumping proud and strong inside the woman he adored.
Jasper pointed out to Bella what Edward could already see. That large round head and a miniature button nose, short arms and legs attached to a little peanut body.
She was beautiful.
Perfect like her mother and seconds after Edward's spinning mind escaped the shock it started racing out of control. Suddenly there were sleepless nights and equally sleepless days, miniature blankets and more diapers than there was room to put them.
They'd make silly faces to coax her first smile and drive for hours because the rocking of the car would sooth her into a nap. Cars! He'd need to buy a bigger one. He didn't have anything large enough and babies came with a lot of stuff. Car seats and strollers and when she was older there'd be friends and carpools and siblings….
Siblings! Would Bella want more babies-
"Ed!"
Edward's attention snapped away from the monitor to find Jasper and Bella gaping at him. He didn't have a clue how long he'd checked out for, but judging from the smirk on his best friend's face he was probably noticeably overwhelmed.
He collected himself so he wouldn't worry Bella and bent to kiss her lips reverently. "She's perfect, love."
Bella nodded, her eyes shinning. "He."
"We'll see, sweetheart," Edward placated, brushing the wet tears off her cheeks. He glanced at Jazz. "We got pictures?" He wanted to show everyone. His mother was going to die when she saw that perfect profile.
He made an internal promise to call his parents and tell them that he and Bella would be making it to the family dinner on Saturday, the one he religiously skipped. For the first time in far too long he felt that he had something he wanted to celebrate with all of the important people in his life.
"Only about a hundred, brother," Jasper reassured. He got that look that normally spelled pure trouble, "Printed them to the nurse's station. They'll be under 'Baby Swan-Cullen', you two can pick them up from the girls up front on your way out."
The two friends laughed, picturing the cries that would come from the nosey women as those pictures made it off the printer. Edward gave the prankster a grateful nod and took it upon himself to gently wipe Isabella's tummy clean.
It was hard to look at her the same way. He always knew she was gorgeous, since the moment he laid eyes on her, but experiencing this by her side brought out emotions he didn't know how to process yet. He felt like he was going to burst.
They wrapped things up quickly, he was eager to get her to lunch and out of the hospital. Bella looked happier than Edward could ever remember and her energy left him in a blissful daze. When she was happy, he was happy. Simple as that.
Jasper clapped his hand on Edward's shoulder and gave him a manly pat as Bella skipped off to the front to get her pictures.
"Happy mom, healthy baby. You're a lucky son of a bitch, Ed."
Edward followed after her with a goofy, prideful smirk. "I know."
…
AN; Who thinks Edward's avoidance strategy is going to work forever ? Not me!
Next chapter we'll get the whole Cullen family together for dinner as see what happens when you pair a spiteful Rosalie against a fiercely protective Edward.
Love the reviews. You all are great. They will definitely get me to work on this story even though I'd love to devote more time to my other ff, so if you have time please leave one!