BPOV

Three Hours Later

"Edward," I asked tentatively. I knew there was a subject we still needed to talk about, but neither of us had been willing to broach it yet. We had yet to leave my room, but had repositioned ourselves to a slightly more comfortable position. Edward was leaning against the headboard of my bed and I was sitting between his legs, leaning back against his chest. He had his arms wrapped around me, his hands tracing light circles on my expanded belly.

"Yes Love?"

I had a theory as to the cause of our problems, but I always tended to second guess myself, so I wasn't absolutely sure. "Who . . " my voice suddenly became more shaky than I cared for it to, "Who do you think wrote the letter?"

Edward's arms tightened ever so slightly. "I'll take care of it Love, don't you worry about it."

This confirmed my suspicions. "I swear if I ever see her again, I will rip her limb from limb," I seethed. I was starting to see red and my anger just continued to grow. How dare she do this to us. She was the one who had caused both Edward and I months of heartache. I was going to absolutely murder Victoria. "You know what, I think I'll fly to New Hampshire right now to go kick her ass!" I screeched, jumping off the bed and out of Edward's arms. He was up and in front of me in a flash.

"Bella," he stated in his most authoritative voice, "I will take care of it." He paused again, "Not that she doesn't fully deserve a good ass kicking by a pissed off pregnant woman, I don't want you to take any additional risks. I will take care of it."

The emotions of the day had already been wearing me thing. I leaned against Edward's chest and started crying again. "I don't want you to go back there and stay in that house with her Edward. I know you have to go back, and I know it's irrational, but I don't want you staying with her."

Edward gave a light hearted laugh, lightening the mood slightly. "What have I said today that makes you think I would spend one more night under the same roof as her? The day I go back I will pack my belongings and crash at Seth's place."

I nodded my head, still buried in Edward's chest. Knowing that he wasn't planning on going back to that house made me feel so much better.

I curled up tight next to Edward as he resumed his position lying in the bed. Edward fell asleep shortly after, his arms tightly wrapped around me. He looked so exhausted.

Charlie stopped in a little while later with a sandwich and some chips.

"Shh. . " I whispered, attempting to pull myself into a sitting position without waking Edward.

Charlie smiled, but I could tell he was extremely apprehensive about the situation. I knew he just didn't want to see me hurt, and that was all he had seen for the last few months. I would have to set everything straight with him shortly.

"Eh, just thought you and my grandkid there might be a little hungry," Charlie said quietly, leaning forward to hand me the plate.

I smiled at him reassuringly, "Sounds wonderful Dad, Thank You."

Charlie nodded and headed back out of my bedroom door. It wasn't ten minutes later that I heard more rustling downstairs and the tell-tale sounds of Charlie loading his fishing gear up. Apparently he felt it was safe to leave Edward and I alone together finally.

A moment later Edward's phone began ringing, again. At least one of Edward's family had called every hour while he had been at my house. He never even removed his phone from his pocket.

The music from his phone woke Edward this time. His arms tightened around me subconsciously. "Mmm . . Can I just stay here forever and hold you?"

I smiled, sinking back to wrap my arms tightly around him. "Sounds like a good plan to me," I sighed, burying my face in his neck.

His phone began ringing again. Alice could certainly be persistent when she wanted to be. Not that I could blame her, I'm sure she was worried sick about Edward. I sighed, "I don't think the real world is going to let us get away with that though."

He chuckled, "The real world or just my family?"

I took a deep breath, an internal battle warring it out in my head. I did not want to have to face Alice or the rest of the Cullen family after what they thought I did to Edward. Alice's fury from the previous day had been more than enough to last me a lifetime. But I didn't want to be away from Edward for any length of time, even if we were surrounded by his family that currently hated me.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked, lifting a finger to tilt my chin so I was forced to look at him.

I bit my bottom lip and looked down. I knew lying was out, I was a horrible liar, even if I wasn't Edward always knew when something was bothering me. "I don't think your family likes me anymore," I whispered, my voice cracking and I knew more tears were making their way down my cheeks.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Edward whispered, gently wiping my tears away with his thumbs. "My family is upset by what they thought happened, just as I'm sure Charlie is still about ready to shoot me. We just need to talk to everyone and tell them the truth."

I hiccupped and lifted my head to look him in the eyes again. "Alice hates me."

Edward shook his head, "Alice is overprotective of her big brother and she thinks you intentionally left her as well as me. As soon as she knows the truth, she will be begging for your forgiveness for the scene yesterday, and for everything these past few months.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself into a sitting position, pulling Edward with me. "I suppose we should go talk to your family then." I said, not letting go of him.

"Yeah, before they call your dad looking for me," he chuckled.

"Are they going to be mad I'm dragging you away from med school at Dartmouth? Are they going to want to kill me for hurting you? What are they going to say about the baby?" I rambled, suddenly very nervous about what the rest of the Cullen's would think about their 21 year old son leaving Dartmouth to stick with his pregnant girlfriend in Seattle.

Edward shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, Congratulations."

When we walked through the entrance of Edward's house we were immediately surrounded by his family. ALL of his family, they'd even called Carlisle to come home from the hospital to help look for Edward. "Thank god you're home!" Esme cried throwing her arms around Edward at the same time Alice screeched, "What the hell is she doing here?!?" I took a step back to hide behind Edward.

Edward never let go of me as he lead his family into the living room. Once everyone was seated, Edward took a deep breath and started with the explanations. There were a few gasps and many tears as he told them we were going to have a baby. Rosalie kept staring at her lap, I know how hard this must be for her. Emmett was listening intently, while keeping a supportive arm around Rose. Esme came over and wrapped her arm around both Edward and I. Alice and Jasper looked extremely confused, still trying to take everything in and unsure of what to believe. Carlisle was by far the quietest. We finished our explanation of the letters and all the confusion, plus our plans for continuing school and raising our daughter.

"Edward," Carlisle said softly, "If her due date is May 30th, this child was conceived sometime in September. You left for New Hampshire the first week of August." Carlisle was always the calm, compassionate one and his statement was not meant to be an accusation, even I could tell that. He just wanted to make sure Edward knew.

For the first time in this entire conversation, Edward looked nervous. He looked down at his lap and our intertwined fingers, "I kind of flew to Seattle to see Bella on her birthday." This earned him a very relieved sigh and smile from Carlisle and a hefty smack upside the head from Esme.

"You came back to Seattle and didn't come see us!"

At this Emmett started to laugh, "I think Edward was obviously a little too busy at the time to think about coming to visit you mom." Everyone in the room started laughing, leave it to Emmett to break the tension. There were more tears and hugs all around, but this time they were all happy tears. Edward's entire family was supportive in the decisions we had made and supported me in wanting Edward to at least graduate with his undergrad degree from Dartmouth, but they liked the idea of us being close soon after.

"I knew you wouldn't do all that stuff they were saying about you, little sis," Emmett said, picking me up in a monster hug.

Edward looked at Emmett questioningly. "Eh, Jessica and the rest of the town got a little inventive when I wouldn't tell anyone you were the dad." I explained. "Apparently the newest story is that I was messing around on you in Seattle and got pregnant and the reason I wouldn't tell anyone who the father was is because I didn't know his name." I waved my hand dismissively, "Oh, and all of this is why you left me."

Edward shook his head disbelievingly. "Well, we'll just have to set that straight.

We all sat in the living room talking for the next few hours until I noticed it was starting to get darker out. "Edward, I need to be getting home so I can make Charlie dinner." Edward nodded and started to get up.

Alice quickly jumped up, "Actually, Bella, can I talk to you for a moment in private before you head out?"

Edward gave his sister a warning glare, then looked to me. I nodded my head slightly, letting him know I was okay with talking to Alice. Ali lead the way out the back door, making her way over to the bench next to the big oak tree we used to climb when we were little.

"Bella, I just want to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I've watched how miserable Edward has been without you and I thought you voluntarily caused that. I was so angry that you would betray all of us like that. We trusted you and I thought you broke that trust, but it was actually me who shouldn't have been trusted. I never should've doubted you. I should've talked to you." Alice was staring at her hands, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I'm so honored that I get to be an Aunt to your little girl, and so very hopeful that someday you may be able to forgive me for the things I said."

"Alice, you are going to be a great Aunt and I'll always think of you as my sister. All of this is going to take a lot to get adjusted to, but I think we're all going to be okay." I reached over and wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug, well, as tight of a hug as I was able with my ever expanded belly.

We were still holding onto one another when Edward came back out, a content smile on his face. "Ready to go?" He asked, reaching down to help me up. I took his hand as he lead me to the car.

Charlie took the news of Edward and I much better than I expected. I knew it would take awhile for the anger he held toward Edward to fade, but he seemed to be making an effort. Heaven help Victoria if she ever set foot near Forks though – I'm not sure who was scarier, the Cullens or my father. I smiled thinking of my wonderful family. For the first time in months, things were looking up.

EPOV

I followed Bella up to her room after we said good night to Charlie. "So when do you have to go back to New Hampshire?" she asked, wandering through her room straightening things up, I think she was just trying to keep her hands busy.

"My flight leaves at 10am on Sunday," I replied, running through my schedule in my head, trying to figure out how soon I could come back to my Bella. "What do you want to do about an apartment for next fall? Do you want to try to come out sometime this summer, or do you want me to go ahead and find something?" The thought of living with Bella again brought a smile to my face.

"You can pick out a place. I trust your judgment." She started, but then had to add, "But nothing too expensive."

"Inexpensive two bedroom apartment, got it." I was already running through places in my mind. But there were more pressing matters on my mind. When Bella had walked outside to talk to Alice, I'd run upstairs and picked up her Christmas present. I had my hand around the little box in my pocket, nervously turning it in circles. I took her hand, pulling her from re-straightening some papers she had sitting on her desk. I lead her to sit on the edge of her bed, I think Bella could tell I was nervous and it was making her nervous. I kneeled down in front of her, "Bella, I want to give you your Christmas present."

Bella looked completely confused. "You got me a Christmas present?"

I smiled at her, "Of course."

Bella reached forward and ran her hand along my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too," I started, taking a deep breath and pulling the box out of my pocket and opening it for her to see. "Merry be-lated Christmas?" I said.

Bella looked absolutely floored. "Ed . . Edward . . ." she stuttered, reaching a shaky hand out to touch the ring, "Is . . is this . . what I think it is?"

"Isabella Marie Swan, I love you so much and I know we talked about waiting until after school, but I want to be married to you. I want to be your husband and love, honor and cherish you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?"

Bella pulled her hand back and my heart dropped to the floor. She kept looking at the ring and then back to my face. "You . . you didn't know about the baby until today?" she asked.

I was completely confused by her line of questioning, "Alice told me you were pregnant yesterday. I didn't know until today the truth about everything."

"And you were going to give this to me for Christmas?" she asked.

Her questions were starting to make more sense – she was worried I was doing this because of the baby. "Bella, when I took that job last spring, it was for this. I didn't want to use the trust fund money, or money from my family. I wanted to be able to earn the money for this myself. I wanted this to be something that I worked for, for you."

Bella bit her lip, a small smile forming. "Really?"

I smiled back at her, "Yes, really." I could tell she really liked the fact that I had worked for her ring. It wasn't just another thing that had been handed to me. "Now, are you going to marry me or not?" I added, grinning at her.

Bella's smile grew and the next thing I knew she threw herself at me. "Yes!" she yelled as we tumbled to the floor. "Yes I'll marry you!" She peppered my face with kisses as I grabbed her hand to slide the ring on her finger.

"Bella," Charlie called, knocking on the door, "I heard a crash, you okay?" He waited a moment and opened the door. "Oh, uh, sorry," he muttered, seeing us on the floor.

"Dad!" Bella screeched happily, not moving from her position on top of me, "Edward's going to marry me." She held her hand up, showing Charlie her ring.

Charlie looked between Bella's face splitting grin to the look of absolute adoration on mine. He shook his head, "About time."

He started to return the door to its closed position, but quickly added, "Congratulations."

Bella returned her attention to me. "Isabella Cullen," she murmured. "I like the sound of that." She was grinning almost as much as I was.

I took her hand and kissed every finger, lingering on the one that now held her engagement ring. "I do to."