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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The songs are the property of the copyright holders. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Warning: This story is rated M for language and lemons.

This chapter is named after the NKOTB song "Outta Nothing At All"

Chapter 14 – Outta Nothing at All

BPOV

This summer seemed to move by so fast with Edward's connection to his old producers severed. Charlie was on the mend, which meant my work schedule was back to normal, and Edward and I were even able to go away. We spent the days exploring our tropical getaway and the nights exploring each other. In the three weeks that we'd been back, we'd settled back into our routine.

Rosalie, Alice and I were out to lunch one afternoon, when Alice started complaining about how excited she was for Jasper to get home so she could seduce him.

"Alice, you're newlyweds, why are you seducing him?" Rosalie was trying not to laugh, because most of Brooklyn knew about her and Emmett's very active sex life.

"My period just ended and he refuses to have sex with me during, the blood bothers him."

Rosalie continued to tease Alice, but I didn't hear a word of it. Alice and I always got our periods around the same time, and I still hadn't gotten mine. "Bella, what's wrong?"

"I'm late." I barely whispered.

"You're late, for wha—oh my God! How late?" Alice's wheels were already turning.

"Nine days, but I'm never late. I've just been so busy that I didn't even notice it until you mentioned it."

"Bella, you have to go see your doctor, or at least take a few tests at home so you're sure."

"I'd rather go see my doctor so I can get everything taken care of right away. Edward's going to be over the moon."

"Even with the company, I mean, I know he's going to be thrilled, but the timing is going to make it tough." Rosalie was being pragmatic, but I knew Edward, he'd make time for our child, like he had found time for me when he needed to.

After lunch, I called and made an appointment for the following day and then went back to work. I got home before Edward and started dinner, wondering how I would wait until after I saw my doctor to tell him what I hoped would be good news. Right before he would normally be home, I ran to the bathroom and was heartbroken by what I discovered. I never heard him come home, but his response to me sitting on the edge of the tub was hard to miss.

"Baby, why are you crying? Are you okay?"

He didn't know it, but hearing him call me baby just made the tears come harder. I tried to calm down, but a new wave of tears just hit me.

"Bella, love, you have to talk to me. I can't fix it if I don't know the problem."

"I…" I tried to say the words, but they caught in my throat so I took a deep breath and tried again. "My period was late, so I thought I might be…"

"Pregnant?"

I nodded and then continued. "But I'm not. It was just so exciting to think that I might be, and to have it taken right back…it hurt. If you had come home an hour from now, you wouldn't have known anything was wrong."

"I don't think you would have gotten over it that quickly." He brushed the tears from my cheek and brought our clutched hands up to his lips. "Do you want to have kids?"

My eyes bulged as I pulled him closer. "Of course, I want to have your babies."

A million-watt smile lit his face as he stood up and led me out of the bathroom. "Well that's good to know, but dinner is probably almost done, so let's go and eat."

I smiled as we walked into the kitchen to finish dinner and afterwards, Edward and I spent the rest of the night cuddled together.

August 1st was here before we knew it, which had Edward working in Brooklyn. It was sweet to see him getting up early to visit Charlie; he was going to see him almost as much as I was. Edward's only complaint was the noise of the final construction, but the work itself was exactly what he wanted the space to be. He'd even been able to use the Tony win and the press of Caius' leak to get some corporations to donate. The Board of Directors was filling up and many of the grant responses were coming in, though not all were good news. Edward and Jasper were hopeful for their first year, and had signed a few people to do seminars, now they just needed to get students.

Contracting high schools throughout the city, they put brochures for their programs and individual classes in the guidance offices and English departments. Going to the colleges, they had internships for theater majors when it came time for their various productions, and were offering new graduates a program that would let them work up to doing the job they went to school for. It was a great idea, and it would allow them to keep the budgets down by having volunteers trying to earn a name for themselves.

I was personally in the middle of getting permissions to use the film clips, pictures and pieces of poetry, prose, and play scripts for the exhibit. I was working from a huge list, knowing I probably wouldn't get all of them.

I'd just gotten off the phone with the assistant to one of the copyright holders when my cellphone rang. Picking it up, I smiled the moment I heard Edward's voice. "Baby, we're going out to dinner tonight, I have the best news!"

"Really, mind sharing it with me, because I've been calling the assistant to the assistant to the assistant to the people who are authorized to approve our licensing of the material for the exhibit, I need a bit of good news."

"We got a huge investor today, even bigger than those two I was telling you about the other day. With this type of an annual gift, we'd never have to worry. Now, having a board of twelve is a little bigger than we had wanted, but Jasper, Rosalie, and I will deal if it means this kind of a contribution. Having these extra funds behind us means we can hold more classes than we'd been planning on and could offer scholarships, I can't even begin to tell you."

"Did you have your lawyer draw up the paperwork yet?"

"No, he's running some standard background checks first. We should know in a few days."

"Okay, well congrats and I'll see you tonight. Are you picking me up, or should I meet you at home?"

"Home is the safer choice; don't want you waiting if I get held up. See you later."

"Bye." I hung up with him, the smile still on my face at the thought of his good fortune. The rest of the day continued on at the same torturous pace, but all in all, it had been very productive. Our dinner was nice, Edward was a ball of excitement, and with the fall approaching we were both getting ready to be very busy.

EPOV

I was waiting for a call from the people we'd hired to do our background checks when there was a knock on my office door, which was odd as it meant that they'd trudged through the construction. What was even more surprising was who I found on the other side of the door. "Jane, I really don't have the time today. Please tell Aro that until we 're open for business in January, we can't be bothered with his attempts to get us back."

"That isn't why I'm here. Do you know what my degree is in when I graduate in May?"

Not knowing what she was getting at, but still morbidly curious, I took a stab. "No idea, Jane."

"It's a BA in Theater. My focus is directing, but when I mention that around the office, Caius just asks me for a cup of coffee. Aro tells me that directing isn't a job you can give to anyone. I know that. This is the start of my final year, this semester I'll be directing a one-act in the festival our school holds, and in the spring I will be doing my thesis. I was wondering if your mentoring programs will include one for directing graduates?"

"How do you know about our programs?"

Jane shook her head and held out the pamphlet. "I saw the brochure in the theater office. Look, you're going to be getting a fax in a few minutes. It's something I made sure Marcus' dopey office temp would be handling and they'd expect her to make this type of mistake. I can't tell you directly because of my confidentiality agreement, but you had to be warned before it's too late. Just pay attention to what you get after the newest contract you receive, it'll be in the paperwork that comes after it."

Without another word, Jane was gone and I was left wondering, but like she said, it wasn't for long. The fax machine started its obnoxious screeching and when it finished, I took the stack to my desk and started going through it. Sure enough, below the now weekly renewal contract that Aro would send us, was paperwork that was meant for anyone but us. It detailed the creation of all three of the investors we'd been excited to have backing us, ones we'd been willing to give seats on our board to…ones that were covers for Aro, Marcus and Caius. They'd nearly had us. Nearly.

I ran down the hall to Jasper and Rosalie and showed them what we'd received, not letting them know about the visitor who alerted me to their arrival. They were obviously pissed, but with a single call to our lawyer, who was already a little skeptical about our working with these companies as there was so little info available on them that could be verified. When I discussed what had been mistakenly faxed to us, he told the three of us that it would be handled and there would be no more interference from our former employers.

Having barely dodged that bullet, we focused more on getting everything settled, ordering furniture and supplies after our first board meeting gave us the approval, arranging the fundraisers that would bring in the last bit of money and getting our Spring season filled so we could begin our productions. Meanwhile, Bella was overseeing installations and recording sessions with some pretty big names for the audio clips. Our lives were more hectic than ever, but we always made time for each other.

I'd convinced my mother to settle for Thanksgiving with us this year because we would both be too busy come Christmas. Bella's exhibit would be open by then and she'd be done with all of her own stress, plus, I was hoping to have a little news to share with them as well.

It was with that in mind that I asked Bella to meet me at the theater. It was a few days before Halloween and the construction was now complete, so I told her that after visiting Charlie I wanted to show her the final product.

She called me from the train and I was at the lobby entrance waiting for her when she arrived. The upper floor hadn't changed much since she had been here last, so I showed her our lobby, then led her through the side stairway that led to the black box theater. The more intimate space allowed you to do anything with it against the backdrop that was a blank canvas. The various rehearsal rooms and storage spaces were interesting, but not what I really wanted her to see. Bella followed me wordlessly as we found the underground walkway for the mainstage and once we were backstage, she ran out to see what the house looked like.

I was far too nervous to see anything beyond the stage lights, which I'd set on a timer and were now almost completely off, leaving the lone spotlight waiting for me to turn it on with the remote. As Bella finished her excited description of how much she loved everything, she turned to find me resting on my left knee.

When she stopped moving, I hit the button, putting the spot directly on me. "Edward?"

"Bella, I've loved you since we were five, but back in Forks I was too afraid to risk what we had for what could be. Then, this year, we got a second chance. I was so happy when you came to New York, but I managed to mess that up the first time too. I'm learning though, Bella; you're teaching me. I'm not promising perfection, because I'm far from it…but I swear to love you more tomorrow than today, to build a life full of memories with you, and if for some reason those memories fail us, I'll be there every day helping you remember until we both leave this earth. Will you do me the honor of giving me a lifetime of 'whens' to remember?" I pulled the ring from my pocket at the same time her hands flew to cover her mouth.

"Yes!" She squealed as she ran to me, leaping into my arms with hers around my neck. I kissed her with all the love I possessed and when I set her on the ground, I slipped the ring onto her finger, kissing it before looking up at her.

"You make me so happy, Bella. I can't even tell you."

"We make each other happy."

I kissed her again and then turned off the spotlight. "You ready to go home?"

"Don't we have to close up?"

I shook my head and took her hand, heading back towards the lobby, where her things were still waiting. "No, Rose is upstairs. She told me to lock the main doors and she'd take care of the booth and everything else. Besides, all I want to do is celebrate with you all night."

Bella blushed at the implication. "Well then, I guess we'll have big news to share when we go back to Forks for Thanksgiving."

"Yes we do."

As we left the theater and headed back to Manhattan, I held Bella close, so happy that I'd finally gotten the girl of my dreams forever.