Chapter 20 - Things To Resist

EPOV

I hung up the phone having left Bella a message and pulled on my white jacket ready to start work. I only had to do a couple of hours but the time was going to drag, knowing that I could have spent some extra time with Bella, not being stressed by this patient or that patient being in a serious condition or needing examining again.

I was amazed that I hadn't started going grey yet, honestly.

I was hoping that Ben would be here with me to lighten the mood at least a little, unfortunately today was supposed to be the day off for both of us and I got the short straw when they found we were understaffed. Typical.

It meant I was going to be on call with Alec who - I'm not going to lie - scared me sometimes. He had a really odd vibe to put it bluntly. When he talked to you, he was fine, it was when you were alone with him, in silence that I began to sense he was a bit weird. By that, I mean he stares at you with a look that says 'I'm a complete psycho and want to tear you to shreds'. I had to wonder how he kept up such a good bedside manner with his patients; but it was probably because he worked nights and they were usually all asleep.

I headed to my first patient's room, equipped with my stethoscope and chart for Mr Derchy. He was almost worryingly overweight, with high blood pressure and a serious risk of heart disease. There was currently little I could do for him, there wasn't any immediate risk, other than suggest a change in his diet and to do a little more exercise.

He probably wouldn't, so I could probably expect him back sometime soon.

It wasn't me being prejudice or judgemental, but they very rarely did much enough to change.

I'd become somewhat pessimistic also due to this job. I mean, I loved doing it… but there were positives and negatives to everything.

As I expected, the hours dragged by, nothing major was happening with my patients and Alec, on the odd occasions that we were in the staff room together, kept staring at me with that disturbing gaze. Well, not just me; it happened to Jessica from the nursing staff as well when we came in, but I'm pretty sure that was for a different reason entirely.

2 o clock couldn't have come fast enough. I clocked off my shift and made my way swiftly to the entrance, hoping to make it to Bella's within half an hour; it was still possible.

I was caught off guard by meeting Abby - almost head on - as I walked through the automatic doors. She wasn't alone, though. Stood beside her, looking at Abby (who was smiling hesitantly at me) curiously, was a gangly, native American boy with ruffled brown hair. I couldn't figure out why it was but I had a slight feeling I had seen him somewhere before.

Before he could say anything, Abby greeted me with a nervous, "Hello, Edward."

The boy's eyes lit up in understanding, probably now realising who I was. I smiled back at Abby, "What are you doing here?" I asked curiously.

She chanced a look at the boy beside her who had turned his head in her direction. They shared a quick glance before she returned her eyes to me and answered quietly, "I made an appointment with the obstetrician."

I nodded once, that was probably a good idea. I wondered why she had bought this boy along with her though, I thought briefly that he was this Chris character, but he looked too young and too familiar to be him.

"Um, Edward, this is my friend, Seth Clearwater." Abby introduced us after a little too much silence and his familiarity clicked. I had treated his father not so long ago after a heart attack, which had ended unfortunately. I shook his hand that he had left outstretched firmly and smiled in greeting.

"I remember your father." I commented, hoping it wouldn't upset him, but he appeared to be fine, "How are you holding up?" I asked out of genuine curiosity.

He nodded and smiled briefly, "We're okay. Coping at least."

I nodded and smiled in return. Abby looked between us oddly before she shrugged and nuzzled into Seth's side. In return, he released my hand from his grasp and put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

"Are you going to be alright on your own in there?" I asked before I took off.

Abby rolled her eyes, "I'm quite capable of going in on my own." she answered impatiently, but then continued more calmly, "It's okay, really. I'll have Seth there with me." in response he squeezed her more tightly to his side.

"Alright." I answered, "I'll probably see you later then, Abby."

She tilted her head to the side, "Are you going to see Mum?" I nodded in reply and she continued, "Okay, probably see you then." she paused, "Could you, like, not tell her about this? She asked and I nodded causing her to smile, followed by Seth waving once before they continued on inside and I retreated outside, just wanting to see Bella even more now.

As soon as I walked inside her house I had her in my arms. I refused to allow any space between us and was adamant that I was touching her at all times, at least in some way. I held her hand as we went into the kitchen to pick up the pre-made coffee that rested on the island, had my arms wrapped around her torso as we drank it and as we headed down to sit on her sofa.

"How was work?" She asked as we curled up together on the sofa.

I ran my hand up and down her arm as I replied, "Uneventful. All the patients had really boring cases; makes time go a little slow."

She turned her head in my general direction with furrowed brows before teasing, "Oh no, how awful! What has come to the world, how dare people not be too ill today!"

I poked her in the side, causing her to yelp sweetly, "I didn't mean it like that. It's just it felt like I was there for no reason, made worse by the fact that I didn't have to be there in the first place and I could have been with you instead."

She squeezed my hands at my words. "I wasn't here anyway, at least you were doing something productive."

I shrugged despite the fact that she couldn't see and squeezed her more tightly to me. I knew of course that she was dress shopping with Alice and Rose earlier, but it was the principle of it; it was supposed to be my day off. Although, thinking of Bella dress shopping…

"When do I get to see you in your bridesmaids dress?"

Bella turned in my arms so she was facing me. She bought her hand up to her face and tapped her cheek with her index finger repeatedly as if in thought as she pursed her lips.

"Well let's see," she began, smiling, "Emmett and Rose get married on 25th August" she paused and grinned, "So, around 25th August" she finished and stuck her tongue out childishly at me.

I rolled my eyes and tapped the tip of her nose playfully. She pouted before burrowing her face into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly to me, feeling her breath push against me gently, a patch of warmth forming where it hit. I closed my eyes and buried my face into her hair, the smell of strawberries intruding on my senses, but I welcomed it; an engulfing reminder that she rested in my arms.

I felt her nuzzle up closer to me and trail kisses along my neck and collarbone, sighing when I tightened my hold on her. I rolled us over so that I was on my back and her barely noticeable weight was pushing down onto me.

She smiled at me and, pushing her long hair over her shoulders, leaned down placing a kiss on my lips. I kissed her back, only more passionately, putting more love and desire into the kiss than we had ventured recently. Also, without coming across as a sexually obsessed jerk, I wanted to show her that I was a little horny as well.

She pressed her hips into mine causing me to jerk instinctively in response. She pulled away from me slightly, a cheeky grin plastered on her face. She bit down on her lower lip and I could see a glint of teasing in her eyes. For a moment, she pressed her hips harder onto mine before removing the pressure and standing up.

I released a groan of almost irritation, before she held out her hand to me. I took it without a second thought and followed her up from the sofa, out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom where we spent the next few hours.

Being naked with her was something I had missed; it was one of the most amazing sights I had ever had the fortune to witness, and I'd seen some beautiful things in my time. Her delicate, soft skin, her delicious curves in all the right places, even her small but noticeable birthmark, the shape of a boot was beautiful.

Being inside her as well… I revelled in the opportunity to be inside of her. Feeling her around me, being in essence a part of her, it didn't happen often enough.

Although, I had to admit, a gentleman may never tell but I would admit to myself I was inside her quite a few times during our escape to her bedroom.

When we eventually emerged, it was well into the evening. I wondered briefly when Abby was going to return, although I did not voice my question.

"Do you fancy a pizza?" Bella asked as she leaned over the counter, resting on her forearms, holding a menu in her hands.

I shrugged, "Sounds good to me." I agreed.

She smiled, "Good because," she paused, interrupted by the angry growling of her stomach, causing her to blush, "well, I was going to say 'because I'm hungry', but I think I just proved that point." she looked down at her stomach before moving her eyes back across the menu, pursing her lips in thought.

I grinned, "Maybe we should get a large?" I teased as I walked around to stand behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and rubbing her stomach tenderly, "Wouldn't want to make it angry." I laughed and she turned her head to glare at me.

I grinned and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek. She sighed and turned away again, back to the list of different pizza toppings, sizes and side dishes. I rested my head on her shoulder and turned my attention also to the menu, scanning the options.

"I quite like the sound of a meat-fest." she offered.

I smiled, "Whatever you want. I'll eat anything, I'm pretty hungry myself." I admitted and pulled away when she began to move for the phone.

She had dialled the number and pressed the phone to her ear when I heard the front door open and close. I turned to look towards the door where I saw Abby and Seth step into the kitchen. I smiled at Abby and she smiled back before she turned her attention to her mother, who gave a brief wave before she began speaking down the phone.

Abby looked at me once more and asked "Who's she talking to?"

"She's just ordering a pizza." I informed her, "Have you eaten?"

She nodded, "Seth and I had dinner with dad." she told me and I couldn't help feel a little resentment once again towards Jacob, though with little reason for being a ital part of both Abby and Bella's life. It was unfair, but I couldn't help it.

I nodded, but Seth spoke from the kitchen doorway, "I've always got room for a little bit more, though." he rubbed his stomach looking almost hungrily and I smiled, remembering the days when all I did was eat. They were great times.

"Does your mum know you were planning on bringing Seth here?" I asked Abby sternly, although I felt a bit rude in doing so, not having the right to ask particularly. Or enforce and decision or opinion in the matter anyway.

She raised an eyebrow at me and crossed her arms, though she was smiling, so I assumed she wasn't that irritated, "If you must know, she doesn't." she shrugged, "it's okay, she won't mind."

"Won't mind what?" I heard Bella ask behind me several seconds after the click of the phone being hung up.

We all turned our attention to her, but it was Abby who answered, "If Seth stays?" she asked hopefully.

Bella shot a look at Seth before she nodded, "Why not. I just ordered a pizza, you guys can help us finish it, I heard you've already eaten, but it's not going to waste." she informed them.

"I'm always up for more food, Bella." Seth spoke up once again, the grin easily detectable in his voice.

Bella smiled, "Did you two have a good day today?" she asked curiously and I turned my attention back to the two teenagers in the room.

Both of them nodded in response to Bella's question, it didn't seem like they were going to mention their visit to the hospital just yet. Seth took another step into the room so he was more visible and rested his elbow on Abby's shoulder.

"We hung round Seth's for a bit, went to First Beach and had dinner with dad before he bought us back here." Abby told us happily.

Before anything else was said, Abby and Seth grinned widely at each other, holding each other's glances for some time, almost as if they were having a silent conversation. Seth nodded once and Abby turned her attention back to us. I had no doubt that the expression on my face was questioning, and looking briefly at Bella's, I could see she shared my confusion.

"Also," Abby continued, "I have something to show you." she beamed as she reached down to grasp her shoulder bag which hung by her side. She opened it and put her hand inside, rustling through her belongings for a short while before she pulled something out. It appeared from here to be a small square of paper, perhaps a photograph.

She kept her eyes on it for several seconds while she smiled adoringly at it, before she turned her attention, once again, to Seth. He smiled reassuringly at her and placed a kiss to the top of her head before she nodded and walked towards Bella and myself. She took a deep breath and held out her hand. I took a peak at what she held and could see that it was her sonogram picture. The trip to the hospital was going to be mentioned now then.

Bella took the picture out of Abby's hand and stared at it intently. Her eyes did occasionally flit up to meet Abby's, but for the most part, they remained on the image of her grandchild in front of her. It was so very hard to keep my gaze away from it, not wanting to intrude my eyes upon it until I was given some form of permission to do so.

I looked over at Seth who was smiling at mother and daughter, although his body language was slightly awkward, as though he didn't know quite what to do with himself. I knew exactly how he felt, to an extent. Although I'm sure he was lacking the immense curiosity I felt, having been there when the scan was done.

Returning my concentration back to Bella, I noticed her finger tracing some sort of pattern upon the picture. She raised her eyes to her daughter's, "Is this…" she trailed off leaving her sentence incomplete.

Abby nodded, "Yeah, that's my baby." she said with tears in her eyes.

I saw a single tear fall down Bella's cheek as she looked at the image once more. I truly believed it was something females did to get so emotional over babies and all that stuff, I mean honestly yeah, babies were great, I loved kids and it was always nice when someone you knew was having one. Getting emotional over it? I really didn't understand.

I suppose it may have been partly to do with it being her daughter's baby, but I couldn't be sure. It wasn't like I had any experience with this.

Abby turned her attention to me and asked with some shy hesitation, "Do you want to see?"

I smiled and nodded, turning my head towards the image, Bella stretched out her hand towards me, allowing me to see. It was only small, of course; the foetus I mean. Honestly, you could barely see it, at this stage in pregnancy, it was merely a dot on the screen, and I often found it hard to see it any other way. I shook my head, trying to erase my more scientific thoughts of what was mainly just a bunch of cells and considered it as they did, as a developing person that would soon have a body and emotions and needs.

I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face. Thinking about it that way, I could kind of see where all the emotion came from. It was kind of nice actually, seeing it that way; it made the whole thing seem a bit more real.

I grinned at Abby and she blushed furiously, looking back at the picture. She reached out for it and Bella reluctantly handed it back to her. Abby stole another glance before she headed over to the fridge and secured the image to it with one of the fridge magnets, making it one of the main focal points.

"I was thinking," Abby said, sounding almost nervous, "I might, a bit further along, I might make some sort of baby scrap book or something. Put all my sonogram pictures and whatever else in there." she paused, "I don't know. It might be a bit of a stupid idea though." she finished, keeping her eyes towards the floor.

"Sounds like an amazing idea." Bella replied, honestly.

Abby smiled, "Good." she paused again and met her mother's eyes, "There's something else I want to tell you, but I don't want you to try and change my mind, or really say anything about it, I'm just telling you because I figured you'd want to know." she took a deep breath before continuing, "I talked to Grandpa Charlie today about, well, Chris." she sighed, "I told him everything, about that and showed him some of the bruises."

She wrapped her arms around herself comfortingly, "He said that although he could see the proof, it was likely it would be just my word against his and the court would look from Chris' point of view as well, possibly seeing it as self inflicted." she looked at Seth again for reassurance and he went to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I gave Charlie his name and it turns out, he's already wanted by the police anyway, so, for now anyway, I've decided not to press charges. It's too complicated and I don't have it in me. I might change my mind, but yeah." she took another deep breath as she drew her explanation to a close.

Bella looked as though she wanted to argue - honestly I couldn't blame her - but she said nothing. She pressed her fingers to her lips, probably wanting to point out all the reasons that she should do something about it. As bad as it was, I was fighting that same urge.

Surely Abby would want some sort of justice for the bullshit she had to put up with through her relationship with him. Even I thought he was an asshole, and I'd never even set eyes on him, let alone been through it.

Abby seemed to be able to tell by the expressions on our faces that we weren't particularly happy about this, "Look, technically, he's still my boyfriend, and my baby is his too. I don't want to punish him." she paused, "well, not too much anyway." she relaxed into Seth's hold noticeably, "Although I do plan on changing the fact that he's my boyfriend very soon."

Bella nodded and Seth tightened his hold on her. The atmosphere in here was making me feel awkward. I had no part in any of this and had nothing to say about it, it was far too personal an issue for me to have any input.

The moment the doorbell rang for the pizza couldn't have come fast enough.