AN

Greetings pals and gals!

Long time no see aye?

Here is the next chapter

Sorry it took so long, but then again yall are probably used to it by now since I have done it so many times. Also it took me freaking forever to get this chapter to sound right… and I still don't think it does.

Lets see what you think about it

Chapter 21

The truth will set you free

After Alice had left my apartment I decided to get comfortable so I changed out of my jeans and sweater and put on some flannel pajamas. Walking from my bedroom back down the hallway to my living room I stopped on the way and cranked up the heater.

Screw those really cute pajamas. I was cold and wanted something to warm me up. I tossed my hair into a messy ponytail on top of my head and settled into the couch with a throw blanket covering me. I was going to turn on the TV, but when I reached down to get the remote off the coffee table I seen the plastic Ziploc bag with the multiple pregnancy test in it. I picked up the bag and decided that the food network could wait a few hours.

I need to think things out.

Everything that me and Alice had talked about earlier today was racing through my mind. She had begged and pleaded with me to tell Edward, but I just couldn't come to terms with it. How could I tell someone that I was pregnant with his baby when he basically stomped on my heart.

If he couldn't love me, how was he ever going to love a baby that was half part of me? I knew I could love the little life that was growing in me because I was in love with Edward. That was something I couldn't deny. I know most people would wonder how I could fall in love with him so fast and believe me I would be one of those people if it were someone else we were talking about, but I just did. I cant explain it.

Is it any different from people meeting someone for the first time and saying they are going to marry that person? I mean isn't that moving fast?

All of this was making my head hurt. I knew I would eventually work up the nerve to tell Edward, but right now all I wanted to do was rest a bit. I stretched out on the couch and turned the TV on. Christmas had already passed and we were nearing the end of December. This year I just stayed here. I didn't go and see my family. I just wanted to be alone. Alice understood as did the rest of my family.

My family.

Lets just say they wasn't too happy to find out that I was pregnant, but they knew that I was an adult and had to live with the decisions I had made. I set the TV on a low volume and watched it for a little while till finally sleep over took me.

Eventually I was woken up by a knock on the door. I was guessing it was Alice with some food, though why she did not use her key I have no idea. Maybe her hands were full and she was using her foot to knock. The knock came again. So I sat up on the couch a little disoriented I might add and pushed off so that I was now on my feet. I walked over to the door.

"I am coming Alice give me a second will you?"

I opened the door and when I seen who was standing there before me I was shocked.

I couldn't believe that he had the nerve to show his face here. After all this time and what he had done to me.

I started to shut the door, but he reached his hand up to keep it opened and stepped into my apartment.

"We need to talk Bella."

He said as he ran his fingers thru his hair.

Realizing that I had no choice but to talk…. especially now that he was in my apartment I looked at him and nodded.

"Ok first of all sorry for barging in on you like this."

He said as he took a seat on my couch and patted the seat next to him.

I just stood and looked at him.

"What do you want?"

I asked while crossing my arms over my chest.

"Well I came to ask you to take me back. I cant live with out you. Your all I ever wanted. I am nothing with out you."

Well I sure the hell wasn't expecting that. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could he cut me off.

"Don't say anything Bells let me finish first."

I decided to appease him and closed my mouth giving him the go ahead.

"I know what I did was stupid, but baby your it for me."

I couldn't take anymore of this ridiculousness so I butted in. Besides everything he was saying was sounding like he jacked it from a cheap budget lifetime movie scrip.

"Your right what you did was stupid, but if I took you back after hearing that I would have done something equally as stupid as you."

"Bella?"

"No Jacob its your turn to listen to me. You are the one who left me remember. You left me for Lauren. I didn't choose to end this relationship you did when you cheated on me."

"Bells fucking damn it I made a mistake. I realized that its you I love. It didn't work out with me and Lauren. It didn't from the start. All the relationship was based on was good sex. We lasted about a month and after that we called it off. We are now splitting the business and going our separate ways"

I just looked at him as if saying and your point is?

"It's a chance for me and you to start anew. I even bought us a house in Arizona."

"Arizona?"

"Yes that's where I am relocating my business to. That and I know you like it there. So how about it Bells? I know what I did was wrong, but I cant live without you. You're the only thing that has kept me going on these last few weeks. Even just thinking about you has pressed me to go on."

He looked down to the coffee table. I guess he was expecting me to feel sorry for him. However I wasn't falling for it. If there was one thing I had learned about Jacob during our relationship was that he was a good actor. He could make anyone believe him on anything he said and it would have worked with me also….. If I wasn't already clued in on it.

"First of all Jacob don't call me Bells you lost that right when we broke up. Second of all the only thing I can say to you on the matter with you and Lauren is that justice was served. Also I can't believe you bought a house in Arizona did you think that by doing that it was just going to seal the deal? We get right back together and act as if nothing ever happened?"

Before I could continue with my rant Jacob had picked up the bag of pregnancy test that I had left on the coffee table and looked up at me.

"You are pregnant?"

"That matter doesn't concern you Jacob."

"It damn sure does. You have no right to keep my kid from me."

He stood up and dropped the bag back onto the coffee table.

"I cant believe you were just going to have this baby and let it think that his father belled on him. What kind of mother are you? How dare you bitch"

He was walking towards me and something in me just snapped…. This little life inside me was not Jacobs, nor would it ever be. Even if I had never met Edward and got pregnant Jacob and I had no future together. We never would.

I held up my hand signaling him to stop, but he didn't, not until he was right in front of me.

"Don't you ever call me a bitch again. I am not keeping your baby from you because this isn't your baby. Now I suggest you get out of my home you low life trashy ass bastard excuse for a man and take all your words and your house and shove it up your ass!"

EPOV

After my shower I quickly got dressed and ran to the garage where I hopped into my Volvo and pulled out my cell phone. I had Bella's contact information from the paper when I agreed to the interview.

I quickly typed in her address in the GPS and once the route was set I pulled out of the garage and headed her way.

I was a little nervous about going out in public. No one really has ever seen me, and I didn't know what kind of reaction there was going to be. That's why I decided to take the Volvo instead of any of the other vehicles I have. The others were to flashy and would sure cause me to be spotted. I also wore a pair of worn out blue jeans and a long sleeve hooded shirt with a cap. I planned on pulling the hood over my head to shield my face and thanks to the weary weather it wouldn't look suspicious.

When I got to Bella's apartment building no one was really out and about on the streets, which worked in my favor and I silently said a prayer of thanks. I opened the door and stepped out of the car. I ran across the street and into Bella's building.

After walking up 4 flights of stairs-the elevator was out of order-I finally arrived at Bella's apartment, but when I went to knock on her door I heard a mans voice and dropped my hand.

I should have walked away. Instead of eavesdropping, but I had to know what was going on.

Did Bella move on? Alice never mentioned anything about her dating someone.

As I listened I could hear Bella and the man argue back and forth. Both of there voices were raising and there words were becoming more and more angry.

Though I didn't catch the beginning of the conversation it seemed that Bella's ex was wanting to patch things up with her and she felt different about it.

Soon I learned that her ex found out about her being pregnant and thought the baby was his and accused Bella of keeping it from him.

I was growing angry by the minute on how he was talking to my Bella and thinking that the little life Bella and I had created was his.

What really made my blood boil was when he called her a bitch. However my Bella didn't stand for it. Through the door I heard her give him a piece of her mind like I was expecting her to do. My Bella was a little spitfire.

"Don't you ever call me a bitch again. I am not keeping your baby from you because this isn't your baby. Now I suggest you get the fuck out of my home you low life sorry ass bastard excuse for a man and take all your words and your house and shove it up your ass!"

However what I wasn't expecting to hear was what sounded like a slap and someone to fall to the floor.

"You whore! Don't you ever show disrespect to me again."

I could hear the mans voice and I seen red. That bastard hit Bella, my Bella.

Not even thinking about it I barged into her house and went strait up to him and punched him in the face as hard as I could.

When he fell to the floor I waited a minute to see if he was going to get back up, but all he did was grab hold of his bleeding nose.

I ran over to check on Bella who was still on the floor with her hand on her reddened cheek and a look of shock on her face.

"Bella are you alright?"

"Edward?"

Her voice came out in a breathy whisper.

"Yes. I am here. I am so sorry I should have came in sooner."

"Sooner? You, You heard everything?"

She had a look of worry in her eyes and I knew I had to calm her down. She knew that I had heard about her being pregnant.

This also worked to my advantage considering that now I didn't have to tell her how I knew about the baby. She will just always think that I overheard the conversation. Alice was in the clear.

"Well not everything, but enough."

I said this as I placed my hand on her stomach. I looked up at her and seen a single tear roll down her cheek.

I could hear some movement behind us so I quickly looked back to see the man standing up. I quickly stood up myself, bringing Bella to her feet as well. I stepped in front of her to protect her in case this got ugly. He looked at me and I looked at him with a death glare. I raised to my full height and was prepared to fight.

I knew I could take some punches…. Growing up with Emmett you sort of had to, but hey he also took some too. I would say that the playing field was pretty equal in that area.

"If you're smart you will get out of this apartment before I tear you limb from limb."

Still holding his nose with one hand I could tell he was contemplating on whether he wanted to fight or leave.

After about five minutes he decide the best thing for him to do was leave. Which was a good choice, cause I would have had no problem killing him. I watched as he walked out the door and shut it behind him. I went over and locked the door. Bella by then had made her way over to the couch.

She was still holding her cheek and starring at me as if she was wondering if I was really here or not.

"Do you have some ice you can put on your face?"

She just shook her head yes and pointed towards the kitchen. I walked in there and opened the freezer, grabbed an ice tray out, found a Ziploc bag-after digging in a few drawers-and poured the tray of cubes into the bag after I zipped it shut I wrapped it in a clean dish towel that was laying on her counter and brought it over to Bella.

She took it from me and placed it on her reddened cheek. I just watched her in silences. I figured I would let her ask the questions first. I'm sure she wanted to know what I was doing here.

After what seemed like forever she lowered the ice bag from her face and set it on the table… instead of looking up at me she stared down at her hands and acted as if she found something interesting about them.

Figuring she needed some time I slowly shifted my weight to get up off the sofa. I wasn't going to leave. I was only going to put the ice pack in the freezer so it would stay cold. However I felt her quickly grab a hold of my arm with her tiny hands

"Wait don't go."

Her voice was pleading and I detected a hint of panic as well.

I smiled gently at her and sat back down.

"I'm not going anywhere Bella."

She turned to face me all the while still holding onto my arm.

"Edward I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about my pregnancy. I'm sorry you had to find out about it this way. I was eventually going to tell you…. Oh that sounds so bad don't it? Eventually. I should have told you the moment I found out. I just needed time to process everything. When I first found out that I was pregnant I didn't know which reason to cry about. The fact that a little life was growing inside of me or the fact that reality was crashing in on me."

Bella looked down again and I seen a single tear fall from her right eye and start to roll down her cheek.

"Bella its okay. I'm not mad at you. If anyone should be mad it should be you. What I did was wrong Bella. I let my fear take over, but now after having a while to think about it I realized what a foolish mistake it was. I had something great with Kate and for years I blamed myself over what happened, but now I realize that by doing that I put up all these walls. I didn't think anyone would be able to break them down, but I was wrong. You showed me how to love again. You showed me what I was missing in my life. I don't blame myself anymore for what happened with Kate. However I do blame myself for what happened with you. This was something I could control. Kate was out of my power, this isn't. I guess what I'm trying to say is I would like to pursue this… that is if you would like to….. If not I completely understand. I hurt you to the point where you were scared to tell me about our baby. If you need time to think this through I understand."

I lifted Bella's chin with my hand so that we could have eye contact.

"I promise you Bella I will respect your decision no matter what you decide."

She put her hand on her stomach and rubbed it in a nurturing way. She went to open her mouth to speak but before she could I put my finger over her lips in a hushing manor.

I didn't want her to think that we had to work it out so that the baby would be taken care of. Whatever her decision is I would take care of them.

"Bella I just want you to know before you answer…. No matter your decision I'm going to take care of you and the baby. I promise I will supply everything that you and the baby will need. I guess what I'm trying to say is I want you to choose to be with me because you want to be not because you think you have too."

I ran my hand through my hair and let out a deep breath.

"Edward first of all I'm going to be honest with you. I feel that if we have a chance of working this out…. which I would like to do then I need to get a few things of my chest. I was upset with you. I felt like you stomped on my heart and it had shattered in a million pieces. I also feel the need to tell you that I lied to you about being on birth control. obviously I panicked when you asked me about it because you seemed so freaked out. I figured by telling you I was on birth control if would calm you down. At the time I figured it was going to be a little white lie… no harm done. Boy was I wrong. Also I want to be sure that you are one hundred percent sure about this. I understand you wanting to do the right thing and take responsibly for the baby, but if you need more time then its fine. I don't want you to jump into anything you are not ready for…. that's what got us into all this in the first place."

I knew Bella was right it was what got us into this mess. However I knew now without one shadow of a doubt in my heart that I wanted this.

"Bella I'm ready to take this step. Though I am a little upset that you didn't tell me the truth about the birth control, I understand why you did it. I did freak out about it. You were just doing what you thought was right at the time. To be honest I'm glad you didn't take it. I feel like this baby was meant to bring us together."

Bella didn't say anything once I finished instead she placed her hand on my cheek and leaned up to kiss me.

BPOV

Everything that Edward was saying was melting my heart. I guess that saying is true absence does make the heart grow fonder. I certainly grew fonder over the time apart. After he finished his speech. I couldn't say anything. All I could do was kiss him.

When I pulled back we both smiled and then embraced in a hug. It was sort of like a mutual agreement. We both knew that it was going to take some time and dedication on both of our parts to make this work, but in the end we both knew that it was going to be worth it.

When we pulled apart my cheek ran across his shoulder and reminded me of the pain. I was so going to have a bruise. I picked up the ice pack that was now half way melted and pressed it against my cheek. I looked at Edward and he seemed to be in deep thought for a moment. His face was serious. I could always tell cause the way he pressed his lips together tightly.

"Bella I want you to pack a couple of bags. I would prefer if you stayed at my place for the time being… just in case that guy wants to come back…. Who was that guy anyway?"

While we packed my clothes into my suitcase I explained to Edward who Jacob was.

I figured since I knew about his past-which was far more tragic then mine-then he had a right to know about my past.

I could tell that some parts of what I told him made him mad because his jaw would clench, but after I told the whole story to him-well up until the fight had started with Jacob- he had walked over and gave me a hug. It was a comforting hug. A protective hug. We stayed like that for a few moments before Edward decided that it was time for us to go.

We loaded my suitcases in the trunk and got into the car. I clicked my seat belt into place and for the first time in a while I had a good feeling.

As we started to drive down the road on the path to Edwards house I thought about everything that had transpired tonight. From Jacob showing up and hitting me to the heart to heart talk that me and Edward had.

The sharing of each other thoughts and feelings. The sharing of both our past. The understanding that was between us.

This was something that made me happy. I felt like now that the past was out of the way then we could finally try and build a future together.

The three of us.

AN

Okay so what did yall think. I think there will be a one maybe two more chapters to this story and then I will end it.

There is not much more that I can do other then make Bella have complications with the baby or something, but I think Edward and Bella have suffered enough and its time for them to get there happy ending.

Don't forget to review. I want to hear your thoughts.

Did I make you think that Jacob was Edward at first when she answered the door?

I think to make updating easier for me I'm only going to focus on one story at a time. First I'm going to finish this one and then go to the second story I posted and finish it. Still don't know yet just throwing some thoughts around.

Hope to hear from you.

Send me lots of reviews.