A/N Surprise!

Long author's note ahead, but please read because it's IMPORTANT.

Regarding, Edward's sudden (although he made it clear the previous chapter that this was his intention) decision of breaking off all contact with his mother, I have to say that it is just a REACTION. He's trying to scare some sense into her. He's feeling guilty and that's why in some way he's trying to make it up to Bella. That that doesn't mean Esme and him will never speak again. She's his mother for Christ's sake.

And yes, I know he can be indecisive and his actions may give you whiplash, but just so you know, he'll never be perfect because it was never my intention to create a perfect character. My inspiration for Edward is a friend of mine who's always had problems with her mother, so his reactions and the way he sometimes acts when it comes to Esme are inspired by her. Sometimes she would be firm in her decision of not letting her mother rule her life, but other times, no matter what her mother did to her, she would come back for more. That's not to say Edward will do the same, but I'm only pointing out that real people act in a certain way that doesn't always make sense.

Chapter 20

Isabella Pov

~ June 8th, 2012 ~

~~ 0 ~~

~~ 0 ~~

~~ 0 ~~

"I'm clueless," I sighed as I browsed through the rack of men's clothes in a pretty expensive boutique store in downtown Chicago. "I have no idea whatsoever what to get."

It was a Friday afternoon in June, and I was shopping for Edward's present. His birthday was in a couple of weeks, and I was already starting to stress about it. I had no idea what to get him.

"What do you get a man who has everything?" Angela said from beside me, tossing a t-shirt back on the rack. Since she was a Gemini just like Edward, her birthday had been on the first of June. We had celebrated at a nice pub, and Edward got to meet Ben for the first time.

"Exactly!" I moaned, walking over to the couch in front of the changing rooms and sitting down. I was so tired, I felt like I could have passed out right then and there. "I was thinking I could get him his favorite cologne."

"Good idea," she said, joining me on the couch.

I shook my head. "But he's not even finished the one he already has. The bottle is half full."

"You could get him a tie or something…" she suggested.

"I don't know. He's really picky when it comes to clothes, ties especially."

"A watch?" she tried again.

I chuckled lowly. "I don't think I can afford the kind of watches he wears."

Angela rolled her eyes, adopting a more relaxed position with her right leg crossed over her left one. "Then get him a potted plant."

"Har, har. Very funny."

"Oh, I know." She sat up straighter, getting excited. "You can get him a bottle of scotch."

I gave her a dubious look.

"Yeah, I mean, you once said that he likes Chivas Regal, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

She grinned. "You can buy him one of those expensive twenty year old bottles."

"Yeah, I guess I could," I said slowly after a moment. "I don't know what else I could get him, so I think that should do."

"I know a great liquor store." She sat up, holding her hand out to help me to my feet, and I groaned, because if it were up to me I would have never left that couch.

~~ 0 ~~

An hour later, we had ended up purchasing a bottle of Chivas Regal Royal Salute 100 cask that cost me three hundred fifteen dollars. I had been saving for Edward's birthday for a while, so it hadn't exactly made a hole in my budget, but it still felt weird to pay such an amount of money on alcohol, even if it was a gift.

On our way home, Angela and I stopped at a coffee shop to recharge our batteries. I parked the car across the street, and we made our way inside, heading for the sales counter.

"What can I get you?" the barista asked nicely.

"I'll have a honey vanilla latte," Angela said, pulling out her wallet.

"And I'll have a cappuccino and blueberry muffin, please," I added, reaching for my own wallet.

"Make that two blueberry muffins," Angela said, pushing away the five dollars I was offering her. "It's on me."

As she waited to pick up our order, I went outside to look for a table. I found one in a corner and plopped down on the cushiony chair, letting out a suffering groan. As I glanced at my phone looking for the time, I saw it was only four p.m. We hadn't been out that long, but for some reason, I was feeling like I had run a marathon.

Maybe I needed to hit the gym harder.

But despite my tiredness, I was feeling pretty content. Except for work, I was free for the summer to do with my time as I pleased. I was done with college, and Edward had been there to see me graduate last month.

And even though I hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of it because I wasn't the first person to ever finish college, Edward had insisted on taking Kate, Angela and I out for dinner to celebrate. But the fact that my parents couldn't be part of my graduation festivity had made me a bit melancholic, and I promised to myself that after we came back from France, I was going to ask Edward to accompany me on a short trip to Forks.

I pushed my sunglasses on top of my head and glanced at the busy street, smiling when my eyes landed on the Volvo. I loved my new car so much and I was glad that I had accepted it, after all. Although the gas was a little on the expensive side, it was so worth it. Driving it felt like heaven. I loved the color, I loved the fact that it was a convertible, and I most definitely loved that it was one of the safest brands out there.

Staring at the car led to thinking about Edward and wondering what he was doing. It had been more than two months since the unfortunate event with his family, and he was still giving his mother the silent treatment.

Even though none of us had actually said it out loud, we both knew that his decision of not talking to her was a bit steep. But if we were to think about the fact that she had threatened to ruin my life if I kept seeing her son, it was the only solution. I mean, what kind of woman threatens her son's girlfriend a mere couple of hours after she meets her? Esme was obviously deranged.

But the strange thing was her reaction to Edward cutting off all contact with her. We had expected her to continue assaulting him with phone calls and text messages. We had even expected her to give us a fake apology which we would have accepted, because all we wanted was for her to stop being such an evil witch. Neither Edward nor I cared if Esme was pretending to like me as long as she was being civil.

What we hadn't expected was a taste of our own medicine. We hadn't heard from her since Edward's last phone conversation with her, and it was kind of freaking out the both of us. Even I had learned that when it came to Esme, silence was a lot worse than her trying to make her way into our lives. It probably meant that she was plotting something, and I was afraid to think about what it was.

Angela placing my cappuccino and muffin in front of me interrupted my train of thought.

"Ugh, I'm beat." I smiled up at her. "My feet are killing me."

"Tell me about it," she huffed, sitting across from me and placing her legs on an empty chair. "These new shoes gave me damn blisters, but at least I got to buy myself a nice dress."

I took a sip of my hot drink and sighed. "This is nice. I love summers in Chicago."

"Well, summers here are definitely much nicer than summers in Forks where it rains all the time."

"I couldn't agree more," I said, bringing a piece of muffin to my mouth and glancing at the busy street. "You know, Edward's office isn't far from here."

"How do you know?" She stirred her latte slowly, her chin resting in her palm. "You've never been to his office."

"He told me, obviously. I was thinking about calling him, maybe he can take a break and join us for coffee."

She shrugged. "Then call him."

And I did just that. On the third ring, a busy-sounding feminine voice greeted me.

"Mr. Cullen's phone. What can I help you with?"

"Who's this?" I inquired, my brow furrowing.

"I'm Victoria, Mr. Cullen's assistant," she replied automatically, a hint of annoyance lacing her tone. "What can I help you with?"

"Is Mr. Cullen around? I would like to speak with him."

"No, he's in a meeting and he forgot his cell phone on my desk. Can I take a message?"

"No, it's okay. I'll call later. Thank you."

Her only answer was a long beeping sound.

"Well, that was rude," I muttered, staring at my phone dumbfounded.

"What was?" Angela asked.

I looked up at her blankly. "His assistant just hung up on me."

"Bitch," she concluded, shoving a piece of blueberry muffing into her mouth. "So, I take it he's busy?"

"Yeah, she said he's in a meeting."

Angela narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What if she was lying? You know, maybe she's one of those assistants who has a crush on her hot boss and feels threatened by you. Do you want to go to his office and check if she was telling the truth?"

"No." I chuckled at her crazy idea. "I trust Edward. Besides, I don't even know the exact address. I just know that he works in the area."

"Suit yourself, but if I were you, I would question him about this assistant of his. What's her name?"

"Victoria."

"Yeah." She nodded firmly. "I would definitely question him about this Victoria chick."

I tossed my napkin at her playfully. "You're insane."

She grinned. "I know."

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

We both looked up in time to see James standing beside our table with a smirk on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and had a messenger bag tossed over one shoulder.

"Oh, shit," Angela whispered, looking at me with an air of panic. "I guess it's a good thing Edward's busy, huh?"

"Hello, Bella," James said, his dark irises taking me in almost greedily, making my skin crawl in the process. "Angela."

"Hey." Angela waved weakly. She knew the proverbial shit was about to hit the fan.

"Can I join you?" he asked, already reaching for the chair next to me.

"No," I said, but he ignored me, sitting down anyway.

He sighed, placing his bag at his feet. "Look, I don't know what Cullen told you about me, but I'm not the bad guy. He's the one who put my cousin in a coffin."

"What do you mean?" I huffed, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

He rushed to explain. "Tanya got sick because of his stupid obsession with having children. She used to be such a fun, lively person, but when she found out that she couldn't get pregnant, she started changing. She became someone her own parents didn't recognize anymore, always sad, depressed, irritated. Not to mention that she and Edward fought all the time."

"How would you know that, James?" I argued, annoyed. "You and Tanya weren't exactly close when she got sick."

"Her parents told me. They were scared for her. Then, one day when Edward was on a short business trip to New York, I went to their house. Tanya was a mess. I tried to convince her to divorce him, but she wouldn't listen to me. She was absolutely blinded by the love she thought she had for him. She kept insisting that she was a horrible wife; that she had failed her husband and she could never forgive herself for that."

"That's crazy. Why would she feel guilty for something that she had no control over?"

James' expression darkened. "Because he made her feel guilty. He made her feel unworthy of him. He's a fucking monster, and I sincerely wish that you don't end up just like my poor cousin."

"That's enough!" I snapped, jumping to my feet. "I won't listen to this."

"Okay, okay." He quickly grabbed my wrist. "I'll shut up. Sit down."

I yanked my hand way, reaching for my bag. "We should be going anyway."

"You barely touched your drink," he noticed.

"I don't care for it anymore," I hissed, motioning for Angela to get up.

"I'm sorry if I what I said offended you, but it angers me when he tries to make me look like the bad guy, when in fact he's the disgusting leech sucking the life out of the women who have the misfortune of ending up in his bed," he said, leaning back into his chair and staring up at me pointedly. "Do you know what happened to his girlfriend before Tanya?"

When I showed the first sign of confusion, he went on, "She got hit by a car and died. And you know when it happened? The same night he broke up with her. She killed herself because of him, Bella."

"That's not true," I said, although I had no idea if what he said was a lie or not, but I made a mental note to ask Edward about it when I saw him.

He shook his head like he couldn't believe me. "You are so naïve. He's going to ruin your life, and you'd better run away while you still can."

I turned my back on him and started to walk away, my coffee and muffin long forgotten. "Let's go, Angela," I called over my shoulder, not wanting to look at him again.

"What the hell has gotten into him?" Angela commented, genuinely surprised as we rushed across the street to the car. "I've never seen him so angry about something."

"Let's just go home," I said, hating that he had managed to put a damper on my day.

~~ 0 ~~

Once at home, I tossed my shoes and bag to the floor haphazardly and willed myself not to think about James' words anymore.

"I need to put this somewhere so Edward doesn't stumble upon it," I said absentmindedly, holding the neatly wrapped present.

"I'll keep it in my room," Angela offered, looking at me apprehensively. She could see that our encounter with James had affected me more than I wanted to let on.

"Okay. Good idea." I handed it to her, starting to head over to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower."

As I stepped under the warm spray of water, I closed my eyes and let myself relax. After a few minutes of leaning with my palms against the cold tile, I grabbed the shampoo and started massaging my hair. When I was done, I took my time washing my body and shaving my legs, and by the time I was done, more than half an hour must have passed.

I wrapped a towel around my hair and a larger one around my body and leaned down to search for the foot cream I kept under the vanity along with some other toiletries. In my search, I stumbled upon a still intact box of tampons, and I frowned, picking it up and staring at it. Something felt off about it, and I began to mentally calculate when I was supposed to have my period, only to realize that I was a few days late.

With the tampons still in my hand, I left the bathroom and walked towards Angela's bedroom. She was standing in front of her mirror, admiring her new dress.

"This is strange," I said, shaking the box in front of her.

"What is?" She glanced at it in confusion. "I'm still using condoms, and I'm not late if that's what you're about to suggest."

"No, but I am."

She looked perplexed. "Aren't you on the pill? You're not supposed to be late."

"I know."

"So you're saying that you're pregnant?" she asked, blinking rapidly.

"Don't be silly. I can't be pregnant," I said with a nervous laugh. "I take my pill religiously."

"Uh, then why is your period late?"

"How should I know?" I shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, although on the inside I was having my doubts, but I was doing my best to push them to the back of my mind. "It's only been a few days, so…"

"But what if you're pregnant?" Angela insisted.

"I'm not pregnant, Ang," I stressed, willing my heart to stop galloping. "I can't be."

She didn't seem to buy it. "Have you had any unusual symptoms like nausea, headaches, fatigue?"

"Well, I've been feeling a bit tired lately," I admitted, "but that's about it."

"Nonetheless, you should take a test. You can never be too sure about these things."

I sighed heavily. "I'll tell you what. If by Monday I don't get my period, I'll take a test."

"Okay," she said, giving me a dubious look. "Whatever you say, Bella."

~~ 0 ~~

Later that same day, Edward and I were in the kitchen, chatting. Angela was working the night shift again, so I had him to keep me company. I was at the counter, chopping vegetables for the dinner I was making, while Edward was sitting at the kitchen table, skimming through that day's newspaper.

I had decided not to tell him about my delayed period, because I was still refusing to accept the possibility of a pregnancy, especially since I had no symptoms. Trying to direct my thoughts in another direction, I brought up my brief conversation with his assistant.

"I called your cell phone today and your assistant Victoria answered. She was kind of rude. She hung up on me."

"She did?" Edward asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah," I confirmed, slicing a carrot.

"I'll have to talk to her about it."

I turned around to face him with the knife still in my hand. "But she knows I'm your girlfriend, right?"

He eyed the knife apprehensively. "No."

"No?" I repeated with an edge to my voice, pointing the sharp utensil at him. "You mean she doesn't know there's someone in your life?"

"No, she doesn't. I don't exactly discuss my personal life with my…" he started saying, but trailed off when he saw the look I was giving him. "Why are you frowning?"

"Well, I don't want her to think that you're available," I hissed, my already bad mood escalating. "What if she hits on you?"

"She knows that if she ever dares flirting with me, she'll be fired on spot. I made that clear the day I hired her."

"Oh really?" I narrowed my eyes at him menacingly.

"Yes, really. What's the matter with you today? When I arrived, you yelled at me because I forgot to buy bread, and now you're throwing a jealousy fit?"

Blood started rising up to my cheeks in embarrassment immediately. "Oh. I guess I didn't realize I was being such a bitch."

"I didn't say that, but I just don't understand your reaction to Victoria," he said, standing up and walking over to me. He took the knife from me and placed it on the chopping board as a smile tugged at his lips. "Is it that time of the month, is that why are you being so irascible?"

"No," I murmured as he leaned down and kissed me gently. A lump formed in my throat, and I wrapped my arms around him, forcing myself not to start crying.

"Is it true your girlfriend before Tanya killed herself?" I blurted out in an attempt to distract my mind from pregnancy thoughts.

"What?" He pulled back to look at me incredulously. "Who told you that?"

"James. I ran into him at a coffee shop today, and he started accusing you of the most horrible things."

He let go of me, walking over to the window and grabbing a fistful of reddish hair. "That motherfucker's gut knows no limits. Is he stalking you in coffee shops now?"

"So, is it true?" I gasped. "She killed herself?"

"Of course it's not true," Edward snapped, glaring at me. "The girl got hit by a car and died."

"Yeah, but it happened the same night you broke up with her," I argued, using James' words.

"Yes, but she didn't kill herself. It was an unfortunate accident."

"What if she was hurting so badly that-"

He cut me off angrily. "The driver was drunk, Isabella. She was coming from the store when he ran her over on the pedestrian crossing."

"Then why did James-" I started saying, but he cut me off again.

"He hates me. He'll say anything to make you leave me. Did you know that he even tried to convince Tanya to divorce me?"

I nodded, biting on my lower lip. "Yeah, he mentioned it. He said you're the reason she got sick."

"At her funeral, he accused me of pressuring her to give me a child, which is absolutely insane. I would never do that. When I found out that she couldn't get pregnant, I proposed adoption, but she refused."

"I know you loved her," I tried to comfort him, but he only seemed to get angrier.

"James' accusations are meant to hurt our relationship. You do realize that, don't you? God, I'm so sick of him."

"I know," I said, approaching him carefully and circling his neck with my arms. "But we won't let him get to us. I promise you."

After a moment, he let out a heavy sigh, hugging me back. I started sniffing, the tears I had been trying to suppress trailing down my cheeks hot and wet.

"Why are you crying?" Edward asked, placing his large hands on each side of face. "What is it?"

"I don't know," I confessed, because I truly had no clue as to why I was being such an emotional mess.

~~ 0 ~~

By Monday afternoon, panic had really started to set in. My period was still very much MIA, and I was freaking out. At work I was so distracted that I had almost sold a school atlas at twice its price. By five, I was going crazy with worry, and I had to fake a migraine so I could leave earlier.

On my way home, I almost hit another car and got cursed at in traffic, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Frantically, I parked the car in its usual spot and ran to the closest pharmacy to buy a couple of pregnancy tests.

Just as I stormed into the apartment, all sweaty and out of breath, Angela stepped out of the kitchen with a glass of lemonade in her hand.

"What's wrong?" she asked, getting wide-eyed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm starting to freak out," I said, panting. "I didn't get my period today."

"Did you buy a pregnancy test yet?"

"Yeah, I did, two of them." I held the bag up, discarding my red flats hastily. "Oh, God. What if I really am pregnant?"

"Hey, calm down," she soothed, handing me the lemonade. "If you say you've been taking your pill regularly, there's no way in hell you're pregnant, alright? Let's just… chill."

"Okay, okay." I took it from her and downed it greedily. "Deep breaths, Bella. Deep breaths."

Taking the bag with me, I rushed towards the bathroom and locked the door behind me. With shaky hands, I opened the first test and sat on the toilet with it between my legs.

I had to wait a while until my body was ready to eliminate the lemonade I had just drank, and then I had to stop myself for a few seconds in order to get the other stick and pee on it as well.

When I was done, I flushed, washed my hands and opened the door to call for Angela.

"I don't want to look," I said when the minutes were up. "You do it."

Angela reached for the first stick, but I stopped her. "No, no, wait," I squeaked, my fists clenching at my sides. I took a few more deep breaths that had no calming effect whatsoever then urged her on. "Okay, you can look now."

Watching her face as she grabbed the test and looked down at it seemed to happen in slow motion. One second her expression was neutral, and the other, her eyes became the size of saucers as her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, fuck."

"What?" I croaked huskily. "What?"

She looked absolutely shocked. "It's positive."

As her words registered in my head, I was barely aware of a phone ringing furiously in the distance.

"No…" I shook my head in disbelief, yanking the plastic stick from her. "Give me that."

"Bella…" she started tentatively.

"No, it can't be," I gritted, although I was seeing with my own eyes the two pink lines that were staring back at me defiantly.

"Bella, they're both positive," Angela said softly. "I'm sorry."

I threw the test to the floor like I had been burnt. "Oh my God," I cried, agitating my hands frantically in front of me. "Oh my God, what have I done?"

"It's not your fault, Bella."

"How the fuck did this happen?" I yelled at her, getting hysterical. "I've been so careful. I don't understand."

"Please, try to calm down."

"How can I calm down, Angela? God, do you know what this means? How am I going to finish school, for fuck's sake?"

"Hey!" she yelled back at me. "Don't go lunatic on me now, okay? First, let's find out how this happened. Where are your pills?"

"I don't know." I sniffed loudly, plopping down on the tile floor because my legs were trembling so badly they couldn't support my weight anymore. "I think they're in my bag."

Spinning on her heels, she exited the room only to come back seconds later with a familiar white foil. "Well, you seem to have taken them all," she said, analyzing it attentively. "There are only placebo pills here."

"I haven't skipped any pills, I…" I trailed off abruptly as revelation hit me. "Oh, no."

"What is it?" she urged, sitting on her knees beside me. "What did you remember?"

"Do you recall last month when I had that nasty cold?"

"Yeah."

"I don't remember taking the pill during those days."

"But you had your period last month," she pointed out.

"Yeah, that's why this makes no sense. Although, it was a bit lighter than usual…"

Angela scowled, staring down at the foil in her hand. "Did you and Edward have sex when you had the cold?"

"Yeah, we did. He said something about sex building up the immune system, and it did help with my cold, but I hadn't been taking my pill. How could I forget? How could I be so stupid?"

"You weren't exactly yourself. An illness can make you forget things." She rubbed my upper arms comfortingly. "On the good side, Edward is going to be ecstatic."

"But what about me?" I snapped, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. "I'm not ready to be a mother, Angela. I still have my Masters left. How am I going to manage to finish school and raise a newborn baby at the same time?"

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"What are you sorry for? It's not your fault. I'm the only one to blame. God, I'm such a cretin."

"A baby should be a blessing not a burden," she whispered as to herself, getting up and holding her arm outstretched. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

As she helped me undress because I was too much of a mess to function, my phone began ringing again. Pulling my jeans down my legs, she tossed them on a chair and reached into my bag for the noisy object.

"It's Edward," she said. "Do you want me to answer it?"

I shook my head, holding my hand out. Grabbing a tissue from the nightstand, I quickly blew my nose and forced myself to stop crying before answering with a low "hi".

"Hello, my love," Edward greeted cheerfully. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," I lied, staring up at the ceiling. "Did you want something?"

"What's wrong?" his voice changed, becoming grave all of the sudden. "You sound like you have been crying."

"I'll tell you later," I retorted weakly, wiping a stray tear with my thumb.

"Isabella' you're scaring me. What happened?"

"Nothing."

He sighed. "Isabella…"

"I'll tell you later this evening when I come to your place, okay? I have to go now."

"Do you want me to pick you up?" he rushed to ask. "Do you want me to come right now?"

"No, no, it's okay. See you later."

With those final words, I hung up and collapsed against the pillows, letting the tears fall freely. The phone started ringing again, but I ignored it. Angela left the room quietly, leaving me to my thoughts. She knew I needed to be alone, and I was grateful for her diplomacy.

Lying there, I couldn't help but think about what my future was going to look like. I was expecting a baby with a man whose mother hated me; I had two more years left of school, and on top of all that, I was nowhere near ready to become a parent.

I knew Edward was probably going to be happy about it, but what about me? I needed to put my life in order before taking such a huge step towards motherhood. I wanted to get married, share a nice house with my husband and taste the success of a career first.

This was so unexpected and definitely not happening the way I had always envisioned it would.

I loved Edward. I loved him with all my heart, but getting pregnant at this time of my life was just so wrong. I needed more time. We needed more time. We had to work things out with his family and we had to get to know each other better. What if something went wrong with his family that drove us apart? What was going to happen to this child?

A million thoughts plagued my mind and most of them were not happy. I was scared of what the future had in store for us, but mostly I was afraid that I wasn't going to be a good mother because I just wasn't prepared for that.

~~ 0 ~~

It must have been half an hour later when I heard the front door open and the sound of heavy shoes heading my way. Edward appeared in the doorway, looking as if he was about to have an aneurysm. He was panting like he had run up the stairs instead of taking the elevator; his hair was disheveled as if he had abused it with his long fingers all day long, while his green irises were darker and more alert than I had ever seen them.

At the sight of him, I felt as if the entire room started spinning with me, and I began crying even harder than I had until then.

"Isabella," his voice broke as he sat on the edge of the bed and took my hands into his. "Tell me."

"I'm pregnant," I whispered, but I didn't have time to see his reaction because a wave of nausea overcame me and I leaned over the bed, emptying my stomach all over his expensive Italian shoes.

A/N How will Bedward (as a reader named him) react to the news? Find out next chapter!

Thanks for reading!

~Andreea~