Chapter Twenty One: Reassuring
Bella's POV
I laid on the slightly hard and uncomfortable exam table trying not to tare the paper lining off the bed. I took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling.
What if there is something wrong with the baby? What if there is no baby? What if I miscarried? What if I get put on bed rest? What if I have to quit my job?
"Morning Bella." Amy smiled.
"Morning." I said.
"How are we feeling today?" She asked.
I sighed, "A little nervous."
"Well, there is nothing to be nervous about! You get to see your baby today!" She said, sounding a lot like Alice would if she were here.
I smiled deciding not to tell her about the millions of fears, I'm sure all first time mothers had them. She lifted up my shirt gently before squirting the gel on my stomach, I shivered.
"Alright, let's see what we have here!" She said.
I looked at the screen anxiously, the second that heart beat filled the room I smiled. I felt bad for smiling because Edward wasn't able to be here due to work, I know he works at the hospital and can't be here. Stupid right?
"It looks like everything is perfectly normal!" She said.
With that she cleaned off my stomach wiping up all the gel before I pulled my shirt back down. I sat up as she went over some paperwork and things I needed to know. We also set up an appointment for next week for testing to see if the baby could possibly have some kind of birth defect like Down Syndrome. After assuring me things would be okay, we said our goodbyes.
…
I decided to walk around the hospital until Edward got off of work. I made my way through Labor and Delivery not expecting to see or hear anything.
But I did.
I heard screams of pain and agony, I couldn't help but glance into one of the rooms to see some lady grabbing her husbands collar and screaming at him. My eyes went wide as I picked up the pace, I wanted to get out of this place. Only what I saw next scared me, it scared me a lot. A woman in labor was walking with her husband and they were talking, the next thing I knew she was screaming! She was in so much pain that she had to sit on the floor! I gulped.
"Bella?" Carlisle said.
He walked up to me and I looked at him like a deer in the head lights.
"I-I was just... I was just walking." I stuttered.
"What are you looking at?!" The lady groaned.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean too!" I said rushing my words.
"You have children?" She gasped.
"I'm three months pregnant." I whispered.
"Well listen honey, turn around and go back. You don't to be in this pain. Just get rid of it." She groaned.
"Honey, you don't mean that!" Her husband gasped.
"THE HELL I DON'T!" She screamed at him.
"Okay Bella, come on." Carlisle said.
"She just told me to get an abortion!" I gasped as Carlisle pushed me forward.
"She is in pain, she didn't mean it." He assured me.
"Carlisle, maybe she was right... That looked painful, I don't do pain very well..." I gulped.
"Bella don't freak yourself out." He laughed.
"No I'm serious! In all reality how is something so big suppose to go through a little tiny hole!" I shrieked making a small circle with my hand for good measure.
I could see him struggling not to laugh at me.
"Bella, sweetheart, women have been having babies for decades." He told me.
"But what if I'm the one person who can't have the baby! What if it gets stuck and I'm pregnant forever?!" I gasped.
He let a laugh slip, I looked at him horrified.
"Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. Bella that is not going to happen." He told me.
"How do you know though?!" I asked.
"Because that is impossible. If something happens and the baby wont come out we will just do a C-Section to get the baby out." He explained.
"So I wont be pregnant forever?" I asked.
"No," He said as we walked, "You wont be pregnant forever."
"Well that's a relief." I sighed.
He laughed at me as we continued to walk.
Carlisle's POV
I walked up to the front desk and stood next to Edward.
"Hi dad." He said.
"Hello son." I said laughing.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"I just was with your wife." I laughed.
"Yeah?" He said.
"I found her in Labor and Delivery and she was scared because she saw a lady in so much pain from contractions that she told Bella she should get an abortion because she didn't want to go through the pain." I laughed.
"Oh wow." He said.
"Yeah, so you should probably talk to her. She thought that the baby would get stuck and she will be pregnant forever." I said.
He covered his face and tried to suppress his laughter.
"Alright, I will talk to my scared little wife when I get off." He said.
Bella's POV
"Bella?"
I turned around and smiled when I saw Edward standing there, I slowly walked over to him.
"Hey, are you off?" I asked
"Yes I am." He said giving me a small kiss.
"Ready to go home?" I asked.
"Actually, I want to show you something." He said.
"Yeah?" I said.
"Yeah." He said taking out a blind fold.
"Wait, what is that for?" I asked.
"For your surprise of course!" He said tying it around my eyes.
I grumbled.
"Oh stop it." He said.
…
"Are we there yet?!" I groaned.
"Yes." He said.
He slowly lifted the blind fold off and I opened my eyes.
"The nursery?" I questioned.
"Yes, this is the nursery." He smiled.
"I don't understand, Edward why did you bring me here?" I asked.
"Because," He said bringing me closer, "dad was telling me you have a fear."
"Wha-"
"Bella, it's okay. Everyone has fears their first time." He said.
"Wait, what are we talking about?" I asked.
He sighed, "Bella, I'm talking about your fear of pain, about your fear of labor."
"I'm not good at pain Edward, you know this! I cried like a baby when I broke my hand punching Jacob when he kissed me!" I said.
"Do you want to know why I brought you here Bella?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said.
"Because this," He said motioning to all the little babies, "This is the end result of that pain Bella."
I looked at the little boy who was kicking its legs and fussing.
"We are having a baby Bella, and it's completely normal to be afraid of the pain. Just know that I will be there holding your hand the whole time." He said taking my hands in his.
"You promise?" I asked.
"I promise." He whispered kissing me.
…
"I'm going to be happy with whatever I get Alice." I said.
"I know, but what would you like?" She asked as we looked through baby clothes.
I gave her a knowing look and ignored her.
"I wonder what the boys are doing." I said.
"Who knows, probably watching the game or something." She said.
"I feel bad for not inviting Rose baby shopping." I sighed.
"Me too, but she wanted to do some more work. Emmett took Mason to the park." She said.
We continued to look at baby clothes, before we knew it the whole cart was full of stuff! Diapers, wipes, clothes, miscellaneous baby items, a bath tub, things like that. I almost freaked out when they told me the total! I said goodbye to Alice before we headed our separate ways, she was going to help Rosalie do some work. I pulled into the driveway getting out, Edward made his way outside.
"Hey hon." He said.
"Hello." I said.
"Enjoy shopping?" He asked.
"Yeah! I got a lot of stuff, more then I thought I would." I told him.
"I'm sure it's not too much stuff." He said.
"Oh, it is." I said opening the trunk.
His eyes went wide.
"Bella!" He gasped.
"I know, I know..." I said.
"How much did you spend?! We don't need this much stuff! You aren't due for months!" He shrieked.
"Edward calm down, it's fine!" I said starting to unload the car.
I could tell he wasn't going to just let it go though, he at least helped me unload everything.
"Where is Jasper?" I asked.
"In the kitchen. Bella, how much did you spend?" He asked.
"It's not important." I told him.
"It kind of is Bella. Remember, we are trying to live without the help of my parents here!" He snapped.
"Edward it's fine!" I told him.
"Isabella. How much did you spend. Now." He warned.
I showed him the receipt.
"Four hundred and eighty nine dollars?!" He screamed, "You spend almost FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS?!"
I coward down and flinched as he raised his voice a little more with each word.
"Edward please calm down." I begged.
"It's JAMES!" He screamed.
"I'm sorry!" I said.
"You are taking it all back. Now." He snapped.
"No I'm not! I can't! We need this stuff James!" I told him.
"You are taking it back!" He screamed.
"I said that I am not!" I snapped.
SLAP!
I closed my eyes touching my cheek that stung.
"You wanna continue?" He asked.
I looked at him, "James, these things are stuff that we will need for the baby!"
He shoved me against the wall and held me there with his hand around my neck.
"I said, are you done?! Are you going to take the stuff back and be smart?" He asked.
"Please James! Please let me keep it! We will be fine! I will work extra hours at- AHH!" I screamed as he slapped me again, this time leaving a cut on my right cheek and making another bruise.
"HEY!"
I cried as James pressed harder against my neck as he looked over to see Jasper standing by the kitchen door.
"Let her go James! NOW!" He screamed.
"Or what?!" He growled.
Jasper made a sudden move and managed to get Edward off of me, I fell to my knees clutching my neck and trying to get my breathing under control. I looked up to see the two of them fighting on the ground. I wasn't paying attention but somehow Jasper got Edward pinned to a chair.
"You calm your ass down now. She's fucking pregnant man! Grow a pair and stop beating your wife!" He growled.
Jasper got up and walked over to me helping me up, he got my jacket on and lead me to the door.
"She's not my wife, she's just a whore." James spat.
I closed my eyes.
Jasper just looked at him before leading me out of the door and to his car. I cried the entire ride to the Cullen house, the passenger side door opened and Jasper picked me up. Once inside the house he led me to the bathroom where he set me down on the counter. No words were spoken as he worked on cleaning my cut, I flinched as it stung as I sobbed quietly.
"He needs help." Jasper finally said.
I let out a sob, "Why is this happening?!"
"Hey stop it. We'll figure it out okay?" He asked.
"How?! You should have seen the look on the peoples faces when they saw my first set of bruises! They were pretty much screaming at me to leave whoever did it! I can't leave him! I know deep down that Edward is in there! He isn't the one beating me! So am I really stupid for staying?!" I cried.
"No! Bella, people don't understand what multiple personalities is! They don't understand that Edward can't control it. So we just need to keep you safe while we figure out how to control the DID and get James and Peter to stay away for a while. We did it before, and we can do it again. Ignore what people say, if they don't understand or like it then they can leave." He explained.
"Thank you Jasper." I whispered.
"Now, I'm going to go make you some tea. Take a shower and change into some of Alice's pajamas." He said.
I nodded, he left and I started my shower. I took me a while to actually get in and take the shower. I was getting changed into my pajamas when my phone started ringing. I took a deep breath seeing that it was Edward, I slowly clicked the ignore button. What was I suppose to say? And was it really Edward? Or just James trying to abuse me again?
I walked downstairs leaving my phone on the dresser in Jasper and Alice's room.
"I'll have her call you when she is ready." Jasper said.
I walked in and sat on the stool at the island in the kitchen. Jasper turned around and handed me my steaming hot tea.
"Edward called, he wants to talk to you." He told me.
"I know, he tried to call me. I ignored it." I said.
He nodded.
"I'm not sure what to say.. I'm so confused!" I groaned.
"Just take some time away and relax." He told me.
All this stress was making my morning sickness act up.
"I can't wait until this sickness period of the pregnancy is over." I said rubbing my stomach.
"Feeling sick?" He asked.
I nodded.
"I'm going to go lay down." I told him.
I walked into the living room and walked upstairs. I closed the door to the guest room and laid down on the bed.
…
"Bella?"
I groaned grabbing my stomach.
"Bella!" Edward gasped.
He rushed over to me setting his hand on my arm.
"What's wrong?! Are you in pain?!" He asked.
"No, I just feel really sick to my stomach." I groaned.
"Do you want to sit up?" He asked.
I nodded.
"When did this start?" He asked helping my sit up.
"An hour or so ago." I said.
He brushed my hair away from my face. I felt all shaky.
"Edward I don't feel good." I said.
"Do you want to go to the hospital?" He asked.
"No, I want this sickness to end!" I said.
"Just take deep breaths." Edward said.
I nodded breathing in and out deeply.
"Any better?" He asked.
"A little." I said.
"Bella, look. I'm sorry for what I- well James did to you." He said.
"Can we not talk about that right now?" I asked.
"Bella, we have to talk about it sooner or later." He told me.
"Later please." I said.
"Bella..." Edward said.
"Look Edward, what am I suppose to say here? It's fine that your abusive personality continues to hit me? I'm torn! Okay?! I'm torn because I love you, I do, but I am sick of living in fear!" I said.
"I know, and I have an idea. Something that may fix this whole thing." He told me.
"What?" I asked.
"I can't tell you right now, but soon." He said.
"Okay." I said.
Edward's POV
"Carlisle?" I asked.
"In here." He called.
I walked into his office, he had his reading glasses on and was reading a chart.
"What can I help you with son?" He asked.
"I want to run something by you." I said.
"Oh yeah?" He said. "Have a seat."
I took a seat in front of his desk.
"What is this about?" He asked.
"I have a plan..." I said.
What could the plan be? Something good? Or bad? Guess you will just have to wait and find out!