Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I just own this plot, Wonderful Journey's Bookstore, Elizabeth, and Abigail.

Author's Note: Thank you to all the reviewers who have reviewed and read my story. You guys rock!

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Chapter Twenty-four: Strange Comforts

I stayed on bed rest for the next week.

I was slightly annoyed by this, being on my butt for seven days, but Charlie reminded me that I should be glad that I wasn't stuck on my butt for three months. I thought that over for a moment and then agreed with him. The limit of movement I had was from the couch to the bathroom upstairs and to my room. That was it. And that totaled up to a total of five minutes a day. So I was forced to live with not taking a shower until I got off bed rest.

I got to stay on the living room couch for a whole week, with the exception of sleeping in my bedroom at night, and let me tell you, by the time half the week was through, I was tired of seeing the same four walls; it got slightly claustrophobic.

And then, the day after I got released from the hospital, I remembered that Abigail Wilson, the bookstore owner, didn't know that I had gotten a week of bed rest and that I wouldn't be able to start work for another week.

"Of course Bella, I know exactly what you're going through. I am perfectly sure that I can go without you for another week. You just be sure to rest up and take care of that baby of yours. You wouldn't want something like that happening again," Abigail said, when I called her up, telling her that I was extremely sorry.

I had found this slightly strange, and when I told her that she could fire me for not starting work when I was supposed to, she only laughed and said, "Oh, that won't be necessary, Bella. These things happen unexpectedly. It's nothing that shouldn't fire you from a job that I'm pretty sure you would do marvelous at. You just come and start work whenever you can get back moving around on your feet. Don't worry about a thing."

I found this especially strange. Abigail Wilson sure was one strange person, but she was nice and I liked her.

Charlie had insisted, when I got home from the hospital, that he stay home and help me with things around the house, but I told him that he needed to go to work and that I could take care of myself. Besides, Alice and Edward would be keeping me company in the afternoon. He reluctantly agreed, though I swear that he came home earlier than usual every day after.

Alice and Edward, who had both gotten their summer job that they had applied for, came over to my house after they got off work, which was in the early afternoon. They brought movies or decks of cards with them to help keep me occupied, which I found really sweet.

Through the whole week, Edward, Alice, and I would sit on the couch, watching movies or playing a board game and what not. Whenever they weren't at the house, I would curl up on the couch and read a book. Either that or I would fall asleep for a couple hours.

On Thursday afternoon, I was sitting on the couch with Alice. We were watching Batman Begins and eating chocolate ice cream.

"How cool would it be if you had a cave underneath your house?" Alice asked.

"That would be pretty awesome," I said, taking a bite of the ice cream. "If there was a cave underneath the house, I would just hope that it wouldn't have bats in it. They're creepy."

Alice giggled. "I wonder what Rosalie would say if we asked her to go spelunking with us."

I thought about it for a moment and then giggled. "That would be an interesting outcome," I said and we sat there for a moment, giggling.

Elizabeth kicked as if in agreement with us, and it caused me to giggle even harder. I grabbed Alice's hand and placed it on the spot Elizabeth kicked. Elizabeth kicked again and she giggled.

"She sure likes to kick," she said.

I nodded. "She likes to exercise during the night, when I'm trying to sleep. It's quite annoying, but at least I know that she's still okay."

Alice smiled sympathetically.

Two weeks after the end of my confinement, I was working in the bookstore. I had been working there for a week, and I had already fallen in love with working there. The job was nice and quiet, and it was relaxing as well. I could definitely see myself owning a bookstore, with my calm and quiet nature that came with it.

This particular day, I was sitting at the front desk, reading a book and waiting for a customer to come in, when I heard the bell over the door ring as the door opened. I looked up from my book and saw that Jessica Stanley had walked in. I quickly pulled on my baggy sweater and zipped it up.

Luckily, she didn't notice that it was I, Bella Swan, sitting at the desk. "Do you have the book…Bella?" she asked, her voice immediately turning to shock as she said my name.

I smiled a sarcastic smile and said, "Hey, Jessica. How's life out of school?"

Jessica rolled her eyes and said, "What are you doing here?"

"I work here, if you haven't noticed," I said, leaning farther into the desk so as to conceal my baby bump.

Jessica rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever. Do you have the book or not? I ordered it like three weeks ago and I desperately need it. All the other bookshops in town don't have it."

"You know, I sort of need a little more description than just 'do you have it or not', because I wasn't working here 'like three weeks ago.'" I was feeling a little annoyed at Jessica for some reason. She could have at least said a nice greeting. But then again, Jessica had always been jealous of me – all because I had Edward and she didn't; I couldn't expect her to be nice.

Jessica narrowed her eyes at my sarcastic tone of voice and said, "What the heck has gotten into you lately? You've been slightly snappish ever since you came back to this town."

I looked down at the desk, fighting back the tears that were threatening to break through the surface. Stupid, spontaneous hormones. Pulling myself together, I looked back up and said to Jessica, "I'll go check."

I went to the back room, where all the deliveries of the books came in. Abigail was sorting through some papers and quickly looked up when I walked in.

"Has a book come in yet for Jessica Stanley?" I asked, trying to sound normal.

Abigail rolled her eyes. "Is that girl in here again?" I nodded. "You can just tell her that the book she wants won't be here for another three days and then give her the book." She went to a box and pulled a book from it. Handing it to me she said, "It's time that girl got teased for once."

Not being able to contain myself, I giggled and said, "Will do."

Walking back out to the front desk, I saw Jessica tapping her fingers impatiently and staring at the wall, an annoyed look on her face. She looked up when I walked over and said, "Well, finally. What took you so long?" She had an annoyed tone on her voice.

Grinning mentally, I walked up to the desk, concealing the book Jessica had wanted perfectly. "Well, Jess, the book is going to take a couple more days to come in. They had a little bit of trouble with the shipping. It should be here within the next two days, though." I loved it when I played mind games with Jessica, and that wasn't very often.

Jessica glared at me and huffed, "Well, I am surely not going to be doing business here again. You need to get some sense knocked into your delivery guys."

Before she could turn around and stalk out of the store, I said, "Geez, Jess, relax. I have your book right here." I pulled the book out from its hiding place and placed it on the counter. Jess rolled her eyes and snatched it up, saying, "How much is it?"

I gave her a pointed look, and she sighed and gave the book back to me. I smiled at her sarcastically and rang the book up. "$6.28, please."

Jessica put a ten dollar bill on the counter and then waited for the change. Very impatiently, I might add.

I took my time putting the money in the cash register and getting the change. I looked at the title of the book and it said, 101 Recipes For The Heart. Handing Jessica the change, I asked, "Learning how to cook, Jess?"

Jessica blushed and said, "My grandmother's coming into town and I told her a few years ago that I loved to cook, which I don't. So I have to show her my 'great' cooking skills."

I giggled. "Good luck."

"Er, thanks," Jessica muttered and grabbed the book. Three seconds later, she was out the door.

I sat back down on the seat behind the counter. I was thankful that it was almost time for me to leave for the day. The day was beginning to take its toll on me and I was beginning to feel really tired.

Since there was currently no one in the store, I unzipped my sweater and rubbed my stomach, Elizabeth kicking in response. I giggled and said, "You will always be my little girl." And then I began to softly hum a song that my mother had sung to me when I was younger. Her mother had sung it to her when she was young, and I was going to pass that tradition on to my daughter.

"You have a lovely voice. Reminds me of when I sang to my own daughter," a voice said from behind me.

I turned my head, smiling. "Thanks. The song's been in my family ever since my mom was a baby. She sung it to me when I was younger, and I thought that I should pass it on to my daughter."

Abigail walked over to the counter and pulled up another chair, placing it next to me and sitting down in it. "What's her name?"

"Elizabeth Jamie Marie Swan," I said, rubbing my stomach thoughtfully. "Do you think that it's too long of a name? I mean, she's tiny and it's kind of a long name for a small kid to write out."

Abigail laughed. "I don't think so. It's a lovely name." She placed her hand on my stomach and, looking into my eyes, said, "She's going to grow up just like you, I can tell."

Once again, the strange, comforting feeling came over me. This always happened when I was around Abigail. She always made me feel…like she knew something. This had happened when I had first met her, when she had first hired me. I smiled at Abigail. "Thanks. How do you know that she'll grow up just like me?"

Abigail smiled, the strange gleam once again coming into her eye. "I just do. With a young lady like yourself for a mother, who would ever doubt that?" She looked over at the clock on the wall and said, "It's almost time for your work day to be done, Bella. You go on home and rest. You look like you need a nap."

In spite of myself, I giggled and said, "Yep. Elizabeth is demanding that I take a nap. She's going to have to wait a little longer, though, while I get groceries to feed her." I stood up, zipping my sweater up. "I'll be in at 10 on Monday?"

Abigail nodded as I picked up my shoulder bag and slung it across my chest. "I'll see you on Monday. Oh, and tell that boyfriend of yours that I said hello, will you? His name's Edward, isn't it?"

I blushed and nodded, smiling. "I will. See you."

As I was nearing the check-out counter at the grocery store, pushing a cart with food, I saw that it was Angela standing there. I was grateful that it was Angela and not Lauren or any of the other gossip girls of Forks. I smiled as I pushed my cart up to the conveyor belt.

"Hey Bella. How are you feeling?" she smiled as I started to load the groceries up.

"Good. A little tired, but feeling fine for the most part," I said.

Angela laughed. "I heard about what happened about the graduation from your dad. I'm sorry about not calling you; we've had family over, and it's been really crazy." As she said this, she began scanning the food items.

I waved it away with my hand. "No big deal. I've been busy working at the bookshop any way."

Angela smiled. When she finished scanning the items and they had been bagged, she told me the price. I pulled the money out of my bag and handed it to her.

"So where are you planning on going to college?" I asked.

"I got accepted to California State College," she replied, and excited gleam in her eyes.

"Really? Wow!" I said, "Congratulations."

"Thank you. How's working at a bookstore?" she asked.

I grinned. "I love it. I can hardly wait until I can finally open a bookstore of my own."

"Hey, can you get a move on with your little conversation? I'm running a little late for a meeting that is vitally important. If you want me to lose my job, than move please."

We turned and saw a very impatient looking man in a business suit. He was holding two things of Cup-in-Hand tomato soup and tapping his foot hurriedly.

Angela bit back a laugh as she said to me, "I'll see you later."

When I arrived home a few minutes later, I put away the groceries and then went into the living room, where I laid down on the couch, exhausted. Ever since I had become pregnant, I had been more tired than usual, and I had always found myself drifting off into a nap in the afternoon. Sinking back into the cushions, I closed my eyes, drifting off into a nap, gently rubbing my stomach.

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Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, but I'm back, and so is my brain. I've had a cold this past week, but now I'm feeling better. I swear this chapter was so hard to start. I had a serious case of writer's block, and that is no good when I have something in mind and I can't put it into words. So how did you like the chapter? Sorry if it's so short.

Next Chapter: Food Fight. That is all I am going to say, so don't even ask questions about it. The next chapter should be up within the next couple days, I hope. Again, sorry for the delay in updating. Remember to review! (Sorry to all who didn't get a review reply. I'm working on replying to every single review I get.) Until Next Time: NerdyGuRu2