I'm at home. It's raining outside. I'm sick. And I've been watching crime shows all day. I finally decided that it might be a good idea to update. So, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. (:

(Help me get to four hundred reviews! I'm only twenty five away!).

BPOV

December 16th is the day I'm getting married. Ever since Edward and I agreed on a date, Alice has been frantic. She's been me calling me so often with plans, and ideas, and appointments that I'm starting to wonder if she's the one getting married.

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of Lauren's death. I wasn't able to make it down to Forks for the funeral, but I sent flowers, and my condolences. It was crazy to believe that an entire year has passed since that dreaded day.

But today, I'm on Skype with Alice discussing (more) wedding details. Her face was a little fuzzy on the screen, her voice muffled, but it was doable. Jasper was sitting beside her with his arm draped over his shoulder. It was clear that he was only pretending to pay attention. Poor guy.

"You're not giving me much to work you." She complained.

"Sorry." I said, though not really apologetic. "I just don't want a big wedding. That's more than we can afford, and more than I can handle. Remember - I am pregnant."

Alice sighed heavily. "Yeah, yeah, I know." She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before they popped back open. "Okay, so, you mentioned a vintage theme. What about that? That's quirky…" She mumbled the last word.

"Vintage is cool." I said. Vintage is cheap, too. From what I've seen, the decorations can easily be made by hand. It'll be December, so lights will be cheap. I think mason jars are a dollar at Hobby Lobby. Scrap pieces of lace can't be too hard to find either.

"Is that a yes to vintage?" She asked.

"I mean, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I kind of want to talk with Edward about it before we decide anything." I told her. "Shouldn't he be here while we're talking about this?"

"Yeah, well, he never seems to be home anymore so there's no time that we can discuss this with him here." Alice said softly.

I can't argue with that. Ever since school started, Edward is barely home. He leaves early in the morning, and goes to classes. After classes, he has cross country, and he just recently got a job at a knock-off coffee shop down the street. By the time he gets home, it's time for dinner, and he's exhausted.

I barely get time with him anymore. Aveline doesn't see him as much either. The only time either of us really get to be around him is on the weekends (and that's when he's not up to his eyeballs in homework).

Needless to say, life has been busy for the both of us.

Taking care of Aveline by myself isn't the easiest job in the world. Especially when she's screaming because her teeth are coming in. Or crawling into walls. Or throwing her feed across the kitchen. Refusing to take naps. Crying about bath time. On top of that, there's this wedding to plan, and the new baby.

The amount of stress I'm in right now makes me want to scream.

"Okay, you're right." I sighed. "Well, I can call him and see what he thinks."

Alice dropped her pencil on the couch. She had heard those words before. "Be my guest."

I picked up my cell phone and quickly dialed Edward's number. He should be out of his biology class now. It rang a couple times before he finally answered. "Hey." He said. The wind was blowing hard. I could tell that he was outside, and walking to his next class.

"Hey, baby." I smiled. "Alice and I were just talking wedding plans, and I wanted to know what you thought about - "

"I can't hear you." Edward said through the wind.

"I said that we were just talking wedding plans, and - "

"What? New bedding and Cheyenne? Who the hell is Cheyenne, and why is she on our bed?!"

"No!" I groaned. "Wedding plans."

The wind stopped. He was inside now. "Oh. Wedding plans!" There was rustling, and a low murmur. "Okay, well, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking vintage. It'd be pretty simple. We could buy those really cute little glass Coke bottles for people to drink from. And pretty floral for the decorations."

"I think that sounds fantastic. I don't care what we do. As long as you're happy. I really have to go now. Class is about to start."

"You don't care?"

Edward sighed. "Bella, love, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"But you said that you didn't care." I frowned, and made that apparent in my voice.

"No, I mean, I do care. I just meant that as long as you're happy, I - " He stopped in midsentence. "I really have to go now. I don't want to disrupt class. I love you, and I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Kay." I said, and he hung up. "Bye." I whispered to myself.

Alice cleared her throat. "So…."

I smiled. "Vintage it is."

By the end of our little Skype session, we had gotten a lot done. The vintage theme was sold for the both of us. Outside was ideal, but, this is Seattle in December. That idea is out of the picture. We thought that somewhere inside with lots of windows would work. We looked up a few places to visit, and started talking color schemes - creamy whites, pastels. Lots of flowers. Lights. And Jasper has a friend who's in a band, who wouldn't mind playing for us for cheap.

Planning the wedding isn't bad when I'm actually in the mood to talk about it.

When Alice finally signed off - with plans of talking again later in the week - I stood up and stretched. My stomach is ridiculous. Five months along, and I look like I'm about nine. Feel like it too. I keep eating olives for some reason, and my hormones have been through the roof.

I have a doctor's appointment coming up next week, and that's when we find out if it's a boy or a girl. I'm beyond excited. Finding out Aveline's gender made me a million times more excited for her arrival, and that's exactly how I feel now. I just can't wait to find out.

Edward says he doesn't care if it's a boy or a girl, but I'm almost positive that he wants a boy. He's already surrounded by three of us! As for me - I could care less. A baby is a baby, and as long as that baby is mine…. I'm happy.

After I stretched, I waddled into the kitchen and fed the puppy. She jumped on top of the bowl and sucked up the food. Literally. I don't even think that she chews. Once that was taken care of, I went into Aveline's room and took her out of her crib. She was standing, and started jumping up and down when I walked in.

"Hi, sweetie." I said, and picked her up. I changed her diaper super quick, and put her on the floor. She crawled into the living room and started playing with the sleeping dog. The dog stared at her grumpily.

This went on for a while. This is what I do most days - sit around the house and play with Aveline. It was fun at first, but now it's kind of boring. I'd love to get out of the house and do something, but I have nowhere to go, and nobody to hang out with. Sure, there's Violet, but I don't want to bother her. I'm not sure what we'd do either.

I blew air through my cheeks.

I read a little bit of my book until it made me feel nauseous. The television did that too. I think it's a new side effect from the pregnancy. I cleaned up some of the toys on the floor, but Aveline started screaming at me. Even when I handed them back to her, she continued screaming.

"What's wrong, Ava?" I asked.

She looked at me and screamed even louder. The dog joined in with her, like a wolf howling at the moon. I sat on the couch, completely distraught. What could I do? I let her sit there and cry herself through her tantrum like the doctor's said we should. But she only got louder.

I picked up the dog, and pet her softly. She jumped out of my arms, and nestled into the corner of the couch, digging her nose into the crease. I sighed and leaned back on the couch too.

Forty-five minutes later Aveline rolled onto her back and slowly stopped screaming. She hiccupped softly, and cried quietly, but it soon faded, and she was asleep. I took a deep breath, and silently crept over to her, and put her in her crib.

Now it was time for me to relax. I lay on the couch, and closed my eyes. Just as I was beginning to relax, and drift into a well-deserved sleep, there were footsteps outside the door. The dog jumped up from her spot, and growled. I sat up too.

"Shh. Please, Blitzen, please." I whispered. I had just gotten her to stop screaming. I didn't need her to wake back up and start this all over again. "Shh."

The dog backed off. But once the front door flew open, she yelped loudly, and bolted. Almost immediately, there was crying from the other room. I sat with my face in my hands.

"Hey, there." Edward said, putting his bag up. "What's wrong?" He asked, walking over to me.

"Nothing is wrong! Okay?!" I snapped at him.

He put his hand on my back. "Bella, calm down, love."

"I can't calm down!" I screamed. "She cried for forty-five minutes, and the second that you came in that goddamn dog started to bark and woke her up! Forty-five minutes, Edward. Forty-five. So, no, I cannot just calm down!"

Edward ran his hand up and down my arm now. "It's okay, I'll get her."

"No. I'll do it myself, just like I have to do everything else around here!"

"What are you talking about? I help you all the time."

"No, you don't! You get to go to school all day, and go to work. But, no. I'm stuck inside this goddamn house with a goddamn baby cleaning up, and listening to her scream, and worrying about another baby that's on the way!" I exploded.

"And that's supposed to be my fault?!"

I groaned. "You're never home! You never help! I'm so exhausted every day, and I just need a little help, and you never do because you're never home!"

"I just offered to help you! And if you want help, we can get somebody - "

"I don't want help from a stranger! I'd rather do it myself! I have it taken care of!" I yelled. "I'm just the exhausted pregnant woman. I don't need help from my wonderful fiancé."

"Exhausted from what? I should be the exhausted one! I'm the one running around school, sports, and a job! You just sit around with a baby all day!"

"How dare you."

He got up from the couch, and grabbed his bag. I stared at him long, and hard, thinking over what he just said.

"It's not as easy as it looks." I yelled to him as he stood in the doorway. "You think that sitting around all day and waiting for you to get home is fun? You think that I like changing diapers, and putting her to bed, and feeding her all by myself? Because I don't."

"This isn't as easy as it looks either." He said with his back to me, then slammed the door.

He slammed the door with so much force, that I flinched. But once he was gone, I groaned loudly, and stomped off into the bedroom, where I threw myself onto the bed and screamed into a pillow.

My frustration was through the roof. This is not at all how I had expected all of this to go. Not at all. In my mind, it had been picture perfect. I'd be busy taking care of my perfect baby in my perfect house, while I waited for my perfect lover to get home.

Instead, I'm taking care of my of my screaming baby, in my tiny house while I wait for my irrational boyfriend to get home.

I screamed into the pillow again before I sat up on the bed and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a thud and fell to the ground soundlessly. I ran my fingers through my hair and took a took breath, placing a hand on my belly. The baby kicked.

The baby kicked, and Edward missed it. I frowned.

I don't even know what to think right now. Two minutes ago I was fuming at him, and now I'm upset that he missed our baby kicking for the first time.

"Goddamn hormones." I muttered, and waddled into the kitchen for a glass of water. I drank it slowly, and closed my eyes as I chugged down three glasses. The water helped calm my nerves. I could actually think straight now.

I hadn't even realized that Aveline had stopped screaming. I went to her bedroom, put the glass of water down and, even though I really shouldn't be doing this anymore, leaned down to pick her up, and hold her in my arms.

She looked at me with wide, innocent, green eyes. "Daaaa." She said. This is her way of saying daddy. I simply kissed her forehead and walked into the living room with her. She kept repeating that over and over to herself like she was singing. "Daaa. Daaaa. Daaa." Her vocabulary is clearly limited.

I carefully put her down, and she ninja crawled over to her toys. She squealed loudly when she picked one up, and played by herself. I, on the other hand, lounged on the couch and closed my eyes.

I thought about the wedding. The new baby. Then Aveline. And finally, Edward. Our fight was stupid. It was all a matter of miscommunication. And my hormonal, and emotional explosion. Maybe we both feel underappreciated. I'm sure that school, cross country, and work every day is tough. But taking care of a baby all day is no walk in the park either.

On top of that, the wedding is only two months away, and Aveline's birthday is next month. Now until February is going to be ridiculously hectic. My mind flashed back to last year, before Aveline was even born, when Edward told me to take "baby steps." I decided that that still applied now.

So, first is first - fixing this argument with the love of my life.

While I waited, I fed Aveline (who was slowly adjusting to baby food, but still wasn't too much of a fan), and bathed her (which she still hates). I put her in pajamas and let her play with the puppy for a little while before I put her into bed for the night. She screamed and cried until she eventually fell asleep. By that point, Edward still wasn't back, so I made a quick dinner for myself. I heated up the leftover rice from last night, and opened up a can of olives while that cooled.

Still no Edward.

It wasn't until I was watching reruns of Friends an hour later when the doorknob jiggled. The dog yelped quietly and ran over, her paws digging into the carpet. Edward walked in, and dropped his bag on the floor. He knelt down to pet the puppy before he closed the door behind him.

"Hey." He said.

"Hi." I said, and sat up on the couch. He wandered into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He walked back into the living room and sat on the opposite side of the couch from me.

I took a deep breath, and turned to face him. "This is stupid."

"I know." Edward admitted, and put his glass down.

"You work hard. I know that. Your days are long, and I'm sure that you are tired when you get home. But, I'm tired when you get home too." I explained. "Staying at home isn't as fun as it looks. It's boring. And taking care of a baby with another on the way isn't fun either."

"I was wrong to say that." He scooted closer to me. "I appreciate what you do for our family."

"I appreciate what you do too."

Edward tucked a strand of hair out of my ear. "I owe you an apology."

"I owe you one too."

"No." He shook his head. "You don't. I'm used to this. I'm used to going to school, then cross country, and work. I did this for my entire senior year! But you're not used to this. You had help last year, and now you don't. I'm sorry, Bella. I'm going to help you out more."

"Edward, wait." I stopped him. "I don't want you putting all of this on yourself. I need to be just as understanding as you are to make this work. And I am. I get that your days are long. And it's okay that you want to relax when you get home, but…" I took a deep breath, and finally gave in. "Some help every once in a while would be nice. But help from you. Not some random person"

He smiled.

"And I can help you too. With school, and stuff. I mean, I'm not much of a science or a math person, but I did pretty well! I can help you figure it out." I offered.

Edward laughed. "If it makes you feel any better - "

"It will. It's teamwork. Isn't that what marriage is all about?"

He considered it, and then moved closer. "I think that's part of it."

"Well, what's the other part?"

"This." He said, and pressed his lips against mine.

There were no more words.

So, um… I'm only twenty five reviews away from the big four hundred… would you guys maybe wanna help me out with that? I'll consider two chapters this weekend if that happens….

Oh yeah. AND I need your opinion - a boy or a girl!?

I love you guys. (:

Xoxo,
Halley.