Chapter 25
Now...
"Do you have copies of the engagement pictures?" Victoria asked when I had finished the story for the day.
I nodded. "Yes but those are for Wednesday's story." I told them with a smile as I got up off the desk with a groan so that I could walk around the room a little bit. My back ached when I sat for too long or walked too much. I was still trying to navigate that fine line of when enough sitting was enough and when I had been standing or walking long enough. "You guys have any questions about the assignments this week?"
"No ma'am." They all echoed just as the bell rang.
"Okay you guys have a good rest of the day!" I called out as they all filed out of the room. During our lunch break, I napped on Edward's couch in his office while he soothed and chatted with our sons. It was sweet and endearing but I was too tired to stay awake to listen to the entire spiel. That little twenty minute power nap was enough to see me through the latter half of my classes.
When we got home that evening I all but collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion. Who knew that carrying twins would take so much of my energy?
"Why don't you go on up to bed, baby? I will fix you something to eat and bring it up to you when it's ready." Edward said as he sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of me stroking my hair softly.
I placed my hand over his as I blinked my eyes open. "You are too good to me, Edward Anthony."
He leaned forward kissing me gently on the lips. "I love you and you are doing all the hard work carrying and protecting our boys. The least I can do is fix you some dinner and serve it to you in bed while you relax."
"I love you." I whispered softly.
He smiled brightly at me. "I love you too, Isabella. From now until-"
"-forever." I finished for him. It had been our saying since we stood on the steps of the church at Alice and Jasper's wedding.
I don't remember much from that evening or night besides Edward waking me up to each a small dinner of a chicken omelet and three strawberries he had sliced and laid in some whip cream.
*~*~*~*J2FT1*~*~*~*
Tuesday was much better than Monday so I held out hope that the rough day on Monday wasn't an omen for the rest of the week.
"Are you ready to see your babies?" Noelle, our sonographer asked as she squirted a ring of blue goopy gel on my stomach.
I smiled as I gripped Edward's hand tightly in my own. "Yes, it's always exciting to see them again. Even though I can feel them moving around all the time, it's always good to get a peek at them too." I told her excitedly.
"Okay, well lets get started then." She said as she turned the monitor on before placing the wand in the goopy gel spreading it around. As soon as she placed the wand into my stomach the 'thump thump thump' of our sons heartbeat echoed into the room quickly and loudly. "This is Baby A who is still turned breech even though he can and probably will turn several more times before delivery."
I sighed in slight irritation. "Jaylon is always in that position though. Every time we have a sonogram done he's head up feet down while Trystan is head down feet up." I told her as she ran the wand around showing us our baby's face, hands, privates, and feet. We were waiting until we were at least 28 to 30 weeks to get a 3D ultrasound so we can get a clearer picture of their features.
"He looks perfect, Bella. His fluid levels are within the normal range and appears to be growing right on schedule." She said as she scraped some of the goop up so she could look on the other side of my stomach where Trystan was resting. "Let's check on baby B."
Trystan's heartbeat echoed out loudly into the room just like his brothers had just a few minutes ago. "Are their heartbeats the same?" I asked curiously because I had heard that identical twins could have the same heartbeats while in utero.
"Baby A's heartbeat was 153 beats per minute and Baby B's is 152 per minute so very close." She said with a smile as she moved the wand lower on my stomach so Trystan's face came into view.
When we got home I scanned the sonogram pictures onto my computer so that I could email them to Sue and Esme along with an update about both me and the baby's.
Here are the most recent pics of the boys, they are indeed boys as you can tell by the fourth picture. I thought you would enjoy them almost as much as we do. Doc said everything looks great with all three of us. Go back next week. Jaylon's heartbeat was 153 while Trystan's was 152. Close but not identical. Jaylon is still breech, this seems to be his favorite position to be in but the doctor said that it could still change before the delivery date. Fluid levels are good. Weight gain is right on track. So…take a deep sigh of relief until next week!
"You get them sent, baby?" Edward asked as he crawled into the chair beside me pulling me into his side.
I nodded closing my laptop before handing it to him to sit on the small table on his side of the chair. "I did. What are we doing for dinner?" I asked him as my stomach rumbled noisily letting both of us know that the boys were hungry.
"What do you three want for dinner?"
"Pizza?"
"Sounds good, baby. I'll go order it while you relax" He said kissing me on the side of the head before climbing from the chair.
I let out a huge yawn as I settled down into my chair resting my head on the arm rest while my one hand rubbed my stomach. "Mommy loves you boys but I am going to be really upset if you don't let me enjoy the pizza your daddy is ordering." I told them quietly as I felt my eyelids start dropping.
*~*~*~*J2FT1*~*~*~*
Wednesday morning found me having a rare spurt of energy that I hadn't' felt in a few months and I was going to try to make the most of it. I was a week away from being in my second trimester and I had heard that my energy should return in the second and third trimester but until today I had a hard time believing it.
"What's got you so giddy this morning?" Edward asked as I practically danced into the kitchen from my shower. I was wearing a pair of my new white maternity jeans that I had gotten from our baby shower a few weeks ago. I had paired the white pants with my new green and blue horizontally striped sweater and my brown scarf around my neck and my favorite flats on my feet. I rarely wore maternity jeans because of the band that slipped over my stomach but Alice had bought me several pairs of these and the band was soft and not harsh against my sensitive stomach at all.
"Our engagement photos and our house." I told him waving the album in my hands at him.
He raised an eyebrow at me. "What's in there?" He asked softly even though he probably already knew the answer to it.
"It's the album containing our engagement announcements and photos that I am showing the class." I told him as I laid the photo album containing the pictures in it on the island bar as I took a seat on the stool.
He groaned. "You are determined to emasculate me, aren't you?" He said teasingly.
I just laughed. "Absolutely not, babe. I wouldn't do something like that. I don't think these photos emasculate you, do you?" I asked him as I flipped open the album thumbing through the copies of our engagement photos from years ago. "I think they show how much we love each other."
He shook his head. "No, I was just teasing, baby. I'm proud of the man I am today. If those high school punks think those photos are anything other than a man showing the woman he's with that she's his entire world then so what." He said as he slid another omelet in front of me. For the past several weeks eggs had become some sort of obsession for me and he was all too willing to cater to my every whim.
"Good." I said as I dug into the omelet.
We walked into the school a little bit before the first bell with our hands swinging between us and both of our bags hanging from Edward's shoulder as he escorted me to my classroom. We both waved at the sub that was still teaching Jasper's classroom until he returned from paternity leave which should be next Monday. He had taken six weeks of paternity leave not including Christmas break. I was super glad that our babies weren't due until school was out for the school year because that would give Edward three whole months to help us all get into a routine before he returned for the new school year in August.
"Here you go, baby. Enjoy your morning. See you at lunch for a bite to eat and my daily chat." He said as he rubbed my stomach that was clearly visible through my snug sweater. It wasn't snug in the way that it was tight, it was snug in the way that showcased my ever growing stomach beautifully.
"Okay, babe. You have a good morning also. See you in a few hours. Love you." I said giving him a gentle kiss which earned us several whistles and cat calls from students as they passed by my classroom.
I had the projector up and running when my Advanced English 12 students strolled into the classroom. "You brought them?" Victoria asked eagerly as she and James took their seats.
I nodded as I slid the first picture onto the screen just as the bell rung. "I did."
"I'm so excited to see them to get some ideas for when that day comes for us." She said smiling at James who just laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
I laughed at the two of them. "Don't rush it, you two. It's not so much about getting married. Edward and have been married less than a year but we've been together since I was a sophomore in college. Just live life together."
"Thanks, Mrs. Masen, for the advice." Victoria said as everybody else rushed into the room before the bell rang.
To quieten the entire class down without a word I slid the first picture under the camera. "I like it!" Victoria called from the back of the room. I laughed because it was the picture of Edward strapped to the railroad tracks while I stood over him with a sign saying 'Save the date to save the groom!' with our original wedding date written below it.
"Did you take new photos every time a wedding got postponed?" Mary-Beth asked curiously.
I shook my head. "We never announced our engagement or nuptials after the first postponement. It was just too much of a hassle to take new photos each and every time and since we wanted just our family and friends with us there was no need to announce it to the world." I explained in the best way I knew how to get them to understand.
"That makes sense. What did your parents think of the pictures?" Mike asked.
"Edward's mom, Esme, made us promise to take some serious photos to go in the newspapers back home. But, Edward and I couldn't help ourselves to make some…"