Author's Note: Thanks again to moosals for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Fic of the Week poll at The Lemonade Stand! I didn't make the Top 5, but just being nominated seems to have brought a lot of new readers to the story. Welcome to all of you! :)

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

I blink my eyes open, feeling Edward's heart beating beneath my ear. He's snoring lightly and I wonder how long we've been asleep. Absently, I begin stroking my fingers along the taut muscles of his abdomen. They seem a bit more defined than I remember, and I wonder if he's been working out in prison.

I lift my head up slightly so that I can watch my fingers as they trail downward, following the "V" between his hip bones down to where his lower half is covered by the sheet. I smile to myself as I push the covers down a few inches, revealing his cock — it's soft, something I rarely see. I continue to move my fingers further down until I reach it, traveling softly along the length before taking it in my hand.

Using a light grip with my thumb and forefinger, I pump his cock a couple times before sliding my thumb over the head. It's not long before I can feel it begin to harden from my ministrations, growing longer and thicker right in front of my eyes.

"Couldn't keep your hands off me, huh?" Edward mumbles quietly. I look up, chuckling when I notice his eyes are still closed.

"I missed you," I reply; that's really the only explanation necessary. "Is this ok?" I ask as I continue to stroke him. I remember him once complaining about handjobs.

"Mmmmm…" he mumbles. "That feels good."

I smile, even though he can't see me, before leaning over to suck on his hard little nipple.

"Are you trying to seduce me, baby?"

"Is it working?"

Finally his beautiful green eyes open, staring into mine.

"I missed your eyes," I tell him quietly.

He smirks. "Apparently you missed my dick, too."

"Pregnancy hormones," I shrug.

He laughs, surprising me as he shifts to his side, out from underneath my body. "Can you lie on your stomach?"

"Um, for a short time, maybe."

Edward's brow furrows, before he hands me one of the pillows. Still lying mostly on my right side, I bring the pillow underneath my chest, curling my arms around it.

"This is ok, right?" he asks as he climbs over me, trailing kisses up my spine. Gently, he brushes my hair out of the way so that he can continue up my neck. I turn my head so that he can reach my mouth. At first he just brushes his lips softly against mine, but then his tongue comes out to play.

I'm startled when he slowly slides inside me from behind. "Still ok?" he asks in a strained voice once he's buried to the hilt.

"Yes," I whisper.

Edward claims my lips again, kissing me softly as he begins to move. He keeps himself propped up on one arm while his other hand caresses me from my breasts to my hips. "You feel so good, baby," he groans. "So fucking tight like this."

I moan incoherently as he continues to piston his hips. His thrusts are slow, yet long and deep; it's like he's afraid to be rough with me. I let out a cry when the hand that has been wandering all over my torso eventually makes it between my legs.

"Bella," he pants, "Say it again."

I'm so close to coming I can't even think straight. "Say what again?" I ask in confusion.

"Tell me… you love me."

"Oh God," I moan when he hits just the right spot inside me. "I love you, Edward."

"Fuck!" His thrusts become erratic and before I know it, we're both reaching our peaks. I can feel myself clamping down on his cock as he groans loudly, coming in several long spurts. Breathing heavily, he rolls off of me onto his side, pulling me with him until I'm tucked up tight against the length of his body.

As his breathing slows, I feel two tears fall onto my shoulder when he buries his face in my neck. I pull myself out of Edward's arms, turning over to face him. Without a word, I reach up and tenderly brush his tears away.

"I thought I'd never hold you again," he whispers, another tear falling. "I didn't know if I'd ever see the outside of the prison."

"I never gave up on you, you know. I even asked my dad to look into your case. I would've done anything to get you free, even if you didn't want anything to do with us."

Now I want to cry seeing the horrorstruck expression on his face. "Fuck, I'm so sorry I sent you away. I was trying do the right thing by you. But I missed you so much."

I lean in, placing a tender kiss on his lips. When I pull back, he stops me, pulling me close again. "I missed your mouth," he whispers.

We stay like that for what feels like hours, kissing and touching each other. I'd really be happy to just stay in bed with Edward forever, but I know we need to get up eventually. I sneak a quick peek at the clock on the bedside table and realize we need to get ready if we're going to go to his parents' house for dinner at 6:30.

"I'll take a quick shower and then you can jump in, ok?" I say on my way to the bathroom. "There's no way I'm going to your parents' house smelling like sex."

Edward rolls his eyes. "Like they won't know what we've been doing anyway," he says with a smirk.

I shake my head. Yeah, he's right, but still…

Twenty minutes later, I'm finishing up my hair when Edward reappears wearing nothing but a towel slung low on his hips. "Do you still have my clothes?" he asks.

"Um, no… the cops in Aberdeen took them as evidence."

"Guess I'm doing the walk of shame then," he smirks.

"Are you almost ready? I'll call us a taxi."

He nods and I make the call while he gets dressed, then we head to the living room to wait. I smile when Leo jumps up onto Edward's lap. "Hey, buddy," he says, showering my cat with attention. "Did ya miss me?"

"He did," I tell him. "He looked all over for you after… after the police took you away."

Edward smiles, scratching under Leo's chin while he purrs.

"So you're still not driving?" he asks suddenly.

"No," I whisper. "I am in therapy and it's going really well, but we're focusing more on my feelings of guilt than my PTSD for now. I know what triggers that. A couple weeks ago, my therapist brought me out to her car in the parking lot, but… I couldn't do much more than start it up. I don't know if I'll ever get there. I can take the bus to and from work from here though."

"You don't need to take a bus. I have a car — you saw it in the garage, right?"

"Yeah… a Volvo, Edward — really?"

"It was my dad's old car before he bought his Mercedes," he explains. "It's not like I could afford to buy my own."

When the taxi honks outside, Edward moves a reluctant Leo from his lap and takes my hand, helping me up. He even helps me into my coat — who is this guy?

Once we reach Mercer Island, I pay the driver and Edward wraps his arm around my shoulders as he leads me up to the porch. Digging his keys out of his jacket pocket, he opens the front door. Almost immediately I smell the pot roast cooking. Edward leads me toward the kitchen where Esme is stirring a pot of what looks like mashed potatoes.

"Hey, Mom," he says.

She spins around, smiling widely when she sees us. And then her expression falls. "Bella… I am so sorry I didn't let you know what was happening," she says quietly.

"It's fine. Edward explained everything."

She smiles, nodding at me gratefully.

"Edward," Carlisle says, stepping into the room.

"Don't even say it," Edward begins. "I know I should've called. How much longer until dinner's ready, Mom?"

"Oh, about ten minutes."

"Cool. I'm gonna get started on packing then," he says, kissing me quickly before he leaves the kitchen.

"Packing?" Esme asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, Edward is going to be moving in with me," I reply, feeling my face heat up.

"So that means you don't need me to take you to your doctor's appointment tomorrow?" she asks with a grin.

I nod, unable to hold back my smile. "Edward wants to be there. He really wants to do this — be a father to his child."

"I had to help Edward come to a few realizations, but that wasn't one of them, Bella. At no time did he ever say that he didn't want the baby," she assures me. "And let me apologize again for not calling you."

"I understand, really," I insist. "I get that you wouldn't go against his wishes. And I know I had put you in an awkward position as well, asking you not to tell Edward about my pregnancy on your own."

"You got home from the courthouse ok? I swear I didn't mean to just leave you there," she says emphatically. "I didn't see what happened between you and Edward, and until we got to the back elevator, I'd thought you were following behind us."

"I, um, called a cab to get home, yeah. Edward wasn't saying anything and I thought… I thought he didn't want us. It never occurred to me to leave with you."

"Such a misunderstanding," Esme says, shaking her head. "It all worked out in the end, yes?" she adds with a smile. I nod in return.

We make small talk for a few minutes until Edward returns, planting a solid kiss on my lips as soon as he reaches me. It freaks me out a little for him to kiss me in front of his parents, but they're pretty good at pretending they don't notice.

When we step into the dining room, Edward frowns at the place settings, moving the setting from one end so that two are next to each other along the long side of the table. I look at him questioningly.

"I can't sit that far away from you," he explains, turning slightly pink.

It's difficult to eat one-handed, thanks to Edward holding tightly to my right hand the entire time we're eating dinner. Esme notices, smiling a secret smile at me. I'm so relieved that she seems pleased by our relationship.

"What are you planning to do now, Edward?" Carlisle asks. "Any thoughts on a job?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead," he shrugs.

"You're going to be a father in a few months. You need to start thinking of the future," his dad lectures.

"I know, Dad. I'm just… I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything. Right now the only thing I can focus on is going to Bella's doctor's appointment tomorrow."

I squeeze his hand, letting Edward know that I'm ok with him just the way he is. His spontaneity is one of the things I love about him. The future can wait until he adjusts to being out in society again.

After dinner, Edward runs upstairs to finish packing while I help Esme clear the table. I can tell his parents would like us to stay a bit longer, but Edward is clearly wanting to get me alone again.

"I've never seen him like this," Esme whispers confidentially. "It's so obvious how he feels about you."

"Edward told me that he loves me," I reply quietly, smiling at the huge grin that overtakes his mother's face.

"And you love him, too," she says.

"I do."

Once Edward has loaded everything into the car, we return to my — our — house and Edward carries his suitcases and boxes into the bedroom.

"I guess I'm gonna have to make room for your clothes, huh?"

"You just moved in, you couldn't have filled up all of the closet and drawer space already," he smirks.

"No, I haven't."

"Mom said she helped you decorate the house?"

"Yeah, your mom and Alice both helped me. I guess we'll have more shopping to do after tomorrow."

"Why?" he asks curiously.

"Because we're gonna try to find out the sex of the baby."

Edward spins around, staring at me. "Ok, I know I got D's in math, but it hasn't been 20 weeks since we first had sex."

"What?"

"You said… before… you were 20 weeks pregnant when you found out the sex," he explains.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm in my seventeenth week, but the ultrasound technology is continuously improving, and doctors can determine the sex earlier than in the past."

"It hasn't been 17 weeks either though. You don't think I was counting every week I was locked up away from you?" I think that's a rhetorical question.

"Pregnancy timelines start counting with week three, so you're right, it hasn't been that long."

"That's… weird," he replies. I shrug. He's right — it is weird.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" I ask once he's put everything away.

"I was kinda wanting to get naked."

I roll my eyes. "Not tonight," I whisper. "Tomorrow is… well, even though the timing is different, my brain is stuck on the fact that everything went to hell the day I found out the sex of the baby. I'd just really, really like for you to hold me."

Edward smiles, kissing me tenderly. "Whatever you need, baby." He takes my hand and leads me into the living room.

"Anything you want to watch?" I ask. "I never unpacked my DVDs in Aberdeen, but I put them in the cabinet after I moved in here."

Edward glances at me, looking surprisingly shy. "Do you have any of the Christmas classics? Like Rudolph or Charlie Brown or something?"

"You want to watch Christmas movies?"

He shrugs. "I missed Christmas being in prison."

"I don't think I have anything like that, but I'll check on what I do have." A couple of minutes later, I hold up my findings for him. "Ok, so we have Home Alone, Christmas Vacation and Elf. Any of those strike you?"

"You have Christmas Vacation?" he asks, sounding shocked.

"Um, it was Jake's."

"You don't have A Nightmare Before Christmas?" I shake my head. "How about Elf then," he suggests.

After I put the DVD in the player, I curl up on the couch next to Edward, snuggling into his side.

"How come you don't have a Christmas tree?" he asks suddenly while the previews play. "Or any decorations?"

I shrug. "I only moved in about three weeks ago, and it took a few days to get everything unpacked and put away. By then, we'd heard about the break in your case and I guess I had other priorities."

"We need to have one next year. For the baby."

"Of course, for the baby," I reply with a knowing smile, patting his arm. As I settle into his arms, Leo jumps up onto the couch to join us, settling into Edward's lap.

While we watch the movie, Edward's left hand is busy petting the cat while his right hand strokes my hair, strokes my arm. He leans over every few minutes to place a tender kiss on my temple or my cheek.

When the movie winds down, Leo jumps off the couch and Edward takes advantage by lifting me until I'm sitting across his lap, hugging me close to him. "Did you want to watch another movie?" he asks. "I'll even sit through a chick flick if you want."

"I think I just want to go to bed and cuddle with you."

Edward gives me a small smile, kissing me gently. "It's going to be ok, Bella. Nothing bad is going to happen tomorrow."

"Logically I know that, but… I just don't want to lose you," I whisper.

"I'm not going anywhere, baby. I promise."

I close my eyes, hugging him tightly. Suddenly, Edward stands up, carrying me bridal style into the bedroom.

"Put me down," I yell, slapping at his arm.

Edward just laughs. "Aren't I supposed to carry you over the threshold?"

"That's for on your wedding night."

He finally sets me on my feet again once we reach the bedroom, reaching up to cradle my face in his hands. "It's our first night officially living together, the first night of the rest of our lives."

Before I can reply, he's kissing me tenderly. I pull back, stopping him before he can convince me that I want to do more than cuddle with him — it really won't take much. "Let's get ready for bed," I whisper.

A/N: What's that? Bella said NO to him? Hehe, poor boy isn't used to that.

Coming on Monday: Bella and Edward try to learn the sex of their baby. Would you like to see a mini-Edward, or Daddyward to a baby girl?