A/N - I don't own Twilight… just sayin'
Thanks to Gooseonline for her beta support and for her friendship. Thanks to everyone who post reviews - you make my day. I love your comments, questions and theories. I am overwhelmed by the love you've shown for my story… *hugs* Here we go!
Chapter 28 - no soft cheese, no fish
"I can't look."
"One of us has to look."
"What are we afraid of. We want this, don't we love?"
"So much. I want this so much, baby."
"… baby…"
"Edward. I want to be pregnant. I want your baby."
I engulfed her in my arms, pulling her close. My chin on her shoulder and my hands joining hers on her abdomen.
"I'd like a boy, I think."
"Really? Why?" I was surprised really that she had a preference at all but especially for a boy.
"Well we already have a little girl. It would be nice to have a boy. I don't know. What about you?"
Images of chasing a little boy around in the park, going to football practice and little league games came flying into my mind.
I blew out a blast of air as I tried to calm myself before answering. "Sweet one, I want our child. I want part you, part me. I honestly don't care about gender at all." I looked at her and grinned. "Anyway, we're going to have lots and lots of babies so we'll get at least one of each eventually."
She laughed. "Oh, really? Lots and lots of babies, huh?"
"Oh, yes. I plan to have lots of sex with you for the next sixty years. So we're going to make lots and lots of beautiful babies."
She laughed and leaned back to me. Then we both went quiet as we waited for the timer on my phone to go off. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Beep, Beep, Beep.
"I'll go and look." I stood up and started towards the bathroom where we'd left the pregnancy tests on the sink. I say tests because we did four. Bella laughed at me but I wanted to be sure.
"Wait." Bella called out to me and caught hold of my hand. I looked into her eyes and cupped her face in my hands.
"It's fine, love. I'll go look and then we'll know for sure. Okay?"
"Right now, I am so full of hope. What if they're negative?"
I leaned my face down so close to hers so that our lips were almost touching, "If the tests are negative my love, we'll keep trying and trying until you are blossoming with my child."
She smiled then so I kissed her gently on her luscious lips.
I turned and headed into the bathroom. I looked at each test and they all had the same result - pregnant, pregnant, pregnant … pregnant. I took a deep breath as I let the realisation overtake me. Bella was pregnant with my baby.
I caught sight of myself in the bathroom mirror. I was going to be someone's Daddy but then I realised I already was a Daddy. Lil Bit had called me Daddy on Sunday and every day since.
I was a daddy.
"Edward!" Bella called out in a sort of strangled sob.
"Sorry, love." I grabbed the tests up into my hands and rushed back to her.
"Oh, no. Oh, Edward, I am so sorry. I really thought I was pregnant." She was sobbing.
I rushed to her and grabbed her into my arms, laughing. "Isabella. Shush, love. We are pregnant. We're having a baby!"
She stopped still and looked at me confused. "But. You took so long and then you said Sorry. I thought … "
I am such an idiot. "Oh, sweet one. I said sorry for taking so long." I kissed the tip of her nose. "My little baby momma. You're having my baby. I was just so overwhelmed when I saw the results, I needed a moment to take it in."
"Oh God. Edward. We're having a baby." She smiled with an incredulous expression. "I am pregnant," she declared decisively and she held her hands over her abdomen. Happy tears were falling down her cheeks. I gently rubbed them away with my thumbs and leaned down to kiss her softly.
I knelt down and did what expectant fathers have all done before me. I kissed the place where my baby was nestled safely inside the woman I loved. I whispered, "Daddy loves you sweet baby."
I stood and held my love's face in my hands gently. "Bella you have made me the happiest man in the world." I kissed her and she kissed me back. Our kiss became more passionate and soon we'd shed our clothes falling down on the bed. We made love so sweetly, so gently. Our touches were soft, filled with the love that was enveloping us. Bella's orgasm was followed quickly by my own. Cumming inside her I was overwhelmed, I couldn't believe my life was so full.
Later, we were lying naked in our bed just staring at each other. Unable to stop touching we were gliding our fingers over each other's bodies, gently touching each other. My hands were drawn to the place where my child was safely resting and I pictured how Bella's body would change to hold my growing child. Fuck, if this baby was going to be anything like me this petite woman was going to be huge with my huge child. I'd have to talk to a doctor about that. Poor Bella.
"Hello little baby. I am your daddy and I love you. Now you be nice to my sweet little baby momma and let her eat, work and look after your big sister. Don't make momma sick, okay. I promise to make her rest and eat well so you can grow safely until its time for you to be here with us."
I lay my face against Bella's abdomen while she slowly, absent-mindedly twirled my hair in her fingers.
"You're right Edward. Lil Bit is going to be a big sister - she'll love that - but we'll have to help her with understanding what this is all about. We might hold off from telling her for awhile though, don't you think?"
I hummed in agreement. I was very happy where I was and I didn't really want to move.
"Thank you for loving me Edward."
"One - I should be thanking you for making my life so wonderful. Two - I had no choice in loving you, sweet one. You were meant for me. I was meant for you. We were at the will of the powers that be and I couldn't be happier about it."
I lay beside Bella and pulled the sheet and blanket over us. "Time for my little baby momma to sleep."
"You're going to be impossible about this pregnancy, aren't you." It wasn't a question, as she looked at me with understanding and resignation in her smile.
"Oh, definitely. I warned you Bella… controlling, possessive… I'll try to reel it in but I can't make any promises. You are too important to me, love. You, Lil Bit and our sweet baby. I will do whatever I need to do to protect you. I won't apologise for that."
"I love you, my controlling, possessive, sweetheart of a man."
"Sleep love."
We'd agreed that we weren't going to tell many people until we were further along. The next morning however we decided to tell Emmett and Rose, our respective best friends we couldn't hold it in from them. They were ecstatic that we were now not only engaged but also expecting.
Emmett picked Bella up and swirled her around and after he put her down I punched him in the arm. "Gentle with her you oaf."
"Sorry Belly. I'm just so excited." I noted that Emmett had started using Rose's nickname for Bella.
"That's okay Emmett. Despite what your brother thinks, I am not actually made of glass. I love that you're so excited for us."
Rose surprised the hell out of all of us when she kissed my cheek and thanked me sweetly for loving her 'Belly'.
Since then, Bella and I had fallen into a routine of sorts. She would wake early to head down to the bakery to get things started for the day. My alarm was set for about an hour later when I would get showered and dressed before waking Lil Bit.
Bella would come upstairs and join us for breakfast, which she did her best to keep down. We avoided eggs, bacon or anything heavy. We stuck with cereal, toast, fresh fruit and herbal tea. Even the smell of coffee set her off so I waited for my coffee until I was heading in the office. After breakfast Bella and Lil Bit would settle into the playroom while I headed off to work. On the mornings when Bella couldn't keep breakfast down I stayed until she was settled again.
Knowing that I was eating light in the mornings for Bella's sake, Rosalie always had coffee and a pastry ready for me to take into work as well as the usual order I took for team. I could see that Rose and I were going to become a good team when it came to supporting each other to care for Bella.
Jess kindly moved my schedule around so we had our exec team catch-ups around morning tea time instead of first up in the morning. That way if I needed to stay with Bella I could. I simply told Jess I wanted the option to hang out with Bella and Lil Bit in the mornings, which was true.
Everyone attributed my ridiculous, constant grin to the fact that I was now engaged to be married. The news had spread like wildfire and congratulations were coming in from clients, friends, business associates and employees alike.
We'd spent last Sunday night, after my proposal and Bella unbelievably accepting, calling and texting everyone about our engagement. It was all I could do to hold everyone off from coming over to celebrate straight away. Rather than telling them that Bella was ill, most likely because of being pregnant, I told them a story about wanting to have a quiet celebration with just me and my girls. I think nearly everyone believed it except maybe Esme and Leah, who seemed to think something was up. Damn women's intuition.
Everyone was thrilled about the engagement, even Rev Jacob and Sam. I thought they might have been a problem but they were both actually very happy for us. My families, Cullen and Volturi, were ecstatic. Of course, I didn't tell James or Caius but I enjoyed sharing the news with my Uncles Aro and Marcus were genuinely pleased.
We promised everyone that we'd have an engagement celebration in a few weeks time. Like the egomaniac idiot that I am I volunteered to organise the event. Bella, Esme, Alice and Zafrina all offered to organise it but they were always organising events for other people and I wanted them to just enjoy this celebration as guests or in Bella's case the host.
I thought it would be easy but as usual I was very, very wrong. So many details. Esme and Alice particularly kept calling me to remind me of theming, colours, invitations, yada, yada, yada! Thank fuck, Jess took pity on me and offered to help put it together. She was happy to volunteer her help since she was so relaxed after her weekend at the Fairmont Olympic with Lauren. Apparently they had an amazing time on my dime. I'd included couples massage and spa treatments in the gift voucher I'd given them. Small price to pay to apologise for my shitty behaviour and to keep both my PA and my personal trainer happy. Whatever. I might have to give her another gift voucher for helping me with this engagement event. I was so grateful for the help, since I did not have a clue what I was doing. I mean who cares if the napkins match the colour theme? For fuck's sake!
In the end we decided to have a family and close friends dinner, followed by a move after dinner to a Club for drinks and dancing. When I'd called Garrett, my partner in Twilight to tell him about Bella's and my engagement, he insisted we hold the celebrations there. Jess thought we could invite a larger group of friends as well as our dinner guests to join us at the club for drinks and dancing, which seemed like a good idea to me. So we booked out the whole VIP level as a private function.
Jess helped me pick the invitations because apparently there have to match the 'theme' too! then Jess worked with Esme, Alice and Bella to put together the guest list. That was the only job I was letting them do and they were most bemused by my adamant stand that they were to be guests without having to work the event.
After agonising over where we should hold the family and friends dinner I realised that we should go back to 'Le Pichet', the French Restaurant where Bella and I had our first date. So we booked out the whole restaurant for the night.
I personally worked out the menu and wine list with Robert the owner of 'Le Pichet', who was thrilled with the news that Bella and I were engaged. I wanted to be sure not to include anything on the menu that might be harmful to Bella and the baby - no soft cheeses, no fish. He wanted to give us a discount or to provide the champagne for the night as a gift but I wouldn't let him. I knew Bella would kill me if I didn't pay full price. She had very strong opinions about supporting local businesses. I love when my sweet one was the tough, savvy Boardroom Bella.
Vicky offered to work with Garrett to work out the food and drinks options for the club part of the evening. She also wanted to work with a theme so I let her have at it! Fuck, what is it with women and themes. Can't we just turn up and enjoy? Apparently not! She could work out all the details with Garrett, but I insisted we pay for everything even though I am part-owner. I didn't want Garrett to be out of pocket from lost revenue for the night. He scoffed at me. Stubborn Fucker.
Bella was very excited to go to the club again. She even organised a shopping outing with Alice, Rosalie and Vicky to find the perfect dress for the occasion. Alice was in heaven and sent me pictures from her phone of all the outfits Bella was trying on. They'd even taken Lil Bit and visited a children's boutique. Alice sent me photos of all the cute outfits they were buying for my little love, she looked adorable. I laughed out loud when I opened the last photo, where Lil Bit had obviously grown bored of the whole event as she was lying on the floor completely relaxed wearing the rainbow dress she'd chosen for the engagement dinner.
Today I'd filled my diary with meetings and projects to keep me away from the meeting Angela was having with Bella to discuss Artemis investments and also Bella's 'Sweet Temptations' project which she was working on with Victoria.
I was so tempted to go home and join in the discussion. I wanted to see Boardroom Bella in action. She is such a smart business woman and I found that sexy as fuck. The idea that she made money from helping others to make money quite frankly made the business man in me hard as steel.
From Angela's background report on Artemis, it appeared that Bella built her investment business from micro-financing and investing in joint ventures with small businesses. Thanks to her business model she not only profited from these ventures and grew her own investment portfolio, she also helped a multitude of people to finance their small business ventures. Businesses and individuals who wouldn't normally qualify for bank loans whom Bella had supported were some of her most profitable ventures. It was actually quite remarkable.
Angela's proposal was for Cullen & Masen to become a silent but joint partner with Artemis, leaving Bella in full management of the portfolio. When something works my philosophy is not to compete or change it but to contribute to enable expansion. The projected profit figures were very promising, so I hoped Bella would go for it. She could expand her reach but reduce her risk. She was smart so I was pretty sure she'd see the opportunity.
It was hard not to talk about it with her at home but I decided it was best not to cross the lines between personal and business between us as a couple. Not until we had the deal signed anyway.
I also asked Angela to talk about getting Cullen & Masen also getting in on the ground floor of Bella's 'Sweet Temptations' distribution and retailing business. Vicky's involvement gave Bella national distribution possibilities through her family's company.
Vicky's family had the contacts and she would make a great business partner for my sweet one. They were actually planning a business trip to New York to talk to the CEO of Vicky's family company, Epicure, which was headed up by a good friend of mine. We'd gone to Harvard together and he went straight into a senior role at Epicure working his way up to Chief Operating Officer until Victoria's father died.
I wasn't too sure about Bella going to New York without me but I didn't want to interfere in her business venture especially as I knew the CEO personally. I liked that my Boardroom Bella took care of this on her own. So I decided it would be a good chance for Lil Bit and I to have some Daddy / Daughter time. I laughed at the thought of the fun we could have.
Emmett and I had spent the past two hours over a working lunch going through all the performance reviews for our staff. He now had a list of the employees due for promotions or bonuses as well as a the list of employees who were under-performing and would need to improve over the next three months. He had some good ideas to help most of them but there were a couple who were unlikely to make it. Emmett had also come up with some interesting ideas for working with Rev J on some opportunities for us to work with his Helping Hands program.
We'd just finished up and he was able to leave when we heard a ruckus outside my office. I was about to go see what the fuck was going on when Bella burst through the doors tears streaming down her eyes clutching a piece of paper in her hands. She was paler than I'd ever seen her and her eyes were wide with alarm. The baby?!
"Sweet one, what's wrong. Are you okay?" I immediately put my hand protectively to her abdomen. I moved her gently over to the couch and Emmett offered her a glass of water.
"I…. I…" She sobbed.
"Bella are you okay? Where's Lil Bit?" I was desperate. I'd never seen Bella upset like this.
"... with… Rose…" she sobbed.
I grabbed her and hugged her close to my chest. "Bella please tell me what's wrong, I'm going out of my mind."
She sobbed into my chest but reached out to hand me the paper clutched in her hands.
"You need to let it go, love, so I can see what it is, okay?"
She released her grip on the paper and while holding her close to my chest, I unfolded the paper which as it turned out was a letter. I read it and saw immediately what had upset her. My heart sank when I read the words.
Seeing my expression, Emmett was a little panicked. "What the fuck is it bro?"
"It's a letter from a lawyer. The letter says that Bella's step-father Phil Dwyer's nephew, Phil's only other living blood relative besides Elizabeth … our Lil Bit. He's been away for the past four year, a member of the green beret's... Special Forces… He's discharged from the forces now and ….. God. It says that this nephew is seeking guardianship now … he wants custody of Lil Bit."
Bella let out a wailing sob.
Oh God.
A/N - ….. okay. well that happened.
I know it is a cliffie. I'm sorry but I haven't really done that too often so you can't be too cranky with me. So. Engaged - check! Pregnant - check! Terrified at losing Lil Bit - check…!
I already have the next chapter mostly written so I promise not to leave you hanging too long. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
