Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, or any of its characters. They are property of Stephenie Meyers.

This story is for HeartOfDarkess…I hope you're liking it so far…

Chapter 29

Waiting

Edward's POV

I had sensed an immediate change in Bella's body language the minute the words left my mouth. She was deathly still for a moment. I could hear the birds in the forest chirping loudly as her face became still. Her chest moved in and out, rapidly, forcing each breath out through her flared nostrils.

The energy that pulsed between us suddenly picked up a notch, sending its pulses through my body, straight down to the soles of my feet and the tips of my fingers. I felt Bella's body straighten, and she rose off the bench with more grace than usual. It was as if she floated from her seat. She had turned away, paying no heed to me as I spoke to her.

When she began to distance herself from me I sensed a change inside, the power level intensified and Bella suddenly crumpled, her body falling towards the wooden deck in a rush of movement. I sped from my seat, blurring to her side in time to catch her before she could hurt herself, or our child.

I scooped her into my arms once more, holding her up to the curve of my neck, feeling her blood pulsing through her veins as her skin brushed against mine. The closer I held her to me, the more it soothed my heart as well as the intense energy cycling throughout my body.

I held her nearer, ignoring the concerned thoughts of my family. I relished in the feel of her body pressed against mine, her softness against the living stone of my body. She knew the truth now…every last bit of it. She was in love with a vampire…and she was carrying a child that was an unexpected result of that love. I had thrown her life for a loop, would she ever be able to forgive me?

I shook my head as my family members tried to approach me, some physically and others through their thoughts, I was not willing to speak to them now however. I wanted to be alone with Bella. When she came to, I had no idea what she was going to say to me about what I had told her, but her reaction to the pregnancy was the first understandable reaction she had had since I told her the truth.

I just hoped that she wouldn't want to leave me now. I knew she loved me, and that I loved her, but what I had done might be beyond even her amazing ability to love and forgive. I carried her upstairs as I had hours ago when she first arrived with her father. I knew that he would be coming to visit tomorrow….what would she tell him?

I forced myself to inhale with each breath she took, the steady motion calming me as her scent washed over me. She was everything to me…I had never been fortunate enough to know what I was missing all those years I had been alone, but now that I did…I wouldn't be able to continue on without being near her. It was how our hearts worked…we were only whole once our missing halves had been found, making us whole.

I watched Bella as she leaned against the pillow of the bed as I lay her upon it. She frowned lightly in her unconscious state, and I worried that she frowned because she was thinking of me and it saddened her. She must regret ever having laid eyes on me.

I couldn't help but lay beside her, as I had earlier while she was sleeping. I knew that she may likely ask me to leave when she opened her eyes, but for now I had to stay close to her. Her pale peach skin was a stark contrast to the deep maroon comforter that Esme had picked for the bedding. The reddish hue of the fabric, highlighting the rosy tint of her cheeks, and the red pallor of her lips. The gold embroidery of the blanket gave her skin an extra hue of warmth and color.

Bella's hair was dark and deep as it framed her face, the tendrils cascading over the pillows, and falling over her shoulders. She made me think of the fairy tale…Snow White. She was a dark haired beauty as well, with evil out to claim her life. Was that what I had done? Was I that evil? Snow White had fled from the evil only to get trapped within its snares by trickery.

Trickery… was what I had done any better than that…no…it was worse for not only had I tricked her…but I had changed her life through that trickery. If I had told her what I was earlier, she probably would have run screaming, or spoken to a teacher about my need for a psych evaluation.

If she had taken it well, or given me the chance to show her the real me…I highly doubt she would have allowed me to consummate the desires I felt for her. Surely she only loved me now since she had allowed herself to fall in love with me when she thought I was as human as she was.

Poor Bella…she was no Snow White… Snow White needed a brave prince…and true loves kiss to set her free. Though I felt true love for Bella, I was no prince, nor was I brave, I was the most selfish of creatures. I pondered that fact for a moment, wishing that true loves kiss worked as it did in all of the fables and folklore that I had read over the last hundred years.

Were that true, then all I needed to do was to kiss Bella, and she would wake. We could begin on with our lives, knowing that we would find our happily ever after together, since love would guide us.

I looked back at Bella, and though I knew those were only legends and stories, I leaned forward closing my eyes, pressing my cold lips to hers, willing her to feel all of the love I felt for her. The love I felt for her completing me, the love I felt for her for understanding why I was afraid, the love for her being the one to give me a gift I never imagined wanting until it came to life deep within her.

I poured everything I felt into that kiss, and I felt like crying when I felt her soft lips move against my own. I opened my eyes and saw her warm chocolate eyes gazing back at me. I couldn't stop kissing her, overcome with joy that she wasn't cowering away from my touch.

I slid my hand up under her silky soft hair, pulling her tighter to me, and she ran her hands up over my shoulder until they fisted them into my hair trying to bring me closer still. I ran my tongue across her soft lips and she opened them to me, allowing mine to dip into her mouth to taste the divine sweetness of her mouth.

I ran my other hand down over her shoulder, ghosting it over the slope of Bella's round breasts as it made its way down to her waist, shifting the fabric so I could caress the soft skin of her stomach.

Bella broke away from the kiss, breathing heavily, leaning her brow against mine as her hands flew down to still mine from moving any further in their explorations. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply a few times before opening them once more.

"Edward...we need to talk." She said, lifting her face away from mine as she looked at me. "And I don't mean the kind of talk that ends up with us wearing no clothing…" She said, her voice shaking somewhat.

I nodded my head. She was right. Now it was her turn to talk, and my turn to listen.

I know its short…But short is better than none right…I did it on my lunch at work…

Jennifer