Chapter 29

Now

"Why do I have a feeling that the cop stopping you guys has more of a story than you two were talking on the side of the road?" Justin asked from the back of the room.

I couldn't stop the blush that spread across my cheeks and ears which earned me a room full of catcalls and whistles. "I'm not going into any more detail than what I already did." I told him with a raised eyebrow.

He just laughed as Sarah raised her hand. I pointed at her to go ahead. "Have you had many run-ins with Mr. M's exes over the years?"

I tossed my head back in laughter. "Contrary to most people's beliefs there aren't all that many of them and no, I've never had another run-in with an ex of his although he talks to my ex nearly every day. How can I complain about running into his exes when he has to deal with mine on a daily basis? You guys have to remember that I have one ex and it happens to be Edward's brother." I told them which caused them all to laugh until I nodded at Victoria to ask her question.

"Is that ever weird between you guys, Mr. Whitlock, and his wife?" Victoria asked.

I shook my head. "Not really, Alice, Jasper's wife, and I are really good friends now. We all realized a long time ago that we are happier this way so why hold no harsh feelings about how we got to be so happy."

"That's pretty awesome." Victoria said just as the bell rang dismissing them for the day.

That Halloween was brought up again during lunch by my darling husband. "Why have I been getting questions about my experience with cops?" He asked as he massaged my sore legs as they rested in his lap. I was once again sat atop his desk snacking while he had my feet propped in his lap while he sat in his chair. I had gotten a really bad cramp last class as I slid off my desk that nearly brought me to the floor.

"Who asked you that?" I asked as my body flushed from needless embarrassment.

"Travis and James." He said as he rubbed his thumbs into the muscles of my calves.

I shook my head because that wasn't a big shocker to me. Those two were bigger gossipers than eighty year old bored women with nothing better to do. "Travis and his big mouth. I glazed over our run in with the cops the night of Alice and Jasper's Halloween party. My blush and Justin's bluntness busted us out that there was more involved on the side of that road than 'talking'." I told him using quotation marks around talking because we both knew it wasn't talking that got us in trouble with the cops that night.

He just busted out laughing as he continued massaging my legs underneath the wide legs of my gray maternity dress pants. "That's funny. I guess they're not as gullible as we thought they would be. Are you doing our first attempt on Wednesday?" He asked as I leaned back onto my elbows on his desk to give Jaylon more room to stretch and me a little more room to breathe.

I nodded. "I am. I'm also taking them to New York for a quick spin through the city."

"You going to be bringing your pictures from that trip too?" He asked knowing that I had always loved taking pictures of new places we explored throughout the years so that I could always remember them as they were at that time. Another reason why I took so many pictures was because when our years together began to blur or wane the pictures would be there to help clarify things or bring the memories back. I probably had over twenty photo albums stuffed absolutely full of pictures from our time together so far. Those photo albums along with all the ones I had originally found in the house were all stored in the library/music room of our house.

I shrugged. "Maybe. They seem to really enjoy the pictures that I've brought so far. They really liked our engagement pictures though. Victoria loved the one where you were tied to the railroad tracks."

He groaned as he pulled his hands from inside my pants to massage the muscles at my hips that were almost always aching these days. I guess that is what happens when you have a tiny frame that is preparing to bring twins into the world. "I'm well aware of how much they enjoyed those pictures. They haven't shut up about them yet."

*~*~*~*J2FT1*~*~*~*

"Are you okay, baby?" Edward asked as I limped into our bedroom from the bathroom Tuesday night. He was looking all kinds of sexy propped up in our turned down bed in nothing but his boxer briefs and socks on and his reading glasses perched on his nose.

I shook my head. "No, I don't know what's wrong but ever since our doctor's appointment earlier I have been cramping in my lower stomach and hips." I told him rubbing where the cramps were at. "Right through here."

He immediately bolted up from the bed where he had been lounging dropping to his knees in front of me. "Do we need to go to the emergency room, baby?" He asked urgently as I sat on the edge of our bed.

I shrugged. "I don't know, Edward. I don't want to feel like a cry baby because I can't handle a few cramps with my pregnancy. The boys are moving around like normal. What do you think we should do?" I asked him placing my hands atop his as they cradled our baby boys.

"I say it doesn't hurt to at least go get checked again. Are they contraction like cramps, like Alice described?" He asked clearly concerned about the safety of my and our sons.

I shook my head. "No, they are more like period cramps only in my pelvic area." I explained the best way I knew how.

"What do you want to do, Bella? It is your body so only you can make this call. If you feel like our boys may be in danger then my opinion is to go and have them checked. If you feel like they are truly okay then my opinion is for us to crawl into bed and see what the night brings." He said rubbing my hips soothingly.

"I don't feel like the boys are in danger but I don't think I could rest without knowing for certain. Are you okay to make a trip to the ER?" I asked because he had been in bed when I had walked from the bathroom.

"If it makes you feel better then I am always up for a late night trip."

I nodded in acceptance. "Okay, call Dr. Gerandy and let him know what is going on while I slip some warmer pajamas on." I told him as I turned around limping towards the closet.

I didn't realize how stressed out I was until I heard the steady heartbeats of each of the boys echo in the small room we were in. After an hour of monitoring the babies' heartbeats and an ultrasound to check on their well-being and uterus wall we were discharged with some things to watch for over the next few days. Dr. Gerandy told me that it would be okay to still teach as long as the cramping wasn't that bad and I experienced no abnormal discharge.

"Well that was a whole lot of wasted effort and time." I complained as I dragged my exhausted butt up the stairs towards our bedroom.

"At least we got a peek at the boys again and got to listen to their heartbeats for a bit. In my book, that's not a complete and total loss." Edward said as he crawled into bed beside me. "Plus we know that everything is okay with you and them." He tugged me flush against his chest resting his hands on my rounded stomach.

I just hummed in response because I was already well on my way to lala land.

Wednesday found me still limping as Edward and I walked hand-in-hand into the school with another of my photo albums under my arm and our bags over his shoulder. I spent the morning trekking back and forth from my classroom to the library because my freshman and sophomore classes were doing research papers. The freshmen were doing a research paper from a pre-approved list of writers from the Romanticism period while the sophomores were doing a paper on romantic plays throughout history. The assignments seemed fitting since Valentine's Day was this Friday. All of the walking seemed to help with my discomfort and my limp became less prominent as the morning wore on.

"You okay, Mrs. Masen?" Victoria and James asked me at the same time as they fell into step on either side of me as I headed for our classroom.

I smiled at them and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just going through the pains of my body growing and adjusting to being pregnant with twins." I told them as a particularly rough jab stopped me in the hallway because of the pain in my leg and lack of room for my lungs to expand. "Oh." I said as I leaned to the left a little bit trying to ease the discomfort but that earned me a particularly rough jab from Trystan. It was a no win situation because one's head was up and the other's was down.

"Does it really hurt that bad?" Victoria asked as James just watched me with wide eyes.

I took a deep breath when I felt Jaylon's head shift down a little bit out of my ribs so that I could resume my trek once again. "It's not that bad, more uncomfortable than anything else. The doctors say it's just my body adjusting. When the boys stretch is when it causes me to gasp or stop moving." I explained as we turned into the classroom with them going to their seats in the back of the room.

Instead of sitting on top of my desk today I just leaned against the side of with my palms flat on the surface behind me trying to give them some extra room. "I like that outfit, Mrs. Masen." Mary Beth said once the bell rang announcing the beginning of class. I was wearing a long teal blue and white chevron striped skirt that trailed all the way to the floor and a belted black elbow length shirt.

"Thanks, Mary Beth. I was aiming for comfort today after our late night foray to the hospital last night." I told her as she sat down in her desk pulling the journal from her bag along with the tape recorder they had been using to record me as I relay our history to them on story days.

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Is everything okay with you and the babies?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, just growing pains apparently." I told her as the bell rang announcing the start of class. "Who's ready to go to New York today?" I asked them as I turned on the projector head.

"I've always wanted to go to New York City!" Several of the students exclaimed in excitement.

"Is it as amazing as people make it out to be?" James asked.

"I guess it depends on who the person is and what they like. It is pretty amazing but severely overcrowded and busy nearly 24/7. We enjoyed seeing the sights but we were also ready to get back to our small existence when our time was up. But before we get to New York we have some shopping to do among other things. Every girl dreams of shopping for their wedding dress with their closet girlfriends and mother. I got that experience but not like any of you would think because…"