Hi, everyone, I know it has been a while and I am sorry for that. I found myself suffering with my first real case of writers block and it was very frustrating. Hopefully the chapter is good enough to make up for the wait.
If you haven't done so already, this is your last chance to vote for the location of Edward and Bella's honeymoon. I will be closing the poll at ten pm central time on Sunday March 14th. Greece is in the lead right now, so if you want it to be one of the other locations then you need to get on over there and vote!!
My Bella, thankyou!
Hope4More, what can I say, you are the best. Sempre!!!
Of course Stephenie Meyer owns it all.
EPOV
When I woke up Sunday morning, it felt as though we had just gone to sleep after leaving the hospital. It had been past two in the morning by the time we had gotten back to our suite in the hotel where the party had been held. Judging by the amount of sun streaming in through the large window I knew it was probably much later than I realized.
Bella was still sound asleep. She looked so peaceful and angelic in her sleep. Her facial features were soft and relaxed showing no hint of the horrible ordeal we had been through the night before. I noticed how her hair was fanned out behind her on the pillow as she lay facing me. It was still straight from her ironing it last night and flowed like strands of mahogany colored silk across the pillow case. Running my fingers through it I couldn't resist staring at her and taking in her beauty. I often felt a bit stalkerish with how I could watch her sleep for hours, just holding her in my arms and never wanting to let go.
A light snore erupted from her, which broke the Bella induced spell I had been under. Glancing at the clock I noticed it was past ten, confirming my earlier thoughts that it was later than it felt. Checkout was at eleven, which didn't give us much time. I didn't want to have to wake Bella and force her to rush in order for us to make the checkout time. Her rest was more important now than ever before and I wanted her to be able to sleep until she woke on her own.
Gently I scooted away from Bella and pulled my arm out from underneath her where she slept curled up with her head on my chest. I instantly disliked the loss of contact between our bodies, but knew I had to get up. I kissed Bella's cheek and pulled the blankets up around her. Next I pulled the drapes closed on the window to darken the room. After that I quietly grabbed my cell phone from the nightstand, my jeans off the floor and crept into the sitting area of our suite.
Hearing the rustle of the blankets I thought she had woken up, but she had only stirred briefly before settling into a new position.
Tugging on my jeans, I picked up my cell phone and called down to the front desk, informing them we would be late checking out. Not only did this give us more time, but it also made sure the maid service didn't show up expecting us to be gone.
Next I called my parents letting them know we'd be here until Bella was up and ready to go. When they asked me if I had any idea as to when we would get back to the house I told them no, that if Bella slept all day then she slept all day. They understood completely and would stop by our room to get our house key since they were staying with us.
I grabbed a bottle of juice out of the mini fridge and proceeded to chug it down quickly as I sat down to read yesterday's paper. When I couldn't find anything to hold my interest in the sports section, I tossed it onto the cocktail table and decided to go shower instead.
Turning the dial on the shower faucet, I set the temp as hot as I could stand it, hoping that the steam and hot water would help ease some of the tension I still felt trapped in my aching muscles.
Standing in the hot water, I braced myself against the wall and allowed the pulsating force of the water to beat on my back. As I began to relax under the steam and the pounding of the water on my back and neck, all of the events from yesterday began playing through my mind like some highlight reel on ESPN.
The day had started off so perfectly, waking up with Bella in my arms, making love to her and then the wonderful ceremony at the ball park. It had been great to see some of the guys again and go through the locker room and the dugout one last time.
Despite thinking it would be extremely uncomfortable; I had actually enjoyed watching the game with my family and the Cardinals winning was just a bonus to top off a perfect afternoon.
As the images of making love to Bella the morning before, once again interjected themselves into my thoughts, that familiar pang in my groin, a sense of arousal hit me when a vision of Bella, in her little black dress played across my mind. She had looked fucking amazing.
I remembered how her eyes sparkled and her skin glowed. I chuckled as I thought about her worrying that she was going to get fat. Didn't matter to me, she would still be beautiful, no matter how big of a belly she got carrying our child. In fact, I couldn't wait for her midsection to be rounded nicely. The thought of it turned me on more than I ever thought it would. Emmett had teased me a few times, telling me how much it turned him on when Rose was pregnant, but I just thought it was Emmett being Emmett the perpetual horn-dog. Guess I was wrong.
Realizing I would get no relief, I tried to squelch those thoughts real fast, before I found myself taking the matter into my own hands. Dr. Montgomery had included in his discharge orders for Bella, that there was to be no sex until her appointment with him later this week. At that time he would give us the ok to have 'relations' again if he deemed it safe. My frustrations would just have to wait. Bella and the baby's health would always come first.
Changing the course of my thoughts, the only part of the day remaining to be reflected upon, was the party. Everyone had been having a fantastic time until Jacob Black made his unwelcome appearance. I couldn't even begin to comprehend why he would want to be there…unless…unless he had purposefully come to start trouble. I started to wonder if that was exactly what he had done, if he had set out to ruin my celebration.
The amount of hate and anger that welled up inside me was overwhelming. I had disliked him a great deal before the stunt he pulled last night, but I had never felt hate for him until the moment he chose to put his hands on Bella and hurt her. He would have been lucky to not be a dead man if any more harm had come to Bella or our baby last night.
As I thought on it some more, I became frustrated with the team as well. Not the players, but the management staff and owners. I was pissed that they couldn't have just asked him to respectfully stay away. That was part of the problem right there. Jacob Black respected no one, not even himself apparently.
I had no idea if there was anything the team could do about his behavior. It was a private affair even if the team was the one organizing it. If it had been a public or league event, I knew he would be facing some serious consequences. I had seen it too many times over the years. Players getting drunk and embarrassing themselves, or getting involved in car accidents and involuntarily killing someone. All sorts of heinous acts committed in the world of professional sports.
Bella and I would have to talk about whether or not to press charges against him, but it would have to wait a few days. She needed to rest and get her stress level down first. Plus, the new girl at her work seemed to be working out well, so I didn't think Angela would have a problem with Bella having to significantly cut her hours.
Hearing my cell phone beep on the bathroom vanity I quickly finished my shower and dried off as I hastily wrapped a towel around my waist. Grabbing my cell phone I checked my voice mail, to hear my mom say that they were on their way up to get the house key. Seeing the time I was shocked that I had been in the shower for nearly half an hour.
Leaving the bathroom, the door squeaked as I shut it. Bella must have heard it as she chose that moment to roll over and grace me with the most beautiful smile.
I walked over to the bed and lay down next to her.
"Good morning beautiful." I said as I planted a kiss on her soft, warm lips.
"Mmm, good morning to you too." She hummed as she ran her fingers through my wet hair.
"How long have you been awake?"
"Just a few minutes. What time is it?"
"It's close to noon. Are you hungry?" I asked, as we continued to take turns kissing each other between our questions.
Stretching out slightly on the bed I saw her wince when attempting to stretch her arm out over her head. I knew without even having to ask, her arm was hurting where that bastard had bruised her. I turned my face so that she couldn't see that angry scowl I knew was there.
"Hey." She said as she grasped my face gently in her tiny hands and turned it so I was again looking at her, "It's just a little tender and stiff. I will be good as new in a few days."
Sighing, I nodded my head in agreement with her and said, "I know baby, it's just that he should have never laid a hand on you in the first place. He shouldn't have even been there."
"I know but we can't dwell on it, I don't want to let him get the better of us."
I knew she was right. If we let it get to us, it would just cause undue stress and unhappiness for us both.
Leaning my head down and brushing my nose along the pulse point on her neck I whispered, "Have I told you how much I love you and how happy you make me?"
She giggled lightly and then answered, "Not today."
In between pressing my lips to her neck several times, I reiterated, "Well then let me tell you that you make me the happiest man alive and I love you with everything in my heart and soul."
As my lips moved closer to her face and lingered on the silky smooth skin just below her jaw line, I realized I now tasted the salt of her tears.
"Baby, why are you crying?" I asked as I reached up to brush her tears away and kiss her, in an attempt to calm her down.
Since becoming pregnant she was much more emotional and her emotions could change more quickly than ever before, but I didn't expect what I had said to make her cry.
"I was just so…so scared last night. I was so afraid that I was going to lose our baby." She cried.
The tears continued to flow down her cheeks as her sobs shook through her small body. It was hard for me to swallow the lump of emotions that were forming in my own throat.
Trying to keep my voice from giving away my own fear, I attempted to assuage her fears by saying to her, "Bella, I know you were scared honey, I was too," but she was still crying with her face buried against my chest, "Sweetheart, look at me, you and the baby are both ok, you can't keep getting yourself so worked up all the time, you need to stay calm. We are going to do everything that Dr. Montgomery told us to and in a few months we are going to have a beautiful baby boy. If he had any doubts or worries about yours or the baby's health he would have kept you in the hospital. You know that right?"
"Right." She answered halfheartedly as she sniffled.
"Now are you hungry and are you ready to go home?"
"Yes." she replied hugging me tightly to her.
"You go get showered and I will have room service send up some breakfast for us."
I leaned down to give her a quick kiss before getting up to dress and order the food, but she tangled her fingers in my hair and pulled me down and held me in a lip lock deepening the kiss. I was helpless to pull away from her.
We continued kissing and I found my hand as if on autopilot, wandering up her stomach until I was cupping her full breast. As soon as she moaned and hitched her leg over mine, I was painfully reminded of the fact they we had to stop.
"Fuck." I muttered as I tore myself away from her.
"Edward, what's wrong?" she asked with the most perplexed look on her face.
"Baby, as much as I hate to say it you know we have to stop."
This was going to be a difficult week for us both. Her hormones have had her wanting to make love more than ever and I certainly wasn't complaining, but with the no sex rule until at least the end of this week, it was going to be torture for us both. I could see myself in the gym working out a lot of frustration.
"I'm sorry I forgot about the no sex embargo the doctor put us on. Are you ok?"
"I will be." I groaned in annoyance, not with her, but with the situation.
"Edward…"
"Hey, I'm just as much at fault for letting this go too far as you are. We'll get through this week and then I just won't let you out of the bed all of next week." I teased her.
A smile returning to her face, she smirked saying, "I might like that," as she winked at me and got up to shower and get dressed.
The woman was an evil little minx in disguise.
Hearing a knock on the door, I hollered that I'd be right there and quickly threw on some clean clothes before letting my parents in.
"How's Bella this morning?" my father asked while I hugged my mother.
"Is she still sleeping, dear? We don't want to wake her." Esme asked.
"No, she woke up just a short while ago and is in the shower. I think she's good considering all we've had to endure in the past twenty-four hours, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was still tired. She got quite restless in her sleep a few times overnight."
"Is that normal for her?" my father asked.
"No. She usually sleeps very deeply and hardly moves once she is settled." I explained.
"Did she seem as though she was having a nightmare?" Came his next question.
"No, she just moved around a lot more, like she couldn't get comfortable. Why?" I asked wanting to know what he was getting at. I could see his gears grinding as he thought and it worried me a bit.
"Well, it wouldn't be uncommon for her to suffer from some trauma induced nightmares. They shouldn't last long. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she follows her doctor's orders and if it becomes a problem and interferes with her sleep, make sure to let him know. Are these her discharge papers?" he inquired as he pointed to the papers with the hospital logo on them lying on the cocktail table.
"Yeah, you can look at them if you want." I stated, knowing that was exactly what he was getting at.
My father sat down on the sofa and carefully read over all of Bella's discharge information. Looking up from the papers, he was just about to say something when Bella entered the room.
"How are you, sweetheart?" My mother asked as she got up and embraced Bella warmly, just as she would any of her other children.
"Much better today." Bella stated as she sat down on the arm of the chair I was sitting in.
Grabbing onto her hips, I gently pulled her down on my lap and kissed her chastely.
"Dad was just looking over your discharge papers."
"Oh, did everything seem ok to you? I mean I trust my doctor implicitly, but your opinion matters a great deal to us both."
"Well of course I'm not an obstetrician, but from what I can remember when I did a rotation in that field many years ago, and from what Edward explained to us last night in the hospital, I think your doctor has covered everything and his instructions for you are pretty clear and straight forward. Since we are going to be here a few more days, I can monitor your blood pressure for you to help ease your mind over at least that much." My dad said as he switched seamlessly in to doctor mode.
"I think we'd both really appreciate that dad." I replied, winking at Bella and kissing her hand above her engagement ring.
I knew that she was still scared and I wasn't completely worry free, so any reassurance we could get that everything was fine, I was going to take.
We quickly ate our breakfast, and got our things together to leave. My parents chose to wait with us since we would be leaving soon. The rest of the family had also come by our suite to check on Bella before they checked out and went home.
We left shortly after they did and spent a quiet afternoon visiting with my parents. After an early dinner, it didn't surprise my parents or me that Bella had fallen asleep on the couch as we watched a movie.
Tuesday morning, Bella scheduled her appointment with Dr. Montgomery and it was set for Thursday afternoon, which would be the eleventh of June. She also spoke with Angela on the phone about the changes she needed to make in her work schedule.
Just as we thought, Angela was more than happy to do anything she could to accommodate any needs Bella had to help insure the health of our baby and Bella's health as well. Bella filled her in on a few details that Stephanie would need to know about some of the projects they were working on. Angela told her they would work out all the other details one day next week when Bella was rested and her doctor said she could return to work.
However, what Bella didn't expect was for Angela to insist that she spend as much time as possible working from home, and to only come into the office when it was needed. I for one was relieved, knowing that I would be able to see that Bella didn't overdo it anymore. I knew she'd still have plenty to do to keep her from becoming bored, especially with our wedding barely four weeks away.
Wednesday morning my dad and I went to play a round of golf while my house was filled with all the women in our family. I was shocked that Jasper had been right when he said that my father wasn't as good as he proclaimed to be. Our idea for my dad's Father's Day gift was going to be perfect.
My mother, Alice, Rose and Bella all congregated at our house. The four of them along with talking on the phone with Renee, worked out a plan to allow everyone but Bella to do a majority of the planning for our wedding, the reception, and the huge party that was being held a week before the wedding. They were leaving only the most personal and important details up to Bella and I.
When Renee and Charlie had learned about the scare we had, Renee was ready to board the first plane and come take care of Bella herself. Bella had reassured her that it wasn't necessary and finally she relented after Bella and I promised to keep in touch more frequently so she didn't worry constantly.
BPOV
Waking up from a much needed nap, I made my way into the kitchen to get something to drink.
It was hard to believe that it was already Wednesday. I had spent most of the morning with Alice, Rose and Esme, and my mother, figuring out what still needed to be done for the wedding, the reception, and the combo baby/wedding shower we were having.
We had kept my mom on the phone for what seemed like hours trying to coordinate what everyone was going to do. It had been mind boggling and I felt like I was pawning so much off on everyone else. However, with doctor's orders to keep stress at a minimum I didn't see where I had much choice.
Everyone was more than thrilled to do as much as they could. Alice of course seemed to thrive under the added responsibilities. I worried that she too would become weighed down having to do so much, but she promised she would tell me if she even felt remotely overloaded. I was very fortunate to have so many wonderful people around me willing to help.
Grabbing a bottle of flavored water out of the fridge, I set off to see where everyone was.
As I got closer to the family room, I heard Edward and his father talking. I paused for a minute when I realized what they were talking about.
I took a deep breath and walked into the room. The minute Edward noticed that I was there, his mouth clamped shut, causing Carlisle to turn and notice I was there as well.
Edward motioned for me to sit next to him. Sitting down I asked them what they were talking about.
Carlisle quickly made the comment, "I'll go join your mother in the garden, and let the two of you talk." As he got up and was gone from the room.
"Edward, you want to tell me what the two of you were discussing? I know it has to do with Jacob Black. I heard you say his name on my way in here."
"No, not really, but I know we have too." He said bitterly.
I knew his sour mood was not directed at me. So the tone in his voice didn't upset me. But what did, was that I could tell he was obviously upset and he was trying to hide it from me. I knew he was afraid of upsetting me, but I didn't want us to start hiding our feelings from one another. That would only cause more harm than good.
Placing my hand on his knee, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, before saying, "Edward, I know it's not a pleasant subject, but it's one we need to talk about. So would you please fill me in on what you and your father were talking about?"
Flopping backwards on the couch, he ran his hands through his hair a few times before finally nodding to me, letting me know he was ready to talk.
"J. Jenks called while you were asleep, you remember him, he's the coach of the team?" I nodded and he continued, "It seems the Cardinals have handed out their disciplinary actions for Jacob's behavior at the party."
"Ok, so what did they do?" I asked curiously.
"The fined him twenty-five thousand dollars and suspended him for ten games."
"That's all? They didn't fire him or something like that?"I retorted.
Edward sat up and wrapped his arms around me, before pulling me back against him as he once again reclined against the back of the couch.
Kissing the top of my head and stroking my hair, he replied, "No, Baby. As much as I would like for him to be punished much more severely, it's not going to happen from the team. They gave him the max they could, given the circumstances."
Chewing on my lip, as I gathered my thoughts, I then asked, "What do you mean by he won't be punished more severely by the team, and what circumstances are you referring to?"
I turned sideways and draped my legs over his lap as I waited for his response.
Sighing and scratching the back of his head he said, "Because my party was a private affair and not a public or league sponsored event, the fine and suspension are the maximum penalty the team can give him."
"Oh, I see." I answered curtly.
Edward took my hand in his and rubbed it back and forth between his in a soothing manor.
"As far as other punishment he might receive, that is up to us, more specifically you. We can press charges against him. I called my attorney this afternoon after I had received the call from Jenks. He told me that due to the circumstances, being that Jacob didn't intentionally cause harm to you, the most that would happen is that he might possibly be sentenced to community service or fined, maybe both depending on the judge. He also said that realistically pressing charges would cause more harm to his reputation than anything, because it would become public knowledge of the incident. But that means we are included in that media mess too." He stated in frustration.
"So, our choices are to let things go with what the team has done. Which frankly, in my opinion, doesn't seem like much at all, or we press charges and he gets next to nothing again, except for some negative press and we get hounded and bothered by the press too. Is that right, did I cover it all?" I snapped, not meaning to sound like a bitch as I spoke to Edward, but I was mad.
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it. But something I really want you to consider is the amount of stress it will put on you to have to deal with all of the press and possibly of going to trial should he decide to fight us on it. Not to mention what the tabloids will do once they get wind of it. We have for the most part, been able to avoid the press all together; I don't want it to start now. Especially now. Not only will we have to deal with all the press related to this situation, but it will also lead them to start snooping further into our personal lives and we will likely lose the privacy we have been able to maintain about our wedding details." He huffed as he leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees and knotting his hands in his hair as he often did when something was bothering him.
"Well I certainly don't want to be a part of a media circus and you're right it's added stress that I don't need…that we don't need. But I don't like the idea of him just walking away like nothing happened. Did your attorney give you any idea of what he had in mind?"
"His suggestion is that we make Jacob an offer in order to keep us from pressing charges. His thinking is that Jacob should want to avoid any negative publicity and will likely agree if our terms are reasonable. It won't be about avoiding any kind of sentence that the court might hand down. It'll be about playing into his selfish and arrogant personality. About him saving face by not tarnishing the perfect image he has of himself." Edward spoke, his voice harsh, due to his annoyance at the whole situation.
We talked a bit longer and decided to go with Edward's attorney, Mr. Demetri's suggestion to play on Jacob Black's own arrogance. Edward's parents had come back in from the yard and we were filling Carlisle and Esme in on what we were going to do when our conversation was interrupted by the phone ringing.
I saw it was Brook on the caller ID and after telling Edward who it was, I excused myself, leaving the room so Edward could finish talking to his parents.
"Hello." I answered the phone, eager to talk to her since it had been a while. She was busy being a new mom to twins and I was busy with wedding plans and so on.
"Isabella Marie soon-to-be Cullen, why the hell is it that I had to learn from my mother that you had to go to the hospital this past weekend?" she screeched into the phone.
"Well, hi, Brook, I missed you too. How are those beautiful sons of yours?" I chided back, knowing that I wouldn't get away with trying to change the subject, but I couldn't help antagonizing her just a little. We knew just how far we could push and tease one another without going overboard.
"Oh no, you are not gonna distract me with my own babies. Stop trying to change the subject and tell me what's going on."
"My, aren't we witchy today." I goaded her.
"Bella, unless you want me to come down there and kick your ass, you better tell me now."
I snorted into the phone at her remark before I began to explain to her what had happened. Of course she immediately wanted to know where she could find Jacob Black so she could properly hang him from a tree by his balls. Scary thing for him is I wouldn't put it past her to do it.
After we were done laughing at her threat to him, our conversation turned to happier topics.
"So tell me about those babies." I demanded of her.
"Well you will soon learn that their little lives revolve around eating, sleeping, and pooping, with an occasional coo or smile somewhere in between."
I couldn't help but giggle as she went on to tell me more about how different they were even as twins and how they had their sleeping schedules totally out of sync, which was the hardest part of all. She was extremely grateful that it was the off season for hockey and Cam was home to help since the boys' sleeping habits were so screwed up at the moment.
"I loved the pictures you sent and I can't wait to see them next month when you are here."
"Oh, they have grown so much and I swear hardly look like they did before. Cam and I are amazed at how quickly they are changing." She bragged and I could hear the excitement in her voice.
"Speaking of Cam, how is he adjusting to being a new daddy?" I asked, thinking she would have some tips for Edward and me.
"He's doing pretty well actually. You know he is used to the late nights and all with hockey, but right now I think the thing he wants more than anything is to get laid again."
"Thinks he is gonna die huh?" I laughed.
"You have no idea; he's acting like such a big baby about it." She retorted.
"Well I have a bit of an idea. After my trip to the ER last weekend my doctor told us no sex until I see him tomorrow, or until he gives the all clear. So Edward is having a bit of a meltdown himself."
"Geez men, could they be any more transparent?" she complained.
"I know they think their whole world is going to crumble, or their dicks are gonna shrivel up and fall off if they don't use them." I snickered.
"Oh, come on Bella, it's worse than that. Men think that sex is the fucking cure for everything. It's amazing that they haven't tried to use sex to cure global warming or cancer."
"Don't give them any ideas." I teased.
"No shit! They will claim it's the cure all for everything including world peace."
I was just about to reply when I felt Edward come to stand behind me. As his arms snaked their way around my waist, he placed a warm kiss on my neck before resting his chin on my shoulder.
"Hi, Brook." He said loud enough so that she could hear him.
"Is that Edward?" she asked.
"The one and only." I remarked.
"Oh, let me talk to him." She commanded, with a sarcastic sweetness in her voice that told me she was up to no good.
I reluctantly handed the phone to Edward, not being sure what she was going to say to him. I told him she wanted to talk to him for a minute, as he nodded and smiled taking the phone out of my hand.
He put the phone to his ear and I heard her say something to him but couldn't make out what it was. Before I could ask, he was pushing the button to put the phone in speakerphone mode.
"What are you doing, did you hang up on her?" I asked him.
"It's on speakerphone; she told me to, said she wanted you to hear what she had to say." He said shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, then saying, "Ok, Brook, talk." as he held the phone up so we could both hear her.
"Edward, you know that Bella is my best friend right?"
"Yes, Brook, why do you ask?" he answered her and I could already see where this was going.
"Well as her best friend, and someone who loves her like a sister, I am only going to tell you this once. So listen up." I saw Edward gulp from the tone of her voice. I on the other hand rolled my eyes in amusement, and thought to myself, here we go.
"If you don't take care of her the way she is meant to be cared for, I will hop the first flight down there and bury you in that backyard of yours. I will then mark your grave with a rose bush, because Lord knows it will be like a thorn in my side to have to drag your ass back there after I whack you upside the head with a shovel, rendering you defenseless." I snickered at her dramatics as I saw the color drain from Edward's face.
I pouted my lips and batted my lashes at him as, I reassured him with a back rub that it would be alright.
However, judging by the tone of his voice, I don't think it did much good.
The stuttering commenced after that, "Uh…um…sure thing Brook." I smiled reassuringly at him and I saw him swallow before continuing, "You know I love her and the baby with everything I have. Believe me when I say if I do fail, and I don't meet their expectations, or yours for that matter, I will personally fly you down here first class and give you a bronzed shovel to..." I couldn't help snickering at him as I saw him close his eyes and suck in a deep breath, with the vision he must have been having, "whack me with, as you so eloquently put it."
Snorts of laughter escaped my mouth now. Poor Edward was terrified of Brook.
He quickly handed the phone back to me and made his way over to the fridge where he pulled out a beer. After twisting the cap off of the bottle, he leaned against the counter as he watched me while I finished my conversation with Brook.
While listening to her talk about her fitting for her bridesmaid dress, I watched Edward out of the corner of my eye. I had never known a man who could look so damn sexy just standing there doing something as simple as drinking a beer. I think courtesy of my raging hormones I was craving sex and missing our love making just as badly as he was.
I joked with Brook telling her, "I think you're driving my fiancée to drink."
"Really, did I scare him that much?" she laughed.
"I guess so cause as soon as he handed me the phone back he was immediately pulling a beer out of the fridge."
We both laughed again.
Shortly after that we had to end the call when one of the babies woke up to be fed. Talking to her was wonderful and was as if she knew what I needed, by making me laugh so much it greatly lifted my spirits.
I then placed the phone down on the counter and moved to stand in front of Edward. He set his beer down on the counter and widened his stance before pulling me closer to him so I was standing between his legs. Sliding his hands around to rest in the pockets of my jeans he squeezed my ass and leaned forward to kiss me.
His lips were warm, but the inside of his mouth was cold from his beer. I wasn't a beer drinker but the taste of it mixed with him was quite good. Deepening the kiss and pulling me harder up against him, my hands roamed up his chest and along his neck until they tangled in the soft hair at the nape of his neck.
When he left a trail of blazing kisses along my throat and back up to my ear, he stopped briefly, allowing him to hoarsely whisper, "I need you, Bella," before he continued the sweet torture on my neck.
Unable to stop the moan the escaped my mouth, I then murmured to him, "I need you too baby, but we have to wait until at least tomorrow."
Then before either one of us could tempt the other any further we were suddenly made aware of his parents' presence by a loud clearing of Carlisle's throat, followed by his chuckling.
I instantly felt my face heat up with the blush I knew was there, even though I had buried my face against Edward's chest to hide it.
"Edward, dear, did you ask Bella if she feels up to going out to dinner tonight?" Esme asked sweetly, while smacking Carlisle on the arm as he continued to laugh lightly at us.
Carlisle then exclaimed, "What'd I do to deserve getting smacked?"
"You know what you did Carlisle Cullen, you are teasing them on purpose when you know darn well we were just like them at that age." Esme scolded him.
"Ok, mom, that's TMI, I don't need a visual of you and dad making out." Edward pleaded.
"Bella, sweetheart do you feel up to going out tonight or not?" Esme asked.
"Yes I'd love too." I said as I smiled at her.
After a few minutes discussing our choices we decided to go to one of those Japanese restaurants where you sit around the grill and watch them cook your food right in front of you.
It was an amazing time watching the cook as he prepared the meal. The evening only got better when Carlisle and Esme started telling stories about all three of their children when they were little.
I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants, when Edward reminded his parents about the time when Emmett was about three and he peed in the display toilet in a home improvement store.
Laughing, Esme explained that she had gotten distracted talking to a sales associate when Emmett realized he had to go to the bathroom. When he saw the display he didn't realize it was not a working toilet. She was horrified and embarrassed beyond belief when she became aware of what he had done.
"I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen even when I told him I was going to get mom." Edward said.
"Well imagine how I felt when I turned around and the boys weren't where they had just been a minute before. I panicked not seeing them anywhere in sight. Edward was about five or six and of course Emmett was only three. After looking around for a few minutes the sales associate and I found them. There Emmett was in the middle of the store using the display toilet and Edward was standing there pulling on his shirt trying to get him to stop."
"Needless to say I could never show my face in the store again." Esme told us while taking a drink of her iced tea.
Poor Esme was still embarrassed by it all these years later. I could hardly blame her.
"Yeah well, when we got home and Emmett realized he was in trouble he tried to get out of it by saying that I told him to do it." Edward shook his head and laughed at the memory of what his brother had done.
"Thank goodness all he did was pee." Carlisle interjected, causing all to erupt in another round of laughter.
The rest of the evening was wonderful. Once we were home we all said our goodnights and I was quickly asleep not long after my head hit the pillow.
The next morning Edward called his attorney Mr. Demetri and informed him what we had decided to do. He promised to work out a proposal and get back to us as soon as possible.
That afternoon, I was nervous when it came time for my doctor's appointment. I wasn't really sure why since Carlisle had checked my blood pressure a couple of times every day and it had always been well within the normal range.
Edward and I were both tremendously relieved when Dr. Montgomery did an exam and said there were no signs of bleeding and that my cervix was still completely closed as it should be. He also said that my blood pressure, along with the baby's heartbeat were completely within the normal range.
Of course even though I blushed when the doctor made the statement, we were both also relieved when he said that we could resume normal sexual relations.
Dr. Montgomery questioned us about what changes we had made to reduce the amount of stress in our lives and he was pleased to know that I would be working from home from now on, except for an occasional trip to the office. He also limited me to twenty-hours a week for the time being until the wedding was over and our lives settled down a bit more and that if after that time I felt as though I needed to work more we could reevaluate it then.
The only tense moment of the visit was when he asked if we intended to press charges against Jacob Black. He was simply concerned about the amount of stress it would cause me. We explained to him our plan and he was very relieved with what we were going to do. He also gave me a pamphlet with some tips on managing stress and how to spot the warning signs that it might be getting out of control again, and reminded me that I could call him at any time if I had any concerns or questions.
After that we stopped at the receptionist's desk on the way out and scheduled my next appointment as well as one for an ultrasound for when I would be twenty-two weeks pregnant. When I informed the receptionist that we would be on our honeymoon at that time, she checked with Dr. Montgomery who said to do it around twenty, twenty-one weeks instead. So we set it for Thursday, July 8th which was the day before everyone would be coming to town for our wedding. We then left to grab some lunch and headed home.
We were barely home and in the house before I found myself pressed up against the front door with Edward's mouth hungrily claiming mine.
Remembering that Carlisle and Esme were spending the afternoon babysitting Lilly and Max, Edward picked me up and carried me upstairs to our bed where we made love for most of the afternoon.
It was amazing and I would never tire of the intimacy we shared. However it was a bit exhausting and I slept for quite some time afterwards while dreaming of our baby and the wonderful life we would share together.
I know a lot of you are with Bella's friend Brook and you would love to see Jake hung from a tree by his balls or worse. The thing is that in the real world of professional baseball, what has happened in this chapter is very realistic with what would really happen.
Don't forget this is your last chance to voice your choice for their honeymoon destination.
Thanks for reading!!
EA
