Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Author's Note: Thank you to letthemusicplay, KLuTZ 122, and EdwardDazzlesMe for pointing out to me that Bella said Elizabeth's name in front of some of the Cullen's and then said that they didn't know the name. I'm really sorry about that. But we all know that the Cullen's, Charlie, or anyone else knows the name of Bella's daughter. That mistake will be corrected in future chapters.
Enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter Twenty-eight: Surprise Shower
I sat bolt upright, sweat running down my face, my hand flying instantly to my stomach. Looking down at my round, yet small belly, I breathed a sigh of relief. I still had Elizabeth, and that was never going to change. My dreams had been disturbed by him again. That had been the fourth time that week. Pregnancy did bring on some pretty weird dreams at times, but these were always the worst.
Sighing, I looked at the clock and it read 9:36 a.m. Elizabeth kicked me, indicating that now I was awake, she was awake as well. My stomach grumbled, letting me know that it was hungry. I chuckled, rubbing my stomach. "Alright, alright, I'll feed you, little girly."
It was a week before the start of September, and I planned on moving into the apartment above the bookstore a few days after. Alice and I had agreed that I should be settled in the apartment by the time the baby was born. We had already bought the essential stuff – like a couch, comfy chair, television, kitchen supplies, bed for the master bedroom, etc. – with the help of none other than Esme, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward. It had been then that Esme, Alice, and I had decided that we would never bring the three boys along with us on a shopping trip ever again.
The stuff would be arriving at the apartment the next day, and that meant that I would soon be able to move in. I was a week away from being eight months pregnant, and my stomach had gotten a little rounder since Abigail's death. It was still small for an average sized pregnant belly, but I knew that it was because Elizabeth had inherited my genes and was small.
As I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, I saw a piece of paper on the table. I picked it up and read:
Hey Bella.
I got called in to the station this morning. I figured that I should leave a note instead of waking you. I should be home at the usual time.
Have a good day, Dad.
Ha, typical of Charlie to leave very short notes. I grabbed some eggs from the refrigerator and a frying pan from below the stove and set to work on making some scrambled eggs, which I had been craving for a while.
When I was done eating my breakfast, it was ten o'clock. I placed my plate in the sink and went upstairs to take a shower.
Half hour later, dressed in a pair of maternity jeans and a pale blue maternity t-shirt, I leaned against the head board of my bed. Opening to the first page of Heidi, I started to read, perfectly content with what I was doing. Just as I was half way through the first chapter, my phone rang in my pocket and I dug it out, annoyed for some reason. Looking at the caller ID and seeing that it was Alice, I flipped it open and said, "Yes, Alice?"
"Hey. Where are you?" Alice's voice came. Her voice sounded excited.
"Well, I'm currently sitting on my bed, extremely comfy, reading a book. Why?" I asked.
"Come on downstairs," said Alice.
What? I got up off my bed and traveled slowly down the stairs because of my starting-to-swell ankles. I opened the front door to reveal a grinning Alice.
"Hello! Come on," she said. She began to pull me out the front door because of her obvious excitement.
"Alice, slow down. I sort of need shoes," I said.
Alice giggled and said, "Good point. Go get your shoes."
I went back into the house and grabbed my shoes, sitting down on the stairs to put them on. After I made sure that I had them on the right feet, I walked out the door with Alice. "Where are we going, Alice?" I asked as she opened the front seat door of her Porsche and gestured me to get in.
She didn't answer until she was sitting in the driver's seat, almost bouncing up and down with excitement. "Not telling. You're just going to have to find out for yourself. Now put this on." She handed me a long strip of black cloth.
I looked at her skeptically as she backed out of the driveway. "What's this for?"
She only grinned and said, "Just put it on, Bella. I promise that I'm not kidnapping you. Edward made me promise not to put the blindfold on you, but I couldn't resist. Now put it on."
I sighed and asked, "How long do I have to wear this thing?"
"Not that long. Put it on."
Reluctantly, I put the blindfold over my eyes and tied it around my hair, which was up in a ponytail. I didn't ask any more questions, knowing that Alice wouldn't answer them. All I could do was sit and wonder where we were going.
About fifteen minutes later, I felt the car stop and I heard Alice say, "Okay, Bella. We're here, but don't take your blindfold off." Excitement was in her voice, and I could tell that something was up.
The car door opened, closed, and then I felt myself being pulled out of the car. "Alice, what is going on?"
"You'll see." I felt myself walk across the ground and then I was instructed to walk up.
"Where are we, Alice?" I asked as I felt my hand run into what felt like a railing. I knew that it was stairs and so I did as Alice instructed me to. Alice didn't answer, but she opened what I assumed was a door and then I was being led once again.
It wasn't until my feet hit carpet that I could only guess that I was in some carpeted area.
And then the blindfold was taken off of me, and I heard numerous voices shout, "Surprise!"
I had to squeeze my eyes shut for a second because of the sudden brightness. When I opened them, I saw that I was standing in the Cullen's living room. I saw pink balloons and a huge banner that said, "It's a girl!" In the middle of the living room, with huge grins on their faces, stood Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, Charlie, Renee, and Phil. They were all standing behind a table that had about a million presents.
Despite my shock, I felt a smile come to my face. I turned to Alice, who was grinning. "What is all this?" I asked.
"It's a baby shower, silly," Alice said.
I smiled. "So this is why you haven't pestered me about going shopping with you, Alice." She grinned and nodded.
For the next two hours, the shower went on with excitement and happiness. Everybody laughed and talked with each other. The only thing about the baby shower that was excruciating to live through was opening the presents. There was a huge pile of gifts.
In all, I had received a lot of baby clothes – part of which were from designer clothing stores - and baby blankets from Alice and Rosalie, a walkie-talkie system, baby bottles, and in the sink bathtub, a diaper bag, and pacifiers from Esme and Carlisle; toys for when the baby was old enough to play with them and a teddy bear – one that surprisingly had no fluff in it – from Emmett and Edward; another bear – that thankfully was fluffed – and children's books from Jasper; a crib that had the mattress in it and mattress sheets for the crib from Charlie and Phil; a stroller, car seat, and photo album from Renee. She made me promise to fill the album with lots of pictures of the baby.
Two hours later, the gifts were all unwrapped. After I said a teary thank you to everyone in the room, Esme announced that it was time for cake, and she, Carlisle, and Rosalie disappeared into the kitchen.
Alice came over to sit next to me on the couch. She was still grinning with excitement.
"I can't thank you guys enough for all of this," I told her. "There was no way that I would have been able to buy even a small part of it all." To my embarrassment, I felt the tears come to my eyes.
Alice smiled and hugged me. "There's no need to thank us for it. You deserve it. Esme, Rosalie, and I had so much fun planning this baby shower. We would have done it anyway, even if you could have afforded it. We're really glad that you had a good time."
I smiled back at her. "I am having a good time."
Alice grinned just as Renee walked over. "Hello, Mrs. Dwyer."
"Hello Alice, Bella," Renee said as she positioned herself behind the couch. "So how's the mommy-to-be, Alice?" she asked, a smile on her face.
Alice grinned again and said, "She's really good."
"So, how far along are you, Bella? You have a nice round belly there," Renee said, placing a hand on my belly.
I could see Alice trying to keep her laughter in. "I'm a week away from beginning my eighth month. And she really likes to be active during the night," I said. "I'm really glad I'm almost done with the part where she's in my stomach."
Renee and Alice burst out laughing.
"Oh, no," Alice moaned.
"What?" I asked.
"Jasper is betting against Edward and Emmett on who can eat the most pieces of cake," Alice said, rolling her eyes.
"Geez, things never change, do they?" I asked, and Alice nodded her head in agreement. Renee, however, looked at me questioningly.
"What do you mean by that, Bella?" she asked.
Alice and I laughed, and then Alice explained. "The boys have been taking bets ever since they learned what it meant. Ever since Bella got pregnant, they've placed a bet on what the sex of the baby would be, and numerous other things. I think they're betting on what Bella is naming her daughter."
Renee raised an eyebrow looking amused, but didn't say anything.
In the end, Jasper ended up winning the bet – he had five pieces of the really sugary cake that Esme and Alice had baked. Needless to say, he didn't feel too great afterward. Alice and I just rolled our eyes and chuckled when he announced that he now had a stomachache. Currently, Alice was trying to wheedle the baby's name out of me.
"Come on, I promise I won't say a word to anyone," she pleaded.
I shook my head. "No, Alice. Remember what happened the last time when you promised that you would keep the secret that I was pregnant? You ended up telling Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie over breakfast."
Alice grinned sheepishly. "That was one time. I promise that I won't tell anyone."
Once again, I shook my head with finality. "Not a chance. I'm not risking telling you my daughter's name, lest you tell everybody. You're going to have to wait until she's born."
"Alright, fine. I guess you have a point. I guess I wouldn't tell anyone what my child's name was going to be. It is a girl's name isn't it?" she asked. I laughed and nodded.
A couple hours later, the baby shower ended when Renee and Phil said that they needed to get back to their hotel; they had an early flight heading back down to Florida. Charlie had to go down to the station for a few hours, until the night guard showed up. He left, telling me that he would be home around 7:30.
Currently, I was back at Charlie's house, sitting on the padded whicker couch. Edward was sitting next to me, arm wrapped around my shoulder. My head was leaning against his chest and I was in a very comfy position at that moment. We were just sitting there, not saying anything, enjoying each other's company.
"Edward?" I asked, looking up at him.
"Yes?" he asked, looking down at me.
"I want to thank you guys for the baby shower today. You don't know how much it means to me," I said.
He chuckled. "Bella, Bella. You don't have to say thank you. We already know how grateful you are."
"But I still want to say thank you. I don't think I could have afforded any of the stuff."
Edward grinned and said, "I know."
"Now I have to figure out what to do with everything. I don't want to just leave everything in your living room. That wouldn't be fair to you guys," I said.
"Oh, don't worry about that. We have everything taken care of," he said. I looked up at him, and I saw that he was grinning to himself. I wondered what he was thinking about, but I didn't ask him.
I flipped open my phone to see the time. It glowed the time back out at me: 5:12 p.m. Closing it and placing it on the cushion next to me, I said, "Do you know what I would love right now?"
"Nope, I don't. What would it be?" Edward asked.
"Pop-tarts," I said, gazing off into space, dreaming about the heavenly sounding craving.
"Pop-tarts, huh?" he asked.
"What? I'm hungry. And this little baby is demanding Pop-tarts. I think there's a box of chocolate Pop-tarts on top of the fridge."
He laughed and stood up. I tried to stand up as well, but ended up needing help. I held out my hands for Edward and he laughed again, pulling me up to my feet.
We sat at the kitchen table a couple minutes later, each enjoying chocolate Pop-tarts.
"So, what's the name for the baby?" Edward asked.
I looked at him and sighed. "Why does everyone insist on knowing the name for my baby?"
He grinned. "Because everybody is excited about the baby, and since we know that it's a girl, then we've wanted to know what name you've decided on." He turned his dazzling smile on me, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist – his smile was yet again making my heart stop for a split second.
I sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you. But you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."
Edward put a hand to his chest and puffed out his chest, putting on a mock serious look. "Will do. Now what is it?"
I giggled. "The name I've chosen is Elizabeth Jamie Marie Swan."
Edward tilted his head to the side for a moment before saying, "I like it. It suits her."
I nodded, smiling. "Elizabeth seemed to think so. I said the name out loud and she kicked me as if to say she liked the name."
Edward grinned.
When he finished his Pop-tart a few minutes later, Edward said that he needed to go. "I said that I would help Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie with something. Do you mind being here by yourself?" he asked as I walked him to the door.
I rolled my eyes. "I'll be fine, Edward. Charlie's going to be home in a couple hours anyway."
"Alright. I'll call you later," he said. His lips captured mine and I melted into the kiss.
I giggled into the kiss and then broke away, placing a hand on my stomach. "You like to intervene whenever I kiss Edward, don't you little girly?" I asked, looking down at my stomach.
Edward laughed and placed his hand on top of mine. "I have a feeling that she's going to be active when she's older."
"I don't think so. One of the things she has probably inherited from me is my clumsiness. Isn't that right, Lizzy?" I asked, patting the top of my stomach. Elizabeth just kicked in response. I giggled and looked back up at Edward. "See you."
He grinned and kissed me again, this time getting away with it. "See you."
And with that, he walked out the door. I closed it behind him and traveled up the stairs to my bedroom, thinking about a nice long nap.
Author's Note:
And so concludes another chapter. Don't worry - that wasn't the end of the story. That was just the end of that chapter. How did you all like it? The baby shower part was written on paper, and I had to revise a couple things in it. I'm not that good writing on paper... And I hope that the part after the baby shower was a good enough B/E fluff scene for all you people who love fluff.
Next Chapter: Bella moves in to the apartment, and someone finally finds out about her pregnancy. Who will it be? The next chapter should be out tomorrow hopefully. Remember to Review! Until Next Time: NerdyGuRu2
