Family
"I'll be your shoulder when you need someone to lean on.
Be your shelter.
When you need someone to see you through.
I'll be there to carry you.
I'll be there.
I'll be the rock that will be strong for you.
The one that will hold on to you.
When you feel that rain falling down.
When there's nobody else around.
I'll be."
I'll Be- Reba McEntire
Mood Music: I'll Be by Reba McEntire, Lullaby by Jack Johnson, Yours by Dizmas.
"Mommy!"
Alice's excitement is contagious and Bella can hear more than see the small girl wiggling in Edward's arms. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she looks over at her daughter smiling softly.
"Hi sweetie."
Edward sets her down, probably before he drops her, and he chuckles as the small girl launches herself into the bed and curls up next to Bella. She leans down placing a small kiss on Alice's forehead before looking up at Edward.
"Where is Emmett?"
"He is in the waiting room with Jasper. I wanted to give you two a few minutes to reconnect before I brought him in."
Bella looks at him for a moment a myriad of emotions filling her system. She isn't sure if it is because of everything that has happened or the fact that she is pregnant, but she is all over the place. The annoyance and anger she feels is unexpected.
"He should be in here with his family Edward." Bella snaps at him as she runs her hand through Alice's hair and the small girl giggles.
Edward looks at her for a moment and his eyebrow raises in question, most likely because of her response. "If you don't want a minute I can go get him." His voice is quiet as if he is afraid of saying the wrong thing.
She can feel the tears filling her eyes and spilling over before she even realizes she is upset. He lets out a gentle sigh before leaving the room. A moment later she hears the padding of feet and feels the bed shift.
"Bells!" Emmett is tugging on her blanket, a stuffed teddy bear in his hands and a huge smile on his face. "Ali and I got you a present." He holds the bear out to her tenderly and she takes it from his hands.
"Thank you sweetie."
Emmett studies Alice for a moment before a subtle pout makes its way onto his face.
"What's wrong honey?" Bella reaches down and runs a hand through his hair and the frown deepens on his face. Emmett looks over at his father for a moment before looking down at her blanket.
"Alice has a mommy to take care of her and I don't."
--
"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" Edward runs his hand through his hair in frustration as he plops down in the chair next to her. Jasper had just taken the children home for the night promising not to spoil them too badly.
"You're really asking me that?" Bella questioned him, the shock clearly evident in her voice.
"I understand that you are upset about something, I'm just not sure what. I'm not a mind reader Bella; if something is bothering you then you need to tell me."
"Fine, I think you handled today poorly." Bella huffed indignantly.
"And what prey tell did I do wrong?"
"What didn't you do wrong?" she muttered under her breath.
Edward lets out a low growl and Bella realizes that he heard her clearly, she looks up to see an annoyed look on her face and stubbornly she hardens her features as well.
"You don't mean that," Edward mumbles "you're just being hormonal."
Bella can feel the anger building and her mouth opens in shock. He looks at her for a moment before softly lowering his head and sighing. They sit for a moment staring at each other before his features soften and he looks defeated.
"I'm trying to do my best here Bella. When I'm at the hospital I feel like I am neglecting Emmett and Alice and when I am with them I feel like I should be here with you. This isn't easy for me and if I did something to upset you, I'm sorry. Please, please, tell me what is bothering you so that I can make it right."
"Other than the fact that I am and I quote 'just being hormonal.'" There is an edge to her tone and it only takes her a moment to realize how bitchy she is sounding. Tears fill her eyes and she leans her head back throwing her arm over her face to cover her eyes.
"Great and now you're crying." He whispers getting out of the chair and crawling into the bed with her. "I know losing two months of your life isn't an easy thing to accept, but it happened. The only thing that truly matters is that you and the baby are alright, don't you see that?"
"It's not that," she whimpers as the tears begin to fall down her face. "I mean I am upset about that, but that isn't what has me upset right now." She looks at him for a moment before letting a small chuckle escape her lips. "I'm sorry I'm so emotional."
"Its fine," he replies softly "please just tell me what is wrong."
"You don't think of us as a family."
He pulls back to look at her for a moment, confusion clearly evident on his face. "What would make you think that?"
"You left Emmett in the waiting room!"
"So you could have some time alone with Alice."
"I understand that and I love Alice but how do you think that looked to Emmett?" Bella questioned softly. "It wasn't fair of you to only bring one of them in and leave the other in the waiting room. He practically launched himself at me when he got in here and he was so excited." She took a deep breath and placed her hand on her belly as she continued to speak.
"We have another child on the way and I think that there are some issues that we need to discuss. We need to treat all three of our children the same. We can't be showing favoritism or it's going to cause an irreparable rift between them."
Edward placed his hand on her belly and gently rubbed it as he looked at her a small smile on his face. "Our children, huh?"
"Yes," she smiled softly at him "our children. I know Emmett isn't my biological child but that doesn't mean that I don't love him and I know that you love Alice. If we are truly going to make this work then there are going to have to be some changes because I don't feel like we are a cohesive family. Did you not hear his comment about not having a mother; did you not see the look on his face as he spoke those words?"
"I saw it," Edward frowned, his hand reaching up and tugging at his hair for a moment. "And it broke my heart."
"I want us to be a family, Edward. I want Emmett to feel like he has me in his life and Alice to feel like she has you in hers. I don't want there to be tension or strife. I don't want to feel like I can't speak up if Emmett is misbehaving and I don't want you to feel like you can't speak up if Alice is. I want him to be my son in whatever capacity you are willing and I want you to be a father figure for Alice."
He looked up at her for a moment before pulling her to him and kissing her lips softly. "You are pretty amazing and I would be honored to be there for Alice and for you to be there for Emmett. I'm sure that it isn't going to be the easiest transition, and there is a lot for us to talk about, but I'm willing to do it for all of us, for our family."
Tears filled her eyes and Bella sighed laughing slightly as she wiped them away. "I promise these are happy ones not sad ones."
Edward chuckled softly as he lay next to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. Edward picked up the teddy bear lying next to him and placed it on her stomach causing her to smile.
"That was a nice move by the way."
"What?"
"The teddy bear from the kids," Bella looked at him smiling.
"It was from the kids!"
"I'm sure they came up with the idea all on their own as well."
Edward chuckled and blushed. "They picked the bear out."
"Uh huh."
--
Bella wasn't sure how long she had been asleep for but the gentle knock at the door brought her out of her dream and into the present. Edward was resting beside her, his mouth open and a soft snore escaping his lips.
"Bella?"
She rolled gently to the side, her hand on her stomach to steady herself and looked towards the door.
"Dr. Cullen you can come in."
"Please Bella, call me Carlisle," he spoke softly as he approached her bed. Sitting in the chair beside the bedside he looked over her shoulder for a moment. "He has been so worried about you."
"I know."
"He truly does love you."
"I love him too, Carlisle, more than you can imagine." Her voice broke with emotion and she saw him smile softly in response.
"I can tell." His eyes were distant for a moment before looking down at her and smiling. "I'm happy you two found each other."
There was a comfortable silence between them for a moment as Bella took in what he was saying.
"I'm actually here to talk about the upcoming birth of this little one, though. Normally I would let him sleep but we should probably wake Edward up for this."
Carlisle gently shook him awake before retaking his position on the chair.
"I'm here because I have some concerns that I feel I should discuss with you two before we continue on any treatment or birthing paths."
"What's wrong dad?" Edward asked his voice deeper after just being woken up.
"We're not quite sure how Bella's heart is going to handle the birth." He cleared his throat as he looked up into Bella's eyes. "How set are you on a natural childbirth?"
"I just want what is going to be best for the baby."
"And safest for you," Edward interjected quickly. "If natural birth will put Bella or the baby in danger then the obvious choice would be to have a cesarean section."
"Is that alright with you Bella?"
"If it is what is best for the baby, then yes."
"Alright," Carlisle checked something off on his list before looking up once again. "Now onto the question of when we should schedule this. I think it is in the best interest of all involved it we do it sooner rather than later."
"Isn't it better to wait until I am full term though?" Bella questioned.
"You are eight and a half months along, Bella." Carlisle answered "Medically we define full term as carrying the baby thirty five to forty weeks. Therefore in a medical sense you have carried to full term. The baby will be fully developed and fully functional outside of the womb if that is your concern."
"That was my concern," she replied softly as she processed everything Carlisle was telling her.
"I can book the surgical room for Monday. That is five days from now. Is this alright with the both of you?"
"The sooner the better," Edward replied his hands resting around her on her belly as he talked to his father. "Will you be doing the surgery or will another doctor?"
"Due to our concerns about her heart handling everything, there will be three doctors in the surgery room. I will be watching her vitals; another will be performing the surgery, the third will be administering the regional anesthetic. We feel a regional anesthetic will be better than a general anesthetic as this will be easier on her heart."
"Edward will be allowed in the room?" Bella questioned, concerned that he would miss it.
"Yes," Carlisle smiled "the entire time. Does everything we discussed sound alright with you?"
"Yes." Bella answered as Edward nodded behind her.
"I will get the ball rolling then," Carlisle got up and hugged her softly before tapping Edward lovingly on the shoulder.
"In five days I'm going to be a mother again." Bella replied turning her head to look at Edward.
"And I will be a daddy again." The smile on his face said it all.
We're getting closer to the birth! I'm looking for recommendations for a baby name (girl of course)… I will not be using Renesmee! If you have a name you would like to submit let me know either through a PM, email, or in your review! I want something unique and with a special meaning. I have a few names picked out but am not crazy about them I would love to hear your suggestions!
Thanks to all of you who reviewed or added this story to your alerts or favorites! I'm amazed by the response this story has gotten, you guys are awesome!
Check out the thread for this story on Twilighted! Also check out my ff forum. Both links are located in my profile!