I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I was having trouble with the dialogue in this chapter so I am sorry, again, if it's not the best.
Chapter 36- The Baby- Bella POV
"Thank you, Bella. Now, what is it that's bothering you?" Edward asked.
"I was just think about my father. I want to see him but I can't." I told him. He looked confused.
"Why? He knows you're alive. He's heard people talking about seeing you. Everyone in town knows that you we're found alive. Besides you have seen him since we found you." Edward said.
"Yes, I know. What am I going to say to him though? 'Hi, daddy. I know I haven't seen you in a while but I wanted to stop by. By the way, I'm getting married to Edward and we adopted two kids.'" I questioned of him.
"Oh, right." Edward said quietly.
"Exactly, I miss him but I can't do that to him. I think it's better if I just don't see him." I said.
"What if I go with you? You know I'll be there for you the whole time. " Edward replied.
"I thought of that already. If you go he'll try to shot you. What will he think when the bullet bounces back off you?" I asked almost jokingly.
"Oh, I see what you mean. Well what if I go, and we make sure he can't shot me?" Edward asked.
"How would we do that?" I asked.
"Bella, sometimes I feel like I know you better than you know yourself. Can't you control him with your powers?" Edward asked.
"Oh, I forgot." I whispered embarrassed. I always seemed to forget about my powers when they were actually useful.
"Besides, I'll know what he's thinking. If he's under control you don't even have to use your powers. I'll just nudge you if you have to control him." Edward said.
"Alright. When do you want to go?" I asked.
"How long are you willing to wait. I mean, we can go tomorrow but I don't really want to leave Alicia with anyone yet. So, we can go today if you want." Edward said.
"I don't want to leave her either. I just don't know if I'm ready today." I said. I was getting nervous now.
"I'll be there with you, my love." Edward responded gently in my ear. He always knew what to say because just like that my body relaxed, and I leaned against him.
We called Jasper and Alice's house at 9 in the morning. Jasper answered the phone and said he would be happy to baby-sit Elizabeth for us.
We dropped her off at Alice's house, and went got in our car. We decided on taking the Mercedes because it wasn't as showy as the other cars.
By the time we pulled up to my old house I was panicking.
"Bella, love, look at me." I did as he said. I looked straight into his eyes and immediately felt calmer.
"It's going to be fine. Calm down." He told me gently while I looked helplessly into his brilliant golden eyes.
I nodded my head taking a few deep breaths. I waited in the car taking more breaths, that I didn't actually need, while Edward opened my car door. He gave me his hand as I stepped out. We walked hand in hand to the door.
I knocked softly. I was hoping the Charlie wasn't home even though I had seen his car in the driveway when we pulled up.
My dad opened the door but his eyes were trained on the TV not on the door where Edward and I stood.
When he turned to see who was there, he received the shock of his life. Here I was standing at his door after not seeing him for months. It had seemed so much shorter but somehow the days all meshed into one and now here I stood.
He opened his mouth and closed it wordlessly, and then he shocked me by hugging me tightly against him. He didn't hug people often so the gesture was extremely comforting to me.
He had missed me. He missed me severely. I smiled and had I not been a vampire tears would be flowing down from my eyes right now but all that escaped from me was the cries of my dry sobbing.
He pulled away from me, and I saw tears swelling and overflowing from his eyes. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room where I sat on the couch beside Edward.
I looked at my father as he sat down in his chair. He was reaching for the remote to the TV. He turned it off which I had never seen him do before. If someone came over he left the TV on but on mute. Never had he shut it off completely though.
I smiled at my father. "Hi, Dad." I said trying to stay calm. My father stared at me for a second before answering. He probably thought he was hallucinating.
"Bella, I can't believe it. Is it really you?" He asked gently, his voice wavering slightly.
"Yes, it is. Dad I'm so sorry. I didn't know how to face you, and the last time I came home you left without a word." I said surprised that I could actually get it out.
"I know, Bella. I'm so sorry for that. I don't know how to explain it to you but I just couldn't handle it." Charlie whispered.
"I understand." I told him.
"Bella, is something wrong?" Charlie asked as he looked at my face.
"No, nothing at all. In fact, I have some things I wanted to tell you." I said.
"Please, go ahead." Charlie whispered. I saw him tense slightly though, and I was wondering what he was thinking as he stared daggers at Edward.
Edward reached for my hand carefully, slowly. I held his tight for support. I turned to see Edward before continuing.
"Well, Edward and I are going to get married." I told Charlie softly.
Charlie nodded his head as if expecting it. "I figured that would happen. You too have loved each other for as long as I can remember. I'm happy for you." He said. I looked at him slightly shocked. I didn't expect it to go over this well.
"There's more." I told him quietly.
He nodded his head as if to tell me to continue.
"We'll we bought a house together, and we adopted two daughters. Their names are Elizabeth and Alicia. Both of them have the same parents. Their parents died the other day in a car accident. Elizabeth is 5 and Alicia is a newborn." I told him watching his expression as I told him the information.
"Don't you think that you are a bit young to be taking all of this on? I mean, Bella you never even got to graduate high school when you disappeared. You still have to make up your studies, and Edward did you graduate?" Charlie responded.
Edward spoke for the first time, "Charlie, Bella is going back to school in the coming year to finish her senior year. I've already had it worked out. She'll only have to make up her last few months. I've hired a teacher from the school to finish the work with her at home."
Charlie nodded and Edward continued, "I also will be finishing my schoolwork. When Bella disappeared I was lost, and I missed the same information as her. We'll get our diplomas together. As to our children, Alice and Jasper said they will watch them while we are taught at night."
"It seems you have it all worked out." Charlie said.
"I assure you we do." Edward responded maturely.
"I would say congratulations are in order then. Would you like to go out for lunch?" Charlie asked.
"Actually, Dad, we have plans to go out with Edward's family and the Hale's but I'd love it if you could join us." I told him lovingly.
"That sounds wonderful. I haven't seen them in a while." Charlie replied.
"Do you want us to meet you or would you like us to pick you up?" I asked him.
"I'll just meet you there. Where are we going?" Charlie asked.
"To the restaurant that you took me to as a child. We'll meet there at 12:30." I told him.
"Alright, I'll see you two there." Charlie said. Edward and I stood up and walked towards the door.
As we walked up to the door, Edward pulled away. "I'll meet you in the car in a minute." He said when I looked at him questioningly.
I nodded and continued to the car. I waited for about 5 minutes before I saw the front door open and Edward walk out.
He got in the driver's seat, and I turned to look at him. "What was that about?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing." Edward said. I gave up and looked ahead of the car. Edward drove extremely fast because neither of us could get hurt. We made it home in about 10 minutes. It would take a normal person 20 minutes to get to our house from Charlie's. Edward pulled into the garage, and then we went to Alice's.
We walked there hand in hand. Edward turned to me before we reached their door and kissed me. He pulled me around the side of their house.
"I love you, Bella." he whispered in my ear.
"I love you, too." I said breathlessly. He kissed my lips softly, meaningfully. He enhanced the kiss making it more desperate.
Slowly, we pulled away. We walked happily to the door. Edward rang the doorbell and turned to look at me. He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear smiling.
"Hello!" We heard from the doorway. We turned to see a very chipper Alice staring at us.
"Hi, Alice." Edward said in an annoyed voice. We walked in past her. When we stepped into the living room Jasper was playing completing a puzzle with Elizabeth.
It was the cutest thing. They both looked up at us. "Hello." I said. Elizabeth came running to me, and Jasper stood up.
I grabbed Elizabeth in my arms and hugged her turning to see Edward laughing at Jasper.
"Edward, you just keep laughing. You'll be the one doing puzzles with her later." I said mentally to him. He stopped laughing immediately turning to look at me.
"Ouch, what'd she say to make you stop laughing?" Jasper asked Edward jokingly.
Edward might be mature but when he was near Emmett or Jasper his maturity level seemed to decrease by a significant amount. Normally, Edward would've been happy to trade places with Jasper.
Edward was completely different around them, though. I guess he felt more manly that way. I loved him either way.
All I cared about was that he was loving to me and our children. We stayed at Alice's and Jasper's house until 11:30 so that we had enough time to go home and get ready.
We got Elizabeth dressed because she was still in her pajamas. After, we grabbed what we would need for when we got Alicia later.
At 12, we left for the restaurant with Jasper and Alice. We got there at 12:20. We saw Esme and Carlisle already sitting at a table with Mr. and Mrs. Hale. The only ones not there yet were Rosalie, Emmett, and Charlie.
We joined them at the table. Everyone said hello to Elizabeth as we sat down. You could feel the excitement bouncing off of me and Alice. Edward and I had told Alice in the car that we wanted her to be Alicia's godmother and Jasper the godfather.
She had invited herself to come to the hospital with us but I didn't mind. Having Alice with us would only make it better.
Charlie came at 12:25, and said hello to everyone. He hadn't seen most of them since my disappearance.
Rosalie and Emmett were late coming at 12:40. Rosalie walked up to the table embarrassed for being so late I imagined. Emmett was laughing at Rosalie.
She turned to him and slapped him. He held his face where he had received the hit and complained.
"Emmett, you deserved that." I told him.
"Thanks, Bella. If you're going to be my sister I expect you to stick up for me!" Emmett complained again.
"Alice doesn't stick up for you." I said confusedly. Alice smiled at me.
"You learn over time that he's always wrong, and you stop sticking up for him." Alice said laughing. I laughed gently.
The table burst into talking, and I turned to Elizabeth. "What do you want to eat, darling?" I asked.
"Can I have macaroni and cheese?" she asked. I nodded my head. I turned back to a table quietly admiring us.
"You're already such a good mother." Esme told me sincerely. I smiled, embarrassed.
"Thank you." I said quietly. Edward held my hand under the table. He gently rubbed my thumb comfortingly.
We ordered our food and drinks.
"Bella, when are you going to get Alicia?" Mrs. Hale asked me.
"We are going to the hospital after lunch. We can't bring her home until 4, though." I responded.
"You must be so thrilled." Esme said joining the conversation.
"We are." I said looking at Edward who was talking to Emmett and Jasper. Charlie was entranced in a conversation with Carlisle. Rose and Alice were having a conversation on fashion.
"How's Edward handling everything?" Mrs. Hale questioned.
"He's fantastic. You did a fabulous job bring him up, Esme." I said.
"Thank you, Bella." Esme said.
"I hope I can do just as well." I said.
"You will." Esme and Mrs. Hale told me kindly. I smiled at them thankfully. Our food came right after that.
When everyone was finished the waiter brought the bill. I grabbed it from him before anyone else could.
I pulled out one hundred dollar bill and a fifty and slipped it into the holder handing it back to the waiter.
No one noticed I had already paid because they were having too many conversations to notice. I knew that Edward and Alice were the only two to hear him come up but they didn't say anything.
Considering Edward's money was mine he had no need to complain, and Alice's physic abilities got us the money in the first place.
When the plates were cleared, everyone looked around. I imagined they were looking for the bill. Alice and Edward smiled watching them as did I.
"They never brought the bill over." Carlisle stated what everyone was thinking.
"We took care of it." Edward said to them. I smiled at Edward.
"Edward, why would you pay we were taking you out to celebrate. It's not fair that you pay for your own celebration." Esme said.
"Yes, it is. We invited you all to lunch." Edward responded. Everyone looked around uncomfortably for a minute before excepting it and standing up.
"Who is going with you to the hospital, Bella?" Esme asked curiously.
"Anyone who wants to. Jasper and Alice are definitely coming." I responded. Esme nodded her head.
"Well, Carlisle is working but I'd love to come." Esme said happily. After a few minutes, it was decided that Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme were going to join us. Charlie, Carlisle, Mr. and Mrs. Hale all had to get to work. They had taken half days to join us.
Esme cam in the car with Edward and I. Alice and Jasper and Emmett and Rose went in their individual cars.
We met at the main door to go in. It was only 3, though, and we couldn't pick Alicia up until 4.
While we were waiting I saw Jake walk in. He caught my eye and smiled lightly. I walked over to him. Edward waited with everyone else.
I knew he'd be watching me but I was happy enough that he trusted me to talk to him after the mess from last time.
Jake outstretched his arms and enveloped me. In his right hand he held a bouquet of flowers. I eyed them carefully.
"For my sister." Jake said in return to my gaze.
"How is she doing?" I asked cautiously.
"Better. A surgeon offered to do her surgery for free, you wouldn't happen to have any idea about that, do you?" Jake asked knowingly.
I smiled a sly smile. "I have no idea what you are referring to Jacob Black." I said innocently. It was too innocent, though.
"Thank you, Bella." Jake said as he hugged me again.
"It's no problem, Jake." I replied.
"So, what are you doing here?" Jake questioned.
"Today is the day that we get to take Alicia home. We adopted the two girls from the accident the other day." I told him carefully.
"That's wonderful, Bella. I'm so happy for you." Jake said meaningfully.
"Yes, we are very excited. That's Elizabeth, next to Edward." I told him pointing to her. Jake looked over and smiled at Elizabeth who was talking to Edward at the moment.
"She's beautiful, Bella. How's it feel to be a mom?" He asked.
"I love it, Jake. I truly do. It's an incredible feeling." I told him honestly. He laughed softly and smiled at me.
"I'm going to go up to my sister's room. Do you think you could stop by? She wants to thank you and Edward." Jake asked.
"Sure, we'll be up in a few minutes." I told Jake.
"Alright, no rush." Jake replied.
I walked back to where Edward was seated with Elizabeth and everyone else. Edward patted his lap, and I sat down. He gave me a kiss.
"Jake's sister wants us to go up and visit her. She wants to thank us for the 'free' surgery." I told Edward quietly.
"Are we going up now?" Edward asked.
"Let's give Jake a few minutes with his sister first." I said.
After a while of quiet talking to Elizabeth and Esme I stood up to go up to the room that Jake's sister was in. Edward walked with me holding my hand.
We knocked quietly on the door with her name on it. We heard a faint voice say to come in before we opened the door.
When we walked in we saw Jake and his father sitting with Jake's sister laying in the hospital bed.
"Hello, we never got to meet but I'm Bella." I told her in my melodic voice. Edward walked over and said hello introducing himself as well in a kind voice.
"Thank you so much, Bella and Edward. If it wasn't for you I would be dead." She said and when Jake and his father began to protest she continued, "No matter what they say."
"It was our pleasure." Edward replied, and I agreed. Edward and I looked at the clock and realized it was somehow already 3:45.
"I'm sorry, but we have to go. Hopefully, when you get better we can all get together for dinner or something." I suggested.
"That sounds lovely." Jake's sister, Rebecca, replied.
"Goodbye." I said as I stepped out the door. Edward and I walked back downstairs to see Rose, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Elizabeth, and even Esme practically bouncing in their seats.
Edward and I laughed as we walked towards our family. Together we walked to the nursery where Alicia would be waiting.
When we got there a nurse was waiting with a glowing smile. She pulled Edward and I out from the group and lead us into the room where Alicia was.
I just wanted to let you know that although this chapter is boring, once again, it is all just building up to the climax. So I hope you'll keep reading. :] Oh by the way, this chapter was over 3,300 words!!
Review!!