[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Surprise, surprise, my darling readers. I felt inspired to give you this little epilogue for AOY. Thanks for all the support you've shown me and my story. I can't thank you enough for that.

**38**

It was still blue. The liquid inside the test tube was still a very clear blue without the slightest hint of green in it. Bella lifted the glass higher under the lamp to take a closer look. No, it was still blue. Damn it.

She tossed the test tube in the trash underneath the desk and sighed deeply. As a doctor she had learned to look at things rationally. The average time for a woman her age to conceive was about six month. That meant she technically was only four months past that mark.

The feeling of disappointment still spread through Bella. It tugged on her heart like a huge, unbearable weight.

Her inner struggle was interrupted when the door to the laboratory was pulled open and Dr. Cullen-Platt entered the room. Bella liked Esme a great deal. She was a kind person and an amazing teacher on top of it. At first Bella had been skeptical about spending her Internship in the same hospital where Carlisle and Esme worked.

Being the chief's stepdaughter, or to be a bit more precisely ex-stepdaughter wasn't a label she was too eager to have marked on her.

"Why are you still here?" Esme asked Bella, stepping a bit closer to the young woman. "Your shift was over forty minutes ago."

"I had to check something." Bella mumbled. "But I'll leave now."

Esme shook her head. The girl was working too hard. It was like she was constantly trying to prove it to everyone what a dedicated doctor she was. The years as an Intern weren't easy. She remembered that well enough from her own experience.

"Are you well? You look tired."

"I'm fine. Have you and Carlisle talked to my mother about Edward?"

Esme nodded her head in response. "Renee didn't seem very happy about it, though."

"I think, she should let him allow living at your place when that's what he wants."

"Your mom doesn't agree on this. She seemed hurt when Carlisle suggested it to her."

Bella cleared her throat. "I'll talk to Renee. But now, I really should leave before someone decides to page me again."

Before she went home, desperate for a few hours of sleep, Bella first went to her parent's house. Even after ten years, it still felt thrilled her that Charlie and Renee had remarried. Wasn't that what every child with divorced parents secretly wished for?

Well, things seemed to be working better for Charlie and Renee this time around and Bella was very happy about that.

She killed the engine and walked towards the front door, almost stumbling over the skateboard that was lying on the ground.

"Clarissa?" she called out. "Don't leave your crap everywhere. Someone could-,"

"Hi, Bella!" her little sister greeted her cheerfully, jogging towards her. "I didn't know you were coming to visit us today."

"Is Mom home?" Bella asked, hugging the small girl tightly.

"I think she's in the kitchen. At least it smells like it."

Bella let herself in with her key and wrinkled her nose when the scent of burned onions and something fishy filled the air.

Loud music, coming from upstairs echoed through the house.

"Hello Mom," the young brunette greeted her mother who was standing on the stove.

They hugged and Bella tried not to breathe in too deeply. Renee and cooking didn't go well together. They never had.

"What are you cooking?"

"Salmon, but it's not going well."

"Let me help you." Bella suggested, reducing the heat on the stove. She realized quickly that all hope was lost with the onions. They were black like coal.

"Sweetie, you look tired." Renee stated. "When was the last time you slept?"

Bella's mouth twitched into a smile. "I'm going to crash when I get home. There's no need to worry."

"Good." Renee mumbled, slicing up tomatoes for salad. "God, this noise is driving me insane."

She walked over to the stairs and yelled loudly. "Edward! Edward, turn the music lower!"

When she returned to the kitchen, Renee sighed deeply. "The boy is driving me insane."

Maybe all kids had a tendency to be difficult once they entered puberty. In Eddie's case, or Edward's as the boy preferred to be called now, it had transformed a sweet boy into a hormonal monster. For a moment Bella wondered if she had been like that when she was younger. Probably not, she thought. I never was a typical teenage girl.

"He doesn't listen to me at all." Renee continued her rambling about her adoptive son. "He doesn't talk to me and only gives snappy answers when you ask him a direct question."

"Mom, maybe you should just give Eddie a break. He's fifteen. That's a difficult age for boys."

Renee sighed and went to the fridge to get some soy cheese out. "He wants to live with Carlisle and Esme."

The bitter tone in her mother's voice made it obvious to Bella how much Renee disliked the thought of her son moving in with her ex-husband. The two of them had managed to make it through the divorce process like mature adults. There had barely been hard words or jealously. Both of them had loved each other but found people who matched them better. That was life. Sometimes love wasn't supposed to last a lifetime.

There was only one sensitive subject between them and that was Edward. It was as if Renee and Esme were constantly fighting for the boy's affection.

"Mom, maybe you should let him move in with Carlisle. If it's what he wants."

"What he wants!" Renee snarled, almost cutting her finger instead of the cucumber in front of her. "I can tell you why he wants to live with them."

"And that is why?" Bella asked, adding the sliced up tomatoes in the salad bowl.

"They are barely home, especially at night. He thinks moving there means no rules."

For a few minutes Bella listened to her mother's complains. Having kids wasn't always easy it seemed. Still she wanted to have a baby so badly. Not just any baby but Alice's. If only—

"Bella, honey, you look like you're going to pass out." Renee said. "Go home and try to get some decent sleep. You need it."

Twenty minutes later when Bella parked her car in front of the apartment she shared with her girlfriend, she didn't feel tired anymore. That was something that always happened when she hadn't slept for close to two days. Eventually she got all hyper.

"There you are!" Alice called out, jumping from the couch as soon as Bella opened the door. "I was starting to worry."

Alice wrapped her arms around Bella's waist and pulled her close. "I wanted to call the police."

"A person has to be missing for a whole twenty four hours before you can report them." Bella told her, laughing. Then she lowered her lips to Alice's and kissed her gently.

"I missed you." Bella whispered, letting the tip of her tongue swipe over Alice's upper lip.

Her stomach roared. It had been hours since she had eaten anything. The food Renee had been preparing didn't appeal too much to her.

"Are you hungry? Let me fix you a sandwich."

Bella's eyes moved over Alice's slim legs as she watched her girlfriend get a plate out of the cupboard.

"How was your shift?" Alice asked, spreading some peanut butter on a piece of bread. "You've worked forever."

"I went to see Mom before I came home." Bella explained, pouring herself a glass of milk.

Alice placed the sandwich in front of Bella and planted another quick kiss on her girlfriend's mouth. "Eat up and then you need to sleep."

"You are starting to act like a mommy to me."

The black-haired girl's lips curled into a smile. "I just care about you. These double shifts in the hospital are killing you. When you get pregnant those need to stop."

Bella flinched. She dropped the glass of milk she was holding and made it shatter on the kitchen floor. A moment later she burst out into tears.

"Hey, hey." Alice tried to calm her down again, kneeling down next to Bella's chair. "That was just some IKEA glass."

She reached out her hand and wiped a bit of wetness from underneath Bella's eyes.

"It's not about the stupid glass." Bella sobbed. "I…I made the test today. It was negative again."

"Oh honey," Alice breathed, wrapping her arms around Bella's neck to hold her close to her chest. "Please, don't cry."

Alice rocked Bella back and forth for a few minutes. Then she made Bella eat half of the sandwich before they went upstairs. The small room next to their bedroom was crowded with boxes and a bunch of other stuff. They couldn't wait to put it to its original use again. Maybe they never would, though.

"Let me help you get out of your clothes." Alice stated, unbuttoning Bella's shirt. "You need to sleep."

"It doesn't make me tired, when you are undressing me."

Bella cupped Alice's jaw between her fingers and pulled the girl's mouth to her own lips. She could feel her heartbeat speeding up. Even after all this time that she and Alice had been together, it still made her all tingly whenever Alice's delicate fingers caressed her skin.

"Did you get your period?" Alice asked, running her lips over Bella's collarbone.

"No." Bella mumbled, closing her eyes. She stumbled backwards to the bed, hopping on top of it.

"You didn't have one in three months now."

Bella sighed. What difference did it make whether she had her stupid period or not? Her hormonal circle still hadn't returned to a normal rhythm since she stopped taking the pill. That was perfectly normal.

Alice took off Bella's shoes and pulled down her socks. "Are you sure that you are not pregnant?"

"I'm a doctor. Do you doubt my skills?" Bella asked, leaning her head back against the pillows behind her.

Alice giggled. "I would never dare to do that, Dr. Swan."

"I fucking love it when you call me Dr. Swan."

I know, Alice thought with a grin on her face. She straddled Bella's lap and moved her lips down to the brunette's chest.

"Dr. Swan, I'm going to take really good care of you."

Alice swirled her tongue between the valley of Bella's breasts, caressing the pale flesh tenderly. They seemed a bit bigger to her. No, that couldn't be. Could it? Maybe it was just the bra, Bella was wearing today. Who would expect such fine lace underneath the plain cotton scrubs, she used to wear at the hospital.

Bella moaned softly when Alice's fingers pulled down the stripes of her bra and unclasped it. This was better. She had no idea why the sturdy thing had been so uncomfortable the entire day. It felt like it was too tight somehow.

Maybe she had gained weight from eating too much of the delicious cakes Alice was always bringing home from work.

After two years at a Fashion Academy Alice had realized that she indeed liked designing clothes. What she didn't like was all the bitchiness among the other students. Everything was pretty from the outside but when you took a closer look it was just awfully superficial.

When she had broken the news to her father that she wanted to quit and attend a Culinary School instead, Carlisle hadn't been pleased at first.

But Bella had talked him into being supportive to his daughter's wish. If this was what Alice wanted to do with her life, she should.

"Are you too tired?" Alice asked Bella, nipping gently on one of Bella's nipples. "We can stop."

"I'm never too tired for you." Bella murmured, fisting her hands through Alice's black curls. She liked the short hair. It looked cute on Alice.

"Good," Alice whispered, running her tongue down to Bella's bellybutton. She could feel herself getting hard. Her erection pressed against Bella's thigh.

With a groan, she kissed her way down her lover's stomach, quickly unzipping Bella's pants to push them down together with her panties.

Alice pressed her lips against the inside of Bella's thigh, going higher and higher. When her mouth reached the bare outer lips of Bella's pussy she moaned. Her tongue swirled up and down, teasing the sensitive pearl on top of the wet entrance.

"Please," Bella groaned. "I need you."

"Soon," Alice mumbled, letting the tip of her tongue flatter over Bella's clit. She loved how it pulsed against her tongue.

A moment before a climax rippled through Bella's body, Alice pulled back. As much as she loved making Bella come with her mouth. She wanted to be buried deep inside of her now and feel her tight walls massaging her hardness.

Quickly she tossed down her clothes and kneeled down between Bella's thighs. She rubbed her hard length between the woman's slick folds, coating it in her essence before she pushed it.

"Fuck,"

"Don't curse." Bella moaned, wrapping her legs around Alice's hips. She could feel Alice gliding even deeper inside of her when she did so. God, how much she loved the feeling of having Alice inside her. Baby making or not, she would never get enough of this.

"You feel so fucking good to me." Alice moaned into Bella's ear. "I love you."

"I love you too." Bella answered, lifting her hips up a bit to match Alice's thrust. "I will always love you. Oh fuck,"

"Now, look who's cursing now," Alice teased Bella. Her hand moved between their joined bodies to stroke Bella's clit. It only took both of them minutes to reach their complexion. Maybe it would only be the two of them for the rest of their lives. It would be enough. It had to.

The next day at the hospital Bella found it difficult to concentrate. She still felt awfully tired, despite the seven hours of uninterrupted sleep she had gotten.

"Clamp." Esme's light voice instructed patiently. "No, the smaller one,"

Bella took a deep breathe. She needed to concentrate better.

"Swab."

"Dr. Swan? Bella? Bella!"

For a split second Bella closed her eyes. The sharp scents of blood and antiseptics made her stomach churn. Next thing she felt was how her body made hard contact with the surgical floor of the OR.

When she blinked though her eyelashes a couple of minutes later Esme was sitting next to her on a plastic chair.

"Welcome back."

Bella groaned. Had she really fainted? How embarrassing.

"I'm sorry." she croaked, trying to sit up a bit straighter on the hospital bed. "I don't know how that happened."

Esme laughed. "It's ok. Some of us faint now and then in the OR. It doesn't make you a bad doctor."

"I still feel dizzy."

"Well, then you should lie down a bit more. I already called Alice to come and pick you up."

"No. Why did you do that? She's going to worry about me."

Esme took Bella's hand and squeezed it for a moment. "I need to make sure that you really rest. I don't like the way you're so pale all the time."

"I've always been pale." Bella explained. "And I always had a tendency to low blood pressure. That's probably why I passed out."

Esme nodded. "Maybe or maybe your body is just trying to tell you that it needs a break."

"I don't want a break."

"Oh, sweetie, it doesn't work like this. Just go home for two days. Sleep and relax. It will help you to feel a lot better."

"I already did sleep. I'm always tired, no matter how much sleep I get or don't sleep."

The red-haired doctor raised one eyebrow. Maybe Bella was coming down with something. Young doctors always had a tendency to catch all kind of germs from their patients.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" Esme asked, wrapping her fingers carefully around Bella's wrist to check her pulse.

"I don't know, a few weeks maybe." Bella said. "Please, stop examining me. I'm fine."

"You're worse than Carlisle." Esme chuckled. She pressed her hand against Bella's forehead. No, it didn't seem like Bella was having a fever.

"I've told you I'm fine."

"You're not fine, stop playing it down." Esme demanded. "What other symptoms are you having apart from being tired?"

Bella sighed. She hated being sick more than anything. Catching some stupid flu or something like that was exactly what she needed right now. Damn it.

"I'm just tired…and I gained a bit of weight, my period is late…oh and everything smells much stronger to me. Isn't that weird?"

Esme cleared her throat. For a moment she hesitated. It couldn't be that…it wasn't possible, was it?

"Are you pregnant?"

Bella shook her head. "No, I'm not. I made a test."

"You made a test?" Esme repeated. "Why? I didn't know you and Alice were trying for a baby."

Bella sighed, rubbing her eyes. "We didn't want to tell anyone until it worked. Well, our chances for it to work aren't very big but still."

She crumpled the pillow behind her together to make the bed a bit more comfortable for her. "Alice suggested we could use a donor. But I don't want some stranger's child."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Alice rushed in, sitting down at the edge of the bed. "Honey, are you well? Esme, is she okay?"

"I'm just about to find out about. Bella, when was the last time you had your period?"

"February," Alice answered instead of Bella.

"That's three months ago. Are you sure that you aren't pregnant?"

"She made a test."

"I made a test." Bella repeated. "I made four tests. They were all negative."

Esme smiled kindly while she put a bit of disinfectant spray on Bella's arm. "I'll have your blood examined. That way we'll know for sure."

While Bella and Alice waited for Esme to return with the test result, Alice had started playing around with Bella's hair.

"I took the rest of the day off to take care of you. There's a delicious raspberry cream waiting in our fridge for you."

Alice leaned forward and kissed Bella. "I love you. Please, don't faint again. I was really worried when Esme called me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't have to be." Alice assured her. "Just promise me to take better care of yourself in the future."

"I will. I promise."

Esme entered the room again, followed by Carlisle who was pushing one of the portable ultrasonic devices with him.

"Hi Dad," Alice greeted her father. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry." Esme mumbled. "He was there when I picked up your test results in the laboratory and overheard me talking to the nurse there."

"Carlisle, that's none of your business." Bella whispered. "It's just between Alice and me whether we want to—,"

"I assure you, Bella that my grandchild is my business. Now, lay back and let me do an ultrasound."

The gel he squirted on her flat stomach was cold. Why was he doing that? It was completely unnecessary. For a moment everything Bella could focus on was the unpleasantly coldness underneath her navel.

Then she raised her head to the tiny computer screen at the side of the ultrasound.

"There we have it. Looks like you're about thirteen weeks now."

"Oh Bella," Alice sobbed next to her, rubbing her tear-covered face against Bella's shoulder. "We're really going to have a baby. I can't believe it."

Bella's mouth fell open. "But what about the test I made? They were negative."

"Hormones are a complicated thing." Carlisle explained. "Sometimes the level of pregnancy hormones in a woman's urine isn't high enough to make the test work."

Esme cleared her throat and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "We should give the two of them a bit of privacy."

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Maybe, we should." He sighed deeply and kissed Alice on her forehead. "I'm happy for you, sweetie."

They walked out, leaving Alice and Bella on their own.

"Let me get this gel from your stomach before it ruins your shirt." Alice mumbled, grabbing a paper towel.

"I can't believe I didn't notice I'm pregnant. I mean what kind of doctor am I?"

"An excellent one," Alice told her, lowering her mouth to Bella's abdomen. "Hello baby."

She turned her head upwards to Bella. "Can she hear me?"

"She?"

"Well, I mean it. Can it hear me?"

"I think so." Bella whispered, stroking gently over Alice's face. "God, I love you so much."

"I love you." Alice stated. She jumped from the bed and leaned down to lift up her handbag from the floor. "Are you hungry? I brought some cranberry cookies with me."

She placed the plastic box on Bella's lap. The aroma of vanilla and fruit entered Bella's nose. God, she was going to end up as a whale by the time this baby would be born.

With a sigh, she lifted the first of the cookies to her lips. Then she noticed something small and golden lying between the cookies in the box. She coughed, barely managing to swallow the piece she was chewing.

"I wanted to ask you on our anniversary last month." Alice explained. "But then I kind of chickened out again."

Bella took the small gold ring between her fingers. It was pretty, a plain gold with a little heart-shaped emerald on top of it.

"You want to marry me?"

"I love you. We're going to be family."

Alice voice cracked when she continued. She had wanted to ask Bella this question for a very long time. Bella was the love of her life. Alice was sure about that.

"Bella Swan, do you want to marry me?"

Alice took the ring from Bella's hand and slowly pushed it up her girlfriend's ring finger. "Please say something. You're making me nervous here."

"Yes." Bella whispered. "Yes, I want to marry you. Oh, Alice."

They kissed and Bella pulled Alice on top of her on the narrow hospital bed. "I love you." Alice mumbled, kissing Bella's mouth tenderly. "I love both of you so much."

"Do you want to get married before or after the baby is born?" Bella asked, wrapping her arms a bit tighter around Alice.

"Depends on how quickly I'll manage to organize everything. Do you want a big wedding? You do want a big wedding, right? Please, say yes! I always wanted a big wedding."

Bella caressed Alice's hair. It was difficult to hold Alice back when she was getting passionate about something. Bella didn't have the heart to tell her no, even when the thought of a big wedding made her nervous. She hated being the center of attention.

"Whatever makes you happy, my darling."

"Really? That's great."

Alice kissed Bella until both of them were panting breathless. "You're going to make me hard when we keep going."

"I'm sorry." Bella mumbled against Alice's throat. "We can safe that for when we are home."

"Are you allowed to leave?"

Bella sighed, pulling Alice close for another tender kiss. "I'm just pregnant and not sick. Come on. Let's go home. We have a nursery and a wedding to prepare."