Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns these characters and the awesomeness that is Twilight! I'm just subjecting them to my fun little schemes.

Chapter 51

The afternoon went much better for Bella and after telling her more details about Jake, Leah, and the weekend, Alice headed home for a much needed nap. The kids were super wound up and Bella had a feeling it was because they got extra sleep the night before. Kaley was her usual ball of energy but even Robby seemed to be bouncing off the walls. Bella had been counting the hours until five, though Edward had stopped by around one o'clock. It was nice seeing him but she felt like he was distracted, which he probably was. His job meant he was looking out for a lot of different people.

What had confused her the most was him telling her they were visiting his parents that evening. Usually, that was something that Bella would set up, discussing with Esme what they would help each other cook for dinner. Today, though, something was up. She hadn't been brought into the planning process of it and he was way too distracted with work to have been worrying about those details. She refrained from calling Esme, figuring if she needed help she would call. Bella didn't want to bug her at work.

So, the afternoon dragged, and by five o'clock she could hardly contain herself. This had nothing to do with going to visit her in-laws, she just really missed her husband. He came in, and to her surprise, carried a bouquet of yellow carnations. Her jaw dropped. He was a very sweet man, but he had never been the bring home flowers type of guy. Kaley managed to say exactly what she was thinking, "They're gorgeous!"

Edward walked over to Bella, then, kissing her gently and handing her the flowers. When he pulled away, he whispered, "I love you."

Those three little words had been so overused but for whatever reason, this time it felt different. It felt more meaningful. "I love you, too."

Following him out, they strapped the kids into the Volvo and headed for his parents. As it turned out, her husband had another trick up his sleeve. "Wait here, I'll be right back." Bella watched him in confusion as he got both of the kids out and walked them to the door. He kissed Kaley, and gave Robby a little high five before saying something to Esme and heading back to Bella.

"Edward, what the hell..."

"We have dinner reservations," he said simply, Bella just stared at him, not knowing what to say.

Finally after many long minutes, Bella looked down at her white shorts and blue tank top, not exactly attire for a dinner you needed reservations for. "I'm under dressed."

"You look perfect. This isn't the Ritz, Bells. I just called to reserve us an outside table," he said with a smile, pulling into a cute old-fashioned looking restaurant. There were little water fountains and fake ponds with large orange fish and flowers that hung down from a wooden porch roof. The tables had small oil burning candles and was covered with an umbrella to keep the sun off of it occupants.

After the woman, dressed in a white apron and an old-fashioned dress led them to their table, Bella finally found words. "You didn't need to do this..."

"Yes. I did. Bella, I feel like I've messed up somewhere and I don't know what I did. You aren't happy..."

"That's not true. I'm very happy," Bella protested.

"Not like you used to be. Not like you were when we first met."

"Yeah and now that I've been working and taking care of two kids, I'm less energetic," Bella replied, feeling slightly offended.

"I didn't mean to upset you. I wanted to take you out tonight, just the two of us, and try to be the way we were before. Remember when we first met? I remember staring at you for hours. I would wait by the window for you to come out and then find an excuse to go out and join you."

"Stalk much?" Bella asked with a laugh.

"Jake was right in not wanting to let you go. You're beautiful, Bella." She didn't know what he expected her to say but she looked down at her plate, her appetite suddenly disappearing. She wanted to ask him what the problem was, why he barely touched her over the past week. "Please talk to me, love."

Shaking her head, Bella sighed. She decided to just ask him about the lack of physical contact but instead she heard herself say, "I miss you."

His head shot up from looking down at his own plate, "What do you mean? We just got back from vacation and we visited with your parents..."

"No. Not like, 'I haven't seen you in forever' missing you. I mean...you know..." Bella began to blush and found for the first time since she found out she was pregnant that she wished she could drink. Some liquid courage would have been nice right about now.

Edward was looking at her with a blank expression and finally, she lowered her voice and just blurted it out. "Sex. I miss having sex with you."

If she hadn't been so upset, she would have laughed over Edward's expression. His mouth opened slightly and he shut it before opening it again. It was as if he was trying to remember how to talk. Finally, after much effort, he just simply asked, "What?"

Bella glanced around and when she was satisfied that no one was listening in, she kept her voice down and asked, "So what is it? The weight gain? The throwing up? The baggier clothes..."

"Stop. Right now. Just stop. Back up a second," he said, holding a hand up to get her to quit talking. "You think I'm not attracted to you?"

"If you haven't noticed, I don't know how to put this any other way, but before we were married we," she whispered this next part, "fucked like bunnies. I mean, I know why it was that way when we were trying for the baby but it was before that, too. After the wedding it was constant. It was every night."

Edward was still looking at her like she was nuts. "Why didn't you ever tell me you were feeling about this?"

"It's only been for the past couple weeks. Since the beach trip, really. Since I found out I was pregnant...

"Bella, I love the idea of you being pregnant."

"Then why haven't you...you know..."

"It works both ways, love. You haven't really acted like you wanted it either..."

"I'm not going to force myself on you. God, I'm only two months along and already gaining weight. I'm not going to throw myself at you..."

"Are you insane? Have you completely lost your mind? You aren't wearing baggy clothes because you look bad underneath them, you are wearing them because you think you look bad underneath them," he said, shaking his head. "Are you finished with that?"

Bella looked down at her uneaten food and nodded, wondering why he was asking—he wasn't finished eating either. They sat in silence for a few minutes and eventually the waiter came over. "How are we doing here?" he asked, obviously wondering if it was the restaurant's food that had soured the mood.

"Things are great," Edward said, forcing a smile. "Can we get two boxes?"

"Absolutely."

Bella didn't argue with him, just helped him pack up their food and waited for him to pay the bill. Standing up, she was surprised that he put his hand on the small of her back to guide her out, as if he was looking for a reason to touch her. She was surprised when they drove back to their house, leaving the kids at his parents. "Edward, what are you doing? The kids..."

"Don't have school tomorrow and besides, it's only six-thirty. We have a few hours," he smirked, getting out of the car.

Bella's heart clenched. She understood. Following him into the house, Bella could feel her heart hammering in her chest. This is what she wanted, so why did she feel so self-conscious? He led her straight back to the bedroom and he sat her on the edge of the bed. Getting down on his knees in front of her, Bella immediately remembered their first night together, the first time she'd even been with anyone, and was shocked when she began to cry.

Edward looked at her, concern filling his eyes. "We really don't have to do this, love. I don't want to upset or hurt you..."

"I'm not upset," Bella choked out, struggling for breath. "Do you remember our first time together? My first time?"

That small, crooked smile appeared and she couldn't help but smile back. "Of course I remember," he said, moving to sit beside her. "It was the night of the gala. I though...I thought I would never have that chance with you. You were so sweet, so...pure, and I was absolutely shocked that for as beautiful as you are, you were still that innocent. God, I couldn't believe it was really happening. Not the sex, the fact that you were willing to take me back. I know that it was hard to not blur the lines between someone who loved Kaley and someone who loved me but even if Kaley wasn't in the picture I would have wanted you more than anything."

Bella was crying harder as she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. His lips found her forehead, then her cheek, and then made their way to her lips. She kissed him back, harder than she could ever remember kissing him and still, the tears kept coming. They were happy tears and she really wasn't even sure why she was crying, it just couldn't be helped. She pushed him back and climbed onto his lap. His hard erection pressing into her core as she moved to create friction. It had been so long and she bit her lip to contain her cries of pleasure.

He lifted off the blue tank top and let it fall to the floor by the bed. He bent upwards so that he could pull the cup of her bra down and take her nipple in his mouth. Immediately, she moaned and rocked herself against him. To her surprise, he moved down farther, kissing her all the way down to her belly. "This was never about me not wanting you. I always want you. I just...I was waiting for you to be ready..."

"I'm sorry I never said anything. I need this. I need you."

Edward rolled her over than, unbuttoning her shorts and slipping them down her legs, along with her panties. Bella shivered as she felt the material and his hands both over her legs. What happened next made Bella want to murder someone...and Edward looked just as blue-balled as she felt. The sirens of Station 88 had echoed over her moans and, now that she was silent, droned on through their empty house. "Goddammit!" Edward muttered, looking at her in frustration.

"Edward, you have to go." Bella said it, shaking her head as if to say 'I know this sucks but you have to'.

"I know," he said, getting up and taking off the pants he was still wearing. They were dressier, the ones he had on for work that day and as he pulled them down, his little friend decided to make an appearance. Bella licked her lips and Edward just chuckled, restraining himself with the help of the waistband of his boxers. A pair of ripped jeans went on before he added an old t-shirt—one that was already torn in a few places. He looked as sexy as ever and Bella hoped he wouldn't be gone long. The house phone rang and Bella grabbed it. "We're here," she said to Emmett, knowing the drill.

"House fire. One story. Everyone's out. We shouldn't be late tonight, Bells," was all Emmett said before hanging up. She smiled, loving that he always told her what was going on, not making her wait to hear about it from Edward later. She relayed the message and followed him to the door after slipping her clothes back on. Handing him his helmet, which was by the door, she kissed him goodbye. "I'm sorry, Bells."

"Don't be. I'm just glad we talked."

He gave her that smile that she'd fallen in love with and, when Emmett pulled up, headed for his friends truck. About an hour later, she went to get the kids, who seemed a little disappointed that Edward wasn't with her. After talking to Esme, she went back home. She had learned long ago that the news could upset both kids when he was out on a call, so she left the TV off completely and sat down with them to play a game of Candy Land. While they played, she got them some watermelon for a snack. "Is daddy at the fire?" Kaley asked, looking concerned. Bella never lied to her daughter but just nodded her head, not wanting to really talk to her about it. Robby was being a little too quiet.

After helping Kaley bath and then letting Robby do the bath thing on his own, Bella tucked Kaley in and went back for her son. The door to the bathroom opened and he walked out with his little clothes folded nicely—the dirty clothes that would be going right into his hamper anyway. It still broke her heart.

"Robby, are you okay, baby? You seem sad," Bella asked carefully, thinking back to how he had been acting that evening. He shook his head to tell her it was nothing but Bella saw through him. "You know you can tell me anything, right? I won't be mad."

"Grammy said that if the new baby is a boy I can teach him things."

"Is that bad?" Bella asked, preparing herself for him to already be jealous of the baby. Robby became even more quiet, even turning his back to her and heading for his bedroom. "Honey, please talk to me."

Bella saw that he was crying. When he got like this, Bella knew this wasn't about the present, this was about the past. Edward had always been the one to deal with Robby at times like this and she wished he was there. Kneeling down, she held her arms out to him and surprisingly he went to her. "I don't want to."

"What? Teach things to your baby brother?" Bella asked, trying to figure out what was going through his head.

He nodded. "I don't want to hurt him. I don't know how to take care of him."

Bella just shook her head, "Honey, mommy and daddy will take care of him. Why do you think you'd hurt him?"

"Caleb taught me things..." Bella looked at him suddenly realizing what he was so upset about, trying to mask her horror, "it hurt..."

"Oh, God, no. Robby, look at me, okay? That's not how we treat people, especially not the baby. Honey, did Caleb have to take care of you?"

Robby nodded, beginning to cry again. "Mommy and daddy made him."

Bella didn't want to hear this, immediately she wished she hadn't asked. "Did you ever tell Doctor Carolyn about Caleb?" To Edward, the woman who was younger and prettier than she would have liked was called Dr. Kramer, but for her little son, he always just called her by her first name.

"No. I'm not supposed to tell anyone."

Bella head the present tense he used. "No, Robby, you tell her what happened. You tell mommy and daddy and anyone else you want to tell. Just don't tell Kaley, okay?" Bella added this last part, suddenly worried about whether or not he had said anything to his sister about the sexual abuse she knew he had gone through. He couldn't keep this inside any longer though, it wasn't healthy for an adult to keep it in and it sure as hell wasn't healthy for a five year old.

"Honey, when the knew baby comes, he's going to love you and you can play with him. Mommy and daddy are going to take care of him, though. That's mommy and daddy's job, to take care of all three of you. You just get to play with him and be nice to him, okay?" Robby looked at her, relief clear on his face.

Bella felt sick as she told him goodnight and closed the door, she hoped the Davaraux's were burning in hell but still felt awful for Caleb. He was an innocent who was taught awful things...who taught those awful things to his little brother. It was like a sick and twisted chain. Heading downstairs, she pulled his file from the desk and looked through it for the thousandth time. When she came to pictures that were taken of the house by Edward, she noticed a car in the driveway beside it. With a gasp, she picked it up and looked even closer. It made sense now, Leah drove the same type of car as his parents had.

The door opening upstairs caused her to jump a little but when she saw Edward come down the steps, she closed the file and walked over to him, kissing him on the cheek. "You're safe."

"Yes. Just incredibly dirty and incredibly tired."

"Are you up for taking a bath together? There are some things I need to tell you."

As they undressed, Bella watched him watching her and smiled. "I see you're still rearing to go."

He climbed in first, sinking down into the warm water. As she slid in, sitting in front of him, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. "What happened while I was gone?" He cut to the chase and Bella knew that no matter what was going on between them—good or bad—their children came first.

"Robby told me some things...about Caleb."

"What kinds of things?" Edward asked cautiously.

"Caleb hurt him, Edward," Bella said slowly, not really knowing how to say what Robby told her.

"I knew he did, Bella. I thought you knew that, too..."

"I did but you should have heard him. He thought we were going to make him take care of the new baby and that we'd make him hurt the baby."

Edward just brought his hand up to rub his eyes and Bella turned to face him, watching as he shook his head. "You talked to him, right?"

"Yeah but will you mention it to Dr. Kramer the next time you go?"

"Of course. Now, get back here, Bells. I know you're worried about him but we both need to realize that we can't prevent him from remembering his past. It happened. It's done and over with. We lucked out by getting him while he is still young enough to learn that what he learned before is wrong."

Bella leaned back into him, feeling his smooth abs against her back. "Well, apparently, Leah drives the same car that Robby's parents did."

"Wow. I never even considered it, though I was concerned about why he was so afraid of Leah."

"Now we know."

"Yup." Edward said, popping the 'p'. He must have felt the same way Bella did, the more they were finding out the harder it was to understand what he was going through. It should have been the opposite, usually the more information you know the easier it is to understand. That wasn't the case this time, neither of them would ever understand what Robby went through.

He moved her hair behind her shoulder and kissed her neck, giving Bella a feeling of escape from the horrors their little son had endured. "I met the new guys tonight," he said against her neck.

"What are they like?"

"They're young, kind of cocky...exactly how I was when I started."

Bella giggled and replied, "Because you're so old..."

"To them...yeah, I am...To them, I'm a thirty year old with two kids and I'm married." The way he said 'married' made it sound like that was a death sentence—only jokingly—she knew he was just teasing her.

"How are things with Tyler?" Bella asked, afraid to know.

"Alright, I guess. I didn't talk to him tonight. It wasn't necessary so I just didn't. The newbies are gravitating to him, though."

"That's the role model they need," Bella laughed.

After they were clean but still dripping wet, Bella reached for a towel but Edward caught her hand and pulled him towards her. Their wet bodies slid against each other and Bella felt his erection against her core. As he kissed down her shoulder, she hitched her leg up to give him better access. Grabbing her waist, he pulled her up and carried her to the bed. Kneeling down, he licked her thighs, making his way up to her core. She immediately reached above her head and grabbed a pillow, putting it over her face she screamed into it.

It had been so long, she felt even more sensitive than usual. With the kids asleep in the same house, she knew she had to stay quiet. She felt him slide one finger in, then two and she pulled the pillow away long enough to tell him that she was about to come. He increased his pace, pumping his fingers into her and it was obvious he took this as his signal to keep going. She grabbed the pillow again and when she was clearly spent, he pulled his fingers back and sat back on his heels. She wiped the remnants of herself from his face and laughed against his mouth as he 'fell' on her, though he was really holding himself up, careful to not put stress on the baby.

Bella playfully shoved him to the side and rolled on top of him. Holding onto his erection, which was currently bobbing between them, Bella began to stroke. He closed his eyes and was practically panting by the time she leaned forward and slid herself down over him. He gasped, obviously not expecting it, and Bella knelt over him, giving him the room he needed to rock his hips at the pace he wanted to go. He was lying under her, his arms up by his head as he lifted his hips to hers over and over again. Another burst of pleasure slammed her as she felt herself clench him, this time it was even better. Bella bit her lip and soon, Edward's body relaxed back against the bed.

"I like this position," Bella chuckled, "I just have to kneel here and you do all the work..."

"Get down here, wifey," Edward laughed, pulling her to the side so she was beside him on the bed.

"Goodnight, old man. Oh, and by the way," Bella smiled, reaching up to turn the light off, "that was amazing."

Aww...we're all happy :) As always, there's always calm before a storm. There's still a rather large loose tie that needs tied once and for all. I'm loving the reviews...I'm getting really, really close to a thousand...something I only dreamt before! Please leave me some love and I'll update as soon as I can. I put a lot of time into these chapters and this plot so be patient with me. LP xxoo