Including this chapter, there's three left. I'm anxious to get my next story started.

No copy right infringement intended. SM owns most the characters I borrowed. All mistakes are mine.

3/4/2018


Ghostly Double

Chapter 55

BPOV


We celebrated Christmas with our entire family the weekend after we got home from Ireland. That included Marcus, Claire, Emmett and even Anthony. He was still coping with a lot of shit that was becoming hard for him to get over. Marcus referred him to a psychologist friend and all I could do was hope that it worked. I was just becoming used to seeing him around as a friend instead of a foe. It was weird to say the least.

Edward had given Anthony the benefit of the doubt and extended an olive branch. Mine was extended but only halfway. We were civil with each other and I bit my tongue every time a past transgression popped into my head that I wanted to throw in his face. I had to keep reminding myself that if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have my husband with me.

Alice's wedding was in a couple days on February 14th, Valentine's Day, and we were all scrambling to get things together. They were getting married in the botanical gardens in Naples. We were all driving down the day before to make sure everything was going as it should. Marcus was officiating per Alice's demands. He wasn't about to deny her; they'd become pretty close over the last few months and she saw him as an uncle. I did too, as well as most of the younger couples in the family.

Everything was finally getting back to normal since we'd gotten home over a month ago. Well, as normal as normal could be with us.

My dad popped the question to Sue. She gladly excepted then they both announced the soon arrival of the newest Swan member. I was so damn excited for them. I was getting another brother or sister. It'd be funny if she ended up having twins, too.

Speaking of twins; Piper and Jackson started walking which lead to Arlo following right behind them. They were only two weeks older than Arlo, but their growth was just so overwhelming. Arlo was the same way. We made sure to keep them in their strollers when we were out in public because we didn't want people to start asking questions. Our trips were being cut short sometimes because little things started happening like glasses levitating off of tables and plates of food exploding in front of people. They were too young to understand what they were doing, so we just shrugged our shoulders and hoped it never got worse than what was happening.

As far as magic goes, I've been learning something new every day; all thanks to my mother. She hopped right back into her magic like she'd never stopped using it. Edward was coming along with his like he'd known how to do it his whole life. We'd pull little pranks on each other every once in a while and vowed to only use our magic for the good. My favorite was the dishes. I just waved my hand and they would start washing themselves, or the vacuum cleaner would do the work all on its own.

It was wonderful.

There was a knock at my door, so I pushed my laptop back from the edge of the table to answer it. Esme stood on the other side with a pouty look on her face. "Please tell me you have Alice's garter? She's about to drive me up the friggin' wall."

I smiled and welcomed her in. "It's in my suitcase; no need to worry."

I took my seat back at the table where I was typing up an essay for my online professor. I was taking some business and CPA classes on the internet.

"Thank God, for you." She kissed the side of my head before she sat down. "Where's my granddaughter?"

"She's with her daddy down by the beach. She was gettin' pretty rowdy, so he took her out to burn off some energy before we leave." I typed a few words before I remembered something. "Oh, did you call the caterer? They're supposed to be at the botanical first thing Friday morning."

She nodded. "You guys are going down tonight, right?" I nodded, answering her. "Good. Do you mind checking with the front desk at the hotel to make sure Alice and Jasper have the honeymoon suite? Carli and I are paying for a few extra nights for them. It's the least we could do considering we're the bride's parents."

"I thought they were going somewhere for their honeymoon?" I looked at her quizzically. Alice had been boasting about getting a tan that wasn't bought every time she looked at a chick at the mall that looked orange.

"She decided not to. They're gonna wait until the baby's old enough to stay with us or Jaspers parents. She's too afraid to fly, right now."

I gave her a weird look. "Something I should know?"

She shrugged. "I think she had a vision; she won't say. She really hasn't been having any since she got pregnant."

"She's never been wrong ever since I've known her," I said as I glanced up at her. "Plus, have you ever questioned her visions before?"

She shook her head. "No and I'm not about to." She stood from the table then leaned over to give me a hug. "I'm gonna go find my son so I can kiss my granddaughter."

"Okay; we'll let you know when we're headed out." She kissed the top of my head.

"Alrighty," she replied as she made her way to the door. "Love you!"

"Love you, too."

I finished up the last few paragraphs and saved my document. I hadn't felt good the last few days and that was why we were getting a late start leaving. My stomach was messing with me and I didn't want to be too far from the toilet. Wasn't diarrhea the best thing in the world? Thankfully, I hadn't had to make a mad dash to the bathroom in over two hours. Meds were even better.

I shut my laptop down and put it away in my bag. My report wasn't due until the following Monday and I was nearly done with it. It could be done already, but that was something I wanted to use my brains on; not magic.

There were snacks packed for Arlo for our drive down. It was only going to take a couple of hours or less, but we wanted to make sure she was satisfied the whole trip. We hoped she'd pass out on the way, but with the energy running through her, she'd probably pass out as soon as we got there; she loved car rides. Especially with the windows open.

My phone rang and when I went to answer it, I didn't recognize the number. I usually didn't answer those calls, but something told me I should. "Hello."

"Hey, Bell, it's Anthony."

He'd taken to calling me Bell. I didn't mind as long as he never called me 'sweet girl' like he used to. That would totally freak me out.

"Hey," I responded.

"I hope you don't mind, but I got your number from Emmett. I just wanted to double check with you to see if it were cool that I tag along? I've already talked to Alice and she said it was okay, reluctantly, but I wanted to make sure it wouldn't mess things up for you."

I took a deep breath before I replied. "I don't mind." And I didn't. It wasn't my wedding he was going to and if Alice was okay with it, then who was I to deny him going. "You'll be staying with Emmett?"

"Yeah," he said. "And thanks."

"You don't need to thank me."

"I do. I wouldn't go if it was going to freak you out or something. I'm really trying." I heard him sigh. "I have a lot to make up for."

He really was trying. "One day at a time."

"I know and it means a lot to me that you're giving me a chance," he said. "I owe my life to you."

"You don't." I closed my eyes. I didn't want to talk to him on the phone about this. "Look, let's just go and have a good time. Just don't push me too much on the friendship, okay? That's all I ask."

"Anything," he said. "I'd do any..."

I cut him off. "Stop; don't even say it."

"Okay," he agreed. "Just know that I mean what I say from now on. I'll prove to everyone that I've changed."

I shook my head even though he couldn't see me. "Do it for yourself," I said as I slipped my shoes on and watched as my husband came through the door with our daughter over his shoulder. "Look, I gotta go. Edward just walked in with Arlo; we're about to head down to the hotel."

"Okay, Bell; I'll see you there," he said then ended our call.

"Who was that?" Edward asked as he slid Arlo from over his shoulder. He rested her on his hip then stepped over to me and pressed a kiss on the edge of my mouth.

"Anthony," I replied as I took Arlo from him. "He wanted to make sure I was okay with him going to the wedding."

"And he couldn't have asked two days ago when we saw him?" He kicked his flip flops off by the door before he pulled his t-shirt off. "I need to shower real quick."

"I have no clue why he didn't ask then; I didn't ask him." I put Arlo in her pack n' play, made sure she had a toy then followed my husband to the bathroom where I watched him slip his jogging pants and boxers off. He stuffed them in the hamper before he reached in and started the shower. If Arlo wasn't awake, I'd join him; he was so damn sexy that I could barely control myself around him lately.

He'd lost some weight when he was in a coma. It wasn't much and he was slowly getting back to normal. His sexual stamina was indescribable, that was for sure. We were having sex just about every day since he got his energy back. We didn't have time for any hanky panky before we left, so I tucked my dirty thoughts away until a later time.

I watched him as he stepped into the shower and started soaping himself up. As soon as he rubbed between his legs, my thoughts came rushing right back. I wondered if I could give him a blow job before we left. I felt so damn lucky to be his wife; I knew there were tons of girls out there that envied me.

They could have Anthony for all I cared. Him and Edward looked like twins and as far as everyone else was concerned that didn't know our situation, they could think what they wanted to.

"Why are you watching me?" He asked, snapping me out of my fog.

I shrugged and stepped back into the living room to check on Arlo real quick. She was pressing buttons on her little keyboard that her Nana had gotten her for Christmas. Then I went back into the bathroom where I opened the door to the shower and beckoned my husband to step closer to me. "I want you in my mouth before we leave."

His dick jumped at my words and a smile spread across his face. "I won't say no to that."

It didn't take long before he was releasing into my mouth.

"Thank you," he said, pulling his cock from my mouth, but not before I licked the head clean of any leftovers. "I owe you one."

I stood up, feeling my knees pop in the process. "Oh, I know I'll be getting mine later."

He grabbed the back of my neck before I walked away and kissed me. I opened my mouth to catch his tongue and gave it one good suck just like I did his cock.

I finally pulled away. "We better stop before we get too carried away."

He pecked my lips one last time, reached down and tweaked one of my nipples. "Later; I'll hold you to that."

I smiled and sashayed out of the bathroom, giving my ass a little shake on the way. "I love you," I called over my shoulder. "Now hurry; we gotta get on the road. We have to be checked in by seven."

Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to get into each other's pants that night. Arlo decided she didn't want to sleep. She cried for over an hour before we realized she was running a fever. Marcus and Claire had arrived shortly after we did, so they came to give Arlo a checkup. I was so thankful for them. Him being a doctor and Claire being a nurse was a gift.

They diagnosed Arlo with teething and she was developing an ear infection. She hadn't been sick like this before and I was beside myself wondering what I could have done different to prevent her ear infection. Claire calmed me by explaining that there wasn't anything I could have done. It could have been from the wind while we walked down by the beach or any number of things, so Claire made up an herbal oil to put in her ear and prescribed an antibiotic. There was a twenty-four hour pharmacy near the hotel, so Edward ran out to get he meds and some ibuprofen.

We were finally able to get her to sleep by one in the morning. After that, we were too tired to even touch each other.

The next morning, we were literally dragging our asses trying to wake up. The one dose of oil to Arlo's ear had made a difference and she wasn't so cranky when she finally woke up. We actually got to sleep in an extra hour.

Edward ordered room service for breakfast before we headed out for the day. There were a few things we needed to pick up and drop off at the gardens. Alice and Jasper were arriving by noon, so we all agreed to meet in the hotel restaurant for lunch. My mom and Phil were due to arrive later because she had some business to take care of before they left. Some kind of video conference call she had with her vice president, so to speak.

Alice wasn't spending the night away from her groom at all. She didn't care about all that mumbo jumbo about seeing the bride before the wedding. She didn't believe in it anyway. She said that there wasn't anything that would tear them apart...no matter what and a stupid tradition like that wasn't gonna hold her back.

I held my hands up, relenting; I wasn't about to waste my breath to try and convince her otherwise.

By noon, I was completely exhausted. I wanted to take a nap, but we still had a few more things to take care of before we could call it a day. When we walked up to the entrance to the restaurant, there was a huge crowd of people waiting to get in. And the funny thing about it was, everyone was here for the Whitlock wedding. The staff was having to move a lot of tables around so we could sit together. They placed us in the banquet room away from the rest of the customers because I was pretty sure we'd all be the loudest group of them all.

I spotted Anthony sitting by Marcus and Claire. He gave me a small wave as I scanned the room. I gave him a wave back, smiled and I averted my eyes to the rest of the crowd. There were so many people in attendance; it was practically the whole family. Even Jaspers parents and grandparents were among us.

My dad was beaming as Sue showed off her engagement ring, but what caught my attention more than anything, was Emmett sitting with a very beautiful blond girl. If I didn't know any better, his smile was brightening up the room. I hadn't been aware that he'd even met someone. He probably wanted to play it safe before he jumped the gun and introduced her. That made my heart sing.

Evan was also here. He was with the girl he'd been dating for the last few months. We didn't see much of him that often. He'd come by his parents every once in a while for dinner then he was gone again. He was still playing baseball and doing pretty good from what I understood.

I turned to Edward. "What's Evan's girlfriends name?"

He glanced over toward his brother and made a face. "I don't remember." He kissed my cheek then whispered in my ear, "Don't tell him that, though; he'd kick my ass."

I giggled. "I don't remember, either. I'm just glad he looks happy after what Rosalie did to him."

"Me, too," he said. "Emmett's got a new girl." He picked up his tumbler of an amber liquid which I was sure was bourbon. He'd taken to having a drink every once in a while ever since he'd been in a coma. Thankfully he laid off the cigarettes. I hated the way they made him smell.

"What're you drinking?" I took the glass from him and sniffed. "Where did you get that?"

He gave me a devious smile. "Anthony got it for me." I gave him a dumbfounded look. "Is that a problem?"

"Are you making a habit of it?" From what I was told, he'd taking to drinking a lot when Anthony had taken me. It was strange seeing him drink the way he was.

I set the glass back down before picking up my own drink. I was having a Mimosa that Esme had ordered me since she'd ordered herself one.

Edward put his lips to my ear and blew warm air against my lobe. "No; I just like a drink once in a while." Then he sucked my earlobe between his lips and gave it a nibble with his teeth.

Before I could get the drink to my mouth, Alice yelled at me, and smacked my hand. "Don't drink that," she scolded. "If I can't have one then neither can you."

"I can drink whatever I want," I said defiantly, reaching for my drink, again.

"Just don't," she said in a whisper as she leaned closer to my ear. "You're pregnant."

I jerked my head back and gave her an incredulous look. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she said as she pushed my drink away. "Get water or juice; not that."

"Alice," I warned before she put her fingers to her mouth pretending she was zipping them up. "I'm not pregnant," I whispered back to her.

She gave me a knowing look as she tapped her temple signaling that she had a vision about it. "Do you even need to ask?"

"I thought your visions were shit, right now?" I slumped down in my chair. I wasn't upset about being possibly pregnant, just dubious as to when I could have...

I stopped myself from even thinking any further. I knew exactly why I could've gotten pregnant and it was when Edward was in a coma. I had missed nearly an entire pack of my birth control because they were the farthest from my mind as my husband lay comatose. I had only, just recently, as in the Sunday we celebrated Christmas, started taking them again and didn't think about using condoms or having Edward pull out. I hadn't given them time to get back in my system to work properly. I probably got pregnant the first time Edward and I had sex after he woke up. That'd only been about a month and a half ago, so I couldn't be any more than four to five weeks pregnant; eight at the most. I didn't even realize I missed a period because they were only coming sporadically because I was still breastfeeding Arlo. When I had missed my first two periods after Arlo was born, my doctor explained that it was normal and called it lactational amenorrhea; something more or less to do with my hormones.

Just as Arlo turned four months old, I got my first period after she was born. I'd only menstruated one other time after that and I hadn't had one since. I didn't think anything of it because of breastfeeding and the pill the doctor had put me on. I had explained to her that my husband was very insatiable, so that was the reason for the pill when I went in for my six week check-up.

I glanced up at Alice and gave her a look. "Didn't you hear me?" I shook my head. " I said, they're coming back more and more lately. I won't say anything; promise," she said crossing her heart. "It's all on you sister in-law."

The room was rumbling with everyone's conversations and laughter. Emmett could be heard above all the voices as he laughed at something that was said. I tuned them all out as I realized I needed the bathroom.

I excused myself telling Edward I had to pee and exited the table. Arlo was passing from person to person sucking up all the attention she could get, so I knew she was in good hands. I was surprised she wasn't attached to her daddy's neck.

Surprisingly, the bathroom was empty, so I relieved myself then washed my hands. I stared at myself in the mirror a few minutes before I opened the door to leave. Anthony was just walking up to the men's room as I walked out. "Hey," he said. "You okay? You look kind of..."

He trailed off just as he raised his brows. "Never mind; I guess I know why."

"Why what?" I asked sounding snarky, wondering what he knew that I didn't.

He gave me sad a smile as he pointed to his ear. "Sonic hearing; remember?"

I had to think for a few seconds before it dawned on me what he was saying. "No one knows. I just found out myself; Alice had a vision."

He nodded. "I guess congratulations are in order?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Thank you; I guess. You're not gonna flip out and kidnap me are you? 'Cause if you are, at least give me a head start to get home and pack a bag first."

I was trying to joke with him, but his eyes grew wide as if he took offence to what I said. "Bell, I don't..."

"I'm joking," I said laughing at him and playfully punching his arm. "Lighten up; I'm trying to." He still looked at me unbelievably. "Too soon?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah; I'm not there yet and I'm not sure I ever will be."

"We're working on it." I wasn't sure what possessed me to do what I did next, but I reached up and hugged him. "You'll figure it all out."

He stood as still as a statue as I hugged him. It felt weird, but it was cracking the ice just a tad.

I stepped back from him and pointed to the banquet room we came from. "I better get back before they send the Calvary looking for me."

We parted ways as I made my way back to my table and just as I was sitting down, Emmett came walking up with his date. Edward and I turned just as he touched my shoulder. "Hey, B."

Edward stood from the table so we could get a proper look at the girl. I reached up and hugged him and kissed his cheek. "And who's the hot chick on your arm?"

Emmett and Edward shook hands like they hadn't seen each other in days. "I want to introduce you to Rosemarie."

My brows rose as my eyes grew wide. Emmett gave me the look to keep my mouth shut. It had to be a coincidence between Rosalie and Rosemarie. Too weird if you asked me.

I shook her hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you." I slid my arm around Edwards waist. "This is my husband Edward."

She seemed a little shy as we chatted for a few minutes. They had actually only been dating for a couple of weeks. Another Alice interception. She'd seen Emmett with her and pushed him in the right direction. She was a parts driver for a company that Carlisle ordered from. She was making a delivery on the day that Emmett was working in the shop and he signed for the parts. "Are you and…" she turned to look around the room. "There's another guy here that looks just like you."

So, when she was back the next day, that's when they exchanged numbers and been with each other since.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," Edward answered.

She just gave him a slight nod with agreement.

I had a good feeling about her.

Everything was definitely on the up and up.


I had to do it. I had to make Emmett's new girl with a name close to Rosalie, so Rosemarie it is.

We're almost done. TWO more to go.

RTB