Chapter 24

BPOV

"Edward," I whispered. His flight had gotten in early yesterday morning, and I knew he was jet-lagged, but I couldn't help it. There were so many parts of my pregnancy I hadn't been able to share with him. Early morning cravings were one of those things.

"Edward." I spoke louder, pushing on his shoulder. He mumbled a bit, but it was obvious he was still asleep. "Edward!" I nearly shouted, feeling a little guilty as he jumped up, his eyes wide.

"What? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

I pulled my lip between my teeth and nodded. "Sorry, yeah, I'm fine. It's just…"

He glanced at the clock on his nightstand before narrowing his eyes at me. "It's after four in the morning, Bella, it's just what?"

"It's just... Mackenzie wanted an omelet, but the one that daddy makes. You know, ham, Swiss, and onions?"

He stared at me for a moment, and I was positive he was trying to figure out if he was dreaming or if I had actually just woken him up before daybreak to make me an omelet. "Let me get this straight. You woke me up because the baby wants an omelet?"

I nodded once again. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

He threw his head back, laughing before he leaned in to kiss me. "Sure, I'll make our baby girl an omelet. Do you want to come with me, or would you like breakfast in bed?"

It wasn't the reaction I expected. "I'll come with you."

—BtMO—

I sighed, turning side to side in the mirror. At this point in my pregnancy, there was nothing I could put on or any position I could sit or lay down in where I felt comfortable. My feet had swelled, my back ached more than usual, and I was just so ready for it to be over.

"You look gorgeous." Edward snuck up on me, kissing my neck as he wrapped his arms around my waist, his hands resting on my belly.

"I feel anything but gorgeous. All I want to do is to climb into a warm bath and lay there for hours."

"I'm sorry, mama. When we get home, I'll draw you a bath. I'll even wash you."

"Mm, that sounds—" My words cut off as I felt our daughter stretching out inside of me. It wasn't unusual for me to feel her doing somersaults all day long, but Edward had yet to experience it. "Please tell me you felt that."

"Yeah." His voice caught as he spoke. "Yeah, I did." As he leaned his chin on my shoulder, I felt his cheek wet against my neck. We stood there in silence for a few minutes as our daughter continued to squirm and kick beneath his hands.

"Don't cry, daddy."

He chuckled mirthlessly. "Hard not to. I've missed so much already. What if you go into labor and I'm not here?"

"Not gonna happen."

He rubbed soothing circles on my belly before cradling it in his hands "You can't know that, Bella."

I turned to face him, raising my eyebrows. "I can't? You knew she was a girl. Why can't I know that you won't miss her birth?"

He smiled, rolling his eyes. "Fine. I'll trust you on this. We should get going, though. I've got a few surprises waiting for you."

I groaned. "Isn't making me have this baby shower enough?"

"Come on." He smirked, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the door. "It'll be fun."

—BtMO—

I glanced around the parking lot of the restaurant where my shower was being held, noticing that it was all but empty. "Are we early? I thought your mom and Angela were supposed to be here setting up already."

He shrugged. "No, I think we're on time. Maybe Dad and Ben dropped them off."

I glanced over at him, narrowing my eyes. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing. Let's go in. They're waiting on us."

"You're lucky I'm starving, or I wouldn't be getting out of this car." I huffed, causing him to chuckle.

He leaned over to kiss me. "I promise, you'll have a great time."

—BtMO—

"Oh, my God." I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands as we walked in. Rose was sitting in the entryway. "I thought—oh, you said you couldn't make it!" I cried as she rushed over to me, and we wrapped our arms around each other.

"Surprise!" She grinned, pulling back to rest a hand on my belly. "I moved some meetings around because there was no way I would miss this."

I grinned back, pulling her in for another hug. "I can't tell you how excited I am that you're here."

"There are two more surprises for you," Edward said from behind me. "Turn around."

"Oh." I started crying again as I turned around to find Emmett and Jasper standing behind Edward. "How did you swing this?"

Emmett pulled me into a hug. "If the frontman gets to be here hanging out with all these hotties, why don't we?" He grinned at me, but I didn't miss how his gaze drifted toward Rose for a moment.

"It's so good to see you, Bella." Jasper took over for Emmett, wrapping me in a hug.

"This is amazing, I can't believe—oh!" I gasped as I felt a rush of water from between my legs. "Edward." My voice shook as I called for him. I was 36 weeks, so realistically I knew our baby girl should be fine, but it was still too early.

He looked at me, then at the floor where I stood in a puddle, before taking a deep breath. "Okay." He took my hand, squeezing it. "It'll be okay, but we should go to the hospital." He turned to our friends. "Will you—"

"I've got it covered," Rose spoke up. "Just go."

—BtMO—

I closed my eyes, clenching my jaw as another contraction hit. We'd rushed to the hospital, where they admitted me, hooking me up to monitor the baby's heartbeat and my contractions.

"I hate this." I moaned as the contraction passed. "Why is this happening?"

Edward brushed my hair out of my eyes, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "I don't know, but it'll be fine. She'll be fine."

"But what if—"

"No." His tone was sharp, but I heard the nerves in it. "She's fine, do you hear me?"

I felt tears sliding down my cheeks as I nodded, reaching out for his hand and holding it in a vice-like grip as another contraction began.

"I didn't mean to snap at you, mama," he said as my contraction subsided. "I'm nervous, too, but remember what Dr. Denali said? She's close to full term, they're not worried about her lungs, and the chance of her having any complications is low. She'll be just fine."

He was right; I had to have faith that our baby girl was strong, and she was ready to be here with us. She had to be. There was no other choice.

—

A/N: Here's a surprise for you, an early update! After this chapter we have a future take(chap. 25) which will post tomorrow. Then we have a future take/ epi (chap. 26).