DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

Another Epiphany

Bella's POV

"Isabella Marie Swan Cullen," Emmett said, standing in my bedroom doorway. He had a frown on his face and his big arms were crossed in front of his chest.

"Hi, Em," I replied, turning my attention back to my magazine.

"Hi, Em? Hi, Em? Is that all you have to say for yourself?" he asked, his voice rising a little.

Edward popped his head out of the bathroom. "Emmett, relax or leave. We're doing what we can to keep Bella's blood pressure as steady as possible and you yelling at her doesn't help with that cause."

"She almost—"

Edward cut him off, walking right up to him. "I'm well aware of what happened. And as husband and wife, we spoke about it last night in a calm and mature manner. If you want to throw your input in, do it calmly or don't do it at all."

I closed my magazine and cleared my throat, getting them both to look at me. "Has it occurred to either of you that I have yet to agree to talk to Emmett?" I quickly lifted my hand, stopping whatever argument was on my brother's lips. "No, Emmett Swan. You listen to me for once. I love you, I appreciate you, and I value your opinion. But what I need right now, is to rest and enjoy the article I was reading before you so rudely interrupted. I know you're upset about yesterday, but there's nothing I can do about that. I've talked it all over with Edward and we've come up with ways to make sure it doesn't happen again. As far as I'm concerned, it's over with."

Emmett looked from me to Edward. "Did she hit her head when she fell?"

"No," Edward replied, trying hard not to laugh. "She just knows what she wants and she doesn't have a problem saying it. Oh, and Jasper and Alice beat you to it. Alice tried to give Bella the third degree, Jasper stopped Alice before she got going, and Jasper reminded Bella she has no obligation to put up with anyone treating her like she's a child."

"Sorry, Squirt," Emmett said, lumbering into the room and sitting down next to me on the bed. "I didn't mean to treat you like a little kid. It's just…you scared me, Bells."

"Like you scared me last month when you fell through the roof of the house?"

"Yeah, like that," he agreed.

"And what did you tell me when I was afraid for you?"

Emmett smiled sheepishly. "I told you to stop worrying so much."

"So take your own advice, you big bear," I chuckled, kicking his leg with my foot.

"Can I do anything for you? Get you anything?"

"Convince my husband I don't need to come car shopping with all of you," I said, knowing Emmett didn't have a prayer of actually making that happen.

"I'd love to help, Squirt, but I happen to agree with Edward on this one. You need a new car."

"Fine," I sighed. "Edward, are you ready to go then? I don't want to hold up dinner."

"Esme knows what we're doing so don't worry about holding up dinner," he called back.

"What are you doing in there?" Emmett asked, helping me off the bed.

"Sorting laundry," Edward replied, walking out with a pile in his arms. "I just have to drop these into the machine on the way out."

"Laundry," Emmett snorted.

"Don't you dare tease him," I warned my big brother. "I know a lot of things you did for Rose when she was pregnant and I won't mind sharing those stories with Edward and Jasper if you don't behave."

Emmett nodded his head, knowing I wasn't bluffing.

Over an hour later, Edward and Rosalie were finally heading back toward where I was sitting in the car dealership. They had their heads together and their hands were moving as they animatedly discussed some car thingy.

"…never give up horsepower for torque…" Rosalie was saying.

"That's not what I…" Edward was arguing.

I lifted my hand in a wave, hoping to catch their attention, but they walked right on by, carrying on their discussion. I was invisible. I sighed and dropped my hand back to my side. I was obviously in for a longer wait than I'd originally imagined as my family toured the showroom.

"Bella, if your bottom lip tugs any further downward, you'll be able to touch your knee with it," Jasper joked, putting an arm around my shoulders.

I smiled and leaned my head on my brother-in-law's shoulder. "Edward says I need a new car for the safety features and warranty—not a used car. And that's pretty much the last sentence he's said to me in the past…" I looked down at my watch to check the time. "One hour and twenty-three minutes."

Jasper chuckled. "You got off easy, Bells. Alice has been chirping in my ear since yesterday about paint colors and interior styling…And this isn't even her car!"

Alice was running around the showroom with Emmett. The two of them were sitting in all of the new cars together, trying to find the perfect one for me. Apparently, my car needed to be blue or black to accentuate my skin tones and it needed to be mid-height so I wouldn't have to stretch to get in or stumble to get out—Alice and Emmett's professional opinions.

"Jasper, what am I even doing here?" I asked, laughing as I watched Alice dance over to yet another car.

"You're getting a new car," he chuckled. "What? You didn't actually expect the car and style quartet to let you have say-so, did you?" he teased.

"So how come you're over here with me instead of getting all giddy with the rest of them?"

"Better company," Jasper joked.

I snorted at him. "Think if I tell the four of them I'm hungry they'll just pick a car so we can go?"

"I think they'll tell me to take you to get a snack, so let's skip the middle men, and women, and go." He helped me up, keeping my arm locked with his as he led me out of the showroom. "There's a great little bakery just a few doors down."

"Fresh air," I sighed, turning my face up toward the sun.

"It's warmer today," Jasper noted as we started walking again.

"I've been meaning to ask you something since you got to the house…When did Edward call you last night?"

"Why would you think Edward called me?" he replied. I didn't miss the way his lips twitched.

"Because Edward was completely calm last night when we talked about my near miss."

Jasper shrugged. "Edward just wants the best for you. He sometimes goes about it the wrong way, but he's always trying to learn from his mistakes. And he knows one of his biggest mistakes with you is his overprotective nature. We talked about what he wanted to come from the conversation and I gave him some pointers on how to get it without going overboard."

"Lucky for you and me that you always seem to know how to get Alice and Edward to calm down."

Jasper laughed and I smiled in return. "They don't even realize how alike they are in some ways," he said.

"How did we ever get so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives?" I asked, hugging him tightly.

"We all got lucky enough to find each other. The how and the why aren't important. All that matters is that we recognize our good fortune and always appreciate it," Jasper replied.

"Some days, you sound a lot more like a shrink than an architect," I said, smiling up at him.

"I hear that often," he chuckled. "But I love what I do, and my way with people mixed with my architectural skills turns our potential clients into very happy customers."

"And that's exactly why you deserve a promotion."

"We find out on Friday."

"Seriously?" I cried, looking up at him. "Why didn't Alice say anything?"

Jasper chuckled. "She's afraid of jinxing it by talking about it too much."

"The Great Ali is nervous about something?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

Jasper shrugged. "She's been a little out of sorts lately with the stress from all my long hours. Once this promotion comes through, she'll relax and be back to her normal self."

"Should I tell Edward to hold off on exacting his revenge for her 'rude' comment the other day?"

"Yeah, that was a particularly nasty one of her," Jasper chuckled. "If you could get him to hold of for a week or two, that would be great."

"I'm pretty sure I can convince him."

We arrived at the bakery and as soon as Jasper opened the door, my mouth started watering. The smells were all warm and comforting and I wished I could have a little taste of everything in there. Jasper and I toured the place twice before I finally decided on splitting a cinnamon roll and an apple fritter. We both got milk to drink and sat down at a little table, enjoying a perfectly quiet and content time together. Jasper's ability to just sit and not fill up the minutes with talk was one of my favorite things about him.

My mind wandered to the future, wondering what my baby would like best about each of the special people in his life. I knew what I loved about each of them. Emmett could keep me laughing, but he could also give good advice. Jasper could goof-off as easily as he could help with a serious problem. Alice could dress me in the latest fashions while reminding me of what was important in life. Rosalie could diagnose both my car and life trouble in no time at all. Carlisle and Esme were quick to give warms hugs and tender words, but could also be stern if that's what the situation called for. And Edward could bring out the giggly girl in me while making me feel like a treasured, intelligent woman.

Jasper's snapping fingers so close to my nose broke me out of my thoughts. "Where'd you just go?"

I shrugged. "Just thinking about how much I love all of you guys."

"So what's Edward's grand revenge scheme this time?"

"Hiding the keys to Sophia."

"Oh, not the Porsche. He should know better than to mess with the car," Jasper said, looking horrified.

"Edward believes in hitting his sister where it hurts the most. Remember when he burned her dress in the backyard?"

"She still talks about that dress every so often," Jasper chuckled. "Hey, I heard about this Bella-free Sunday you're forcing Edward to take. I think it's a great idea, for both of you."

"Yeah, I tried to get him to come up with some ideas last night. All he's really sure about is that he wants coffee and to rent an Aston Martin."

"Really? He's renting one of those?" Jasper asked, looking excited.

I shrugged. "That's what he said."

"I'll have to talk to my new favorite brother-in-law and see if he wants some company," Jasper said, smiling wide.

"I'm sure he'd like that," I chuckled.

After we finished with our snack and conversation, we walked back to the dealership. Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and Alice were surrounding one car in particular. They had all four doors open, plus the trunk and hood, and looked like car inspectors instead of car shoppers.

"Jasper, I'm afraid," I said, clutching his arm tighter.

"I'm sensing that you should be very, very afraid, Bella," Jasper replied, looking down at me. "But don't you worry. I'll protect you from the worst of it. In five…four…three…two…"

"BEL-LA!" Alice shrieked, running over to me.

Jasper shielded me in his arms, keeping Alice from getting her little pixie arms around me. "Calm down, Ali," Jasper said softly.

Alice took a deep breath and visibly calmed a little. "Oops," she chuckled. "Forgot myself there. Sorry about that."

"What has you so excited?" Jasper asked, still just as calm as ever. It was amazing to watch the way his calm affected Alice and rubbed off on her.

Alice smiled sweetly at him and reached out for his hand. Jasper took it and locked their fingers together, returning her smile. "We think we found the perfect car for you. The four of us actually all agree on this one."

"Does this mean I get an actual vote on whether or not we take this car home?" I asked as Jasper led me toward the others.

"Silly Bella," Alice laughed, skipping off ahead of us.

"Figures," I grumbled.

"Just keep telling yourself that it's for the baby," Jasper whispered. "And besides, can you really bring yourself to disappoint them? Look at how they're all excited and smiling."

"I've lost before I've even begun," I chuckled. "I like the black color, so at least that's something."

For the next twenty minutes, my family told me all about this car and how great it was. The only parts I understood where black paint, dark gray leather interior, heated seats—a must in cold climates—and leg room. With all the men in our family being six foot or taller, leg room was a definite necessity.

Edward drove us home in my new Volvo, while Rose drove his Volvo home. Emmett, Alice, and Jasper were in Carlisle's Mercedes—they'd borrowed it since Alice didn't feel like riding over in the Jeep and Emmett couldn't comfortably fit in the Porsche.

Carlisle, Esme, and Lily came out to greet us as soon as we pulled up into the driveway. The men decided to stay outside and talk shop while the rest of us got out of the cold.

"What do you think of your car, Bella?" Esme asked as I snuggled up in the recliner with Lily.

"Edward is very excited about it," I chuckled.

"Eee," Lily cried, looking toward the closed front door.

"Uncle Edward will be in soon, Sweetheart," I cooed, kissing her little cheek.

"Beebee," Lily sighed, resting her head on my shoulder.

"I love you, too, Lily Bear," I whispered, running my fingers through her curly hair. I couldn't wait to enjoy this sort of thing with my own baby. And even more than that, I wanted to see Edward cuddling with our baby.

"So have you thought about what you want to do this Sunday?" Rosalie asked.

"Yeah, I have. I know it might be a little drastic, but I really think I'd like it. If nothing else, I won't be spending nearly as long getting ready in the mornings," I replied. "I want to cut my hair so that's it's up to my shoulders. It's just too much to take care of right now."

Alice and Rose both tilted their heads, trying to imagine my hair that short. It had been just a few inches above my waist for nearly my whole life.

"You know, if we put some highlights in and layer it, I bet it would look so cute," Alice chirped.

"Nothing too bright, though. She's got a lot of natural highlights to start with," Rose said.

"You don't think it would be too drastic?" I asked. "I don't want Edward to hate it or anything. I'm already starting to look different enough."

"What if you just do the layers?" Esme suggested. "That way, the color is still the same and more familiar, even though your hair will be much shorter."

"Yeah, I think I like that idea," I said, nodding my head.

"Let's take bets on how long it takes Edward to notice the difference," Rose chuckled.

"Five seconds," Alice chirped.

"Fifteen. He'll want to hug and kiss her first," Esme said.

"One hour," Rose stated with confidence. "He'll be on a high from his no responsibility day, wanting to share it all with Bella. It'll take him a while to realize he hasn't let her get in a single word and when he focuses his full attention on her, he'll notice."

"That sounds more like Em than Edward," I chuckled.

Rose shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Men are men when it comes to certain things."

"Come on, Bella. How long do you think?" Alice asked. She was vibrating in her spot between Esme and Rosalie on the sofa.

"Well, I agree he'll be focused on hugging and kissing me first. But I think the second his hand touches my back and not my hair, he'll notice. I'll go with twenty seconds," I told them.

The front door opened and our men noisily entered the house, still talking about the car. Lily sat up and looked toward the sounds. Her little arms shot into the hair and her hands were opening and closing so fast that it made me laugh. "Eee!" she cried, her blue eyes following Edward around the room.

Edward immediately smiled and came over to us. He took Lily into his arms and cuddled her against his chest, kissing her cheek sweetly. "Hello, Lily. How's my little niece today?"

Lily proceeded to answer him in her baby language. From her facial expressions and hand gestures, she seemed to have had a very long and bothersome day. We all laughed as we watched her.

"Rose, what did you do to cause such a reaction from the little princess?" Jasper asked, hugging his sister against his side.

"Lily has discovered the joys of pulling off her diaper," Rose said, grinning at her daughter. "She didn't appreciate my ability to keep her clothed."

"What'd you do to our baby, Rosie?" Emmett asked, looking between his daughter and wife.

"What any smart mother would do," Rose shrugged. "I duct-taped her diaper on." There was complete silence for a moment and then we all started laughing.

Edward pulled the side of Lily's pants down, revealing the silvery tape. "You really did do it," he said, looking shocked.

"Of course she did," Esme chuckled. "I did the same to Alice and you when you got to that stage. Although, Edward, I must admit, you were more determined than your sister to run free through the house."

"Oh, I haven't heard this story yet," I laughed. "Do tell, Esme!"

"Mom, I'm begging you," Edward pleaded.

"Sorry, Son. Bella needs to know these things in case your baby takes after you more than her."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that too much," Emmett chuckled. "Bella was more than just a crib escape artist. Turn your back on her for more than a second and you'd have a trail of clothing to follow."

"I did not!" I yelled, glaring at my big brother.

"Yes, you did," he promised, smiling wide. "Look at the pictures of yourself between the ages of one and four. Ever noticed that you were always in overalls?"

I felt my face heat up as I thought of all the pictures of me in different types of purple overalls. We'd just gone through my book not too long ago so the images were still fresh in my mind.

"Told you so," Emmett laughed.

"Funny that the two free birds ended up being the shyest ones in our group," Rose chuckled.

"Just more proof that I was right and they are absolutely meant for each other," Alice chirped.

I looked up, ready to get Edward to tell them to leave me alone, but he was no longer in the living room with us. I got up from my chair and went to look for him while our family continued to make fun of us. Now that I wasn't right in the middle of all of the noise, I could hear the tinkling of piano keys.

I stepped into the piano room and came to a halt; Edward was sitting at the piano with Lily perched on his lap. He was guiding her small fingers along the piano keys, helping her to play a melody I couldn't recognize. I immediately pictured him doing the same thing with a little bronze-haired baby boy and couldn't help but tear up at the image.

Lily pressed down on a key, making the note ring through the room. Her lips drew together in an "o" of surprise and she turned her head, smiling up at her uncle.

"Yes," he laughed, tapping her nose with his finger. "You made that sound."

"She loves her uncle," I said, walking further into the room.

He patted the empty space on his bench. "Sit with us."

"Will you play for me?" I asked.

"If you think you can pry Lily away from the keys long enough," he chuckled.

I sat down and pulled Lily into my lap. "Baby girl, do you want to hear Uncle Edward play a pretty song for us?"

Lily nodded her head as she uttered another of her baby speech answers.

"Play away, Uncle Edward," I said, smiling up at him.

Edward kissed me quickly and then focused on his piano. His fingers caressed the keys, pulling out a tune I'd heard him play a few times before. I knew it was Bach, but not which song—I didn't have a memory for things like that.

By the time he reached the end of the song, our entire family had joined us in the room. Jasper and Alice were sitting together in one of the chairs. Emmett was leaning against a wall with Rosalie in his arms, both of them lost in looking at each other. Carlisle and Esme were hugging each other, smiling from their spot near Alice and Jasper.

Lily was the first to comment; she clapped and then blew Edward a kiss.

"When did she learn that one?" I chuckled, looking up at my brother.

"I taught it to her yesterday," Emmett said proudly.

At the sound of his voice, Lily decided she'd had enough of Edward and me. She reached out for Emmett, calling for her "daddy".

"Dinner should be ready now," Esme announced. "Alice, could you help me in the kitchen?"

"Sure, Mom!" Alice chirped, following right after her mother.

"The rest of you should head over to the dining room," Carlisle instructed. "I'm going to see if I can be of use to the ladies in the kitchen."

Edward helped me up from the bench and then spent a minute just holding me.

"I like this," I sighed, enjoying the warmth of his body against mine. And I was secretly enjoying the space between us created by my bump—I thought Edward might laugh if I told him, so I was keeping that one to myself for now.

"Do you like your car as well, Love?"

"It's shiny," I chuckled. "A shiny Volvo."

"I'm surprised you didn't add 'stupid' to that description," he laughed softly, tickling my ear with his warm breath.

"The Volvo wouldn't be stupid, Honey. Only the owner," I teased, trying not to laugh.

"Come on, Silly Bella. Let's get you and our baby fed," he replied, leading me toward the dining room.

Dinner was the usual amazing time full of conversation, laughter, and loving looks as we enjoyed our meal together as a family. Esme had made tacos just because I'd been craving it lately. Of course, she'd put her own special touches on it so that it would be healthy, using turkey meat and making the salsa herself with fresh vegetables. I had three myself, but only because I knew she had Jell-O with real fruit mixed in for dessert.

When we'd all had our fill of dinner and dessert, and Lily was asleep in her crib upstairs, we headed into the living room to end the night in our usual way. We all sat cuddled up with our loved one, talking about our day and what we wanted to do for our next family dinner. We also gave Edward ideas of what to do with his Sunday.

Before the night was over, Esme handed me a gift wrapped in baby blue paper. "It's a little something Edward and I have been working on for the baby. But before we got too carried away, we wanted you to have it so that you can contribute to it as well."

I eagerly tore the paper away, making Edward chuckle beneath me. I pulled back the thin liner and found a baby book. It was light blue with a little brown teddy bear in the center—I loved it.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, trailing my fingers across the soft cover.

"Open it up, Love," Edward said, resting his chin on my shoulder. "We've put a few things in it for you already."

I opened the book and laughed at the very first page. It had a picture of the baby sucking his thumb and just beneath it, in Edward's perfect handwriting, was his idea of a joke. "Our baby: brought to us by Mommy dancing in Daddy's favorite blue dress."

"Edward, you shouldn't have put that," I giggled, kissing his cheek. "He's going to ask how a dress makes a baby and then what are you going to do?"

"Tell him to ask his mother," Edward said, giving me that crooked grin I adored.

I shook my head at him, smiling wide as I looked down at the book again. I flipped through the pages until I landed on a set of pictures. "No wonder you had that look on your face last week!" I cried, turning to look at Edward again. "When did you do this?"

"When you were sleeping," he chuckled. "Do you like it?"

"I love it Edward." I kissed his cheek quickly and then looked over the photos again. "And I love that you wrote the dates so I can always know which week I was on. Look at these last three weeks! Look how much my bump grew," I said excitedly, pointing at the pictures. Edward had secretly been taking pictures of my lower stomach, charting the progress of our growing baby.

"The next few pages are blank so you'll have plenty of room to have a photo for every single week of your pregnancy," Esme said.

"You haven't taken one for this week," I pointed out.

"I normally take them on Wednesday so that it's exactly one week between each picture," Edward explained. "We'll take it tomorrow night."

"Thank you," I said, looking between Edward and Esme. "This is so great."

"It's our pleasure, Bella," Esme assured me.

"Quit hogging the book, Squirt," Emmett commanded. "I want to see too."

The book was passed around until everyone had seen it and commented on it. Alice liked the pages that talked about the first successful shopping trips for maternity clothes. Rose was excited by Edward's idea to put in a page about the car. Emmett was still cracking jokes about the thumb-sucking picture, while Jasper liked how Edward had wrote about the first time I ever yelled at him. Carlisle and Esme said they couldn't pick a favorite yet because the book was nowhere near finished.

As for me, I liked the realization that came to me as I looked through the book, especially at the pictures of my growing belly. Edward was putting so much effort into making this pregnancy a memorable experience because he was that happy about it, not because he felt like he had to. I really wasn't being a burden to him by needing help and having to pass responsibility over to him.

Later that night, I sat against the pillows, watching Edward get ready for bed. "Edward, I had an epiphany tonight."

"Really?" he asked, dazzling me for a second with his smile.

"Yes. I'm not burdening you or making your life harder with all the stuff that comes from being pregnant. And you're so willing to help and take over for me because you want to, because you really want this baby as much as I do."

Edward climbed into bed and pulled me close, resting one of his hands against my bump. "Does this epiphany of yours mean you're finally ready to stop being stubborn?"

"Yeah," I chuckled, looking into those emerald eyes of his. "I relinquish all chores to you to accomplish or delegate as you see fit. And I will slow down, and I will pay more attention to myself. I'll do it all without feeling guilty."

"Finally," he teased, grinning at me.

"I love you."

"I love you more," he replied, kissing me softly.

"Will you prove it?" I asked, hoping the smile on my face looked sexy to him.

"Forever," he promised.

From the way his lips moved with mine, I believed him completely. I was married to the love of my life, he loved me so much more than I deserved, and we had a baby on the way. Life was wonderful again, and together, we'd do everything we could to make sure it stayed that way.

HUGE thanks to George for helping with this one. It finally came out right. I hope to have more next weekend, but for now, this is all the evil writer's block would allow for. Bella's POV is always harder anyway. Next up, we'll get Edward's impression of geeky James. I'm hoping life will calm down and my fingers will start flying across the keyboard with good story lines shortly.