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

Swatting Flies

Edward's POV

"Stop teasing, Bella," I pleaded. We were walking to her building together for her last class before lunch. "Won't you please tell me if you really like the car?"

"You become such a little boy when a car is involved," Bella teased, playfully patting my cheek. She had yet to give me an honest answer about her new car.

"And you always have to be such a tease instead of just telling me."

"How else will I have my fun, Tutor-boy?" she laughed.

"You could kiss me instead," I suggested, smiling down at her.

She laughed once again, her beautiful brown eyes sparkling with her happiness. "If I kiss you now, what incentive will you have to show up on time for lunch today?"

We entered her classroom and I took her into my arms, holding her close. "You are all the incentive I ever need, Bella. I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

"Remember our deal? You stay put and I call you if I'm going to be late at all."

"I know. I'll be here," she assured me.

I smiled and leaned down, wanting to kiss my beautiful wife one last time before leaving for my own classroom. Just as my lips touched hers, the door opened, startling Bella. Once she calmed down from her fright, she started to laugh, hiding her face against my chest. I looked up for the source of our interruption and found James standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Um…Sorry…Um…Guess I'm early," he stuttered, looking back out toward the hallway.

"Oh, it's okay, James," Bella assured him. "Edward and I were just saying our goodbyes for now."

"How are you, Professor Cullen?" James asked, finally coming into the room.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Bella replied.

"Well, you…the fall on Monday," James said.

"Oh, that," Bella chuckled, waving it off. She glanced up at me and I smiled for her; we both knew she hadn't completely gotten over her scare, but Bella was never one to let people worry about her. "I'm perfectly fine. Edward made sure of it."

"My parents asked me to convey their thanks if I saw you again," I told him. "So, thank you."

"Not a problem at all," James said. "Professor Cullen is my favorite teacher."

"Hear that, Edward? I'm a favorite teacher now," Bella giggled.

I leaned down and whispered to her, just wanting to see her blush before I left for class. "You've been my favorite teacher from the start. In fact, there are a few things I'm sure I need a refresher course on."

Bella reacted just as I expected, immediately blushing and hiding her face in my jacket.

I chuckled at her as I kissed her red cheeks. "I have to get to class, Love."

"And you couldn't have thought of that fact before you embarrassed me?" she asked. Her eyes gave away that she was only pretending to be upset with me.

"You know how I love your blush," I said, cupping her face in my hand.

Bella chuckled at me, leaning her face into my hand. "Kiss me and get out of here, Tutor-boy."

I followed my beautiful wife's instructions, giving her a slow and tender kiss to tide us both over for the next hour. "I love you."

"Love you more," she replied.

"To be continued at lunch," I chuckled. With one last hug, I let her go and turned to leave. James was still standing near the door as I walked up. "James, it was nice to see you again," I said.

He jumped a little and I did my best not to laugh. "Um…you, too, Professor Cullen."

As soon as I was out of Bella's class, with the door securely closed, I let out the laughter I'd been holding in. Even when Bella had, had me completely confused and turned upside down, I hadn't been that nervous and shy. Hopefully, the guy would make some friends in class and get out of his shell—Bella had mentioned she didn't think he had any friends.

And speaking of friends, Emmett and Jasper had invited themselves along on my Bella-Free Sunday. I'd found a place that would rent me an Aston Martin. As soon as I'd mentioned it to Jasper and Emmett last night, they'd started talking about how much fun "we" would have. I smiled to myself, knowing that having them around would at least ensure my Sunday wouldn't be boring.

I opened the door to my class and groaned a little; Victoria was already in her seat. I headed straight for my desk, ignoring her attempt to get my attention. I knew I was going to have to set her straight, but I wasn't looking forward to it. I still didn't understand why a wedding band wasn't enough to deter women like her, but apparently, this sort of thing was common. Jasper had gone through a similar experience when he'd started at his architectural firm—some secretary had gotten a crush on him and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Emmett didn't have to worry about that in his job since he was surrounded by college boys and other coaches all day long. Jasper said I just needed to be firm and make it clear that Victoria's feelings were not mutual. Honestly, I think I would have preferred having Alice come to class to set this girl straight.

"Edward, I—"

I turned toward her, working to hide my aggravation. "Ms. Keegan, I have never given you permission to be so informal with me. I am your professor and nothing more. Please address me in the correct manner."

"Um…Sorry, Professor Cullen. I just wanted to know if we could continue our conversation from Monday."

"Ms. Keegan, if you honestly have questions pertaining to my class, I suggest you schedule an appointment during my consultation hours. I will not be available for discussion with anyone outside of those hours. I have responsibilities outside of this class that are of greater importance to me."

"Well, that's sort of rude to your students," she scoffed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Ms. Keegan, I have a wife and a child on the way. They come first."

"Come on, Professor. You really expect me to believe that? You're so young."

"Ms. Keegan, please take your seat."

"But I—"

"Take your seat or leave my class," I said sternly.

She huffed, but turned and walked back to her seat all the same. Hopefully, that would be the last of having to deal with her. But I doubted it would be that easy—she seemed too hard headed for it to be that simple.

Class was over before I knew it and I was happy for that, excited to see Bella again. I had a few ideas I wanted to share with her about this Sunday. I packed my few papers into my briefcase and headed for the door…where Victoria was standing.

I sighed and reminded myself I had to be professional, no matter how aggravated I was feeling. "Yes, Ms. Keegan?"

"I know you don't want to talk during class time, but your consultation hours interfere with my work hours, so I was hoping we could talk over dinner one night instead."

"Ms. Keegan, what part of 'I'm happily married' do you not understand?"

"How could you possibly be? I've done my homework, Professor Cullen. I've seen your mousy little wife. There's no way a girl like her could possibly be woman enough for a passionate man like you. And let's be honest…the baby thing is just her attempt to keep you."

"Ms. Keegan, I suggest you visit the campus nurse and make an appointment with a counselor. You are obviously not mentally well if you think it's alright to walk up to a professor and speak to him that way. If you continue to harass me, I'll be forced to go to the university president and let him know of your behavior."

"And when I tell him you came on to me and shed a few tears for him?" she asked, giving a fake innocent look. "What will happen to you and your little career when I tell him you threatened to flunk me if I didn't keep quiet."

"First of all, good luck convincing him of that. Mr. Wilson is an old family friend and knows my wife and I quite well. Secondly, one look at your grades will convince him there's no favoritism on my part. That or I'm the worst flirt ever with all the 'C's' and 'D's' you have in my class. My suggestion to you, Ms. Keegan, is to either drop my class, or stop your little fantasies and be in this room to learn something, not to stare at me."

I walked right past her, not wanting to tempt her to open her mouth to say anything more to me. I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket and hit the speed dial for my wife.

"Where is my gorgeous husband?" Bella asked, giggling a little.

"On his way, Love. He had a fly to swat."

"Did you do a good job?"

"I sure hope so," I chuckled.

"That's my Tutor-boy!" she laughed.

"I'll be there shortly."

"You better be. I'm timing you."

I laughed as I hung up the phone, moving a little faster across the campus. When I got to Bella's classroom, I found her sitting behind her desk…with James sitting on the corner of it. As soon as he saw me, he jumped away from the desk, looking as though he felt guilty for some reason. I gave a questioning look to Bella, but she only shrugged her shoulders.

"Thank you for keeping me company, James," Bella said, as I helped her up from her chair. "You really didn't have to do that."

"I don't mind. I don't have class right now," James replied.

"This should be the absolute last time I'm late, Bella," I promised her. "I think I got the message across this time."

"How awful did you have to be?" Bella asked, smiling up at me.

"I had to threaten her with Dean Wilson," I admitted.

"The president of the university?" Bella gasped. "She was that hard-headed?"

"Unfortunately," I confirmed.

"Oh, you poor thing," Bella sighed, wrapping her arms around me tightly. "I'm sure you hated talking to her that way."

"It's not worth talking about any further. Let's just go enjoy our lunch together," I told her.

"I don't care where we go, but they better have steak and baked potatoes on the menu," she said.

"You know you can't have that," I said, brushing her hair away from her face.

"So you get it and then give me a few bites of it. Or at least let me get a hamburger. I'm craving red meat so badly," she whined, poking out her bottom lip.

"Bella—"

"What happened to giving me whatever I wanted?" she fussed.

I chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Only when what you want is good for you."

"Let me put it another way, Edward Anthony…It's in your best interest to get me some sort of red meat for my lunch today."

"Red meat's really not that bad so long as you don't eat it everyday," James piped up.

I turned my head and did my best to remain polite. "Normally, that's true, James. But with Bella, there are extenuating circumstances. Why don't you head off to lunch yourself? We'll be leaving shortly."

"Oh, uh, sure thing. See you on Friday, Professor Cullen," he said, moving toward the door.

"Edward, that was rude," Bella whispered. "Invite him to lunch with us."

I stared down at her, wondering if she hadn't managed to hit her head in the last hour. "I was not rude and he's not coming to lunch with us."

"He broke my fall," she sang softly, smiling at me.

"Bella, I—"

"Please, Edward? For me?"

"Fine," I sighed, defeated once again by those brown eyes of hers. "Let's go and see if he's in the hallway."

"Thank you, Edward," Bella said sweetly, hugging herself against me.

I just shook my head, still feeling like this was a really bad idea. Then again, it might just be the fact that I was highly annoyed he had interrupted a conversation that had nothing to do with him. At least I could use this turn of events to my advantage. "But you know, if we invite him along, you don't get your steak or burger. You get chicken or pork instead."

"That's not fair," she cried, glaring at me a little.

"Neither is making me share you," I chuckled.

She smiled, wiping away that look of irritation she'd had on her face a second before. "I love you, even when you're being all bossy."

"I feel the same way about you and your stubborn streak," I chuckled. As we walked outside the building doors, we saw James at the bottom of the steps. "James, can we speak to you for a second?"

He looked a little worried, like something was going to jump out and bite him, but he nodded all the same.

"Bella wanted to know if you would be interested in having lunch with us, as a thank you for Monday," I told him. I wanted him to understand this was a one time thing without being "rude" in Bella's eyes.

"I really don't know," he said, glancing between Bella and me.

"It was just a thought. If you have plans of your own, that's perfectly fine," I assured him. In fact, I was hoping he had plans.

"No plans, but I don't want to interrupt," James replied, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"You would be a welcome addition, not an interruption," Bella said. "But only if you want, James."

"Sure, Professor Cullen. Anything for you," he replied, smiling at my wife. This guy was really starting to remind me of Mike the Fly.

My obliviously sweet wife then proceeded to invite James to ride in my—her—new car with us. The two of them chatted about some class assignment as I drove us to one of the restaurants Bella was currently in love with.

I parked the car and got out to help Bella, but by the time I reached her side of the car, James was already doing that for me—definitely a fly.

"This place is great, James," Bella told him as she let go of his hand and grabbed my arm instead. "They have the best Chicken Marsala ever. I can have that one for lunch, right, Edward?" she asked, smiling up at me.

"I was already planning to order it for you, Love," I said, stealing a quick kiss from her.

We'd come here enough that we had a "usual" table and all of the waitresses knew us by name. The ladies crowded around Bella, talking about her bump and asking about the baby. Bella was in heaven, getting to talk about it with them.

Once she was done chatting, we headed for our table. I pulled out Bella's chair for her and then carefully pushed her forward again. But just as I moved to sit next to her, James took the seat. I smiled the best I could and took the seat across from my wife, figuring James just didn't understand seating arrangements since he was a loner. Plus, this was a one time deal—I could handle sitting this far away just once.

"So, James, do you work or are you just focusing on your studies?" I asked, trying to start a conversation with him for Bella's sake.

"Just my studies for right now," he replied.

"You mentioned you had a sister. Do you stay with her?" I questioned.

"Sister?" He seemed confused by the term, and that definitely worried me. "Oh!" James said loudly, pushing his glasses up. "My sister. Yeah, she has a full house and all, so I stay on campus. I just see her on weekends."

Something about the way he answered didn't seem right. I made a mental note to talk to Alice and figure out the best way to check up on James. And then I realized what I was thinking of doing and felt silly for it. This guy was just a student in Bella's class, and for whatever reason, he was bringing out the protective side of me. I just needed to relax and continue to remind myself that this lunch was a one time deal.

"What about your parents?" Bella asked James.

"They live in Minnesota, so I don't see them very often," James explained.

Bella reached across the table and took hold of my hand. "You should make an effort to go home as much as possible, James," she said. "You never know when your parents won't be around anymore."

"I bet you have great parents," James said, smiling at Bella.

I waited to see how she would react—it wasn't something that could be predicted with her. She'd been talking about them more often, and without getting upset, but she was also pregnant.

Bella moved to stand and James and I both got up at the same time. Once again, I held my tongue.

"I've got it," Bella assured James, still holding onto my hand.

She walked around the table and I sat down, letting her sit on my lap. Today was definitely going to be one where she needed to feel comforted while talking about her parents. Honestly, I hoped she would just sit with me and decide not to talk about them—it wasn't anything she had to share with James anyway. But knowing Bella, if she thought for a second that sharing her story would keep James in contact with his parents, she would talk to him.

"You okay?" I whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Yes. Would you tell him, though?"

"Bella, you don't have to tell him at all."

"I know, but he's lonely enough already, Edward. Maybe being more involved with his parents will help him in some way."

"Okay, Love."

She smiled and then tucked her head under my chin. "Thank you."

"I would do anything for you."

"Except give me steak and potatoes," she chuckled.

"Are you okay, Professor Cullen?" James asked, looking only at my wife.

"She's fine," I assured him. "She just gets a little sad when someone mentions her parents. She lost them in a car accident when she was a teenager. It's the reason she told you to make more of an effort with your own parents. She knows what it's like to want your parents around for the special moments in life, and to not be able to have them. Luckily for her, though, my parents do what they can to fill the gap."

"And Em," Bella added.

"Yes," I agreed, laughing a little. "Bella's older brother, Emmett, took the place of their parents and took care of Bella until she was grown enough to handle herself."

"That hasn't happened yet in his eyes," she chuckled.

"And probably never will," I said. "But it's going to be so much worse for Lily."

"Yep! Especially since Lily has her mother's independent streak," Bella replied. "Oh, the food's here!" she chirped, sitting up straight.

"Bella, do you want your food here, or will you be staying with Edward?" Sylvia asked, putting a plate down in front of James. Sylvia loved waiting on us and she was used to finding Bella perched in my lap by the time the food was ready.

"You can stay," I whispered to Bella.

She turned her head and kissed my lips quickly. "You can't eat pasta with me in the way. But thank you."

"Alright," I said, holding onto her hips and setting her on her feet. I held onto her hand until she was sitting in her chair again.

"Chicken Marsala for the pregnant momma," Sylvia announced, putting the dish in front of Bella. "And Eggplant Parmesan for the happy daddy," she added, handing me the plate.

"Thank you, Sylvia. It all looks delicious," I told her.

"Bella, if you ever get tired of having a polite, hunk of a man as your husband, you send him my way," Sylvia said, grinning at me.

"Like I tell you every time, Sylvia, I think you'd have better luck building a perfect man than waiting around for me to get tired of mine," Bella replied.

"Alright, you lucky woman," Sylvia chuckled. "Enjoy your lunch. Just yell if you need anything."

"We will. Thank you," Bella said.

"Would you like to split a breadstick with me?" I asked, offering half to Bella.

"I better not," she sighed, looking longingly at the bread.

"This time next week, you'll be off the heavier restriction and we'll come back," I assured her.

"When I'm off of it, I'm getting my steak," Bella promised, pointing her fork at me.

"So why do you have restrictions? What do you mean by heavier ones?" James asked, pushing his glasses up his nose once again.

"James, I'm sure my wife appreciates your curiosity, but that's really not something we feel comfortable in discussing with a total stranger," I told him. He was in dire need of a good swatting, but I didn't think Bella saw him as a fly, so I would have to wait.

"Not that you're a stranger," Bella amended. "You are in my class, after all. But Edward's right and it is sort of private. I'm fine and healthy, and we're just doing all we can to keep things that way."

"Oh, okay," James said. "It's just, you know, I'm interested in this stuff, because of my sister."

"Well, I'm sure your sister is glad to have you to discuss things with," I told him. "How's the chicken today, Bella?" I asked, trying to turn the conversation toward non-private matters.

"Excellent," she said, smiling wide. "I'll trade you a bite for some of your eggplant."

"I think that's a pretty fair trade," I chuckled, cutting a piece for her.

"You're welcome to try some of this one, too," James offered.

I childishly smirked at him, knowing Bella wouldn't touch his food in a million years. "You ordered the Pasta Fagioli. That's a definite 'no' for my wife. She and I both hate bacon."

Bella nodded her head, enjoying her lunch too much to bother with talking. Thankfully, James followed suit and the rest of the meal passed in relative silence.

When we arrived back at the school, James thanked Bella for lunch, and she thanked him for breaking her fall. He said a mumbled good-bye to me and then headed off in the opposite direction of where Bella and I would be going.

"James has been thanked, you had a lunch you thoroughly enjoyed, and now we'll finish out our last classes so we can go home," I said.

"You sound very excited that James is gone."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't like to share you."

Bella laughed, looking up at me. "You're not going to have much of a choice in about six months."

"My son is a different story. For him, I'll share."

"I love when you say that," Bella sighed, her smile growing even wider.

"What?"

"The 'my son' thing. I know he's going to be a boy, Edward."

"So you keep saying," I chuckled. "Just don't get too disappointed if he happens to end up being a she."

"Not going to happen," Bella assured me, rubbing her hand over her stomach. "This baby is a boy."

"As much as I would love to hear more of your theories, Love, I have to get to class and you need to go inside yours."

"Trusting me to walk the few feet from the building door to my classroom? I'm shocked, Edward," Bella teased.

"I'm trying," I said, glad that she couldn't read my mind. Otherwise, she'd have heard an ear full all during lunch about her little student.

"Thank you. Now get to class, Tutor-boy. I want to get this hour over with and get home to a nice hot bath. And then we both have papers to grade. Plus, I want to take the new picture for the baby book."

"We'll get it all done, Bella. I'll see you in an hour."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too. Be safe."

"I will," she promised, kissing me quickly. "Go to class so you can be that much closer to coming back."

"Go inside first," I said, smiling at her.

"How did I know you were going to pull that?" she chuckled, shaking her head a little. She waved and then went inside of her building. I watched through the glass pane of the door, making sure she made it into her classroom before leaving for my own class.

At least I could say one good thing came from having lunch with James: I'd never have to repeat that particular experience again. I didn't have anything against the guy—other than the attention he was paying my wife—but I couldn't say I trusted him either. Something about him just didn't seem right. Whatever it was didn't matter because we were officially done with James outside of Bella's classroom. He was free to go off and be a fly to someone else. Or maybe he'd run into Victoria and the two of them would get together, solving one real problem and one potential without any further involvement from Bella or me.

This chapter was a lot of fun to write. I'm not sure how much of that was just being able to write, and how much was the chapter itself. I love that Edward not only swatted his fly, but felt a tiny bit bad about it too. As for Bella's fly, he knows she doesn't see it and he has to tread carefully, but he also wants to rip James into two. LOL! So Edward, I'm sorry I had to annoy you so much in this chapter, but I'm glad I was able to! LOL! Thanks to George for her help!

And for anyone interested in the method behind the madness, Victoria's last name...I choose an Irish name to go with her red hair. I also choose one that means "fire" in Irish. So she became Ms. Keegan. I love playing with characters!