DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.
Proof
Edward's POV
Bella's strawberry scented shampoo filled my nose as I snuggled with her in our bed. She was sound asleep and although I had a lot to get done tonight, I couldn't seem to tear myself away from her. We'd had an extraordinary day together and I didn't really want it to end, even though it technically had the moment her beautiful brown eyes had fluttered closed.
Our day had started out with us waking up late and enjoying a lazy morning in bed. It was nice to have the semester over and be able to just lounge around with her. After dragging ourselves out of bed and dressing for the day ahead of us, we'd gone downstairs and made breakfast together—something we hadn't gotten to do together in months. Bella had been in the mood for omelets so that was what we'd had, with shallots, cheese, and just a bit of sour cream. She'd eaten all of hers and then finished off the last few bites of mine for me. Or as she liked to put it, the baby enjoyed those final bites.
Once we'd cleaned up the kitchen, we'd headed into town and toward Dr. Johnson's office. We'd been running a bit early, so we'd stopped at the baby boutique Bella had found the crib in and walked around. Bella was carrying around a notebook, creating a list for her baby shower, and we found a few items to write down. She was under strict instructions from Esme and Alice to ignore price tags and focus on what she wanted and needed for the baby. The shower was scheduled for the weekend after my birthday and it was going to be a major affair, with nearly all of my parents' friends scheduled to attend. Bella was pretending she didn't know how big it was going to be and I was doing my best not to laugh.
After leaving the boutique, we had headed over to the doctor's office where we were happily greeted by Mrs. Elliot. She'd oohed and awed over Bella's expanding belly, as though she hadn't seen us last week, or the week before, or the one before that. She'd also pinched and kissed my cheek, a habit she'd fallen into and one I didn't have the heart to break.
I smiled and closed my eyes, thinking about today's appointment. We'd had to wait a little longer than usual for Dr. Johnson—he'd gotten caught up at the hospital with a c-section for a breech baby that he wasn't able to turn. Mrs. Elliot had to assure Bella six different times that both baby and mother were perfectly fine and would be home before the week was over.
Bella was in the middle of grilling me for ideas about a birthday gift when Dr. Johnson had finally entered the room. "Edward, you're not playing fair," she complained.
"Does he ever?" Dr. Johnson teased, sitting down on his stool and rolling over to Bella's side.
"Occasionally," she chuckled.
"And what is he not being fair about?" Dr. Johnson asked.
"His birthday is just a couple weeks away and he won't give me any hints about what to get for him," she replied.
"I've already told you, I have all I want," I said.
Bella smiled and put her hand against my cheek. "There must be something, Edward."
I kissed her palm and held her hand in mine. "Fine. Convince our son to be kind and prove that he is indeed a little boy. That's what I want."
Dr. Johnson laughed as he stood up. He rubbed his hands together to warm them a little and then started to press lightly around Bella's belly. "Any soreness or tenderness?" he asked.
"None. I've actually been feeling really good the last couple of weeks."
"Probably because you're done with the semester and have had a daily stress removed," Dr. Johnson said as he rolled the ultrasound machine over. "I looked at your numbers on the way in and everything looks great. Are you still having Carlisle monitor your blood pressure at home?"
"Yep," Bella nodded. "Twice a day. Haven't had any spikes since that cold I had around Em's birthday."
"Excellent. Are we ready to try this one last time? If he doesn't show himself this time, Bella, we probably won't catch it before he arrives. You're almost at twenty-eight weeks and you're only going to have one more appointment with me. After that, the next time we see each other, I'll be bringing this baby into the world."
"We had a long chat last night while we counted his kicks," Bella said, smiling at her doctor as she squeezed my hand. "I'm positive he's going to behave today."
"You know the drill. The gel will be cold, the screen will be a little fuzzy, and then we'll see where he's laying and how." Dr. Johnson squeezed some of the gel onto Bella's stomach and then spread it around with the wand.
The three of us stared at the screen as a foot appeared. "There's that foot that's been kicking you," I chuckled, kissing Bella's cheek.
"A perfect little foot," she said, smiling wide.
"He's got his foot at your side with his little toes poking outward, so unless he's performing some acrobatics, he should be faced the right way today," Dr. Johnson said, keeping the wand over the baby's foot. "Are you sure you want to know?" he asked, looking down at Bella.
She only smiled wider, daring him with her eyes to continue to tease.
Dr. Johnson laughed lightly and moved the wand up…over the baby's knee…a little further up…
And now we were looking at proof that Bella had been right all along and our baby was definitely a little boy. Bella squealed loudly and actually managed to hurt my hand a little in her excitement. "I knew it," she cried. "I knew he was a boy."
"Yes, you did," I laughed, kissing her temple. "And now you can finish your list for the baby shower, writing down everything blue that you come across and love."
With a picture as her proof, Bella practically floated out of the office, anxious to call everyone and share her news. She'd spent nearly an hour on the phone just with Alice, going over the things she wanted to start getting done with the nursery. As sure as Bella had been that she was right, she'd wanted to wait for absolute proof before buying the rest of the items she would need.
When she'd finally finished all of her calls, including getting to talk to Angela, Bella had decided we should have a picnic at our favorite spot in the yard. It was more of an excuse to sit in the sun than anything since she wasn't hungry for more than fruit and yogurt, but the thought was what mattered—and her thought was that she wanted a quiet afternoon in the sun with her husband.
We'd spent the entire time talking about the latest book Bella was reading and I was careful to not mention or reference the baby or the pregnancy once. Through all of our talks after the James incident, I'd found that the biggest issue for Bella was that she had lost a sense of herself because of the way I had been making everything about the baby. It was something every member of our family had been guilty of and we were all working to correct it.
When we'd got back to the house, we went into the baby's room with Alice's sketches to try and decide where we wanted the crib to go. Alice had said the crib would be the focal point and once we picked its location, it would be easy for her to know how to arrange the rest of the furniture. We hadn't been able to come to a decision, but Bella had enjoyed laughing as I moved the crib around the room by myself.
After that, Esme had stolen Bella to go over decorations for the baby shower while my father and I had picked up dinner for us all. Neither of us had wanted to be pulled into the discussion and spend the night staring at napkins in the same shades of blue and pretending we could see a difference.
With dinner finished, Bella and I had headed upstairs for the night. We'd enjoyed a quiet bath together, cleaned the room up a little, and now we were in the bed, with Bella fast asleep. I opened my eyes and looked at her peaceful face, still not really wanting to leave her side. But the clock showed just how late it was getting and I knew I needed to get out of the bed if I was going to finish the last few items on my list for the day. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow and chance forgetting something.
I slid out of the bed, tucking the blankets tightly around her to keep her warm, and then settled onto my sofa. I picked up the baby book from the stand and flipped to the page where Bella and I had added today's picture. I grabbed my pen and wrote a few little notes about the visit and Bella's reaction to the picture—I was saving most of my observations for her journal. I put the baby book back in its usual spot and then snuck over to my nightstand, pulling out the journal I kept hidden there.
I'd originally thought the journal would just be about the pregnancy and the excitement over the baby. In reality, it was so much more. It was the story of our journey to not only accept, but embrace the pregnancy, parenthood, and the people we were becoming because of our experiences. And while it was slightly biased since it was only my point of view, I liked to think that I was doing what I could to keep it honest.
As I flipped through the pages, looking over my notes, I wondered if maybe it was a little too honest with the entries about James and our arguments. But then I realized that if our son could read this one day and see our mistakes, then maybe he could learn from them and not repeat them. One thing I absolutely wanted for him was to teach him how to be a real gentleman and to value his partner in all ways—something I was still learning myself.
Today was an amazing day, little man. You were finally turned the correct way, making your mother so immensely proud that I'm sure she'll be smiling wide for days to come. Watching her put your picture into your baby book was highly amusing since she was dancing in place on the sofa while singing "I told you so" over and over. She's very happy and I am relieved to see her so ecstatic.
I've written a few times—okay, maybe a little more than a few, but the amount doesn't matter, only the end product. James is no longer in our lives. Two weeks after our lunch with him, I received a letter postmarked from Minnesota. He was writing to let me know he would not be returning and that he was sorry for any problems he had caused. He also asked that I not mention his letter to Bella; he was worried about accidentally upsetting her. But I told her anyway, not wanting there to be any more secrets or unsaid words between us. She'd taken the news better than I had expected, choosing to rant and rave about the stupidity of men instead of letting the guilt come back. In case I haven't mentioned it before, your mother is an amazing woman.
These will be the last words I write about James. I want you to know what your mother and I have learned from this experience. First, it's vital that you not only listen to your partner, but you "hear" what she is saying to you. One of the reasons your mother was so adamant about being friends with James was because I wasn't hearing what she was saying, and therefore, I wasn't giving her what she needed. As happy as she is that you are coming into this world, she misses her normal independent self. And because your father has the tendency to be an overprotective idiot, my behavior immediately stripped her of her independence instead of allowing her to gradually get used to it and relinquish it on her own terms. The second thing you should know is to never, ever be an overprotective idiot like your father. It's important to watch over and protect your family, but there's a line between guarding the ones you love and controlling them. Third, never take any member of your family for granted, and if you do, correct it right away—that one is from your mother. And the most important thing I've learned from this experience is that the love your mother and I share is strong enough to withstand anything as long as we want it to be. My biggest wish for your future is that you someday experience this sort of love.
On to other news…Your Uncle Emmett and Aunt Alice have been getting along extremely well lately, which just makes your mother and I very suspicious. The only time your aunt and uncle see eye-to-eye is when they are up to no good. Uncle Jasper has said it's just the pregnancy making Alice softer, but I know my sister too well to believe that. I'll eventually get the information from her, I'm sure.
Your mother had a wonderful time teasing me today. She had me push your crib around the room, pretending she was actually trying to decide where it should go. I'm sure the first couple of times were honestly for decision making purposes, but after that, she was giggling too much to be serious. But since I love the sound of your mother's giggles, I put up with it. Son, I warn you now...falling in love with a woman will make you do crazy things and as long as she laughs or smiles, you'll find it worth it.
She's sleeping now, looking like an angel with her hair covering side of her face. You both seem to be very healthy and happy right now and I'm grateful for that. Your mother keeps asking me what I would like for my birthday. She doesn't seem to believe me when I say I have everything I want, but I do. I have her and you, both of you healthy and here. How could I not be satisfied with life? I'm sure that's going to seem a little odd since just last month I was writing about feeling lost. But at that time, I felt like I was losing your mother. I can handle anything life throws at me, but I could never do it without her. If I ever lost her…Well, that's not going to happen so there's no point in even thinking about it. You and I will love her and take care of her for a very long time.
Grandma Esme and Aunt Alice are in heaven planning your baby shower. They've rented a large room at one of the local hotels and they are having the affair catered. Your mother isn't thrilled about the size of the party, but once it gets underway, I'm sure she'll enjoy herself. Aunt Alice has promised to take tons of pictures so that we can put them into your baby book. This is one party that the men in the family get to skip and Uncle Emmett has scheduled us for a day of paintball. Grandpa Carlisle is even going to join us.
It's late and I'm missing your mother so I'm going to end here for tonight. Angela and Ben are supposed to come and visit on Saturday, so I'm sure I'll have a few things to write on that night. I called them and explained how much your mother had been missing them. Angela immediately moved a few things around so that she could come. Just further proof of how very loved your mother is by the people who know her. I look forward to watching you bond with her and I know you will love her just as much as the rest of the family does—no one will ever love her more than me. Good night, little man. Thank you for letting your mother have the proof that you are indeed a beautiful little boy.
I closed the leather journal and returned it to my nightstand. Bella was still asleep, but her forehead was lined, meaning she either wasn't comfortable or was slowly realizing I wasn't next to her. I quickly turned off the lamp and got back into bed, hoping to keep her from waking if it was the latter reason.
Bella immediately grabbed my shirt, using it to pull herself closer to me. "Put a ring on my finger and you're suddenly over your fear of my brother?" she giggled.
I chuckled quietly, knowing she was dreaming about our wedding night. What an amazing night that had been. She'd looked so beautiful in her dress, holding onto my hands and looking at me with those brown eyes of hers, so full of love for me.
"I love you. Thank you for making me your wife," she whispered, a goofy smile on her sleeping face.
I put my lips to her ear and whispered the same words I'd replied with on our wedding night. "I love you, Bella Cullen. Thank you for loving me enough to be my wife."
The next morning, we awoke at the same time to the sound of someone knocking impatiently on our bedroom door. I had a pretty good idea that the person was small, black-haired, and related to me.
The door opened and my sister stepped in cautiously, her hand over her eyes. "Hello? Are you awake? More importantly, are you decent?"
"Absolutely not," Bella replied, managing to keep a straight face. "Your knocking interrupted a round of wild, passionate love-making and we would appreciate it greatly if you could back out of the door so we can finish."
And then Bella's lie was ruined by her giggle and Alice's fingers spread just enough for her to peek out between them. "You are such a liar, Bella Cullen," she huffed, dropping her hand from her face and setting it on her hip.
"What do you want, Pixie?" Bella chuckled, patting the bed for Alice to come and sit. "What has brought you here on this fine Thursday morning?"
"We need to finish that list for the baby shower. And we also have some stuff to do for the nursery," Alice explained as she sat next to Bella.
"Is that code for you need her help in plotting a surprise birthday party that I don't want?" I asked as Bella settled her head into the crook of my arm. Apparently, she wasn't planning to actually leave the bed anytime soon—and that was just fine with me.
"No," Alice replied too quickly for me to believe her. "We are focused on the baby, not his party-pooper father."
"Right," I chuckled.
"By the way, Esme is waiting for you."
"For what?" I asked, not aware of any plans with my mother.
"You're helping her to clean out the attic. She has a few things she wants me to have for the babies and I'm in no condition to be up there helping her. So I volunteered you for it."
"What about your husband?"
"He's working," she replied, making the words sound a lot more like a loud "duh" than what she had actually said.
"Edward," Bella said sweetly, running her fingers along my jaw.
"Fine," I sighed, completely defeated just from the way my wife had said my name. "But I'm having breakfast with my wife first," I told my sister, daring her to argue.
"As if there was any question of that," Bella sighed, hugging me the best she could from the way she was laying.
"So can I tell Mom you guys will be down in half an hour?" Alice asked as she stood.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Bella replied.
"Want me to have her make anything for breakfast?"
"If it won't cramp your plans too much, I'd like to make breakfast with Edward."
"No, that should be fine. I was planning to stay the whole day anyway." Alice grabbed the handle of the door and started walking out. "Half an hour," she called just before closing the door completely.
"She's so much more mellow and agreeable pregnant. How odd?" Bella remarked, looking up at me with her beautiful brown eyes.
"The babies must have Jasper's temperament," I said, kissing her forehead.
Bella gave me a coy smile as she touched my jaw with her fingertips. "You know, we can't have that wild, passionate love-making I was teasing Alice about, but the slow and sweet kind that I love best would be nice."
"Are you sure you have enough energy for that and Alice?"
Bella sighed and pouted, snuggling herself closer to me. "Yeah, you're right. But can I have a rain-check for tonight?"
"Complete with warm bubble bath afterwards," I assured her.
"You are so amazingly wonderful and I love you."
"I love you, too, Bella. So what would you like to do with our time this morning?"
"Nothing. Absolutely, gloriously peaceful, nothing."
"You're breathing. That's something," I teased.
"Cullen, it's a bit early in the morning to start teasing your wife," Bella warned, giving me a playful glare.
"I'm so sorry, my love."
"No you're not," she giggled.
"Okay, maybe not, but I love you."
"Do you think the baby will like and dislike the same foods as us?" Bella asked suddenly.
"Do I even want to know where that seemingly random thought came from?" I chuckled.
"Well, I was thinking about breakfast, which made me think about Emmett, which lead me to bacon and how much you and I don't like it. And then I pictured myself having to wear nose plugs to cook it for our baby because he loved it and wanted to eat some."
I did my best not to laugh again as I replied to her little rant. "First of all, the baby won't know he likes or dislikes bacon unless he comes across it. And as a baby, he can't be near something like that until he has a few teeth, so you have some time before you have to worry about it. Lastly, if he does end up liking bacon, it will be a discovery his Uncle Emmett makes. Therefore, it will forever be his duty to supply his nephew with bacon, away from our home and noses."
"Speaking of our home…have you heard anything new from Heidi? Not that I'm in a rush," she added quickly. "I like the idea of having Carlisle and Esme to help at the beginning, and the nursery is really coming together and I know the baby will love the room."
"Heidi has a place to show me next week."
"You say that like I'm not coming."
"Well, it's a house that's still under construction and not very safe for a beautiful, amazing, wonderful, pregnant woman who I love," I replied, kissing her between each of the adjectives I used to describe her.
"You are so cheating," she sighed, relaxing further into me. "So how long will I be without you?"
"A couple of hours, maybe. But you won't notice. Rose and Lily are coming that day to hang out with you."
"You already planned it all out? When were you going to mention it to me?"
"Today, over lunch. But since our plans have been altered by our dear Alice, I'm telling you now."
"Alright, Cullen. I guess I could let this sneakiness of yours slide just this once. But don't think for a second you can make a habit of it."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Bella. I love sharing everything with you," I promised, holding her a little tighter.
She grabbed my hand, putting it on her belly as she giggled. "Either he hasn't gone to sleep yet or he's decided to wake up early with us, but either way, his little legs are going strong right now," she said quietly.
I sat up, lifting her shirt and placing a kiss on her belly. "Good morning, little man. Did Aunt Alice wake you with her exuberance? Or did she just wind our little night owl up further?"
"Daddy, he loves your voice already," Bella said, touching my cheek and drawing my eyes to hers. She had a huge smile on her face as she looked at me. "He always responds to it."
"He responds to yours as well, Love. You just tend to calm him where my voice is deeper and gets him curious."
"You think he has my curiosity?"
"Why else would he choose to have such an odd schedule? He's awake in the afternoon and night when our family is around us and there are so many voices to hear."
"Yeah, but he's awake at those times even when it's just you and me."
"Which just further proves that he already loves his mommy and daddy."
"I know I've struggled with this pregnancy and all the changes, but I really am excited to have this baby with you, and to have him here so we can hold him."
"And watch our family spoil him rotten," I chuckled, moving so that I was holding Bella again.
"But we'll keep him from getting rotten. We'll teach him to appreciate everything he gets and to work hard to have the life he wants. Just like we've been learning together."
"I know it hasn't quite been half an hour, but would you mind us getting up and starting our day now? I don't know about you, but I'm starving this morning."
"Yeah, I think the baby and I could eat," she giggled, letting me help her up from the bed.
Bella and I got dressed and headed downstairs, where we found my mother and sister sitting in the kitchen and chatting about the house Jasper had designed for Alice. He had found a piece of property not too far from Emmett and Rosalie, and construction was scheduled to start in a few weeks. We were all very excited to see his plans come to life.
After making and eating French Toast with Bella, I headed back upstairs with my mother. "So how did Alice convince you to clean the attic just for her?"
"It's not just for her," my mother chuckled. "I have a few things I want to find for her babies and one I'm still searching for, for yours."
"Really? What is it?" I asked, both curious and shocked.
"Your old wooden rocking horse. I know it'll be awhile before the baby has any use for it, but I thought at the very least, it would be a wonderful decoration for the room."
"I had a rocking horse?"
"Yes, you did. You used to spend hours on him, rocking back and forth while watching me cook or clean. Long before you wanted to be a piano player, or a music teacher, you wanted to be a cowboy. But when I told you that it would require you moving south and there would be no snow in the winter, you promptly gave up on that career choice. Silver started to collect dust so your father moved him into the attic somewhere."
"Silver?" I chuckled.
"Did I forget to mention the hours you spent on your horse, the two of you watching the Lone Ranger and his own trusty steed?" my mother said, smirking at me. "It was no surprise to your father and me that you named your horse the same as that masked ranger. You were so imaginative when you were little, and then you suddenly became very practical. I worried it was because we'd started you in school too early, but your father was convinced you were more like him than we'd first thought. He swore he'd been the same way when he'd been a small child."
"Would you have preferred me to stay imaginative?" I asked as we entered the attic door.
My mother stopped and turned toward me, smiling as she put her hand on my shoulder. "Son, I love you just as you are. It's never occurred to me to wish for you to be anything but happy and healthy. Aside from those two things, everything else is rather unimportant. I can put up with the most practical son, one who wouldn't even let his child believe in fairytales or Santa, just so long as he was happy and healthy."
"No you wouldn't," I snorted. "You love Christmas and all those other occasions too much to allow such a travesty."
"Exactly," she chuckled. "Which is why I know that for your own son's sake, you're going to learn to enjoy your own birthday again. Not because you want a party, but because you want your son to be able to celebrate a day he believes is extremely important. You know, that same reason that gets you to help Alice plan my birthday party every year."
"The women in my life are so good at forcing me to do things," I chuckled.
"All for your benefit, son."
"Where should we start?" I asked, looking around at all of the boxes up here.
"Let's start at the back and work our way forward," she suggested.
An hour later, it hardly looked like we'd made a dent in the mess. The only clue that we were even working was the light coating of dust on our clothes and the bigger pile on the floor.
"Oh, my gosh!" my mother gasped suddenly.
"Are you okay?" I asked, getting up and heading toward her.
"Fine," she sniffled, holding something blue against her chest.
"What did you find?" I asked, trying not to laugh too much. All the women in the family had been weeping an awful lot lately.
"It's your baby blanket, Sweetheart. My Aunt Elizabeth was so certain that I would have babies, she made me one pink lace blanket and one blue. You were so tiny when we first brought you home and wrapped you up in it."
I sat down next to her, touching the edge of the blanket. And then I asked Esme a question I'd always wondered about but had never felt right asking. "Mom, what was it like for you when you brought me home?"
"It was…a struggle," she said, giving me a sweet smile. "I was so happy to have you here, healthy and home, but I was angry too. I didn't understand why it should have been so difficult or why we'd had to come so close to loosing each other. Plus, I was in pain from the surgery and I was too tired to really care for you in those first couple of weeks. Everything about it made me angry."
"How did you manage to stop being angry? I hardly even recall you ever raising your voice to Alice or me."
"It took a long time, and a lot of support from your father. But eventually, I knew I had more to be thankful for than I had to be angry about. Being home with you and Alice, watching you grow and learn, those were such wonderfully special days for me. When you are busy living your life, you don't have enough time to worry about the 'should haves'."
"So do you think this blanket is in good enough shape for you to swaddle your grandson in?" I asked, wiping away her stray tear with my thumb.
My mother leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "I'll make sure of it, Edward."
"Thanks, Mom," I said, pulling her into a hug. "I hope I have your patience and wisdom as a parent."
"I'll make sure of that, too," she chuckled. "Now, let's get this attic finished so we can join your wife and sister downstairs." She kissed me once more and then stood, using my shoulder for support. She crossed the room and laid the blanket on the railing for safekeeping before turning and attacking a new pile of boxes.
No matter how many times I thought I understood how strong and amazing my mother was, she said or did something to show me I had only the basest of ideas. No wonder my father was still crazy in love with her after all of these years. I could only hope my marriage to Bella would be so amazing in the future, and do everything I could to help it become so special.
So there we have it!! Bella's been right this whole time and now has her proof!
Thanks to George for her beta skills, and to Lizbre and colourmecrayola for bouncing ideas with me. I'll be back with more chapters next weekend as we move closer to the birth of Edward and Bella's baby!