BPOV

I woke up, loving the feel of Edward's hand on my belly, and once again wishing terribly that it was his baby I was carrying. I fought off the tears and rolled over to snuggle into his chest. I looked up at him for a kiss and afterward, he gently shoved me in the direction of the bathroom. I grumbled, but went. I knew he would have breakfast waiting for me when I went downstairs. I loved that Edward took his responsibilities as my mate so seriously; as did I. I ignored some of the clothes that Alice had chosen for me and pulled one of Edward's T-shirts out of the closet. I was dressing for comfort today, not fashion. I wrote a note without looking at it so that Alice wouldn't see what I was writing. I handed it to Edward when I passed him. He nodded and handed me a plate.

"What are you hiding from me, Bella?" Alice demanded.

"Nothing Alice."

"Liar. Now, tell me." Emmet walked into the room to see Alice getting mad. I wasn't worried, I knew she wouldn't hurt me and I also knew that Edward would protect me.

"Alice is letting you get away with wearing that?" Emmet added fuel to the fire. That's when she finally looked at me.

"That is NOT what I laid out for you."

"Some of it is." I shrugged. Edward was blocking her path to me. I love my vampire. I continued to eat.

"Why are you wearing that hideous shirt?"

"Hey!" Edward protested. I knew that Edward liked this shirt, which was probably why Alice didn't; he had bought it for himself. I smiled smugly.

"I like it. It's comfortable."

"It's ugly."

"You've made your opinion on the shirt clear. Who am I trying to impress anyway?"

"You are a reflection on this family and I will not let you out of here looking like a bum." She declared.

"Well, I'm not changing. I don't feel like it." The real truth is that my pants were unbuttoned and I didn't have anything long enough to cover it.

"You go change or I'll…"

"You'll what? You know I'm not into material possessions so you can't destroy anything that can't be replaced. You can't hurt Edward because he'll see it in your thoughts and you can't hurt my dad because Kate will protect him." I could see Emmet smiling behind her back and fought to keep my face neutral.

"I can kill your truck so that even Rosalie won't be able to fix it."

"Eh, it's about to die anyway." I feared that she would do it. I loved that truck. I hope that she didn't call my bluff.

"Ok, I'm glad to get rid of that piece of crap for you then." She walked toward the back door. Damn!

"Fine, I'll change, but you can't say anything. What I put on will stay on for the rest of the day. Agreed?" I was being ambivalent about what I was going to change into so she wouldn't see my decision.

"Agreed. Now, go or we'll be late." I swallowed my last bite and looked to Edward. He scooped me up and ran me upstairs. I closed my eyes so that I wouldn't get sick.

"I'll wait in the hall for you." He said.

"No, it's fine, stay here, I won't be long." I kissed him and disappeared into the closet.

"How did you block her vision anyway?" He asked.

"I looked out the window as I wrote that note so she wouldn't see what I was writing."

"Clever." I stepped out of the closet, pulling up my pants. He smiled at my choice.

"She's going to kill you."

"She can't because she agreed. I feel even more comfortable now than I did before." I was smug and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"You'll protect me, right?"

"Yes, most of us will. She won't get to you. Do you really not care about your truck? I can replace it now?"

"I was bluffing about my truck. I love it and no, you can't replace it until it dies." I didn't understand why he was always so eager to spend money on me. I quit trying to fight him on it, but I never encouraged it. He kissed me.

"Ok, let's go to school." He scooped me up again and took me straight out to the car. Emmet was howling at my new choice of yoga pants to go with Edward's shirt.

"I'll get you back for this; I promise you I will." Alice threatened me.

"It sucks to play when your blind, doesn't it?" I was going to be a kick-ass vampire when I was changed. Of course, that meant that Edward wouldn't be able to fight all of my battles for me. I was going to be on my own for some of them. I didn't want her mad at me so I turned to face her.

"Look, I'm not feeling the greatest and these comfortable clothes are brightening my mood a little. Let it go for today, ok?" I put my hand on my stomach for emphasis and she softened.

"Ok, but I get to give you a makeover and we're going shopping soon for bigger clothes."

"No makeover. I like how I look. Save it for right before my change if you must but I don't have the patience to sit that long right now." I could almost feel my hormones rising up in anger, and I fought to keep them in check. Edward stepped in front of me and Alice must have sensed how close to losing it I was, so she backed off. I had to force myself to remember that none of them, except Esme had any idea of what I was feeling like right now. I wasn't talking on a purely emotional level either and it's been over seventy year since Esme has had the experience of pregnancy, so essentially, I was alone. Jasper joined us from the forest, having just come back from a hunt. He sent me a wave of calm and I smiled gratefully. He took in the scene before him and advised Alice to drive herself and Tanya to school today. He must have made the decision in his mind to explain it to her because her eyes glazed over and I know that Edward saw it too. That made me angry.

"Just say it out loud because I know you're telling her how I feel." I stayed calm, but my irritation came through loud and clear in my words.

"I was telling her to drive herself today because you are angry, frustrated, tired, irritable and uncomfortable. I told her that today was not a day to push you around."

"Thank you, Jasper. Let's get to school." I tugged on Edward's shirt and sat in the car. He drove us to school.

"Are you really feeling all of those things right now?"

"Yes, and I have a feeling that it's also going to only get worse. I'm sorry for losing control of my anger. I'll apologize to Alice later. I have to remember that all of you only have my best interests at heart." He reached over and squeezed my hand. I leaned on his arm for the rest of the drive. When we got to school, he carried my backpack for me and walked me to class. I saw Alice waiting outside for me.

"I'm sorry, Alice."

"I'm sorry too. It's an adjustment these days, for all of us. We're so used to you being fairly easygoing about everything." She whispered.

"I know and I have to remember that you can't truly empathize with the changes I'm going through right now. None of you deserve to bear the brunt of my emotions and I'll do my best to keep calm." She smiled and so did I. She hugged me and went to class. It was had to concentrate all day, but somehow I got through it. I could feel the bump a little more prominently today and I wondered if it was because I wasn't crushing it with pants that are now too snug. I didn't want to go shopping, but it had now become a necessity and at least I had Edward with me. He wouldn't push me to do anything I didn't want to do. We took our time leaving school to be sure that Alice was gone already and he opened the door for me.

"Are you ready?" He was driving and trying not to make a conscious decision so that we could stave Alice off for as long as possible.

"No, but it needs to be done. Let's get this over with." Again, I leaned on his arm while he drove and actually dozed off for a few minutes.

We were at the mall for twenty minutes by the time she caught up to us. She took everything out of our hands and put it back away. I didn't want this.

"No. I wanted those things." I picked up the pants and one shirt again.

"Bella," She whined.

"They will look horrible on you."

"Ask me if I care. I'm dressing for comfort." We weren't buying maternity yet, but I had succumbed to the next size up and elastic waist bands. I knew that Alice would happily buy me enough maternity clothes that I only had to wear each thing one time, but I was more practical than that. It was a compromise and a difficult one at that. She studied me and must have seen that I would not be budged and pull more stunts like I did this morning.

"Fine, but I still get to pick some stuff out."

"You also can't argue if I want to go to school in sweats anymore either." Edward took the clothes from my hand to hold for me; he was so sweet. I smiled up at him.

"Ugh, fine. We are having a talk at home; a nice long talk."

"Ok." I took Edward and went back to the clothes I was looking at Alice didn't truly need me and would buy what she wanted for me whether I wanted it or not, so I largely ignored her. I went to pay for my new clothes. I had picked out about a weeks worth of pants and shirts. Edward was faster and paid for them for me.

"Just for that, you have to eat dinner with me." I growled under my breath, knowing he would hear me.

"Bella, when are you going to understand that I want to do things like this for you? I want to be able to provide you with what you need. It makes me feel good." I felt bad; I already knew this, and I still protested. I turned my face down to hide the tear that had escaped. He tilted my chin up and swiped at the tear with his thumb.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't deserve you. You're too good to me." I buried my face in his chest.

"Bella, it's me who doesn't deserve you; are we really going to have this argument again?" I chuckled, but didn't lift my head.

"I'm sorry; it's also the hormones." I swiped at my face. I looked up at him.

"Am I all blotchy now?" I didn't wear any make up today, thank goodness for that.

"You're beautiful." To prove his point, he leaned down to kiss me. We heard a chorus of 'aawwws' and looked to see Jessica, Angela, Ben and Mike staring at us. I blushed, naturally. Edward merely wrapped his free arm around my shoulder.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Mike wanted to get a gift for Tanya, Ben is tagging along and we are just hanging out." Jessica told us and then Alice came bounding up to us. Thankfully she said nothing about the new clothes for my expanding size. We made small talk until my stomach growled; it wasn't quiet either.

"I guess I'm hungry." I laughed it off and wordlessly we all walked to the food court. This time I had my money ready, but again he paid for it.

"You don't have to do that, you know."

"Why not, I'm eating too. It's only fair that I pay." I grumble and he sighed.

"Bella, we're getting married and in a few more months our bank accounts will join forces. What's the big deal where the money comes from?"

"I like being independent and paying my own way. Before we started dating, if I couldn't afford it, then I went without. It's a hard habit to break. I'll try not to complain anymore."

"I love your independence. From now on, if you want to pay, then I'll try to let you." I smiled gratefully.

"Thank you. Are you really going to eat?" I whispered.

"I have to. Mike is watching us a little more closely. Alice is too. See how much we love you?" I chuckled and pulled him down for a kiss. I noticed that both he and Alice had chosen soup; I guess because it would be easier to throw up. I on the other hand, had enough food for three people from two different places. This craving thing is getting annoying. I would make Edward eat some of it if anyone said anything and then eat more at home. He set our food down at the table with everyone else. Edward was right, Mike was discreetly paying more attention to him and Alice as they ate. They wouldn't be able to hide the food this time. He looked at me and I smiled at him.

"What did you find for Tanya, Mike?" I asked.

"Nothing yet. I'm stuck as to what to get for her to show her that I really like her and that I want to see her again."

"Hmm, that is a tough one. Do you know what kind of music she likes? Maybe take her dancing and dedicate a song to her." I suggested.

"You could also just tell her." Alice said and handed over Tanya's phone number. I continued to eat.

"Uh Bella, did you eat lunch today?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, you were there."

"I've just never seen you eat as much as you are right now. Is everything ok?"

"Yes, I'm just a little hungrier today. I don't normally go shopping or eat out." I leaned forward and whispered the word, 'hormones' to her and she understood immediately. Edward acted as if he didn't say anything. We finished our meals and parted ways. On the way home, Edward pulled over to go throw up in the woods and then let me buy some ice cream at the store. I got home and loaded it up with as many toppings as we had at the house. He watched me while I ate, moaning at the taste. I saw him adjust himself.

"Did I do that to you?" I asked.

"Uh, well your moaning did."

"I would have thought that you figured out by now that I like cold things." He groaned at that but shifted gears immediately; my dad must be home. He brought our homework to the table to wait until I was finished with my dessert. My dad and Kate found us in the kitchen. They greeted us and disappeared upstairs. It didn't take a genius to know what they were up to. Edward said calmly that we were leaving, knowing that Kate would hear him and he gathered up our things. Just when we reached the door, I could hear the moaning. Edward rushed me out of there and drove us to his house.

"My god, they're worse than us." I said.

"For now, they are, don't forget that they are able to fully mate, while we are waiting. It will get even worse when your dad is changed, but then you and I will also be too busy to notice what they are doing. It takes a while to satisfy the initial mating bond. Carlisle and Esme were at it every spare moment for about five years and you already know that we kicked Rosalie and Emmet out. I imagine that Kate and your dad will disappear for a while but then again, so will we. In the grand scheme of things, a decade or two is a short amount of time when you live forever." He told me.

"Yes, alright, you have a point, but it's my dad; that seriously grosses me out."

"He feels the same way about you, if it makes you feel any better. Trust me, you get used to it."

"Would you really feel that way if Carlisle and Esme were your birth parents?"

"Uh…"

"That's what I thought." I was smug.

"True, but I've also been listening to them for eighty-five years. I think that even if they were my birth parents, I would have gotten used to it and do what I've always done; run away and find something else to do." He told me.

"Besides, you only have to hear it with your human ears right now, I have to hear it and see it with my heightened senses. Jasper will sometimes amp up the lust in the house and I'm hard pressed to get out of the house fast enough. I was never so glad as the day I decided to start hanging out at your house during the night. I've seen things between the three mated pairs at my house that would make your eyes bleed."

"You're right; good point. So, is it like a nightly thing at your house then?"

"It depends on the week." He shrugged; neither one of us really wanted to think about it.

A/N: Reviews are wanted and appreciated. Have a great day! Kelly