Hello everyone,

When I posted this morning, I wasn't sure if I was going to write the fourth part. After talking with a friend, I decided to because it isn't fair to those who want to know what's in store for this couple.

I will promise and have promised a HEA for this story, and I also promised some bumps in the road. I plan to deliver both.

Anyway, thanks for being a part of Cutie. It is a pleasure and a pain to write sometimes with my hectic schedule for all my other work.

I will see you in August. I won't say how long those chapters will be or when I will post them. But you will get an update for that month.

Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following.

Please review ... Happy Fourth

"It says December 25 on this sonogram." Edward looked up at Bella. "What does that mean?"

"Oh," Bella snorted with a nod. "They are due on Christmas Day."

"How fucking ironic," he laughed, returning his attention to the sonogram in his hand. "Christmas babies. When it all started."

They stood there quietly, analyzing the ultrasound. The overpowering need to embrace the woman at his side was more than he could bear. Ever since learning he'd be a father, Edward thought of little else and had been researching her condition and the changes in her body. Glancing out the corner of his eye, curiosity got the better of him. "Can you feel them moving yet?"

"I feel fluttering in my belly sometimes. It's nothing like it will be later, I'm sure," Bella explained, with a soft snort; her hand came up to rub her belly. "Right now, I just feel constantly bloated. It's a strange sensation, the feeling of having tiny humans growing inside you. It's amazing and weird, and nothing I could have ever imagined."

Edward lowered the photo and turned his attention to Bella. She practically glowed. He'd always thought the saying about pregnant women glowing was a myth, but Bella looked radiant. His fingers itched to touch her, just as simple as brushing the hair from her face. Over the last several weeks, he'd forfeited the right to touch her.

As he watched her hands rub across her stomach, Edward's own desire to feel the weight of his children possessed him. Clearing the lump from his throat, he shifted closer. "Can I feel them?"

Up to this point, Bella hadn't let anyone touch her belly besides Jake and, on occasion, Alice. James' unexpected caress had been that once, and something Bella didn't see becoming a habit.

How could she deny Edward's right to touch his children? The thought of Edward's hands on her gave her pause, however. Every time he touched her, her blood spiked to a fever pitch, and things happened. Currently, she wasn't in the right state of mind for anything to happen between them.

Slowly, Bella nodded, forcing her blood pressure to remain steady. "Of course."

Hesitantly, Edward's hand lifted, and he became unsure where to actually touch her. Finally, Edward chose an angle and settled his broad palm on the swell. Totally engrossed by the thought of his babies growing inside her, he smiled. "They say they can hear inside your womb. They said you should talk to them and sing."

Bella chuckled with a lift of her brows. "Are you going to sing to my belly?"

"It's definitely an idea," Edward chuckled, pressing here and there on her abdomen. The longer he touched her, the closer he came to stand before her. Now he was an inch away, his nose grazing the top of her head. The vanilla scent of her body spray tickled his senses, and the same force that had drawn him to her was awakened.

Warmth spread from his fingers throughout her body. Stifling the moan on her lips, Bella focused on what he said or tried to. Comprehending what he said became a trial as the familiar pang of desire clawed at her loins.

He was standing so close that if she lifted her head, their lips would connect. Fuck. Where was the willpower to resist this man? Giving in to temptation, she tilted her head to look at him. As she already imagined, his lips were a breath away, and the same drugged sensations flowed through her.

Their last encounter in the judge's chamber came to mind, and the fire intensified. Bella swallowed the desire to close the last remaining distance between them and capture those lips. Instead, her lashes fluttered as she fought magnetic pull.

Edward didn't even try to maintain composure. His lips brushed hers, feeling an intimacy he'd never expected to feel. When Bella didn't immediately pull away, he shifted, pressing his chest into hers as his kiss enticed her to let go.

She did, for a brief moment of weakness. She gasped as his tongue probed for entrance, and she was a moment away from forgetting everything and melting into a puddle at his feet. Bella's eyes slid closed, relishing the taste of him on her tongue, surrendering, and then, she broke away with a shake of her head.

"I can't … we can't," Bella informed him, stepping back. She had to put some distance between them because with her hormones battling for dominance, she could throw all caution to the wind.

"Why? You and James are just 'friends,' right? Why can't we?" Edward was tempted to pick her up and carry her straight to her bedroom. The hell they couldn't.

"Because," she huffed, putting the couch between them when she spied that sparkle in his eye. He was seconds away from bending her over, and she was about to let him. "Because now it's about more than just us, Edward. If you want the babies, I won't deny you that. But as for us …"

Bella broke off her statement because it was the hardest thing she would ever say. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders, intent on seeing this through. "I should've answered your calls, and you should've answered mine. The fact is neither of us are in any place to say we want to be together."

"Bella, I gave up my career in Indy. I moved here. I bought a condo downtown in the Anthony Wayne Building. I'm here. I want this."

Bella listened to what he said. Her heart dropped in her stomach as she digested this latest development. He'd moved here. He wanted her. For how long? All of his promises came back, reawakening old fears. "I want to believe you. I do. I want to believe you gave it all up to be here. But right now, I don't."

"Does this have to do with James?" Edward wanted to know. He was prepared to fight for the woman standing before him as well as his children. In order to do that, he needed to know what he was up against.

Bella closed her eyes and counted to ten. Finally, she opened them and shook her head. "No, Edward, it doesn't have to do with James. It has to do with the fact that I don't trust you."

"Let me change that. Let me show you that I mean every word. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. Let me be your friend."

Please review ... pick the genders of the babies !!!