Posted 2021-12-04; Beta'd by Eeyorefan12

Bella pawed through the box of clothes she and Edward had picked up from her place on their way home from Stockbridge. She was sure she'd put some of the impulsively purchased maternity clothes in it, not that she'd expected to need any maternity pants yet, but she couldn't find her favorite stretchy skirt—

"Do you want me to drive you to work?" Edward rested a hand on her back as she continued her search.

Maybe it's still at the townhouse?

"Um, no, thank you." She glanced at the reflection of the alarm clock. "I've got time, especially now that I'm closer to work."

Bella felt a minor stab of regret for her hurried packing the night before. Given Edward's work requirements, it had made more sense to settle in at his place. More pragmatically for her, his house also had bathrooms on every floor. Still, she had clearly not been very thorough in collecting what she needed.

The hand on her back became an arm around her waist before Edward leaned in to kiss her neck. "Are you sure?"

Ah. Maybe he wasn't asking about only driving her to work? She chuckled. "Um, maybe we can come back to this moment later?"

Edward tightened his embrace as he nuzzled behind her ear, making her shiver. "I can live with that, though I'll repeat my offer to tell your boss I've borrowed your services for the day."

"And that, kids, is how daddy got mommy fired from her job."

"Kids?" She caught Edward's hopeful expression in the mirror's reflection, as well as his playful wink.

Bella used the moment to duck reluctantly out of his grasp. With the shift in position, she spied the blue fabric she'd been looking for in the drawer. Pulling out the pair of pants, she sat on the bed and donned them.

Edward sat down next to her. "Just so you know, I have no plans to get you fired."

She gave him a dubious lift of her eyebrow.

He chuckled. "Really, I don't, but I did want to ask you about your job. I think you know you don't have to go to work unless you want to. It's not like we need the money."

She felt a notable reaction to his words.

You don't have to go to work. As in, he didn't want her to? And the 'we'. That was still taking some getting used to.

"You're having a baby, Bella. You've been ill. It's okay for you to take some time off."

She was glad to be looking away, not certain how to feel about the idea—or the fact that he'd suggested it. Clearing her throat, she turned and forced a smile at him. "I'm sure I will, but it's pretty early yet. I've also only had this job for what feels like the last five minutes, oh older man already on his second career."

"Okay." He smiled.

Was it okay, though? It occurred to her that Edward had likely spent the better part of his childhood with his mom at home. At least, that's what it had sounded like from what she'd heard.

So many things had happened in the last few days. They'd reconciled less than a week ago, gotten engaged on the weekend, and then moved in together the day before. They'd barely had time to talk about what their expectations were about parenting.

Not that there was much time now. Glancing at the clock, she realized that she needed to get moving. With so many things to talk about yet, they would need to make time, rushed as some things felt.

"I should go. I promised Birgitta I'd be in early enough to fill her in on everything. And let's face it, if I make her wait, she's going to be foaming at the mouth."

Edward chuckled as he stood, offering her a hand up. "Now there's an image."

As Bella drove, she mulled over her brief conversation with Edward—and her much-changed circumstances. She was happy. They were together, engaged, and having a baby. The last few days had been hectic, but they'd felt right too. Moving in with Edward had felt natural as well. But the mention that she stop working—

"Bella!" Birgitta stood across the parking lot, waving.

Bella was lifting her hand to wave back when Birgitta crossed over.

"I'm so glad I ran into you! After you took another day off and that text you sent me, I was dying to know what your news"—she gasped, putting her hand over her mouth—"is that an engagement ring?" She didn't wait for a response, lifting Bella's hand. "Oh my god, it is! He proposed?"

By the time they reached the office doors, Bella had shared the pregnancy news and then sworn Birgitta to secrecy.

"Why?" Birgitta whined.

"Because I don't want to be treated differently at work."

Birgitta stopped and faced Bella. "You're marrying the owner's son and heir apparent. Things are going to be different at work—whether you want them to be or not."

Bella felt another twist in her gut. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that she and Edward were already married. No additional ceremony would change that, the paperwork at work certainly wouldn't, and she was certain that Edward would be on top of managing any curiosity about it. "No one'll know except you. I'm not changing my name. How will things be different?"

Birgitta cocked an eyebrow. "If you really think no one will know, you're fooling yourself. People will talk—if not right away, then when they notice you swelling up like a balloon and ask who the baby daddy is. Not that they'd need to after last week when he pretty much staked his claim in front of the whole place. Did you think about that part?"

Bella hadn't.

Sweet Lord.

She looked down at the ring on her hand, debating whether or not to wear it inside.

Birgitta nudged Bella's shoulder with hers. "But I get it, I guess. And no one'll hear it from me as long as"—she paused and smiled a little deviously—"I get invited to the wedding."

"Oh—I—it's a really small wedding in this tiny church . . . just parents and—"

Birgitta laughed. "Ignore me, Bella. I'm teasing. I don't expect you to invite me, but I am giving you a baby shower when it's time. If that's okay."

Bella let out a breath. "Thank you."

Work was busy, but that was to be expected following a long weekend. It also felt especially tiring. Even so, Bella couldn't shake the feeling something was different too. By lunch, she realized what it was: the security around the office had always been obvious, but it was especially so now. There were three new guards in the lobby when she came back into the office building. She was pretty certain there were at least two new suits on the office floor as well—both of them tall men wearing earpieces and loose jackets. She knew the look well.

She wondered if it should bother her that Edward hadn't said anything. Would he have known? Given the way he'd disappeared from the picnic, she couldn't shake the feeling that the developments were connected. Perhaps he was being overprotective—but perhaps he hadn't said anything because he didn't want her to worry?

"And you're doing a great job of that all by yourself," she muttered under her breath.

Well, there was only one way to know for sure and that was to talk to her new housemate when she got home. She added her question to the ever-growing list of things they needed to discuss.

- 0 -

Edward was still at work in his father's study when she got home. Dale was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner and waved silently when she came in.

She'd worried about potentially treading on Dale's toes, moving in with Edward, but Edward had assured her that it would be fine; he'd told her Dale might even appreciate having someone to fuss over. So far, Dale had said very little, only softly asking if Bella was alright with him cooking. She definitely was and had assured him of that.

With a cup of her favorite tea in hand, she settled herself onto the couch, deciding she might as well look through the wedding magazines Alice had pressed upon her. The wedding was only a few weeks away, and she did have a few decisions that needed to be made fairly quickly—like by tomorrow.

The topmost magazine had a splashy set of images all related to coordinating colors for the mother of the bride.

"Oh God."

"What?" Edward stood in the doorway, his expression the picture of concern.

Bella felt a splash of liquid and swore softly as she set her teacup down, vainly trying to wipe off the magazine. Edward sat down beside her, quickly sopping up the mess with a handful of tissues.

"Thanks." She still felt so clumsy.

Edward nodded, taking the magazine and wiping it off. "Cold feet?"

"What?"

He looked at the cover. "I was wondering if things were getting a bit too real for you?"

She laughed, realizing what he meant. "No, though I'll never be able to hold a candle to your sister's wedding worship."

Edward smiled gently. "Not just weddings. Any event, really. That girl loves a party, for sure. But I am serious about the question. You seemed . . . off this morning. I was wondering if things were going too fast."

She opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and then shook her head. "I'm excited about us being together and feeling truly married. No, it's not that. It was . . ."

She was thankful for his patience as he waited for her to finish her thought.

Yeah, just what exactly is it, Swan?

"I want to work, and—"

"Ah. You think I don't want you to." Edward ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah. Sorry. I wondered if that was what you were getting from this morning. That wasn't what I was saying."

"Then . . . what was that about?"

He shrugged. "Sex."

She blinked and laughed. "Really?"

"I was offering to drive you to work so we'd have a little more time before you had to leave."

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess I did figure that one out. But then you said I didn't need to work at all . . . "

"Mm-hm." He leaned in and kissed her. "Yep. If I could convince you to play hooky with me most days, I would. But I can also see asking you that regularly is annoying, so I won't do it again."

"Good to know." She smiled. "Not that I don't want to take you up on it . . . every single time."

"But you're still thinking about my comment."

"Yes." She peeked up at him. "I am because we haven't really talked about who or even if one of us stays home with the baby. My mom didn't. I'm thinking your mom did?"

"Yep, she did, and she was happy to. I'm not assuming the same for you, Bella."

It was surprising just how much relief she felt hearing that. And God help her if there weren't tears brimming.

Edward held out the box of tissues.

She took one, murmuring, "Sorry."

"Don't be." He scooted closer, wrapping his arms around her. "A lot has happened, and not all of it's been good. If you need to slow down or pause or full on put the brakes on things, I understand."

She finished wiping at her eyes. "Thank you. I'm okay. I'm really happy we're getting married and that our families will be there with us—and, by the way, that's what the 'oh god' was about. I've already told you my parents are probably going to freak out about me getting married, much less being pregnant. Besides that, I'm also realizing that I'm still dealing with things I've never had to deal with before."

"Like?"

She thought of how vulnerable he'd made himself to her this past weekend, sharing his fears—his hopes. She needed to do the same. It was just . . . hard. "While I did imagine being married and having children someday, it feels almost like I'm doing everything backward. It worries me—mostly because I'm still learning who you are and who we are together. It's like . . . I don't even know yet if you prefer your eggs scrambled or hard-boiled; why would I know if you think your wife should stay home with the kids? And, we have so many other things that we need to know and do and . . . well, that's what I'm dealing with."

Edward drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He took her left hand in his and stroked his thumb over the back of it before gently pressing on the diamond on her finger. "Thank you for sharing that with me. Let me be clear: I will do whatever I can to make this easier for you and support you. Anything you need. Just tell me."

Anything? She had a hard time imagining that. "So, working through the first few hours of labor is cool?"

She could hear the smile in his voice. "You find the boundaries real fast, Swan. Real fast." She felt his quiet chuckle. "And sure. Until your water breaks. Then all bets are off."

Sitting up and shifting to face him, she sighed. "I want to ask you something and I'm not sure you can give me an answer . . . or if you're willing to."

"Okay?" The uncertainty in his expression was understandable.

"There seemed to be a few extra security people at work today. Is that because of me?"

She saw his jaw tighten, but he nodded.

The immediacy of the answer surprised her.

"Do I need to be worried about that?"

"Not at all."

Really?

"It also didn't have anything to do with . . . you asking me to stay home?"

The smile from before was now a grin. "I'm not sure how to take that, your not believing that I want to make love to you instead of you going to work."

Was that the truth? He'd been more forthcoming recently but she had to be sure. She kept her voice soft but firm. "I'd like a clear and straight answer, please. Am I in danger?"

He looked her directly in the eyes before speaking. "The extra security is merely a precaution. It's one that all our sites are getting right now. It's nothing to do with you specifically, except that you are one of our employees. And if there was anything more, I would tell you."

She pulled in and then released a deep breath, squeezing his hand. "Thank you for answering my question."

"You're welcome. Although apparently there is something I've kept from you and I think I'll need to share it." The sober expression he wore was unsettling.

She swallowed. "And that is?"

"Over hard, Swan. I prefer my eggs over hard."

"Hmm." Despite the heat rising in her cheeks, she forced herself to hold his gaze. "That doesn't surprise me in the least, Cullen."

- 0 -

Bella put her cup of tea down on the coffee table, making the final mental preparations for what would be a significant disclosure to her father—and then her mother. Not so long ago this room had been the scene of a very different kind of disclosure. As she took another deep breath, she hoped the information she had to share would bring joy.

Mom and dad love me. After they freak out, they'll be thrilled.

She took another sip of her herbal tea. Her nervousness remained.

With dinner over, Edward had excused himself to do some work in the study. He'd offered to be with her when she called, but she'd demurred, assuring him she'd be better off handling it on her own. She wasn't sure exactly what her parents would say, but her imagination produced nothing but scenes of shock and consternation, these awkwardly overlaid with belated congratulations.

"Ho-kay." Before she could put off the task again, Bella pressed the call button by her father's number. He picked up on the first ring.

"Bells!"

He sounded so delighted to hear from her. His enthusiasm, combined with the childhood nickname, made her cringe a little. She realized that she hadn't called him in a few weeks, not since she'd told him she'd accepted a job in Boston after all. Even with that news, he'd commented then that she'd sounded a little glum. She'd passed it off as being homesick. "Hey, Dad."

After a few general pleasantries, there was a pause, and Bella took it as her cue to share her news. "So, I'm calling because"—she swallowed, not quite certain of the right words—"well, Edward . . ."

"Your new guy? What did he do?" His tone suggested several emotions: anger, protectiveness, and a presumption of guilt.

"Ah, well, no, it's good news."

"Okay." He sounded calmer but not convinced.

Bella had a sudden realization: Edward was only the second person she'd had a romantic relationship with. The first one was a boy that had hurt her. Of course her father would be feeling a bit edgy.

"Edward's a good guy, Dad. He's not Jake," she said softly. "He's . . . the opposite, actually."

She heard a small exhale on the other side of the line. "You've got good judgement, honey. I know. I'm . . . glad he's a good guy."

"So, I hope you think it's good news if I tell you he proposed, and I said yes." Even thousands of miles away, she closed her eyes and scrunched up her face, waiting for the response.

There was a pause followed by a sound she wasn't quite sure how to describe. Then her father cleared his throat, saying nothing for a few seconds, leaving her waiting for what felt like minutes. "That's wonderful news, Bella. I . . . well, if you're happy, I'm happy."

He was?

Holy shit!

Before he could say anything else, she blurted out the rest of her news. "I'm really glad to hear that because there's more. We're having a baby too."

Silence. Hopefully, he just needed a moment.

"Sorry," Charlie said finally. "I think I walked into a bit of a dead zone. You broke up a bit. What did you say?"

"We're having a baby. I'm pregnant."

"Oh," he said, in a way Bella had never heard before. "That sounds . . . that's, uh—Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Are you guys getting married because you're pregnant?"

She was grateful for the question. "No."

"You're sure?"

She laughed, relieved that they'd reached this point. "I am absolutely certain. I love him, Dad. I'd marry him even if I wasn't pregnant and he . . . it's important to him. It wasn't planned, and it might have moved things up a bit, but I'm so happy. I know this is pretty much exactly the opposite of what you would want for me, but—"

"No, no. I trust you. If this is what you want, then this is it. I'm just—wow. I wasn't expecting any of this."

Smiling, Bella let her father babble on and then ask several questions. A few of them were ones she'd expected, while others were clearly the product of his professional training: yes, Edward made a good living; no, he was okay with her having a career; yes, he was older but only by six years, and yes, he'd been arrested once but it was a misunderstanding—though she realized she'd better double-check that one with Edward later.

"Promise me you will not abuse your authority and run a background check," she finally said after the fifth question about what Edward did for work. "Wait, you didn't do one already, right?"

"I did not and I solemnly promise I won't, but I still get to be curious about the man who convinced you to get married in a church—how long have you known each other again?"

"Cute, Dad. Um, I should probably call mom, though. Can we play twenty questions later? Or maybe you and Edward can have a chat another time and you can both practice your interrogation skills on each other?"

Her father laughed. "He can try. I don't doubt he's a smart cookie, but I'll put money on age and experience over military training, even if it was in counterintelligence."

Bella hummed noncommittally. Yeah, she might have hit that point a little harder than she needed to but she wanted her Dad to know how smart and talented Edward was—and his current job duties were a little more nebulous. She had a brief flash of the two men attempting to out-interrogate each other and shook her head. It would be an awfully quiet conversation. "I'm not sure if he really knows what he's getting into, having you for a future father-in-law, but he's excited to meet you, so—um, maybe leave the work hat at work?"

"I'm just ribbing you, kiddo. You said he likes baseball, that's good enough for me. If he fishes too, well, that'd be icing on the cake. I'll let you go and mentally prepare to talk to your mother and start looking at flights. October eighth, right?"

"Right." She grinned, despite his reminder of her next call. Talking with her mom would be easier now that her father was on board. Despite all her parents' efforts to have an amicable relationship, there was a faint but perpetual undercurrent of competitiveness between them when it came to their only child. Renee would no doubt be surprised by Bella's news just as Charlie had been. Still, Bella knew that she would come around in time.

She wasn't exactly wrong, but the "coming around" part took a lot longer than with her father. There had been a demand for a picture—thank goodness Alice had snapped one with her phone the night they'd announced their engagement—and then for other details that couldn't be as freely shared.

"Sweetheart, I can absolutely see how you got caught up with this one. He's mighty pretty—"

"Mom—"

"—but you are so young, and you do not need to tie yourself down with a baby. You do not have to have a baby at your age—"

"Mom!"

"There will be other pretty boys. This has come on so fast. You need to—"

"Stop!"

Miraculously, her mother did, listening as Bella repeated her reasons for her choices.

After peppering her with a few more questions, Renee offered a resigned-sounding sort of sigh. "Well, he's certainly handsome, I'll give you that. Obviously fertile, but the good-looking ones always are."

Bella was glad that no one was around to witness the many shades of red she was sure she'd turned.

When she finally hung up from the protracted phone call, Edward appeared, sitting down beside her.

"I'm guessing your mom is a lot like Alice."

"How so?"

"She doesn't have a volume control." He grinned, pointing to his ear. "Hearing all good?"

Oh crap, did that mean he'd heard everything her mom had said?

Hopefully not. Bella shook her head with fond resignation. Her parents operated on opposite ends of the audibility spectrum. She patted her abdomen. "Fingers crossed, our offspring will take after you: a quiet overthinker."

"Let's not wish that on Sprout, huh?" He leaned in and kissed her.

She pulled back, cocking her head to the side. "Sprout?"

"Meeting Father Matteo? Raising our children?" he said.

I will raise any children we have as bean sprouts, she'd told him, damn his impressive memory.

She laughed, wagging her finger. "I thought you said promises made under duress don't count, Cullen."

He slipped his hand behind her back and nuzzled her cheek. "Are you saying you don't want to raise bean sprouts with me?"

She was halfway through snorting out a giggle when his nuzzling turned into a kiss and he was sliding his hand to her waist, then down her backside. After another moment, she had no thoughts about priests, promises, progeny, or parents—or anything, really, but him. When he leaned her back into the sofa cushions, she could tell he definitely wasn't overthinking either.

She sure hoped Dale was spending the evening in his room.

Note from Eeyorefan12: Aaaand she's back. Even pre-written stories need a little extra TLC once in a while . . . and so do their authors. ;)

DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.