A/N: 1) I do not speak Italian nor understand it, but I love the language. I used Google Translate. If there's something not spelled right, blame Google. 2)I'm not a doctor nor do I strive to be one, but the bleeding bladder infection that Bella has just experienced, I had one with my first pregnancy. It freaked me out and hurt so, so bad. I honestly thought I was miscarrying.

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. All mistakes are my own.

ENJOY!

10/14/2022

Chapter 21

EPOV

The night that Bella woke me up from being in a lot of pain, scared me half to death. It was way too soon for our daughter to be born, and I knew I would've been a basket case if there was something seriously wrong. As bad as it sounded, I was glad it was only a bladder infection. Her antibiotics worked wonders and she was finally feeling better.

When she told me about her dream that she had of Phil, I couldn't tell her what I thought of it. Why she dreamed of Phil? I could only guess it was from the periodic contact from David. She was still contemplating whether or not to be in touch with him even though we knew he wasn't the main instigator behind the lawsuit and the things from the past. It was still unforgivable for what he did. I knew I couldn't forgive him for how he participated in the transgressions that were put against Bella and her mom. It was entirely up to Bella how she perceived her availability to him. I was glad she wasn't having a war within herself to try and make a decision about it, and I knew that whatever decision my wife made, she definitely put a lot of thought into it.

Alice and Jasper finally set a date for their wedding. They'd be getting married sometime in November. I knew Jasper was beside himself when she finally agreed to set a date, and they agreed to wait another year before they started trying for a baby. They requested plenty of babysitting duties before then so they could get plenty of practice.

It was now two months before Bella's due date. Time seemed to be moving along faster than I expected it to. Mom told me that as soon as our little Avery was born, time would never stand still, again. That led her into stories about when I was first born and why she wished she had a time machine just go back and watch us grow up in slow motion.

And since Bella got sick with the bladder infection, we decided we were going to have a house built. Of course, my dad would be the contractor along with James drawing up the blueprints for the house. We agreed that moving would be for the best because we wanted a nice, big yard for Avery to run around in, and Bella wanted a dog. I refused to have one in the loft we currently live in. It was unfair for an animal not to have room to run around. Luckily, when we do get a dog, she doesn't want one that fits in her purse.

About a week ago, we got a call from Bella's mom, telling us that her grandfather had suffered a heart-attack. Bella was beside herself and all I could do was hold her while she cried. He was still in the intensive care unit in Seattle. They had air transported him from Forks to Seattle Grace because they were a more suited hospital for his condition.

Bella barely left the hospital long enough to shower, eat then head back. My aunt Joan told her to take all the time she needed, off from work. She hadn't even been to the shelters or attending her yoga classes.

All I wanted to do was comfort my wife, but she insisted that I keep going to work. I could tell she was trying her hardest to be strong for everyone and the least I could do was be strong for her.

The doctors weren't telling us much other than he was holding on, but the hardest part of it all, he was being kept alive on machines. He still showed brain activity, which was a good sign. We had hope that he would pull through, but I was worried for my wife's health at the moment. She wasn't eating like she needed and that concerned me to the fullest.

We were currently sitting in her grandfather's hospital room, waiting for more test results to come in. They've been running test after test to find out whether or not his heart was healing the way it needed to be. "Baby, you need to eat something, please." I was practically begging her because I didn't want her to end up in a bed somewhere in the maternity ward.

"I'm fine, Edward. I ate an omelet this morning, but Nonna needs to eat. I should go get her something; she won't leave the room." Bella got up from her seat and walked over to her grandmother. "La nonna, avete bisogno di mangiare. Tu vuoi che ti porti qualcosa?(Grandma, you need to eat. Do you want me to bring you something?)

"No." Nonna shook her head. "No. Il nonno è essere testardo e non svegliarsi. Ha gradire l'attenzione troppo e continua a dormire." (No. Your grandfather is being stubborn and not waking up. He's liking the attention too much and keeps sleeping.) I watched as her grandmother talked with her hands like Bella does occasionally especially when she was passionate about what she was saying. She said most Italians are like that, and I knew that to be true, now. I definitely couldn't follow along with their conversation, because I couldn't tell you a word they're saying. Bella promised to teach me one day if I really wanted to learn.

Bella sat down next to her grandmother and took her hands in hers. "La nonna, si sveglierà. E 'un uomo forte. Forse è da qualche parte nel sonno che sta godendo troppo." (Grandma, he'll wake up. He's a strong man. Maybe he's somewhere in his sleep that he's enjoying too much.)

"Voglio solo prendere il mio marito a casa e tornare alla normalità." (I just want to take my husband home and go back to normal.)

"Egli andrà meglio. Tutti noi lo amiamo. Egli vuole vivere." (He will get better. We all love him. He wants to live.)

Bella's grandmother pulled her into a tight hug. "Ti amo dolcezza. Grazie per essere qui." (I love you, sweetheart. Thank you for being here.)

Bella pulled back and looked at her grandmother, putting a small smile on her face. "Ti amo, anche, la nonna. Manderò Edward di farci qualcosa da mangiare, va bene?" (I love you, too, Grandma. I'll send Edward to get us something to eat, okay?)

Bella's grandmother nodded at her suggestion and went back to her cross-stitch. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but she was keeping herself busy while she was here.

"Do you mind running down to the cafeteria and grabbing a couple of sandwiches for us? She won't eat unless we put it right in front of her." She leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"Of course. Any suggestions for her? I know what you like, but not her," I said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Just get her the same as me. Mom and Dad should be back soon. I just wish the doctor would hurry up," she said, slumping back in her seat.

I stood up and pulled her with me. I wrapped my arms around her. "I love you, baby. Everything's gonna be okay. Please try not to worry so much. Avery's gonna sense you being upset." We still hadn't told anyone what we were naming our daughter. We only used her name when we were alone or away from everyone else.

As I left the room Charlie and Renee were on their way back in. "How're they holding up?"

"They're doing okay. I'm on my way down to the cafeteria to get something for them to eat. Maybe you can talk Bella into going home to get some sleep. I can't get her to listen to me," I suggested, showing all my concern for my wife.

Renee hugged me as Charlie patted me on the back. "I'll do what I can. She doesn't wanna leave her grandmother here alone."

"I know, but she's not getting enough rest for the baby and I'm afraid she'll make herself sick with worry," I expressed, pulling away from Renee's hug. "I'll see you in a few minutes. You two want anything?"

"No, we're good. She ya in a few," Charlie said as they turned to walk away.

I hurried and bought a couple of sandwiches, drinks and a few other snacks for later. I wanted to make sure Bella had enough food around.

When I walked in, the doctor was just walking out. Everyone seemed to have raised spirits when I entered. "Hey, what's the news?"

Bella stood up and walked over to me as I sat their food down on the roll away bed tray. "They removed the intubation tubes and he's breathing on his own. His brain activity is more active than before. It's just a matter of waiting now."

I handed Bella a bottle of orange juice. "They don't know what's keeping him from waking up?"

"No. They said it's just his body's way of healing. He'll wake up when he's ready," Bella explained, smiling up at me. It was nice to see that smile. It hadn't been there for about a week.

I reached over and picked up a sandwich for her. "Here, eat this. There's one for your grandmother, too. And I bought a few more snacks for later."

"Thank you. I'm sure Nonna will eat now that we got good news," she said, taking the sandwich from my hand then reached for the other to take to her grandmother.

I sat down next to Charlie on the small love-seat that was in the room. "Hey, did you see about getting her to go home?"

"Not yet. The doc came in about a minute after we walked in. She does need to go home, though; she looks exhausted," Charlie said. "You can take her home and get her to take a bath and lay down. She can come back up after she gets some rest. We're not going anywhere, so we'll be here with her Nonna."

"Okay, I might have to drag her kicking and screaming, but I'll get her to go home. You can't arrest me, though" I said, chuckling.

"If you don't, I will. We can't have her end up in here, too." Thankfully Charlie and I were on the same page.

After I witnessed Bella eat her whole sandwich, I approached her. "Hey, how 'bout we head home for a little while? No one's going anywhere and we can come back up after we get some rest."

"Okay," she agreed. I raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm tired and our little princess is pretty restless, right now."

We told everyone that we'd be back later. Hopefully something new happened while we were gone, and as soon as we made it home, I ushered Bella to our bedroom, and immediately into our bathroom. She needed a good warm bath then off to bed for some sleep. It was only six in the evening, but she'd probably sleep the whole night and I'd do anything to get her to stay in bed. Her mom promised to call if anything changed.

"Take a bath with me?" She asked, looking up at me with sad eyes.

How could I deny her? "Sure. I can wash your back for you."

We undressed as the water filled the tub. I kept glancing at her through the mirror. She was so beautiful, especially with her growing belly. Her breasts were larger, and her nipples had darkened. She was so tempting, but I knew she was tired and needed to get to bed.

"What're you looking at?" She asked, looking at me through the mirror. "You keep staring at me."

"Can't I look at my beautiful wife?" I stepped over to her and kissed the side of her head before reaching down to grab her hand and lead her to the bathtub.

"Sure, but you keep looking at me like I'm gonna disappear or something. It's like you're studying me," she said as we climbed into the tub. She sat in front of me with her back to my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and placed both my hands over our daughter. "Ah...feel that? She knows her daddy's touching where she's at. She's gonna be your little shadow when she starts walking."

"I love feeling her move. There's nothing else like it in the world," I said, placing a kiss on her shoulder. "Pregnancy looks so good on you."

"Thank you," she said, and laid her head back onto my shoulder.

I rubbed my hands over her stomach more and eased them up close to her breasts. I skimmed the underside of them with the tops of my hands. She moaned, arching her back just a little. When she placed her hands over mine and moved them to place them on her tits, my dick twitched with anticipation. "Baby, you're tired."

"Not too tired to make love to my husband. I've been so stressed out over my grandfather, that I've neglected you and I'm sorry," she said, moving one of my hands to rest over her mound between her legs. "I think I need some tension release."

"No need to be sorry. I understand, and you're not neglecting me. I don't expect you to be worried about your grandfather and make sure I'm taken care of. Your grandfather takes precedence over whether or not we make love," I said, placing more kisses along her shoulder and up her neck.

She hummed when I reached her ear. "I love you, Edward. Thank you for being here for me."

"You're welcome, baby. There's nowhere else I'd rather be than where you are." I moved one hand further down between her legs and began to explore. I used my other and began caressing her left breast. "You wanna do this here or the bed?"

She spread her legs open further for me. "Here's fine; I just want you."

"I wanna make you cum first, then you can have my cock," I whispered into her ear.

I knew how much she loves for me to talk dirty to her. Sometimes, the dirtier I spoke, the hornier she was. "Oh, God, yes." She was squirming the faster I worked my fingers in and out of her.

I felt her legs begin to tremble. When I pressed my thumb to her clit, her back arched, pushing her stomach out above the water in the tub. "That's it, baby. God, you're beautiful when you cum."

She relaxed back against me when I pulled my fingers from inside of her. "Raise up, baby. I want you this way."

She used the sides of the tub for leverage and rose up on her knees as I moved my legs to where she'd be straddling me. When she lowered herself, my eyes rolled to the back of my head from the feeling. I really didn't care to have sex in a bathtub full of water because to me, it totally messed up the feeling, but with her, I could feel every last up and down motion she was making.

I placed my hands on her hips to help keep her steady even though she was holding on to the sides of the tub. Water was splashing, but we didn't care. It was a magical tub that witnessed a lot of sex from us

I was ready to cum the moment she sank down on me, but I wanted to last as long as I could, and I knew as soon as she started demanding for my release, it would happen. "FUCK!" I exclaimed, gripping her hips tighter. I growled and pulled her down on me and held her as the pressure within my balls started to unclench.

Bella moaned out loudly as I pulsed inside of her, emptying everything I had to give her. It was pure fucking bliss.

"I needed that, thank you," she said, raising up, releasing her hold on my cock.

"Mmm...Anytime, baby. I'm always a willing participant," I said as I reached over and grabbed the loofa and squirted her body wash on it. It smelled like lavender and vanilla.

Bella settled herself between my legs, again, only sitting forward a little so I could wash her back. Her hair was so long that I had to move it out of the way just to clean her. "I can't believe how long your hair is. It's almost to your ass, now."

"I know. I was thinking about getting it cut before Avery's born. I don't wanna have to worry about my hair getting in her face while I'm breastfeeding her." I smiled when I pictured Bella sitting in Avery's room, rocking her in the glider rocker with her feet propped up on the ottoman.

"Not too short. I love your long hair," I conveyed, easing my hand around the front of her and gently moving the loofa over her breasts. She moaned as I moved my hand over them before moving down to her ever growing belly.

"You like my long hair so you can pull it," she said, jokingly.

I chuckled. "Well, yeah, that too, but it's your hair and you can do what you want with it."

She leaned back against my chest so I could reach her whole stomach. "We can go together since you need a haircut anyway. It keeps hanging in your eyes."

"Next weekend. Let's see how things go with your grandfather, first," I suggested, laying the loofa down as I finished washing her.

We finished our bath and dressed for bed. Hopefully she'd get a few hours of sleep before she felt the need to go back.

We ended up sleeping all night. Bella seemed well rested and fully alert when we woke up. We had another round of sex in the bathroom with her bent over, gripping the edge of the sink, and after a quick breakfast, we made our way back to the hospital. When we walked in, smiles lit up everyone's faces. Even her grandfathers.

"He woke up about three this morning. I didn't wanna wake you," Renee said as she pulled Bella into a hug.

Bella made her way over to her grandfather and sat down on the side of the bed. He smiled at her as she reached up and ran her fingers over his forehead. "Ci hai spaventato." (You scared us.)

"Mi sento molto meglio. Penso di aver avuto a riposare." (I feel much better. I think I had to rest.)

"Sono contento che sei sveglio. La nonna era così preoccupata." (I'm glad you're awake. The grandmother was so worried.)

Bella's grandfather smiled at her. "So che è stato spaventoso. Come sta il bambino?" (I know it was scary. How's the baby?)

"Lei è in crescita. Altri due mesi di tempo per andare." (She is growing. Another two months to go.)

Bella rubbed her hand over her stomach, which only meant that they were talking about Avery. "Non vedo l'ora di incontrarla. Lei sarà bella come sua madre." (I can't wait to meet her. She will be as beautiful as her mother.)

Suddenly, Bella grabbed her grandfather's hand and placed it on her stomach. "Senti nonno. Le piace il suono della tua voce." (Look grandfather. She likes the sound of your voice.)

"Così bella." (So beautiful)

Bella and her grandfather had a few more words before her grandmother joined them. They continued talking, so I sat back and listened even though I didn't understand a single word they were saying. I was happy that her grandfather woke up and now Bella wouldn't have to worry so much, and we can go back to our normal, everyday routine.

As I watched them, I noticed Renee and Charlie had a smile of content on their faces.

Thanks again,

Reason