Morning! It's still freezing here, but the sun is shining and it looks like it's going to be a great day!
Edward Cullen
The weeks following the news of Isabella's pregnancy had been, in one word: hectic.
She had been put on bed rest for a full week by the doctor, and once Mrs. Cope had her say, it had extended to two weeks.
I would be forever grateful to Mrs. Cope, and all that she had been doing for Isabella, because no sooner had we gotten the news, than the other symptoms of the babe settled in. Isabella was constantly getting sick, crying, or falling asleep in an instant. Mrs. Cope was on hand the whole time, helping Isabella with special teas that would assist in easing her symptoms.
"I am not going to fall apart, Edward. The hunting party has been worried about my lack of attendance at the meal tables, and if I am being honest, I detest our bedroom at the moment. There is only so much you can take of a room before you want to escape," Isabella grouched from the chair beside our bed as Mother changed the sheets.
"Please humor me, Isabella. I do not wish for you to exert yourself," I replied, but Mother chuckled.
"Esme, was he this bad with Sarah when she was expecting?" Isabella asked, and I felt my stomach clench.
Isabella had always been so accepting of mine and Sarah's marriage, but with her talking so freely about it, it unsettled me somehow. As much as I'd loved Sarah in my own way, I did not want my past relationship with her to tarnish this new one.
"Oh my, it was terrible. He was like a lost puppy all of the time, never allowing her out of his sight, even with Henry." Mother laughed, and Isabella joined in.
"Well, if you think that you are going to follow me all of the time, you can think again. I am with child, not ill. There is nothing wrong with me and you will be good to remember that, Edward Cullen," Isabella's tone went from happy to stern in a blink of an eye, and I felt chastised.
"I will remember," I mumbled.
"Good, now let us give your mother some peace for a moment and go to the nursery. I miss the children." Isabella grinned.
"I still do not want you to go overboard, Isabella. You saw the children this morning, was that not enough for the present moment?" I asked carefully.
"They are my children, Edward, so no, it was certainly not enough."
…
"The wedding is less than a month away and I have to go into the village to get some cloth for a dress," Isabella said at the kitchen table, and I swear that even the kitchen staff silenced themselves.
"Isabella, you have just come off of bedrest, surely you cannot go to the village to buy cloth!" I argued, exasperated for the first time in many months.
"I can, and I will – and I will be taking Charlotte with me no less. If you do not like it, tough luck," she hissed and then stormed out of the room.
"Edward, do you not remember our talk that we had when you first came to the kitchen, sulking with Sarah, so many years ago?" Heather laughed and placed a cup of tea next to me at the table.
"I do, I think," I replied.
"Well, I will remind you. I said to you that carrying a babe is no less than a miracle, and for a husband to live through the next nine months was just as much a miracle as the first. Sarah was a gentle creature, too gentle for this world, I believe, and while I love Isabella dearly, she is stronger in so many more ways than Sarah ever was. She will resent you if you try to hold her back, to wrap her up and protect her for the next six or so months." Heather smiled kindly at me, and I knew that she was right.
"What should I do?" I moaned.
"You just say 'yes, dear,' and let her get on with it. Women have been carrying children and giving birth since the beginning of time. You will make things easier on the pair of you if you let her do her own thing. Her body will soon tell her if she has done too much." Heather grinned, patted my shoulder, and then got back to work with the dinner.
I did not see Isabella before she left for the village, and I was adamant that as soon as she walked back in, I would apologize for being an insufferable husband and make it up to her.
I just had to think of a way of doing it.
And then I had an idea.
A beautiful picnic in the library, in front of the fire.
Yes, that would be perfect.
…
Isabella Cullen
I had never in all of my short life imagined that I would have been married, more so, happily married, with a child on the way.
I never dreamed. Dreaming got you nowhere.
But look at me.
I was happily married, a mother to two children, plus Charles, and we had another baby on the way.
I could not contain my emotions on the matter.
"Isabella, what is going through that head of yours?" Esme asked as I fingered some lace in the haberdashery.
"Babies and this lace. It would make a beautiful christening gown, don't you think? Oh, do you have a family gown already?" I asked.
"We do, but it is no matter. If you wish for a new gown for your babe, then you shall have one. Now, Alice has spotted a light blue fabric that she is dying to show you, so how about I bring this bolt of lace with us and put in an order while she shows you the other lot," Esme said caringly. There was no doubt that she was just as excited about this baby as I was.
"Okay." I grinned.
…
Alice's fabric that she wished me to get was indeed perfect, and with spring just around the corner, it would be a great match for the weather. Not too heavy, yet warm enough.
Charlotte picked out a similar fabric for her Flower Girl dress, and once that was done we headed home.
It had been good to get out of the house and into the village, but I did find it very strange to have everyone look at me in such an odd way. I had grown up with these people, they'd known my parents, and now they looked at me like I was an outsider.
I knew it was not a personal attack on me, that they were at a loss as what to say, but I was still Isabella. The young girl who farmed and climbed over five bar gates.
Esme had told me to engage with them politely, which I did, but it was still so strange to see them so distant with me.
By the time the carriage had drawn up to the front of the house, though, I had nearly forgotten about our time in the village because Edward was waiting for me on the steps.
"Hmm, it looks as though my son is up to something. I will settle the children tonight; you go and have some fun." Esme laughed and climbed out of the carriage with Charlotte in tow.
"What about the hunting party?" I called out after her, but she laughed and waved me off.
The party were leaving tomorrow, thank heavens, and then we would not have a moments break before planning the wedding of Alice and Jasper.
The party had been here for a month now, and although nothing exciting happened after Lauren was sent away, I could not wait to have the house to ourselves again and get back to normal.
Alice and Jasper had decided to wed in the small village church, and although Jasper had offered to pay for the whole day, Alice's father was none too happy with the idea.
In the end, they had settled for her father to pay for the wedding itself, leaving Jasper to pay for the reception party afterward and the honeymoon.
"I love seeing you drift off into another world, Isabella, but we have plans for this evening," Edward chuckled, bringing me out of my thoughts about the wedding.
"Do we?" I grinned and took his hand so that he could help me from the carriage.
"We do." He smiled and walked us up the steps to the house.
…
"I do not think I could eat another bite," Edward groaned while we laid out in front of the fire.
He had put on a beautiful spread of food, lit some candles, and covered the floor with blankets and cushions.
"I think you are right, me either." I laughed, rubbing my full belly through the fabric.
"Was it okay, the food? I wanted to do something to make up for how I behaved this morning," he asked shyly, and I felt bad.
"Edward, you do not need to make up for anything. I know that you are only doing what comes naturally to you, and that I have not been myself recently. It is new to me and I know that you hold back on talking about your life with Sarah, but you have at least been through this before, whereas I have not. It will take some getting used to, but I think we can work together to do it, am I right?" I asked, and his reply was a gentle nod of his head before leaning over and kissing me.
"Heather is coming to collect the dishes soon. How about we head to bed?"
"I think that is the best idea you have come up with since dinner." I giggled and let him lead me to our bedroom.
Right!
I think I'm going to start a very quiet group on Facebook where you can download all of my stories and where I can post some teaser pics etc... One of my day jobs is formatting books for authors, so I could format my own stories for you all. Do you think that's a good idea? I did have a group years ago, but that was on another FB account that I never use anymore and I don't even know the login details.
Let me know what you think! xxx