Reaching for Love
Chapter 15: For the Love of It
EDWARD
The more I got to know Bella, the more I fell in love with her. It was strange. I never thought I would find love and the moment I gave up on it, it found me. Besides finding out Bella wanted to study law or English Literature, I learned she was fragile but oh so strong. She had been dealt a bad hand and was making the best out of it.
My gaze moved to the photo of her and I that sat in the corner of my desk. I hadn't known Alice took the picture. I was leaning against a wall with my arms wrapped around Bella. My forehead was pressed to hers. It showed a sense of intimacy and trust. I sighed, if only, I thought.
A knock at my office door had me turning away for the photo.
"Mr. Cullen, your wife is here," my secretary said. "If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you tell me you were married."
I grimaced. I hadn't shared the news with the office yet. The email was sitting in my drafts waiting for me to man up and hit send.
"When I left for some much needed time off, I wasn't," I said.
My secretary stared at me.
"Long story. Please escort Bella back."
Glancing around my office, I saw that there was no where for her to sit. Files and books were scattered throughout. Organized chaos. I had about three minutes before my heart would be here. I walked over to a wingback chair and picked up the books, placing them on an empty shelf. I picked up the files on the other wingback chair. It was then I realized I really needed to hire a part-time file clerk. HR would love that. The ladies had been on me for months for me to consider hiring someone. I hadn't seen the need. Getting married had me seeing things in a different light, or was it being in love.
"You look busy," Bella said.
I turned with the files still in hand, a smile in place. "Not so busy that I can't stop." I set the files down on my desk and met her half way. Drawing her into my arms, I kissed her forehead. "What brings you here?" I asked.
She glanced up at me. "My doctor's appointment. You said you would go with me."
My head fell until my forehead was touching hers. I had forgotten about the appointment. "I forgot about the appointment, dear. Let me check my calendar. I believe I can get away for a bit," I said, winking at her.
Taking hold of her hand, I walked around me desk and sat while pulling her down to sit on my lap. With one hand around Bella, I reached around her and navigated my mouse to my calendar icon. It was soon open.
"Uh, if you forgot, why is the appointment on your calendar?"
That was a good question. I clicked the appointment to see who had put in. Alice. I chuckled. "Seems Alice is on the ball," I answered. "She knows how I get." I pressed my lips to her cheek. "Let's go."
~~ Reaching for Love ~~
The obstetrician's office was a scary place for me. Like me falling in love, I never imagined I would step foot in a doctor's office that specialized in women's reproductive health. Bella was worth being uncomfortable.
I waited in the hall while Bella readied herself for the examine. When the doctor came into view, I was still leaning against the wall outside the examine room. She gave me a worried look. "You okay, Daddy?"
"Overwhelmed," I replied. "In a good way."
"Good to hear. Let's see if your wife is ready."
After a quick knock on the door, the doctor entered the room with me following. Bella was sitting on the examine table with sheet covering her lower half. Her pants were neatly folded one of the chairs with her shoes underneath.
"Hello, Mrs. Cullen. I see from the questionnaire this is your first pregnancy."
"Yes," Bella remarked in a timid voice.
I was standing to the side of the table behind her. Reaching out, I rubbed her back, reminding her she wasn't alone.
"Okay. Your vitals look good. Today, we will do a transvaginal ultrasound."
"What's that?" Bella asked.
The doctor smiled at Bella. "A transducer is placed in the vagina instead of being rubbed over the belly. It will give us a better image since you are still in the early stages of pregnancy."
Bella nodded. "What about a blood draw? All I've really done is a urine test at home and at a clinic."
Again the doctor smiled. "I will right up orders so the lab can draw a sample. It's not that we can't do it here, however it is my practice to have the lab do it. Faster results."
"How much faster?" I asked.
"It still takes a day or two for the results to get to me. The difference between us drawing them in office and the lab drawing them is we have to wait for the sample to be picked up and then taken to the lab."
With that question answered, the doctor began the examine by first listening to Bella's heart and lungs before had Bella relax and put her feet in the stirrups.
"This might feel a little uncomfortable," the doctor said, showing us both the probe. "It takes about 15 minutes, though it could take longer."
Bella reached back and took hold of my hand.
"Breathe," the doctor said.
Twenty minutes later, the doctor was finished. "Well, Mrs. Cullen, from what I am seeing, you are pregnant. I will say about 6 weeks. The blood test will give us a better idea, though."
BELLA
Edward held my hand throughout the internal examine. When he said he would go with me, I was leery feeling he would be uncomfortable. I was happy to find he proved me wrong. He stuck it out and was their for me.
He stepped out the room again when the doctor declared she was done and that I could get dressed. When I reached the checkout desk, he had a smiled for me. The nurse had a packet of information for me and a few scripts.
Slipping my hand in Edwards, we walked out of the office. "We'll stop by the pharmacy first and then grab a bit to eat," he said as we got on the elevator.
"Don't you have a meeting?"
Edward chuckled. "That I do. It's later this afternoon, so we have time."
We stepped off the elevator in the lobby. It was raining.
"Wait inside and I'll pick you up."
A smile split my face as Edward left the building to get the car. He was a fine figure of a man in more than one way. The way his slacks hug his thighs and bottom had me shamefully watching him walk away. With the guys I dated in the past, I hadn't fixated on any of their physical characteristics. I didn't know why but I wanted to see if the adage "so tight you could bounce a quarter" was true for Edward's derrière. I felt my checks heats and was glad when he turned and went out of sight.
With a deep breath I looked around the lobby. We had rushed upstairs since it was my first appointment and paperwork had to be filled out. It was then I came eye-to-eye with Jacob, and I didn't know how I felt about seeing him and at the doctor's office.
"Hello, Bella," he greeted sweetly, a stark contrast to how he'd been the last time we spoke.
I nodded but didn't say anything.
"Strange seeing you here. I thought you didn't like doctors."
What he said was true. "Doesn't mean I don't go to one when I need a physical or am sick," I remarked.
He snorted as a sneer appeared on his lips. "You don't get sick and it doesn't look like your injured either."
I wasn't going to respond to his stupidity. I'd been sick a few times during the time we were dating, not that he cared to come around when I was. "Why are you here?" I asked, a bit bored.
"Yearly check-up." The sneer hadn't disappeared, if anything it deepened.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Edward had pulled up. He was rounding the car. So much the gentleman. He opened every door for me and I knew it wasn't because I was with child. It was how he was raised and I secretly liked how he cared for me.
"Looks like your ride is here."
I turned back and saw Jacob was staring at Edward.
"What's it to you? You broke up with me."
He had the audacity to laugh. "Yeah, I might have, and it looks like you crawled into bed with another guy. You gonna tell him you pregnant in a few months and see if he puts a ring on your finger."
Oh that had my hackles raising. I rose my left hand up. "He already put two on it."
Turning, I started walking away done with the conversation and Jacob.
"You bitch," he spat out, grabbing my arm.
"Let go of me," I shouted, catching Edward's eyes through the glass doors.
Edward rushed in when Jacob's hold on me tightened.
"The child you carry is mine and yet you married another," Jacob hissed as I cried out in pain.
"Let go, Jacob," I shouted again.
Another couple was coming off the elevator.
"You heard her," Edward said in a soft, controlled voice. I could only imagine what his tone of voice could mean. "Let her go."
Jacob released me. "Mark my words, Bella. You haven't seen the last of me." He leaned in and whispered in my ear, "I'll kill you before I let another raise my child."
He walked off and down one of the side halls.
EDWARD
When Bella didn't immediately come out, I was concerned. I turned and saw her staring at me. Someone had hold of her upper arm. I saw red as I walked inside.
Jacob? I glared at him as I spoke to him in a low voice. What I really wanted to do was forcibly remove his hand from my wife and then deck him for even touching her. That would only cause more problems.
He did as I asked a heartbeat later before leaning in and whispering in Bella's ear. Then he was gone.
Bella was trembling when I pulled her into my arms. I had to get her out of her before Jacob decided to come back. "He's gone, sweetie."
She took a deep breath, steadying herself before looking up into my concerned eyes. "I'm okay," she whispered.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
I didn't believe her. "I'm going to push my meeting to tomorrow and take you home."
"Edward, you don't have to. Go back to work."
My eyes and mouth formed a hard line as my gaze moved from Bella to the hall Jacob had disappeared down. "Okay. I'll take you home first and make you something for lunch before I go back to work."
"I'm more than capable of making my own meal."
My lips found her forehead. "I know, I want to dote on you."
I held her for a few more minutes.
"What about my car," she asked as we left the lobby.
"I'll see if Emmett and Rosalie can retrieve it."
I slipped my hand over hers as we drove away.
Once we were three miles down the road, my curiosity got the better of me. I had to know what Jacob whispered and asked Bella.
"Nothing more than h-h-he'll…"
She started trembling again.
Pulling into a shopping complex, I parked before drawing her into my arms. "What will he do?"
"Kill me."
My hold on Bella tightened a fraction as her tears wet my shirt. Raising my hand, I pinched the bridge of my nose. What was I going to do about the threat? I hadn't heard it, so it would be considered hearsay.
"I know you don't want me to, but I am cancelling my meeting and staying home with you." My hand went back down to her back.
Bella shook her head.
"Sweetie, you are clearly shaken by what he whispered. I don't want to leave you alone."
She shook her head again. "I don't want you to miss a meeting because of me."
My hand went back to my nose as I thought how best to resolve the issue.
Her small, delicate hand touched my face. "I could go into the office with you. Camp out in your office or a free conference room."
My gaze move down to her face. Her suggestion wasn't half bad. If I took her home and left, I would be worried the whole time I was gone about her.
She giggled. "I might even been able to clean your office up so I have a place to sit during future visits."
A grin formed on my face as I shook my head. "I can clean my own office."
She had the audacity to snort. "Right. I came in as you were moving files off of a chair."
I inclined my head, my smile still in place. She had me there. "Okay, so I might not have the time to keep up with refiling what I pulled. That doesn't mean you have to clean my office."
She returned my smile. "It will give me something to do."
"Fine," I relented. "You can straighten up for me. Let's get something to eat before heading back to the office."
