Chapter 14

Bella POV

Time was going too fast for Bella's liking. Before she knew it Thanksgiving was already upon them and Edward and Bella were landing in Chicago for the second time this month. Bella felt the butterflies that were in her stomach, she felt like she was going to throw up and she wouldn't be able to blame it on the baby.

She had no idea why she was so nervous, she'd already met the entire family before this but this time was slightly different. They were going to be telling his family that they were expecting their first grandchild, she was very glad that Rosalie already knew since she could help soften the blow if it didn't go over well. The one thing that she was worried about most was that his family would think bad of her after only meeting her once before and now she was pregnant. She just really hoped that they didn't end up kicking them out or making the rest of the trip awkward.

"Bella, it's all going to be okay, I promise."

"Are you really trying to tell me that you're not at all nervous about telling your family?" She asked him. They unbuckled their belts but waited for a majority of the people around them to exit the plane before they finally stood up and grabbed their suitcases from the overhead bin.

"No, I'm nervous as hell but I don't want you to stress about anything, it's not good for the baby," he told her. She'd spotted him already reading baby and parenting books, he was making sure that she was taken care of almost twenty-four seven. The only book she read was What to Expect When You're Expecting and she called that good enough, it told her just what she needed.

When they were finally off of the plane they went straight to the car rental station, Esme and Carlisle had offered to pick them up but her and Edward both agreed that it would be better to have their own car just in case things didn't go the right way.

"What if they don't like me?" She asked as they got closer to his parents house.

He just laughed at her. "You already met them. They loved you and I'm pretty sure they will still love you after all of this."

"Only pretty sure?"

He just shook his head in exasperation and then pulled up to the house. It didn't matter how many times Bella saw it, the house took her breath away each time. It was a two story house, the entire front wall was glass, and it was nestled into the trees like it had grown from the ground. Edward pulled their car up the driveway and looked at her one last time before opening the door. The moment Bella's foot touched the ground she heard a loud scream and then his mom came barreling out of the front door towards her son. Edward barely had time to put his arms out before he caught her and held her while she cried softly in his arms.

"Mom, you saw me almost three weeks ago. Why are you crying?" Bella heard him ask Esme.

"Is it so wrong to love my son and miss him when he's not around?" Esme asked him. When Edward didn't say anything Esme finally pulled away and turned her attention to Bella, she was standing next to Edward not knowing what to do or say. Esme just picked her up and gave her a big hug that immediately put Bella at ease. It was amazing the way that a simple hug from a motherly figure could calm someone down. "Bella, it's so good to see you again."

"You too, Mrs. Cullen."

"I told you last time dear, it's Esme." Bella nodded. She was worried that her nerves were showing on her face so she was glad when Edward distracted his mom and led the both of them to the front door.

"Bella!" She heard her name called from the living room to the right of the door. She peeked her head in the doorway and saw Rose sitting on the couch with her cast propped up on a cushion. For being in a car accident just a couple weeks ago, Rose looked fantastic. If Bella wasn't looking at the casts - on her left arm and leg - she wouldn't even have known that she was hurt at all.

"You look great, Rose," Bella told her.

She leaned down to give her a hug so Rose whispered in her ear, "How are you and the baby doing?"

"Good, we had an appointment last week and hearing that heartbeat...there were no words," Bella said.

"I'm so happy for you and my brother, Bella, you are really good for each other."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked as she sat down next to Rose on the couch, she was careful not to disturb her casts.

"I know how Edward used to be around the ladies, we may not have gone to college together but he can't hide anything from me. He never let anyone besides his family and a couple friends see the real him and you made him see that it's okay to be himself. He seems a lot happier when we talk on the phone...all I can say is, thank you for bringing my brother back." Rose set her free hand on top of Bella's, she had to hold back the tears that were wanting to come after Rose told her everything. It was hard for her to think of Edward not being the happy guy that she knew now, but she did remember how closed off he was before they started dating so she knew exactly what Rose was talking about. The change in Edward, even in Bella, was big - they brought out the best in each other.

"What are you two ladies talking about?" Emmett asked as he and Edward came into the room. Since the couch was a sectional Emmett was able to sit next to Rose and pull her legs up so he was able to cradle her cast. Edward sat next to Bella and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Just talking about you two," Rose told her boyfriend.

"Better be good things," he said.

"You know it." When they kissed Bella heard Edward gag from behind her, when she turned to stare at him he had his eyes closed and his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What's wrong?" She asked him.

"That's my sister." Was all he said.

Bella was silent for a couple seconds before she understood what he was saying and then she started laughing uncontrollably. "You really got grossed out just by watching one kiss between your sister and her boyfriend?"

"She's my sister," he repeated. Bella just shook her head and gave him a kiss on the cheek, this man was something else, that's for sure.

"He's always been like that, Bella. But I got tortured more than enough in high school; since we were only one year apart I was always treated to whatever girl he was hanging out with that week. The locker rooms were horrible, no one cared that he was my brother and all they wanted was to talk about his sexual prowess. Disgusting," she said while she curled her lips in disdain. Bella laughed at her look and the look that Edward gave her that clearly was telling her to stop talking.

"I've always wanted a sibling for this reason. You fight but I bet both of you would go to the ends of the earth to protect each other, it's sweet." She felt more tears building up and had to take a couple deep breaths to calm herself down so she wouldn't cry. That was one symptom she hated from the pregnancy; she cried at the drop of a hat now. Edward had taken to carrying around kleenex since he could never be sure when her next crying fit would be.

"Who's ready for dinner?" Esme asked from the kitchen. Bella and Edward followed behind Emmett and Rose - he carried her to her chair at the table - and then sat across from them. Bella had Esme next to her and Carlisle was next to Edward at the other head of the table.

"This smells amazing, Esme," Bella said. It was simple spaghetti but it smelled wonderful, Bella thought she was a good cook but she was nothing compared to Esme and her cooking.

"Thank you, dear. It's a family recipe, maybe I'll give it to you later if you're interested." Bella nodded her head and Edward gave her knee a quick squeeze under the table. She really hoped that that was a sign that everything was going to be okay when they told everyone. She just had to keep having positive thoughts and hopefully nothing bad would happen.

~LCA~

The rest of the week went by just as quick as the rest of the month had and soon they were sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner. It was two days before Thanksgiving but since Edward was going to be with her in Forks for the holiday his family wanted to make sure that he wasn't left out of the festivities. Bella was pretty sure that Esme hadn't slept at all last night with all the food that she made. Esme even allowed Bella to help with some of the cooking, it was nice to be able to share cooking stories with someone that didn't burn everything she touched like her own mom did.

"You two did a fabulous job," Carlisle said after he took the first bite.

"Thank you, Bella was a big help." Esme gave her a small smile before they all dug into their food. Bella almost didn't want to go home, she loved having dinner with a big family like this. It was what she'd always wanted; constant chatter around the table with no awkward pauses. Her family holidays normally consisted of just her and her parents and she was always the cook so she could never really enjoy the holiday.

She felt such happiness with this family, they treated her like she was one of them and when she was around them she couldn't help but feel like she was actually a Cullen. They didn't even know about the baby yet and they still managed to make her feel comfortable in their home. They didn't even make Edward and her sleep in separate rooms, she didn't know if Edward had told his parents that they spent every night together - some at her place and the rest at his - but they didn't bat an eye when they saw the two of them going up to bed that first night.

It was refreshing compared to how she knew her family was going to treat Edward. Her dad had already warned her that the couch was made up for him and he would be able to hear if she, or Edward, tried to sneak by his room. She rolled her eyes when he said that since she was already aware that her parents weren't married when she was born. Her parents, especially Renee, liked to pretend that they were perfect their entire lives and they never did anything remotely wrong.

Bella shook herself out of her thoughts as she noticed that Esme was bringing dessert out. Her and Edward had agreed that they would wait until the meal was over to tell his parents and when their eyes met she knew that they both agreed now was the perfect time to tell them. When Bella looked over to Rose she gave her a wink to make her feel a little better about their situation, even if his parents weren't thrilled about the baby Rose was.

"So, Mom and Dad, we have something to talk to you about," Edward started. Esme and Carlisle paused before they started to cut into the pie that Bella had helped bake. They gave each other a look before turning their full attention to the two of them.

"What's going on, sweetie?" Esme asked. She laid a hand on Edward's hand in comfort, Bella knew that she could tell how nervous the two of them were.

"Are you two moving in together?" Carlisle asked, gently.

"Um, we will be soon, yeah," Edward said.

"That's wonderful!" Esme shouted. She came around the table to give both of them a hug while Edward and Bella looked at each other in confusion.

"Mom, that's not what we actually wanted to talk to you about," Edward told her. Esme walked back to her chair and looked just as confused as Carlisle did.

"Bella's...um...we are…" Edward hesitated so long that Bella was worried that he'd zoned out or something. She placed her hand in his and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm pregnant." No point beating around the bush now that they were here, might as well just get it all out in the open.

It was silent for a few moments before Esme screamed and ran over to Bella. She actually picked Bella up from her chair and gave her such a strong hug that Bella couldn't breathe for a couple seconds. Carlisle got up from his chair, came over to his son, and gave him a long hug.

"I'm going to be a grandma?" Esme asked after she finally pulled away from Bella and gave her a chance to catch her breath. Bella just nodded her head and was pulled into another hug but this time with Carlisle.

"Welcome to the family, Bella," he whispered. She got choked up, this family didn't have to but they embraced her as a daughter and gave her hope that everything was going to work out great.

"Did you already know?" Esme asked Rosalie when she noticed that Rose was more subdued than she was.

"They told me at the hospital after I woke up," Rosalie explained.

Esme turned back and narrowed her eyes at Edward. "How long have you known?"

"Just since the hospital."

"I didn't realize anything was wrong until the middle of the week and when I told Edward we agreed not to say anything until I saw a doctor." Bella didn't want Esme to blame just Edward, it was as much her fault as it was his that they didn't say anything.

"Do you have pictures?" Esme asked. Bella nodded and went to her purse where she had the ultrasound pictures tucked inside safely. "Oh, he or she is beautiful," she murmured when she saw the blob.

"How far along are you?" Carlisle asked right before Esme gave him the picture so he could have his first glimpse of his grandson or granddaughter.

"Nine weeks," Bella told them.

"Wow, that's amazing," Carlisle whispered as he looked at the picture.

"I'm so proud of you, Edward," Esme said before she pulled him into a hug.

"We were so worried about telling you guys," he told her.

"Why?" Esme asked.

"I don't know, I thought that you would be mad or something."

"Honey, you're 22 years old and a senior in college. You did better than your father and I," Esme said. She shared a laugh with Carlisle.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked them.

"I was only 20 years old when I found out that I was pregnant with Rose and your father was only 22 years old, too. We were terrified but I think we did okay and I have absolute faith that you and Bella will do amazing as well," Esme explained.

"I guess I never really thought about that before."

"Yes, so we know exactly what you kids will be going through and we are going to be here for you day and night whenever you need us. Have you told your parents yet, Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"No, we're going to tell them when we get there for Thanksgiving. They also had me fairly young so I hope they're just as understanding as you are," Bella said. She was worried that wouldn't be the case, however, since her mom drilled in her head to not make the same mistakes as she did. Her mom always told her to make sure that she had a steady job and a husband that would support her before she got pregnant.

Renee was a good mom, the best sometimes, but she never wanted Bella to have any regrets and that was one reason that Bella was nervous to tell her own parents. She didn't want to disappoint them in any way and she truly could not see them taking it as easy as Edward's parents had.

She just had to have hope, maybe a miracle would occur and they would be over the moon about their first grandchild.

The rest of the night was spent talking about the baby and tossing out names, it was the best night that Bella had spent there so far and she wanted nothing more than to stay there for the rest of the trip.

But, once the sun came up the next day, they had to leave the warmth of the Cullen house and head to the airport. Next stop, the Swan's.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and, like always, REVIEW!

Just in case anyone is confused; Bella and Edward are both 22, Rosalie is 23, Emmett is 25, Alice is 21, Jasper is 22, Renee and Charlie are 40, Esme is 43, and Carlisle is 45. I hope that helps just in case there was any confusion.

Thank you!