Chapter 17
Edward's POV
Time was really going fast, Edward couldn't believe that it was almost March and they were close to finishing out college. It seemed like he'd been waiting for this moment for so long that when it finally came it was kind of...underwhelming. But that could also have something to do with the excitement that was around Bella's pregnancy.
It was the end of February and that meant only one thing to the expectant parents - it was time for the gender reveal. Edward was crossing his fingers for a girl (he was really wanting a baby that looked exactly like Bella with none of him to ruin that perfection) but Bella kept telling him that she felt like it was going to be a baby boy - one that looked just like his dad. Edward knew that the most important thing was that the baby was born healthy and he would truly love it no matter what the gender was.
But that didn't stop him from hoping.
"Bella, where are my keys?" Edward shouted from the living room. He had a tendency to put his keys down and then completely forget where he had set them.
"Right here, baby," she said as she entered the room and tossed the keys towards him. "They were on the dresser," she explained when he looked at her questioningly.
"Alright, are you ready?" He asked her, excitedly.
"Of course," she told him. She placed her hand on her small bump and gave him a small smile.
Another thing that had changed in the last month; Bella's bump. It was just big enough that when she wore baggy shirts you could see her stomach touching the cotton. Edward loved the new look, when they were on the couch watching TV at night he would always be touching her stomach. He loved when their little baby seemed to kick his hand like he/she was saying hello to their daddy. Bella had complained when she noticed how big her stomach was getting in the beginning but Edward was quick to tell her that she had never looked more beautiful to him.
"I still think you're wrong," Bella told him when he started the car and began to pull away from the parking lot. He just smiled at her, he knew exactly what she claimed he was wrong about.
"I'm just saying, it's going to be a girl."
She just rolled her eyes before giving him another small smile. "Guess we'll soon see which one of us is correct," she told him.
"We will."
Thirty minutes later they were pulling up to the doctor's office, Edward could feel the nerves multiply in his stomach. He didn't think that he had ever been this nervous in his life, not when he was applying for college, or when he was opening his acceptance letters. Nothing could come close to this feeling.
He checked his phone as Bella signed herself in. His parents and sister seemed to be just as anxious as he was since they had sent him many texts telling him to call them the moment they heard the good news.
"Esme and Carlisle texting you too?" Bella asked as they sat down and she was able to look at all of the unread messages that were on her phone. Esme and Carlisle - Esme, especially - had taken Bella under their wing when they found out that Bella wasn't talking to her mother at the moment. Esme seemed to feel that it was her responsibility to be a motherly figure in her life.
"Has Charlie texted you?" Edward asked her, quietly.
"Yeah, he wished us luck and he can't wait to find out what his first grandchild is going to be," she said with a smile. To Edward, it seemed that the relationship between Bella and her father had gotten closer. They talked almost every night and Charlie had even reached out to Edward a couple times so they could get to know one another.
"That's good," Edward said. The rest of their wait was spent in silence as they held hands and listened for Bella's name to be called. It seemed like it took hours but, in reality, it took only five minutes before the nurse was calling for Bella.
They did the normal check-in, had Bella stand on a scale and then placed a blood pressure cuff around her upper arm before they were finally escorted to the ultrasound room at the end of a hallway.
"The technician will be with you shortly," the nurse said before she left them alone.
"God, I'm so nervous," Bella whispered to him.
Edward reached out and grabbed her hand that she had balled up in her lap and rubbed his thumb, soothingly, across the top. "It's going to be okay, whatever our baby comes out to be we will still love it. The only thing that matters is that he or she is healthy," he told her. She took a deep breath as she laid her head on his shoulder, they stayed in that position until the ultrasound tech came in the room.
"How are you two doing today?" She asked, pleasantly.
"Good, just nervous," Bella said.
"Well, that's completely normal so let's get started. If you could hop on the bed, unbutton your pants, and lift your shirt above your stomach," she told Bella.
Bella did what she was told and soon the wand was on Bella's stomach seeking their child. It was quiet while the tech took her markings and wrote stuff down in her little folder, Bella and Edward just stared at the screen like they could depict what they were staring at.
Finally, the tech broke the silence. "Are we wanting to find out the sex today? The baby is in prime position," she explained with a smile.
"Yes, we definitely want to know," Bella told her. Edward grabbed Bella's hand and held onto it as he waited for the nurse to tell them what they came here to find out.
"Alright, so, it looks like you are going to have…" she paused, as if for effect, before continuing. "a girl."
Edward felt tears form as he looked at the picture of his little girl that the tech was pointing to. He couldn't believe it. He was going to have a little girl. When he looked at Bella he could tell that she also had tears floating in her eyes, he leaned forward to capture her lips with his own.
"I love you, baby," he whispered to her.
"I love you, too," she told him.
"Was this what you two were wanting?" The technician asked after she gave them a couple moments of privacy.
Bella wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before saying, "He was wanting a girl but I really thought that we were going to have a boy."
"There's always next time," the tech joked before leading them to another patient room where they would wait for the doctor to come in.
"I can't believe that we're having a little girl," Bella whispered when they were, once again, all alone.
"Me neither, this just makes it all the more real. Do you know what I mean?" He asked her.
"Yeah, I know," she said.
The rest of the appointment only lasted thirty minutes as the doctor checked over the pictures that the tech had printed out and then felt Bella's stomach. They got their next appointment figured out and then were on their way.
As they pulled up to the restaurant where they were going to have lunch Bella touched Edward's hand before he could turn the car off.
"We should probably call everyone out here where it's quiet."
"Good point," he said. "Who do you want to call first?"
"How about my father? We told your parents about the baby first so I thought…" she trailed off, as if she thought he was going to be mad that she wanted to tell Charlie first.
"You're right," he told her. She gave him a large smile before grabbing her phone, finding her father's information, and then waiting for him to pick up. He must have been right next to his phone since it only rang once before his gruff voice picked up. Bella put it on speakerphone so Edward would be able to hear her father's side of the conversation.
"So, what's the verdict?" He asked right away.
"Well, hello to you, too," Bella laughed.
"Hello, darling daughter. How are you doing today?" He didn't wait before getting a response before he continued, "Is it a boy or a girl?"
Bella just laughed again before she said, "You're going to have a granddaughter."
There was nothing but silence on the other end of the line, Bella checked to make sure that they were still connected but then they heard a sniffle on the other end. Charlie was crying.
"My baby girl is going to have a baby girl," Charlie whispered. "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. You are going to be an excellent mother."
"Thanks." Bella had to swipe her hand across her eyes, Edward could see that at the sound of her father crying Bella also began to cry. He wiped a few rogue tears away and waited for her to finish her conversation before he said anything.
"How do you feel?" He asked her the moment she put her phone down.
"Good, it's nice to know that my father is really interested in this baby, he really cares. I just wish…"
"I know." Edward knew that she was thinking about her mom, he could only hope that once Renee found out that she was going to have a granddaughter that she would rethink her stance on the baby.
Now, it was Edward's turn.
"Edward? I'm going crazy over here, boy or girl?" Esme asked the moment she picked up the phone. It was good to know that the grandparents were excited but they could at least acknowledge their own children, Edward thought.
"Is Rose and Dad with you?"
"They're right here, I'll put you on speakerphone, Emmett's also here." There was the sound of rustling on the other end of the line for a couple seconds before his sister's, her boyfriend's, and father's voices could be heard.
"Is everyone ready?" Edward asked.
"Yes!" Four voices shouted at him.
He just laughed before saying, "We're having a little girl."
"Oh my God!" He heard his mother shout.
"I'm so happy for you, Edward," Rose said.
"Congrats," Emmett spoke up.
"Son, that's great news," Carlisle said.
He spent a few minutes talking to his family before he hung up and turned towards his new family.
He wished he could go back to last year and tell himself that he was going to get everything he could possibly want and more. When he was watching Bella from afar and wishing that he could be the one that made her laugh and the one to hold her when she was sad. He wanted so much but he really thought that he would never be good enough for her, he had put her on a pedestal and nothing she could say would demote her in his eyes.
She was perfect.
She was everything.
He couldn't believe that this precious angel next to him was giving him a sweet baby girl. He couldn't wait for the time to come where he would be able to hold her in his arms and she would wrap her little fingers around one of his. He would do anything to protect her and make sure that she would come to no harm, that was his new mission in life.
"What are you thinking?" Bella asked him.
"Just how unbelievably lucky I am to have you in my life. I never thought that that one date at the beginning of the year would lead to...all of this," he told her.
"Me neither. I was so determined to not have you in my life that I almost missed the best thing that could've ever happened to me. I'm thankful everyday that you made Alice make me go out with you. Best. Decision. Ever."
He leaned over and captured her lips with his own. Nothing could ruin the perfect moment that they were having.
~LCA~
Lunch was uneventful, both of them were still floating on cloud nine as they walked into their apartment building. They would spend the rest of the night wrapped in each other's arms and then would go back to studying tomorrow.
Today was all about them.
As Edward unlocked the door and motioned for Bella to walk in ahead of them he noticed that she immediately stepped on an envelope that seemed to be stuffed under their door.
"What's that?" Edward asked her.
"I don't know." She leaned down to pick it up and noticed, on the front, her name was written in sharpie. "Maybe I forgot something at one of my classes," she said as she took the envelope to the kitchen.
He took a moment to take off his shoes and then followed her to their kitchen but before he could catch up to her he heard her scream.
He sped up and was met with the sight of Bella staring down at the papers that were now on the kitchen table with fear in her eyes.
"Bella, what's wrong?" Edward asked immediately. When she didn't say anything else he walked up to her to look at what had scared her.
Nothing he could've thought of would come close to what he was staring at.
There were about ten pictures of Bella. There were a couple of her walking throughout campus, one of her and Alice, a couple of her while student teaching, and the rest were intimate photos of Edward and Bella that seemed to be shot while they were in the bedroom.
He picked the last photo up, it was of Bella and him (he could tell just by the picture that Bella had just finished). Edward could feel his hands ball up in anger as he looked at these pictures of such a private moment that was invaded. He threw it to the table but when it landed, it landed upside down and Edward was able to see that there was writing across the back.
ONCE I HAVE YOU BACK I'M NEVER LETTING YOU GO AGAIN.
UNTIL NEXT TIME, BELLA
A/N: Thank you to the couple of people that have sent me reviews for the last chapter. I really appreciate it, I love hearing what you guys think. Almost 500 people read the last chapter but only 2 reviewed it, please tell me what you guys think. Just a small smiley face is even appreciated. Thank you!
I hope you all enjoyed the little twist at the end and the reveal of the baby girl.
If you like this story then please go to WattPad and look up my original story You Are My Always by Alison Post. It's about two people that meet in college and fall in love but that one doesn't have a surprise pregnancy (but other surprises).
Thank you and REVIEW!