Hello! Let's begin, shall we?

~ Vaginas and new ideas ~

"Princess, she's staring at me," Prick mumbled from the seat next to me, I just smiled sweetly. Ever since they lost her in the store, Ash just watched him. Not in a creepy ', I'm gonna haunt you for the rest of your life' sort of way. She just watched him. She did the same with Emmett, too. It was their own fault. Who on earth could lose a child? She was a loud and not that small mini person. She's not like the spare change from your pocket.

"Bella, please. Can't you do something? She's not even blinking," he moaned a little more. I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Rose, put him out of his misery, please. He's driving me nuts," I laughed, which was a bad move. Off to the toilet, I went again, because I couldn't do anything but pee these days.

The day had been great so far if you didn't count the men getting creeped out by a small child. We met Emmett, Rose, and their little girl, Ashley, for lunch and then ended back at their place for drinks. Prick was happy to forego the beer, but just because I was having his baby, didn't mean he had to give up a drink or two. I wasn't much of a drinker anyway, so I wasn't going to miss it. So anyway, we ended up back at their house, and it was nice. Rose was whining about how, although it was an old house, it was too new for her. She hated the clinical look, which I wholeheartedly agreed with. We got talking about all the decorating I had just finished at our house, and she wanted to see it.

So, while we drove to the house, Emmett and Prick went to the store to pick up supplies. I don't know what their supplies were, and I didn't ask. Ashley wanted to go with them again because it was clear that she was a daddy's girl. Both the men had to swear that they wouldn't lose her again, and then they were off.

It got me thinking about Prick and our baby. I think that once he got past the nervousness about being a daddy, he'd be great. Hopefully.

While the boys went out with the little terror, Rose and I were gushing over my house and what I had done with it. Then we got chatting about a room that could be the possible nursery. It was great having someone to chat to who had already been through the pregnancy and childbirth stuff.

I was a little worried about how explosive and emotional I'd been, but Rose brushed off my concerns.

"When did you start puberty, Bella?" She'd asked. I looked at her for a moment, slightly puzzled.

"I started my periods when I was fifteen," I replied, and she gave me a knowing smile.

"So, within five years or so, your body has started making teenage hormones for the first time, preparing your body to be a woman and then all of a sudden, it's got to make a new bunch of hormones for the first time because you're having a baby. I think you're being quite reasonable, to be honest. Add in that you barely know the man that knocked you up, and you should be a tornado of stress and hormones right now. When I was pregnant, I went through hell. I mean it. Emmett slept on the couch more times than in our bed in the first few months. I was a total she-devil. You should have seen how explosive and irrational I was. I accused him of having fun shoving his fingers up other women, and I berated him for being in 'doctor' mode too much. God, if I could scream at him for something, I did. You're doing great, Bella! Honestly. Once you get over the first trimester, things settle down. Don't get me wrong; you're still a bit nuts, but not so much,"

.

"Princess, have you finished in there? You've been a while. Do you need some water?" Prick called through the door. See, he might piss me off to high heaven, but he's caring.

Rose, Emmett, and Ashley had left a little while ago, and while Prick made a start on clearing up, I needed to tinkle again. It was a never-ending cycle.

.

"So . . . This building is up for sale, and I want to go for it." Prick murmured as we walked with our lunch. I grabbed a simple cheese and ham salad. I have no idea what Edward got, but it was brown and smooshed together. It didn't look nice at all, even if it did smell pretty good.

The building he was on about was right next door to our office. It looked run down and in terrible shape, but I could see some potential—two huge windows, one either side of a dirty brown looking door. I didn't know if that was just dirty or if it was the color of the paint. Either way, the place had potential.

"What would you do with it?"

"I was thinking of a bookstore. We don't have one in town, so I thought it would be a good idea. You could run it if you want. You could check every book before we stock it, you know, to make sure it passes your shit list that you've got going on. You could get authors out here to do interviews and sign their, what do you call it? Swag? Did you know that 'swag' used to mean 'Secretly We Are Gay'? I know you're not, but can't authors call it merchandise or something? I don't think most authors are gay. There's nothing wrong if they are, though,"

"You're rambling, and I'm still stuck on you saying that you want me to run a book shop. Why are you, rambling?"

"Because I already bought it. Don't kill me, okay? It's just that with the development of that new housing site up the road, I didn't want anyone else to come in and buy it, so I got in there first. This whole town is going to at least double in size,"

"You're still rambling. What's going in that head of yours? This is a business decision; you shouldn't be rambling. Why would I kill you?" I was beyond puzzled.

"Aren't boyfriends supposed to talk about things with their girlfriends before they go off and do anything?"

"Where do you come up with this shit? Why would you need to tell me anything? I'm certainly not your mother, thank God, and I don't own you. If you were going to say that you were moving to the other side of the country, then yeah, I'd have a problem, but not with something like this. A business decision is a business decision, not a boyfriend and girlfriend one,"

"You puzzle me, Princess. You're supposed to be a girl, and yet you do everything backward to what I'm used to,"

"And here we go again about your issues with me being a girl. Edward, I have a vagina. I have boobs. You've played with both of them, quite frequently, I might add, but that doesn't mean I like shopping. It doesn't mean that I have to have my nails and hair done perfectly, and it doesn't mean you can shoehorn me into a category that I clearly don't fit in. Yes, I have a vagina!" I said a little too loudly to an old biddy of a woman walking next to us—nosy cow.

"I understand that Princess, I do, but I'm just getting used to it. I know you're not the same as other girls, and I like you the way you are, but just give me some time to get used to the idea that your balls are bigger than mine. I mean, your vagina is nice, more than nice, but your balls are still bigger than mine," The old biddy tripped on thin air and scampered away from us.

"Okay, you've bought the building. I can run a book shop, I think, and I like some of your ideas, but I can't do everything. I can't be a mom, a boss, run a store, and do the blog posts. Something has to give,"

"Can you do the blog and the store, and of course, be a mom? I can hire more people. Are you okay or not with a nanny?"

"A nanny? You think I'm going to go through nine months of hell and a serious amount of pain at the end of it, just to hand the baby over to a stranger? You can fuck right off! No nanny is coming near my child. I suppose I can see if I can do the posts on the weekend or something, maybe cut them down to monthly and not weekly, but we'll have to see. Now, when do you get the keys?" I asked, and he looked a little sheepish. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a set of keys, handing them over to me.

"Of course."

.

"Bella, can you come into my office, please?" I heard him shout from across the building. What was wrong with just coming up to me and asking? He could have sent a text, too. No, he just had to shout.

"You in trouble?" Jessica asked. I just shrugged. This was Bossman. I was always in the shit with him. It was just the depth that varied. I stood from my desk and made my way over to his office.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" I asked, smirking at his frazzled state.

"I had a shitty email from a publishing house about your last blog post. They're accusing you of outing them about reviews. I just wanted to see how you wanted to proceed,"

I laughed. Really, really hard. I could have blamed the lack of sleep for my hilarity, but where was the fun in that? No, I'd obviously pissed someone off. For a good reason, though.

"I never mentioned any names; you know that," I gasped as I calmed down. "And for them to contact you, doesn't it mean that they're guilty of doing exactly what I posted, even if it wasn't them I was talking about?"

"So, how should I answer their email?" I sat on the edge of his desk, flashing him my bare thigh. I was wearing a custom-made denim skirt today, and it was trimmed with rainbow-colored lace.

"You're asking me? You're the boss, Bossman," I grinned at him, knowing that he was paying more attention to my skin than what I was saying.

"True, but everyone knows it's you that's running this show," His voice whined, and I swear I saw his fingers twitch. Was it home time yet?

"A point well made. Want me to reply on your behalf?"

"Fuck no, I don't fancy a lawsuit, Princess," I laughed hard.

"Okay, fine. Just reply saying the usual 'thanks for taking the time,' crap and that I'll take their concerns into consideration,"

"Will you, though?"

"Will I fuck. I write want I want to," I laughed and left the office.

.

"Dad wants me to go golfing this weekend. Is it sad that I'd prefer to be here with you and Mac?" he asked. We were curled up on my large couch in front of the open fire in the living room.

We'd finished decorating the week previous, even though I had been ill, and I never wanted to leave. The little nook in the room now had a rather impressive book collection in there. I loved coming home from work, grabbing a hot chocolate and a book. This seemed to be our new routine. I banned all work talk when we came home, and we just relaxed. Then I fell asleep within five minutes.

Edward had all but moved in, even though we hadn't been seeing each other that long and, to be honest, I loved it. We had our moments, like me training him to pick up his damp towels from the floor in the bathroom, but that was about it.

See, I could be an adult and do the relationship thing. Yeah, it was a little freaky sometimes, but I could deal with it.

"I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't do, Prick, and I think we've covered this already. Now, if you wanted to go to a strip club and bring one of the girls' homes for a threesome, then we'd have a problem, but Prick, this is Golf. With your Dad."

"I know, but I hate the clubhouse. They're all so stuck up and pretentious. Just think of my Mom times ten,"

I shuddered.

"Okay, so tell him that we have to go to the city to look at furniture for the bookstore. It's not a lie, really. We do have to go soon," I said, then snuggled up closer to him. I loved this time of year when it was starting to get really cold, but the house was warm.

"Are you sure you want to go down the old, traditional route? People like modern and minimalist these days,"

"No, stupid people like that. There's something perfect about grabbing a book and snuggling down into a deep couch and having a good reading session,"

"If you say so. And you're sure about your plans?"

"Hell yeah, it's going to be awesome,"

My ideas for the store were spot on perfect. It was being split up into thirds. One-third was a café area, serving drinks and snacks. Another third was for books, and the last third was my favorite. It was going to be filled with old couches and huge armchairs. You could grab a drink, a book, and then settle down for a good, quiet read.

There was a small hospital up the road, so I was hoping to get some of the health care workers coming in before or after their shifts. So far, I hadn't seen any downsides.

"We also have to think about Thanksgiving, Princess. Are we going our separate ways to spend time with our families, or are we going to hunker down here?" I let out a sigh. Yes, I could be brave.

"If your mother promises to behave, then I was thinking about having our families here, all under one roof. I'm sure my mom or dad can keep yours in place. What do you think?"

"I could always get Dad to slip Mom something to keep her calm,"

"Like ketamine?" I asked, hopefully.

"Isn't that something they give to horses?"

"Yeah. Anyway, we have some time to talk it over, let's go grab some dinner,"

I reluctantly pulled myself away from him and stood up. I took a second or two for the head rush to stop, and then we went to the kitchen.

I didn't mind cooking, but with working all hours, my poor slow cooker was being put through its paces. Today on the menu was a slow roast lamb with winter vegetables. It smelled amazing, and I couldn't wait to dive in.

The rest of the night was spent talking about the time scale of the bookstore opening. I was so excited now that we had fleshed out the details. As we walked Mac around the block and down to the doggy playground – yes, they really had those – Edward started talking about the neighborhood. How good it was for families and kids. The schools were perfect; they had great after-school clubs' kids could go to, etc…

I just thought it was a nice, quiet area. Now I could see us here for the long term. Raising babies and having barbecues.

"Fuck!" I cried out.

"What, what is it?" Prick shouted.

"I thought about babies!"

"And your point is what?"

"I'm barely getting through having the first one. Fuck, Prick! You've turned me into a mother!"

I'm having a bit of a rough week so far, and we're only on Tuesday. I've had migraines, I burnt my hand on the steam from the kettle and I just want to sleep and sleep and sleep!

So, Bella's settling down a bit and Prick is a little stressed. I'd be stressed, too. Think about everything they've gone through in such a short space of time!

I think I'm going to find a toothache sweet Daddyward story to read. I adore Days Like These. Do you have a fave you can rec me?