Hello people! Happy New Year!

This is a short holiday fic I'm posting daily from Christmas Day until New Year's Eve, and it's my end of year gift to Team Momo.
I gave them all a break for this one, and left the red pen to Midnight Cougar.

But this goes out to Team Momo, and without them my stories wouldn't exist: hats off to Alice's White Rabbit, AGoodWitch, Driving Edward, Mel, Maplestyle, and Eternally Addicted.

This is the last chapter of this short tale.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7

December 31, 2019

~~Bella~~

There's been no way of containing Edward's joy since my reveal on Christmas Eve. It was the best payoff ever after I had to walk around the man for two weeks while keeping that secret.

We re-emerged from our personal celebration hours later, well into the night, the rest of our gifts forgotten. We got the one we really wanted, after all. Our own, personal angel.

As I sat there naked on our sectional, wrapped up in a bundle of throw blankets, he grabbed the three stockings and hung them on the mantle. Then he took an adorable picture, and fired it off to everyone in our lives in a message to break the news.

In the next hour or so, our phones rang non-stop.

On Christmas Day, however, reality set in. For Edward, that meant questions—a lot of questions. And worrying.

"We had sex last night. Will it hurt the baby? You drank wine last week at dinner. What about it? And when are we due? How do we know the baby's gender? Did you go to the doctor? Wait, you went without me?"

That barrage of questions is why, on New Year's Eve, we're sitting in the minimal chic waiting room of one of L.A.'s most exclusive OB-GYNs to the stars. The kind of doctor who'll see you on a day like this, and won't bat an eye at signing an NDA.

Because DaddyWard has already been googling out the wazoo, and he's on the warpath with the entertainment press of California.

"I won't let those vultures take pictures of our child. No pictures on social media, either."

He dispatched Seth on a quest to find the best doctor with the highest ratings, but relented when I told him I already had Rose's doctor's digits. That placated him, but barely. If Dr. Morrow is good enough for Rose, then she's good enough for Edward, whose anxiety setting is now cranked up all the way to eleven.

"Mrs. Cullen, Mr. Cullen. The doctor will see you now," the nurse announces, leading us inside the doctor's office.

Dr. Morrow is a classy, understated lady of about fifty, with a kind and no-fuss, no-worry attitude. The perfect counterpart to Edward's harried state of mind.

"I hear congratulations are in order."

We both smile like loons. Five positive pregnancy tests were kinda overkill, but it's nice to have a professional confirm it.

"Thank you," we reply in unison.

"Let's take a look, shall we?" She gestures to the examination table and ultrasound machine standing next to it. "I'll let you prep, Bella. I'll be back in a few minutes."

When she leaves, Edward is on me like white on rice. "What is she going to do to you? Will it hurt?"

I lean into him, propping my head on his shoulder. "Ultrasound. She's going to take a picture of the baby. It won't hurt me or the baby. Just mild discomfort, if that."

He exhales, visibly relieved. "Oh. Okay."

I step onto the examination table and lower my clothes to uncover my belly. In preparation, I wore leggings and a slouchy cardigan and shirt today.

After a soft knock, Dr. Morrow returns to the inner office, stopping by my side. She's holding my paperwork in her hands. When she's done scanning it, she drops it onto her desk and grabs a squirt bottle.

"We warm up the gel, but it might still feel cooler than your skin. Mr. Cullen, you can come and stand here if you want."

"I can?" he asks, a gigantic smile on his face.

"Sure. Daddy's welcome to look."

In a faster move than I've ever seen him do, Edward appears at my side, standing beside me and holding my hand, his gaze trained on the screen mounted on top of the ultrasound machine.

Dr. Morrow moves the transducer around, while Edward and I try to follow the fuzzy images on the screen. She clicks around with the keyboard, punches a few keys, then a rhythmic swooshing sound resonates.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

"Is that …" Edward's so transfixed he can't find words.

"That's your baby's heartbeat. Loud and clear, at a healthy frequency, too. And look there." She points to the screen. "That's the amniotic sac, and that little blob moving about is your baby. This kiddo's a trooper, I can tell already. Everything looks great."

Edward's hand reaches for the screen, stopping just short of touching it. Then he turns to me, tears in his eyes. "Thank you, my lovely. You just changed my life again."

"I love you, EC."

"And I love you, BCG. Always."

The doc makes herself scarce. She must be used to this—breaking happy news to parents-to-be.

When she returns, I've cleaned the goop off my belly, righted my clothes, and resumed my seat beside Edward.

"Here, these are for you. Reception will make you more copies if you need them." She hands Edward and me each printouts of our sonogram. "Electronic copies will be in your online file. I'll need to see you in a month. Congratulations, Cullens."

We haven't even left the doctor's office, and Edward's already texting the announcement to our extended family. With a picture, of course.

Cullen – The Next Generation. Coming August 2020.

The End

May we see more of these two in the future?
Who knows!

Meanwhile, in the new year I'll continue posting Shape The Narrative, and when that is complete, I will begin posting my RockerWard story, Dreams Unwind.

For teasers, updates, Rob pics and shenanigans, join my FB group LaMomo's Lair (just type that in the search bar).

Happy New 2023!