"I don't care," Edward says as we lay in bed and I rest against his chest.

"Well, obviously neither of us will be disappointed either way because it'll be our kid, but you must have a preference," I say.

"What's yours?"

I lift my head, smirking as I narrow an eye. "We're talking about you, remember? You first."

He chuckles and shakes his head. "No, because you'll change your preference to be opposite mine, just so you have a chance to say you were right if I'm wrong."

He knows me way too well. I guess spending hours upon hours at a time during my treatments and different hospital stays gave us a lot of time to talk during our relationship. He was constantly by my side and took quite a bit of time off of work to take care of me. I was usually too tired to fool around or even kiss him, so we just talked. I know him inside and out — his likes, dislikes, hopes and dreams, why he does what he does, how he got here, and his little quirks like biting pen caps. I know his smile is crooked when he's nervous and that he loves corn but won't touch it if it's off the cob. He collects comic books and has gone to Comic-Con in full costume — like, the fella wore tights and I have pictures. He tells me everything and I do the same in return because talking to him is easier than breathing.

We fit together like perfect puzzle pieces.

"Okay, fine, I'll go first," I say with a huff. "Girl, but it's more feeling than preference."

He grins widely before kissing me softly. "I'd like a girl, but I really don't care."

"Liar," I tease.

"No, as long as it's healthy, I'll be happy."

"And if it's not?" I ask, raising my brow. "What if . . . all the drugs and radiation I've been through cause a problem, like a birth defect?"

Now that it's been mentioned a few times, it's on my mind. There's a chance. I mean, what if my eggs were messed up and now something is wrong with our baby? Garrett said that it's one of the reasons he suggests waiting longer after treatment is over, and Kate told us about all these tests we could run while I'm pregnant.

Edward tilts my chin and kisses me softly, caressing my cheek with his thumb. When he pulls away, I see his compassionate smile. "I'll still be happy. I don't care, Bella. As long as our child can live a full and rewarding life, we'll get through anything else. Birth defects can be repaired or treated, as can illness or injuries."

"What if I miscarry?"

"Then I'll be devastated. I can't imagine how painful it'd be for us and I don't want to, so let's not think that way, all right? If it happens, you and I will get through it. That's all that matters."

I nod then nuzzle my face under his jaw once more. "We can't lose this baby," I say. "We won't."

"Exactly."

He kisses the top of my head as the doorbell rings. My head whips up and both of our eyes are on our alarm clock — quarter 'til ten. No one should be ringing our doorbell this late and it gives me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Or maybe that's gas, but still, doorbell does not equal good.

"Stay here," Edward says, moving off of the bed.

I'm right behind him and he shoots me a look. "What? I don't think murderers ring doorbells."

He huffs, surely knowing I won't stay put and starts walking down the staircase. The doorbell rings again and he picks up his pace, but I'm right on his tail.

I see Esme in the glass of the door as we come to the landing and groan, "Oh God, I hope your nana didn't die."

I totally jinxed Nana Cullen by talking shit about her.

"She's not dancing, so I highly doubt it," Edward says, reaching for the doorknob. He opens it and I see Carlisle behind Esme.

"Mom—"

Esme almost knocks Edward over as she rushes inside. "What's wrong? I've been calling for over an hour! Alice said you postponed the dress fitting!"

She looks frazzled — scared and angry and shaking. She's a woman on a mission and for the first time, I feel like I'm in trouble with her. Carlisle looks concerned too, which only makes the guilt feeling worse.

Until I remember I haven't done anything wrong.

Except leave my phone off. Shit.

"We never turned our phones back on," I sigh, shaking my head. "I am so sorry, Esme."

"Is it back?" she asks with tears in her eyes. "What did the scan show? Alice said you said nothing was wrong, but I know you and I know how excited you've been for the wedding, and you wouldn't blow off your final fitting for no reason."

"It's not back, Mom," Edward says. "I mean, we're pretty sure, but she didn't actually have the PET/CT."

"Why not?" Carlisle asks, raising his brow. "Was there a scheduling issue? Did they bump you from today? Because if so—"

"No!" I say, laughing a little.

He looks about ready to go fire someone and I can't help but find it funny. He's usually so calm and gentle, but I swear I see fire in his eyes. So, is this Dr. Hospital-Owner Cullen? He does kind of look intimidating and Edward's stories of stern Carlisle make a little more sense now.

"Then what happened?" he demands. "Why didn't you have the scan? Why didn't you meet Alice and Rose?"

"And why the hell are your phones off?" Esme adds, angry once more.

"We've had an . . . interesting day," I say. "Let's, uh, sit down."

Edward looks at me and knows what I'm thinking. We can't lie our way out of this. I mean, we didn't have time to put a fun story together and we probably wouldn't have agreed on one because his always include him saving the day somehow. We're telling them tonight. His nod is all the approval I need.

Esme and Carlisle sit down in the living room with us, asking their questions once again. I wanted to do this some cool way — like wrap a framed ultrasound picture and call it an early Christmas gift or have an ornament made that tells them. You know, something better than . . . this.

This is lame.

So, I decide to have a little fun.

"I didn't have the scan because they did find something," I say and quickly add, "Not cancer, though."

I want to have fun, but I don't want to terrify them. We've had enough terrifying cancer times to last a lifetime.

"Something in your blood work?" Carlisle asks, creasing his brow in concern.

I nod, taking Edward's hand. "And urine. One of my hormones is elevated."

"They weren't sure at first, so it took us a while to find out," Edward says. "That's why Bella had to postpone the fitting."

"Is it bad?" Esme asks.

"No," I say with a smile as I shake my head. "For once in my life, something being elevated is a good thing."

She looks between Carlisle, Edward, and me. I'm now smiling like an idiot and Edward's trying to keep his grin in check. Carlisle's figured it out, though. His eyes are wide and resting on my stomach as he slowly smiles.

"You're . . .?" he asks.

"Your son performed a miracle and knocked me up," I giggle.

"You're pregnant?" Esme shrieks.

"She is," Edward says with a full on Cullen-grin that matches his father's. "Our afternoon was spent at an OB's office and she confirmed that Bella's six weeks along and everything looks perfectly normal. There will be another Cullen come August."

Esme screams and she's out of her seat in an instant. She about trips over the coffee table to get to me and I just barely manage to stand up in time for her tight embrace. Suddenly we're both crying, squealing, and rocking each other. We're even jumping up and down a little as our arms are locked around each other.

"Oh my god!" she cries, grinning as she pulls back some to look at me. "You had no clue?"

I shake my head. "None whatsoever and I freaked out because Garrett came down to tell us himself."

"And when were you planning on telling us?"

"Soon," Edward chuckles. "We didn't expect you to, uh . . . make a surprise visit."

"You should have," she says, letting me go to embrace him. "My baby's having a baby!"

Esme's squeezing him so tightly that I'm not sure he can breathe, but another pair of arms wrap around me before I can say anything. Carlisle is much gentler and his hug engulfs me. He's become like a father to me over the past two years, so that's what this feels like. It feels like my dad, and I let myself imagine that this hug comes from both of them.

"I'm so, so happy for you, Bella," he says, pulling back and cupping my cheeks. "You just keep surprising people, don't you?"

"It's what I do best, I guess," I giggle. "We have pictures, you know. You can't really see anything, but—"

"Edward, go get them," Esme demands. "Sit down, Bella. Please. Are you feeling okay?"

I do as she asks and nod. They both sit on our couch now, squishing me between them as Carlisle kisses my head.

"I'm okay," I say. "I don't really feel any different, to be honest. My doctor said the morning sickness can start at any time, but I haven't had any yet. I'm just at six weeks, though, so it's still early."

"Who's your doctor?" Carlisle asks.

"Kate Delaney. Garrett recommended her and made the appointment for us. Is she good?"

He nods and smiles. "One of the best we have on staff, and I've only heard good things about her. As long as you two get along, I'd say keep her as your doctor."

"She seems nice, so I will," I say as Edward comes back down from upstairs.

He barely gets to sit down with the envelope before Esme takes it from him. She's flipping through the pictures and oohing and awwing, even though I know she can't make out anything either. Her excitement makes me so happy and though I wish we could have told them differently, I'm just glad they know and we can share this with someone besides ourselves.

Keeping it between Edward and me is fun and all, but I was really looking forward to this part and it's better than I imagined.

"Look at our newest grandbaby, Carlisle," she says, sniffling as she passes him the photos. "Isn't it precious?"

He smiles down at them and nods. "More precious than any six week fetus I've ever seen," he chuckles. "Did you hear its heartbeat?"

"Yeah," Edward says. "It was so incredible to hear. We're lucky we were able to."

"There's no better sound in the world than hearing your child's heartbeat for the first time. These look great, son — everything we should be seeing around six weeks."

"When's your due date?" Esme asks.

"August sixteenth." I grin. "I can hardly believe that this time next year, we'll have a baby to celebrate Christmas with. It seems so crazy, doesn't it? No one thought this was possible."

She shakes her head and smiles. "I knew you two would have a child someway, someday. I see how you are with Seth, so it was just a matter of when and how. This certainly is a Christmas miracle, though."

"We've been blessed with them," Edward says.

And we have. I should have died two Christmases ago, but a miracle happened and I responded to treatment. I don't take the gift I've been given lightly, and I'm thankful every morning I wake up because I know so many others don't get that chance. I'm here for a reason, and even though I'm not sure why I was blessed with a second chance at life, I plan on never taking it for granted.

Not a single second of it.

. . . . .

My rescheduled dress fitting goes off without a hitch on Monday, which is amazing considering that I can't keep anything in my stomach for more than a few minutes. Alice and Rose are none the wiser after being with me for most of the day, so Edward and I decided to tell them at dinner tonight. Since Carlisle and Esme's house is a mess because of the wedding in three days, Rose decided to host a dinner for us at her house.

"I made it!" Edward yells as I hear him running up the stairs to our bedroom.

I glance at the clock, smirking as I finish braiding my hair. "Technically you're two minutes late," I say, seeing him in the mirror.

He drops his jacket and bag on the bed, shaking his head. Tomorrow is his last day of work until we get back from our honeymoon, so he's had late nights for the past few weeks — seeing more patients, performing surgeries, and writing up orders for his partner while he's gone. Rosalie set dinner at seven, but I was pretty sure we'd be late and gave her a heads up. He's only got ten minutes to shower and dress, though, so I'm glad I did.

"I said around six," he says. "I'm going to shower, okay? We might be five minutes late — if that."

He presses his lips to mine, kissing me deeply as our tongues entwine until I start pushing him away. "Shower," I giggle. "And I love you."

"I love you too, sweet girl."

He starts stripping as he walks toward the bathroom and I enjoy the view. I mean, we're already kind of running late, so what's a little more? I'm hornier than I've ever been, but also rather exhausted. Sleep has been winning lately, but horny is in charge now.

I'm in the bathroom, pushing him against the wall and pulling his face closer to mine before he can get the water on. He pulls back after a deep kiss and cocks his brow, looking for confirmation from me as I grin.

"Okay," he laughs, grabbing my ass and pulling me into his arms.

He lifts me up and I lock my legs around him, kissing him as he tries to get us to the bed without falling. The distraction causes a few almost-stumbles, but he gets us on the bed soon enough and his lips begin their descent, starting off on my neck. He sucks and kisses, careful to not leave marks but still making my toes curl. My skin is tingling as his lips graze my breast and I arch off the bed, taking as much as I can get. I still need more . . . everything.

"If we want to get there by seven-thirty-ish, we have fifteen minutes," he says, leaning back on his heels and looking at the clock.

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?" I ask.

He chuckles before burying his face between my breasts as his fingers trail up and around my thigh. His touch is electrifying and I wrap my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. He's slow at first with light, teasing circles on my clit. He knows exactly what I like and isn't letting time make him skip a damn thing. His fingertip moves quicker and quicker as his name pours from my lips. I throw a few, 'Jesus Christs,' in there too to mix it up between moans.

I don't last long, but we're not near done. He lifts himself from me and pulls on my legs so I'm on the edge of the bed. I let my arms fall above my head and look at him, taking in every inch of his body as he teases me with the tip. I'm about two seconds from telling him to get the fuck in me before he thrusts deeply. I feel every inch of him as he rocks on his heels and holds my hip down on the bed.

"Tell me what you want, beautiful."

"Hard," I moan, searching for his arms to hold. "Please, baby."

He does just that, and I'm screaming. It's wave after wave of pleasure, building up to the most incredible feeling of all. He tells me he loves me and lays his body over mine, holding me tightly as he moves. It's amazing and wonderful and loving, and we somehow finish in time.

He's pretty damn good, let's just say.

. . . . .

Rosalie and Emmett live outside of the city near Carlisle and Esme. Their house is big and beautiful, lit up brightly with Christmas decorations galore. With Alice's help, she even managed to get the lights to blink to the tune of different Christmas carols. How? I haven't a clue, but Alice can get computers to do just about anything and Rose easily won the neighborhood decoration contest.

"Hey, we're barely late," I say as Edward pulls into the driveway behind Carlisle's car.

"Barely late, had amazing sex, and now we're about to thrill our entire family. It's been a good day," he says.

"Very! Now let's see if I can keep dinner down. That'd make it an excellent day."

"Has anything stayed down today?"

"Just water and broth. I didn't want to push it, but I kept the vitamins down too."

He nods and leans over the center console, pressing his lips to mine. "Hopefully the morning sickness doesn't stay so bad for long, but you'll tell me if it's too much, right?"

"Of course, handsome," I say, smiling. "We'll be fine."

His hand rests against my stomach, caressing it gently. "Shall we go spill the beans?"

"Yes, please," I giggle, picking my purse and the bag with the gifts up off of the floorboard.

He takes the bag from me and then gets out, rushing to open my door. I've learned to just wait for him because it's one little thing he likes to do for me. It's so simple, really, but it makes him happy and it reaffirms how wonderful he truly is to his core.

We walk toward the door hand-in-hand and it's open before we can even knock. "It's about time!" Rosalie says, wrapping her arm around me and kissing my cheek before hugging Edward. "Come in. Everyone's in the kitchen and the wine is flowing. Esme's a bit lit already."

We laugh and follow behind her into the kitchen, hearing Esme's voice right away. Drunk Esme is the best Esme. She's already the life of the party and hilarious, but a little booze makes her even more fun. There are no words to express how much I adore my future mother-in-law, and she's basically my second favorite person in the entire world just behind Edward — and Alice and Rose completely understand.

The kitchen is a mad house as we're greeted and Alice already has a glass of wine for me on the counter. I know I can't drink it, but it's certainly tempting and the perfect excuse to share our news right away.

"Dinner isn't ready yet, is it?" I ask.

Rosalie shakes her head, looking back at the oven timer. "We'll eat in about twenty minutes. Hungry?"

"Yeah, but first we have something for you all."

Edward puts the bag on the large kitchen island and starts pulling out the square boxes as I look at the names.

"Oh, early Christmas!" Alice says as Carlisle stands from his bar stool for me.

"I think I should be standing," I say as he smirks.

"Probably true, but please, sit?" he requests, eyeing me closely.

"Sit me, Aunny!" Seth says, bouncing in his booster seat.

It's hard to believe that the two year old beside me used to fit so perfectly in my arms. He's still all smiles, but now has a sweet laugh and tons of energy to go along with it. Oh, and he loves to talk. I'm his, "Aunny," and he's my, "Chatterbox."

"S'up, Chatterbox? Are you excited for the wedding and Christmas?"

He bobs his head enthusiastically. "I'm gonna walk with wings. I pwatice lots."

"Up the hall, down the hall, up the hall, down the hall," Alice says. "We've been practicing for the past hour, haven't we, buddy?"

"Yep! I'm good!"

"I'm sure are you," I say. "Your uncle and I have a present for you, and you get to be the first one to open, okay?"

His eyes light up as Edward passes me his box. We had the special announcement gifts made for everyone — even Carlisle and Esme, though it's not a surprise to them. Seth's is easily my favorite because the kid is obsessed with Star Wars already. He can't understand them much, of course, but his love for Chewbacca is real.

"You guys didn't need to get us anything," Rose says.

"Speak for yourself, woman," Emmett laughs. "Tear the paper, little man! Let's get this started."

That's all Seth needs to go at the wrapping paper like a rabid dog. The pretty, metallic snowflake paper is torn into tiny shreds before he gets to the actual box and pulls off the lid.

"It's Chewy!" he yells, pulling out the stuffed Chewbacca toy.

"Press his tummy," Edward says, smirking slightly.

Seth does just that and the recording we set plays, "You're going to be a big cousin, Chatterbox!"

It takes a second to dawn on everyone. I spoke as clearly as I could while recording, so there's no way to misinterpret. Rose erupts first with, "Oh my God!" And Alice isn't far behind with some lovely language. "No fucking way!" My eyes are on Esme, though, as she grins knowingly.

"Okay, now everyone else open theirs," I laugh.

Instead of going at her box, Rose lunges for me and wraps me in a tight embrace as she cries. My soon-to-be sister-in-law is gorgeous — tall, blonde, curvy in all the right places — but she is one ugly crier. She pulls back slightly so we're eye to eye and her mouth is open as she sobs.

"You're having a baby!" she says.

"How?" Emmett asks. "I mean, you're preggers?"

I nod as Rose lets me go so he can hug me. "I am," I say. "Your brother performs miracles, apparently."

"I told you I had magical powers when we were kids, remember?" Edward asks, laughing. He adds in a whisper so Seth doesn't hear, "Magical dick powers."

"Wow, really, Edward?" Carlisle asks incredulously as Esme bursts out laughing.

"Like father like son," she says, winking as Alice, Edward, and Emmett groan.

Clearly, that's enough dick talk.

"I'm so happy for you both," Alice says, hugging me after Edward. "Wait, Mom isn't freaking out."

All eyes are on Esme as she smirks. "I knew first days ago! Haha! Who's the best friend now?"

"I am offended," Alice says, narrowing her eyes at me. "I thought we were close, Bella? You told her before me?"

"To be fair, she ambushed us the day we found out. Remember the missed dress fitting? That's why we were at the hospital for so long."

"I guess I just care a little more," Esme says. "Good things happen to those who freak out and drive into the city at ten o'clock at night."

"I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time she postpones something. But really, I don't even care! You're having a baby!" She bends down and points her finger at my stomach. "You better be a girl."

"Boy!" Seth yells. "I share toys!"

"You'll be an amazing cousin, buddy," I say, kissing his head. "Now, gifts!"

Once everyone gets their chance to hug and congratulate us, they open the gifts. Seth's the only one who got an awesome toy, but the ornaments with the sonogram picture inside for everyone else are loved. They're rather perfect, if you ask me. What better way to save the first picture of our child than in a Christmas ornament?

After all, Christmas has always been the most amazing, special time of the year for us. We've been blessed.