Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended and in order to keep it that way, No reproduction, copying, reposting, downloading, or any kind of redistribution of this story is allowed. This is to cover my arse as much as yours! And finally, the Original characters, plot, names, nicknames, songs, poems—anything I created from my very own brain—are all the property of the author of this fanfic, My-Bella. Unauthorized use of the material is plagiarism so please be kind and don't steal my creations.
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Chapter 53 – With a What?
Saturday, October 17th – Hawaii
"Edward."
Masen leaned toward the sound but didn't lift his head from his book.
"Edward. Masen."
Those words in that tone had him popping up from his book and giving his full attention to the woman standing in front of him. She was rumpled from just waking up but looked absolutely adorable wearing his wrinkled white t-shirt. She was also annoyed for some reason so he was careful with his words. "Good morning. Did you have fun last night with Lee?"
"You know what would make my morning good?" she asked as she dropped an empty milk carton into his lap. "If I could get up, walk into our kitchen, and make myself breakfast without any hassle."
Masen sat up and set the carton on the coffee table before meeting her eyes again. "Would saying I'm sorry mean anything right now?"
"Not really. But if you borrowed some milk from Esme, that would help a little. At least until you go to the grocery store like you promised you would do last night while I was at the movies with Lee."
"I'm really sorry. Whit and I were working on the drone downstairs and in our excitement over it, I forgot about going to the store. I will go this morning, though. And I'll stop at the farmer's market too and get your favorite fruits."
"If you're going to the market, then I want to come along. But I am not doing the store shopping."
"No, you're not. I'm doing it like I promised you." He stood up and gave her a hug and kiss to her cheek. "I'm sorry. I'm going to run over to Mom's and I'll be right back with some milk. After you eat your breakfast, we'll go the market and the store. Sound good?"
"It's a start."
Since he was the source of her grumpy attitude, he didn't say a word about it. He just gave her another kiss on the cheek and then headed out the door. He took the steps two at a time and once he hit the beach, he moved at a quick jog toward Esme's.
On his way there, he thought about how lucky he and Bella had been in their search for a place to start their life together. After a lot of failed searching for a place they both liked and felt comfortable in, it had actually been Max who'd solved their housing dilemma. He'd overheard Esme and Masen's lunchtime conversation about the house hunting not going well and had suggested they check out his rental. Not only had the setup of the home been perfect for both Masen and Bella's personalities, it was right on the beach and only four houses down from Esme and Carlisle. Since the houses had a good bit of space between each property, it felt more like living a few streets away.
The first level of their home had an open carport that fit two cars and held an enclosed area big enough to serve as a mini-workshop for Masen. The second level was an open concept living area with a living room, kitchen, and dining room. The back end held a full guest bathroom and two small bedrooms, one of which they'd turned into an office for Bella. The third and final level was the master suite, containing a bathroom more than big enough for two, a large living space, a small reading nook, and French doors that led onto a balcony facing the ocean. They agreed the only way to find a house more perfectly suited for them would have been to build one.
Climbing the front porch steps of his mom's home, Masen noticed Carlisle's car was gone. Esme's was missing too but it was probably just in the garage. Or at Tanya's after a night of taste-testing.
"Probably that one," Masen said as he let himself into the house. He closed the door and walked to the foot of the stairs. "Mom?" he called up.
He didn't get a response back so he headed for the pantry to see if there was anything extra he could bring back to help smooth things over with Bella.
There wasn't anything his kapu would enjoy but he did find a brownie-bite that he was currently munching on while heading for the fridge. Just as he put his hand on the door, the house phone began to ring.
He lifted it from the cradle and answered, "Masen residence."
"Hi, this is Ruth at Doctor Hooper's office. I'm trying to reach Esme Masen."
"I'm her son Edward. I'm her authorized contact so I can take down a message if you want."
"I did leave a message on her cell but since this is time-sensitive, I'll leave one with you too."
"Hang on just a sec while I grab something to write on." He pulled a pad and pen from the kitchen drawer they always sat in. "Go ahead."
"We were able to get her an appointment today with the ultrasound technician. It's for one o'clock so if she can't make it, we need to know right away so we can quickly get her rescheduled. Have her call the main number here and ask for me. My name's Ruth."
As he scribbled the message down, the words fully registered in his head and the immediate fear they created froze him.
"Edward? Are you still on the line?"
"Yeah … Uh, ultrasound at one. Call Ruth if she can't make it."
"That's correct. Thanks, Edward. Have a great day!"
He tried to say something to be polite but the bile he tasted at the back of his throat had him ending the call instead.
The sound of the front door opening had him looking up. A smiling Esme walked in with her arms wrapped around a brown bag full of groceries. "Hey, Kid! What a nice surprise."
He let her set the bag on the counter and then he wrapped his arms around her. He wanted to blame his inability to breath on the hug but he knew he wasn't holding her that tightly.
"Edward, what's wrong?"
His eyes watered and his lips quivered as he fought to push out the question he had to ask. "How long before I lose you?"
"Lose me? Kid, you're not making any sense." She pulled out of the hug and grabbed his face, pulling his eyes down to meet hers. "What's going on with you? Why do you look so upset? Who was on the phone?"
"You need an ultrasound." Only one woman in his life had ever needed an ultrasound as far as he knew and that woman was no longer with him.
"Edward, no. No, no, no," Esme said as she pulled him over to sit on the stools with her. "I'm not sick, sweetheart. I promise you. You don't have anything to worry about."
"They don't give ultrasounds out just for the hell of it, Mom."
"True, but they also don't give them only when things are wrong. I'm in my thirties now and that means I'll have a few checkups that I've never had before. It's not anything for you to worry about."
He shook his head as he rose to his feet, trying to keep control of the anger building behind the fear gripping him tight. "You're lying to me. You never lie to me."
"I'm not lying, Edward. I just … I can't tell you yet."
"What the hell does that mean?" he roared. "We always tell each other what's going on. That's how this works. That's how we work."
"I want to have all the information first."
"So you are sick!"
"No. I am not sick." She sighed and patted the seat of the stool he'd jumped up from. "Sit down."
He grabbed a fistful full of hair. "I don't want to sit down. I want to know what's wrong with my mom."
She yelled right back at him. "Then sit your butt down." She sighed and then spoke in a softer tone. "I realize I'm not handling this right and it's what's causing your freak out, but I need you to be calm for me and listen to me."
He took a deep breath and then sat down. "I'm listening."
"Good." She took his hands into hers and looked him directly in the eyes. "I don't know how else to say this so I'm just going to say it—I'm pregnant."
That tight band constricting his chest eased slightly and he blurted out, "With a baby?"
She rolled her eyes at him while pulling her hands from his. "No, I thought I'd birth a puppy instead since Lizzy's been a dream. Puppies seem to stay cuddly longer with less mess."
Masen's relieved and happy smile was ear to ear. "You're having a baby with Carlisle."
Seeing his smile brought out her own. "I am."
"Where is he?"
"Office supply store. He has some forms he needs to print and the machine is out of ink."
Masen grimaced. "Yeah, that's on that list I didn't get to last night."
"That's why you're here! You need to pilfer from my kitchen."
"Yeah, Bella wasn't too thrilled to find we were out of milk again."
"Well then you better steal my milk and get out of here."
He looked at her as if she'd told him to move halfway across the world. "I can't just leave. You're pregnant!"
She blinked a couple times and then she cracked up laughing, having to lean on him to keep from falling off her stool.
"Mom," he said with a groan. "Please, I need you to be serious right now. Please."
"Okay, but you be serious first," she replied as she wiped tears from her eyes. "I know you haven't been around a pregnant woman before, but I thought all of your collected knowledge over the years at least gave you an idea of the basics. I'm going to be pregnant for quite a few more months."
"How many more?"
"Until sometime around the middle of May. Part of the reason for the ultrasound is to pin down the due date better."
"And Carlisle will go there with you today? You're not going alone?"
"Yes, Carlisle will be with me. I will not be alone. You have nothing to worry about. You also have nothing to say to anyone because you do not know about this, Edward. We want to wait until we have more information before we tell everyone."
He ran a hand through his mangled hair. "I just … You're pregnant."
"And you will be a big brother. But right now, you need to be a thief. Steal my carton of milk and take it home to Bella."
He knew he should listen to her but he needed to hug her first. He needed to feel the weight of her in his arms and replace that earlier memory of holding her and being terrified she would be leaving him.
"I'm not scared, Edward, so you shouldn't be either. This will be an amazing experience for all of us, and at the end, we'll have a new little life to love."
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, Kid." She gave his back a couple pats and then pulled out of the hug. She went over to her grocery bag and dug through it until she pulled out a banana. "Here," she said as she tossed it to him. "Steal this too and blame it for you being gone longer than expected. You know how she loves bananas cut up with her cereal."
"You're the best, Mom," he promised her. He grabbed the milk from the fridge, grabbed one more hug from his mom, and then rushed home to Bella.
When he got inside, she was nowhere in sight and he could hear the shower running upstairs. He put away the milk and set the banana on the cutting board. He'd wait until he heard the water cut off and then he'd make her breakfast for her.
In the meantime, he would work on wrapping his head around the news he'd just gotten. News he couldn't share with anyone. It had been a long time since he'd been in a position like this and it felt strange not to already be on the phone with Whit getting his opinions and suggestions. Not that this was a situation for anyone other than his mom and Carlisle to have an opinion about.
A baby. The thought brought a smile to his face. Esme had always wanted a husband and babies. And she was so damn good at being a mom. All the patience she'd shown Masen over all these years—she was amazing and she'd be great with a baby too. No question at all.
His smile faltered as he tried to picture what their family would look like after a change this big.
The scent of Bella's soap hit his nose seconds before her body pressed against his. She pulled his arms apart and hugged herself to him tightly. "I'm sorry I was grumpy with you."
"No, you had every right to be, kapu."
"You're trying and you've only forgotten things a couple times since we've been living here."
"And I still need to try harder." He kissed the top of her damp head and then let her go. "You sit and I'll make your cereal. I even snagged a banana for you."
"My breakfast hero," she teased, giving him a big grin.
He kissed that grin and then he went to work on making her breakfast.
"Were Carlisle and Esme home? I thought we could invite them to the farmer's market with us."
"Actually, Mom got home as I was leaving. She was just coming back from the grocery store."
"We can still invite her."
He thought of the appointment his mom had today—and realized he'd never actually told her what the doctor's office lady had said. "Let me see if she's interested." He grabbed his cell sitting on the island and tapped on the picture of his mom poking her tongue out at him.
Esme answered on the first ring. "I was just thinking I sent you away too quickly. I should have let you ask all the questions you wanted but I was afraid of making Bella suspicious."
"I'm good, Mom." He looked to Bella and he could tell she was listening to his half of the conversation. "But now that I'm thinking about it, I left your juice out on the counter."
"Juice? You didn't have—Oh! Code! Right! I found the note and I've already called to confirm."
"Do you think you and Carlisle have enough free time today to come to the farmer's market with Bella and me?"
"He just walked in the door. Let me ask him …"
Masen could hear them talking but not make out any words so he figured his mom was holding the phone against her shoulder. His mind flashed a picture of her standing in the kitchen with a baby pressed against her shoulder and it made him smile.
"What's she saying that's so funny?" Bella asked. She'd taken over the banana chopping and was almost done with the half he hadn't gotten to.
"Hey, I said I was going to make your breakfast."
"And I appreciate that, but I also hate bananas that sit out for too long so I've got this."
"You're the best, you know."
"Completely," she agreed, lifting up on her toes for a quick kiss that he happily gave her.
He also gave her towel a tug just to see how tightly she'd wrapped it around herself. It stayed put and he got his hand slapped. "I regret nothing."
"Edward, we'd love to come," Esme told him. "When do you think you'll be ready to leave?"
He looked to Bella. "Leave in twenty?"
She nodded in agreement since she was busy munching on a banana slice.
"How's twenty minutes sound, Mom?"
"Sounds good. But are you really okay, Kid?"
"Probably not but I am happy."
"I'll take that and run all day long. But I can't because I'm pregnant."
He snorted at the pure glee in her voice.
The glee was quickly replaced by worry. "Oh, this is going to be the worst kept secret and it's going to be my own fault."
"Yes," he quickly agreed. "That. Exactly."
"Some help you are!"
He chuckled and said, "See you soon, Mom."
"Love you."
"Love you, too."
He set the phone down and turned his attention to Bella. She smiled at him and then popped a banana slice into his mouth. "What?" he asked when she continued to stare at him.
"You seem excited."
"I'll be spending the morning with my kapu and my mom. Why wouldn't I find that exciting?"
"You'd find it fun but not exciting."
"Okay, you've got me but you have to swear not to tell anyone."
"I am sworn to secrecy," she promised.
He leaned in close as if this secret was so big that it had to be whispered. "I'm really glad I'm not in trouble for forgetting."
She laughed and pushed him away. "Ass."
"I love you."
"I love you too, but you're still an ass."
"Fair enough."
Her smile fell and she became serious. "You're happy."
Her tone confused him and caused his eyebrows to lift toward his hair. "Why did that just come out like it's a bad thing?"
"It's not. Not even a little. I just …" She set aside her breakfast and came over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. "We don't always get what we want and I wanted so much for you to be happy living here with me. It's just a little overwhelming to suddenly realize I'm getting exactly what I wanted for us."
He smiled into her hair as he rubbed her back. "I'm more than happy, kapu. I am the luckiest guy on the planet."
The jingling of Lizzy's tags on her collar preceded the sound of her nails clicking on the hardwood floor. "Which of us will she bump into?" Bella whispered.
"Me," Masen answered seconds before he felt the thump of his puppy's body colliding with the back of his leg. She wasn't any better at stopping on this floor than she was at Esme's.
"Good morning, sweet girl," Bella cooed as she picked Lizzy up. "She must have stayed up late watching Whit and you for her not to wake any of the times the front door opened and closed."
"She was not in the least concerned with Whit and me. She was too busy chasing a lizard back and forth across the carport," Masen shared as he took his puppy. "I'll take her for her walk and you finish breakfast."
"Should we take her to the market with us?"
"Yeah, she hasn't gotten to go in a while. And we can have Esme take her home so we can go on to the grocery store."
Bella's nose crinkled. "We're slightly domesticated. Should we be worried?"
He smiled his shitty grin for her. "Nah, we'll just have sex on the kitchen counter again to break us out of it."
Bella blushed a bright pink and smacked his shoulder with her spoon. "Get out of here, you perv!"
"Only if you smack my ass," he teased, turning his backside to her. "You know you want to."
She ignored him and took a big bite of her cereal.
He laughed and gave her heated cheek a quick kiss. "Love you."
He assumed she said it back but it was hard to know for sure with her mumbling around a mouthful of cereal.
He headed down to the beach and when he was sure he wasn't in view of the house, he sat down heavily in the sand and blew out a long breath. He looked at Lizzy and said, "Holy shit, life just got the weirdest it's ever been. But it's a good weird, right?"
Lizzy smiled at him.
"Good weird then," he agreed as he gave her a hug.
He set her in the sand and while she pranced around in search of her current favorite spot, Masen reviewed the present status of his life.
His mom was pregnant, something she'd wanted for a long time. He had no idea what that was going to mean for their relationship but he knew it would change in some way. It had to change. There would be a baby unable to care for itself and needing constant attention and caretaking. They wouldn't be able to just run off to lunch together so they'd have to find new ways to spend time together.
"Books," he mumbled to himself. "I'll buy books and learn about babies so I can be there to help with whatever and that's how we'll spend time together."
His rudimentary plan was quickly followed by the thought that Carlisle would want to help with everything since he was the dad.
Esme and Carlisle and their baby would be a family. Where did that leave him?
He scrubbed his face with his hands and then sat there with his eyes closed, pushing away the baby thing into the farthermost corner of his mind. He would leave it there until he was free to talk about all of this with Bella and have her help him keep from overthinking.
Bella. His lips curled into a smile as he pictured her standing in their kitchen eating her cereal and wearing only her towel.
Bella was happy. She was sleeping again. She was making their house her home. She was looking into a part-time job at the Ocean Center to give her something to do during the off-seasons. She was spending time with everyone the way she wanted, when she wanted, and not basing her life on Masen's schedule. If he could keep her this happy, then he could believe she really would marry him when they were ready for it.
His thoughts turned toward the rest of his family. Whit was happy. He missed the hell out of Alice but he was happy. His time was split between working with his parents, working with Masen, and planning trips to visit Alice. In fact, he was going out there to spend Halloween with her at her sorority's costume party.
Lee and Gopher were happy. The whole team had gotten together and done some improvements to her parents' house, making life easier for them and reducing Lee's worrying greatly. Gopher was always happier when she was happy. He was also pretty happy about the trip they had planned for next month. They were flying out to Tennessee to spend the week before Thanksgiving with his family.
Masen's 'ohana was flourishing. He and Esme had finally found partners who loved them the way they needed and their dreams were coming true. She was going to have her own baby, a child she would raise with a man who adored her. Masen would be a big brother. He would also be the guy sharing his life with Bella. Life right now was pretty much perfect and the gratitude he felt was incomparable. But so was the fear that this could all come falling down, like a sand castle crumbling with the incoming tide.
"Shark Boy!"
He tried to be annoyed with Bella for her teasing but he found himself laughing instead. "We're coming!" He stood and dusted the sand from his shorts while whistling for Lizzy. She came charging out from behind a small dune and ran right past him, heading for her second favorite person—his kapu.
He joined them and looped his arm around Bella's waist. "Hi."
"What were you thinking about so hard?" she asked as they headed for the carport where his Bronco sat beside her GT-R.
He didn't want to share his dark thoughts and worry her. He also didn't want to waste what time he did have with her. "I was thinking it's a beautiful day and it would be a shame to spend it locked away in my shop at Mom's. What do you say to you, me, and Lizzy spending the day at the park with some shaved ice? How's that sound?"
She smiled up at him. "I think that sounds like a perfect way to spend a sunny Saturday."
He leaned in to kiss her but was blocked by the blaring of a car horn.
"Get a move on, Kid," Esme called from the passenger window of Carlisle's car. "We want to get to the market while it's still open."
"You're lucky I love you," he told her while helping Bella into the Bronco.
"Don't I know it," Esme replied. She blew him a kiss and then rolled up her window.
"Why do I love her so much?" Masen asked Bella.
She laughed. "Because she loves you so much."
"I'm getting my kiss." He leaned into the truck and planted his lips on hers, kissing her deeply but not nearly for as long as he wanted. "Let's go to the market with our 'ohana."
"Yes! Let's!" Bella replied excitedly.
No matter what the future held for them, he'd have this one perfect day with his loved ones—that was all the reasoning he needed to be okay with skipping his work for the day.
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Saturday, October 31st
Esme and Bella were sharing a throw blanket, using the corners to hide their eyes for the really scary parts of the movie. The music began to swell and they lifted their corners a little higher, pulling them up to the bridges of their noses.
"How are you two seeing any of the movie like that?" Edward asked. "Mom, you're the one who wanted to do this."
"I said 'scary movie party'," Esme replied. "I never mentioned wanting to sleep with the lights on for weeks."
Carlisle and Edward laughed.
"I offered for you to sit by me," Edward reminded her.
"No. I learned that lesson the hard way," Esme griped. "You always wait for me to relax and then you touch the back of my neck and scare the piss out of me. Literally sometimes."
"You liar," Bella yelled. She grabbed the pillow beside her and threw it at Edward. He was lucky her aim was off and it only hit him in the knee. "You told me last night that you'd never done that before and had no idea I'd jump like that."
"I didn't lie," Edward replied with a laugh. "I hadn't done it to you before that moment."
Carlisle handed off the bowl of popcorn to Edward. "Son, you really shouldn't argue semantics with an angry woman. The results will never be in your favor."
"Oh no! It's moving again," Bella exclaimed while cowering closer to Esme.
"Another ghost? How many damn ghosts are in that house?" Esme barked.
"All of them!" Edward shouted and then laughed evilly.
The ghost appeared on the screen and even though she'd expected it from the music, it still made Bella jump. "Esme, what do you say to helping me make s'mores in the kitchen?" she suggested.
"I think that's the best idea I've heard all night." Esme stood and on her way out of the living room, she dumped the throw blanket onto Edward's head. Bella noted it wasn't as good at muffling his laughter and Lizzy's barks as it had been at protecting her from ghosts.
"You know, we shouldn't let him have a s'more," Bella mentioned to Esme.
"We shouldn't," Esme agreed. "But we will because we love the ass. But first I've got to run to the potty after the constant frights. Will you grab the ingredients?"
"Yep." Bella headed for the pantry and easily found everything since Esme kept it nicely organized. She tried with her own pantry but Edward wasn't used to her system yet so he was constantly putting things back in the wrong spots. She was debating buying a label maker to mark every shelf. Maybe a quicker solution would be to mimic Esme's system since it was one he already knew.
Bella set the ingredients out on the island just as Lizzy came trotting into the room. "Did you run from the ghosts too?" she asked the puppy.
"Considering she often has more sense than my kid, it wouldn't surprise me," Esme joked. "He has always taken an unseemly amount of pride from scaring the hell out of me. One of these days, just once, I'm going to give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Please make sure I'm there to witness it," Bella told her.
"Not only will you witness it, you'll help me plan it," Esme promised as she set a large tray on the island. "So update me. How's life with my kid going?"
Bella answered while snapping the chocolate bar into squares. "Good. We have a few trouble spots we're working out but overall it's good. He's not antsy." She saw no reason to tell the full truth and ruin the good mood everyone was in tonight.
"Sweetheart, I don't know who you normally fool with that fakeness but it isn't working on me. Tell me the truth."
She made sure they were alone before confiding. "He's been really distracted lately. He's got all these projects going but he hasn't finished any. And when he spends time with me, he'll be fine for a bit and then he'll drift off into his own head. He says he's just got some work stuff on his mind but if it was really work, why wouldn't he talk to me about it? It's not like I haven't helped before. I don't know … maybe it really is work and he's just not at the point where he can let me be his partner on and off the boat."
"That little shit," Esme hissed. "I should have known. Of course I should have known. But I decided to take him at his word. Stubborn ass."
"You know what's wrong with him?"
"Yes and I'm afraid it's my fault," Esme said with a heavy sigh. She looked toward the living room. "Carlisle! Would you be a dear and come in here for a moment?"
"Coming, my love," was his response. Male laughter came from the living room and a few seconds later Carlisle appeared wearing a big smile on his face. "You look far too serious for s'mores, Esme," he said as he wrapped an arm around her back.
"If only it were the s'mores," she replied. "I should have listened to you and let him confide in her."
His lips twitched from suppressing his smile. "You'll get no argument from me."
Bella wasn't sure what to think. Either they knew what was going on with Edward or they were having their own completely separate and coded conversation. "Not to interrupt, but I'm feeling more confused rather than less."
"Would you like to tell her?" Esme asked him.
He nodded. "I think it's only fair as you told the first time."
"Tell me what?" Bella questioned.
Carlisle leaned across the island and quietly told her, "Esme and I are having a baby."
Esme jumped in to add, "Technically we made a baby and I'll be the one having the baby unless modern medicine figures out an alternative before my due date."
It took a moment for Bella to get past the shock and then she rushed around the island to hug her uncle and Esme. "I'm so happy for you."
"And we're sorry we caused you worry, Bug," Carlisle told her.
"I was a fool to think Edward could hold on to this until Thanksgiving," Esme said. "He's equal parts thrilled and terrified. I'd thought talking to me would be enough but obviously he has some thoughts he can't share with me."
"I'm just so relieved to finally know what's going on with him," Bella replied. "It felt like one day he's so happy and smiling for every little thing and the next I can barely hold his attention for a dinner conversation. I couldn't figure it out. And when he said it wasn't me I could see in his eyes he was telling the truth but it just didn't make any sense. I never considered he might be keeping someone else's secret."
"That's because you've seen he's terrible with secrets," Esme pointed out. "He's busy spilling to Whit moments after hearing big news."
Bella nodded in agreement. "So many times he nearly slipped about those jet skis. He'd tell total strangers just to keep from telling Whit."
"Honestly, Bella, if it weren't for an unfortunate phone call, Edward wouldn't know right now. He happened to be here when the doctor's office called about my ultrasound. The last time he heard that word—He was just so upset that I had to tell him," Esme explained.
"Elizabeth," Bella whispered. It was all too easy to imagine the panic that was sure to have been on Edward's face. "Of course you had to tell him."
"I should have let him tell you that day, but he seemed okay. He even seemed excited about being a big brother. And the times we've talked since then, he's never let me see any worry at all," Esme shared.
"He is your son, Esme. If he can save another person an ounce of worry by taking it onto himself, he will," Carlisle said. "The absolute last thing he would do would be to add stress to his pregnant mother."
The reason for Edward's behavior and her worry really registered in her head at that moment and it brought a smile to Bella's face. "A baby. A new family member to love. I am so excited for you both."
Esme looked toward the living room and then back to Bella. "He asked if it would be a baby."
"What?" Bella asked, certain she'd misheard.
"I told Edward I was pregnant and his response was 'with a baby'."
"Oh, that has to become a story everyone knows once you tell the family. It has to. Please," Bella begged.
"It's already written in the baby book," Carlisle shared with a chuckle.
"You guys missed the end," Edward announced as he carried the leftover popcorn and empty drinks into the kitchen. "Should we rewind or should I just tell you how it ended?"
"We've made a decision," Esme told him.
"You want more ghosts in your scary movies?" Edward teased. "I'll just take this," he told Bella while leaning over her to snag a chocolate piece.
"Oh no you don't," Bella said as she reached for his hand.
He was faster though and the chocolate disappeared into his mouth. "Just think how good my kiss will taste in a minute."
"Not interested." It was a sad little lie and they both knew it. "I'm going to enjoy my s'mores."
"It's cute how you pretend I'm not irresistible, kapu." He looked over to his mom and Carlisle. "So what's the decision? More ghosts to make Mom keep the lights on, or will we be subjected to a romance movie?"
Esme flipped off that shitty grin of his and then said, "Our decision is to let my son talk to his partner about what's been driving him to distraction."
"Mom, what are you doing?" Edward hissed, stealing a quick glance at Bella. "I'm fine."
"You are not fine, Kid," Esme argued. "You want to be, but this is a big change. And one you haven't been able to share with Bella."
"And you need all the help you can get," Bella said as she put an arm around Edward. "What with your confusion over whether or not she's pregnant with a baby."
"Mom," Edward groaned while covering his face with both hands.
"We apologize for causing both of you needless worry, Edward," Carlisle said. "We've never done this before so you'll have to bear with us as we make and correct mistakes."
Edward dropped his hands and focused on Bella. "You were worried? What about?"
"You, you goof," she said as she playfully poked him in the arm. "You've been so distracted lately. I was starting to think it was because of me, because things between us weren't working out how you thought they would. But now I know it was just you worrying about becoming a big brother."
"I'm not worried … exactly. I just … And why didn't you tell me you were worried?"
She couldn't stop her snort. "I did tell you and you told me there was nothing to worry about."
He winced. "And then didn't act that way. I'm sorry."
"I'm just glad all this has been for such a happy and wonderful reason," Bella said as she hugged Edward and smiled at Esme and Carlisle. "Since I know now, can I know when the baby is due?"
Edward, Esme, and Carlisle answered in sync. "May fourteenth."
Bella laughed as she looked up at Edward. "That's why you were so annoyed you couldn't find a wall calendar you liked with next year's dates."
Esme sniffled. "You really are happy about this baby."
"I thought the pregnancy forgetfulness was in the late stages," Edward teased. "Can't believe you've already forgotten how much I love you."
"Loving me and being happy about a new baby are two different things," she replied.
"Not in this family," he argued. "In this family, we stick close together."
"He's right," Carlisle said as he wiped away Esme's tears. "This family is 'ohana. The kids are your misfits. When our baby is grown, he or she will have their own band of misfits."
Esme smiled. "Made up of cousins from Lee and Whit." She made sure Edward was looking at her before adding, "And nephews and nieces from Edward."
"This is the part when I ignore your teasing and make my s'mores," Edward said as he reached for the box of graham crackers.
"Oh I am not teasing, Kid. You are giving me grandbabies," Esme promised before popping a marshmallow into her mouth.
Neither of them noticed that Carlisle and Bella had backed away from them.
"What do you think, Bug?"
"I think we are both lucky and slightly foolish to be in love with these two." She put her hand on her uncle's shoulder the same way he always did when she was nervous. "And I am very excited to know I will have a little cousin to love and spoil."
"What about the other part? The mention of grandchildren?"
Bella blushed. "That's … I'm still … I really don't think we're anywhere near ready for that. And we should definitely be married first. I'd like to be married first … To be perfectly honest, Uncle Carl, that's not a subject we've discussed at all yet."
"There's no rush. As you attempted to say, you're still young. You're still settling in to a life together. But, Bella, the topic of children is a very polarizing subject. I strongly urge the two of you to discuss it."
Later that night, as Bella was walking hand-in-hand with Edward across the beach headed for their home, her uncle's words came back to her. She tried to picture herself as a mom, with Edward holding their baby instead of the sleeping puppy currently cradled in his arm. She couldn't quite see it but she did like the idea of it. Sometime in their future, after they'd gotten good at communicating and being a cohesive team in their daily life together.
"There's Gemini," Edward mentioned, lifting their joined hands to point the constellation out to her.
"Beautiful," was her distracted reply.
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
She looked up, finding his blue eyes in the moonlight. "What do you think about kids?"
"You just found out they're pregnant and you're already adding an 's'. Just how many kids do you expect Esme and Carlisle to have?"
"I wasn't asking in reference to them. I want to know what you think about kids."
He shrugged. "They're okay. I like the toddlers best because they're basically like being around Whit and Gopher when they're drunk."
"Do you want kids of your own?"
Another shrug. "I've never thought about it."
"Never? Not once? Not just a random moment at the park when you saw a mom and dad playing with their kids?"
"No. That wasn't in my future. There wasn't going to be a marriage for me. Hell, there wasn't even a long term girlfriend in the picture for me."
"But now you're engaged."
He smiled brightly at the mention and then studied her face. "And you want me to think about kids?"
"Yes. I think it's important that we both know what the other wants, even if that want is really far off right now."
"What about you? Do you see us having kids?"
"One day, yes. I'd like us to be married first. And for our communication to be better so it's easier to be a parenting team."
"Did you picture yourself having kids with Jacob?"
She answered honestly, although a little hesitantly. She didn't want him to feel like she was just inserting him into some fantasy. The way she felt about kids with him was completely different from what she'd felt about it with Jacob. "For a very brief moment before I found out about his surfing and freaked out on him. I thought 'this guy is safe and we can have the cute little house with the cute kids and life will be pretty much perfect'."
Edward sighed. "I wish I could give you that but I don't know how I can and still be me, still do what I love."
"You don't have to because I don't want that anymore. With you—Edward, I think about sharing a child with you and I think 'ultimate adventure'. We'll both be hands-on and have strong opinions and want to spoil and take credit. Learning to become a parenting team, that's going to be a huge challenge for us but I'm excited to find out how we'll manage it together."
A little crooked smile formed on his lips. "So you want to marry me and have kids with me?"
"I want us to have a future full of possibilities. And just think! If we can make it to a wedding day and through a ceremony planned by Alice, then a baby should be a breeze."
"She's not planning our wedding."
"Not all of it," Bella assured a clearly worried Edward.
He stopped walking and drew her into him, holding her close. "Our wedding day … That day will be the best day of my life."
"Are you sure? All the adventures you've already had and the ones waiting for us—you'll have an awful lot to pick from."
"None of it will mean anything without you, kapu. Aloha Au Ia 'Oe Mau Loa."
She pulled his lips to hers for a kiss full of love, happiness, and promise. She knew that because of their personalities and careers, very few moments of their life together would be easy. She also knew she never wanted it to be any other way. For all the stubbornness on both their parts, it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the love they felt and shared with each other.
She would marry this man. She would travel the world with him. And someday, she would become a parent with him.
But first, she needed to help him get ready for his upcoming new role of big brother.
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
"So!" Bella said as she crawled up beside Masen in the bed.
"Are you going to want to leave both lamps on tonight?" he asked, only partly teasing.
She glared at him for a second. "Next year, we are keeping the Halloween movies ghost-free."
"That's going to be hard to manage considering your favorite movie is Hocus Pocus. What will you do without Thackery Binks' ghost to make you tear up at the end of the movie?"
She smiled and then settled in beside him, pulling his arm around her. "Cleary some exceptions will have to be made."
He snorted. "Clearly."
"So your mom is pregnant."
Masen nodded while allowing that thought to have some of his attention. He'd been fighting to ignore the hell out of it for weeks so he found it uncomfortable to suddenly let it out of its dark corner.
"What was your first thought when you heard the news?"
He shrugged. Even though he now had permission to talk about it with her, he wasn't sure it was the best idea. Talking to him when his thoughts weren't clear was a pain in the ass—as Whit and Lee often reminded him.
"Edward, I can understand this being hard for you to talk about. It's very personal and probably more than a little confusing for you. I'm here to listen and be your sounding board, without judgment. You have a right to whatever it is you're feeling about this change to your family. Another big change on top of a summer full of them. Just know that I'm here for you whenever you do want to talk about it."
He sat silently with her for a while, weighing the pros and cons of the conversation and the odds of it going badly. They were really starting to find their groove together and he did not want to mess that up at all.
But he also wanted the better communication she'd talked about earlier. He needed to go to her for certain topics just the way he went to Whit, Lee, and Esme.
In the end, he decided it was better to try and end up failing than to refuse her offer of help. "I'm not sure I was able to think at that point. I was too busy being relieved she wasn't sick."
"That must have been awful to think she was, even for that small bit of time."
"I couldn't breathe," he admitted. "Is that what your early panic attacks felt like?"
"Yeah. It makes it hard to do anything else when your chest feels constricted to that degree."
"If she had been sick—" He cut himself off and just shook his head.
"She's not and that is something to be very grateful for."
"Believe me, I am."
"What else are you feeling?"
"I don't know. I haven't really allowed myself to think about it much. The one time I tried, I started overthinking right away and I know I tend to make mistakes when I do that so I just shut it down."
"What could you possibly have to overthink that quickly?"
"Time with my mom for one. We've already cut our Thursday lunches down to just one a month. There's going to be times when she's not hungry or doesn't feel like going out while pregnant. And then once the baby is here, it'll be a while before she's comfortable with leaving the baby at home with anyone. First time moms are protective like that."
"But she's not a first time mom. She has you."
"I was eleven though. Fairly self-sufficient."
"Also emotionally vulnerable for a while. And you're forgetting that moms need and like to get out for adult conversation sometimes."
"I feel like I need to go out and buy every baby book there is but then my next thought is that's stupid. I should be able to figure this stuff out. It's a baby and my mom. It shouldn't be that complicated."
"You could decide not to have a plan and just go with whatever happens," she suggested. "It's not as if your plans for personal life events go off smoothly."
He immediately thought of his plans for asking her to marry him and had to concede she was right. "Then what do I do?"
"What if you just inform yourself of what to expect in each stage of the pregnancy? That way, you won't feel like you're completely unprepared but you also won't have some detailed plan that can fail and agitate you."
He studied her idea, creating a rudimentary pro-con list for it. It didn't take long for the pros to start adding up, especially the one where Esme's stress level wasn't raised because he was stressed. She always knew with him and he did not want her worrying about him right now. He wanted her focused on her health and getting ready to bring a baby into their family.
"You know what else might be a good idea? A new project," Bella mentioned. "You could do one project a trimester that's baby related. This first trimester there's not a lot to do so it would be a good time for heavy research. She's going to need a good baby monitor. You could look into them and figure out what's the best one that's also easy to use."
"How do you seem to know so much about babies?" Masen asked.
"Mike's wife was pregnant a couple years ago. It was a first baby and Mike couldn't stop talking about it so we kind of all went through the pregnancy with him."
"Sea World Mike? That guy's a father?"
Bella snorted. "Yes, Edward. Mike is someone's father. And I wouldn't be so judgy if I were you. People who only know you in passing might wonder the same about you one day."
"Never," he said as he wrapped her up in both arms, making her giggle. "By then you'll have helped sort out all of my communication misfires and I will dazzle folks with my conversational skills."
"As you try to take over the world? Pinky and The Brain have already tried that."
He quickly ran through the list of characters he'd learned about through his friends over the years but came up empty. "Who are they?"
"They are the greatest evil doers ever. Also, it's how you imagined your relationship with Gopher worked."
"I'm sensing a lot of sarcasm from you, kapu."
She smiled and lightly scratched the short beard his scruff had turned into now that he wasn't shaving to fit his face mask.
"Is this something we can look up online? I feel like I need to look this up and know exactly how you're insulting me."
She laughed. "I'm not insulting you. I'm just poking fun at you a little."
"I can think of a much better kind of poke," he replied, smiling his shitty grin.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Not tonight. If you don't have any more to talk about on the baby topic, then I am going to let my tired eyes close and get some much needed sleep. Getting up before six is hard when you don't do it every day."
He let her go so she could get comfortable under the covers. "Thanks again for coming out with me."
"I love getting to go out on your mother's boat. There's nothing else like it. Soaking up the sun and enjoying the slow passage of time together."
"I like that it's becoming something we do together."
"Me too," she said as he put his head down next to hers on her pillow. "So is there anything else you want to talk about that's baby-related?"
"Do you think Esme's serious about me being known as the big brother?"
"Why wouldn't she be?"
"It could be confusing for a kid to try to explain."
"It could but there won't be anything to explain. He or she will see exactly what everyone else sees from the outside. Esme is your mom. You are her son. You guys love each other very much. One day, when the baby is old enough to fully understand about Elizabeth, you'll make a choice about whether or not to share her."
"Why does it sound so simple when you say it?"
She pressed her hand to his cheek. "Because I'm not the one directly affected by it. I'm not the one who wants it so much that the only way to express it is to fixate on not having it."
He wanted to say he disagreed but he couldn't without feeling like he'd be lying. "Do you think I'll make a good big brother?"
"Based on what I've seen with Whit and Lee, you'll make an excellent big brother."
Her words made him smile not for the content but for how much she believed in them. "Have I told you yet today how lucky I am to have you in my life?"
"Probably but I never get tired of hearing it."
"Aloha Au Ia 'Oe, kapu."
"I love you too, Edward." She gave his lips a soft a kiss and then snuggled under her covers more. "Breakfast tomorrow?"
"Scrambled eggs and bacon?"
"Winner."
"Then yes, I'll be here for breakfast tomorrow." He kissed her forehead and then grabbed the brand new unopened book that had been hiding in the top drawer of his nightstand for weeks. He cracked the spine on Pregnancy for Dummies and turned to the first page. He might not be able to plan for this kind of life event but he sure as hell wasn't going to go into it blind. And if something he read should allow him to help Esme out and show her how serious he was taking his role as big brother, then that would be a great bonus. If not, knowledge was never a wasted endeavor.
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
A/N: Yeah for Carlisle and Esme! We are so excited for them. Edward is sure to be a great big brother, alternating between overprotective and a bad influence. LOL It's going to be fun to see if Edward and Esme can keep from cracking and spilling the great news.