Chapter 37 - Big D

BELLA

I was doing my best not to get my hopes up. It was hard, but come on; I would be in the same state as Edward. Maybe, just maybe, I would see him somewhere. Maybe I would be able to just feel where he was and find him. I hated myself for cutting him off. I had done it just before his family's big move, too, so everyone had new numbers and addresses. I had deleted the email contacts and any other online presence, so yeah, I had basically sent myself up shit creek without a paddle, and now here I was, ready to pop, and only Demetri to hold my hand. I couldn't help but cry.

"Hey, girl, what is it this time?" Demetri asks me. "Your shoes are still tied."

The poor guy deserved a medal, because he spent the first twenty minutes of the train ride calming me down, after I had realized my shoe was untied.

I shook my head at him. I hadn't told him Edward was the father or that I wanted to try and find him while I was in New York. I knew he was going there for business. Truth was I didn't really know what D did for a living, and I had a feeling I didn't really want to know. He kept us well fed and safe, and though that might have seemed like a copout, the job market was slim pickings for a pregnant high school graduate.

The train pulled into the first stop we were getting off at. D wanted me to meet his mom for some insane reason. Apparently, I needed to charm her coleslaw recipe out of her. I had never been a fan of coleslaw, but whatever.

"Yo!" D yelled at someone, and a big guy who looked a lot like him came jogging over with a big smile. I noticed several people were looking, and it turned out they were all here to meet D as well.

"Demetri, what have you been up to? I didn't quite believe it when momma said you were coming."

"Hey, like I could pass up a chance to see my family."

"Right, right," the guy said and gave him a man hug. His eyes landed on me, and he looked me up and down. "D, tell me you didn't bring that with you," he said pointing at me.

I had been moody all day and burst into tears. D punched the guy I suspected was his brother.

"Oh, shit, sorry, I didn't mean to make your girl cry."

D had his arm around me, trying to calm me down. "Damn it, Damien, I just got her settled down, asshole."

"Shit," Damien muttered. "Look, I didn't mean, I mean, I just…fuck," he said scratching the back of his neck.

"Just shut the fuck up and get the car."

"He, he called me…that..." I sobbed.

"He wasn't talking about you, just your belly, baby, I swear. He's just freaking out. I'm sure he thinks I knocked you up."

I sniffled. "But you d-didn't," I stuttered.

He smiled. "I know, Damien's an idiot, don't mind him, okay."

Damien opened his car door for me, and I heard him whisper, "Her water ain't gonna break on my leather or anything is it?"

I heard the smack of D hitting Damien. He slid in the back seat next to me and put his arm around me. I sniffled, trying to hold back another mood swing. Damien kept looking at me in the rearview mirror, and when D noticed, he smacked the back of his head and told him to keep his eyes on the road.

When I looked out the window, I saw several cars turning into a driveway and a big woman standing out on her porch. She was smiling widely, as D waved out his window to her. She came hopping down the porch and hugged him tightly, nearly yanking him out of the car. "Oh, my baby!" she squealed. "Look at you!" she said holding him out, smiling so widely, and then D turned back and helped me out of the car, because let's face it, I wasn't getting out of the thing without help.

"D?" his momma said, and then she looked down at my huge belly. A fire lit in her eyes I had never seen the likes of, as she started beating the crap out of him. "What did I tell you, boy? I can't believe you'd pull something like this, knocking up some poor girl!"

"Wait, Momma, please!" he begged, and I got brave enough to grab D's arm and pulled him behind me. The woman stopped for just a moment, and I took that opportunity to talk.

"It's not his," I said quickly, "We're just roommates, friends, actually, and he's helping me out. It's not his, he didn't knock anyone up."

I felt D peeking over my shoulder, still hiding behind me.

"Is she just saying that to protect you?"

"No, Momma, she isn't, she was like this when I met her," he said pointing to my stomach.

She took a deep breath and then smiled at me. "Well then, welcome to our home. D, show her up to the guestroom. You're sleeping on the couch," she said pointing to him and then turned and walked into the house.

"Well, that went well," D said, and I turned and looked at him like he was nuts.

"Are you insane?"

He shrugged. "I should've called first."

I just shook my head at him, as he helped me up the steps.

He settled me on the couch, and his momma brought me some lemonade. "So, sugar, how far along are you."

"Nearly eight months," I said with a sigh. "D had some work in New York, and he didn't want me to be alone this close to the end."

"Where's your momma, child?" she asked softly.

D grabbed my hand, squeezing it. Over the course of several mood swings, he had learned that I had lost my mother. "She's with Jesus, Momma."

"Oh, child." She jumped up and hugged me tightly. "You just tell me what you need, and I'll make sure you get it."

I couldn't help it. I burst into tears again. Damn mood swings, but I missed my momma. His mother hugged me for a while, and I finally pulled myself back together as I sniffled. "I'm okay. D has been taking really good care of me."

She patted D's cheek. "He's such a good boy."

"Hey, Momma, I gave Bella your fried chicken recipe, and she's gotten really good at making it. Not as good as you, of course, but definitely worth eating."

"Oh, yes, your chicken is so good the baby just craves it," I added.

"I was hoping you might give us your coleslaw recipe. The baby needs veggies and all, too," D asked.

"Of course, we need to keep the girl healthy."

D then went on to introduce his brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and neighbors that were all there to see him. I could tell his relatives from his neighbors, because they all had names that started with D. In fact, several D names were suggested for the baby. I just let them know that I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, and D surprised me by going off on a rant how he was sure I was having a girl, because I was carrying her in my hips and ate so much chicken. I had no idea why that made it a girl, but his family all seemed to agree. They decided my girl should be named Daniquah after the great grandma who perfected the fried chicken recipe. I told them I would consider it.

What, that chicken was good!

EDWARD

Things were not going as planned. Jasper's police contacts pretty much called us nuts and refused their help, leaving us with no backup and telling us to go screw ourselves. Yeah, Jasper said he rephrased that. Apparently, having a couple of inexperienced outsiders saying we could take down the crime lords running their town was a bit insulting. I should have seen that one coming.

Jasper kept saying he wanted to back out, that we weren't ready for this kind of operation, and we needed more than a couple of classes in criminal justice before we tried to pull this kind of shit off. He was afraid if this went badly, we could end up dead, or we would end up with a bad reputation, and it would affect our chances of becoming prosecuting attorneys later on.

I said we should just do it. I just wanted to get it done and get home to Bella. Our grand plans to become crusaders for justice and save the world through the legal system no longer held any intrigue for me. I just wanted to settle down with my girl and lead a normal life now. Jasper wasn't happy about the plan and even tried to get Alice to talk me out of it, but in the end, there was no turning back.

We found a vacant warehouse in someone else's territory. We didn't have a bunch of cars, but I decided to borrow several of Carlisle's and a few other people's cars who were friends. Demetri pulled some strings and had a friend "store" a bunch of parts in our warehouse, so we looked like a chop shop. D would be coming in and would be driving in a couple of "stolen" cars during our meeting.

Alice was worried that something would go wrong, but I knew we would be fine. Jasper just had to set up the bugs. Once we could get proof they were dirty, then the cops could pick them up. Really, all we were doing was standing around talking. We were then going to back out of their "territory" peacefully and be on our way.

At least that was the plan.