Chapter 40 - Delivering the Goods

EDWARD

As soon as the car pulled out of the warehouse, Bella let out a cry and collapsed. Demetri was closest to her and caught her before she hit the ground. I was at her side instantly, but she was already curled around Demetri and sobbing.

"Bella, are you alright?" Demetri asked worried.

"No," she cried into his neck. She was breathing hard as she sobbed.

"Bella, baby," I started but she snapped.

"Don't you baby me, you asshole!" she shouted and then cringed.

I looked to Demetri and saw the worry in his eyes. This wasn't good.

"You need to calm down, baby girl," Demetri whispered softly, rubbing her belly.

"I almost lost you both," she sobbed into his neck.

"But you didn't, sweetheart, we're fine, we're here safe with you. Just breathe deep, okay? You need to settle down."

"He almost got us all killed!" she cried clutching her stomach.

Demetri looked up at me nervously. "Get the car now."

"What's going on?" I asked, really starting to worry. This looked like more than a mood swing.

"Get the damn car!" Demetri snapped, and I jumped up and ran to my car.

Demetri picked Bella up off the ground, and I was jealous that he was holding her. She was mine; that was my girl, my baby. I didn't like the way she was clinging to him.

"I'm scared," I heard her whisper to him.

"You want me to call my momma?" he asked.

She nodded her head yes, and as soon as they were settled in the backseat, he pulled out his phone.

"What's going on?" Alice asked running over to the car.

"We're going to the hospital to get B checked out," Demetri said giving me a hard look. I didn't think I would ever forgive myself if something happened to Bella because of my stupidity.

"Hey, Momma," Demetri started, "Bella's going into the hospital to get checked out and she's scared. I'm worried she might have preeclampsia. She was in a high stress situation with the daddy of her baby and isn't doing well."

I tried to tune out the rest of the conversation. I wasn't sure what the hell preeclampsia was or how Demetri knew about it, but I hoped Bella and the baby would be okay.

"What hospital will we be at?" Demetri asked me.

"Saint John," I said not really knowing another one in the area. I was just going to the one I had driven past and was sure of where it was.

Demetri was giving his mom the information she needed, and I tried to focus on the road. I looked back at Bella and noticed she was out. I wondered if she was sleeping, but when I looked up at Demetri's face, he looked in pain.

"Pull up into the ER, they've got to help her fast!" he shouted at me, as we pulled into the parking lot. I skidded to a stop, and a nurse came out to tell us to move, but Demetri was out of the car with a limp-looking Bella, and she immediately got to work on her.

"I think it's preeclampsia, she's thirty-seven weeks and two days," he said, and I wished it was me who knew this stuff.

I watched as they put her on a stretcher and ran her down the hall, taking her blood pressure and starting an IV.

Alice came in looking worried. She handed me a purse. "It's Bella's; it might have insurance information or something in it," she said.

The receptionist came up and asked me to fill out the forms for Bella. I wondered if I should call her dad. I didn't know what to tell him yet, though.

I filled out the forms as best I could, but Demetri ended up taking them from me and finishing them off. He dug through her purse and pulled out a little card and set it with the papers. "That's a mini copy of her past checkups," he said.

The nurse smiled. "Thank you, this will be helpful," she said and took it back to where the doctor was working on Bella.

I stood, pacing while waiting for word on what the hell was going on. Demetri looked stressed, pacing right along with me. Finally, another nurse came walking out. "Is there a Momma D here for Bella Swan?"

I was about to ask her what the hell she was talking about, when a big woman came rushing down the hall. "I'm here, how's my baby girl?"

"This way, please, she's asking for you," the nurse said leading the woman back.

I stood stunned. "Who was that?"

"My momma, her and Bella bonded on our stop to visit her," Demetri answered not surprised at all by his mother's sudden appearance.

Demetri's mother came out a few minutes later. "Demetri, Edward, Bella is asking for you."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"They're going to take the baby."

"Take it?" I asked panicked. Was something wrong with it?

"Cool down, man, you're gonna be a daddy."

"What? What does that mean? Are they okay? Is Bella okay?" I asked worried.

Momma D put her arm around me, "You just hang on, Son, Jesus will take care of our girl."

"What does that mean? She's dead?" I screeched.

"No, baby, she's going to be okay. You boys got her here in time." She reached out and patted Demetri's face. "You spotting it helped them know what to look for." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Such a good boy. You know, you should become a doctor, baby," she said to him, as we walked down the hall.

"I like cars, Momma."

"Oh, don't give me that cars excuse. I know you like girls just as much. You'd be a great doctor, baby, and girls love doctors," she said as she opened the door. I wished they would just shut up and tell me what the hell was going on with Bella.

When Bella spotted us, she reached out her hand, and Momma D took it and kissed her forehead. "You're gonna be alright, baby. You're having your little one today. It's so exciting. You just hang on to me, and we'll get through this."

Bella started crying and whimpering that she was scared. The doctor walked in. "Who's the father?"

I raised my hand nervously and looked at Demetri, almost expecting him to raise his, but he didn't.

"Please go with Nurse Janet, she'll help you get dressed, so you can be there for the baby's arrival."

"Okay," I said nervously and was joined shortly by Momma D. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes, honey, have a little faith. She's gonna be just fine, I can feel it in my heart." She patted her large chest, and I noticed the golden cross with Jesus hanging on it. I never would have expected that Demetri came from a religious household, but I guess you never knew.

"This way," Nurse Janet said calling us.

I followed her on shaky legs, not really sure I was going to make it through this.

They had Bella on a table and a curtain of some sort up so she couldn't see her belly. They were drawing dotted lines on her, and I realized what they were doing. They were going to cut her open. I must have looked sick, because Momma D took my hand and had me sit in a chair, as she pushed my head down between my legs.

"Is he alright?" I heard Bella ask.

"Yes, just a little excited, honey. He's fine. You just hold onto my hand and tell me about your baby. Demetri says he's sure you're having a girl."

"I think it's a boy."

"Why a boy?" she asked Bella.

"That was what I was hoping for. I wanted a little boy who looked like his daddy, but I guess it doesn't matter now."

"Why not?"

"I didn't expect to see his daddy again," she said and took a deep breath. "It's getting harder to breathe."

"Don't panic, honey, that's normal, just breathe slowly as I count," Momma D said.

She was counting, in two-three, out two-three. "Just relax, is that better?" Momma D asked after a few rounds of that.

"Yeah, yeah, that's better, thanks."

"That's what I'm here for. So, you wanted a boy?"

"Yes, I didn't plan on ever seeing his dad again. I thought he would've come back for the summer or looked for me, maybe fought with me more about being together, but he just left," she said and was struggling to breathe again.

"Well, he's here now," Momma D said, but I wasn't, I was across the room with my head down, listening to the girl I loved tell me I should have fought for her.

"How was I supposed to fight for you? It was your mom, how could I make you leave her?" I asked.

Momma D put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed, giving me a look that said shut up.

"You should've come back," Bella breathed out, gasping for air again.

"I planned on coming back once I was done with Jasper. I was coming back to stay with you," I told her.

She turned her head and looked at me with her deep soulful eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, really, I would never leave for good," I said taking her hand and kissing her forehead. I would have kissed her lips, but she was still trying to breathe. "I love you, Bella, I always have. I never stopped."

Tears were running down her face. "I love you, too, Edward, always."

The sound of a baby's cry caught our attention. "It's a girl!" the doctor announced. "Would you like to cut the cord, Daddy?" he asked me.

Bella nodded her head at me, telling me to go do it. I kissed her head again and took the snips from the doctor. The cord was nothing like I thought. The sticky, rubbery mess was hard to cut, but it finally gave, and my baby girl was officially here.

I had a daughter!