Happy Halloween, lovelies! I hope you enjoy this chapter…it was a fun one to write.

Beta'd by Brie and kitchmill. Love them!

Enjoy!

Chapter Nine

Confession #9: I'll admit I was clueless as to the number of things we needed for our child until coffee girl and Emmett set me straight.

Amidst all the excitement of the Oscar nods, Bella and I still needed to prepare to bring our little one home...and we needed to decide on a name.

The beginning of February brought with it a theme for the bean's room: an African safari. The white walls had been repainted a light sand color, and a lifelike mural of elephants, lions, and giraffes had been added to one of the walls in the room closest to our own.

The bedding we chose was a striped zebra fabric, but it wasn't black and white, it was tan and white. The furniture came from Bellini and was a gift from our parents. The kicker was that the color of wood we chose was called coffee; it was proof again we would always have coffee to bring us together. Bella picked the rocker and ottoman because she would be using them most while breastfeeding, which were a soft cream-colored chenille fabric that felt wonderful against your skin.

The room was coming together nicely, and gifts were rolling in from other companies who wanted to use us as free advertising. They knew we wouldn't be able to avoid the paparazzi forever and that consumers always wanted the things celebrities had.

Gender-neutral clothes, diaper bags, strollers, car seats—you name it, someone had sent it. We weren't going to need to buy anything for our child's first few months. Sometimes being a celebrity really did have its perks.

"Oh my God…" Bella held up a long, white, scarf looking thing she'd pulled out of an orange box. "Do you know what this is?" I shook my head as she scoffed. "It's a baby scarf. From Hermés. We live in L.A. When would bean need something like this?"

She tossed the offending item aside and began to pace, rubbing bean as she did. "Eddie, promise me we will not allow this little guy to be spoiled. That wearing clothes from Target or Gap is not a bad thing. Heck, I still have things from both those stores in our closet."

She wasn't finished with her rant, so I didn't bother trying to reply. "Babies puke and poop and make messes. Even if these things are free, our child will wear normal clothes that won't make me cry when I have to throw them out because they're too stained to keep using."

Because of Em and Rose's twins, I knew she was correct. Blowouts happened...and I was not talking about what women—other than my wife—get done to their hair at the salon. No, I was talking about baby shit coming out of every opening of a diaper. It was like rancid cottage cheese. Just gross.

"I agree, but remember, these are free gifts. They didn't cost us anything."

When she looked at me with tears in her eyes, I knew I would agree to anything that would make her feel better. "I know that, but I can't, in good conscience, take our little guy out in something that cost the same amount as a semester's worth of books at college. I'm still a girl from the valley who knows the value of a dollar, so the most expensive items of clothing our little one will ever wear in public will come from Carter's. Their stuff is great quality...it's what I wore as a baby, and it sure as heck was good enough for me."

I couldn't fault her logic. "Whatever you want. We can send back anything you don't want. I also bet there's a place that takes donated baby items for new mothers who can't afford to buy the things their children need."

She nodded her head and smiled at that idea. That was one crisis averted, but I knew there would be more—some that were my own to experience as well.

~o~o~o~

Since we had money and could afford to buy things for our little bean, Bella didn't want to have a traditional baby shower with big baby gifts. She opted for a get together that consisted of her friends and family only bringing one item that they felt every mom shouldn't live without, and I thought that was an excellent idea.

I didn't know exactly what usually happened at a baby shower, but I was pleasantly surprised when all the men in our family showed up and kidnapped me for my own 'daddy shower.'

"Where are you taking me? I promised Bella I'd be home when she got back."

"Don't get your knickers in a knot," Emmett chided, which caused me to snort.

"Knickers? Are you British now, bro?"

"No. Rose has to speak with a British accent in her next movie. She's been walking around the house practicing, and I like the way they say some things across the pond."

I sometimes wondered why Emmett didn't take up acting too, but then I remembered he had the attention span of poodle. He quickly reminded me of that fact with the next words that came out of his mouth.

"Ooh, look. In-n-Out. Anybody else want a Double-Double?" Em asked as he pulled into their drive-thru. He didn't truly care if we were hungry. He ordered his hourly fix of food.

With our stomachs well on their way to being satisfied, Emmett continued driving back to his house where my daddy shower was apparently being held.

Shortly after we walked in, the doorbell rang and I went and let our guest in. I was shocked to see it was a woman carrying four baby dolls. She handed each man a doll and proceeded to introduce herself.

"My name is Gina, and I am here to teach you Parenting 101." I didn't know what I was expecting, but this was not how I anticipated my daddy shower going.

Gina showed us the proper way to change a diaper. She taught us how to burp a baby and the proper way to bathe a newborn. Included in her lessons was baby massage techniques, as well as CPR for children. Needless to say, by the end of the class I was actually pretty grateful that Emmett had the forethought to put this class together for me.

Sure, I had changed the twins' diapers once or twice a few years ago with Bella's help, but a refresher course was definitely appreciated. I felt more secure in my future fatherhood status knowing I would be able to perform these simple tasks to take care of my child.

By the time Gina left, we were ready to relax. The guys felt it was time to give me little tips into fatherhood.

"You know, Edward, you were actually the easiest baby we had, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be prepared for the long, sleepless nights that can and will most likely occur." My father was always as supportive as he could be when he wasn't working, and I knew I would heed every bit of advice he had for me. "Bella will need you for many things, and the most important thing to remember is that even though she will bear the brunt of the feeding times, you should still support her and do what you can to make that time easier on her."

"For sure," Emmett added. "Even something as simple as getting her a glass of milk or a bottle of water so she stays hydrated while she feeds the baby will make her love you more. It's those little things that show you care and are being a supportive partner that meant the most to Rose, not to mention changing all the dirty diapers at two in the morning when she could barely keep her eyes open."

Who knew my child-like bear of a brother would be such an insightful person when it came to fatherhood? I sure didn't.

"I know working long and sometimes odd hours may be hard and make you doubt yourself as a father, and you might miss a few of those special 'firsts,' but as long as you make the most out of every moment you are there, your child will know you love him." Charlie may not have been a man of many words, but when he did speak those words were filled with truth, honesty, and hope.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate all the advice you've given me. Anything else you want to share?"

Emmett jumped up and reached for a duffle bag he'd hid behind the couch. "I put this together for you based on my experience of things that can happen while traveling with kids...even on short trips, like to the grocery store and stuff."

He handed the bag to me. I unzipped it and began pulling the items out. "T-shirts?"

"Yep," Em replied and then went into why. "You wouldn't believe the number of times Rose or myself would be out and about and one of the babies would up-chuck on us. With the paps always on the lookout to catch us looking like crap, I learned to keep a few shirts around for those 'just in case' moments."

"Good looking out." Next I pulled out a big box of wipes and raised an eyebrow for more information.

"I know that one seems odd since you never leave home without a diaper bag, but trust me when I say that those aren't always just for the baby. Sometimes you might need them to wipe down other things like your hands or the car seat. My motto is, 'always be prepared.'"

It seemed like Emmett really knew what he was talking about. At least, that was what I thought until I pulled out the box of breast pads.

"Hey, both you and Bella will thank me if she happens to forget to put extras in the diaper bag. If she's anything like Rose, the baby will be set for any and all accidents, but she'll forget about herself. Besides, the 'thank you' you'll get for being prepared is worth it." Em wiggled his eyebrows while I just shook my head.

We continued, and he explained each item he'd included in the bag and the list of items he told me to add to the bag because he wasn't sure of Bella's sizes. I was beginning to believe I needed to really give Emmett more credit than I ever did before. The man might even be a genius when it came to husband and fatherhood preparations, especially when he mentioned he still kept a bag in the car today, only now it held thing toddlers might need instead.

Emmett clapped his hands together before continuing. "Now, have you given much thought to a push present yet?"

Shit! What else did the baby books forget to mention?

~o~o~o~

By the time Charlie dropped me off and picked up Renee to head back to Chatsworth, I was exhausted. I did feel a lot more prepared for our little bean, though.

"How was your party, love?" I settled down next to Bella on the couch and began caressing her bump.

"It was good. We got a couple of gifts, but for the most part everyone brought items for us to donate to a few shelters in the city. The little guy was really active and put on a show for everyone."

As if he knew we were talking about him, bean began his nightly movement. Bella's belly rolled like waves lapping at the ocean shore: one undulation after another occurred under my hand, and I couldn't wait to watch him move in person. It was a spectacular feeling, and I loved that coffee girl was more than okay with me just sitting there so I could experience the movements with her.

"We really need to decide on a name," I stated.

Bella sighed. "I know. I just haven't the faintest clue where to start. I just know that we will not be following the Hollywood trend with a weird name. Fruits and colors are absolutely off the table."

I chuckled at her seriousness, but agreed. "How about I download a baby name book and we can start with that? Make a list of our favorites and go from there. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect."

With that final thought, I jumped up and went in search of my iPad.

Sweet little chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it. Leave me your thoughts if you want. Until next time.

xx Dee