EPOV
The day after James' attack, we sat down with Tim and his superior Kevin to discuss exactly what had happened. Kevin admitted that the department had never checked into the backgrounds of the members of the surveillance team. Had they, they would have found out that Derek was a friend of James' cousin Brian – who was another associate at Charlie's house last night.
In fact, James knew about the polices' involvement in the case since we first made contact with Tim. James began to set the plan to attack us in motion as soon as the surveillance team was put together.
James did drive to the hotel last night, but as soon as he pulled and had the valet take his car, he snuck around the back to where another car was waiting for him and made his way out to Forks.
Derek had been the real man behind most of the information that James had received, not Leah – she was just a pawn James used to get to us.
I sat in Charlie's living room with Bella, Charlie and Sue as Rose and Emmett played with the kids upstairs. I was so relieved to have this whole ordeal behind me, but I still had this awful, churning feeling in my stomach that had managed to James get his hands on my daughter.
Surprisingly, Aina didn't seemed to be scarred for life by the experience; but I still felt like the most horrible father on earth for letting that monster get within even a foot of one of my children.
I kept replaying that terrifying image of James holding a knife to my precious angel's throat, and every time I did, it made me sick to my stomach all over again.
When the discussion finally wrapped up, I found Keely had snuck down from the nursery and was peeking out from behind the couch. I stood and walked to pick her up, and as soon as I did, she started crying. Bella rushed to my side and began to rub her back soothingly.
"Babygirl, what's wrong? Nothing's going to hurt you, we promise," Bella whispered.
Keely pulled her head away from my shoulder and wiped the tears from her cheek, "Mommy, I was so scared."
"We know you were, baby," Bella said as tears began to fill her eyes, "But, it's all over now. That bad man will never bother us again."
"When he came in and grabbed me, I bit him so hard I made him bleed – that's when he took Aina. I told him to leave my sister alone, but he trapped me in the room and I couldn't get to her."
Keely buried her face back in my shirt and began sobbing again. Bella threw her arms around the both of us and joined Keely in her bawling – I had a hard time holding in the tears myself.
Charlie stood up and embraced us all until Bella and Keely stopped crying. Then he turned to Sue, "I think we need some more of that cake, what do you think, Sue?"
"Coming right up," she smiled as she walked into the kitchen.
Bella and I walked Keely back upstairs, where Aina, Alys and Owen were sitting quietly watching a movie with their aunt and uncle. Seeing Emmett's face – a little too engrossed in a kid's movie – was almost enough to lift my spirits again. What really put me back in a better mood, however, was when my little boy turned to me and jumped out of his uncle's lap with an ecstatic, "DADDY!!"
I passed Keely to her mom as Owen threw himself into my awaiting arms. Aina joined her twin as Bella sat on a beanbag chair so both of the girls could sit in their mommy's lap. Alys, feeling a tad left out, reached for me and I took her and sat in front of Bella and the twins so the whole family could be close.
Bella had the most contented expression on her face as she looked into all of our faces. When her eyes finally settled on mine, I mouth 'I love you,' and she did the same. Then, a sudden, sly smile crossed her lips.
"You know…my period was supposed to come about six days ago," she said.
My eyes lit up, as did Rose and Emmett's.
"What does that mean, Mommy?" Keely asked.
"Well," Bella began. "It could mean that soon you'll have another little brother or sister."
"Really?" Aina asked.
Bella nodded and kissed both of the girls on the top of the head. I turned to Owen and Alys, "Did you hear that, Owen and Alys? You're getting a little brother."
"Bruh-der!!" Owen cried as he clapped his hands; Alys laughed and clapped her hands as well – imitating her older brother.
"You sure it's going to be a boy, Ed?" Emmett quipped. "History has shown that you two tend to lean more towards the female persuasion."
"Oh, I'm sure," I replied, smiling at my beautiful wife.
Charlie opened the door and stuck his head in, "Anybody in here want some pizza?"
"Yeah!!" The kids and Emmett yelled in unison.
Rosalie rolled her eyes and shook her head as she stood up, pulling Emmett with her.
"Come on, Em," she said. "Let's get you back into the world of grown-ups."
BPOV
Monday
We took our time returning from Forks. It pained me to take the kids away from my dad and Sue, but Carlisle and Esme also deserved some time with the children. We went straight to their house when we got back to Seattle – Edward canceled all of his appointments for the week so we could spend every waking moment as a family.
Well, almost every waking moment.
Once we pulled into Carlisle and Esme's driveway, we were bombarded by Hurricane Alice, who insisted we recounted the details of the past few days – though, we left out any part that was still too difficult to remember. We sent the kids to play with their cousin Aiden as Edward told the tale.
Alice kept eyeing me suspiciously the whole time – I think she knew about the possible pregnancy. Though, I wasn't one-hundred percent sure – I hadn't had time to take a pregnancy test.
As soon as we had a moment, Alice pulled me and Esme into the kitchen to "finish making dinner." Really, Alice just needed a quiet place to begin her interrogation.
"So, are we going to be hearing the pitter-patter of little Cullen feet again soon?" Alice asked.
Esme turned in shock and took me by my shoulders, "You're pregnant?"
"I'm not sure," I replied as I felt a blush crawl its way from my neck to my forehead. "I haven't taken a test yet."
"Well, then let's go get you one," Alice demanded, grabbing my hand. "We need some milk anyway, right Mom?"
"Absolutely," Esme replied excitedly, "Oh, Bella, another baby! It's so exciting!"
Alice shook her head, "She's been like this since she helped me repaint the nursery."
"Oh, I'm so horrible," I said as I put a hand to Alice's burgeoning belly. "How have you been?"
"Hey, you've had a reason to be distracted," Alice countered. "And, I've been spectacular – thank you."
We got in the car and made our way to the store. Alice, with her usual, over-compensating, face-paced stride, pulled me at mach 10 over to the aisle that held pregnancy tests. I pulled a Clear Blue Easy from the selection and placed it in the basket I was holding.
"Have you been getting sick yet?" Alice asked.
"A little," I replied. "It gets easier the more kids you have, I think – my morning sickness with Alys was nothing compared to what I had with Aina and Keely."
"Yeah, it was a bit easier to handle with this one than with Aiden, too," Alice agreed. "Any weird cravings yet? You want me to get you some pickles or something?"
"Actually, my cravings with my pregnancies have steered more towards the spicy side," I said. "Oh, you know what sounds good right now? Some of those frozen, chicken chimichangas!"
"Yeah," Alice replied, "With some sour cream and green chili on top."
"That sounds so delicious," I said as we hurried down the freezer section.
I grabbed the bag of chimichangas as Alice found a box of frozen, pork green chili. We went to the dairy case to grab some sour cream and got two packages of cookie dough on the way.
We got home and set the bags of food out on the counter; Esme laughed and shook her head as she stirred something on the stove.
"You know I'm making soup for dinner, right Alice?" She asked.
"Well, now we have options," Alice replied. "And the pregnant – and possible pregnant – ladies wanted chimichangas."
"And this lady is going to see if that is a reality, not just a possibility," I said as I grabbed the test and walked to the bathroom.
Edward intercepted me on my way, "Where did you and Alice run off to?"
"The store," I said, showing him the test.
He smiled and kissed me gently, "Well, let's not drag this out any longer. Let's see if we're going to need to buy a bigger house."
I grinned and walked in to take the test. I set it on the counter when I had finished and waited. Edward knocked on the door, "Angel, can I come in now?"
I opened the door and he wrapped his arms around me. We stood and stared at the stick until the timer on my watch beeped. I lifted the stick off the counter and looked at the little screen near the end – my heart dropped.
"Not pregnant? This can't be right," I said, shaking the stick as if it would change the results.
"These things aren't one-hundred percent accurate, love," Edward said. "We'll make an appointment with Dr. Johnson tomorrow."
I nodded, "You're right, and maybe it's just too early for the test to tell."
"Possibly," he agreed.
Alice wandered up and gauged our expressions to mean we weren't exactly happy, "No! No way! You're not pregnant? You have to be, I'm always right about these things!"
"We're not sure, Al," Edward said. "We're going to make an appointment with an OB-Gyn tomorrow to double check."
Alice still seemed skeptical, but nodded and turned to walk back in the kitchen. I wrapped my arms around Edward's neck and leaned into him.
"What if I'm really not pregnant, Edward? What if I'm not able to get pregnant again?" I asked.
He pulled me as close as possible, "You're only 27, love! You're still not to the age where we should be worrying about fertility."
"But I'm getting close," I said. "It's going to be harder and harder for me to get pregnant over the next few years."
Suddenly, Esme walked around the corner and stood before us, "I guess that means you're just going to have to keep trying."
I laughed softly, "It should be easier now that we're not worrying about certain other events."
"In fact," Esme continued. "You should take some time off this evening. At, say, the house off Puget Sound?"
Edward began to agree with his mother, but I shook my head.
"No, I'm not leaving my children right now," I said.
"Bella," Edward said gently, "I think we can take one night away. Don't worry, we'll leave after they're asleep and come back early, before they wake up."
I looked up into his eyes and melted when I saw the expression within – love, lust and complete, unswerving passion. I couldn't say no to that; I nodded and turned to Esme.
"I guess one night away won't hurt."
"Wonderful," Esme said.
We sat down to dinner together – Carlisle took Owen in his lap and fed him there while Esme sat next to Alys' high chair and tried to get her to eat pieces of chimichangas. My youngest is such a fussy eater, I was surprised when she swallowed a bite of the fried burrito and actually seemed pleased with it.
After dinner, we all sat in the living room and watched some TV before the children had to go to bed. I took a sleeping Alys upstairs and put her in one of the cribs, kissing her forehead and running my fingers over her sweet, chubby face gently to say goodnight.
Once the children were tucked into bed, Edward whisked me down to the car and we drove to his parents other home. It was our home, before we had children, and it felt strange yet wonderful to come back to it. The house was very much the same, though Esme had replaced the old couch with a new one in a beautiful, plum color.
Though, I wasn't really interested in the furniture – I was more interested in finding out if the upstairs bathroom was the same as it had been. Much to my delight, it was; there was still the hidden room with the bathtub the size of a small pool. I pulled Edward through the door and went to turn the faucet on.
When I turned around, Edward had already removed all his clothes. I stood with my back against the wall and stared at my husband – just as gorgeous and breathtaking as the day we first met.
I thought back to that day – how everything seemed to move in slow motion as he came into view, how I wished I'd be able to see that amazing crooked smile every day of my life and how I was already secretly wishing he'd make my dreams come true with just one, simple kiss.
I slowly removed my clothes, piece by piece, as I walked the length of the small room towards him. I was down to only my bra and panties as we finally embraced and kissed passionately. He lifted me so I could wrap my legs around his waist. His lips traveled down my neck, but he stopped suddenly and began to walk us both across the room.
He turned the faucet off as I saw the water was close to overflowing.
"We seem to have always had a bad habit of flooding this room, haven't we?" He asked.
"I'm afraid we always get distracted when we take a bath in here," I replied.
He set me down and bent to pull the panties slowly down my legs so I could step out of them. As he did that, I took off my bra and threw it to the side. Edward slowly kissed his way back up my body; he lingered at my neck and nibbled gently just below my ear.
"Edward," I whispered, "Make love to me."
He chuckled as he nibbled at my earlobe, "Yes love."
We made our way into the water and he sat on the little bench against the far side of the tub. I straddled his lap and took all of him inside of me. I rolled my hips over his and leaned back slightly – pushing my chest out towards him. He took my right breast into his mouth and suckled on my nipple as he grasped my hips and moved them faster.
After a while, I began to lose my breath; but I could also feel my climax building, so I leaned forward and captured Edward's lips in my own. I felt him release inside of me and I shudder at the pure pleasure of that feeling.
We dried off and took our activities for the bedroom for the rest of the night. If I still wasn't pregnant, after all we had done tonight, at least we couldn't say we didn't try.
EPOV
I managed to get Bella in to see Dr. Johnson the next afternoon. Mom and Dad came with us so we could bring all the kids – Bella was still feeling a bit guilty for leaving them last night, no matter how many times we all told her it was nothing to feel guilty about.
Bella took the doctor's test and we all sat around the room awaiting the results. The twins both sat on their mother's lap again, hugging her close as she hummed to them gently.
"Mommy, when can we go?" Keely asked suddenly, "I don't like being at the doctor's."
"It shouldn't be long," Bella replied just as the doctor walked back in.
Dr. Johnson seemed surprised at the increase of visitors in the examination room as she looked up from her chart.
"Well…are these all your children, Dr. Cullen?" She asked me.
"Yes," I replied. "These are our twins, Aina and Keely, they're almost 6; Owen here is almost 3, and Alys is 20-months."
"Wow, this quite the brood you've got going on here," Dr. Johnson said as she sat down next to the examination chair.
I've honestly never thought much of Dr. Johnson; she doesn't seem like the most professional doctor in Seattle, and she always seemed like one of those female doctors with a chip on her shoulder – like she became a doctor to prove she could, not because she wanted to treat people.
Not that I have anything against doctors of any gender, but the ones who are in it for the money or the status make me upset.
But she did come highly recommended by most people who saw her, and she is considered the best OB-Gyn in Seattle, so here we are in her office. Though, I didn't like the haughty way she looked at my wife – so condescending and snooty, as though she thought a woman with four kids was nothing but a boring, housewife. I wanted to stand up and proclaim that not only is my Bella the world's greatest mother, but she is also a brilliant and accomplished photographer. But, I held my tongue.
"Well," Dr. Johnson began, "This test said the same as the home test you took – but this doesn't mean you aren't pregnant. You say you're six days late, so I think you should maybe wait and see if your cycle still hasn't come, try another test. And, if it does come, you may think of trying this next month."
She handed Bella a box that read 'Fertility Monitor.'
"This will let you know when the best days to conceive are," the doctor concluded.
"Thank you, Dr. Johnson," Bella said.
"My pleasure," Dr. Johnson replied. "And give me a call if you have any other questions."
Please don't kill me; I just wanted to create a little suspense. Don't worry; I won't let anything too sad happen to our beautiful, little family.