Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is the property of Stephenie Meyer. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks for all the love and without further ado, here's a return to the snark and mouthing off. I cannot take full credit for Emmett's words, I work in a hardware store…things get overheard…and they wind up in my fiction. Eventually I'll be writing an original story to put up here, but until that day comes…it gives my boys the right amount of venom!

BPOV

After our dinner with Esme, life seemed to even out for the most part. Edward had started sleeping over on weekends the past two weeks so we could test the waters of getting more serious, even if neither one of us had brought it up. I had scheduled my 8 week ultrasound for Monday morning, because Edward's first class wasn't until 11. Sitting next to him on the couch the night before the appointment, he looked over at me with a look I knew too well, this was a look that often got me in trouble.

"So, I was thinking about giving up my dorm at the end of the semester. That way I could be here for you and the baby."

I stared at him for a long moment before I found what I hoped was a way to say what I was thinking without hurting him. "Edward, I don't think that's the best idea. I know you're quasi moved in on weekends, but I think you should keep the dorm until the end of the year."

"You don't want me here?" He looked just as hurt as he sounded and I felt like a bitch for upsetting him, but I was thinking of him.

"Edward, if I didn't want you here, you wouldn't be. I just know myself well enough to know I'm going to be an estrogen Molotov cocktail by that point and I want you to have a place to crash or study when I go on my pregnant lady warpath. We'll give it a try over the summer and if we can live together without someone bleeding, then you can move in with me permanently before your senior year. I just don't want you making long term plans too early. You understand, right?"

"Jake really fucked you up, didn't he?" Edward was looking at my stomach as he spoke.

"Yes. I didn't realize it at the time, but I loved him more than he loved me. His love had all these conditions on it, I was supposed to put up with his drinking and partying and forgetting my birthday…and his cheating. He expected me to forgive him when I found out. But I couldn't, which is why I broke up with him."

Edward took my hand and squeezed it, drawing my eyes to his. "Bella, I would never hurt you like that."

I smiled at him and reached up to catch the tear that was about to fall. "I know."

"But you're serious about letting me live with you in the fall?" His face looked like he was a kid, trying to figure out if he had just won a prize at a carnival.

"If you haven't run off screaming by then, then yes."

Edward pulled me closer and rested his cheek on my hair. "Never." And for the first time, I believed it.

EPOV

Bella was in the bathroom getting ready for her appointment while I sat on the couch. I was fidgeting like a madman and I couldn't help but think about the coming weeks. Bella had said she was going to tell her parents about the baby over the holidays, but she hadn't asked me to come with her. Part of me felt like I should, even if I was scared shitless of the fact that her father lived nearby and had a gun.

Bella moaned and then I heard the telltale sound of her getting sick. Running into the bathroom just as she started throwing up, I held her hair back and waited for her to finish before helping her to the sink so she could brush her teeth again. Grabbing her purse off the floor, she took it and then we walked out to my car. Bella and I were going to the doctor's together and then from there we were going to grab some food before Alice and Rosalie took her shopping.

We pulled into the office parking garage and Bella got out quickly, walking over to the elevator with me following behind her. Catching up to her, I took her hand and she looked over a little worried. "Everything's going to be fine."

Sighing, we stepped into the elevator as the doors closed behind us.

Thirty-three minutes later, Bella was on the exam table and I was being kicked out of the room so Dr. Carmen could do the preliminary exam. Pacing outside the door like a husband in one of those old movies my parents' love, the door opened and I was invited in for the ultrasound.

The goo was squirted on her belly and she squirmed as the doctor began moving the wand over her stomach and continued to ask her questions. "So Bella, you said the nausea is still pretty bad?"

"Yeah, there are days when I just look at food and I want to hurl."

Dr. Carmen laughed and tried to comfort her. "Well, hopefully it will lessen after the first trimester."

That's when we heard it. At first it sounded like the weird swooshing noise that the machine made, but then it changed and the lightning fast fluttering got louder as the doctor moved the wand a little more and clicked a few buttons. The screen froze for a minute as it printed out a string of the tiny black and white images and then the screen came to life again and the slight movement of our baby's heart was the only thing to show us there was something there. I was mesmerized by the fact that I was looking at my child. The thought was so surreal but I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

"Edward?" Bella's hand found my shoulder and I took it in mine, kissing the back of it.

"I love you, Bella." I looked up to see the tears in her eyes and brushed my hand over her forehead before I went to stand by her head.

"Okay, like I said, everything looks great and with any luck the morning sickness will subside soon. I'll see you in a month, but until then just keep doing what you've been doing."

Dr. Carmen handed Bella the ultrasounds and walked out so Bella could change into her clothes. She dressed quickly and then we headed to this little café she liked to eat at with the girls. Bella gave me three copies of the ultrasound after we ordered our breakfast and we sat there talking about the baby until the food came.

"Do you want to know what we're having?" I asked as she took a bite of her omelet.

"Yes. That way we know about clothes and bedding and everything. I don't want to be figuring that out on negative sleep. Do you have a preference?"

I shook my head. "No, but you seem to leaning towards a boy a little." I'd noticed that she has always referred to the baby as 'he' and I didn't really know why.

"It's not that I want a boy, just that I always picture him that way. When you left, I would dream of a little boy that was the spitting image of his father, that way I'd always have a piece of you with me."

"Bella, I told you, I'm not going anywhere." I took her hand and she sighed.

"I didn't know that back then. I thought you were already gone. But the mental image is stuck there and I can't see him any other way now."

"Whatever we're having, I hope they get your eyes. It'd be a shame to lose them."

Bella scoffed and then the girls ran up to the table and settled in. "Hey shitlins, how was the doctor's appointment?"

"Shitlins? You are spending way too much fucking time with Emmett." I laughed and then Bella jumped in.

"Or way too much time fucking Emmett? Better watch out or I'll be giving you my maternity clothes when I finish with them."

The table erupted into hysterics as Alice began to bounce. "Ready to go shopping?"

"Be gentle with her Alice, I'd like her to be in one piece when I call her tonight." The girls laughed as I stood up and kissed Bella while running my hand over her still flat stomach. "You girls be good, I love you."

"Love you too, baby."

It was Friday, and I was waiting for Bella to call while I sat around with the boys in the parlor. She was meeting with her bosses at the magazine for dinner about some pitch and I didn't know what was going on, but she seemed nervous, so I wished her well when I talked to her this afternoon on my break.

"So, how's it living with Bella?" Emmett looked over at me from his place under the Dominos box.

"I don't really live with her, I just spend the weekends."

"Dude, your drawers are in her drawers, your toothbrush is in her bathroom and your cock's been in her twat, you live together." I threw a pillow at him and Jasper got up to get another beer. "Who put the sand in his vagina?"

I laughed and then was surprised by what I heard. "Alice won't take his calls." We both snapped our heads around to see Bella walking in from the door that led to the outdoor walkway.

"Baby, what are you doing here?"

Bella sat next to me after swiping a slice of Emmett's pizza. "I thought we could spend some time with the guys before going back to my place. It's unfair that Rose has a monopoly on the fun."

"Sweet, Bella can finally fill us in."

"Hey Bella, how're you feeling?" Jasper re-emerged, beer in hand.

"I'm good, except that Edward still smells like fish. Seriously, babe, shower with lemon, it gets rid of the stench."

Emmett bellowed a laugh as he jumped to sit on Bella's other side. "I love this one…you're lucky you knocked her up, or I might have stolen her before Rose ever had the chance to sucker punch you!"

Bella shook her head and turned to Jasper. "Jasper, as far as Alice…she's as stubborn as a mule. You're going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next seven or eight months, just give her some time and she'll come around. Plus she hates waiting, so if you give up and she has to make the move, it'll give you the upper hand and with that fucking pixie any advantage has to be hoarded."

Jasper's face seemed to relax as he perked back up. "Thanks for that."

"No problem."

As happy as I was that Bella was bonding with the boys, I wanted to know what happened at dinner. "How was your meeting?"

Bella's face lit up. "Oh, it went so well! They loved all my ideas and can't wait for my 'Prego in the city' feature."

"You told them you were pregnant?" We weren't telling a lot of people yet, so besides our inner circle and my parents, no one knew. So the fact that she told her job before her parents surprised me.

"I had to Edward, I review bars and shit, I had to tell them I would be on the wagon indefinitely. But Nina, being the brilliant bitch that she is, told me to bring Alice and Rose with me and make it a fun little ladies night, that way I could write about the rest and get the info on the drinks or other things I couldn't partake in myself, from them. And I started talking about the features I could do over the next several months and they were all for it. Shit they had pitched or that we had discussed, but I wasn't sure about, but now I might as well write about cooking classes and workout hotspots since I'll be dealing with the restrictions that my doctor has put me on. And they're letting me have my final feature before I go on leave be 'The Pregnant woman's guide to the city' so I can write for the women who have kids or are pregnant and have no idea where to go for things."

Bella was so excited and I couldn't help but be just as stoked for her. "Bella, that's awesome! I'm so glad they went for it."

"Yeah, they were a little surprised I wanted to use the pregnancy for a feature, but they loved it. And I'm already thinking about all the swag it'll get me. Which isn't the point, but I mentioned that I write for The Pulse and the manager at the maternity shop we went to Monday gave me a discount and told me that if I ever needed anything to come there first and they'd take care of me. And they were great before they knew there was free publicity in it."

"I'm so proud of you, love."

Emmett busted in with whatever thought had just popped into his head. "So Rose said you got some funny shirts?"

"That was pretty much all we bought. Maternity tees, jeans and belly bands. I'm not going to be showing for a while but they know I'm cranky to shop with when I'm normal, so at 5 months pregnant, when I need the clothes I'll be liable to commit murder. They were funny, though. A bunch were about not touching my belly, and some with funny pictures of the baby in the womb. Oh, and one that Rose picked out that says, 'I'm not Irish, but I got a little in me!' I fucking died when she added it to the pile."

"Just don't wear that to Christmas with your dad, okay." I said after the laughter died down.

"Well, you'll be there to make sure I don't do anything to get you shot, right?" Bella looked at me expectantly and I smiled.

"You hadn't mentioned anything, I didn't know if you wanted me there."

"Of course I want you there. I'm still spending Christmas Eve with you and your family, so we can head out from there; it's only a three hour drive to Forks."

I breathed a huge sigh of relief that she wanted me to go with her and pulled her closer to me. "Sounds like a plan."

We sat around for another hour or so before driving to her apartment to enjoy the rest of our evening.