-Chapter Six: Mother Knows Best-

Today was the twenty-fourth of August. Bella's first day of her last year in school. She had meticulously packed her books and belongs last night, and made her lunch too. I smiled at her sleeping form as I walked out of the bathroom, fresh from the shower. I quickly dressed, wanting to have enough time to make breakfast for Bella before she had to leave for school. It was one of the small things I could do for her, seeing as I only had to go into work for a few hours to fill out paperwork and whatnot.

The smell of bacon and eggs brought my sleepy wife into the kitchen, sniffing appreciatively.

"You made me breakfast?" she asked, wrapping her arms around me and giving me a swift peck on the lips.

"It's the first day of school, Bella, I had to do something. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold." I placed steaming plate in front of her and watched her hungrily scarf down the eggs.

I chuckled to myself as I poured her a glass of orange juice. "Slow down, love, the eggs aren't going anywhere."

Bella stopped eating and looked at me sheepishly. "Sorry- they're really good and –whew- hot. I can't believe you cooked bacon- is there any more?"

I wordlessly handed over two more slices of the foul smelling pork product. Bella loved bacon- I thought it was nasty and stunk up the apartment, especially in the summertime. Thus, it was only prepared on rare occasions- like today.

"Stop looking at me like that, Edward," Bella giggled, "let me enjoy my bacon. It's really good- you cooked it just the way I like it- nice and crispy. You wanna bite?" she asked teasingly, waving a slice in my face.

I gently grabbed her wrist, but instead of snatching the food from her hand, I turned and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"I'm good, love, thanks for offering," I said, motioning to my own plate- sans the bacon.

We finished our breakfasts cheerily, sitting at our little kitchen table, knees knocking together as we fed each other eggs. I sent Bella to the shower and worked on cleaning up the kitchen so she wouldn't have to- she vehemently protested to me spoiling her in any way, shape or form.

Too bad for her- she was going to get spoiled by me (in any way that I could) for the rest of her life.

--

"I don't want you to go, Bella," I said, wrapping my arms around her.

She pressed her face into my chest. "I don't want to go either- do I have to?"

I pulled back to look at her face. "Yes, love, you need to go. I'll be back for you at four- and then we'll have dinner and you can tell me how it went, okay?"

She groaned, and pressed her lips against mine one last time, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Please?" she begged, giving me her best pouty face. I suppressed a laugh.

"Go on, love, I'll see you soon."

She sighed, and untangled herself from me. I handed her her bag, and we both stared sadly at the pristine brick building in front of us.

I gently put my hand on the small of her back, and encouraged her to go inside.

"I love you, Mrs. Cullen. Good luck," I called, as she walked halfheartedly towards the entrance.

She turned just as she reached the double doors, and blew me a kiss, which I pretended to catch and put in my pocket.

--

I parked the Volvo in front of the fire station, and quickly walked inside, the afternoon heat beating down on my back.

"Hey, Heidi," I called, waving to blonde receptionist as I made my way through the lobby.

"Hi Edward, Gina Cope's got some papers for you to sign- she's in her office." She said amicably, before going back to her paperwork.

"Thanks, Heidi!"

I knocked on Gina's battered office door, before letting myself inside.

Gina Cope was modest woman- probably in her late sixties, with a smile a mile wide- and hips to match. Despite her sweet physical appearance- she was all kittens and tweed and maroon- she was one tough lady. You didn't mess with Gina, even if she messed with you first. Her husband had died a while back, at the end of the 80's, I think she had once said. He had been a colonel in the army, and Gina had pictures of him everywhere. They didn't have any children, which was probably a good thing. Gina was the type of person to go searching for her glasses- when they were perched on top of her head.

I always tried to imagine what would happen if she misplaced her kid like that.

"Hey gorgeous," I said, stepping through the door and plopping down in one of the overstuffed armchairs that faced her desk.

Gina looked up from her papers, and smiled. "Hello handsome, how's that pretty wife of yours?"

I feigned hurt. "What about how I'm doing, Gin?"

She laughed, smoothing a few stray gray hairs that had wandered from her tight bun. "Now that I've met your better half, honey, I don't need to know how you've been doing. I know you're doing alright. Just look at you," she clucked, "Now your shirts are always pressed, you have a decent lunch packed, and you smile a lot more often. That's proof enough for me. Now, Bella?"

I sighed. "She started school today."

Gina frowned. "Well, that's no fun- and certainly not what I wanted to hear."

"Gin, she's fine. What did you want to hear?"

She smiled mischievously. "When can I start making baby blankets?"

I groaned. How many times was I going to have this conversation?

"We're not having a baby until Bella finishes college. So your knitting needles are going to have to wait until next year."

She pouted. "I'm an old lady, Edward. I can't wait that long. I may be gone before then!"

I chuckled. "Gina, sixty years young, remember? You're not going anywhere anytime soon. You want a baby, go bother Bella, not me."

She huffed, and placed a sheaf of papers in front of me. "Fine, love. You tell that beautiful girl to come see me sometime, okay? Just sign these papers and you're on your way."

I barely glanced at the forms before adding my signature scrawl at the bottom.

"What are all these papers, anyways?" I asked, trying to make sense of the tiny legal jargon.

Gina sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask, but you deserve to be informed. They're changing the disability insurance. If you're out with a broken leg or an illness for more than six weeks, the insurance won't cover it. After the six weeks, you'll have to pay for the rest of the medical bills and expenses."

"What?" I exclaimed. "That is ridiculous! If I was injured, it would be the station's fault. They should cover everything, not me!"

"I know, sonny. But times are hard, and with everything going on, the fire station really can't afford to pay their employees who aren't even able to work. The Chief did say, however, that as soon as this economy picks back up, he'll go back to full compensation and all that. I'm so sorry, Edward. I'll be looking out for you- you're a smart and quick lad, you'll be fine."

"I sure hope so," I muttered, as I neatly stacked the forms and handed them back to her. "Thanks, Gina. I'll tell Bella you said hi."

She smiled, and patted my hand. "Have a good afternoon, handsome."

I turned towards the door, but not before saying,

"You too, gorgeous."

--

I was standing outside of the brick building at five to four, leaning against the Volvo and wondering how Bella had fared. I hoped she enjoyed her classes, and made new friends. I really wanted her to have the best year, because simple pleasures were all we could afford.

My beautiful wife flew into my arms seven minutes later, peppering my face with kisses and showering me with petty information.

"Whoa, slow down love," I said as I took her backpack from her and started towards the car, "I can only take in so much. So, you like your classes?"

"Mhm, for the most part," she said easily as she slid into the passenger seat and waited for me to start the car. "I mean, nothing's going to be easy- you should see all of my syllabi- but as long as I keep up with the workload and get tutoring if I need it, I should be fine."

"That's good to hear," I said sincerely, "Did you make any new friends?"

She laughed. "Edward, it's only the first day of classes. But, if you must know, I may be setting up a study group with these two other girls I met- they're actually from the Midwest- Carmen and Maggie. Is that okay?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

"Of course, honey. It's your apartment too- if you want to have people over, just go ahead. I'll make myself scarce."

She chuckled, and leaned over the console, twining her hand with mine and kissing my cheek. "Thank you, honey. But you don't have to make yourself 'scarce'. I love having you near me."

--

"Bella? Can you come check the laundry, please?" I called, putting the laundry detergent away. I heard her groan loudly as she moved off the couch, closing her laptop, and coming to my rescue.

"Edward, darks with darks, light colored clothes with light ones. Bleach only goes on whites. I'll handle the delicates. How many times do we have to go over this?"

I rubbed a hand over my face. "Bella, I just want to make sure I've done it right. Do you know how bad it was when I had to go to the station wearing a pink shirt? I just want to save myself a little humiliation."

"And I have a paper due two days from now, Edward. I don't have time to save your ego, sorry," she snapped as she rifled through the laundry I was about to wash.

Her words stung and totally rubbed me the wrong way. I plucked a shirt out of her hands and turned my back to her as I started the washing machine.

"Edward," she huffed, "there's a stain on that shirt, be sure to treat it-"

"I know, Bella, stain remover, just go work on your paper." I said harshly as I threw my clothing in the dryer. How hard would it be for her to take two seconds to check that I was doing everything properly.

Bella looked as if she was about to scream at me or throw something.

"Edward, did something happen at work today?" she asked, the timbre of her voice changing.

"No, Bella, I'm fine. Go work on your schoolwork." I continued throwing things in the washing machine, not looking at her.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child, Edward. What happened?" She glared at me with her arms crossed over her chest and I realized that I should probably just give in to her demand.

"Brewer changed some of the paperwork policies because of the economy," I said quietly. "If I get hurt on the job, they won't pay for it. They can't afford to."

Bella's face softened. "I'm so sorry, Edward." She took two steps forward and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my chest. I set the laundry detergent down and returned her embrace, finding comfort in her embrace and soothing perfume of strawberries and freesias.

"We'll be alright, Bella. I promise I'll be extra careful. Nothing's going to happen to me."

--

I kept my promise to my wife. I made sure my uniform and air tanks were properly adjusted before I went into a burning building, and I always had backup. I never even thought about pulling heroic stunts or trying to save someone by myself. I wasn't going to be stupid.

Being married had changed things for me. I was more cautious, and aware of the sanctity of life, including my own.

As the end of summer blended into fall, my workload increased, and so did Bella's. The dishes in the sink began to pile up, and copious amounts of caffeinated coffee and ibuprofen tablets were becoming an important part of our lives.

The only drama we had (besides some petty fights that were resolved in the usual way) was that one day, after classes, Bella discovered that her faithful, rusted red truck, had died in the parking lot. She shed a lot of tears as the damn thing was towed to the junkyard, and I internally was rejoicing, delighted to realize that my wife was finally going to get a better car.

The joyfulness quickly receded when I remembered that I was the one who had to pay for the car.

We went to a local, "pre-owned" car dealership the next day, carefully calculating interest rates and insurance costs. After much struggle and debate, we settled on a small SUV that was richly painted ivory. The previous owner truly was an old lady who only used the vehicle twice a week. Despite the fact that the make and model was a few years old, the car was in excellent condition and we could afford purchasing it.

After the car incident, life returned to its normal chaos.

Bella had her study group over once a week, and even through she told me that I was allowed to stay, I felt awkward being around so many giggling girls who were not shy about how they looked at me. I often went to the park for a run, or to library to be alone with my thoughts during that time. Bella was doing exceptionally well in her classes- all excellent or above average grades. She still continued her work at the bakery, although she opted for a part time position that only had her working two to three days a week.

That was not necessarily her decision. I was determined to have my wife not overexert herself in any way. I did not want Bella to get over worked or over tired. She was doing well in everything she did, but I wanted her to have some enjoyment in her life too.

Whenever I wasn't working, we would take walks together, or stay at home and watch movies. There wasn't any extra money for trips to the museums or amusement parks, and certainly not concerts, so we found little ways to amuse ourselves, as cheaply as possible.

As long as I was with my wife, I was happy.

Before I knew it, it was the beginning of October, and the weather had turned quite cold, for Seattle. The dark sky threatened snow as I drove home. I had stopped at a cafe on the way, and picked up some soup for Bella, who had a severe case of the flu. It had been going around at the station, and I had luckily gotten a flu shot to avoid it. Bella, however, had neglected to get one, because she was afraid of needles. She had been sick the entire week, and I was getting concerned about her. She had been out of school for five days, and I knew she would have a lot of homework when she recovered. One of her friends from school had dropped off her assignments yesterday morning, and as far as I knew, the thick stack of papers had stayed on the kitchen table, unopened.

I pulled in a parking spot in front of the apartment complex, and grabbed the container of soup from the backseat. As soon as I stepped out of the car, the icy wind slammed into my body, making me wish I had put on a jacket. I could not understand why it was so cold. I quickly made my way up the flight of stairs, resisting the urge to blow on my hands.

I unlocked the apartment, and was struck by how chilly it was inside. It was dark too, and there was no sign of life inside. I flicked on the lights, and set the soup in the kitchen, not seeing my wife anywhere.

"Bella?" I called, running a hand through my hair.

I heard faint stirring from the bedroom and walked quickly to the doorway. Bella was buried in the blankets on the bed, and even though she was asleep, faint coughs erupted from her chest, making me anxious. I sat on the edge of the bed, and brushed her hair away from her clammy forehead. I was getting concerned. Bella hadn't been this sick before. I resolved to take her to the doctor if the illness she had didn't clear up by the weekend. She had to get better so she could go to school.

I gently woke her up, stifling a laugh when she sat up, her gorgeous hair looking like a haystack. She rubbed her eyes, and blinked at me.

"Edward?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep. She swayed, and I took care to place her head back on one of the pillows. She suddenly blanched, and I instinctively leaned back. She scrambled out of bed, avoiding the twisted sheets, and pushed me aside when I tried to help her up. She made a beeline for the bathroom, and threw up noisily into the toilet, alternating between crying and retching. I sighed, and grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand, before going to check on my wife. She was lying down, sprawled across the white tiles, tears running down her face.

"I hate this," she choked out, "I hate being sick."

I sat down next to her, and handed her the glass of water. She leaned against my side, and thirstily drank, so fast I thought she would get hiccups. She set the glass on the floor, and cuddled into my side, her breathing shaky and her face pale. I wiped away her tears, and scooped her up into my arms, ignoring her protests. She had me really scared.

"Bella, when was the last time you ate?" I questioned as I placed her back in bed.

"I don't know," she moaned, eyes already closed.

I felt my frustration growing by the second. I stalked out of the bedroom, and found the soup that I had purchased earlier. I quickly heated a small portion in the microwave, and grabbed a spoon from a nearby drawer. I went back to the bedroom, a few napkins stuffed under my arm, and set the soup on the nightstand. I helped Bella sit up, and she frowned when she saw the food I had brought.

"No, Edward," she murmured weakly, shaking her head at me, "It's just going to come back up."

"I'm sorry, love, but you've got to eat something. You're only going to get worse. You need nourishment, Bella. I'm not going to take no for an answer."

She sat stiffly in the bed, arms folded across her chest, lips firmly pressed together. She was acting like child, and refusing to eat could land her in the hospital.

We had just bought Bella's car. We wouldn't be able to pay for a hospital stay if Bella had to go. She had to try every alternative before I took her to the hospital. If we had the money, she probably would be in there now. I was deathly afraid of her illness.

My biological mother, Elizabeth Masen, had died from influenza.

I spoke slowly, trying not to let the hysteria I was feeling leak through my voice.

"Bella, if you don't eat, I'm going to have to take you to the hospital. And Bella, we cannot afford that. So please, love, try. For me."

Her face considerably softened, and she held out her hand for the spoon.

I handed her the bowl and spoon, and she took her first sip. I could see she was trying not to gag.

She got in four spoonfuls before throwing up. I sighed heavily, and got Bella's thickest coat out of the closet.

She came out of the bathroom, shaking, and I handed her her coat.

"Come on, love, let's go."

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "No, Edward, you said we couldn't afford it. I'll try to eat something else, I promise!" She pleaded, and my heart nearly broke when she started crying.

"Call your Dad, he'll know what to do, different medicine, anything," She wailed frantically, crying so hard she was almost choking on her tears.

"Shh, love, calm down," I whispered soothingly. I was a little freaked out as to how emotional she was. I guessed that being sick would do that to a person.

I wrapped my arm around her, and led her into the living room. We sat on the couch, her head in my lap, while I dialed my father's phone number on my cell. It rang and rang, and I got his voice mail. I left him a brief message, practically begging for him to call me back as soon as he could. I then dialed my mother's cell phone number, and to my utter relief, she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Edward?"

"Mom!"

"Honey, what's wrong? You sound frantic."

"Is Dad there?" I asked, praying he was.

"I'm so sorry, honey, he just left for his conference in Colorado. Is everything alright, Edward?"

"It's Bella, Mom. She's really sick, and I don't know what to do. She can't keep anything down, she's got a cough and a fever. She inconsolable. I'm scared, Mom. She's never been so sick before."

Her loving tone turned serious. "Can she talk? Put her on the phone, if you can."

"Love?" I asked, pulling the phone from my ear and holding it in front of me, "Esme wants to talk to you."

Bella sniffled and sat up, still resting against me. She put the phone to her ear, and I made a point not to eavesdrop while she talked with my mother. I picked up a magazine, and tried to think positively. My mother was a doctor's wife. She could know how to help Bella without involving a hospital visit.

Bella talked quietly with my mother for several minutes, trying to control her hiccups from her hard crying. Whatever Esme had said must have encouraged my wife, because Bella hung up the phone with a smile on her face.

"What did my mom say?"

"She's going to stop by. She had a lunch appointment with someone not too far from here, so she'll be here soon. In the meantime, I'm going to take a bath." She said, almost cheerily, as she got up and kissed my cheek.

I was a little disconcerted by the sudden mood swing. Shaking my head in wonder at my mother's ability to calm even the most hysterical people, I set to work straightening up the apartment, trying to make it look presentable for my mother. I brewed some tea, and rummaged around in the pantry for the cranberry bread Bella had brought home from the bakery earlier in the week.

Bella was just stepping out of the tub when the doorbell rang.

"Edward, honey, so good to see you," my mother cooed, stepping into the apartment and enveloping me in a hug.

"Hi Mom," I said, "Bella just got out of the bath. What did you say to her? I couldn't calm her down at all, and then she speaks to you for fifteen seconds and she's all happy again."

Esme laughed and squeezed my arm. "It's a mom thing, honey. Now where's Bella? She and I need to have a chat."

"In here," Bella's sweet voice called from the bedroom.

Esme winked and let go of me. "Sweet boy, did you make me tea? I'll have a drop of cream and a teaspoon of sugar if you don't mind."

"Sure, Mom," I said, wincing at the pet name.

And with that, she walked down the hall, her expensive heels clicking on the hardwood floor.

I let the tea finish brewing and waited for it to cool a minute before adding the cream and sugar. I carefully made my way to the bedroom, not wanting to spill the tea and make a mess in haste.

I knocked gently on my bedroom door, becoming shocked when I discovered it was locked.

I heard a slight rustling before my mother unlatched the door and stepped into the hallway with me. She held her hands out for the teacup and took a sip.

"Mom," I half groaned, "now what are you doing with my wife?"

The secrecy was killing me.

Esme made a face. "Edward, I said a drop of cream, not the whole bottle, dear. Let me fix this mess. You go in and talk to Bella for a moment, okay sweetie?"

I sighed in relief, and went quickly into the bedroom. Bella was once again buried underneath a mountain of blankets, but it seemed like the bath she had taken did her some good. Her hair was shiny, and her skin softly glowed in the light that filtered through the windows.

"Bella," I breathed, walking over to her and dropping a kiss on her forehead, "how are you, love? What did my mother say?"

I looked deeply into her eyes, astonished to see a tear running down her face.

Bella gently squeezed my hands before speaking.

"She thinks I'm pregnant, Edward."

A baby? Maybe? Didn't they agree on waiting? Show of hands: who liked Esme?

I am so sorry that this chapter took so long. Did anybody miss hearing from our newlyweds?

Oh- PB&J is now over at Twilighted(dot)net. I'd love some support for that story! And TGND was recently updated on here- please leave me some love!

Thanks for reading and reviewing! You all make me so happy! I love my readers!!