Edward

The baby was a complete surprise but now if it was even possible we were happier than before. After telling my sisters, Bella was swept away in shopping trips however luckily this time she had a protector in the form of my mother who reined Alice and Rosalie in when they tried to make Bella do too much.

My father had suggested that Bella spend the days when I was at work with my mother so that she wouldn't be alone and both of us agreed that it would be a fantastic idea particularly as Bella got bigger and simple tasks became harder.

Bella was six months pregnant when I had to break some new to her:

'Bella, I'm going to have to go away for a week or two next month. I have to do practical work in another hospital to finish my medicine degree. A placement has come up.'

Bella took it like she always did, not wanting me to go but being happy that I could finally finish my degree and become a proper doctor.

'I'm fine with it Edward, where are you going?'

'Helena, it's not too far away on a plane so if you have any problems, I'll be back in a few hours. Anyway while I'm away I've arranged for you to stay with my parents and sisters. I'm sure you won't be bored.'

'Mmm...' She replied as her lips engaged with mine and then there was no way we could concentrate on our conversation.

Bella

I woke up and smiled as I remembered last night's events before recalling the conversation that had happened prior to my distraction. I groaned and nearly screamed when Alice danced into our bedroom followed by a slightly more sedate Rosalie. Edward sat up immediately and grilled the two girls:

'Why are you here Alice?'

'To see you.' She replied, Alice never gave a simple answer and frustrated Edward turned to Rosalie.

'We've come to kidnap Bella for today. We're going on a secret trip.' I groaned for the second time that day and tried to get more information out of them.

'So, what are we doing?' As I asked I thought silently: please no shopping. I didn't think my legs would stand up to the strain. My bump was finally making an appearance although people still tended to disbelieve my claims of being six months pregnant.

'You're not allowed to know Bella, that's the whole point of a secret.'

'Is Esme coming?' I asked. If she came at least one person would be on my side.

'Yep, she helped to organise this. Now come on and put on some clothes Bella. Wear something nice and quite smart. You have half an hour until Esme's coming. We'll wait downstairs.'

I pecked Edward on the cheek and hopped out of bed and into the bathroom where I showered and chose my clothes. Once I was presentable I dragged Edwards down the stairs behind me and entered the kitchen to se Rosalie and Alice deep in conversation which they stopped the minute we appeared in the doorway.

Quickly they attacked me berating me for my hair and lack of makeup before Esme appeared silently and said:

'Give her a rest girls. She's had half an hour to get ready and being pregnant doesn't make you any faster.'

'Yes mom' they replied meekly. They could only be stopped by their parents.

After bundling me into Rosalie's flashy red car we were off, heading for the largest town nearby. As we drove through small settlements on the way I realised how close Christmas was, just two weeks away. Perhaps that was something to do with the impromptu trip. However to my surprise we turned off before reaching the town onto a small road which wound through bare fields until we reached a spot which was seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Alice looked at me and gently called 'Surprise!' I was still bewildered and replied:

'Alice, I can't actually see anything but trees and fields. Could you show me some more please?'

Suddenly everyone jumped out of the car and began to take things out all hidden away in bags. Esme came round to my door and reassured me that I would understand soon before pulling me up from my seat.

We walked slowly into the belt of trees with the weak winter sun just shining through when we came upon a small clearing with a large pit dug into the centre. Alice and Rosalie left into life gathering branches and tugging fuel from some of their bags as Esme sat beside me watching my bemused face. This was a weird treat.

Once the fire was lit the clearing was no longer a chilling December minus three degrees and we sat around the fire and chatted for a while before they all walked off together telling me to stay where I was.

When they returned they were towing three, blindfolded men and form the colour of their hair I worked out whom each one was. First appeared a man with dark curly hair, Emmett, then blonde hair, Jasper and finally bronze hair, Edward. Following behind was Carlisle, he must have trussed up the boys.

Finally when they were all in a line their blindfolds were removed and after looking a little startled for a few seconds, Emmett whooped: 'This is sooooo cool! '

We stayed in the clearing all day; the other girls had brought everything we could need, including blankets, food and even a ball to play with. Mostly thought I just sat at Edward's feet with my head in his lap and towards the end of the day I began to fall asleep again despite endeavouring to stay awake. Edward quickly noticed and scooped me up into his arms before carrying me back to the car where we waited for the rest of his family to straggle back with all the gear. I felt guilty about making them tidy up but frankly I would probably fall over if I even tried to stand up.