I've been all kinds of fail lately, sorry about that. Thanks for reading!

Blind Ambition – Chapter Sixteen

"Are you cold?" Edward asked, and pulled his arm tighter around Leah.

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You've got goosebumps," he assessed while his fingers trailed up her arm and his lips met her shoulder.

"Not because I'm cold," she murmured and he chuckled against her skin.

"Okay."

Leah smiled and caught her hand in his, settling back against him and resting her feet on the coffee table in front of them. They were on his couch after dinner: wine was poured, music was playing, and every once in a while Edward would sing softly to a song on the easy listening channel, because he felt like being cheesy. Leah would laugh, though she secretly enjoyed hearing him.

"What do your parents do?" she asked quietly while she examined the lines of his palm.

"My mom's an interior designer. Dad's a surgeon."

"Are they still together?"

Edward nodded. "Married thirty-five years last month."

"Hm," was all she responded with.

"What?"

"It's just nice to hear, I guess."

"They're disgustingly in love," he said with another kiss to her skin, causing her to giggle quietly. "Always have been. It was embarrassing to see as a child."

"I loved seeing my parents together," Leah whispered. "Mom always looked at Dad like he was the only person in the world."

Edward smiled and leaned his cheek against her hair, listening to her talk about her parents a little more. Her voice changed when she talked about her family, and it was one of the things that he'd begun to like most about her. It was soft and reverent, as opposed to her excited rush of words when she talked about work. At that moment, she was practically whispering, and he almost had to strain to hear her.

"Part of me wishes that Dad would find someone else, though. Is that horrible?"

He shrugged, "You just want him to be happy."

"I don't want him to lose himself in taking care of Seth. And Seth doesn't want that either."

"I feel his pain," Edward admitted quietly. "Seth's, I mean. It's a fine line between needing help and being needy."

"You're so strong, though," Leah muttered as she pressed her palm against his. Edward laughed and shook his head slowly, letting his nose trail the back of her neck as he breathed her in.

"I've had a lot of help, you included."

Leah smiled to herself and let her head fall back against his shoulder. She wanted to say that Edward walking into her office was the best thing that had happened to her in a long time…but they'd only been on two dates so far, so she kept it in.

"What are Seth's plans, now that he's graduated?" Edward changed the subject after a moment and Leah sighed in relief.

She turned in his arms and tucked her knees up under her, stretching out her arm to brush his hair off his forehead. It was so easy to touch him that sometimes she feared it was too much. He simply smiled and leaned into her hand like he craved the contact.

"Seth wants to be a teacher. He's going to take a year off and then try community college, first. He knows that he's going to have a lot to figure out, but he's pretty determined."

"Do you think he can do it?"

"I think he can do anything," she answered.

"He's-," Edward started, but was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Leah laughed as "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" started playing from the dining. Edward shook his head as he went to answer it. "Hey, Jas."

She laughed again because of course it was Jasper. Her laughter was short-lived when she saw the frown on Edward's face.

"Really? She was just here?"

He paused.

"Okay, okay. Don't panic. Just do what you've got to do. I'll call everyone," another pause. "Yeah, we'll meet you at Northwest."

Edward hung up and rubbed his finger over the screen of his phone, sighing.

"Something wrong?"

"Alice's water broke," he explained. "It's…it's a little early."

"Oh! That's so exciting!" she replied, and he could tell that she was being genuine. Something about the excitement and smile in her voice. "Do we need to go…"

"If you don't mind driving me. You can just drop me off."

Leah frowned, but didn't argue. A few minutes later Edward was running his hands over the leather of her car seats, smiling.

"What kind of car is this?"

She blushed, "A BMW M3."

"Fancy," he laughed. "You sound embarrassed."

"I grew up driving a yellow Honda that was older than I was, it's a bit of a culture shock for me," Leah explained.

"It isn't red, is it?" Edward wrinkled his nose, and then it was her turn to laugh.

"Black."

"Okay." He grinned and held his hand out to her. She slipped her fingers into her and he lifted it to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to her palm. "Thank you for driving me. Do you know where Northwest is?"

Leah took a deep, shuddering breath, not quite sure why the contact took her breath away.

"Yeah, I know where to go."

While Leah drove, Edward called his family, and by the time they'd reached the hospital she'd made up her mind to stay with him. There wasn't anything she was trying to prove to his family, she simply wanted to spend the time with him.

"You're sure about this? They can be a lot of…" He gestured helplessly with his hands, trying to sum up his family.

"I've met most of them, Edward," she laughed. "They're not bad."

He made a noise in the back of his throat but didn't argue with her. Instead, he took her hand and pulled her to his side as they walked up to the hospital. They found Emmett and Rosalie already in the cramped waiting room. Emmett's face lit up at the sight of Leah, so she glared at him, just because.

"Hey, Doc. Nice to see you," he greeted her, as he punched his brother in the shoulder as if congratulating him.

"Ow," Edward muttered, frowning at his brother. "A little warning, man."

"Sorry, I forget sometimes," Emmett answered sheepishly.

"That I'm blind? You dick." Edward shook his head, but he was smiling. Leah squeezed his hand.

"How about I go get us some coffee? I have a feeling we might be here for a while," she said before letting go.

"Yeah, Alice does things in her own time," Rosalie teased as she joined them and turned to Leah. "I'll go with you."

"Behave," Emmett stage-whispered to his wife. Edward could almost see her roll her eyes and wave her hand dismissively at them.

"My husband thinks I'm going to try to scare you away, but I'm not that bitchy, okay?" Rosalie smirked and Leah gave her a little smile.

"Well, I don't scare that easily," she replied with a shrug.

Rosalie's smirk became a full-blown grin and she gave Leah an appreciative nod.

"Good. Edward needs someone who doesn't scare easily."

She said it simply, nonchalantly, but Leah knew she meant it more. Edward didn't need someone who ran away, she knew that. But he also didn't need someone to take care of him.

He needed a partner.

And, even though the thought did frighten her a little bit, Leah wanted to be that partner.

It was strange for her to think that she was already to that stage of their relationship. But the months that they had spent together working on his recovery seemed to ignite something in her that she'd never felt before. They were good together, and it was that simple. She already knew his strengths and weaknesses, and hers were not something she tried to hide.

Their relationship wasn't something that felt forced, it felt natural to her: like breathing.

Leah didn't even worry that she was a rebound.

"Wow, you are seriously thinking over there," Rosalie acknowledged once they reached the cafeteria.

Leah chuckled quietly.

"I just agree with you, that's all."

"Well, you should."

They bought four cups of coffee and set out back to the waiting room making small talk. Leah asked about Chloe, whom she had yet to meet, and Rosalie explained that she was at a neighbor's house, angry that she was missing the birth of her new cousin.

"She's three going on thirteen, I think," she explained as they entered the waiting room. Leah laughed, but stopped seeing Edward's mother and a handsome blond man who had to be Edward's father. His parents looked so young that it was hard to believe they had three adult children.

"Oh! Dr. Clearwater!" Edward's mother cried, and quickly went to greet her. "How lovely to see you here!"

Edward's face resembled a deer in the headlights, and Leah quickly realized that he hadn't mentioned to his mother that he was now dating his physical therapist.

"Well…" she started, but Edward was quickly at her side with his arm slipping around her waist.

"She's with me, Mom. We were having dinner when Jasper called," he explained. Comprehension dawned on his mother's face and then she smiled warmly.

"Lovely," she said softly, and Leah felt herself relax. "Carlisle's been dying to meet the person who got Edward back on his feet."

"I did a lot of the work too, you know," Edward grumbled, and Leah elbowed him lightly. He chuckled and kissed her head, which only made Esme smile wider.

A moment later she was being introduced to Carlisle and realizing just where Edward's sense of ease came from…and obviously his looks. She couldn't help but notice how his eyes crinkled in the corner just like Edward's and how perfectly shaped his lips were.

"Esme's told me about you. Well, what she knows of course. I trust Edward is being a gentleman," Carlisle said with a wink.

"Really, Dad?"

Carlisle opened his mouth to respond, but Jasper burst into the room looking harried but bright-eyed. They went to him and listened as he talked about Alice's progress and Leah smiled. She had had plenty of contact with Jasper and his quietness, but now she could practically see the excitement rolling off his body.

He disappeared after that, and Leah pulled Edward to a loveseat in the corner of the room, then brought him a cup of coffee.

"This isn't how I planned our night, you know." Edward gave her a small smile, but Leah shrugged.

"It's okay."

"You don't mind that we're stuck in a hospital right now?"

"Nope…I'm with you."

Edward smiled and leaned forward, touching her cheek softly before dipping his head and kissing her…in front of his entire family.

"I guess every situation has a plus side, huh?"

Leah laughed and nodded before kissing him again.

"I think so."

xXx

It was almost two o'clock in the morning when Jasper came back into the waiting room, looking tired but grinning broadly.

"I have a son," he announced as the family surrounded him. Leah hung back, watching him hug everyone and spit out stats about the baby, until he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Congrats," she whispered. He just grinned and kissed her cheek, before turning to Edward.

"Alice would like to see you first," he said quietly, "you can come, too," he told Leah.

They nodded and followed Jasper out of the waiting room. Edward squeezed her hand and smiled, looking elated at meeting his nephew. The three of them were hardly in the room before a tiny bundle was placed in Edward's arms. Leah stood back and watched as he cradled the baby in one hand and Jasper took his other hand and helped Edward run his fingers over the baby's tiny features.

"We wanted you to see him first," Alice said softly.

Edward nodded, too overcome to say anything else, and Leah felt her throat tighten.

"His name is Ethan, after Jasper's dad," she continued. "Ethan Anthony."

Edward grinned hearing that, his eyes shifting from his sister's direction to his best friend's.

"That's a good name," he said thickly.

"Will you be his godfather?" Jasper asked, and Edward nodded silently.

Leah stepped closer after that, settling herself at Edward's side and peering over his shoulder.

"He's perfect," she said, smiling at Alice.

"Yeah, we think so," she teased with a tired grin.

It was a few more minutes before they left the room, said goodbye to Edward's family, and found themselves in the hospital elevator.

Edward was quiet, basking in the glow of his new nephew, and Leah couldn't seem to get image of him holding the baby out of her mind.

"They named him after you," she said softly.

He turned to her and smiled. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I read your file, Edward Anthony Cullen."

"Stalker," he muttered in a sing-song voice.

Leah laughed and wrapped her arms around his, resting her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head, just as the elevator doors opened. She pulled him out by the hand, feeling awake despite the time wondering what they could do at two in the morning. Then she remembered that they had jobs, responsibilities, and-

"Cooper!" she cried, suddenly. "I forgot about him!"

Edward stopped walking, pulling her hand back. "What's that? You have another boyfriend?"

"No, he's my dog! And did you just call yourself my boyfriend?"

"I think so? You have a dog?" he asked.

"Yes. Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"What is this, fourth grade, check yes or no?" Edward's eyebrow lifted in amusement. "Do you want me to be?"

She grinned and threw her arms around his neck, kissing his lips quick and hard.

"Is that a yes?"

"Only if you stop asking questions," she said against his mouth.

Edward laughed and took her face in his hands.

"I can do that."