A/N: Hello my lovely writers! I know it's a very long time coming but here is the (hopefully) highly anticipated chapter 6! There's a lot going on in the chapter with E/B, as well as a little subplot that you shall read all about further down! ;) Hopefully everyone enjoys it and hopefully it is well worth the wait (of which I have no excuse :S Sorry!) Well then, without further ado, here it is! If you like, please review and I shall go start chapter 7 now! :D
Chapter 6: Here We Go Again!
BPOV
"Eddie?" I called to my husband, chewing my lip nervously, a ghastly habit I couldn't quite manage to break, "Are you almost ready to go? I want to get there kind of early."
Today was the fateful day we had been looking forward to for so many weeks. Three of our two week old embryos would be implanted and we were praying one would take. Three babies would be fantastic, though a handful, but even one was all we could ask for. In the weeks leading up to today's appointment, the loneliness in our home had become much more apparent.
The silence of our home, whilst usually peaceful, has started eating away at me slowly. Every night, when I get home from work, I feel like I'm straining my ears to hear anything besides Edward: The pitter patter of little feet running to greet me, a baby's sharp cry raising my attention, or even the loud blast of music from our speakers-a product of my teenage child's latest music obsession.
As that silence eats away at me, I feel as though I'm losing myself to my longings for a child. How anxious I am to take a pregnancy test and see the word "Pregnant" show up on the small screen. I want to experience stomach turning morning sickness that will let me know my son or daughter is nestled safely in my womb. I want to wake up every morning and see my flat, firm stomach grow big and round with my growing baby. I want to feel the flutter women say is one of the most magical experiences of pregnancy-the kicks and movement of my child. I even long for the long arduous, and downright painful, task of labor; to push my child my body after carrying it for nine months and to hold my baby in my arms for the first time, will really be the greatest reward.
"Okay let's go babe," my handsome devil of a husband came into the front hall, looking dashing in dark-washed jeans and a light green polo, his copper hair tousled messily. "Car's running and everything; all we need to do is drive…" he grinned slightly and offered me his strong hand which I took without hesitation.
The drive to the clinic was especially torturous to my sensitive stomach as it coiled with nerves. A thousand and one thoughts tumbled through my brain, and I couldn't get a clear enough line of thought to focus on any specific one. But the utmost theme was really just worry. I worried that none of the embryos would take or that something would just go terribly wrong and leave me unable to ever conceive.
Thankfully though, the trip was over before I could make myself sick with worry. Edward let me crush his hand as he ushered me into the lobby and waiting area, and before I could even take a moment to breathe and compose myself it seemed, I was already being taken back to the prep room. The nurse helped me strip down into one the blue paper gowns as Edward waited just in front of the curtain like a good husband who was trying to protect my modesty.
Getting the IV needle shoved into my hand caused little black spots to dot across my vision; I hated needles of any kind, which is why hormone injections this whole time had been a huge pain, but I believe that's already been mentioned. Once I had grit my teeth through that whole ordeal, I was settled quite comfortably and wheeled right into the OR. The next hour or so is totally gone to me; all I can remember is being under a bright white light, darkness, then waking up to a doctor telling me what a success the procedure had been. I know I gave a weak smile, whispered "fantastic" in reply, and then passed right back out.
When I was dismissed from the hospital with careful instructions to get plenty of rest and to continue my hormone treatments, I snuggled into Edward's side as best as I could for the drive home. Then entire time I went in and out of consciousness; I saw small visions of teeny tiny feet on a sonogram machine.
Days went by and by and would pace the long halls of Edward and I's home. Of course though, ever the rule follower, Edward would shoo me back to bed for rest that couldn't come with the anxiousness that was spread through my body like a bucket of cold water. If my anxiety had been bad before, it was horrendously worse now. I wanted to go take a pregnancy test right now, though of course the time when my body could physically let me know whether I was actually pregnant or not was still weeks away. I couldn't wait that long, I knew I would simply go crazy by the time those weeks passed by. No matter what Edward did, I could not be entertained or distracted. It was practically hell. But of course, in order to someday hold my precious infant in my arms, it was all going to be worth it.
So today, I decided to go through some old cases I'd worked over the last year. I laid my head back against the headboard, as I waited through my laptop's humming to life. My eyes barely closed for a minute before I heard the tell tale startup music, and then they were open once more as I sat ramrod straight. Locating my files was the easy part, but choosing one that would hold my waning interest would be difficult.
Thankfully, after scrolling through an eternity of boring case titles, I came across one near the bottom entitled: Ludwig SurrogacyCase. Of course I was mightily intrigued, especially because I hadn't worked that case; besides, hadn't my doctor told me surrogacy had been an option for Edward and me if push came to shove? I opened the documents up right away and saw something quite fascinating:
State of Arizona v. Dr. and Mrs. Sutherland
Plaintiffs: State of Arizona Chief Prosecutor and Mr. and Mrs. Emmett McCarty
Defendants: Victoria Sutherland and Dr. James Sutherland
The Filings: The defendant, a surrogate mother to the McCarty's, has pleaded not guilty on three counts of negligence, and three accounts of 1st degree intent to endanger, ending in the deaths of the McCarty's three unborn infants in the sixth month of gestation. It shall be stated that Mrs. Sutherland cashed her monetary compensation checks shortly before the incident. In her statement the defendant claims that on the fifth of May, during a scheduled sonogram, the doctor could not locate the heart beats of any of the three fetuses she carried. The doctor ruled the fetuses stillborn and the next day Mrs. Sutherland gave birth to three stillborn infants, two females and one male. A routine blood workup led the hospital staff to discover that a small amount of mifepristone was still running through her veins which then led to the suspicions that the infant's deaths were not just a spontaneous occurrence but a planned treachery. Later when questioned about the pregnancy terminating drug in her system, the defendant claimed to have no idea how the drug entered her system. A further investigation was initiated and turned up inconclusive.
Other notes: The defendant has called up on her husband, a gynecologist and ex Harvard Law student, Dr. James Sutherland as her counsel during the case. It is noted that Dr. Sutherland would have had access to the drug that was found in the defendant's system.
Case Status: Verdict Pending- Dr. and Mrs. Sutherland are currently being investigated on another case of a similar occurrence and are awaiting trial.
OPOV
Bella was taken aback when she finished reading the case. It hit so close to home, and actually made her quite sad. To entrust someone with the safety of your children before they are even born sounded like pretty heavy stuff, and then to have that trust betrayed in the worst way possible? She couldn't even believe that someone would do that, would kill innocent babies all for money. It seemed incredibly selfish especially for someone Bella was sure had plenty enough money and didn't appear to have the need to have to resort to such terrible and heartbreaking crimes.
Over the next two weeks, Bella found herself looking back at the case, and then trying to piece it all together. The evidence to suggest that Victoria Sutherland had intentionally ended her pregnancy with the McCarty triplets was staggering. Yet each investigation had turned up inconclusive. It perplexed and agitated Bella to no end that justice had yet to be served in the name of the late babies and their probably grief-stricken parents. It would become a driving force to get Bella through each day and she swore to herself she'd get to the bottom of it all if it killed her.
Anxiety climbed its way through her body, gnawing away at her and setting her stomach in knots. Her fingers dug into her forearms as she clutched them tightly to her chest. Edward had given up trying to soothe her fears only minutes into the ten minute waiting period. Yes, it was the day she took her pregnancy test. Even though she'd been through this song and dance time and time again, and each time gotten the same negative answer, she was sure this time, she was actually pregnant. After all, she and Edward had paid thousands of dollars to ensure that a pregnancy would be established. But it didn't assuage the quaking fear that was physically shaking her body. It still hurt to remember their last failed attempt at starting a family; seeing "not pregnant" show up on the little screen was like a thousand knives straight to her soul. They couldn't bear to go through it again. It had already been ten times too many.
"Lucky eleven please…" Bella began chanting to herself as a means to calm herself down for the final minute, "Please be lucky eleven…" And seconds later it seemed, a soft tinkling bell sounded from her phone and she took a huge breath before turning to her husband.
"It's time isn't it?" Edward raised his brows as he stated the obvious.
"Yeah…" Bella bit her lip as her face paled with her extreme nervousness. "I can't look…You go…." She took him, her stomach quaking and making bile rise in her throat. She sat down quickly, and dropped her head into her hands, her mind racing a mile a minute with everything that was going on. "Please Edward…" she raised her head slightly to give him pleading eyes. Bella physically couldn't walk let alone get up for fear of her legs giving out.
Thankfully, her faithful hubby took her seriously and strode into the bathroom. He slowly approached the vanity and picked the white test up from the cool grey marble counter top. He would never be ready enough for what he saw on that screen, or what it might lead to in the long run. On the little plastic screen, surrounded by its white plastic in some cruel joke of innocence were those two little heartbreaking words: Not Pregnant.
A/N: And there you have it folks! Hope it was enjoyed and I hope that you shall now go hit that little review button and hey you can favourite/follow this story if you haven't already done so! :D Sneak peek of chapter 7 to all who do review!
**Notes: OPOV is an omniscient point of view, therefore it is neither Bella or Edward.
PS: Gah this seemed so much longer when I typed it... I have to make up for this in chapter 7...