23

EDWARD AND ANOTHER SURPRISE

Time passed and my bump enlarged so I was worried that my wedding dress wouldn't fit me.

"It will fit you Cara," Aro said.

"But I'll look pregnant too," I said.

"I want you to look pregnant my dear, I planned it that way; are you ashamed for the world to see you have been intimate with me and now we have a love child together?" he asked.

"Not when you put it that way, it just doesn't look right to be pregnant on your wedding day," I said.

"For me it couldn't be more right, are you happy to have my baby?" he asked again.

"Yes of course I am," I said feeling what was felt like more than a bump, and when I or someone else touched me I felt movement, little fairylike flutters inside me. Aro arms came around from behind me and held my baby, I put my hands over his and the baby moved; he laughed as he felt it.

The baby had started to feel much heavier than a human baby would and whenever I walked around the garden with Sarah and Alice, I would be out of breath more easily; Alice and Aro were worried that even I wouldn't hold up towards the end of the pregnancy; they didn't tell me this but I heard them talking one day. The amount of pressure I felt caused me to have a hard time walking but even when I begged to be excused, Alice insisted and I was forced to walk. On the other hand, I felt better lying down and having sex was not painful or uncomfortable to me; so I longed for the nights.

Sarah's love making had improved tremendously but she still wouldn't allow anything in her vagina larger than Aro's fingers when he stimulated her; this was something that worried me but couldn't express, that when it came to our wedding night she wouldn't allow Aro to have intercourse with her and all this would be in vain.

One morning I had been allowed to rest for longer than usual, I had my eyes closed and was in a dreamlike state; someone climbed into bed beside me and started to caress me, it was different than usual and I thought I was dreaming that Edward was making love to me.

"Edward?" I said dreamily.

It seemed I was still dreaming as he came inside me.

"Is it you Edward or am I dreaming?" I asked.

He didn't answer but kissed me hungrily on my lips and I responded.

I was afraid to open my eyes in case it was a dream.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming,"

Then I heard his voice.

"Open your eyes silly," he said laughing.

My eyes popped open and there was his angel face looking at me with a big grin on his face, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Oh Edward, Edward, I missed you so much; are you really here?" I said exultantly.

Alice and Aro had been watching.

"I guess you lose your bet Alice," he said, "She absolutely does know the difference between us," Aro said and he was beaming too.

"I guess it's good to know you are each special in her eyes," Alice said laughing.

"Well young lady," Aro addressed me," "You're free to go out of the castle with Edward and enjoy being reunited; Sarah will stay with us until later.

I was soon in the shower and Alice changed my 'baby', helped me dress and fixed my hair; Aro gave Edward the keys to his car and we drove off, he took me to a secluded beach which was close to a forest with many trees, we got out of the car and walked a little way into the forest where there was a huge beautiful two story house.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, "This is beautiful."

"Would you like to live here?" he asked.

"It would be a beautiful place to live, so close to the beach and yet surrounded by forest," I said.

There were actually two houses and a large garage, it reminded me of our home in Dartmouth except it was much bigger; we were walking towards the front door of the house.

"Let's go inside," Edward said as he smiled mysteriously.

"You have a key?" I asked.

He produced one and unlocking the door, he pushed it wide open.

The house wasn't furnished but it had a look of Esme's painting on the walls, it was two stories with a wide sweeping staircase opposite from the front door. We walked around a huge family room with a fireplace and a wood floor, then into a library with many rows of empty shelves. There were outlets for computers and stereo systems etc. There was a huge kitchen and dining room, and another large room also with a wooden floor. There were lots of windows looking out on to the forest all around the downstairs; a patio at the back of the house led onto a lawn through French doors.

Edward carried me upstairs pretending I was much too heavy now and we laughed. Upstairs was a huge master bedroom with a shower, bathtub and two huge walk-in closets, this bedroom was at the front of the house and French doors led onto a veranda which had a view of the sea stretching out for miles; I gasped at the beauty of this view. There were plenty of other bedrooms and one had been painted as a little girl's room with ballerinas on the walls in a mural, and one room was obviously a nursery. The nursery had a door leading into the master bedroom and a door leading into an adjoining room probably for a nanny; all the rooms had bathrooms and large walk-in closets and beautiful views from the windows.

My eyes started to tear up and I couldn't see any more, I started to cry and Edward held me to him.

"Do you like?" he asked.

"You are much too good to me, I don't deserve you," I said.

"As you can see there is a baby nursery, Jenny's room, Emma's room, a nurse's room and more spare rooms."

The other house will house the chauffer, housekeeper etc. and we're looking for a local gardener; we thought you could help choose the furniture, would you like that?" he asked.

"Yes I'd like to help but Esme does a beautiful job," I said.

"Well you can definitely help with the children's rooms, love," he said.

"Yes I would love to," I said smiling.

I tried to reach my arms up to try to put them around his neck but I couldn't reach so he lifted me up and I put my legs around his waist and we kissed.

"Are William and Maggie coming," I asked.

Probably not but we are interviewing for a couple and we need a nurse to help take care of the children," Edward said, "We'll also need to buy toys etc. for them and we'll put some exercise equipment out where the lawn is in the back. The area of beach directly out front is our private beach and we will have somewhere to swim."

"Where will Jenny go to school?" I asked.

"I thought maybe a tutor but we can talk about that later, I'll look to see what schools there are around here and what they are like," he said, "She will have to learn to speak Italian so we should probably speak only Italian in the house.

"Will we have a problem bringing her here?" I questioned.

"No sweetheart, CPS said so long as we're willing to bring her back periodically so they can see how she's doing, there won't be a problem. They doubt that her mother will ever obtain custody of her because she isn't willing to change her life style and Jenny loves being with us even though she misses you terribly," he said.

"Has her leg healed?" I asked.

"The cast is off but she still walks with a limp," he said.

"Did you tell her about the baby yet?" I asked.

"We want to make sure there's a real baby conceived before we tell her," he said.

"Can I call her and talk to her please?" I asked, "I miss her too."

"Maybe you can do that today," he said smiling.

"When will we move here?" I asked hopefully.

"You will move here after the baby's born," he said.

"And you?" I asked.

"As soon as school is over in May, I have already been accepted at a University here which is very close, especially the way we drive; you will continue with your Dartmouth home study and we'll see how you do with the children, I prefer you to be home with them but I do want you to finish school, a nurse or a nanny will be helpful to you."

He sat down on the floor with me on his lap.

"What about Aro?" I asked.

"When you are living here he will call you when he needs you to be with him, you will probably spend a great deal of time with him while I'm at school or busy with my work; he still has plenty to teach you, some nights you'll spend at the castle with him but mostly you'll sleep with me, he'll come over here if time allows to spend time with the baby and he may stay the night with us. You will have a lot of diplomatic duties to perform with Aro and you will be extremely busy, I'm afraid you won't have much free time, that's another reason for us having a nurse or a nanny to help with the children," he concluded.

"I hope I can spend time with the children, but it does sound like a wonderful life, and I can't wait; I can't stand to be enclosed in the castle constantly. What about our family?" I asked, "I will miss Alice terribly if she's not here."

"Aro has been training Alice to help him at the castle and he plans to do the same for me during the summer, Alice and Jasper are looking for a home close by which will accommodate all our family when they come. Carlisle and Esme will stay in Forks for a while but they are thinking about moving out here so they can be grandparents but mostly to be with you in case any major crisis arises, in any case it won't be good for them to stay much longer in Forks because they aren't aging. Emmett and Rosalie are undecided but Rosalie wants to spend time with the children too and will be spending a great deal of time here; I think Emmett will lose out, Rosalie is seriously contemplating having her own baby, but she's not sure if she could stand to have Emmett sleep with another woman," he said and we laughed.

"It's so hard to do that," I said, "I want Aro all to myself but I have to deal with Sarah and encourage her instead, I could never do that with you."

"Don't worry love, that won't happen but in any case, I think you have enough to handle with two husbands and two children," Edward laughed.

"That seems perfect to me, once the baby's born; I think I'll enjoy my life or existence," I said indulgently, "Of course there are still my parents and they both know I'm pregnant with Aro's baby, how will I deal with them?"

"We'll arrange for them to visit here or for you and the children to visit them, we'll just have to be careful how we handle it, you can also send E-mails and photos; another thing to consider is that this baby will be part vampire and will behave differently than a full human child," Edward informed me.

"You're making me more excited than before about this baby and I can't wait," I said.

"By the way, I almost forgot, Jacob called and I guess Charlie told him your pregnant but not by me and of course he's curious, I told him that you would explain but that we are still very happily married," he said and kissed me, would you like to go down to the beach? We could swim; I have some towels and an extra baby pack,"

Of course I wanted to and he carried me down to the beach, we left our clothes and the towels in the house by the front door and he ran us down to the waters edge before putting me down on my feet, then we ran into the water. This was the clear blue Mediterranean Sea and we went deep holding our breath, to another world with colored fish and coral; we made love as we had in our pool only this was interesting with curious fish looking on, I liked it much better. When we came out of the water, we lay on the sand making love over and over again; our naked bodies soaking up the sun and making us sparkle because there was no one around to bother us.

Later in the afternoon, Alice and Sarah came, they both wore bathing suits but lay out on the beach, with sunglasses, not desiring to go into the water. Sarah stared at Edward's naked body as it sparkled but she was mainly watching him become aroused, it seemed to fascinate her; Edward was too engrossed with me to notice her glances but Alice missed nothing.

"Edward and Bella are unaccustomed to caring whether anyone sees them making love but you seem to have a fascination with Edward," she said to Sarah.

"I'm sorry, Sarah became red faced and flustered as Edward turned to look at her now, "I'm not used to looking at naked men and I was watching the way your body changed as you became aroused."

Edward spoke to her in an understanding way.

"I behave like any man who encounters a beautiful desirable woman, I hope we didn't shock you too much but Aro seems to think you need to see the way men's bodies reacts when stimulated," he said.

"You're right I am naïve and it's hard to believe one of those go inside a woman, I know it's going to happen to me soon and I've seen it happen to Bella, but it still seems incredible," Sarah admitted.

"The opening in a woman, a man enters, is the exact same opening a baby comes out of, so obviously it stretches to accommodate however large the object is," This was Alice speaking who rarely discussed such things."

"The other thing is," I said, "Passion has a lot to do with whether a woman will relax enough to allow the man inside her, otherwise it could be painful if she fights the inevitable."

"It may be painful if you're a virgin, as Bella was for me, but hopefully the passion will prevent you from caring at least until later when the climax has been reached; it would be very frustrating for a man to go so far and then not be allowed to finish," Edward explained.

"It is also frustrating for a woman too, as you well know Edward," I said teasing now, "He uses sex as a weapon to make me comply," I reminded him.

He tickled me and then pulled me up and we ran into the water, disappearing under the waves.

We stayed in the water until dusk and Alice had started preparations to leave.

"Come on Sarah," I said, "Would you like to see the baby's room?"

I grabbed her hand and started to run towards the house but Edward stopped me.

"I'll carry you love, I don't think you'll make it up the stairs," he said.

We stopped on the porch and dried off, removing sand from our bodies and our feet; Alice came over and replaced the baby pack and helped me dress, I wound a towel around my hair. Edward was soon dressed too and he carried me up stairs, when Sarah saw the baby's room she was excited.

"It's so beautiful even without the furniture," she said smiling.

"Do you want to be remembered as the baby's mother?" I asked.

"No, you are the baby's mother and that's how I would prefer it," She said.

Something suddenly occurred to me.

"Edward, if you're here does that mean schools out?"

"Yes, love," he said.

"Alice, my wedding is happening when?" I asked, suddenly panicking.

"This weekend," she informed me, "Your wedding dress will have the final fitting tomorrow and on Saturday you will be Aro's bride for the entire world to see, and it will be a big day for you and very tiring; so you will need to rest as much as possible until then, your baby is getting bigger and heavier each day and the church has a long aisle and many steps. The church will be full to capacity and remember Renee will be here although Phil can't make it and Charlie is content to stay home, he refuses to give you away for the second time so Carlisle will give you away this time," she concluded.

"Are you going to be my maid of honor?" I asked.

Yes of course and Rosalie will be a bridesmaid this time as well as some of Aro's choices; Jasper and Emmett will be groomsmen and Edward will be best man. Of course Esme will be there and actually she will be here all week to plan furniture for this house, so she'll have lot's of pictures and the computer for you to look at, yours and Edward's bedroom and the baby's room will be first on the list," she said.

"When is Renee going to be here?" I asked.

"Tomorrow," she said.

"She'll be here tomorrow?" I questioned, "Is she staying at the castle?"

"We thought it better to put her in a hotel but she will come to see you," Alice said.

"Maybe it will be better for me to see her at her hotel?" I asked.

"No Bella, it will be too stressful, you will stay at the castle until the end of the week and rest, this is a special day because we wanted you to see your new home and be reunited with Edward," she was insistent, "The first floor of the castle is a place where humans can go so don't worry."

"Esme wanted Renee to come early because she wants to show her your new home and to help plan the interior design, we figure this will help her accept your relationship with two men; she will also have the opportunity to meet Aro, he is looking forward to meeting your mother," Edward said.

"I can't believe I didn't realize how the time has flown," I said, "I have been so involved with this pregnancy and helping Sarah, that I didn't realize the time had arrived."

"This was planned Bella, Carlisle didn't want you to have more stress than the pregnancy and being separated from Edward, we removed all the calendars so you wouldn't know which day it was; the first week when you were so depressed actually helped disorient you to the days and weeks as they passed," Alice said, "By the way Carlisle will be placing those computer chips in both of you towards the end of the week."

"Edward you won't leave until school starts again will you?" I asked.

"No of course not and I'll be back when it's time for the baby to be born, hopefully it will wait until school ends," he said.

We went back to the castle then and Edward and I showered, Alice replaced the baby pack with the old one while I showered and then put the new one back on; I decided to call Jenny and Jacob, I called Jenny first and we talked for a while, it was good to interact with her again and we both cried when the conversation came to an end.

Next I called Jacob, I told him about my life now, about Aro and the baby we're expecting; he couldn't believe I became involved in another relationship and still loved Edward.

"I didn't have any choice Jacob but I'm happy with the way everything has turned out," I told him.

"Well all the best Bells, call if you need anything, I'll still be here at least until I get old and die," he said.

After I hung up I wept at that but I realized he was right.