Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, I just use their creations to have my wicked way with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

The Real Teacher deserves an award for putting up with my whimsicality. This week I decided last minute to add a whole new chapter to this tale and still she managed to get everything ready for me to post on Friday. I love her. Did I mention that?

Grace

~ Part six ~

He was going to be late.

How could this happen?

How could he let this happen?

How could a man – my man – be late for his first appointment with his unborn child?

"Unbelievable," I muttered, my heart leaping upwards when the door opened but spiraling down again almost immediately as, instead of the disorderly mop of reddish brown hair and that infernal half-smirk that always seemed to get him out of trouble, a stiff looking couple shuffled into the room, sitting down awkwardly at the edge of the bench furthest away from everyone else as they stared off into space without as much as a glance at each other or anyone else. They looked like a bunch of zombies! How they ever managed to end up pregnant….

I swallowed, the tears coming as fast and as fierce as they had been doing ever since my baby started screwing with my hormones. Zombies or not, at least they were together whereas Edward….he couldn't even be bothered to show up for our first ultrasound. That motherfucking son of a…..

"Miss Swan?" I sighed, hanging my head as I pushed myself up from the chair as a nurse I faintly remembered from our first appointment (which Edward had managed to be on time for, though be it by the skin of his teeth).

As I walked through the waiting room I could almost feel the looks of sympathy from the other women as well as the cautiously smug smiles from most of the men as they congratulated themselves from doing at least something good for a change.

Idiots.

All men were idiots.

All they were good for was knocking a woman up and then going about their merry ways, leaving her to deal with all the rest.

"Typical!" I huffed, following after the nurse with a sour face that made the people we bumped into on our way scramble to get out of my way.

"Doctor Molina will be back shortly," the nurse announced, smiling compassionately as she left me in the office of my doctor.

"Thanks," I muttered, my lip trembling with rage and distress as I looked around me, my eyes falling on the back wall that was covered in pictures of happy people carrying happy, healthy babies in their arms and looks of pure bliss on their faces.

Could that be me in a few months?

Me, Edward and the baby?

At this moment it was hard to imagine that was ever going to happen.

I swallowed not wanting to cry in my doctor's office and give her the idea that I wasn't up to motherhood or even pregnancy, my eyes now landing on a series of models depicting the development stages of a baby from fetus to infant.

What if something was wrong?

My hand clutched the slight bump protruding from my stomach as if to protect my unborn child even against the thought alone as my sick, masochistic brain merrily wandered further down the avenue it had set out upon.

What if something went wrong and Edward wasn't there?

My hand started to tremble as I thought of myself, all alone in a new house in a strange city

No.

I wouldn't be alone. I swallowed, trying to rid myself of all the negative feelings. There would always be Esme and Carlisle making sure I was alright.

Carlisle….

Could I really trust him around my baby?

What if…

Mercifully doctor Molina came in before I could go completely postal (which, by the way, was all Edward's fault because if he would have been there like he said he would, I'd have someone to take my mind off things). "Ah, Bella! Let's see how everything is going, shall we?"

For a moment she gazed at me inquisitively, but if she'd noticed that there was one future parent where there should have been two, she didn't ask and for that I was grateful, her questions and remarks giving me some much needed distraction from the doom and gloom in my mind.

It wasn't until the doctor had handed me over into the care of the lab technician that the hurried footsteps I'd been waiting for sounded from outside the room.

"Bella!" Edward's voice called out frantically, his eyes wide with what I hoped to be fear as he barged into the room, panting like he'd just run a marathon.

Sucker! Like that's going to help you!

"Nice of you to join us," I sneered, purposefully twisting my body away from him.

"I'm sorry I'm late sweetheart," he sighed, crossing the room in long strides. I had to admit, the guy had balls of solid steel, that or he was stupid enough to get close to a pissed off pregnant woman without thinking his balls might be in danger. "Arraignments ran late and I couldn't get out….I ran all the way here…."

"Right!" I huffed. "So you ran a few blocks. Is that supposed to impress me because I can tell you, it's doing a piss poor job."

"You know I can't just walk out of a courtroom mid-session?" Edward squirmed.

"I know that!" I snapped. "The thing is: you never should have been in that fucking courtroom to begin with, asshole!"

From out of the corner of my eyes I noticed how the ultrasound technician stealthily tried to shuffle towards the door. Changing color when she caught my glare she scrapped her throat. "I figure the two of you might like a few minutes of privacy?" she offered. "I'll just go and set up another room. I'll be back in five minutes."

I nodded, trying to appear normal for a few moments so that she didn't think I was a complete fruitcake (though it may have already been too late for that) before turning back to Edward, my anger washing back over me at the mere sight of him all pretty and lawyery in his tailored suit. "You shouldn't have been on the roster today and you know it."

"Bella," he sighed, "we've already discussed this the other night, remember?"

"Then please repeat this big discussion to your silly girlfriend who only remembers that you did a whole lot of talking without wanting any input from me," I snapped back.

"I tried to get the morning off from work but with the Hunter case starting the day after tomorrow, almost everyone is up to their eyeballs in prep work. I couldn't find anyone to fill in for me," he droned, his voice almost mechanical as he rattled off the same old crap story he'd given me a few days ago.

"Then you should have spoken to your boss," I grumbled, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "I somehow doubt he would have been cruel enough to let you miss out on our first ultrasound."

"You know I can't do that, Bella," he muttered, his shoulders slumping as he let out another deep sigh. "I'm still trying to establish myself over there and….."

"You have to be the good little boy who runs faster than necessary and jumps through every burning hoop to impress the boss," I pouted, my hands balling into fists as I felt my anger slowly give into tears. "I just….."

I was in his arms the moment he noticed the trembling of my bottom lip, his strength supporting me as I cried. "Bella," he breathed, the pressure of his lips as they kissed the top of my head only opening the floodgates further.

"Is this what it's going to be like when the baby is born?" I hiccupped, hating myself for my own damn weakness. "Am I going to be on my own, wondering if you're actually going to be home when you say you will?"

"Sweetheart," he muttered, swaying us back and forth. "You know I don't want to do that."

"But you will!" I accused.

"Look at me," he growled, cradling my head in his hands to force my eyes on his. "Do you really think I want to?"

I swallowed difficultly, the power of the emotions visible in his eyes taking me slightly aback as I shook my head. "No?"

"I hate myself for being late today," he admitted, the truth of his words visible in his whole body, "but I need this job if I want to be able to take care of you and the baby."

"I know," I sniffed. I knew it was the dark side of getting involved with a lawyer.

He smiled sadly, kissing away the tears that still leaked from my eyes. "I wish I could promise you it won't happen again but you know it would be an empty promise…"

I sighed, leaning my forehead against his chest, the steady beat of his heart soothing the whirlwind of emotions inside of me. "I know."

"But please know, Bella, that I will always do my best to be there for you and the baby when you need me," he insisted. "I don't want to be like my dad and miss out on the best thing that ever happened to me because of work. I love you – both of you – and I want to make this work."

I nodded, somehow managing to conjure a faint smile on my face. "So do I."

The ultrasound technician chose that moment to peek her nose around the door, the relief shining off her face when she found the equipment still in one piece and the crisis that had driven her out of the room momentarily averted.

She made me scoot up on the table, Edward falling into place next to me as she squirted some sort of cold goo over my stomach and moved her wand over the center of my bump, a slow, steady rumble filling the air in time with the first image of our child filling the small screen beside me.

"Wow!" Edward breathed, his eyes glued to the screen as his hands squeezed mine almost to the point of pain and I squeezed back equally as hard, my mind completely overrun with emotion as our baby's heartbeat filled the air.

"Yeah," I managed to croak out, feeling the tears leak out from the corners of my eyes but not really giving a damn since wiping them away would mean taking my eyes and attention away from the miracle playing out in front of me…inside of me.

"It's so….beautiful," Edward whispered, his voice sounding not so steady either.

If I'd been in one of my more snarkier moods I would have made a sarcastic remark about how a little blob on a computer screen couldn't possibly be called beautiful but being as it was….I happened to fully agree with him.

I barely even noticed the ultrasound technician until she started speaking, my mind only registering enough to know that the baby was growing and developing just as he or she should, my eyes still glued to the little creature swimming around inside of my belly. "It's so….."

"Incredible, right?" Edward completed, his face holding an expression of pure joy like I'd never seen it before.

I nodded. "And to think…we created that baby….we created life."

His smiled widened as he leaned in and kissed my lips, slowly and lovingly, our fingers weaving together as they rested right above the slight slope of my bump. "I love you, Isabella Swan. I know sometimes I do a piss poor job at showing you….but I love you."

I sniffled, the sound of our baby's heartbeat slowly drifting away as the technician removed the wand from my stomach, my heart already missing the sound as I looked up into the eyes of the man I was sharing this experience with me. "I love you too."

Edward took the wad of paper towels from the technician before anyone could say something, meticulously scrubbing my stomach clean of the goo with a tenderness that made me hold my breath, my senses tuned to his touch until he was done.

"All clean again," He smiled, throwing the dirty mess into a waste bin before helping me up, his arm never leaving its hold on my body as we listened to some final remarks the technician made and taking the pictures and film of the ultrasound, knowing all four grandparents would kill us if they didn't get to see this.

A wave of relief crashed over me as I listened to his voice firing all the questions he'd missed the answers to at the poor ultrasound technician as well as Doctor Molina, who'd popped in to say goodbye, while I got dressed again.

He did care.

He did want this baby as much as I did.

He did want to be there for the both of us…..even though I knew there would be times when he couldn't.

He was as committed to making this work and being a good parent to this precious little gift we'd been given as I was.

But still….even though he'd managed to save the day, he was still going to sleep on the couch tonight.

So yeah….a chapter that wasn't a part of the original tale. The reason behind that was that with me basically not knowing anything about pregnancy and childbirth and the submission deadline looming closer, I decided to go for the easy route. I hope this addition makes the story a little more balanced.

Please review. See you next week!