Chapter 11: Transitional

A/N: So uh... HI new followers. Jesus My Phone Won't Stop Beeping Christ. I'm a little intimidated, I gotta say. So, huge thanks to LadyExcalibur2010 and tg10781 for sending me a veritable deluge of their readers.

Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me...ya know, in case you thought they did.

Edward watched his older brother with a look between horror and disgust. Emmett had flipped a bratwurst directly from the grill into his mouth. "Hot, hot!" he cried around a mouthful of meat, chewing it with a wide open mouth the way a dog would. He passed it from hand to hand, finger to finger as he ate. Edward knew he must have scalded the hell out his tongue.

"You're such a child, Emmett," he said scathingly.

Emmett looked over, his tongue hanging out as he cooled it in the crisp air. "So my wife keeps telling me. You're not gonna have any, ya persnickety bastard?"

"Of course I am. It's a prime bratwurst, not a hot dog. I just don't eat like a savage," the younger Cullen brother laughed. "Although for what you just did to your tongue, you may as well be eating a hot dog. You're a disgrace to good meat everywhere."

"Look, Edward, you don't need to tell me about your love for sausage," Emmett said, wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulders. "But does Bella know?"

Saying nothing, Edward shrugged his brother's arm off. Emmett laughed. "She's pretty in person," he said innocently. When Edward still didn't answer he continued probing. "She seems awesome."

Edward sighed, picking up the beer he'd put down near the grill and taking a swig. "Honestly, Em... she's amazing," he admitted. "She's a hellcat, and she has absolutely zero tolerance for anyone's bullshit."

"Seems like she'll fit in well with the women of this family," Emmett said, grinning as he stacked the bratwursts and steaks high.

"Yeah, if Rosalie ever calms down about her," Edward muttered, his eyes on his sister as she and Tanya came back from wherever they'd disappeared to.

"Give her time, bro. At least she's not making a scene, right?"

Edward wasn't paying much attention to his brother anymore. It occurred to him that Bella had excused herself to get some air and hadn't yet come back. Suddenly concerned, he waved at his brother and went in search of her.

As soon as he went back in the house, he ran into Alice instead. "Hey, I was just coming to find you. Bella said she wasn't feeling well. I convinced her to stay, but she's lying down in your room. I hope that's okay."

"It's fine. Thanks," Edward said quickly. "Emmett's about ready to serve. Why don't you go join everyone, and I'll take care of Bella."

Alice poked him in the chest. "Oh, I bet you'll take care of her. Don't think I didn't see the goo goo eyes you were making at each other earlier."

"Goo goo eyes," Edward scoffed, "What the heck does that even mean, Alice?"

She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then pointed at him. "I'm watching you," she warned as she moved toward where the rest of the family was waiting.

"Creepy little monkey," he muttered to himself as he walked toward the stairs. His sister-in-law occasionally made him feel like a whirlwind had hit him. But then, it took a woman with the strength of hurricane to keep up with his sister. Still, it unnerved him how much Alice saw. The last thing he needed - that Bella needed - was for his family to get involved in whatever was happening between them.

At least, not before they figured it out themselves.

Edward knocked softly on his door before he walked in. Bella was sitting on his bed, her worried expression fading to a smile when he walked in. "Hey," she greeted him.

Closing the door behind him, Edward went to sit beside her. "Hey," he said back, stroking her cheek with the pads of his fingers. "Alice said you weren't feeling well?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, letting her eyes close. She hadn't realized until that moment how much she missed his physical affection. Even in the short amount of time they'd been intimate, she'd grown used to the touches. He was always touching her in some way.

"Open your eyes," he requested, his hand cupping her cheek now, tilting her head up. His soft smile faltered when she complied. Her eyes were more troubled than they had been... and slightly bloodshot. "Bella... were you crying?"

Bella turned away, hating that he saw through her so easily. "I cry at everything these days," she said, trying to shrug it off. "

"What happened?" Edward asked, not believing her nonchalance for a second.

"I'm telling you. It takes nothing to make me cry. I was sobbing watching re-runs of Scrubs the other night," she tried, still not looking at him.

"Bella," he said warningly. He swept her hair away from her face, effectively removing her last shield.

She sighed. "I overheard a conversation I wasn't meant to hear," she admitted finally.

Edward could easily guess who was speaking. "What did she say?" he asked flatly.

"Nothing I didn't already know, really," Bella said shaking her head. "Edward, it isn't her fault. I feel horrible that I'm ruining her day. It's her birthday too after all."

"You're not doing anything wrong." His thumb moved over her cheek as he spoke.

Bella put her hand over his. "You're right. But neither is she. She's actually being very good, given the circumstances."

Edward pursed his lips, looking skeptical at that statement.

His doubting expression made her smile inexplicably. Then she sobered, facing facts. "She doesn't like me, Edward." He opened his mouth to protest but she stopped him, dropping their hands, now twined together, to her lap. "It's okay. You don't have to make excuses for her. I know, at the very least, I'm a constant reminder of what I'd imagine is the stupidest thing she's ever done. And not only is she putting up with someone she doesn't like and doesn't trust, but I'm also invading a space where she feels safe. I don't know Rosalie very well, but I bet there are not a lot of places where she feels comfortable enough to be herself. Right or wrong - my presence is taking that away from her."

Edward was silent, unable to counter that. "I should leave," Bella said quietly. "I've been here a while. Let her have half a day's peace without me."

Instead of responding, Edward wrapped an arm around her, pulling her tight against him the way he'd wanted to all day. He began to press slightly moist kisses to her temple. "It's my birthday too. What if I really wanted you to stay?"

Turning her head so she could catch his lips, Bella didn't answer right away. They kissed slowly, hands and lips communicating the closeness that they'd been missing that day. After a few minutes of that, Bella sighed, pulling away and laying her head on his shoulder instead. "In all honesty Edward, it's not complete altruism. In fact, it's not altruism in the slightest. I can't face her right now."

She hoped he understood. The whole day had been more than a little overwhelming, and where Bella was typically a calm person, the combination of pregnancy and other major life changes were threatening to make her emotional. She was still getting used to the idea of having a partner in raising her child. She was just beginning to understand that Edward brought with him a whole family. These people were her baby's aunts and uncles...and grandparents...and cousins.

It was almost more than she could handle as it was, not even considering her history with Rosalie. Add to that the words she couldn't get out of her head - about Edward's struggles and Rosalie's belief that Bella would screw him over in the end - and she would never be able to get through the rest of the day without some type of outburst.

Edward sighed, running his fingers through her hair and kissing her forehead. "I understand," he grumbled finally.

His obvious reluctance to let her go gave Bella what could only be described as a warm, tingly feeling. She smiled against his neck.

"I did get you something," she said, lifting her head and grabbing her purse.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Edward protested, instantly curious what it might be.

Bella chuffed. "Well, I probably wouldn't have. Just call this fortuitous timing," she grinned at him, handing over an envelope that had seen better days. It had obviously been riding around in her purse for a while.

Since she was looking at him expectantly, Edward took that as a sign that he could open his gift now. Inside were two tickets with the name Query on top. Edward started, his eyes going wide. "No way..." He looked up at her with incredulous eyes. "How... how on earth did you score these tickets? My editor has been trying to get us into the debut night."

Query was a new restaurant with a lot of buzz around it. The owners were both fairly new to the restaurant game, but the project had drawn in several of the best fusion chefs around. The restaurant was set to open to the public in about a month or so. Mike had been trying, unsuccessfully, to get them in on the soft opening - where critics were usually invited for a sneak peek.

Edward's obvious excitement spread, making Bella feel happy and satisfied that she was able to make him smile like that. "Suffice to say I got the hook up. Now... I have my own ticket, so bring your editor. You two will be the only critics at this-"

Bella was cut off as Edward all but attacked her. His arms wrapped around her, holding her against him as he kissed her passionately. Startled, Bella made a slight mewling noise, but then she was kissing him back, her hands making a mess of his previously unwrinkled shirt.

"We can't do this here," she said a minute later, kissing his stubble covered jaw line despite her words.

"Why not?" he asked, completely absorbed by her.

So many reasons, she thought but didn't say. "Any second now, your family is going to send someone after us. You need to go back to them, and I need to go."

Edward groaned. It took him a moment to compose himself but then he loosened his hold on her. "Can I come over tonight?" he asked impulsively.

The way he kissed her as he made his request was entirely unfair. It served its purpose though. Her need for him was so great then that she almost forgot about his waiting family. Common sense barely got the upper hand over her raging hormones. "Yes," she answered breathlessly.

It might have been an unwise decision, but it was still his birthday after all.

~0~

They both knew what was going to happen when Edward came over that evening. Neither of them bothered to pretend. They were in each others arms the second Bella opened the door when he rang. That night, they fell asleep still tangled together.

Inevitably, Bella stirred with the increasingly desperate need to pee. It was hard to ignore the pleasant way her heart twisted, seeming to grow in her chest, when Edward pouted and whined in his sleep, his hand patting the bed as if looking for her. And when she came back to bed, he automatically pulled her back into his arms, contentedly burying his face against her neck without opening his eyes.

The second time she had to get up, when she came back, Edward again pulled her close to him, this time with her back against his chest. She was positive that he was about to fall right back to sleep like last time, when his hand began to run along the curve of her belly. His touches were light, teasing, designed to heighten her senses. He only used the very tip of his fingers, always on the edge of tickling and rubbing, but never quite falling off either side.

With his other hand, he wordlessly swept her hair away from her shoulders and neck, fitting his body against hers as he began to nip at her skin with his teeth and lips. Sleepiness was quickly being replaced by a growing ache for him. Bella was torn... part of her wanting to stay still and just experience the way his light motions barely brushed nerve endings along her body that she wasn't even aware she had. She gave little mewls of pleasure at his ministrations, the sounds she made all needed to continue. But at the same time, she was quickly becoming desperate for more.

Finally, unable to take his teasing any longer, she put one hand over his on the apex of her belly. She moved his hand up her body, guiding his palm to her breast.

She could feel him smile against her back, where his questing mouth had taken him.

"Do you like this?" he whispered in her ear, his voice a throaty whisper as he cupped her breast, rubbing his thumb in circles over her nipple.

"God, yes," she murmured, arching slightly, pushing her breasts against his hand as her back came more firmly up against his chest.

"I love the way you feel in my hands," he rumbled, his lips still pressed against the shell of her ear as he tugged her nipple lightly. "You know those noises you make for me drive me crazy when I touch you."

The combination of his hand moving on her and the things he was saying was rapidly clouding her mind. "Edward," she moaned, the word coming out like a plea and an expression of the pleasure she felt all at once.

He didn't answer, instead kissing along her ear, down her neck and then her shoulder, biting lightly. As he did this, he shifted his lower body against hers, spreading her legs with his. He used his free hand to guide his cock along her entrance, still teasing.

"Edward," she said again, this time more of a demand than anything else.

Unable to deny either of them any longer, Edward eased himself inside her slowly.

As it had before, once he was inside her some of the urgency of their actions lessened. He muffled a groan against her shoulder as be began to move inside of her, thrusting at a measured pace. She moved with him, stunned by how deep she was able to take him in that position.

Their rhythm built naturally, following the build in both of them. For Bella, it was a combination of factors that made the sex so intense. He was continuously hitting that sweet spot inside her, educing noises from her that she wasn't even aware she was capable of. His fingers moving over her body, along the lines of her ever changing curves, made her feel sexy - beautiful. With his arm wrapped around her, their position was intimate in the extreme. She felt cherished, the way he held her tight against him. She'd never felt that way during sex; it was powerful, shaking her to the core in a way she'd never previously experienced.

Though Bella couldn't know it, it was much the same for Edward. As their rocking hips picked up to a fevered pace, Bella's fingers twined with his, below her breasts and above the mound of her belly. It was like she felt as he did-that even though he was deep inside her, he wasn't close enough. She wrapped him tighter around herself, even as her walls contracted, wrapping her tighter around him. She was so beautiful, and it felt like she was his. And if she asked he would give himself to her. It was terrifying and enlightening, because he had taken women to his bed before, but never felt like he wanted to keep them.

As he moved harder and faster in her, he just held her tight. His breath was hard and ragged in her ear, their moans building together until he heard her sweet words. "Yes. Oh, baby, please," she cried, bucking against him as she fell into orgasm. And God he wanted to hear that again, and again. It was the last coherent thought in his head before he let go, losing himself inside of her.

They fell asleep again, as their breathing evened out, holding each other only slightly looser than just minutes before.

When they woke again there was a sort of heaviness that lingered about them. They were slightly awkward together. Again, their relationship had shifted without their permission, bringing with it only more questions and confusion. The web they were winding themselves in was so tangled, it was time they tried to find the g'damned spider before it got worse.

Edward and Bella were both unnaturally quiet as they woke, though he automatically kissed her cheek tenderly. Again, while she showered and changed, Edward found something for them to eat, this time deciding on mixed fruit and toast. He set this out on the coffee table in the living room and waited for her.

When Bella came out, her hair damp from her shower, in loose fitting jeans and a plain shirt, she sat on the couch beside him. They ate in relative silence, until Edward noticed that Bella was wincing and stretching every so often.

"Backache?"

She nodded, rolling her eyes as she rubbed her belly ruefully. "I hear they get worse."

"Alice gets them pretty bad," he said, his voice full of sympathy. He slid backward, deeper into her couch, and spread his legs. "Come here."

She thought about protesting, but the idea of a massage on her aching muscles was just too good to pass up. Bella stood and quickly readjusted herself in front of him.

As his fingers worked along her spine, he finally asked the first of many questions they'd been putting off. "Bella... why didn't you want a relationship?" he asked quietly. "Was it a bad experience?"

For a long moment, Bella didn't speak, instead letting her body relax in time with his kneading fingers. "I saw a movie once where two little girls watched their aunts performing magic. A woman comes to the aunts and the girls watched as the woman stabbed a dove through the heart in order to make the man she wants, want her. And one of them was horrified, chanting over and over again 'I never want to fall in love, I never want to fall in love' while the other was awestruck by the … absolute power of the emotion. And she couldn't wait to fall in love."

"I suppose I can guess who you sided with" he said, chuckling as his hands moved further up her back.

"I didn't have a bad experience, and it's not that I fear love. I just... I've never wanted it." She sighed, rolling her neck to the side as Edward worked his hands up her back. She tried to think of another way to put it. "There's so much worth doing in this world that you'll never do. If you were to talk to someone who trained for the Olympics, you know that they worked their ass off to get there. And you know that when they win the gold, it must be the most amazing feeling in the world. But are you ever going to do it yourself?"

"Probably not," Edward admitted.

"That's what I feel about relationships. They're worth all the bullshit and the pain. Completely. I just choose to do other things that are also worth it," she finished. Then she laughed dryly. "Maybe it sounds crazy."

"It doesn't sound crazy," Edward assured.

"Most people think it sounds crazy - the idea of a life without love."

"Most people can't imagine not wanting to be with someone. It's how we're raised. Every book, every cartoon, every movie... everyone around us tells us that's the path we're supposed to follow," he said thoughtfully. "I don't think it's choosing a life without love... I just think it's choosing a life without that complication. You, for instance, are well loved; that I can see."

"I am," Bella agreed.

Edward sighed then, and drew her back against him, wrapping his arms around her waist and putting his hands over her belly. He was so lost and muddled as to what he wanted. He not only understood where Bella was coming from but agreed with her to an extent. He had not, as she had, taken himself out of the game, but he didn't find relationships a necessity in life. He was open to the prospect, but he was - as his brother never hesitated to tell him - a persnickety bastard about more than just food.

Among other things, he realized that between two people, no matter how amazing they were together or separately, they could still do considerable damage to a child. He knew that love frequently led to marriage and/or children, neither of which he was prone to want. Both seemed complicated and easy to screw up. And while he was a family man at heart - adoring his nieces and willing to do pretty much anything for his brother and sister - he was content to be a part of their family without needing to build his own.

All of that was still logically sound in his head. It was, of course, easy for Edward to understand why he was so out of sorts with the whole issue of the baby. That was obvious. What was harder for him to wrap his head around was the emotion that changed in him so suddenly the day before.

It should have been such a simple thing. Bella had done no more than given him a wonderful gift on his birthday. It had just struck him then. This woman who had only recently been such a stranger knew him. The women he'd dated, when they gave him gifts, gave him mere trinkets. Most, if anything, forced their view of who he should be on him, gifting him with things like watches - which he didn't wear - and cologne that was not his style. But Bella's gift not only suited him, it also would likely benefit him.

"Edward?" her soft voice interrupted his ruminating.

"Yes?"

"It's one thing not to look for something. I think that's a valid choice. But when something," she was obviously struggling, "special just happens... I think it'd be … a little cowardly to not try to figure it out. Fuck," she said, sounding frustrated. "I don't know how to do this."

Edward was silent as he tried to process her words. He reached up, guiding her head back onto his shoulder so he could look at her. Her eyes were nervous as they finally met his. She was so out of her depth. He leaned down, kissing her sweetly. "We have so many other questions," he worried out loud, against her lips.

"I know," she said, kissing him back. "It's too much to deal with all at once." They kissed again. "We're not going to figure out anything if we don't take it one step at a time."

"Starting with... us?"

Bella rubbed one hand over her bump. "I think that makes the most sense." While we have time, she left unsaid.

"Rules?" he asked quietly.

She smirked at him. "Rules are not conducive to problem solving."

He pretended to look hurt. "Are you calling me a problem?"

"If the shoe fits," she volleyed back. Then a serious look came over her features. "I think it's probably best if we keep this to ourselves, though."

~0~

"You are so wiggly today," Edward commented.

It was Tuesday and they were waiting to be called back for Bella's second ultrasound. Since their talk the previous Sunday, much had been different. They may have been reading out of completely different books, but on the issue of where they stood with each other, they were on the same page. It was, at least, a little more clarity than they'd had only a few days previous.

And while Edward was far from sure what he felt when it came to the baby, their interactions at the doctor's office were no longer uncomfortable and stilted. He still didn't feel a connection to the baby - a fact that worried him greatly when he dwelt on it - but he did feel a connection to Bella. He cared for her, and this was her child. He found, in that, some excitement in what they might find out that day.

Bella, oblivious to his inner monologue, glared at him indignantly. "You do realize how this all works, right?" she asked. "It's pregnant woman torture, essentially. You have to drink all this water, and then they press down with that wand thingy - because I'm not this close to peeing my pants as it is, right?"

Edward found the best course of action was to rub her shoulders soothingly while trying not to smile at her outburst. Luckily, they were called back then.

"Well," the technician said as they all concentrated on the screen, "Do we want to know the sex?"

"Yes," Edward and Bella answered together. They glanced at each other with small smiles. Edward squeezed her hand, rubbing his thumb over her fingers.

The technician smiled at them. "I foresee a lot of pink in your future."

A/N: Dear tellingmelies - bitch, you think I don't read my A/N's for clarity before I send them? You're lucky I flove you.

I'm going to end up owing my soul to TwilightMundi. Jadedandboring's miniest is in the hospital (please keep them in your thoughts – he's doing fine, but ya know that's trying for his poor parents), and josieswan has the never ending illness. TM saved my life with her betaing.

I am very sorry I didn't get to all of your lovely, lovely, amazing, reviews. I was a little overwhelmed! I know I say this a lot but I'll try to be better with this chappy. Maybe even with a little tease for next!

So! Did you find out the sex of your baby ahead of time? Were you happy?