ASL 19

Time Stamps

BPOV:

It was hard to believe sometimes that Edward and I had been married for a year and a half already. It seemed like just yesterday we were making out in the back of the limo while making our way from the ceremony to the reception. The reception I may not remember in the greatest detail, but our wedding night… I remember every second of our wedding night.

We spent the night in a suite at The Four Season's hotel. It was beautiful and luxurious. Edward had a bottle of champagne chilling and waiting in the room when we got there. It had already been a long day for both of us, but there was a vast amount of excitement and expectation in the air.

I went into the large bathroom to change. I was still wearing the wonderful dress that Alice had made for me. She was amazing for all the help she gave me planning the wedding. She did a lot of it for me, but at the same time, did nothing without my approval. The wedding was perfect, everything that I had ever wanted or dreamed of for my wedding day. Including going barefoot, that was Alice's suggestion and one that I gladly jumped on.

I slipped off the dress, folded it nicely, and placed it on the counter while I ran a quick bath. I felt like I had sand everywhere. I pulled the flowers from my hair as I let my hair out of the bun and ran a brush through it.

I took about a half hour in the bathroom cleaning up and relaxing. I slipped on the complimentary robe and walked back out to the main room, Edward had a movie on the TV and a tray of crackers, cheese, and fruit set out for us while he lounged on the bed. He kissed me and excused himself to take a quick bath.

I had changed into my new negligee that I had gone shopping for with Angela. I was really glad that I had her around to help me because the only other women in my life were Edward's mother, sisters, and ex-wife. Yeah, that was so not happening.

Angela suggested that I go with cream since that was the color of my wedding dress. I really didn't see the reasoning behind that but I found a cream one made of satin and lace that I absolutely loved, so I got it.

I crawled onto the bed to wait for Edward, who was back out of the bathroom a lot quicker than I was. He joined me on the bed and leaned over to kiss me. It was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that he was my husband now.

As Edward shifted so that he was lying on top of me, I threaded my hand through his hair. I moaned and arched my back when he grabbed my breast with his hand. I was by no means a virgin, but it had been so long since I had been with a man I could barely stand it anymore. I wrapped my leg around his and maneuvered us so that I had flipped us over and I was on top of him.

He ran his hands up and down my thighs as I straddled him. I reached down and pulled off my nightgown, leaving me naked and causing Edward to groan. He reached for my breasts again as I leaned down to kiss him. I shifted, grabbing the ends of the towel that was wrapped around his waist and pulled it open leaving him naked under me.

I wrapped my hand around him, eliciting a "FUCK" out of him. He grabbed my face and started kissing me harder and then he moved his head to kiss my neck. He moved one of his hands to my ass and pushed me more into his other hand that was now between us and driving me crazy with the way that he was rubbing me in just the right way. It wasn't long before we were both ready and I lifted a little and lowered myself on him.

It had been so long for both of us that neither of us lasted that long that first time. It was a little awkward as we both got to know what the other enjoyed. By the time that we were too exhausted to go anymore, we had made love two more times. It still wasn't perfect but it was more amazing than anything else that I had ever felt.

Ethan tearing through the apartment got my attention and I yelled for him to stop running. I finished wrapping our gifts and put them on the table by the door so we wouldn't forget them. Which, given my state of mind lately, was entirely possible. Ethan was dressed and happily watching cartoons so I went to the bedroom to get ready to go.

I heard the shower turn off while I was still standing in front of the closet trying to find something to wear. "Everything in here makes me look like a whale," I whined as I heard Edward come out of our bathroom.

"You do not look like a whale. You're very beautiful and very pregnant with my babies," he said as he kissed me. Yes. That was babies in the plural sense, as in two babies at one time. Rose had to talk me down from the ledge after we heard the two heart beats. She said that if she and Emmett could survive twin daughters then Edward and I would be just fine. I still wasn't so sure.

I knew we were going to be expected to announce the sex of the babies today. Everyone knew that we'd had picked up Ethan last night especially to take him with us to the ultrasound appointment. Normally Edward or I would pick him up on Monday's afterschool and keep him until it was time for school on Thursday mornings. We very rarely had him with us on the weekend due to Edward's hours at the bar. He worked most of the night, getting home right before dawn, and then would sleep most of the day.

I was excited to discover that I was pregnant a couple months after our anniversary. We hadn't really discussed trying but we both were clear that we wanted to have kids together. Edward was absolutely thrilled when I told him.

…Pregnant! I was going to have a baby. More importantly, I was going to have Edward's baby. I looked back down at the little white stick in my hand and got really excited. It was a good thing that I was alone in the apartment because I was squealing and laughing and running around in my pajamas doing a happy dance. I couldn't wait for Edward to get home from work so that I could tell him.

While I waited up for him to get home from the bar, I started making lists of questions that I wanted to ask the doctor. I would have to remember to call and make an appointment first thing in the morning.

Unfortunately, I was in the bathroom when he came home and in the three minutes it took me to get back out to the bedroom he had passed out. He literally fell onto the bed fully clothed and was snoring away. So I covered him with a blanket and crawled into bed myself.

When I woke up again, it was early afternoon and Edward was not in bed. I padded out into the living room to find him lying on the sofa watching a rugby game. "You've totally corrupted me, babe," he commented without even turning to look at me. "You want some pizza?" he said, pointing out the open box on the coffee table. The sight of the greasy pepperoni set off my stomach and sent me running out of the room. I ran back to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, put my head between my knees, and took some deep breaths.

I hadn't actually thrown up once yet, but the smells and even the sight of some foods would make me quite nauseous. Edward was right behind me with a look of concern on his face and sat down next to me and started rubbing my back.

"I waited up for you to get home last night."

"Really? I was so wiped out. It was a packed house all night. I literally had to kick every one out at closing time." I nodded, knowing that it was a good thing to have a night like that. They happened, but not often enough.

"Big game or something?"

"Yeah, some big international soccer match that ran late. I'm sorry I didn't see you. Was there a reason you stayed up? You're usually asleep long before I get home and lately you've been so tired, you've been sleeping later than me on your days off."

"There's a reason for that actually. I'm pregnant."

"Really? You're sure?" I nodded. "When did you find out?"

"I took a home test last night but all the signs are there."

He grabbed me and kissed me before looking me straight in the eyes, "I couldn't be happier about this. I love you so much."

…

I finally grabbed maternity jeans that Rose had loaned me and one of Edward's sweatshirts from the closet and threw them on. By the time I was done with my hair I was too frustrated and hot to deal with makeup so I just went without. I didn't care and neither would anyone else there.

Today was Tanya and Felix's daughter, Madison's, first birthday and there was going to be a big party at their house. Knowing Felix and his friends, this party was going to be epic. I had heard something about bouncy castles and petting zoos being mentioned in passing.

I went back out to the living room to find Edward and Ethan talking about baby names. "Hey! Shouldn't I be involved in this conversation?"

EPOV:

I smiled at my wife with her little baby bump as she sat down on the other side of Ethan and started playing with his hair. He normally wouldn't allow that but he was a little afraid of saying the wrong thing. One day, when I took him home when Tanya was getting to the end of her pregnancy, she greeted him at the door by saying that she missed her baby. He told her that he wasn't a baby anymore, causing her to burst into tears. I guess it took over an hour for Felix to get her to calm down. The poor kid learned the hard way to watch what he says to a pregnant woman.

"We were just throwing some ideas out there." She smiled and closed her eyes, letting her head rest against the back of the couch. She was so tired all the time. I didn't know if that was because of the extra baby or what but it had me so concerned for awhile that I brought it up to her doctor. She said that it was normal with any pregnancy but would be more pronounced since Bella was carrying twins.

"Is Angela bringing Mia to the party?" I asked Bella.

"I think so. I think that Seth is coming with them." After what that ass Ben did to Angela she was afraid to get out there and trust a guy again. Even though she told Bella that she liked Seth, she wouldn't even entertain the idea of dating again. I knew that they had met at our wedding and had become friends, but he had wanted more and she refused. The best part was that he absolutely adored Mia. He watched her more often for Angela than the rest of us did.

"Have you thought about what you want to do for your birthday?" Bella asked Ethan. One thing that Tanya and I agreed on, in respect to Ethan, was that he should only have one birthday party. His siblings would only have one and it would be quite unfair for him to get two just because we were divorced. It wasn't like we couldn't be in the same room with each or anything. But his birthday was in a little over a month and we had to start planning for it.

"I want to go to Chuck E. Cheese!" He always wanted to go to there. I sighed, knowing that I was going to get stuck there for a whole afternoon since there was no good reason to tell him no.

"Ok. We'll talk to your mom about it soon. But now, we have to get going."

"I don't really have to get up right now, do I?" Bella groaned.

"If you don't feel up to going, no one is going to be upset if you stay home and rest."

"Everyone will be upset. They are expecting an announcement from us and we have to do it together. If we don't tell everyone today there will be a lynch mob, headed by your ex-wife. And if you tell everyone what we're having without me then I will be upset and will lead a one woman lynch mob against you!"

I nodded and helped her off the couch. There was no way that I was going to make it through the next four months with my sanity intact.

When we arrived at the party my parents were already there and helping out. I made Bella sit on the couch and rest while Ethan and I went to find his mother. By the time I got back to the living room my sisters were there, hounding Bella to get information out of her. I was about to warn them to back off, that they were pushing too much, but Bella blew up and told them to "shut the fuck up and leave her alone for five fucking minutes." My mother burst out in laughter. I was just glad that there were no children in the room for her outburst.

I couldn't remember one minute of Tanya being pregnant with Ethan and it was something that I truly hated. I could even remember the first three years of his life without watching videos. Everyone told me that in the long run it wasn't going to be a huge deal, that it is a small amount of time considering the years of memories I will have with him. That was bullshit in my opinion. It was all the firsts of his that I wanted… first hand memories of what I had lost and would never be able to get back. I had to wonder if he'd ever hold it against me when he was old enough to understand that I forgot him.

It was because of that that I was cherishing every second of Bella's pregnancy. Every food craving and every mood swing was everything to me. I didn't care if she called me away from the bar because she wanted something. It only happened twice and both times it had been a nacho platter that Emmett made, not to serve at the bar but at home. I gladly made sure that he got everything that he needed to make it and then ran it the few blocks to our apartment.

Three hours later the party was finally over and it was just the family left and we sat down to relax and talk for a while. They were still chomping at the bit for us to tell them the sex of the babies. As soon as we told them, Emmett and I had to leave for work. It was Saturday night and we were needed to help with the heavy crowds. It was getting close to the playoff for the MLB, and Seattle had a great chance to make it all the way and that had been really good for business. Whenever the home teams, didn't matter which sport, hit a winning streak business boomed. The more the team would win, the happier the fans were and were inclined to celebrate by drinking and eating more. Emmett and I were joking the other day about finding a way to ensure that the Seahawks made it the Super bowl too so we could have our best year yet.

Bella was fast asleep by the time that I dragged my butt into our apartment after closing the bar. I looked around and wondered if we shouldn't look for a house to buy in the suburbs. It wasn't like we couldn't afford it, and it would be nice to have a yard for the kids to play in. Bella and I had discussed it before and she was against the idea. Bella brought up the fact that having a yard also meant having a lawn that needed to be mowed all the time, and my job was not conducive for me be available to mow during acceptable hours. I worked from afternoon to early morning and slept most of the time that I was home. Unless Bella was home, then I stayed awake to spend time playing with her.

I didn't particularly want to commute every morning either. Emmett hated his drive home and often stayed at the bar or on our couch if the roads got too bad or if he was too tired to drive, but that was a rare occurrence. You get used to the strange hours after a while.

A few days after Maddy's birthday party, Tanya showed up at the bar and asked if we could talk in private. Once we were in my office she walked over to the sofa and sat in silence. I knew my ex-wife well enough to know that whatever she had to say to me was big. It wasn't like her to show up at the bar for a chat. Maybe she and Felix were finally getting married.

"You want a beer?" I asked her, trying to give her time to get her thoughts together.

"No. Thank you though,. I…uh…I went to the doctor last week and they found a lump."

I fell into the chair behind my desk. We sat there for a few minutes while it all set in for me, "Well, fuck." I finally said rubbing my face with my hands.

"Yeah"

"What's the plan? How are they going to treat it?"

"A double mastectomy and then chemo."

"Wow. That's aggressive. What about Ethan?"

"That's why I'm here. That's a decision that we need to make together. I will need to rest a lot and I know Bella is really pregnant and all, but I thought he could stay with you? Maddy, too? If it's too much for Bella, I was thinking that your Mom might help."

"When do you go in for the surgery?"

"Tomorrow. I just found out this afternoon. They said it's imperative that we move fast on this."

"Bring them over tonight. I'll call Bella and tell her what's going on."

"Thank you, Edward. You really are an amazing man. I don't know how to repay you for taking Maddy too."

"Just concentrate on kicking this cancer's ass." I hugged her and watched her leave before telling Jane that I had to head home for the night. This was not something that I really wanted to tell Bella over the phone. I knew that Bella would be fine with both kids staying with us, and our family would do whatever needed to be done to help Tanya cope and heal. It didn't matter that we were divorced and had moved on, she was the mother of my son and would always be a part of my family.

A/N:

Happy Saturday! I just got home from taking my son and niece to the zoo and I am pooped. There are two more regular chapters of this and then an epilogue. I am already working on a one-shot and another full chapter story.

Thank you to Sweetpea123 who does amazing work cleaning this up for me. Reviews will get teaser.