AN: Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, and favorite tags for this story. I hope you like this chapter.
*I don't own them.
Positive
EPOV
A week before our wedding, Bella and I were on our way to pick up Rose to head to Soldier field for the first home preseason game. I couldn't wait for Bella and Rose to see the family suite. The past week had been relatively quiet, although there was one major distraction. I think the stress of it had been affecting Bella, as I knew it was affecting me, because she had felt a little off the last few days. It was either that, or the stress of her being the center of attention at her bridal shower, which the girls had held the day before. I was worried about her since the following week was going to be busy with guests arriving and wedding-related events. Our out-of-town wedding guests were going to start arriving this coming Wednesday. Both Angela and Jacob would be flying in that day. Then on Thursday, we were taking our guests with us to the Bears game. Friday was going to be our bachelor and bachelorette parties, Saturday was our rehearsal dinner, and Sunday the wedding.
I had pulled three double shifts in the last week, trying to make up some time that I would be missing. I would be off for twelve days straight starting this coming Wednesday, for pre-wedding festivities, the wedding, and the honeymoon. I detested the time away from Bella during double shifts and promised myself I would open my own practice before I put us through all that again in the future. I barely saw Bella for days and the time I did have free, when I wasn't sleeping, I had to spend on fittings and honeymoon planning. On Tuesday, Bella and I had gone to apply and get our marriage license and pick up the wedding rings we had engraved. That night Bella and I had gone to bed blissfully happy and eager to take our vows. However, on Thursday evening, when I returned home from another double shift, I found my Bella in tears.
I remember driving home that night, anticipating having dinner with my angel and falling into a much needed sleep with her in my arms. When I walked in, I didn't see Bella anywhere downstairs. I called out for her, but didn't hear any response. I quickly ran up the stairs and threw open the bedroom door. I saw her curled up in the bed and I heard her sobbing. I ran to her, kneeling on the floor beside her, pulling the covers back.
"Baby, what's wrong?" I asked, panicking. I gently brushed her hair back from her face and leaned closer to her.
"Sweetheart, please tell me what's wrong. You're scaring me." She just kept sobbing. I didn't know what to do or what happened. The only thing I could think of was to hold her close to me and try to calm her down. I tenderly picked her up and sat on the bed so I could place her in my lap. I hugged her tightly and then rubbed her back comfortingly, as I murmured how much I loved her over and over. I had no idea what could have happened that would have her so upset. I knew that she had been shopping with Alice earlier, but Alice surely would have called me if something awful had happened. I could feel her start calming down as her sobs lessened and her breathing relaxed. She had probably worn herself out. I gently lifted her chin and placed soft kisses around her face.
"Bella, what's wrong?" She opened her red-rimmed, teary eyes. What could it possibly be?
"I want your lawyer to draw up a prenuptial agreement for me to sign." She choked out.
What. The. Fuck.?
"Baby, what are you talking about? Why would you say that?" I had no idea what was going through her head.
"I'm signing a prenup. I want everyone to know I don't want a dime of your money if we get divorced." She said. I was starting to get really pissed off. I couldn't help it.
"Isabella, I don't give a fuck about any money. I love you and you love me. The last fucking thing I want to think about before I marry the love of my life is getting divorced. Can you please tell me what brought this on?" I knew I was being harsh with her, but I was really angry. She pushed herself off of me and stood by the bed.
"I just want to make sure it is clear before we marry that I have never and will never want to take any money from you." She stopped and took a deep breath. "Listen, I'm going to take a quick shower and then I will come down and we can have some dinner." She didn't even look at me. She just walked away and into the bathroom. I just sat there fuming. I had no idea what this was all about. But, I was going to find out.
I jumped off the bed and dialed Alice as I made my way downstairs.
"Hello, brother." She said when she picked up.
"Can you please tell me what the fuck happened today?" I asked her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked. I told her what just happened upstairs with Bella.
"Shit." She yelled and then said something to Jasper. "Edward, we are going to come over for a minute. Just order some delivery or something. Keep Bella calmed down. I will explain when I get there." She hung up. Alright, something happened while she was with Alice. I couldn't believe that my sister would say something to make Bella so upset. There had to have been someone else involved.
I ordered a bunch of Chinese food while I waited for Bella to come down. I was still angry, but I was going to make sure she was alright before I said anything more. I set plates and drinks out on the table so we could eat when the food arrived. I saw Bella walk in, dressed in some shorts and a t-shirt with her hair still wet. Her eyes were still red and puffy from crying and she looked really tired. I walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. I felt her slump against me like she was tired of fighting something. I couldn't stand this. I was going to kill somebody for making her feel like this. I nudged her down into a chair and poured her some lemonade that I know she likes. I saw her looking around the table.
"I ordered some Chinese. It should be here in a minute." I told her. She nodded and looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Edward. I'm sure you are confused and worried about me. I promise I am alright, I just...I'm not sure." She looked down and mumbled the last part. I lifted her chin up so she would look at me.
"Bella, all I know is that yesterday we were so happy, you were almost glowing. Then, I come home tonight and you are sobbing and talking about divorce and legal papers. I just want to know what happened from then to now." I wanted to hear the truth from her.
"Let's just say I was reminded of our differences in station and that you marrying me didn't look good for your family." She said. I was completely stunned in disbelief. My mouth just gaped as I tried to figure out a way to process the nonsense I had just heard. Luckily, I was saved by the bell. Literally.
Alice and Jasper rang the doorbell and I immediately heard the door open and Alice yell out in greeting. I heard them come into the dining room, but I still couldn't speak. I didn't want a string of highly volatile expletives to start streaming out of my mouth.
"Hey guys, I brought up the food. The delivery guy was down there when we were walking in. I will go ahead and set it out." Alice rambled on, as Bella and I simply sat there saying nothing. I watched as Alice set everything out, and made sure we all had drinks before both of them sat to join us. We were all just sitting there for a minute, nobody talking.
"OK, well I am just going to jump right in here." Alice said before turning to Bella. "Bella, if you listened to anything those two vapid bitches said, then you are not nearly as smart as I thought you were." Alice then started digging through boxes and putting food on her plate. I turned to scowl at Alice.
"Which two vapid bitches and what did they say?" I asked her.
"It doesn't even matter who. Those types are all the same. Stupid, petty, and thinking they are entitled because of daddy's plastic." She dismissed my questions and turned back to Bella. "Bella, I know they probably said some things that hurt your feelings, but you are too smart to let them get under your skin. I don't know exactly what they said, but whatever it was, you just have to hold your head high and ignore them. I promise you that is what I do."
"They said I was trailer trash and that I would bring down your family name. They said I should try to grab what I could because Edward would be tired of slumming it soon enough." Bella finally spoke and I wanted to find these bitches and destroy them.
"Well, they are a special brand of hateful, aren't they?" Alice said, shaking her head. It was no wonder Bella was upset. I was fucking upset and I wasn't even there. "But honey, all that shit that they spewed…none of it was true. That was pure jealousy and nothing more. Believe me, they will get what is coming to them." Alice was looking at me when she said that.
"Bella, let me tell you about what happened to me before I married Alice." I saw Bella look over at Jasper as he spoke up. "My family is not wealthy by any means, definitely blue collar. Well, I paid for my own college degree, I worked myself up in the company, and then I fell in love with Alice at a company get-together. My yearly income didn't come close to the change at the bottom of one of Alice's designer handbags." I saw a small smile appear on Bella's face. "So, when Alice and I announced our engagement, I was immediately labeled as a climber. I can't even tell you how many times I heard jealous fools saying I was marrying her to get a leg up in the company." He rolled his eyes. "I mean, all they had to do was look at my gorgeous Alice to see why I fell in love. Anyway, I got it from that side, but then I also got it from the rich side. I had plenty of trust fund babies telling me I wasn't worthy of her and brought nothing to the table. It was tough, but the only thing that mattered in the end was that I was going to be marrying the girl I loved and she loved me back." Alice grabbed his hand to hold. It would have been sort of sweet if I wasn't so pissed off. I looked back over at Bella. She exhaled a large gust of air and looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Edward. I guess I overreacted. I'm not used to this. I've been ignored before but I've never been hated. I'm not sure which is worse. I promise I will work on not letting things like that get to me." I didn't want her apologizing to me though. I wanted her to tell those bitches to go to hell.
"Bella, I love you. I truly hope you never listen to any of them again. Well, I hope more that nothing like that happens to you again. But, if it does, you need to know that I love you more than anything. I don't give two shits about money, titles, jobs, incomes, whatever. I don't care. I want you and only you, forever." I went over to her and gave her a long, slow kiss. I didn't release her face until Jasper cleared his throat, reminding us that they were still there. Bella was smiling at me so I went back to my seat. Bella seemed to have calmed down and felt reassured of my feelings, so I wanted to act normal instead of doing what I wanted which was to hunt down those harpies. I passed food to Bella so she would put some on her plate and I piled plenty on mine. Alice tried to sustain the lightened mood by telling us all about an entertaining meeting she had gone through with the wedding caterer.
We finally all got our fill of food and Jasper and Alice left for home. Bella looked worn out, so I begged her to go on up to bed while I cleared up the dining room. When I got up to the bedroom, she was just finishing changing the sheets that had been soaked during her crying jag. She was putting the last pillowcase on and I saw her collapse on the bed in exhaustion. I went and sat down next to her.
"Baby, are you really alright? You look so tired." I brushed her cheekbones lightly with my fingers. Her hand came up to hold mine against her face and she kissed it sweetly, turning her lips to my palm. She then brought her hands up my arms and tried to pull me closer to her. I bent down so my face was near hers and gently kissed her lips.
"Edward, would you make love to me? I need to feel close to you." She asked me, her voice soft as a whisper. I wondered if she was too tired, but I wasn't about to say no and make her think I was rejecting her after the day she had. I decided to lavish her body with as much attention as I could. I'm pretty sure I kissed every inch of her body. When I finally entered her, I held her as close to me as possible. I told her how much I loved her and needed her the entire time I was inside her. Afterwards, I continued holding her close to me until her soft, smiling sighs turned into slumber. I watched her for a long time, not being able to fall asleep. I vowed I would find out who said those things to her and there would be some retribution.
On Friday evening, I had to leave Bella to go to work an 18 hour shift. I was close to asking her to go see a doctor because she hadn't felt well all day and I wasn't sure it was just the stress from what she had gone through the day before. I actually ended up calling Rose and asking her if she would mind spending the night with Bella to make sure she had someone there if she got sick. I knew Emmett wasn't returning from training camp until the next day. Rose told me she would be there as soon as she could. I found Bella lying on the couch in the den and I brushed her hair back off of her face before giving her a kiss goodbye. I made her promise she would call me if she needed anything at all. I told Bella that Rose was coming over and she didn't even put up a fight about me being overprotective. I knew she wasn't feeling well at that point. Rose arrived just as I was about to leave.
"What's going on, Edward?" She asked me as I grabbed her bag from her and placed it near the stairs.
I took Rose to the kitchen to get her something to drink and I told her what had happened the day before. Rose looked furious and I was sure Alice would be receiving a call. Then I told her about Bella being so tired and that I thought she was feeling sick, but that she wouldn't tell me anything was wrong. She's so stubborn.
"I'll take care of her. Don't worry." She told me. "Oh, don't forget, we are setting up here around noon tomorrow and then the shower starts at two. So, don't come back here until five at the earliest." Shit. I had almost forgotten about Bella's bridal shower the next day.
"Alright, well you have my number. Please call me for anything because I am going to be worried the whole time I am at the hospital." I knew I was close to freaking out, but that's just me. Rose appeased me, of course, smiling and nodding as the women around me tended to do when I went into panic mode. She practically pushed me out the door.
On my way to the hospital, I called Alice and got her voicemail. I told her I wanted the names of the vapid bitches because her revenge wouldn't be nearly enough for me.
I spent most of my downtime either texting or talking to Bella or Rose over the next 18 hours. Rose told me around midnight to cut it out because Bella was sleeping and she was tired. But, I was back at it by seven am. Bella kept telling me she was fine, but to me, fine was codeword for ill. Damn, stubborn women. I called my mom early, before she left for the shower, to ask her if she would keep an eye on Bella during the party and let me know if she looked sick. I called Alice around eleven to see if she would actually answer my call. She did.
"Edward, what do you want from me?" Well, that wasn't a very pleasant greeting.
"I think it is important for me to get home after my shift ends. Bella might need a doctor there." I told her.
"Listen, Panicward. No, you are not allowed to come home at two. Just as Rose told you yesterday, you are not allowed back until five. Bella is perfectly fine. I am with her as we speak. You are going to go to my house when you are done with your shift. Jasper and Emmett are going to be there. You can boy around for a few hours and then you can come home. Any more questions?" She is so bossy.
"Fine. Bye. Tell Bella I love her." I said. I think she hung up on me somewhere in the middle though. I briefly considered calling her back to finish my sentence, but I decided against it.
I finally got out of work and headed to Jasper's place. I went right in and grabbed a beer before walking into the den and finding Jasper and Emmett in the middle of a video game. I slumped down in a recliner and chugged my beer back, wondering what kind of secret female rituals were going on at my house. After about twenty minutes, the guys realized I was sitting there.
"What's up, Edward?" Emmett asked me.
"Not much, just waiting until I am allowed to go home. How was training camp?" This would be his first night back sleeping in his own bed.
"Tough, man. The heat was brutal. But, we got a lot of good work done. I'm glad to be back though. Are you guys coming to the game tomorrow?"
"Yeah, wouldn't miss it. I want Rose and Bella to see the suite." I told him.
"Cool. You want to play?" I wasn't in the mood for video games. I wanted another beer.
"Nah, I'm good." I drank a couple more beers and chatted with the guys until around five when Alice texted me that it was alright to go home. I took off for home and found my Bella on the couch with my mom on one side and Rose on the other. I went and knelt down in front of Bella and gave her a hug and felt her face to see if she was warm.
"How are you feeling, love?" I asked her. She smiled at me and she looked much better than she had in a couple days.
"I feel fine, Edward. I told you that you were worrying for nothing." She said. My mom stood up and stretched.
"Well, this was a lot of fun. I think I am going to head on home. Where's Alice?" Mom asked.
"I think she is in the kitchen putting things away." Rose answered. Then she patted Bella on the knee and stood up. "I am going to leave, too. I need to go see my monkey man. It's been a long two weeks." She said, smiling.
"Tell him I love him." Bella said. Mom walked over towards Rose.
"Rose, will you and Emmett be at dinner tomorrow night?" She asked her.
"Yes, that would be great. We will probably go home and change after the game and then come on over." Rose told her.
"Terrific. I will walk out with you. Bye Bella. Bye Edward." Mom waved and Rose winked as they walked out. I sat down beside Bella as Alice waltzed in.
"Well, I'm taking off, too. I will see you both tomorrow at the game." She came over to hug Bella and whisper something in her ear. She messed up my hair as she passed me. "Bye, guys!" She said as she walked out the door. Bella fell over to lie on her side and rest her head on a pillow. I grabbed her legs, putting them over my lap so she could lay down straight. I slipped her shoes off and rubbed her feet. I heard little moans of enjoyment coming from her and I smiled.
"So, how was the shower?" I asked her. I wondered how she did being the center of attention.
"Ugh, I'm glad it's over. I mean, I appreciate everything, but they all spent way too much money on me and us. I hate being in the spotlight like that." Haha. I knew my girl. Before long, I heard her deep breathing and knew she had fallen asleep. My head fell back and I felt myself dozing off, too. When I woke up, I was lying down on the couch with a blanket over me. I heard Bella in the kitchen. I went in to find her and she came over to me and gave me a hug when I walked in.
"I see you woke up." She said, squeezing me tight. "I was about to go in and wake you up myself because I didn't want you to go to bed without having any dinner." I saw she had made me a plate. "We had a lot of leftovers from the shower and this is pretty light so you won't fall asleep with a heavy stomach." She said as she put it on the kitchen table. I looked at the clock and realized it was close to ten pm. I had slept for a while.
"Are you going to eat with me?" I asked her as I sat down.
"I'm sorry, I was hungry before and already ate something. But, I will sit here with you." She said. She came and sat with me at the table while I scarfed down the mini-sandwiches, fruit and veggies.
We talked more about the shower and I told her about seeing Emmett until I was finished eating. We decided to go ahead and go to bed since we had to get up early for the noon game tomorrow. I woke up to morning sunlight streaming in the windows, but felt no Bella next to me in bed. She must have already been downstairs. I took a shower and went down to join her. She was sitting at the kitchen table munching on some crackers and her face was flushed. I went over to feel her forehead and found her a little sweaty and I wondered if she had gotten ill again. She pushed my hand away from her forehead and smiled up at me.
"Edward, I'm fine. Do you mind just having some cereal this morning? I think I am going to go take a shower and get ready." Why is she even thinking about cooking me anything? I was worried about her health, not food.
"Baby, just take care of yourself. Is your stomach upset? I see you are eating crackers." I pointed out. "By the way, I'm fine with cereal every day. You know me, I'm easy." I gave her my signature grin. She just shook her head and smiled. She stood up, ran her hand through my hair, and left to go upstairs. I just wished she would tell me what was going on. I knew she was hiding something from me. When she came back down, she was in her matching Bears jersey and we ended up leaving around ten. We dropped by to get Rose and arrived at the stadium with a little less than an hour before gametime. I showed them where we parked, where our entrance was, and gave them their suite passes. We ran into a few familiar faces along the way, and I introduced Rose and Bella to several businessmen and friends of the family that had suites near ours.
We finally got to our suite and both the girls loved it. It was pretty nice. It was set up with large TVs all around, comfortable couches and chairs, and catered food. Plus, the sliding glass windows opened up so that we could sit out in the open-sky seats or stay inside. That was really convenient when the temperature was hovering around zero in December. The game went well and Emmett played most of the first half. It looked like he really was going to be the starting right tackle. I kept a close eye on Bella, noticing that she had quite a lot of bathroom breaks. Luckily, we had a private bathroom in the suite, so she didn't have to go out in the crowded public bathrooms. As we were leaving, Bella came over to grab my hand.
"Edward, Esme wants me to go over to their house now and ride with them. She has some wedding details she wants to go over before everyone gets there. Would you mind running by the house after you drop Rose off, and grabbing a shirt for me? I left some clothes on the bed for later." She asked me.
"Sure, baby. I will be over there as soon as I can." I told her and gave her a kiss, making sure mom and dad had her taken care of. Rose and I walked out to my car. When we got in, I started the inquisition.
"Rose, what is going on with Bella? Is she OK? Was she sick yesterday? I think she is hiding something from me." I was going crazy with worry. Rose just started chuckling at me.
She is fucking laughing and I am having a nervous breakdown!
"Calm down, Edward. You are going to give yourself an ulcer. Bella is fine. Just trust me." She patted my shoulder. She completely changed topics and started talking to me about Bella's bachelorette party coming up on Friday, the same night as my bachelor party. I glared at her when she asked if Bella would want male strippers. Over my dead body would she have male strippers. Rose just laughed. I dropped her off at her place and she said she would see us later. I hurried home and ran up the stairs when I got in the apartment. I looked to the bed, finding the clothes Bella had laid out, in addition to a wrapped box with a bow on top. I picked it up and looked at the small card.
For my Edward
Love, your Bella
I didn't have any idea what it was, but I couldn't tear it open fast enough. I gasped in shock when I opened the box and I couldn't stop the tears that fell from my eyes.
BPOV
With Edward gone so much working double shifts, I was able to get a lot of work done on my novel. I was actually getting really excited with my progress. I was pumping myself up to try and be brave enough to let Esme read it when I was finished. Tuesday had been very exciting and fun for me, as Edward and I went to get our marriage license and pick up our rings. The wedding seemed so much more official at that point. I felt like I was gushing as I told Esme all about the engraved rings when we had our weekly Wednesday lunch.
On Thursday, Alice picked me up to take me shopping for honeymoon clothes. The honeymoon was being kept a surprise from me and I still hadn't been able to get any information out of Edward. Alice was no help and I didn't get many clues from the clothes selections because they seemed all over the map. Alice had me trying on dresses, pants, shirts, pretty much everything. I think she was just trying to throw me off the scent. I walked out of my dressing room to stand in front of her in yet another outfit. She pursed her lips and looked me over from head to toe.
"I think I saw a pair of slacks that would go much better with that blouse. Let me go find them. I will be right back." I just shook my head as she ran off. I noticed two women about my age coming into the dressing area and I went back into my room to take off the pants. I heard the women talking loudly, obviously wanting me to hear them.
"I really can't believe that Edward is going to marry that nasty trailer trash." One of them said as I gasped. Were they talking about me? The other one started laughing.
"I know. She will definitely be a black mark on the Cullens. I wonder if she is housebroken?" I felt like I was going to throw up.
"Ha ha ha. You know Edward, he is thinking with his dick. She must give good head." I really felt ill then.
"Yeah, she better milk him for all he's worth while she can, because you know he will move on to the next slut soon enough." Edward wouldn't cheat on me, would he? He loved me.
"I can't believe his family is letting him slum it like this." I felt the tears forming in my eyes. I tried to calm myself down. I couldn't let Alice see me get upset.
"I know. The Cullens sure have fallen off their pedestal. Come on Krissi, let's get out of here. These clothes are trashy, perfect for someone that probably shops at Wal-mart." I took deep breaths as I heard them laughing as they walked out. I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
What was I doing here? I didn't belong here.
I heard a soft knock on my door and took another deep breath. I needed to get home.
"Bella, here I found the pants." She opened the door and handed them to me. I tried to smile at her. She came in, watching my face. "Are you OK, Bella?" She asked me.
Come on, Bella. Show her you are fine.
"Yeah, I'm just feeling a little nauseous. I think something I ate at lunch isn't settling well. Do you mind if we cut this short? I think I want to go home and lie down for a minute." I told her, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
"Sure, Bella. Let's get out of here." She grabbed the outfits she liked and took them to the front as I put my clothes back on. I think that I convinced her I was fine by the time we got back to my place. I kept a smile pasted on my face so she wouldn't worry and call Edward. I finally got her out of the house and carried my bags upstairs so I could break down properly.
I fell down on the bed and curled up, replaying their conversation over and over in my head. I wasn't good enough for Edward. I wasn't good enough for his family. Did I really believe that? The Cullens had always made me feel so welcome, made me feel like I already had a place with them. Then, I remembered the jabs about me wanting their money. That was ridiculous. I didn't want a dime from them. I felt the tears streaming down my face. Of course, that is what others would think of me. They would see me as trying to get something from Edward. Trying to get into their rich world through him and his family. How could I show Edward and the Cullens that I didn't want anything from them except their love? I thought about a prenuptial agreement. If I had it in writing that I didn't want anything from them, then they would have no doubt about my intentions. I heard a small voice in my head telling me I was overreacting. That nothing those two women said was true. That the Cullens loved me and had no doubt about my love for Edward. But, that voice was getting drowned out by the words spoken by those women.
The worst part was thinking about what they said regarding Edward leaving me for someone else. I felt like my heart was breaking at even the thought of Edward being with another woman. I couldn't control the sobs that were racking my body. I was almost delirious in my grief until I felt Edward gather me in his arms. I knew he was there, I felt his arms around me, I heard his voice in my ear. I tried to calm myself down. The ache in my heart was still present, but I felt my body start to wear itself out. I could feel the worry emanating from Edward. I finally got myself together enough to tell him the first thing I could think of, that I wanted a prenup. I wanted to assure him that I didn't want any money from him or his family. He didn't seem to take it very well. I knew I needed to compose myself more before I talked with him, so I went to take a shower. I hated being so broken in front of him.
After I showered, I went downstairs to make some dinner for us. Edward wrapped me up in his arms and I felt myself give in to the feeling of being close to him. I don't know what I would ever do without him. I was almost numb when I felt him put me in a chair. I looked around the table trying to comprehend that he was setting it for dinner. He told me he ordered delivery and I felt even more useless. I knew he was worried and I couldn't find the right words to explain anything. I was still trying to come up with something to say when Alice and Jasper walked in. Alice snapped me out of my funk with her words, telling me that I should know better than to believe anything those women said. But, it was Jasper's words that made the small voice from earlier start roaring in my head. I was overreacting and I was being stupid.
Hadn't Edward showed me over and over how much he loved me? Yes.
Had the Cullens ever even once made me feel unworthy? No.
I was being an idiot. I apologized to Edward. He was probably out of his mind with worry. I didn't understand the cattiness and pettiness present with some people in their world, but I knew deep down what those women had said wasn't true. I felt drained from the emotional upheaval of the day. As I changed the sheets on the bed, trying to erase the image of being curled up in agony, all I could think about was Edward holding me close. I needed to feel him. I asked him to make love to me and he made me feel beautiful, wanted, and desired as he adored my body. My arms and legs sought to bring him closer and closer to me during our union. There was nothing better than the feeling of him inside me. I felt complete as he held me tightly after our climax. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted from my emotional purge.
The next day, I felt fatigued and nauseous, my body recovering from the stress of the day before. I couldn't even stand the smell of the coffee I made us in the morning. The scent of it made me run to the bathroom and throw up the empty contents of my stomach. Edward was still so worried about me. He sat with me all day as we snuggled together watching movies and cuddling before he had to leave for work. I tried to assure him I was fine, but I knew he didn't believe me. I was just tired. When he told me Rose was coming over, I didn't have the energy to fight him about it.
Rose and I commiserated over ice cream as I told her everything that happened the day before. I knew she was close to flipping her lid. I sincerely hoped she was never alone in a room with those two women because I didn't want her to go to trial for murder. She kept me entertained as she talked about Alice's plans for the shower the next day and gave me a pedicure, all the while laughing with me over Edward's worrying texts and phone calls. He was cute when he worried, but I tried to assure him I was fine.
"Bella, do you have a pumice stone?" She asked me. I thought that I had one in a manicure kit in my bathroom.
"I think I do. Let me go grab it." I told her before going upstairs. I opened the door under the sinks and looked around for my kit. I saw my unopened box of tampons and fell down to the floor on my butt. My mind started racing. When was my last period? I was always pretty regular and I knew I hadn't had one since I had been in Chicago. I was sure my last period ended a week before I left for Angela's wedding in New York. That would have been at least six weeks ago.
Oh my God!
Was I pregnant? I felt like slapping myself. It wouldn't be at all shocking if I was, because it wasn't like Edward and I weren't anticipating the possibility. I thought over the signs from the last couple days. I was tired, I was nauseous, things smelled off, and my emotions were all over the place. I didn't even hear Rose come into the bathroom.
"Hey, are you OK?" She asked, looking at me sitting there with a box of tampons in my hand. "You've been up here forever." I smiled at her. I am much better than OK.
"Rose, I think I might be pregnant." I saw the look of shock on her face as she plopped down to sit next to me.
"Pregnant?" She said again, probably wondering if I was happy or upset about it. I smiled brightly, thinking of being pregnant with Edward's baby.
"Is it good if you are?" She asked. She was watching my face closely. "I can see it is. You are smiling like a mental patient." She joked. She seemed to be hesitating to say something.
"Rose, really it is alright if I am. I know you are probably thinking it is too fast, that I am too young, that we should wait for children. But, I want children with Edward and I know he is going to be thrilled." I assured her.
"Well, everything seems to be fast with you and Edward. I guess this should be no exception." She said as she smiled at me. "We need to get a pregnancy test." She leaned over and gave me a hug.
"It's already midnight. Let's just get one in the morning." I told her. We both fell asleep together on one of the guest beds, after staying up talking about babies.
My phone woke me up at seven. I smiled as I saw it was Edward calling again to check on me. After talking with him briefly, my phone rang again. This time it was Alice. She was coming over early to bring food and decorations for the shower. She asked me if I needed her to bring anything when she came over. I bit my lip as I looked at Rose still asleep on the bed. I decided to go for it.
"Alice, um….do you think you could stop at a drugstore and get me a pregnancy test?" I asked. The shriek she let out was loud enough to wake up Rose. I started laughing.
"Oh my God, Bella. Are you saying what I think you are saying?" She asked me.
"Well, I guess I will find out after the test." I told her. She squealed again.
"OK, I will be over there ASAP. Don't go pee yet!" She told me. When she said that I realized I really needed to go. Damn her for reminding me.
"Then you better hurry before I wet myself." I joked…halfway joked. I really did need to go.
"I am already out the door. I will see you soon. I will bring it up to you. Just stay upstairs." She instructed. She was definitely in General Alice mode.
"See you in a minute." I said before ending the call. Rose looked at me sleepily.
"So, Alice is getting the test?" Rose asked.
"Yep. She'll be here soon." I told her and her head fell back to the pillow. I bounced around, holding it in until Alice arrived. I heard her come in through the front door and race up the stairs.
"I'm here! Come on, Bella." I met her in the hall as she grabbed my hand to take me to my bathroom. She turned the bag over on the counter and six different tests came tumbling out.
"Geez, Alice. You didn't have to get every kind." I chided.
"You want to be sure." She said. I continued bouncing around, waiting for her to read the instructions. They were all basically the same, so I took one of the cups to go, trying not to make a mess. She grabbed the cup from me when I was done and started all the tests.
"Alice, that's gross. You are touching my cup of pee." I looked at her curiously. She just waved her hand.
"Please. I grew up in a house of doctors. This is nothing." She assured, but I was glad to see her wash her hands after she was done. We both went in to sit on the bed with Rose to wait three minutes. Alice was beaming smiles at me while Rose was rubbing her face, still trying to wake up. It felt like forever before Alice said it was time and we all jumped up to go look at the results.
Positive.
Positive.
Positive.
Positive.
Positive.
Positive.
Alice and Rose grabbed me simultaneously in hugs. The three of us were jumping around like lunatics in the bathroom, squealing and laughing and crying. We finally stopped jumping around. Rose was wiping up her tears with tissues.
"I think I am going to go down and make some breakfast for our mommy here." Rose said as she patted my belly lovingly. I smiled at her as I watched her walk out. I turned to Alice.
"Oh Bella, I'm just so happy for you. Edward is going to go out of his mind." Her words had me thinking about how I wanted to tell Edward. I wanted to make it special for him.
"I want to tell Edward in some special way. Do you have any ideas?" I asked her. I could almost see the wheels turning in her mind.
"Do you think that you would be able to hold it in until tomorrow?" She asked. I frowned. Did I want to wait another day to tell him? He was already so worried about me. But, I did want to do something special.
"What do you have in mind? I hate keeping anything from him, especially something as big as this, but I want the announcement of his first child to be special." I told her. She nodded at me.
"Well, I was thinking that you could give him an actual gift and let him open it when he least expects it." She went on to tell me her brilliant plan. I was so excited and agreed that it would be even better if he got it tomorrow. I had only one more reservation.
"Will your parents be OK with me getting pregnant before we actually get married?" I asked, worried about what they would think.
"Oh, Bella. If you thought me and Rose were excited, you haven't seen anything yet. My mom and dad are going to go nuts. Believe me, they are going to be crazy happy." She said and gave me a hug. That made me feel a lot better. Now, I just had to keep this a secret until tomorrow. I was a horrible liar, but I was going to try. She patted my arm.
"Alright, let me get these together and hide the evidence." She said, referring to the tests and boxes. "You go on down and have some breakfast. I am going to go get the rest of his gift and you write out your note. I will be back in plenty of time to get you ready for your shower." I left to go downstairs as she gathered everything. I grabbed a piece of stationary and a pen before going in to sit at the kitchen table. Rose had cooked up some bacon and scrambled eggs and it smelled great. I thought about what I wanted to say to Edward and started writing.
Dearest Edward,
As you have probably guessed by now from the other items in this box, you are going to be a father. I hope that you are as happy as I am right now, knowing I am carrying your child within me. I love you more than words could ever describe. I am comforted in the knowledge that our child has the kindest, most generous, most loving, most beautiful, and most wonderful man in the world as his or her father.
I hope you like your first gift from your baby.
Forever yours,
Bella
I ate my breakfast as I let Rose read it over, tears pouring from her eyes. I told her about Alice's idea for how to tell Edward. She agreed that it was inspired. She did tease me though because she had doubts I could hold it in until tomorrow. She could always read me like a book. Rose escaped upstairs, as I was finishing my breakfast, to shower and change. After cleaning up the breakfast dishes, I came out of the kitchen just as Alice arrived back. We packaged up Edward's gift together and she cried also when she read the note before placing it in the box. I filled out the namecard so Edward would know to open it. We hid the gift in my part of the closet and Alice told me to jump in the shower while she and Rose started setting up downstairs. I laughed thinking about Alice putting up decorations. It was just going to be the women of the family. But, I let her do it because she enjoyed it. I knew she just wanted my day to be special.
When I got out, I dressed in the pretty dress Alice had laid out for me. She came back up and styled my hair into soft waves. I actually had a good time at the bridal shower. It was the first time I had been to something like this. Katherine, Elizabeth, and Esme had all showed up at exactly two and we enjoyed Alice's refreshments, games, and presents. They definitely overdid it on the gifts, but I was expecting nothing less. I was finding it extremely difficult to contain the happy news from them all. I had to bite my lip a couple times to keep myself from blurting it out.
The difficulty only increased when Edward got home. I was fortunate that I fell asleep and woke up seeing him asleep. I couldn't reveal the news if he wasn't conscious. I was actually proud of myself that my plan seemed to be working perfectly. When we got to the stadium the next day, I had been successful in keeping everything to myself. Alice had Esme ask me to come over early and show me something for the wedding. I knew Esme didn't know about the baby yet, but she played along with Alice knowing we had some sort of surprise for Edward.
As I was riding in the car with Esme and Carlisle on the way to their house, I couldn't help smiling, thinking about Edward opening the box. Alice and I had tied a ribbon around one of the pregnancy tests depicting a pink positive sign in the window. We placed it in the box with a couple t-shirts. One shirt was for Edward saying "I'm going to be a daddy" and the other shirt was for the baby saying "I love my daddy".
When we arrived, Esme and I started getting dinner prepared in the kitchen. All of Edward's grandparents were there talking with Carlisle in the living room. Jasper and Alice arrived followed quickly by Rose and Emmett. I kept looking at the clock and nervously bouncing on my feet. Esme asked me if everything was alright and I bit my tongue again to keep from telling her. I just nodded.
Esme and I had just joined the others in the living room when I heard the front door close. My heart was pounding as I turned toward the direction of the door. Edward came rushing in and I saw he was wearing his shirt. I'm sure nobody else saw the writing on it because he ran straight to me, picking me up in a hug and kissing me thoroughly. My arms immediately went around his neck as I returned his kisses with tears streaking down my face. I started to hear everyone in the room chuckling and clearing their throats. I didn't care that Edward and I were making a scene. I only cared that Edward was as happy as me. He finally pulled back a little and I saw he was crying, too. But, the smile he had on his face was brilliant.
"Thank you." He said softly. "I'm so happy right now I feel like I am going to burst. I love you so much." He kissed me again. Eventually, we turned toward the family who were all staring at us. I saw Rose and Alice crying. Then, Esme gasped as she read Edward's t-shirt and understood what was going on. She burst into tears and ran over to me to give me a hug. Edward composed himself and addressed everyone with three simple words.
"We are pregnant." He said.
The rest of the evening became a blur of congratulations and tears of happiness. Emmett was even a little misty when he gingerly picked me up in one of our bear hugs. He was going to be a great uncle.
Edward didn't leave my side all night and I had never felt as much joy as I did when he laced our fingers together and placed both our hands on my tummy.
AN2: Check out my new story called Choices. It is my version of the Twilight saga if Alice had seen everything coming. I love sexy doctors, but I love sexy vampires, too.