Chapter 26
Esme flitted about the room baby proofing everything in sight. Alice was only a few months along but Esme had flown down to re-do the whole house so it was baby safe. She had also transformed Jaspers old bedroom into a nursery. It was a beautiful nursery, painted yellow so that it was uni-sex. Jasper and Alice had decided they didn't want to know the sex of the baby. They wanted a surprise. Soon after we found out about Alice's pregnancy Emmet reluctantly went back to Africa and Rosalie resumed work for the Interior Design business her and Esme had established. Edward was finishing his residency at the local emergency room and I was still working at my news paper. Life was good. Alice still worked on her clothing line, the big show happening Saturday night and Jasper was off in New York promoting a friend of a friend's new book.
I stood in the kitchen attempting to figure out how the baby locks worked when i heard Alice enter the room. It was like from the minute she said she was pregnant she ballooned to twice her size. She was often complaining about how fat she was. It made me laugh. Her normal petite frame looked weighed down by a swollen belly and her feet, which normally donned heels, were to puffy to fit into any of her regular shoes.
'This baby had better love me! I'm sacrificing fashion for its life,' she said angrily lowering herself into the lounge chair. We all fondly referred to her baby as Squishy because of the first ultra sound. We had sent a photo to Emmet and Carlisle in Africa and the response was (from Emmet), it looks all squishy. So Alice and Jaspers poor baby had been dubbed Squishy. I patted her swollen abdomen and leaned in, 'Don't worry Squishy, your Mommy loves you!' I said and Alice swiped at me.
'When Emmet gets back I'm going to kill him for that name!' She said grumpily. I laughed.
'So have you and Jasper thought of any names yet,' I asked taking a sip of tea. Alice shook her head.
'We want to get to know the baby first; I don't like the idea of naming a baby before it's born. You don't get to know its personality,' I nodded.
'We named all of you kids before you were born and I think your names all suit you,' Esme said now taking a seat beside Alice and placing her hand on her stomach.
'What would I have been called if I was a boy?' She asked looking at Esme. Esme grinned.
'Carlisle was set on the name Elijah, so that we had three boys all having their name starting with E, but I liked Jayden. I was so happy when you were a girl tho, I loved Alice. It was perfect for you,' Esme smiled and held her arms although she was nursing a baby.
'So if either Emmet or Edward had been a girl would they have been called Alice?' I asked and Esme shook her head.
'No, Emmet would have been Elizabeth and Edward would have been Amelia,' She said resting her hand on Alice's belly again. Alice laughed.
'Thank god Emmet was a boy, can you imagine a girl of that size being named Elizabeth,' She giggled and Esme glared at her.
'Elizabeth would have been very beautiful,' she said grinning. Secretly we were all imagining Emmet in a dress with long hair and badly applied make-up. 'Edward would have made a pretty girl,' she said her face now serious. I laughed at the idea but then pondered it. Edward would have made a very pretty Amelia.
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It was early Saturday morning when Edward and I heard our door open. Edward grumbled and rolled over back to sleep but I sat up to see a very sad looking Alice.
'I miss him,' she said as a tear ran down her face. I patted my bed, inviting her to come lay next to me. She heaved herself on and crawled up between the sheets. Edward woke up with a start and let out a little scream. We both laughed. He cursed us and then hopped out of bed and walked out of the room.
'He's coming back tonight for the show,' I said cuddling her into my side. Jasper had been gone for two months now and we were all beginning to miss him. Even Edward who never had a close relationship with him was getting antsy for his return.
'Yes but I am twice my size, what if he doesn't like me anymore!' she said tearfully and I laughed. I tried to imagine a time when Jasper wouldn't love Alice.
'Don't be silly, Jasper loves you regardless of how you look. You could transform into a deformed pig tomorrow and he would still love you to pieces!' I said and she looked up still crying.
'Do I look like a deformed pig?' She said her voice beginning to wail and I rolled my eyes.
'No Alice, you look beautiful no matter what!' I said getting annoyed at her hormones. She had been up and down like this for a while and it was beginning to wear on everybody's nerves. One minute she would be the happy bubbly Alice we all knew the next she would be screaming at whoever was closest to her. Esme had reassured us that she was similar when she was pregnant and that Carlisle often took the grunt of it. She also said she was glad Edward was too young to remember her angry outbursts; the same couldn't be said for Emmet. It was hard to imagine Esme angry, but a year ago I would have said the same of Alice.
Alice now looked at me smiling. 'You always know what to say,' and she cuddled down into the sheets and fell fast asleep. She still clung me close to her body so I found my escape hard without waking the beast. I carefully manoeuvred my way out of her arms but forgot to actually step out of bed. I fell to the floor with a loud clunk. I sat up quickly making sure I hadn't woken Alice. She still slept peacefully. I tip-toed out of the room and into the kitchen where I found Esme and Rosalie working and an irritated Edward making coffee. I walked behind him and kissed his neck. His mood seemed to lighten as he turned and wrapped his arms around my waist.
'Hello my beautiful Bella,' He said, smiling his dazzling smile. I still, after 5 months, had my breath taken away by it. My knees grew week and I fell closer into his body when I heard a scream. I faced to see where the scream had come from and saw Alice hobbling out of our room. Edward and Esme ran to her side asking her incoherent questions of whether or not she was okay. She started to complain of pains and Edward immediately rushed her out the door screaming for me to grab the car keys. I panicked and grabbed them (since Edward started working at the hospital Carlisle had bought him a Volvo) rushing after them Rosalie and Esme hot on my trail. Rosalie had already pulled her phone out and was dialling Jaspers number while Esme rang ahead to the hospital. We darted down to the car-park where Edward had already loaded a pained looking Alice into the back seat. I threw him the keys and hopped in the passenger side of the car while Esme and Rosalie situated themselves either side of Alice.
'We don't need to worry too much, I think its Braxton Hix Contractions, but we need to get her checked out any way,' Edward reassured us.
'DONT NEED TO WORRY!' Alice screamed from the back. 'THIS HURTS, THE WORST PAIN IVE EVER FELT AND YOUR SAYING WE DONT NEED TO WORRY' She threw a shoe at the front missing Edward by inches. He just smiled and reversed out of his parking position.
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I sat next to Rosalie while Esme tried to make a call to Africa. We had been waiting in the waiting room for over an hour and we were beginning to realise that Alice's pains weren't just false contractions. I nervously sat twiddling my thumbs when Jasper stormed into the waiting room an anxious mess. He walked straight to us and incoherently babbled.
'Jasper! Calm down, we don't know what's happening but I'm sure if you ask at the front desk they'll tell you,' Rosalie said offering comfort to her brother. He turned and bolted to the front counter asking the poor nurse were Alice was. The nurse nervously picked up the phone and made a call.
'She's in room 18, but only you are allowed,' she said eyeing Esme, Rosalie and I. He nodded and bolted down the hall. Esme now joined us in the waiting room. As soon as Jasper entered the room Edward exited. Esme jumped up.
'Is she okay? The Baby?' She asked quickly. Edward nodded.
'Everything is fine. She was suffering false contractions however we also discovered her blood pressure was a little higher than we like, we are going to watch her overnight she'll be coming home tomorrow,' he said relief written all over his face. Rosalie smiled and Esme wiped her brow. I reached forward and hugged Edward.
'I love you,' I said and he nuzzled into my hair.
'I love you too,'
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This is really just a filler chapter. I hate it when Emmet isn't around! He is so much fun to write with...lol....This chapter is kinda dedicated to my godson who we all referred to as Squishy. Any way... Review...