I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed and voted on names for the triplets. Thank you so much, and for those of you who haven't voted yet, please vote. It isn't too late! You can even vote more than once if you like. Kaylee Marie is the name with the most votes so far.
Bella's POV
For a second it felt like the whole world stopped turning. My heart stopped beating and everything and everyone around me was frozen in time, not moving, absolutely still. Only a small kick from inside of me brought me back to reality.
This was real. This was actually happening.
I had just been told that in five months I would be giving birth to not one, but three little baby girls. In my opinion it was wonderful news. I was so excited and I couldn't wait to tell everyone, but then Carlisle just had to go and rain on my parade by making it seem like I didn't want all three babies. Yes, I had been crying, but my tears weren't out of sorrow or despair. They were tears of joy, and little Mary Alice Brandon was the only one that immediately understood that. She may be a hand full at times, but I can't help but love her, and I certainly don't know what I would do without her.
After explaining that I was thrilled with the news and happy that I would be a mother to three babies instead of one, I hopped off of the white hospital bed, and ran into Edward's loving arms. He placed a kiss on the top of my head and smiled. I smiled back sweetly and rubbed my growing belly. That was my way of telling him that I was hungry without actually saying it. Alice giggled because she too understood what my little gesture translated to. She pretty much always knew what I was thinking or how I would react to certain situation. Sometimes I wondered if she could actually read my mind.
"Are you hungry, My Love?" Edward asked even though he already knew the answer. Sometimes I wondered if he could read my mind too, but I ruled out that possibility when I realized he had thought that I didn't want all three of my daughters.
I nodded my head and rubbed my belly again." Yes, all four of us are starving" I said with a giggle.
Edward chuckled while Alice rolled her eyes. She already knew that I would use my new found knowledge as an excuse to eat more and not look like a total pig.
"Well I guess we are going to go and get something to eat, Dad." Edward said to Carlisle who then whispered something in his ear. Edward nodded and then patted his pocket. It seemed a little suspicious to me, but to be honest I was too hungry to care, so I just shrugged it off and said goodbye to Carlisle.
"Ok guys well goodbye and drive safely. Oh and be sure to tell your mother of the news on your way out, Edward", Carlisle directed.
"You're telling Edward to drive safely?" Alice questioned sarcastically.
Carlisle chuckled and nodded his head.
"Well considering the fact that a turtle walks faster than he drives, I think we will be okay", Alice joked.
Edward chuckled and shoved her out of the way playfully so Carlisle could hug me.
"Keep talking smack and you will be walking home" Edward threatened.
"I'd probably get home faster" she mumbled under her breath.
I shoved passed Alice and walked into Carlisle's open arms.
"Goodbye Carlisle and thank you for everything" I said.
Carlisle hugged me tightly and smiled sweetly. "You are very welcome, Bella."
After finishing our goodbyes with Carlisle, Edward scooped me up into his arms and we made our way downstairs to tell his mother, Esme about the triplets.
I already knew that she would be as excited as Alice since all three of the babies are going to be girls. I can only imagine how spoiled my girls will be between her, Alice, Emmett, and Charlie. I have no doubt in my mind that each one of them will have their uncle wrapped around their little fingers, and getting Alice to buy them whatever they want won't be too difficult either.
Alice huffed and rolled her eyes when Edward picked me up. "OK seriously, she's pregnant, she doesn't have polio. I think she can walk down the stairs", She said teasingly in her squeaky, high pitched voice.
I stuck my tongue out at her and giggled because I knew that despite her comment, Edward wouldn't put me down.
"Well considering that she can barely walk on a flat surface without nearly killing herself, I think I will hang on to her" Edward retorted.
His comment offended me a little, but I kept quiet because I knew it was true and I didn't want to be put down. I loved when Edward carried me.
Alice stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her arms while I giggled, nestled comfortably in Edward's strong and loving arms.
"Don't pay attention to the midget, my love. She is just jealous because Jasper is in Texas flirting with cute cowgirls, so there is no one here to carry her down the stairs" he added, to mess with her.
Jasper was in Texas visiting his family and we all knew it. He loved Alice to death and would never even consider being with another girl, but its fun to mess around with Alice, plus Edward called her "Midget" which she really hates, so I was eagerly awaiting her reply. I swear, sometimes being with them is more interesting than watching TV, but I'm surprised they haven't killed each other yet.
Alice stopped at the bottom of the staircase, turned to glare at Edward and then raised one of her skinny little fingers in the air.
"First of all, I am not a midget! I am almost five feet tall, Edward Cullen. Second of all, Jasper is in Texas visiting his family, not gawking over poorly dressed southern whores, but even if he were here I wouldn't need him to carry me down the stairs, because I am a big girl, and I can walk", She snapped.
Edward and I broke into a fit of laughter and he continued to pick on her. I was actually kind of enjoying it though, so I just sat this one out and didn't bud in.
"Well you are pretty little for being a big girl", he returned.
Alice scoffed and she was about to say something back, but Esme walked in from the kitchen.
She looked beautiful as always, in a red and black polka dot sweater, faded blue jeans and her favorite pair of red high heels. She was a very tall woman and didn't really need to wear heels, but she wore them anyway just because she liked them.
"Edward Cullen, are you picking on sweet little Alice again?" she asked but I'm pretty sure she already knew the answer to that. Edward and Alice were like cats and dogs, constantly bickering with each other.
Edward chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Mother, Alice is not sweet. There is a whole lot of evil in that tiny little body" he joked and I nodded my head to add emphasize.
Esme chuckled and swatted her son's shoulder with a dish rag, then rushed to hug Alice.
"I know you're sweet, honey. Don't listen to my son"
Alice smiled sweetly at Esme and then stuck her tongue out at Edward and me. Alice always tried to act super sweet around Edward's mother, so she thought of her as an innocent little angel, which of course is not entirely true. Yes, Alice can be a very sweet and caring person, but she can also turn into quite a bitch if you piss her off.
Esme released Alice from her embrace, and rushed over to me, grabbing me in a hug and rubbing my tummy gently.
"Hi sweetie, have you been feeling alright?" she asked.
I smiled up at her because naturally she already towers over me at six feet tall, but in three inch heels she's even taller.
"Yes I'm doing ok, I've just been experiencing a little morning sickness, but Carlisle say's its normal."
She smiled back at me and nodded, her bouncy curls flapping up and down.
"Yes, sweetie it's normal, and speaking of my husband, he said that you two had something to tell me." She said eyeing us suspiciously.
"They sure do!" Alice piped in
Edward and I both glared at her and Esme began tapping her foot impatiently.
"So, what is it? Come on tell me", she urged
Edward chuckled, glanced at me and then spat out the news to his awaiting mother.
"Bella is having triplets" he confessed.
"Girl triplets!" Alice added
A huge smile appeared on Esme's face and she wrapped me in a huge motherly hug.
"Bella, sweetie, that's fantastic news!" she exclaimed
We finished saying our goodbyes and Edward carried me to the car, my stomach growling louder than ever.
"Let's go get you something to eat, my love." Edward said as he put me into the car and then drove off to some unknown destination.
Edwards POV
"Babe, where are we going?" Bella asked for the third time.
"Somewhere, Isabella Marie, now stop asking questions and enjoy the ride!" Alice ordered
I chuckled and smiled at Bella, knowing that she was becoming frustrated with not knowing where she being taken too. Bella hated when information was withheld from her, so for once I'm actually glad to have Alice around. If she wasn't around today, I probably would have caved and blabbed about the whole surprise.
"Alice Brandon and Edward Cullen, I would like to know where the hell you are taking me!" She screamed.
I leaned over to where she was sitting in the passenger seat of my Volvo and placed a passionate kiss on her sweet tasting lips in an attempt to distract her. I could hear Alice gagging in the back seat, but just ignored her like I usually did. Ignoring Alice was starting to become easier.
"Geez she's already pregnant" Alice spat out.
Bella broke away from my kiss, gasping for air. She twisted her body so she could turn around and glare at Alice, and then turned back around to glare at me.
"Edward Cullen quit trying to distract me and tell me where the hell you are taking me right now dammit!" she exclaimed loudly. Her face was as red as a tomato and she appeared to be out of breath. She would kill me if she knew what I was thinking, but she actually looked pretty adorable. I had to force myself not to laugh.
"Bella, love, we are going to the park. Just calm down, and don't use that kind of language" I instructed.
"Well at least if your daughters turn out to be potty mouths we will all know why" Alice joked.
I chuckled and even though she was fighting it, it was clear that Bella too wanted to laugh.
"Why the heck are we going to the park? There will be plenty of time for parks once the twins are born. I'm hungry!" she whined.
I laughed on the inside as I took notice of the way she said heck instead of hell, obeying my instructions.
I took a right and turned into the parking lot of the Fork's Community Park and easily found a parking space. Usually on the weekends, the park is packed with screaming children playing on the swings, teenagers hanging out by the duck pond, or adults that are just looking for a little peace and quiet, but thanks to little Alice, the park is all ours for the day. I had her decorate it and make it look nice, so I can only imagine what she did to it. For a normal person, decorations would be flowers and candles, but Alice isn't the least bit normal, so I wouldn't be surprised if she totally remodeled the whole park. I could only pray that Bella would see the whole "Plan" as too much, and be turned off by it.
"I know baby. We are going to eat here at the park" I Explained.
I could tell she wanted to question me further but decided against it and just kept quiet, allowing me to carry her out of the car and into the park to witness the doing of Alice's creative little hands.
Bella's POV
To be perfectly honest, I was beyond pissed off when Edward pulled into the parking lot of The Fork's Community Park, and then a little surprised once I realized that the parking lot was completely empty, but I just shrugged it off and went back to being pissed off. I was hungry, and I wanted good food, not the crappy food Alice made and threw in a picnic basket. I love Alice, but she is a fashionista, not a cook.
Edward opened my door and gently lifted me out of the car and into his loving arms.
"There he goes carrying her again", Alice said as she hopped out of the back seat and slammed the door.
Edward chuckled and continued to mess with her. "Hmm I haven't heard from Jasper in a while. I guess he's just having too much fun with that girl from the picture he sent me. I can't remember her though, do you remember Belles?" He asked.
I smiled cunningly and thought about it for a while. Normally I stayed out of it when Alice and Edward were messing around with each other, but I figured I'd have a little fun with my best friend.
"Wait which one are you talking about? Do you mean the really pretty blond with long curly hair, or the gorgeous brunette that was actually tall enough to get on roller coasters?"
Edward chuckled, and looked down at me with a surprised expression on his face. I guess he hadn't expected me to play along.
"The brunette, love" he replied
"Oh her name was Carrie"
Alice huffed and stopped right in front of. "Ha-ha, you two are very funny, but you are going to apologizing very soon, Edward Cullen", she retorted.
At first I didn't get what Alice meant when she said Edward would be apologizing very soon, but the meaning behind her statement became crystal clear when we approached the entrance to the park.
The normally plain and boring Iron Gate was wrapped in pink twinkling lights with small white flowers intertwined into the strand. It looked so beautiful and I immediately knew that it could only have been done by none other than my little Alice.
"Oh my goodness, Alice, it's beautiful. Thank you so much, but why did you do it? "I asked.
She smiled smugly and then glanced at Edward which told me that he had something to do with it.
"What did you do?" I asked
He just smiled and kissed my chapped flaky lips softly with his silky ones. He wasn't going to tell me.
"You will find out soon enough Ms. Swan, and just wait till you see the inside"
The inside? I could only imagine what she did to the inside of the park.
Edward set me down on my feet and opened the gate, leading me inside.
A smile was plastered on Alice's face as he stared in awe at her work. She had managed to turn our grungy park into something truly beautiful.
Paper lanterns of various colors hung from every tree in the park along with more strands of twinkling lights, and a silk blanket had been neatly arranged on the ground with food set up around it, and pink rose petals had been scattered in the middle of it, but there weren't just thrown on. They had been arranged to forms the words "Will you marry me?"
I had to look at the blanket several times to make sure I was seeing correctly and that it wasn't just a figment of my imagination.
Once I was absolutely sure that I had read the words created by the rose petals correctly, I turned to my right to look at Edward and he was knelt down on the ground, smiling up at me, holding the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.
"So will you marry me, Ms. Swan?" he asked.
Tears of joy started streaming down my cheeks and I ran into his arms, stumbling over my feet.
He chuckled at my clumsiness and lifted me into his arms, kissing me passionately.
"Can you please stop eating her face, so she can answer the question" Alice asked, totally ruining the moment.
Edward chuckled and backed away, setting me down on the ground, and allowing me to catch my breath. Secretly I hated Alice for being the cause for Edward to stop kissing, but I knew she was right. The stupid and annoying little midget that I loved unconditionally was always right. I wanted to continue kissing Edward more than anything in the world, but I hadn't answered his question yet. I had figured that my answer would be pretty obvious, but he still needed to hear it.
"So is that a yes, Ms. Swan?" he asked again, grinning his crooked yet still perfect grin that I loved.
"Yes! Yes, Edward, of course I will marry you!" I shouted.
"Wow, I'm surprised she didn't say hell yes", Alice mumbled.
Normally, I would have turned around and given her a death glare, but I was just too happy to even be a little mad at her.
"Well then I think I better give you this", Edward said, waving a little red, velvety box in the air.
I smiled and nodded my head, eagerly waiting for him to slip the brilliant diamond onto my finger.
It slid onto my finger easily and felt a bit cold to my bony finger at first, but I ignored the feeling. I was too captivated by the beauty of the ring to notice anything else. It was prettier than any ring I had ever seen. It was simple and small but it was me, a plain gold band with a small but exquisite diamond sitting in the middle. I couldn't have asked for a better ring. Edward picked the perfect one for me. Soon I would be Isabella Cullen, mother of three.
"So I guess we are all set then. All we have to do is pick a date, whatever date you want, and my love. We could get married before or after the triplets are born. It's up to you."
"I think we should get married before the triplets are born, and as soon as possible", I decided
Edward smiled and wrapped me in a hug.
"That's fine, love. Whatever you want is perfectly fine. We can have a big wedding or a small one, wherever you want, and you can invite whoever you want." He exclaimed happily.
Alice rolled her eyes and stepped in between us.
"Both of you are forgetting one thing", she pointed out smugly.
"Oh yeah, and what would that be, Miss Alice?" Edward questioned.
Alice chuckled and said one word. "Charlie."
We still had to tell Charlie and Emmett, before we planned the wedding any further, and we also still had to tell them about the triplets.
"Well we survived telling them that you were pregnant", Edward pointed out.
"Barely", Alice mumbled.
I glared at her and then chuckled, returning my attention to Edward.
"It's times like this that I really wish you were bullet proof", I joked.
