AN: Thanks for the long wait and sticking with me. So, art imitating life – yes, I peed in a red solo cup and unlike Bella, my test was positive. I had a lot of trouble staying awake and even writing during my first trimester. I should be updating a bit more regularly now. FYI my little peanut is due on New Year's Eve, but we are hoping he/she comes before that to ensure we get the tax deduction.

Huge thanks to wheather79 for pre-reading and Arfalcon & FanpireMama for beta-ing. I also need to thank everyone who reads. So, SM owns the characters - I circumcised them and gave them Jewish names. I tend to play up some stereotypes; it is all meant in good fun. If you are offended, let me know, or just hit the x button on your browser window or however you Mac people close windows.

Chapter 12: Shiva-me Timbers

Edward POV

I looked down at my desk phone – the caller ID showed it was Bella calling. I should pick it up, but I needed to run to a meeting in a bit. Then she called my cell phone. Shit! Leah turned around and gave me that look that girls give guys when they know they've fucked up. Was I that obvious?

Leah sighed loudly. I clicked on the phone.

"Hey, Bells. I'm about to run to a meeting, but is everything okay?" I asked.

I wasn't prepared for the howling that came from the other end. "Edward Cullenman, how could you tell your mother I thought I was pregnant? You know she's going to say something to my mom. You know, I let a lot of shit go and don't say anything, but this time I can't. I mean I never said boo about you talking to your mom everyday when you barely have any time for me. This, however, was private. Sure, I could understand you asking your father about it, but not her."

Where should I even start? There was so much wrong about everything Bella had just said. I was going to have to be late to this meeting. I let out a deep sigh. "Sweetheart," I started to say.

"Oh, don't sweetheart me."

"I talked to my dad and asked him some general questions. I can't believe he said something to her. I would never betray your trust like that. What do you mean talk to my mom every day? She calls me and I sometimes pick up if I have a minute, but usually I let it go to voicemail. You know if you call or text, I-"

"Well, you just have an answer to everything now, don't you? Listen, I just can't deal with you right now. I need some space. Just a couple of days – I'll call you."

"Do I get a say in this?" I asked, confused about what she was telling me.

"It's not a break. I just need some me time for myself."

"Bella, don't run away from me, please."

"I'm not. I just need me time."

I didn't bother arguing with her, but what did she expect when we were married? Where would she go if she needed space from me? Sometimes she could so irrational, but I had too much work to let it bother me … too much.

My long work days helped keep my mind from thinking about her. I was hoping this was some hormonal outburst and her period was around the corner - not that I wanted to think about that. Ugh.

By Friday night, I even turned down drinks with a few of my law school friends who happened to be in the city. I just wanted to climb into bed and sleep – for as long as possible. Well, until I went back into the office on Saturday. Bella still hadn't called, but I had too much going on to think about her little mind fuck or whatever she was doing.

I had passed out on the couch when my phone started ringing. Out of instinct I woke up, thinking it could be Bella, because to be honest, I missed her.

"Hello?" I answered, still groggy.

"Edward, I hate to be calling you like this, but it's your grandfather Irv," my dad explained.

My heart leapt into my throat as my mind raced with all the possibilities. "Is he okay? What's going on? Dad…"

"Edward, he had a heart attack. I don't have all the details, but your mother and I are in Hawaii for a conference. Since you are closer to Florida, I need you to head down there and be with him."

"Of course. Is he going to be okay? We just saw him at Thanksgiving and he was fine."

My dad gave me the information and I proceeded to make travel arrangements to get down to Florida as soon as possible. Bella! I needed her. I needed to hear her voice. Any internal monologue in which I would normally spend arguing with myself was forgotten as I dialed her up. I didn't care if she wanted to talk to me or not. I needed her.

She answered on the first ring.

"Edward, what's wrong?"

I looked at the clock and realized how late it was. "Irv had a heart attack…"

"Oh, no! Is he okay? Are your parents flying in? What do you need me to do?"

"They're in Hawaii, but they are trying to get to Florida. I am taking the earliest flight out tomorrow, or today rather. I just… I know you needed space, but I just wanted to hear your voice," I replied, my voice cracking like my balls were just starting to drop.

"I can come if you need me to; whatever you need. I'm here for you." Bella on her knees sucking me off came to mind, but I quickly shook off that thought. "I'm sorry about this week. I was super hormonal from my period."

"Period?" Ugh.

"Yeah, not pregnant, but it freaked me out. Edward, I want to have your babies. I want us to be a family. I want us to be together. I'm coming down to Florida with you. Don't argue with me. You may not need me down there, but if something happens, then I will be there."

"Bella, you are on such a tight budget – let me get your ticket."

"Edward…" she replied, whining a little.

Having Bella down there would be nice. "Calling the airline now."

Of course my flight was completely booked, so Bella got on the next one, which worked out well. By the time I picked up the rental car, she'd be landing. We'd go straight to the hospital.

I spent the rest of the time packing and Bella came over with a huge suitcase. I looked at her like she was crazy. "You know we are only going for a few days."

"I know, but I didn't know what I would need. Here, let me check your bag and add a few things for you." She walked into my room and started putting things in my bag, clothing I hoped I wouldn't have to wear. "Edward," she called out, "you forgot to pack underwear."

"Oh!" How could I have forgotten that? I continued to stare at the television screen as Fox News chimed in about another alert. I wasn't really paying attention.

Bella POV

As soon as the words came out of Edward's mouth about his grandfather, I knew he needed me. My school work didn't matter – he needed me and I wasn't going to let him down. It seemed that lately our entire relationship was spent on the moments that make or break couples. I had totally freaked out this week. I believed Edward and what he said about his mother, but it still didn't stop the news of my pregnancy scare from finding my mom. I had to deal with calls from her several times a day, asking if my period had arrived yet and each time I said no, she'd get excited; Then it came.

My mind was going a mile a minute as I sat alone in the airport after Edward had boarded. I didn't want to think about the worst case scenario, but it had crossed my mind. What if Irv passed away? I knew Edward's grandmother was buried in Florida, so I assumed if that did happen we'd stay down there. I could always email my professors and let them know there was a death in my family. I hated thinking that way, but I needed to be strong for Edward.

We were in this life together, and this was one of those worse moments in that "for better or for worse." Thank goodness the Jet Blue Terminal at JFK had Wi-Fi and I was able to email Jake, who was in a few of my groups, that I was going to be away all weekend for a family emergency. Time seemed to drag by as I waited for my flight to board. Would it be wrong if I purchased a gossip magazine or two? It felt kind of wrong.

I ended up sleeping for most of the trip and called Edward when we landed. He met me curbside and we headed straight for the hospital. Irv was in intensive care and we quickly found that he wasn't alone. When we entered the room, two old ladies were at his bedside. I mean, they were definitely in their late seventies, but they looked pretty well-preserved.

"You must be Edward," the taller one gushed. She reached out with her well-manicured hand and pulled Edward into an embrace. "I'm Eunice, one of your grandfather's special friends." Ewh. Special friend was old people talk for fuck buddy.

Eunice looked up to me. "Oh, you must be Bella. You two are going to make beautiful babies." I cringed a little.

The quieter one spoke up. "Hi kids, I'm Florence." I wonder if she has a machine. "I'm one of Irv's other special friends. We were with him when…" She turned away and let her sentence hang.

It took me a few moments to process what she was saying. They were both with Irv at the time? I hoped she meant they were playing bridge or canasta.

"It was just too much for him," Eunice said softly, shaking her head.

Edward, who had been watching Irv, looked up. "What do you mean it was too much? You guys were playing cards, right?"

Eunice and Florence grimaced. Eeew.

"Oh, that dog!" Edward said quietly, taking a seat next to the bed where Irv was sleeping, attached to machines.

I observed Florence and Eunice exchanging glances, before politely excusing themselves. They closed the door as they left the room.

"Wow!" I exclaimed as I took a seat closer to the door.

"I can't believe Irv had a heart attack while having a threesome! I mean, if you're going to go out with a bang that is really going out with a bang!" Edward stated, shaking his head in disbelief.

I was still trying not to think of Irv rolling around with two older women, but the mental pictures of saggy, wrinkled skin and sun spots flying kept popping into my head.

"I don't want to think about it, but I'm sure he's going to pull through this. When is the doctor going to stop by to speak with you? When are your parents flying in?"

"I don't know. I'll go call Dad and check with the nurses out in the hall."

He left the room leaving me alone with Irv and the machines.

I sat there for what seemed to be an hour and watched Irv sleep. He was slowly waking up and was groaning. I wasn't sure if he was in pain so I ran to the hallway and saw Edward talking to the doctor. Eunice and Florence were both standing next to Edward nodding.

"He's waking up, but I think he's in pain - he's groaning a lot."

Edward and the doctor ran inside, but the older women held me back. I wondered if they had gone through this before with their husbands. It must really suck to get old and watch the world morph into a place you no longer recognize with different values and new technology; constantly saying goodbye to your friends and family as they pass on.

"Let him go with the doctors, dear. He'll need you in a bit though. It was very smart of you to come along," Eunice said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

Several nurses rushed passed us into Irv's room, but Florence and Eunice continued to hold me back. I wanted to run to Edward and be with him more than anything else in the world.

Edward POV

Irv was slowly stirring awake. "Pops, it's Edward, I'm here with you," I said, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Edward, my boy," he replied, his voice raspy and soft. I squeezed his hand again. "Come closer," he rasped.

"Yes, Pops."

"Stop screwing around and marry the damn girl. Life's too short to spend the time apart." His voice was growing a little stronger, but he closed his eyes and winced in pain.

I had never seen him so weak and vulnerable. Tears were slowly rolling down my cheeks as I tried to man up and be strong for this man I loved so much. "I am. I know," I replied, giving his hand another reassuring squeeze. "Pops, you have to fight this. You need to live to see our wedding and your great-grandchildren."

"She misses me, Carlisle," Irv said. I knew he was confusing me with my father but I nodded along. He was still for several minutes, but it felt like an eternity before he opened his eyes again.

"Come closer," he called to me. I complied and leaned into to him. "Closer!" he rasped. I had my face inches from him. "Move my penis!"

What?

"Move my penis!" he said again.

I looked around the room. The doctor was checking something and either hadn't realized what Irv had said or was trying to ignore it and give us privacy. If he was dying and his dying wish was for me to adjust his junk, how could I deny him that? I placed my hand under his blankets and felt around before adjusting his penis a little more toward the left, the way I liked it.

I looked back at Irv to see his reaction. A smile crept on his face and he left out a light moan that sounded more relieved than pained. "Ahhh…"

And then the machines started peeping and his heart rate flat-lined. Nurses rushed in and pushed me aside. I was ushered out of the room, finding comfort in Bella's arms as I waited for news on my grandfather.

She held me for what seemed like eons as we waited for news. His doctor emerged from the room first; his grim face confirming my fears. Eunice and Florence, who had fallen into the background tried to join in with Bella in comforting me, but I just wanted her. Her arms enveloped me and I felt myself cry against her; the tears a steady stream. I cried for the loss of my grandfather, but also the loss I felt for myself, for him not being there to share in all the joyful occasions in my life. I cried for having to be the one to tell my father that he missed saying goodbye, though I knew each visit he made a point of telling his father how much he loved him, even when Irv called him a pussy for doing so.

The nurses led Bella, Eunice, Florence and I into a room where we could make phone calls. I tried to reach my father, but it went straight to voice mail, both a good and a bad thing. It meant he was probably mid flight somewhere over the Midwest by now, but it also meant I had to prolong telling him.

Bella went with Florence down to the cafeteria to try to find me some breakfast, not that I had much of an appetite, while Eunice called the funeral home that she claimed everyone used because they don't try to screw you in your time of grief. I trusted her judgment, but figured my father should be the one picking out the casket and planning arrangements.

It felt like I was having an out-of-body experience, almost like this wasn't happening to me, but more like I was watching a movie of me going through these motions. There were so many decisions to make, but given that it was Saturday afforded us a little bit of time. Since it was the Jewish Sabbath, the earliest we could bury him would be tomorrow, but that depended on the funeral home and cemetery.

"Come cuddle with me," I called out to Bella. I was both physically and emotionally drained. We had left the hospital and had finally made our way back to Pop's place. It was strange to be here without him, but he had plenty of room. Bella and I laid claim to one of the two guest rooms, leaving the one with the private bath to my parents.

Bella emerged in the doorway, dressed in cotton pajama pants and a thin tank top. Her tits looked great. I just wanted to be near her. She climbed in next to me.

"Come here," she said, opening her arms as I nuzzled my face into her chest. She kissed my forehead. "I'm so sorry, Edward."

Suddenly I wanted… Well, I moved my face up until I could kiss the tip of her chin. I slowly brought my lips up, maneuvering my body so that I could reach her lips. I needed her. I needed to feel her. She responded to my kiss, returning it with her own hungry kiss. Our mouths sought one another out as Bella rubbed up against my body, pulling me closer by wrapping her legs around me.

I felt her hand travel down my chest and dip into my boxer briefs. I loved the way her soft hands felt around Zayin. Up and down she went, stroking him as he grew harder and harder under her touch.

"I didn't bring any…" I started to say, thinking about our past few weeks and Bella's pregnancy scare. Except it wasn't really a scare, that was too strong of a word; it was more of a pregnancy realization. I wanted this woman. I wanted a life and a future and a family with her – when she was ready for it.

"I brought them. Well, I threw some in my toiletry bag last week and I have that with me. I'll be right back," she said, slipping out from under me.

As I waited for her to return, I thought about Pops, dying from loving too much or too hard. Fuck! I wanted to fuck hard now while I still could. Bella returned, wearing nothing but a smile and with a faithful square package in hand. "Allow me," she said, practically moaning as she slid the latex sheath on and mounted me.

My hands reached out and grabbed her tits as they bounced in every direction. Bella rode me like she would a mechanical bull, pushing herself in and out of me and leaning back so that my cock hit her in just the right place.

It was everything I needed to feel at such a sad moment: the joy of life.

Bella PoV

I left Edward sleeping and quickly found my clothes in the pile where I'd left them in the bathroom. It took a while to find Irv's pots and pans as I scrounged around the kitchen. Luckily, he had a full carton of eggs in his fridge. I quickly went to work making hard boiled eggs. Edward and his parents would be eating them upon their return from the funeral. While I had gone with Florence to the cafeteria, she reminded me of many of the Jewish funeral traditions I had forgotten. The eggs were eaten to symbolize rebirth and we would also need to put a pitcher of water outside wherever we held shiva for mourners to wash their hands upon returning from the cemetery.

I wasn't even sure where we were holding shiva. I assumed at Irv's house, at least for a few days, which reminded me to remind Edward to email his boss when he woke up. But now he really needed some sleep. Not that I didn't, but I figured I could use exhaustion as an excuse to escape Esme Cullenman once she and Carlisle arrived.

Glancing at the clock, I realized they should be in anytime now. Just as I put the eggs in the fridge, Esme and Carlisle came through the door. It was both a relief and stressful. Suddenly, all of the unanswered questions were quickly addressed.

Carlisle handled funeral arrangements in the same way he handled a multiple trauma situation at the hospital – calmly, in a precise and calculated manner. Shiva: three days with two additional days when they returned to Washington. Funeral: tomorrow – arrangements made in the car as they drove from the airport.

I wondered how they knew what to do, but I knew they had gone through this before and it made me sad for the day when we would have to do this for them. Yes, I was even sad about the day we would bury Esme, because I knew no matter what we would did – even if we planned it perfectly; she'd still haunt us from the grave. It would probably be because the napkins didn't match the forks at shiva or something like that.

Tomorrow came all too soon and we were picked up in a black stretch limo and taken to the cemetery. Esme, who had been on pretty good behavior since arriving, let the crazy out that morning. First, it was running around asking each of which shoe looked better – black patent or black leather. They looked the same to me.

Now she was sobbing in the limo. "This should have been your wedding. Riding in a limo with you – this should have been on your wedding. I'm never going to have grandbabies…" Oy, where was the Xanax?

"Hey, Ma, guess what Pops last words to me were?" Edward interrupted. "Move my penis!" He waited to see what Carlisle and Esme's reactions were. "No, seriously he asked me to adjust his junk and then he died."

The entire limo burst out laughing. Everyone but Esme, who didn't think it was appropriate.

I tried to ignore her for most of the service, instead squeezing Edward's hand and then giving him a reassuring hug before he delivered a eulogy for his grandfather. There wasn't a dry eye in the place, though most of the eyes belonged to Irv's special women friends and they were sobbing any way.

We held shiva at Irv's house. The mirrors were covered and Edward and Carlisle sat on low stools for most of the day. Shockingly, Esme was surprised that I had made sure that there were hard boiled eggs to eat and a pitcher of water at the door for people to wash their hands after coming from the cemetery.

"Bella, thank you for being here, for being with Edward, for being there for our family. It may not be official, but I think of you as a daughter as much as I think of Edward as my son. It may not be official – well, yet, but you are a Cullenman."

It was strange, but even though her crazy often came out, that day we bonded and I did feel like a Cullenman.

AN: Okay, so I can go on Wikipedia and tell you all about Jewish funeral arrangements and take even more time to write in between chapters, or you can Google it yourself. Sorry people, but that Bruno Mars Lazy Song – totally written by a pregnant lady!

Off to start the next chapter for you all! Same rules apply, you review you get a teaser!