Tuesday September 11, 2001 4:32 a.m. BPOV

My eyes gently fluttered open as I turned and looked at the clock that sat on my bedside table. We had about a half an hour before Edward had to be up in order to be at the fire station at 7:00 am. I happened to have the day off because I had to pick my mom up at the airport later that morning. He was spooning me with his arm wrapped possessively around my torso. I felt his fingers start to dance along my flat stomach and it became apparent that he had been waiting for me to awake. After 5 years of marriage, my husband was insatiable; almost as much so as I was. I turned towards him to find his emerald eyes blazing into me. Even in the darkness of our bedroom I could see the lust in his eyes.

"Good morning, baby," he breathed into my ear as his skillful hands worked their way beneath my shirt.

"Hmmmm, good morning to you too," I replied as my hand fisted into his hair and our lips found each other's.

"Did you sleep well?" my husband asked. I hadn't been feeling well the past few days and even though I had a fairly good idea as to why, Edward was still concerned.

"Mmmhmm, did you?" I replied as I lifted Edward's shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor.

"Yes," he said breathlessly as I ran my hands over his sculpted abs. His dexterous hands gradually worked their way down my torso until they were playing with the elastic of my shorts.

"Edward…," I pleaded as I arched my pelvis into his.

"Patience my love," he replied as he tortuously began working my shorts down my legs until I hastily kicked them off. He chuckled at my eagerness as he lifted my shirt over my head. His hands quickly found my breasts and began massaging. I couldn't help the moan that escaped my lips. And then I worked with fervor to quickly remove Edward's boxers before I moved my hand to his shaft and gently started to apply pressure.

"Ungh…Bella…Baby…that feels sooo…uhhhh….good," he moaned with pleasure. I began moving my hands up and down with tantalizing ministrations. It wasn't long before I found myself thrust onto my back. "My little vixen," Edward smirked. I felt the tip of his erection right where I needed it to be. He teased me by gently rubbing up and down. I bucked my hips in response.

"Edward…please," I pleaded before he thrust himself inside me in one swift motion. We began moving in tandem, meeting thrust for thrust, as our sweaty bodies rubbed together.

"Baby, you're so tight," Edward cried wantonly. "Oh… so good," he said huskily as he threw his head back in pleasure.

"More baby…faster," I begged as my nails dug into his back. He began thrusting harder as I felt the familiar coil in my stomach as my release approached.

"Baby, I'm so close," he pleaded. I wrapped my legs around his back and pulled him deeper inside me. "Open your eyes, Bella. I wanna see you baby." I did as he commanded and was met with his gaze that showed love, lust, and pure adoration. I tightened the grip my ankles had around his back and pulled him deeper still.

"EDWARD," I screamed as my orgasm took over my body.

"BELLA!" he grunted in unison with me as his own body fell over the edge. He then allowed his body to fall to the side, pulling me on top of him as we were still so intimately connected. "I love you," he proclaimed.

"I love you more," I teased back.

"Impossible," he declared contentedly. We laid that way for a few minutes before we were pulled from our blissful state by the beeping of the alarm clock. It read 5:00 am; time for Edward to begin his day. I felt him pull out before making his way to the bathroom. Meanwhile, I snuggled myself back into the sheets and gripped his pillow. It smelled like him and soothed me back into a peaceful slumber.

Tuesday September 11, 2001 5:47 a.m. EPOV

I stepped back into our bedroom after I had eaten breakfast and admired my beautiful wife's sleeping form. I tiptoed quietly towards the bed and I noticed that she had my pillow clutched tightly to her chest. I chuckled to myself, wishing I was the pillow. I leaned down and gently swept her hair away from her forehead before placing a gentle kiss there.

"Baby, I have to leave for work." I whispered as I lightly moved my thumb over her cheek.

"Don't go," she pleaded tiredly.

"Don't tempt me," I bantered back.

"Come back to bed, baby." It was rare for Bella to be this alert at this time in the morning, which made the temptation all the more alluring. I was usually lucky to get a mumbled "I love you," from her when I kissed her goodbye.

"I can't sweetheart, I have to go to work," I reasoned even though there was nothing more I'd rather do in that moment. Truth be told, I didn't really have to work. Neither of us did; my inheritance was more than enough to supply us with a very comfortable lifestyle for the rest of our lives. But being a firefighter wasn't about the money; just as Bella wasn't a teacher for the money either. We had our jobs and went to work each day because we both loved what we did.

"Call in sick. You can go to the airport with me to pick up my mom." Oh, she was really making it difficult for me this morning.

"Baby, I'd love to, but I really can't. McCarty's on vacation this week so we're already short –handed," I replied, trying to be the voice of reason. It was true though, we really were short-handed this week. One of my closest friends, Emmett McCarty, had taken some vacation time because his wife, Rosalie, had just given birth to their first child, a son, whom they'd named Noah.

"Fine," she acquiesced. "Be careful, I love you." I knew she worried about me; I faced danger every day. So, although my job wasn't the safest in comparison to other fields of work, I was always careful because I knew at the end of the day, no matter how many lives I'd saved, I knew I had to make it back to my Bella.

"I will. And I'll see you tonight. I love you," I whispered as Bella drifted back into a peaceful slumber.

Tuesday September 11, 2001 7:39 a.m. BPOV

I awoke and felt Edward's side of the bed, disappointed to find it empty. I didn't like the fact that he had to leave so early, but on normal days when I had to work too, it didn't matter as much. In reality he was lucky to have the shift he did. Although he was no longer a rookie, there certainly were men who had more seniority than him with worse shifts. He was fortunate to work Tuesday through Saturday from 7 am to 4 pm. His best friends, Emmett McCarty and Jasper Whitlock worked right alongside him. The six of us, myself and Edward, Emmett and his wife Rosalie, and Jasper and his fiancé Alice, were all very close. And it eased the minds of myself, Rosalie, and Alice to know that our men had each other's backs.

I laid there for a few more minutes, allowing myself to wake up slowly for a change, before I felt the rumbling in my stomach that I'd become accustomed to in the past week or so. I quickly ran to the bathroom, making it just in time to vomit into the toilet. I sat there for awhile regaining composure. This routine had become a morning ritual. I was glad that it didn't occur when Edward was around though; I didn't want to get his hopes up. We'd been trying to get pregnant for about 4 months, with no luck thus far. Amazingly enough after the first month we were sure that we had a baby on the way. I was tired, I'd been sick, and I just felt different. We took a test at the onslaught of my symptoms, only to be disappointed to find that it was negative. At that point I hadn't missed my period, so at the time we chocked it up to being too early for a test to detect. A few days later when my period came we were devastated. As it turned out, I had a simple case of the flu. But, we didn't allow ourselves to get discouraged and continued to try.

This time around when the symptoms appeared I tried my best to hide them from my adoring husband. He knew me well, so it was a difficult feat to keep him in the dark. In reality though, I think he sensed that this was something I wasn't ready to share just yet and he respected my space. I was too afraid of being hurt again. However, when my symptoms persisted and my period didn't come yesterday I allowed myself to hope. My cycle had always been like clockwork, so with the lack of its arrival, I decided it was time to take a test. I picked myself up off the bathroom floor and went into our closet to retrieve the little pink box labeled "First Response" that I had hidden. I went back into the bathroom and did as the instructions said.

Three minutes. That's how long I had to wait. I think time stopped. I paced back and forth outside the bathroom while I waited for the result. How long had it been? I looked at my cell phone in which I had programmed a countdown on. Fifty-four seconds? That's all? I don't remember it being this long last time I thought as I rung my sweaty hands together. Of course, last time Edward was here with me. Oh God, what if he's mad at me for not including him? Will he be hurt? I know he'll be excited about the baby. We'd talked about having a baby when our relationship became serious all those years ago in high school. Even back then as naive teenagers we knew were meant to be together. And now, as we'd decided a few months ago, it was finally the right time for us to start our family. What if he feels like I am excluding him by doing this on my own? No, I decided. If its negative he won't have to hurt too. Oh who am I kidding? He'll know I am upset. And if its positive? Will he understand why I wanted to do this by myself this time? I'll find a way to surprise him and he'll be happy. We'll both be happy. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I looked down to my cell phone. Three minutes had passed. I took a deep breath and hesitatingly walked back into the bathroom. I could see the little stick resting atop the sink, glaring at me, taunting me. We wanted this so desperately, could I handle another negative result? Granted we had only been trying for 4 months, but if it was negative again it wouldn't make it any less heartbreaking. I slowly crept towards the sink. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and picked up the test. I took three deep, cleansing breaths before opening my eyes. Two pink lines. Two pink lines! I was pregnant! Edward and I were going to have a baby! I felt a huge grin spread across my face as happy tears fell from my eyes. I knew then that I'd made the right choice in taking the test by myself. It allowed me to surprise Edward when he got home that night. But then I remembered that I'd be picking my mom up from the airport later that day and it may be difficult to get Edward alone while she was there. I then decided that I would wrap up the test in a little gift box and give it to Edward that night. I just had to set my plan in motion by piquing his interest now.

Tuesday September 11, 2001 8:17 a.m. EPOV

It had been a slow past few days at the fire station, not that I was complaining. I was sitting around playing cards with the guys when my cell phone buzzed on the table next to me. I felt myself grin when I realized it was a text from Bella.

I have a surprise for you tonight. XOXO Bella

Oh yeah, what's that? XOXO Edward

Well, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it? –B

Can I have a hint? –E

Nope - B

Please? –E

Its worth the wait. ;-) B

"Edward," I heard Jasper call. "Its your turn, man."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," I replied. But I wasn't sorry at all. I loved bantering back and forth with my wife, even if it was just through text messages. It was something we did a lot when we were working.

I can't wait to see what you have in store for me. Love you, baby. –E

Love you too, be careful. – B

I played my hand in the game were playing while I began to wonder what Bella had in store for me. Whatever it was, I knew it would be good.

Tuesday September 11, 2001 8:57 a.m. BPOV

I had a few hours to kill before I had to pick my mom up from the airport around 11:00 am. I had finished wrapping up the pregnancy test that I'd planned to give to Edward that evening. To say I was ecstatic was an understatement. Even though this had been planned, I couldn't wrap my mind around the idea that we were going to be parents. I wasn't sure quite yet how I was going to keep it from my mom though. She'd been pressuring us to give her a grandbaby practically since the moment we said "I do." And she had an uncanny ability to detect such things. When she was here for Christmas last year she had met Emmett and Rosalie for the first time. She came up to me quietly and asked how far along Rosalie was. I proceeded to correct my mother and tell her that Rosalie was not pregnant. She replied with, "Yes she is, you'll see." Sure enough, two weeks later Emmett and Rosalie announced that they were expecting. If my mom could sense it in a practical stranger I sure as hell didn't know how I, as her only daughter, planned on keeping such a thing from her. I decided that it would probably be a good idea for us to tell her shortly after I told Edward.

After I put a load of laundry in the washing machine I heard the house phone ring. "Hello?"

"Bella, its Alice," I could tell that she was crying.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I asked concerned. Alice was the bubbliest person I knew, so to hear in such a state was disheartening.

"Have you watched the news this morning?"

"No, why?"

"A plane…World Trade Center…crashed," it was difficult to understand her through her hysteria.

"It's ok, Alice," I tried to calm her as I walked into the family room and switched on the TV. The sight that was in front of me was ghastly. One of the towers at the World Trade Center had black smoke billowing out of it, an apparent result of a plane flying directly into it. "Alice, do you want to come over here?" I knew our men would have to report to a fire of that size, especially since their station was just blocks from the World Trade Center and I sure as hell didn't want to be alone.

"Yeah, ok. I'm on my way."

"Are you ok to drive?" It was an afterthought, but I didn't want anything to happen if she was not in a state to drive.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be there in 10," she replied as she reigned in her emotions.