A/N: If you read Call It What You Want, you'll know that the reason I haven't been updating any of my stories recently has been due to receiving the news on Easter Sunday that may father had passed away. Because of this I haven't really been in the mood to write anything, but I hope you'll stick with me :)
If you are reading Caved In, it'll probably be a while before I update that, or any of my other stories
Bella:
Over the past few months, everything seems to have flown by. Alice's bump has grown, Cowboy seems even more in love with her, Edward and I are closer than ever, and Alice and I have become somewhat friends with Rosalie. Edward's birth mum is still in prison, after being imprisoned for 2 years due to dangerous driving. He rarely even mentions her name.
All of our exams have now finished, so we're waiting to see what will come first; Alice's birth or graduation. She's hoping for graduation, understandably, which happens to be the day before her due date.
Talk about timing…
"Penny for your thoughts?" Edward asks, kissing my forehead. We're currently lying on the grass in my back garden, making the most of the rare sunshine Fork's is seeing. I suppose we better get used to it.
"Just thinking mostly about graduation and Alice," I reply, staring up at the clouds which are dotted over the mostly clear blue sky.
"Should I feel hurt you spend more time thinking about my sister than me?" Edward mocks hurt, placing a hand on his chest.
I roll onto my side to face him, kissing his cheek gently. "I'll miss her. I'm sad I won't get to be with her when their baby is growing up," I explain to him.
"I know, sweetheart," Edward replies, turning around to kiss my lips.
I shuffle across the blanket to move closer to him, resting my hand on his hip.
"But we can always come back and visit. It's not like we're going across the country," Edward add, kissing my nose. He's right, as well. We're both going to Berkeley University in California, so it's not too far from Forks. It's only a couple of hours by plane, so we can always visit. Which I know we will, often.
"Less talking, more kissing," I demand, trying to sound serious as Edward presses his lips to mine. I kiss him back with fervour, his hand that was previously just resting on my hip now gripping it tighter, pulling me ever closer.
Just as I'm hitching a leg over his, I vaguely hear the back door opening. Damn it, I was just getting into this!
"Hey, kids, tongues back in your own mouths, please!" My dad's gruff, cop voice, shouts at us. Edward moves away quicker than I do, though not as quick as he used to. My dad seems to have a great talent for stopping us getting up to any 'funny business', as he calls it.
See if he can stop us in California…
"Oh, Charlie, they're young and in love!" My mum sighs wistfully. There must be something pretty major up if they're both out here.
I straighten out my shirt and turn to face them; noticing Edward is purposely not fully turning around due to a trouser issue.
I stifle a snigger.
"What's up?" I ask my parents, blocking Edward's legs from view.
"Thanks," Edward whispers in my ear.
"We thought you might like to know that Alice has gone into labour," My dad announces.
"What? Seriously? But this is, like, a week before her due date!" I shout excitedly, standing up.
"When did her waters break?" Edward asks, also standing up.
"I dunno. I just got off the phone with Esme. Now, we'll answer your questions on the way to the hospital," My mum tells us.
Edward and I rush inside and grab our shoes before heading in the car to the hospital.
When we arrive at the hospital, Esme and Carlisle are already here, along with Cowboy's family, his parents Emma and David and his younger sister Charlotte. Mum and dad rush over to Esme and Carlisle, while Edward and I take a seat next to Charlotte. I think I remember Cowboy saying she was two years younger than us.
"Hey, you're Cowboy's younger sister, right?" I say to Charlotte. She looks a lot like Cowboy, with honey coloured hair and skin darker than anyone native to Forks. Aside from the Quileute's.
"Cowboy?" Charlotte questions.
"Oh, sorry, that's my nickname for Jasper. You know, because of the whole Texas thing," I explain to her, blushing.
"I'll have to remember that!" Charlotte giggles, helping me to relax a little.
We sit in the waiting room for a while, the adults making small talk about the new baby, mostly. After graduation, Cowboy and Alice are moving into a flat of their own, with Alice doing a course online and I'm not so sure what Cowboy is planning on doing. Alice's course, though, is going to be about fashion designing.
After sitting in the waiting room for two and a half hours, we begin to get restless. Mum and dad announce that we'll probably have to leave soon, since I have a lot of packing to do.
I don't have that much stuff.
"I'll text you later, ok?" Edward smiles at me, standing up when I do to say goodbye to me.
"You better," I tease back, hugging him tightly.
"I could come and help you pack?" he offers hopefully.
"You know we never get any packing done when you 'help'," I snicker, watching as his eyes darken.
While we haven't gone all the way yet, we've done other stuff together.
"Is that such a problem?" Edward winks, kissing my cheek.
"Yes. Anyway, you should stay here for you sister," I remind him, kissing his lips relatively chastely.
"Come on, Bells," my dad shouts, so I roll my eyes.
"See you later," I tell Edward, kissing him once more before walking off to my parents.
Just as I reach them, I hear my mother tell my father, "How do you think you'll keep stopping them when they're in California?" I laugh to myself as I hear this, but I am curious to hear my dad's response.
"As long as it's not under my roof, that way I don't need to think about it," my dad replies.
Soon enough we've made it back home, and I'm back to sorting out keep or throw out of all my things. I find myself throwing out mostly clothes, which I seem to have so many of. Most of my books I'm going to leave here, but I am going to take my favourites.
*******LLB*******
Around 3 in the morning, I'm woken up by my phone vibrating, alerting me to a new text.
Sorry if I wake you. Alice has had a beautiful baby girl, named Lily about ten minutes ago! ~Edward
I smile as I read the text, anxious for when I can see Alice and her new arrival.
Tell Alice congratulations! I'll be in tomorrow to see both mother and baby :) You must be exhausted staying up this late! ~Bella
I fall asleep before I hear his response, too tired to stay awake to keep up the conversation.
*******LLB*******
In the morning, like I said I would, my parents and I go to visit Alice and the new arrival. When we arrive Edward's also there along with his parents and Cowboy's family.
"Oh, Alice, she's beautiful!" I coo; looking down at the tiny bundle I'm holding in my arms. "Look, she even has you oil rig hair!" I add, noticing the small black wisps that adorn her tiny head.
I hand her over to my mum, whose eyes fill with tears. Lily gets passed around almost everyone, though Alice soon demands her back.
"How are you feeling?" I ask Alice, standing beside her bed.
"Exhausted," Alice groans, but there's still a smile on her face.
"Get used to it," I smirk, grinning at her. She just glares.
We spend some time with her in the hospital; however we soon leave to give her some rest and quiet time before she takes the baby home.
Esme invites everyone around to her place afterwards, since she has a surprised for Cowboy and Alice that she wants help with. Half an hour later, I'm sat next to Edward in the crowded living room, with Esme and Carlisle discussing their plans with Emma and David. My mum's still here but my dad had to leave for work, which is pretty good since it means I can sit closer to Edward without him receiving any glares.
"So, what's the surprise, then?" My mum asks after Esme hasn't revealed anything yet.
"Well, as you all know, I'm an interior designer, and Alice and Jasper have been looking for a house. Since Alice isn't going to college, she's studying online, her college fund isn't needed. So, Carlisle and I were thinking of putting that money towards a small house for them," Esme announces.
"That's a wonderful idea!" Emma grins widely, gripping David's hand tightly.
"We'd like to put some money towards that. Maybe buy furniture?" David suggests.
"That's really not necessary," Carlisle informs him.
I tune out the adults as they begin politely arguing about the costs of this, and turn to face Edward better.
"I can't wait until we leave. Is that bad?" I ask Edward, snuggling closer to him.
"No, why would it be bad? I can't wait until we're living together," Edward grins at me. Instead of going into university residence, we've decided to share an apartment together. Turns out, Edward's window cleaning business has really taken off, so he has quite a bit of money saved up from it. I also have the money I've been saving up over the years, so we're putting all of that towards renting a small, one bedroomed flat.
"Because we'll be leaving everyone," I tell him, sighing softly.
"Talking about you two leaving, how's your packing going, Bella?" My mum asks, obviously overhearing our conversation.
Also, it would seem the adults have stopped their bickering.
"Good. I think I'll probably end up leaving a lot of things behind," I inform her.
"Actually, that reminds me, Edward. This morning when I went to grab a change of clothes from your room, I notice that, despite all the cardboard boxes, not a single one of your things was in any of them," Esme says, raising an eyebrow at Edward.
"Um, well, about that…" Edward trails off, looking to me for help. I just smirk, watching him squirm.
"Are you not planning on taking anything with you to college?" Esme adds with a pointed look.
"I just, uh, was waiting until…until I…until I knew what Bella was taking, so we wouldn't double up on anything," Edward quickly makes up.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realise Bella was taking men's clothes." At Esme's words both my mum and I burst out laughing, whilst Edward glares at the both of us.
"I'll go pack now," Edward huffs, standing up. "You wanna help?" Edward asks me.
"So you don't double up on things?" My mum quips. I snicker as I leave the room with Edward, hoping to lessen the glares I'm receiving from him.
When we reach his room, I see all the flat pack boxes lying on the floor, not even made up into boxes. I put my hand on my hip, frowning at Edward.
"You didn't even make up the boxes?" I question. He turns around to face me, a sheepish look on his face. Before I can say another word he's kissing me senseless, wrapping his arms around me.
"Sorry," he mutters, kissing along my neck.
"I know what you're up to, and it's not going to work. Get the tape and we'll make up boxes." Edward sighs as he lets go of me, leaving to get the tape.
When he returns he hands me the tape, still, it would seem, a little bit annoyed at the laughing before.
"You could have stuck up for me more!" Edward whines eventually.
"You looked like you were dealing with it pretty fine on your own," I reply, teasing him.
Instead of the glare I expect, he just leans over and kisses me.
He's perfect.
A/N: Thoughts on the name of Alice's baby? :D
Review please! :)
Follow me on Twitter; katycullen23