Disclaimer: The characters of Twilight are owned by Stephenie Meyer. The original characters, content and ideas of this story are mine.
Chapter 27
Riding the Waves
BPOV
It has been two months since Edward proposed and we are now approaching the Christmas holidays. We had flown back to Forks the month before for Thanksgiving, which turned out to be quite the event. It was nice to be back "home" again and we even went by my old house to pack some things up, clean up and make sure the house was ready for winter. I walked through each room of the house and everyone held a special memory or two for me. For the first time in eight months I opened the door to my parent's room and allowed myself to reminisce. I sat on the end of their bed and I could still smell my mom's perfume lingering in the room. I took in a deep breath as I closed my eyes and let the memories take over. I could hear my mom telling me:
Flashback:
"Bella, always remember you have to keep yourself up if you plan to get married one day. I mean you already have the brains and you are a fantastic cook, thanks to your grandmother, but we have got to do something about these baggy jeans, sweatpants, t shirts and sweatshirts!" You want to make sure these young men can see the whole package."
"Mom I don't think a woman should have to dress like a stripper to get the attention of the opposite sex."
"Oh, Bella dear Lord of course not, I'm not saying show them all your goodies, but at least give them something to imagine."
"What are you girls in here whispering about?"
"I was just telling our daughter Charlie, that if she wants the opposite sex to notice her she can't continue to dress like one of them."
"Don't listen to your mother pumpkin, if a man does not see how beautiful you are by just looking into your eyes, then he really doesn't deserve you."
"Thanks dad, I love you."
"Love you too kid, always."
"Your dad's right baby girl, one look into those big brown beautiful eyes and a guy would have to be crazy or blind not to fall for you. I love you so much baby."
"I love you too mom."
"Alright stop with the mushy talk and let's go so I can take my two favorite ladies out to breakfast"
End of flashback
"Bella, are there any other boxes you want moved to the basement?" Emmett asked pulling me from my walk down memory lane and when I opened my eyes and turned to look at him his face fell.
"Hey baby girl, you okay?" Emmett asked as he came to sit next to me on the bed. He, Jasper and Edward had spent most of the day cleaning up my parent's home and packing up boxes to move into the basement.
"Yeah, I'm fine Emmett…I was just thinking about Charlie and Renee and how mom always made such a fuss over my clothes and how dad would always defend me." I said letting out a small chuckle as I used my sweater sleeve to wipe away my tears.
Emmett placed his arm around my shoulder and I laid my head on his shoulder.
"I miss them too Bells, especially all the fishing trips Uncle Charlie and I went on and Aunt Renee's cooking. Remember when we would sit at the kitchen table just trying to figure out what it was sometimes before we ate it. Those were the fun days." He said with a smile on his face.
"Or remember how much trouble we got in when we fed our dinner to the neighbors dog and he got sick?" I said laughing along with Emmett and then a silence fell over us. "Oh Emmett, I miss them so much it hurts." I said burying my face in his shoulder and crying. "And now they won't see me get married or see their grandchildren…"
Emmett stood up and then kneeled in front of me holding both my hands in between his huge ones.
"Baby girl, trust me they see you and they are proud of you and all that you have accomplished. Look at you, you're a beautiful young woman and I hope Edward knows how lucky he is." He said wiping a tear from my cheek with the back of his hand before pulling me into a hug.
"Yes, I know and I thank God everyday for what he has given me." Edward said standing in the doorway with both hands in his jean pockets.
"Good, I'm glad you do, that will keep me from having to fly all the way to New York to kick your ass if you hurt her." Emmett said play punching Edward in the arm. "I'm going to head back downstairs to finish moving the last of the boxes." Emmett said before leaving the room.
Edward walked in, sat on the bed next to me, pulled me into his lap and simply rocked me back and forth while I rested my head on his chest. At that moment I let the tears flow and he allowed me my time to grieve. No words needed to be spoken, because I understood what he was trying to give me and he knew exactly what I needed, closure. Right here, in this place, at this moment, surrounded by all my life's memories from birth to now, remembering all the joy, laughter, anger, disagreements , debates, late night television, family game nights, dinners that sometimes caught us off guard if Renee was cooking, but I have to admit sometimes she did get it right. But most of all, love, that through everything was always the most dominate emotion in my house and I had resolved right then and there that love would always be the foundation in our household as well.
I slowly lifted my head from Edward's chest and looked into his worried green eyes that were swimming with so many emotions it broke my heart. I could see the fear in his eyes as he held me tight not sure of what to say or do.
"Thank you, I'm okay now" I whispered barely audible.
"Bella you have nothing to thank me for, I should be thanking you."
"Thanking me? For what?"
"For trusting me enough to start a new life in New York, not knowing how things would turn out for you. For believing in me enough to give us a chance and for loving me enough to allow me into the most intimate part of what makes you who you are, your heart. I promise I'll never betray that trust or take your love for granted."
"I know you won't, that's why I'm here, why we're here, together." I said offering a huge smile which made him laugh through his nose. My stomach growled rather loudly causing both of us to look down at my belly and one or two of our three children were stretching causing my tummy to take on a weird shape.
"Time to feed the babies." Edward said kissing my forehead before getting me to my feet and steadying me.
I left my parent's home that day with a new determination to honor their memory by always living by the values they had taught me.
Which brings us back to the here and now, where I am currently on bed rest, looking through a couple of catalogues Edward left for me to pick out countertops and cabinets for our new home. We had decided to move back to the west coast closer to our family so that we would have the support system that we would need, becoming the new parents of not one, but three baby girls or boys or both. In three weeks we would be the new owners of a four bed room three bath single family home in Seattle and my Christmas gift from Edward was a makeover to the kitchen with white cabinets and sand colored granite counters. We were also getting two of the three bathrooms redone and replacing all the carpet with hardwood floors. We had decided not to actually move in until the spring, which gives Edward time to finish his third year of residency and he would complete his final year in Seattle. Also I could fix up our new home the way I want to before we move in including the babies' room or rooms depending on the genders.
I was now twenty four weeks into my pregnancy and according to my OB/GYN, I would deliver between thirty two and thirty four weeks. So in less than three months Edward and I would become the proud parents of three beautiful babies. We had decided against finding out the sex of the babies and we're fine with whatever God blesses us with. Edward has hired a housekeeper to take care of the household cleaning, laundry and cooking that I was no longer able to do and my nurse still comes by daily to help me with showers, light exercise and to administer my meds for the cancer treatments. Because the cancer had become more aggressive, my dosage of my meds have been increased, which also meant I spent a lot of days either lying in the bed, because I was too weak and nauseas to get up or in the bathroom in front of the toilet throwing up.
My weight gain had slowed down and my doctor was worried for my health and my babies. They may need to perform a C-section as early as twenty eight weeks if I continued to not be able to hold down my food. Poor Edward is exhausted working all day at the hospital and then having to come home and be up with me through half the night while I stumble back and forth to the bathroom. He never complains, but the dark circles under his eyes tells me just how much it is wearing on him.
"Bella, I have lunch for you darling." Samantha our housekeeper knocked lightly on the bedroom door and then came in carrying my lunch tray. Lunch nowadays for me consisted of chicken noodle soup or broth, saltine crackers, apple juice or ginger-ale and fresh fruit when I could hold it down. Dinner was pretty much the same and I tried very hard to eat as much as I could if not for myself for my babies.
"Thank you Sam, did Edward call while I was sleeping?"
"No ma'am, would you like for me to dial him at the hospital for you?"
"No, he started a new rotation three weeks ago in surgery, so he will not be as accessible for the next five weeks."
"However, Ms. Alice did call about the final wedding plans for you and Mr. Cullen and I told her I would have you call back as soon as you woke from your nap."
"Okay I'll call her as soon as I finish my lunch."
"Well if you don't need anything else I will be back in thirty minutes I need to run Mr. Cullen's clothes to the cleaners."
"No problem, go I'll be fine, I won't move until you come back."
.
"Good, I won't be long and call my cell if you need to."
"I'm fine Sam, go, now." I said chuckling at how overprotective Edward has made everyone regarding me.
I managed to get all my food down and surprisingly no nausea today, which is saying a lot for me. Edward had decided he did not want to wait until the babies were born to get married, so we are scheduled to get married in eight days at the Empire State Building in the wedding suite, courtesy of Alice Brandon and her many connections in the city of New York. The head of event planning at the Empire State Building is a very good friend of Alice's from college and is also how Edward pulled off that awesome proposal.
The phone rang on the night stand startling me out of my thoughts and the caller ID read Alice Brandon.
"Hello Alice, how are you?" I said answering the phone.
"Bella, finally you're awake! How do you feel? Is that brother of mine taking care of you? How is the new housekeeper working out? I hope you are taking your meds and eating, because you need your strength if you plan to make it down the aisle next week…"
"ALICE! Calm. Down. Now! One question at a time sweetie. I feel okay for starts and Samantha is great. Yes I am taking all my meds and eating as much as I can thank you for asking."
"I'm sorry Bella I am just so excited and happy for you and my brother and I can hardly believe this day has come."
"Neither can I" I said with a snort. Just then the other line rang and Edward's cell phone was on the caller ID. "Alice hold on sweetie, this is your brother calling now."
"No worries Bella I am meeting Jasper for lunch, so my brother is lucky, talk to you later babes."
With a chuckle I quickly clicked over to the other line.
"Hello"
"Ahh, your voice is like music to my ears, how are you love?"
"Actually I'm doing very well and how is your day going dear?"
"Very light work load today surprisingly, so the supervising physician gave me the rest of the day off. I thought maybe we could decorate the tree tonight if you feel up to it or if not we can watch a movie."
"No… decorating the tree sounds like a lot of fun I would really enjoy that." I said with tears springing to my eyes.
Edward knew this was a big deal for me, because this would be my first Christmas without my parents and decorating the tree was something my mom, dad and I did every year together.
"Great I'll be home in twenty minutes and we can drink hot cocoa in front of the fireplace and I can feel on you under the covers." Edward said and I could picture that lopsided grin on his face.
"Mr. Cullen are you hitting on me?" I said teasing
"No, of course not, just preparing you for what is to come after you have my last name."
"Ah, I see, well judging by the three little ones in my belly, I'd say I'm pretty prepared as to what to expect."
"No argument here love, I'll see you soon."
"Okay see you soon."
I hung up feeling like a teenage girl waiting for her boyfriend to come over and though I've spent almost every waking hour with Edward for the past eight months, I still get excited when I know he is coming home. I quickly got up, well as fast as my body would allow me to, so that I could empty my bladder and freshen up before Edward arrived and as I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, I just couldn't believe how much my life had changed in less than a year, but I loved it!
EPOV
Things have been pretty hectic since I asked Bella to marry me. Her illness has restricted her to the house and on many occasions to the bed. But that doesn't seem to get her down; she wakes with a smile and goes to sleep with a smile, though in my profession I know she is sicker than she is saying. The pregnancy was coming along fine though it is taking a lot of if Bella to carry our children. Her immune system is weak and her appetite is certainly not that of woman six months pregnant with triplets. She has to get steroid injections to try and strengthen the babies' lungs just in case they have to take them early due to Bella's health. I am heading home to spend some much needed alone time with her, but what she doesn't know is I am off for the next three days and Jacob is in town and will be joining us tomorrow for dinner. She has been missing her best friend and I want to allow them that time together, so he will be "babysitting" Bella tomorrow while I get my final tux fitting for the wedding next Saturday. The rest of our family will be flying in later in the week.
"Hello Mr. Cullen, you are home early." Samantha said as I walked through the front door of our apartment.
"Hey Sam, yeah they were a little over staffed in surgery and since I have worked eleven days without being off they let me go early." I said as I hung up my jacket.
"Would you like some hot cocoa to warm up?"
"Yes please and fix some for Bella also. Is she awake?"
"Yes sir, she just went to use the bathroom right before you came, she should be out soon."
"Thanks" I said with a small smile and then I headed to our bedroom, too impatient to wait until she came back out.
"Bella, are you in here?"
"Yeah babe, I'll be out in a second"
"Okay, Sam is making us some cocoa and I am going to go light the fireplace alright?"
"Alright" she said and then I turned and headed to the kitchen to find out what smelled so good.
"Samantha you can actually cut out after dinner if you want since I'm here, I can manage cleaning up."
"Thank you very much Mr. Cullen and dinner will be served promptly at seven, is that okay?"
"That is perfect, what's on the menu tonight?" I asked while sorting through the mail that I had neglected for the past week.
"Baked chicken with a sweet teriyaki sauce, garlic mash potatoes and grilled asparagus with a honey glaze."
"Sounds delicious to me and I am sure Bella will enjoy it also. Speaking of Bella I wonder what's taking her so long to come out of the bathroom, I'm going to check on her." I said as I sat the pile of mail on the kitchen counter and walked out,
"Bella, do you need any help love?" I said lightly knocking on the bathroom door in our room, but I got no response. I tried turning the knob, but the door was locked.
"Bella, are you alright in there?" I asked a little louder, but still no answer and at that moment my heart dropped to my feet. I begin to forcefully turn the door knob while slamming my weight against the door to open it but to no avail. So then I banged on the door one last time yelling Bella's name praying she would answer and stop this panic attack that was now taking over.
"SAMANTHA! SAMANTHA!" I yelled running to the kitchen.
"Mr. Cullen what is going on?" Samantha asked running up the hall toward our bedroom.
"Call an ambulance now! Bella is locked in the bathroom and I think she may be unconscious!"
"Oh no…okay sir!"
I quickly ran into the kitchen and opened my utility closet where I kept all of my tools and my hand held power drill. I then ran back to our room with my toolbox and power drill in hand and made quick work on taking the screws out of the door knob. I had to go through changing the drill-bit a few times to get the size correct which seemed to take forever and every second she was in there was critical. I got the first screw out with no problem, but the second one was a little more difficult and did not unscrew as easily even using the electric drill. Finally I lost it and went into a full fledge panic attack and I took my hammer and started hitting the door knob down towards the floor as hard as I could and since there was only one screw holding it on, after the third whack it gave and went flying to the floor. I pushed the tumbler and the door knob on the other side out, which allowed me to see through the hole in the door where the knob had been.
The pain that shot through my chest was crippling when I saw Bella lying on the bathroom floor and her lips were a bluish color which instantly told me she was not getting enough oxygen. I reached in, unlocked the door and ran to her side to check for a pulse, which was still beating very strong. I then lowered my head to her chest to listen for that beautiful heartbeat that had been like a lullaby to me on so many nights, but I heard nothing. I ran to get my medical bag and took out my stethoscope and then I could hear her faint heartbeat, but she was not breathing so I immediately started CPR.
"Mr. Cullen the paramedics are here and they're coming back"
I immediately made them aware that I was a doctor and instructed them to start and I.V., start oxygen and to get the defibrillator ready. I sat in the back of that ambulance watching them work to save my whole reason for living and I would give anything to see her beautiful brown eyes and her shy smile. Anything for more time with the love of my life. She can't go, we have our whole lives in front of us and so many plans, goals and dreams that we have not fulfilled yet. We were getting married, buying a home, starting a family and a new life together and in my heart I just knew that it could not all just end like this or could it.
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