A/N: Ah, my lovelies. Extra post for you this week. I hope you don't mind.
When Bella arrived home from her prenatal yoga class, Edward was instantly distracted from the phone conversation he'd been having.
Her hair was up in a high ponytail. She wore a simple tank top that hugged her curves and did nothing to hide the swell of her belly. At twenty-seven weeks, she was still small but undeniably pregnant.
"Edward? Are you paying attention?" Felix asked.
He cleared his throat. "Red tape. We can break ground in the Spring, though," he murmured back distractedly. When Bella looked over at him, taking a long drink of water, he smiled and extended a hand toward her.
As Felix continued to babble in his ear about changes that needed to be made before the final approval could go through, Edward took Bella's hand, pulling her down on the bed beside him.
"I need to take a shower," she whispered against his ear when he began kissing the exposed arch of her neck.
Edward shook his head. He preferred to keep her right there with him. She was far from disgustingly sweaty, though he could taste the salt on her skin when he kissed her shoulder.
As he said his goodbyes to Felix, he unhooked the Bluetooth from his ear, tossing it away, as he laid Bella back on the bed, kissing her all the way down.
"How was your class?" he asked as he stretched his body along hers, resting his hand over her bump.
"Good," she said, skimming the tip of her nose against his cheek as she pressed a sweet kiss to his chin. "It's nice. Normal. It's nice to talk to other women who are going through this." Her eyes met his, twinkling with mischief. "And comparing how our husbands, boyfriends, and baby daddies are holding up."
"Uh oh." He pretended to be concerned. "How am I doing in the ranks?"
She laughed, her expression suddenly shy. "I'm a lucky woman."
They cuddled close another few moments, their lips speaking for them and their legs tangling together.
"What did you mean 'normal'?" Edward asked suddenly, turning her words over in his head.
She pulled back a little, the look in her eyes slightly wary. "Well..." she hedged. "The first few months, after I ran, everything was surreal. Everything. Even when I was calm, I felt like I was living someone else's life. I didn't feel," she searched for the word, "right.
"But the last month or so, that feeling is almost gone. It's helped that your brothers and Rosalie have all but forgotten they ever distrusted me - not that I blamed them." Her eyes held his, and he could see the adoration and love - a reflection of his own feelings. "And of course, you and me feels right."
He stroked her cheek with the pads of his fingers, waiting for her to continue.
"When I was at the class today, it occurred to me that it wasn't so long ago that this pregnancy scared the hell out of me." The skin around her eyes tightened and she looked down, taking his hand and playing with his fingers. "I wanted to protect her; I've always wanted to protect her, but it was also... When I thought of myself as pregnant, it felt awful. Wrong," she admitted quietly.
"It's completely understandable you felt that way," he whispered, touching his forehead to hers, hoping the affectionate gesture was a comfort, a sign he didn't think even remotely less of her for having thought that way.
"I'm glad I don't anymore," she whispered back. "With those other women, I can see that every pregnancy is a journey, and every one is different. This other girl? She doesn't even know who her baby's father is. Can you imagine that?"
He shook his head, curling her closer.
"I know I'm so lucky to have you." She trembled a little as she spoke, and Edward felt a chill go down his spine as he considered just how lucky they both were.
What would have happened to her if they hadn't met? Bella was strong. She could have made it alone, but what then? And what would his life have looked like without her.
Edward didn't want to imagine.
He took her hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing the ring that bound them together legally and symbolically. "I have something I want to ask you."
"Sounds serious."
He chuckled. "I've told you before, I hate these rings. I want you to let me replace them."
As he predicted, she groaned. "Does it really matter that much to you?" She asked with a sigh. "It's enough for me that you're wearing your wedding ring on your left hand all the time now."
Edward sucked in a breath and grimaced. "You noticed that, did you?"
"That you switched your ring at night? Yes. I noticed. I wondered why you didn't just take it off." She kissed his nose. "Rings aren't such a big deal anymore. A lot of people don't wear theirs constantly." She eyed him. "If we'd done things normally, I would have been okay with no rings at all."
The thought made him frown. "I know I'm old fashioned, but yes, it's important to me." He looked at her steadily. "I won't be insulted if you don't want to wear your ring all the time."
She rolled her eyes. "No, you won't be insulted, but you will be hurt."
Edward couldn't argue with that. "I was raised by a man from a different time, I suppose. There are some things he put in my head I won't ever be able to shake, though I'm not so sure that's such a bad thing in this particular case. The rings are just part of that package." He held up their left hands. "These rings are a symbol of a charade, and while I don't regret how we found each other, I want them to reflect what we are to each other now."
"And we're something gold, I'd expect," she grumbled.
He laughed. "Platinum, I'd say. But I'm open to suggestions." He tapped her chin. "We can find something right for us. Together, unless you're completely disinterested."
She breathed out slowly. "I'm not disinterested. I actually like that a lot." She looked him in the eye, her expression softening. "I'm not completely averse to jewelry. I like it a lot better when there's a meaning behind it." Her grin turned slightly wicked. "Besides, if I choose it with you, I can control how much you get to spend on me."
"On us," he corrected, grinning back. "See? We're getting the hang of this marriage business, learning to compromise."
She made a face at him. Chuckling, he pulled her closer for another, more thorough kiss.
~0~
Bella stared at the phone, so nervous she was nearly gnawing through her lip.
"She can't bite you all the way from Forks."
Bella jumped, whirling around to find Leah leaning in the doorway to the kitchen, looking - as she tended to - impatient.
Though Bella had made the case that she wasn't working and therefore was more than capable of keeping house for the time being, Edward had argued for keeping Leah on as a housekeeper. It wasn't that Bella had any problem with the woman, she just wanted to find a way to contribute. But Edward made the point that he paid Leah a very handsome salary with fantastic benefits.
He'd won that argument, and Bella had to admit she was glad both for the company and because she really, really hated cleaning bathrooms.
Seeing as Leah was the only other one that knew the truth, that morning, Bella had confessed she was nervous about calling her mother - a decision she and Edward had come to several nights before.
"I'm not afraid of her bite," Bella mumbled. "This just isn't easy."
"Are you going to tell her the whole truth?"
Bella scoffed. "We haven't even told his family the whole truth." She sighed. "I don't know. It depends on what I find out. The last time I called my friend Jake, he said Alec was hanging out with her a lot. I have no idea what he's told her," she said sadly.
The other woman studied her intently. "Well, if she's any kind of mother at all, she'll believe you. If she doesn't, she's not worth your time."
Transferring the phone from one hand to another over and over, Bella didn't answer. Leah had hit the nail on the head. Bella was terrified this call to Renee was going to sever their ties forever, or at least for the foreseeable future.
But Renee was her last tie. One way or another, if she could resolve this one loose end, she could live her life normally.
Well, as normally as the lingering threat of Alec allowed.
"Like a band-aid," Leah advised. "Rip it off. Get 'er done."
"Thanks," Bella said wryly. She watched the other woman retreat, taking the garbage outside.
After another minute or so of glaring at her phone, Bella took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pressed the send button.
"Hello?" her mother answered after a few rings. Tears automatically sprang to Bella's eyes, and she forgot to speak. "Hello?" her mother asked again, sounding annoyed.
"Mom?" Bella gasped.
There was a pause. "Oh, my God. Bella?"
~0~
When Edward got home early, Bella knew Leah must have called him. She'd been on such a crying jag she hadn't been able to answer his phone calls.
So it was understandable that he was a bit panicky when he walked in the door, calling her name.
Feeling ridiculous and more than a little exasperated with herself, Bella quickly wiped at her eyes. When he got to her, of course Edward folded her into his arms, rocking her. "Ah, Bella. I told you to call her when I was home."
Forcing herself to calm down, Bella wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into him. "I'm fine," she said hoarsely. "Really."
"Yes, crying so hard you can't pick up the phone is a very good indicator of fine," he murmured back, his tone carefully light.
Bella snorted and sniffled again. "Really. I'm fine," she tried again. "They're happy tears. I just got overwhelmed."
He shifted, taking her face in his palms, searching her eyes. "You're really fine?" he asked slowly.
Putting her hands over his, she nodded, beaming. "She believed me," she whispered.
As Bella had suspected, shortly after James's attack on her, Alec had begun to pester Renee. He'd insisted that he'd found out Bella had run off with a man that kept her high on drugs and delusional.
"He said his friend had seen you all cracked out and irrational," Renee had cried. "I didn't think it could be true, but I don't understand what's happening."
Bella had assured her she wasn't currently, nor had she ever, been on any drugs. Then she'd told Renee most of the story - the whole story - about Alec. The only part she left out was that the baby was his.
She was surprised when it became apparent that Alec hadn't mentioned any baby. Bella found herself in the awkward position of admitting to her mother she was pregnant. She kept her lie simple, letting Renee believe a version of the story they'd told the Cullens - that she and Edward had an ongoing affair - and that when Alec had gotten scary, she'd run to him. Renee assumed she got pregnant after she ran, and Bella let her believe it.
"I told her I got in over my head with him too quickly. That I didn't know how to tell her and then it was too late; I had to run. She said she was sorry I felt I couldn't go to her all these years," Bella said, sniffling. "And she said she would love to come to Vegas to meet everyone."
"That's good. Really good. Right?" He wiped the remnants of her tears away.
"It is. It was just... this moment got so big in my head, you know? She always loved Alec, and she says, he's been good to her since I've been gone." Her voice was bitter as she spoke. "But she said he's been weird, especially lately. Very insistent that she try to find me and talk some sense into me.
"See, Renee didn't understand why I left, but she was okay with it. She thought I was breaking this rut I was in, so she got annoyed that Alec wanted to horn in on that." She looked up, smiling sadly. "I guess she saw his pushy side up close." She breathed in deep. "I was just so relieved."
He kissed her forehead tenderly. "Well, that's a relief. I wasn't looking forward to disliking my mother-in-law." For a moment, he studied her. "Of course, it does leave the question of what we're going to do when she sees you're more pregnant than we suspected."
Bella swallowed hard past the lump that rose suddenly in her throat, her heartbeat picking up. "I was thinking about that, too," she said slowly.
"And?" Edward prompted, his voice soft and patient.
"And..." Bella willed her heart to slow so she could speak before her voice lost volume. "I really think we should tell everyone when we're all together in Vegas." Her eyes found his so he could see what she meant.
He sucked in a breath. "Everything?"
"That's the only way it's going to work. Right now, my mother knows one version of events and they know another. It's all going to fall apart." She breathed in deep, steadying her reeling emotions. "Although they may hate me again. It has to be done."
"No. I don't think so," he said slowly, brushing her hair back out of her face. "I think they'll understand, Bella."
She was looking down. "Will they?" Her words were shaky. "I know without a doubt you think of her as your daughter." She cupped a hand protectively over her belly, wishing so badly that she could make the world perfect for her little girl. "And that's the most important thing. But will they accept her?"
Edward shifted, putting both his hands over hers. She felt his eyes on her and had to look up, finding them fierce with intensity, very serious. "She is my daughter. They'll understand."
The certainty in his eyes made the ache in her heart just a little easier to bear. She lifted her free hand, resting her knuckles against his cheek. "I really hope you're right."
He ducked his head a little, pressing a tiny kiss to the tip of her nose. "You know I will be right here with you, right? You know I'll be there no matter what."
Again the weight around her heart lightened and her answering smile was small, but heartfelt. "That I do know."
~0~
"I think Mirage is a perfectly beautiful name," Edward insisted, stroking his fingers along her stomach. "And it's meaningful, because it's where we met."
"Yes, I understood what you were going for there."
Bella was scratching his head as she spoke. Edward didn't know when he'd been more content and happy in his life. He was kneeling on the floor while Bella sat on the sofa, her belly bared for this most important discussion... and because he couldn't seem to stop touching her skin anyway.
"We're not naming her Mirage," Bella insisted.
Edward raised an eyebrow. "Bellagio?"
"Yeah. We'll call her Bella for short," Bella smirked, her tone sarcastic.
"Tropicana? Oh! Treasure. For Treasure Island."
"Edward, the only Casino that has a mildly acceptable name is Paris, and no. Just no."
He pretended to frown as if in great concentration. "Aria?"
"Pretty, but no." Bella's smile was so sweet. She was charmed. He could tell.
"Rio?"
She cocked her head to the side, her breath coming short. "Riley."
"What?" He pushed up off the floor to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"What about Riley?" she asked quietly. "For real."
"Riley," he repeated, trying it on for size. With a grin, he rubbed his hand in light circles over her belly. "Riley what?"
"Hmmmm," Bella hummed, thinking about it. "Elizabeth goes well with anything. I like it a lot."
Edward's lips twitched down. "That was my paternal grandmother's name," he said quietly, his voice unassuming.
"Oh! Well, we could always try something else."
"No, I like it. It doesn't have to mean anything." He pursed his lips, his hand stilling as he felt the baby move. With a smile, he leaned down to kiss the increasingly larger bump. "What do you think, baby girl? Are you a Riley Elizabeth?" He pressed his ear against her belly, listening intently, his head jostling as Bella laughed at his antics.
"She doesn't seem to be arguing," he reported, lifting his head.
"Riley Elizabeth Cullen. I really like it," Bella said, her voice far away and thoughtful.
Edward was struggling to temper his grin enough that it wouldn't reach his ears. Obviously, he'd understood their daughter would have his last name, but hearing it out loud was a greater joy than he'd ever known was possible.
A/N: As usual, I don't name my fic babies. This one was named by GinnyW. Much love. And thanks to Plummy for beta work and Barburella for arguing with me.
SO! The lovely Beffers87 made me two gorgeous banners quite a while ago, and I didn't know how to show them off! Barburella uploaded them to AO3 for me. Do take a look. I LOVE my banners. My other banner is made by the wonderful Shug.
I updated again so quickly because I wanted to remind you that you could donate to get an outtake from And Yet So Far from me. As part of that event, I'm going to be doing a live interview and chat on Saturday. You're welcome to come to the chat even if you don't wish to donate. I'm not even remotely shy, so I'll answer any questions you want!
projectteambeta dot com / back-to-school-fundraiser /