Chapter 26

After securing the venue for our wedding and enjoying their delicious food, Bella and I make one last stop for the evening. We walk into a jewelry store, hoping to find wedding bands.

We browse for a few minutes before a saleswoman approaches, offering to show us whatever we're interested in.

"Do you see anything you like, baby?" I ask Bella.

She wrinkles her nose a bit. "I'm not sure."

The saleswoman, Judy takes one look at Bella's engagement ring and pulls out some wedding bands with matching channel set diamonds. Bella is quick to shake her head at those. "I'd actually rather have something that matches what you get," she says to me.

After huffing under her breath at not making a sale on diamonds, Judy replaces the first tray with another that has men's and women's versions of the same rings. Bella and I both look them over, and I honestly can say that nothing jumps out at me. I don't currently wear any jewelry, so I don't really have a preference, other than something to symbolize our love and union.

"What's this say?" Bella asks Judy, pointing to a ring that has some Hebrew lettering on it.

"Oh, that's actually one of my favorites," Judy tells us. "In Hebrew, it says 'Ani L'Dodi V'Dodi Li' which means 'I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.'"

I watch Bella's face light up. "I love it." She turns to me asking, "What do you think?"

"I think the sentiment is absolutely perfect." I put my arms around her from behind and lean my chin on her shoulder to look closer at the rings. They are thick bands that appear to be white gold, with a thin strip on the top and bottom and the raised Hebrew lettering in the middle. "What would you do about your engagement ring?" I ask her. "I don't think you can fit both on one finger."

"I can just wear it on my right hand," she says, shrugging.

Judy hands a ring to each of us to try on and Bella moves her engagement ring to her right hand. I slip the ring on my finger. "Hmm, that doesn't feel as weird as I expected," I muse. "I thought it would feel heavy and uncomfortable."

"Wow," Bella marvels at the same thing as she admires the women's version on her finger.

"Now, these actual rings can't be sized because of the lettering, but we make our own jewelry here so we'd just make them for you in the right size. That also means we can make them from whatever metal you choose."

"What do you think?" Bella asks, turning to me.

"I love it," I say confidently.

Judy sizes us both and we order the rings in white gold. She tells us that they shouldn't take more than a few days, but she'll call us when they're ready.

We drive home that night with a marriage license, a place to get married, wedding bands ordered and our first photo of our baby. All in all, I'd say it's been a good day.

Bella had been exhausted for about a week before we found out she was pregnant, and it's hitting her even harder now. A few days after her appointment with Dr. Newton, the morning sickness kicks in.

Actually, Bella will tell you that the term "morning sickness" is a misnomer. For her, it happens all day.

We're sitting on the couch watching a movie and I literally watch the color drain from her face before she bolts for the bathroom. I hear the toilet flush and then her brushing her teeth. She comes back and snuggles up with me as if nothing happened.

"I wish there was something I could do, babe," I tell her sympathetically while rubbing her back. She shrugs and waves me off.

"Would it be weird if I said I didn't mind it?" she asks.

"Um, yeah," I say with a chuckle. "Why don't you mind it?"

With another shrug she tells me, "I guess I just feel like the pregnancy symptoms are proof that there's something going on in there." She puts her hand over her abdomen. "Without it, I'd probably be worried that something was wrong."

"I can understand that." I pull her closer and kiss her temple, resting my hand on top of hers on her stomach.

"Maybe you can just take my mind off of it for a little while." She has a sly smirk on her face.

"Oh, really?" I ask, pushing her back and hovering over her. "And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"A little of this," she says, pulling on my shirt until our lips meet.

"Mmm," I hum. "I think that can be arranged." With that, I kiss her deeply and drop my weight onto her body. She welcomes me with her tongue exploring my mouth and her hands roaming my body.

I work my way down her neck, licking, kissing and sucking just the way she likes. Her moans of appreciation spur me on. I whip her shirt off and toss it on the floor while my mouth descends to the valley between her breasts, humming as I gently squeeze her slightly larger mounds in each hand.

Bella's fingers tangle in my hair, scraping her nails along my scalp and pulling softly, and turning me on even more. I continue making my way down her body. My hands glide over her ribs and settle on her waist momentarily before I move them to the button of her jeans.

Just as I'm about to pop the button open, Bella stiffens and yells out, "Get up!"

I sit back on my haunches, completely startled and worried that I've hurt her. But, one look at her face lets me know it's nothing I've done. She runs back into the bathroom and throws up again.

She looks at me sheepishly when she returns. "Sorry," she says, hanging her head.

"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea right now anyway," I placate. "How about we try to get some food in you?"

"Okay."

"What do you want? I'll go get it."

Bella decides to just have some crackers and ginger ale, not wanting to risk a heavier meal on her delicate tummy. I bring it back from the kitchen and sit on the couch next to her while she nibbles.

Figuring I may as well make myself useful, I pick up one of the books from the coffee table and begin to find out what we should expect when we're expecting. Using the index, I try to find some tips on morning sickness that Bella hasn't tried yet, but there doesn't seem to be anything earth shattering in that book.

I plop it back down and pick up another book, which has something to do with girlfriendly advice. Skimming through that one, I actually find something useful.

"Hey, Bella. Did you read this part about constant eating?"

"Hmm?" she asks, looking up from the book that was in her lap. "I haven't gotten to that book yet. What does it say?"

"It says that keeping something constantly in your stomach helps to keep the nausea down. Seems counterproductive to me, but if the 'girlfriends' say it …" I say with a shrug and finger quotes on "girlfriends."

"I am feeling a little better right now, so maybe there's something to it." She puts the box of Wheat Thins on the table and leans back on the couch with her book.

Dropping my book, I lean over and rest my head in her lap. I lift her shirt and pop the button on her jeans, followed by the zipper. My fingers run lightly over her skin as I start talking. "Listen, little one. Mommy and Daddy love you, but I need you to take it easy on Mommy. She's giving you a nice, comfy home for the next several months, so maybe you could be good to her and let her keep some food down."

I feel Bella's fingers run through my hair and I look up at her. She's looking at me with a smile on her face.

"Well, if the crackers don't help, Daddy's little chat certainly will," she says before leaning down to kiss me softly.

"I just wanna make sure you're both okay." I shrug and sit up, resuming my perusal of The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy.

It's not that I don't think Bella will read the book on her own, but I have this overwhelming need to do whatever I can to help her. I love her and the baby more than anything else in this world, and I want to do everything I can to protect them.

In the end, I do find a few important pieces of information to help her. For one thing, I read that the pinching and pulling that she's been feeling are normal parts of the expansion of her uterus as well as the embryo burrowing in and making itself comfortable. I also find out that her sex drive is likely to increase in the second trimester. Not that our sex life is lacking anything at the moment—puking interruptions aside—but I'm a guy, so I look forward to any increase in her libido.

Turns out that the tip about keeping something in her stomach helps, and over the next few weeks Bella takes to carrying around a bag of Wheat Thins everywhere she goes.

As we get closer to the wedding, more and more things start falling into place. Bella has a successful shopping trip with Rose and manages to find a dress for our big day. I get in touch with Benjamin, who readily agrees to perform the ceremony for us. Our rings are finished and I pick them up, so excited about the prospect that I want to wear mine already. Bella insists that I wait until it's official, and I reluctantly agree.

We both attend her second appointment a few days before the wedding and we are blessed with hearing the baby's heartbeat through a Doppler. Dr. Newton assures us that everything looks good and that Bella's growth is on track.

To the outside world, she's not showing yet, but I am easily able to see the changes in her body when she's undressed. Her breasts are definitely fuller—a fact that has caused her to buy bras in the next size—and there is a little, bitty bump on her lower abdomen. When I put my hand on it, I can feel the firmness.

She's taken to wearing her looser clothing, saying that her normal pants feel very constrictive. Since she's always been very thin, it's easy to understand why this little bit would be noticeable to her. I kiss the area and talk to our baby every chance I get, loving how I now have something physical to put my hands on.

The day of the wedding arrives and I am a bundle of excitement. Even though it wasn't necessary, I end up taking the day off from work, knowing there is no way I'd be productive. But that leaves me with an empty apartment and nothing to do while Bella is busy getting ready with Rose and Esme.

In my head, I rehearse my vows repeatedly, making sure I won't mess up what I want to say to Bella. I gather the rings, marriage license, camera and other necessities to make sure I don't forget anything, loading it all in the car so it's ready to go.

The day passes slowly, but eventually it's time for me to get dressed. I put on my freshly pressed black suit, crisp white shirt, black tie and a pair of silver cuff links that Bella bought me for the occasion. Once I'm ready to go, I send a text to Emmett to let him know I'm on my way to pick him up. I don't care that it's early. I just want to get there.

I pull up in front of his house and honk, knowing I'm not allowed to go in. Rose will be driving Bella to the restaurant when the ladies are ready.

My heart speeds up when the door opens, hoping that I'll get a glimpse of Bella, but I have no such luck. Emmett swiftly walks out of the door and closes it behind him, hopping in the car with a big smile.

"Have you seen her?" I ask in lieu of a greeting.

"Yep," he says, smiling like the cat that ate the canary.

"Well?"

"Well what? You'll see her soon enough. You ready for this?"

"More than I ever thought possible."

A/N: We have a wedding to go to next! I hope you're ready!

Some of those pregnancy tidbits were taken from real life. I should own stock in Wheat Thins for how many I ate throughout two pregnancies. And, The Girlfriends' Guide is really the best book out there.

Teasers and more on Facebook and Twitter. I posted a picture of the wedding rings, and Bella's dress will be posted sometime before the next chapter goes up.