Thanks for all the patience as I got my new computer in order. I'll hopefully see you all next week!
Chapter 22
Edward's POV
She looked more beautiful today than she had on our wedding day all those years ago. Her stomach was barely showing, but it was a sign of the love we'd once … no, the love we still shared. Isabella would always be the woman of my dreams and it now hurt me to see how my selfishness and blindness had lead us here.
"Are you okay?" she softly asked once we stood by her truck. Her hand reached out toward me instinctually—her fingers running in a comforting circles over my already bruising cheek.
"Honestly?"
She nodded.
"No, nothing is right, babe. I've lost my heart and I don't know how to get it back."
A tear ran down her cheek. "You haven't lost me, Edward. I've always been here. The one who needs to find his way back to me, is you." I couldn't help but to pull her in close- to feel her warmth surround me if only for a few short second.
"Tell me that I haven't lost you, please; tell me we still have a chance. I can't lose you, B."
Bella reached up, and her small bump snuggled between our bodies. My heart, the fragile muscle which had been so lost and hurt after our last encounter, tightened and thudded back to life.
"I can't make you a promise when the future is unpredictable, my love, but what I can say is that no matter the time, distance or situations life may bring, I will always love you. None other but you."
"And I you, Bella." We stood that way for a few minutes, just embracing and soaking in the comfort the others' arms brought. I knew we were far from better, and that the battle for her trust was just beginning, but this encounter gave me something I had all but lost: hope.
"You ready to talk?" she whispered against my chest.
"I am, but first let me buy you dinner?" Bella blushed.
"You heard that, huh?"
"Oh, yeah. The kid is just like his dad." I chuckled.
"Why're you saying that?"
"Because I could hear the grumbling and it sounded a lot like my stomach does … everyone can hear when I'm hungry." She laughed, hard.
It was the most beautiful sound in my current fucked-up world. If it was up to me, that's all she would do for the rest of our lives. Isabella became serious all of a sudden as I pulled her car door open for her to get in. I was afraid something might've been wrong when she looked up at me.
"You do realize this," she waved between us, "isn't fixed yet, right?"
"I do," I answered sadly.
"But we will be," she amended then kissed my cheek softly before entering the car and buckling her seatbelt.
Those few words intensified my hope, because it was that simple emotion that kept me going. It was all I had left.