Stephenie Meyer is the creator of the Twilight Universe, luckily, she allows us to invade it and create our own worlds!
A/N: So life is moving along nicely for our couple. Lauren pissed me off during the last chapter. I wanted Carlisle to pull her away from the desk by her hair…. I haven't decided if she was fired or thrown down the garbage chute! Let your imagination run wild with that one!
Also, there will be a special EPOV at the end of this chapter just to show you what our Edward is thinking about everything that transpires here.
The next 9 months are going to go by quickly for our couple.
So lets see how the pregnancy is going!
Chapter 18
A baby. 4 months along and I still had trouble believing that I was pregnant. Other than what felt like the flu for several weeks I didn't feel any different than normal. Maybe I would feel different after my 16 week ultrasound.
Edward had handed in his latest article to the paper the afternoon before, which meant he had nothing to work on for a day or two, so he was going to pick me up from class and we would get to see our baby for the first time.
I was just packing up my bag at the end of my last morning class when my classmate Seth walked over with his friend Bree.
"Hey Bella, do you want to come to lunch with us? We're heading to Ginger Lime."
I smiled up at Seth. He had become a great study buddy and we often had lunch together, but we had yet to spend time together outside of school hours. He was cute, but completely gay.
"I'd really like to, but my husband is picking me up to take me to a doctor's appointment, and he will be here in about 10 minutes."
"Ah the elusive Edward Cullen. I'm beginning to think he doesn't exist." Bree said from beside Seth.
I laughed. "Oh believe me, he does exist. He's the one who caused the reason for my appointment today."
Seth let out a laugh. "Why, are you pregnant?"
I felt myself blush. Bree noticed right away. "Whoa, you are, aren't you?" She asked with shock.
"I am. Almost 16 weeks. Our appointment today is our first ultrasound."
Seth looked shock. "Wow. Now we really have to come with you to meet this guy."
"Why not? Come on, I need to head out there right now."
The walk out to the parking lot where Edward was picking me up wasn't far from the building our class was in. I spotted the car as soon as we turned the corner. Edward was leaning against the passenger side door looking at his phone. I heard Seth gasp when he saw him across the lot.
"Fuck, that's the guy that is in all the ads for Athletix Gym!" He said with awe. "I totally go there because of those ads hoping I would run into him." I glanced over at him and watched as he adjusted his package a bit and then fluffed his hair. I had to force myself to keep the laughter in. He looked over at me and smiled. "I am so going to approach him. Do you think he's single? Gay isn't a problem, I can convert him!" He said with conviction.
I laughed out loud at that. Edward must have heard me cause he looked up from his phone. He smiled when he saw me. Seth grabbed my arm. "Holy shit. Bella! He smiled at me. Oh my god, I so hope he's single"
I laughed again and this time so did Bree. "Sorry sweetie. I don't think he is." She said looking between Edward and I.
"Why do you say that?" Seth asked, sounding a bit sad.
Before I could reply Edward pushed away from the car and strode toward us. With his long legs, it didn't take long to get to us. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me lightly. "Hi Sweetheart. How was your morning?" He asked.
"It was good. Kinda glad to get out of here for the afternoon."
"Of course you are. We get to see our baby for the first time." He said with a beaming smile and a kiss to my lips.
I heard Bree clear her throat. I looked over at her and Seth and smiled. "Baby, this is Seth and Bree. They are friends from class. Guys, this is my husband Edward."
Seth stood there frozen, but Bree stuck her hand out. "Hey Edward, nice to meet you." They shook hands and Edward extended his hand to Seth.
"Nice to meet you too Seth." He seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and smiled.
"You too Edward, your wife is a lucky woman." It took him about 5 seconds to realize what he said, but when he did, his entire face turned bright red and then he palmed his face and muttered something about being an idiot.
Edward just chuckled. "I'm the lucky one." He turned back to me. "Well baby, we need to get going. Don't want to be late."
I bid goodbye to Seth and Bree and Edward helped me into the car. I giggled again as Seth looked at me and pretended to wipe drool from his mouth.
It didn't take long to get to Dr. Brady's office. We were here about 6 weeks earlier to confirm my pregnancy, so there was no paperwork to fill out. We didn't wait long to be called back.
Dr. Brady came into the room with a big smile on her face. "Hello Cullens! So we're going to take a look at this baby today aren't we?" She asked cheerfully.
Edward and I both nodded with a big smile.
"Excellent, well, let's get everything else out of the way first." She had me change into a gown and I had my exam, my weight was checked, blood was drawn and my measurements were taken. The doctor left the room and a few minutes later pulled a portable ultrasound machine into the room. She smiled again and told me to lift the gown to just under my breasts. She poured a little bit of cold gel onto my stomach and started the ultrasound. It didn't take long to hear the whoosh of the heartbeat and an image to appear on the screen.
"Nice strong heartbeat. And there is your baby." I looked at the screen and there was our baby. I instantly started crying. I didn't expect it to look like a baby. It still had a lot of development and growing to do, but you could clearly see that it was a little human. Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. He had tears in his eyes as well.
"From the size and development, you aren't quite as far along as we originally thought you were. This little one looks to be about 14 and a half weeks and not 16. Which pushes your due date to around August 5th or 6th instead of the end of July."
I barely heard the doctor as my tears kept flowing. It was real. I was going to be a Mom and I was excited and terrified at the same time! I looked up at Edward and he was looking at the monitor with awe written all over his face.
Dr. Brady printed us a few pictures so that we could show our parents their first grandchild and then she left the room so I could get cleaned up and dressed. As soon as I was on my feet, Edward pulled me into his arms and sighed into my hair.
"Thank you." He said reverently.
I pulled back just enough to look up at him. "For what?"
"For being you, for loving me, for saying yes when I asked you to marry me, and now for giving me everything I ever wanted. You and our baby. It's amazing."
I started to cry again. "I love you Edward."
"I love you too Bell. So much."
We stood in each other's arms for a moment before he helped me get dressed again. Dr. Brady came back and we discussed how everything was going from my perspective and to make sure I was taking my vitamins and eating right. We ended the appointment on a happy note and scheduled the next one for a month later.
Our parents were overjoyed when we gave them the ultrasound pictures. Every time we visited them both my mom and Esme had them displayed proudly on the wall somewhere in the house.
~~~WFM~~~
I had just passed 18 weeks and all I could think about was Edward and what had become my favorite body part of his. I was insatiable and he couldn't be happier. After one particular energetic session, I was lying on my back trying to catch my breath when I felt a fluttering in my stomach. I shot up and placed both of my hands over what was now a small bump on my lower stomach.
"What's wrong?" Edward asked with concern.
"Nothing, I think I felt the baby move!" I said as the tears started.
"Really?" He asked with awe and placed his hand over mine.
I felt it again, but unfortunately Edward couldn't feel it yet. He pouted for days after that. He was jealous that he couldn't feel our baby move yet.
He lucked out just after I passed 21 weeks. I was lying in bed reading and Edward was lying with his head beside my ever-growing belly talking to the baby. His hand was slowly caressing my bump as he talked about his day. I felt the baby kick and then heard Edward gasp.
"I felt that!" That of course set off more tears for me. After that, it was like he never moved his hands from my stomach, just in case he missed a kick.
At 23 weeks we had a scare. I was in class and felt some light cramps in my pelvis. I didn't think anything of it. I had been having hip and pelvic pain from the baby growing for a few weeks. But I was sent into a panic when I went to the washroom and my underwear was full of blood.
I called Edward in a panic. It took him less than 20 minutes to get to the school from our house that was almost a half hour drive away.
As soon as he got to me he engulfed me in a hug. "Don't worry baby, we will get to the hospital as fast as we can. Everything will be fine." All I could do was nod into his chest as the tears soaked his shirt. He picked me up and placed me in the passenger seat, helped me buckle my seat belt and then kissed me on the forehead before he closed the door and rushed to the driver's side.
On the way to the hospital he called his Dad. He wanted him there to ensure we would be moved through the emergency room quickly.
After a quick ultrasound of the baby showed us that he or she was fine and that there were no signs of distress, the emergency room doctor had shown up and examined me to find out why I was bleeding. I was poked and prodded and given an internal ultrasound. Carlisle was right there the entire time and was able to explain what was going on after the ultrasound in words that Edward and I could understand.
"Well Bella it looks like you have what is called placenta previa. The best way to describe it, the placenta is lying low in your uterus. It is hanging slightly over the cervix. It can cause bleeding and cramping. But luckily, your case is mild, as it is not completely covering the cervix, just a small part. I am going to recommend that you have an ultrasound weekly to keep an eye on it. The good news is that because you still have several weeks left in your pregnancy and you have a lot of growing left to do, the previa could correct itself."
I had mixed emotions and of course the tears would not stop. The emergency room doctor told us to call our obstetrician and explain what was happening and to arrange for the weekly ultrasounds.
A week later we found ourselves back in Dr. Brady's office. She greeted us with a smile and gave me a hug when I started to cry again.
"Bella, don't worry. As long as we monitor what is going on, you and your baby will be just fine."
Edward guided me down the hall to the ultrasound room. Dr. Brady did another internal scan and was happy with the way I was progressing. She then did a regular scan and took my measurements. She was looking at the monitor when she got a huge grin on her face.
"So Cullens, your little one decided that it wanted me to know exactly what was going on between its legs. Do you want to know what you're having?" She asked with a grin.
I looked up at Edward and smiled. "I do if you do." He said with a smile to match mine.
I looked back at Dr. Brady. "Let us have it."
"Well, Edward, I am going to recommend you go buy that shot gun soon. You two are having a little girl."
We decided not to tell our families that they were having a granddaughter. We wanted that to be a surprise.
The weeks progressed and so did my body and our little girl. By 30 weeks the previa had completely corrected and there was no longer any worry. It was a huge weight off of our shoulders. It also gave our mothers something to celebrate about. Esme and my mother along with Alice had started planning a baby shower. We had told a little lie and said that we had not found out what we were having, and that we wanted to be surprised, so the party was going to be gender neutral.
I graduated with my teaching certificate when I was 32 weeks. My 8 weeks of student teaching was difficult because I was getting so big, but I did it. I was planning on looking for a substitute teaching position when the baby was a few months old and then something more permanent after her first birthday.
Edward and I spent several weeks going over names. It was the first time that we couldn't come to an agreement. I wanted something cute and girly, Edward wanted something that connected her to our family. We decided not to argue about it and we would just veto anything we didn't like and make a list of names we did like.
My baby shower was planned for my 34th week. Nan had flown up from Arizona and was planning on staying until after the baby was born. The party was actually a lot of fun. Alice had found several silly shower games and we spent the afternoon with all the women in our family and several of my friends giggling like teenagers.
Edward was shocked at how many gifts I received. I was in tears when I told him that our parents had gone together and were paying for the entire nursery. We had planned on going to Babies R Us the day after the shower to pick out a crib and other furniture for the baby's room, but now our Mom's and Nan were going to tag along and pay for it all.
The crib we picked was cherry wood and had an attached change table with drawers. Edward fell in love with the color of the wood and I fell in love with the fact that it grew with the baby from a crib to a toddler bed. Next we found the cutest Winnie the Pooh nursery set. It had everything from crib bedding to wall décor. It was prefect. Esme was also able to convince us to get a rocking chair for the nursery. It would make it easier to feed the baby or rock her to sleep if we had one right in the baby's room. The wood of the frame matched the crib and the fabric matched some of the color in the bedding.
A week later on Friday, Esme and Edward locked themselves in the nursery and had it painted and decorated in an afternoon. The furniture was delivered the next afternoon. Edward and I spent several hours trying to put the crib together. I gave up when he refused to read the directions and went to take a nap. When I woke up after napping for a couple of hours, I heard laughter coming from the nursery. I walked in and was shocked. Edward must have called Emmett, everything was put together and they were just moving the crib into the right spot. Rose smiled over at me from the rocking chair.
"Hey Bella. I hope we didn't wake you. I had to yell at these idiots a few times. But I finally convinced your dunce of a husband to read the instructions."
I immediately burst into tears. Rose looked horrified, thinking that she had said something to upset me. Edward pulled me into his arms.
"Don't worry Rose. She isn't upset. These are happy tears." I just nodded and smiled through my tears.
She got up off the rocker and pulled me in for a hug. "You're so ready for this baby to come out aren't you?" She asked in her no nonsense voice.
I just laughed. "You have NO idea."
The last month of my pregnancy seemed to crawl. My feet, back and shoulders were constantly sore and all I wanted to do was sleep. My Mom encouraged me to sleep as much as possible. This all changed about a week before my due date. I got a burst of energy and started to clean the house like crazy. Edward was happy too. I jumped on him more times in those three days that I had in the last month.
That all came to an abrupt end on August 4th when I woke up in the middle of the night gasping in pain. It felt like someone was pushing a knife into the lower part of my stomach and then the pain spread across the stomach, tightening as it went along. I was pretty sure I was in labor, but it took almost a half hour for the next wave to hit. I didn't wake Edward; he had just handed in a particularly long article to Men's Health a few hours earlier, so he was a bit tired. I climbed out of bed as quietly as I could and started to wander around the house. An hour and a half later, the pain was coming about 20 minutes apart. I decided to try and get some sleep, so I laid down on the couch. I was pretty successful and got about 3 hours of broken up sleep. By 9 am, the contractions were about 10 minutes apart. I wandered back into the bedroom and sat down on the bed. Edward was just waking up. He smiled at me.
"Hey baby, you're awake already." He said as he stretched out his muscles.
"Yeah, I've been awake off and on since 1. I'm pretty sure I'm in labor."
He bolted up out of bed and was on his knees in front of me a second later. "Do we need to go to the hospital? How bad is the pain?" He rattled out about 10 more questions before I put my finger over his mouth.
"I don't think we have to go yet. The contractions are only about 10 minutes…" I didn't finish that sentence before another one hit. I breathed through it and once it was done I smiled at Edward. "Make that 9 minutes."
"I'm going to call Dad." Before I could protest, he was up and across the room with the phone to his ear. I listened to his side of the conversation for a few minutes before I decided that after my next contraction, I was going to have a shower. 9 minutes had passed and the contraction happened again, so I heaved myself off the bed and headed into our bathroom. Edward finished up the call and followed me in.
"Do you want some help?" He asked.
"That would actually be pretty great." While he helped me shower, he filled me in on what his Dad said.
"Once we're done in here, we should give Dr. Brady's office a call. Dad also said that once the contractions are less than 5 minutes apart, that is when we should head to the hospital." I had one more while in the shower and they were still 9 minutes apart.
We didn't head to the hospital until after 2 that afternoon. My water was still intact but the contractions were getting considerably more painful.
Just before 5, the contractions were 3 minutes apart. My Mom had shown up about 20 minutes earlier and she was trying to convince me to get up and walk around. She said it would move the contractions along faster. So I did. Edward had his arm wrapped around me, and supported me through each contraction. We were about half way down the hall from my room when I felt a gush of fluid from between my legs. It was more than obvious that my water had broken. My nurse noticed right away and called for housekeeping to come and clean it up. Then she and Edward helped get me back into bed.
"See Sweetie. I told you that if you walked a bit, it would help move things along." Mom said with a smile as she ran her hand over my hair.
Dr. Brady showed up about 20 minutes after my water broke and checked my progress. "Well Bella, it looks like you are going to have a baby tonight. You're about 8 cm dilated and if you continue on this path, you should be able to start pushing in about two hours. If you want anything for the pain, you need to have it soon or you will be past the time to be able to have any."
I had wanted to do it without anything, but the pain was getting to be too much. So I asked for something they could give me in my IV. I didn't want an epidural. Just the sight of the needle used for one made me queasy.
Edward was wonderful the entire time, encouraging me to breathe through my contractions and he didn't leave my side once. Even when I yelled and swore at him though my pain, he didn't budge. He was my rock. Even my Dad cringed and slipped out of the room when I went through a particularly bad contraction that even the pain medication didn't help to mask.
Shortly before midnight, almost 24 hours after my labor started, Dr. Brady said it was time to push. After screaming through a dozen pushes she could finally see our baby's head. Edward along with one of the nurses helped me bear down and I screamed through a hard push. All of the sudden all the pressure and pain I was feeling abated. Dr. Brady let me know that the head was out and to stop pushing for a moment. I couldn't see what was going on, but it sounded like she had suctioned out the baby's mouth cause a moment later I heard a gurgled cry. Then Dr. Brady was telling me to push again. I gave one last hard push and I felt our little girl squeeze out. A minute later she was screaming her little newborn cry. I fell back on the bed exhausted with tears flowing down my face. Edward was stunned, and was crying as much as I was. He was able to cut the cord and our little girl was wrapped in a blanket and placed in my waiting arms.
Her head was covered in a small amount of reddish brown hair, just a few shades lighter than Edwards. She was beautiful.
Dr. Brady finished cleaning me up and removed her gown and cap. "Beautiful little girl you have there. Have you decided on a name?"
I looked up at Edward. "I think we finally agreed didn't we?"
"We did and I think the name we chose is perfect."
I smiled and nodded and then looked down at our daughter. "Hello Maci Marie."
EPOV
As soon as I saw my little girl, I knew in an instant that there had never been a more beautiful baby born. Maci was the epitome of both Bella and myself. Her hair was nearly the same color as mine, but a little lighter and it looked so soft and billowy. I hoped she'd have her mother's eye color but it would be a few months before we would know for sure.
Bella had done a wonderful job with the long, arduous labor. A few times, I caught myself gazing upon her in complete awe. To know she took such amazing care of herself while she was pregnant and then gave life to our baby girl left me with feelings I had a hard time grasping. This beautiful creature fell in love with an overweight, out of shape boy who had no clue what real life was like. She was my best friend from the first day of our freshman year. Bella's love for me was something I knew that I would never take for granted.
We got to spend a couple hours with Maci before the throngs of Cullens and Swans descended upon us. Bella had just finished breastfeeding Maci and handed her off to me so I could lay her down in her rolling baby bed.
"She's so beautiful Edward. I can't believe she's really here." Bella said as she wiped tears from her gorgeous eyes.
"She is beautiful Sweetheart. You're her mother, so naturally she'd be beautiful."
"Well, I have to say Edward, we make entirely gorgeous babies." She scooted over in the bed and patted the spot beside her. I strode back over to her and climbed in, wrapping my wife in my arms and kissing the top of her head.
"That we do Bells. That we do. So when do you want to get started on number two?" I asked with a wiggle of my eyebrows.
"Yeah, let me get back to you on that one." Bella rolled her eyes and slapped me on the leg.
"Thank you Sweetheart. Thank you for our baby girl. Bella, the feelings I have in my heart right now are so much more than I thought they would be. I have never felt so much encompassing love in my life. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would die for you and Maci. There is nothing I wouldn't do for the two of you."
"Oh Edward, I love you so very much. I have always loved you."
"Isabella, you can't begin to imagine how grateful I am for that. You know, I remember my first day of college at UDub. I woke up and my first thought was about how many pop tarts I'd have for breakfast. Of course, I decided on the entire box." I shook my head at the attitude I used to have toward food.
"I was 19 years old and I didn't have a care in the world. I thought I had my entire life to worry about my weight. What never occurred to me was that my life wouldn't be long at all if I didn't make some changes. But Bell, when you walked up to me in class that first day, something snapped. I knew I wanted to know you. I never dreamed that you would want anything more than friendship with me, but as my feelings grew, I couldn't deny that I wanted more with you."
"You were so adorable Edward. You know, I was nervous around you that first day. I never even saw your size. I saw those amazing green eyes and that riotous mess on top of your head. I thought you were so damn sexy." She reached up to stroke my cheek and I couldn't help it when I leaned in and took her lips in a fierce kiss.
"Isabella Marie Cullen, thank you for waiting for me to get my act together and get in shape. Leaving you was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I was so scared you would find someone more deserving than me while I was gone."
"Edward, the thought never crossed my mind. I love you and I'd wait for you no matter what." We shared another kiss and then Bella snuggled deeper into me and relaxed.
My exhausted wife took a small nap while I held her. Sometime after she fell asleep, I heard Maci stirring in her crib. Carefully, I went over and picked her up and cradled her against my chest. She let out the most beautiful sigh I had ever heard and I couldn't help the tear that rolled down my cheek.
Walking over to the window of Bella's hospital room with my daughter nestled in my arms, I looked out at the Seattle skyline. The beautiful day was only made better by the small bundle I held. Maci was full circle for me. I felt like I had finally come into my own and was the man I needed to be for my wife and child. I had secured a wonderful job where I would be able to provide for my family and give them everything they dreamed of. I had the love of the brown eyed beauty I met in college and now I had the tangible product of our love to hold on to for the rest of my days. Bella waited for me. She waited for me and THAT means more to me than I will ever be able to explain. Life is a journey. It's a journey wrought with ups and downs and ins and outs, but at the end of the day, when you can look around at what you have and where you are, all that matters is love. I kissed the love in my arms softly on her forehead as I glanced back at the other love of my life, sleeping soundly in her bed.
"Thank you Beautiful Bella. Thank you for this beautiful life. Thank you for waiting for me."
A/N: Well there you have it. Our duo is now a trio. This also marks the final regular chapter of Weight for Me. I hope you loved watching our Edward and Bella grow together as much as we did. Edward truly made a tough journey, but he did it.
We have an epilogue planned, and that will be posted at the usual time.
Thank you so much for joining us on this journey. This was the second full length story that Shannon and I wrote. Over the past several months, since Shannon and I started working together to create these stories, she has become one of my best friends! I cannot wait till next week, when we will finally be able to meet in person!