AN - Would you believe it? An actual, honest to God real update! I hope you forgive me for running a bit behind on replying to those of you that have left reviews. Doesn't mean I don't appreciate every single one of those reviews. it just means I'm struggling with my writing at the moment.

Chapter 29 - Like a dog with a bone.

Half past ten! Crap!

Bella could not believe how late she had slept. There were sounds of activity coming from the kitchen and it wouldn't surprise her if the whole household had been up and buzzing for hours. Breakfast was probably well under way. How embarrassing!

Normally she was an early riser, but all the drama that had occurred over the past 24 hours must have really done her in. She had a vague memory of setting the alarm clock on her phone the night before, but she had no memory of the alarm actually going off; probably because she had woken up in a bed that was not the one she had intended to wake up in.

Instead of her phone, she had found an old fashioned clock radio in the spot on the bedside table where her personal belongings should have been. The display had been blinking 04:44 at her with big red letters, indicating that the power had been out sometime during the night. It must have been a passing thing though, because the ceiling light shone brightly above her as she sneaked her way back into the guestroom to retrieve a fresh change of clothes from her suitcase.

Next surprise came when she set foot inside the bathroom. The floor was ice cold and when she turned the faucet on in the shower the water barely reached a lukewarm trickle. Not that she had time for anything other than a quick wash up anyway… but still, not the best start of the day.

Apparently it was one of those mornings where nothing quite went right, because after the icy shower came a minor wardrobe crisis. Or actually there was nothing minor about it, seeing as clothes are not an optional, but a required attire outside the privacy of your bedroom or bathroom.

With only two pair of jeans left in her suitcase that would still fit over her hips, she really didn't put much thought into planning what she going to wear these days. Jeans and a big comfy sweater had become her standard uniform and her main rule about wardrobe was comfort. Over the last couple of days she had been forced to accept that buttons were a lost cause. However, this particular morning it wasn't just the top button that was rebelling, it was the zipper too. Try as she might, nothing worked. She couldn't get it to go more than half way up before it dug into the flesh of her abdomen.

And now she stood there, in front of the mirror in Esme's guestroom, turning this way and that, not quite believing what she was seeing. The style was low cut and the fabric was stretch fit denim, but there was no denying the gap that spread between one side of the zipper to the other. No amount pulling or breath holding would fix this.

Sure, the rational part of her brain had known that this was bound to happen one day soon(ish). The bump had been present for a while now, constantly growing and lately even getting in the way occasionally, but THIS, the image staring back at her in the mirror, was ridiculous. Her stomach had gone from a looking bloated and shapeless to looking like a full on pregnant belly in less than 24 hours! It had literally popped over night.

Bella went through every single piece of clothing she had in her suitcase, but each item she tried on only seemed to emphasize the bump instead of disguise it. Nothing fit well, or looked right. Well, nothing except the terry robe that Esme had lent her, that is. Edward's parents seemed pretty laid back, sure, but where they were the kind of folks that ate breakfast clad in bathrobes and night attires? Probably not… Not when the hour was nearing eleven o'clock and not when there were two toddlers in the house that probably had been up and bouncing since the crack of dawn. Besides the robe sort of smelled funny after the previous night's activities...

Great! That thought immediately brought up a flood of images she had been trying to repress all morning; images of Edward, laying flat on his back on her bed in his stark naked glory. She remembered crawling over him, straddling him, and lowering herself on to him with the robe billowing out behind her the entire time. She hadn't let him touch her, hadn't let him see her, but their bodies had been entangled in the most intimate of fashions. He had been tied and blindfolded, not to mention silly drunk. There was just no way he could have seen, or noticed anything different about her physique…. Or was there? She had all but collapsed on top of him afterwards, laid on his chest until her breathing had returned to normal.

Self-doubt gnawed at her as she stood there in front of the mirror. She saw panties that dug into her hips, breasts trying to burst out of her bra and a waist that no longer existed. She was huge… and it would only get worse from here…

No, this wasn't going to work. With a deep-drawn sigh, she tore her eyes away from the mirror. It was just a matter of time before someone would come looking for her. She had been lucky there had been no knocks on her door yet. There had to be something, anything, in her suitcase she could use… And just like that she a brilliant idea struck her. Obviously she had been looking in the wrong place. Obviously Edward's suitcase was more likely to hold the answer to her prayers. With renewed hope, she secured the robe around her, unlocked the bathroom door and set out to raid Edward's luggage… or whatever luggage she could get her hands on… She was in no position to be picky.

.

…

.

Exactly thirteen minutes later, Bella finally made it down the stairs and came stumbling into the kitchen. Stumbling because with this being one of those mornings where nothing quite went right, it seemed almost fitting that she would trip over the bottom two stairs, making a rather undignified entrance into the room.

All conversations halted, and all heads turned. They probably took one look at her and thought "what the **** is that? Not that she blamed them. The outfit she had eventually settled on could only be described as a mix between hipster chick and pigeon-feeding bag lady, consisting of not one but three layers of garments, most of which were Edward's. He was bound to recognize an item or two and think she had gone completely nuts, but as far as the rest of his family was concerned she hoped to get away with it by simply stating that she was cold. Isn't it a well known fact that layered clothing is the basis of good outdoor dressing?

The stares dragged on in painful silence as the minutes ticked past. Ok, maybe not minutes, but seconds. Long enough for the paranoia to really kick in. Then, finally, a throat was cleared and a chair was pulled out and wit that the entire kitchen erupted into a cacophony of "good mornings", "hellos" and high-pitched toddler squeals.

Not too surprisingly it was mama Cullen (or did she prefer nana Cullen these days?) that took the lead. "Good to see you awake at last," she exclaimed and quickly got to her feet to fetch more china from the cupboard.

Blushing, Bella prepared to apologize, but she was cut off before she even had a chance to open her mouth.

"No, don't feel bad. We thought it was best to let you sleep as long as possible," Esme hurried to add, setting out a matching plate and a bowl set on the table. "I was worried Elliott would wake you when he barged into the room looking for his uncle Eddie, but that was three hours ago, so I'm guessing you slept right through it."

It was a perfectly innocent remark, but Bella felt her blush come back in tenfold, nonetheless. There was no doubt in her mind that Esme knew exactly which beds and which rooms had been used and by whom.

She braved a glance in Edward's direction, but he refused to meet her gaze. He was clearly nursing a hangover of great magnitude and she could tell from the blank expression on his face, that she would get no help from him.

If Esme hadn't figured it out yet, she would soon enough. Bella felt her cheeks grow warm yet again, remembering how there was now chafe marks on the otherwise pristine metal framed headboard in Esme's guestroom. And the bedclothes… She could only imagine what state they were in. The sheets most likely reeked of all sorts of iffy body odors! Yikes! She felt like a teenager all over again, and not in the good, nostalgic way.

Mortified, she hastily sank down into the chair, that Dr. Cullen, dutifully, had pulled out for her. "I'm sorry. This is embarrassing. I never sleep this late. Ever," she blurted, mostly because she felt like she had to say something, but didn't necessarily feel like explaining the real reason why her face had turned beet red.

"No worries. You probably needed every ounce of rest you could get," Edward's father reassured her, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "Everyone is tired this morning—seems like no one got much sleep last night," he added, sharing a knowing smile with his wife.

Returning the smile, Esme placed a tea cup on the table in front of Bella. "From what I understand there was a private meet-up down by the liquor cabinet happening sometime around midnight," she revealed, filling the cup to the brim with hot water. "Without mentioning any names I can tell you that out of all the full grown Cullen men, only one made it back to his own bed afterwards."

Uh-uh!

"Mom!" Edward spat, around a mouthful of cereals and dropped his spoon on the table with a loud clank.

Esme shrugged like she didn't know why he was upset. "You have something you want to add, honey?"

He grumbled something intangible.

"I didn't think so."

Carlisle was outright laughing now. His two sons… not so much…. Especially not Edward, but Emmett didn't look all that amused either. Actually he looked kind of green around the gills, which made more sense now. Bella could have sworn she had seen Emmett's head resting, face down, on the table, when she first entered the room. Now she knew why. Must have been some party…

Bella was still debating with herself as to what would be the appropriate response what she had just learned when Esme leaned forward and added in a conspiratorial whisper "I don't blame you for not putting up with the fumes and the whiskey induced snoring."

"MOM!" Edward looked like he was about to explode, or maybe choke… or maybe both… Then he started coughing violently. His face didn't turn blue or anything, but it was easy to tell that he was struggling for real with his breathing.

Panicking, Emmett reached over and hit his brother's back forcefully. Edward heaved forwards, narrowly avoiding hitting his head on the table. Thankfully, Carlisle caught him before he fell off his chair.

The whole exchange caused great amusement among the toddler sized patrons around the table. Elliott was clapping his hands squealing loudly, while Anthony was giggling hysterically from his highchair. Good to see the two youngest members of the Cullen clan actually bounding over something for once. Too bad someone had to nearly choke to make that happen though.

Edward coughed a few more times, but eventually regained his composure. Carlisle checked his pulse and his pupils before he gave him a clear bill of health. Upon returning to his seat Edward glared at his brother, punching him in the arm. "That bloody hurt, you stupid wanker!"

"What? I used an open palm and everything. Next time, don't turn to me when you're choking," Emmett whined, rubbing his arm and then his temples. "Great, my headache just reached a whole new level of GODDAMN."

"You should drink more water," Carlisle advised, returning to his coffee. "Now, speaking of headaches, how is your arm this morning, Isabella?"

Bella blinked a few times, because of the sudden change of topic. Not that she was complaining. This felt like perhaps the first real safe topic they'd touched all morning.

"Still attached, so that's good," she answered, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "I guess you could say I iced it, thoroughly, when I stepped into the shower earlier. Accidently, I might add, because I was actually trying to keep the bandaged part out of the water, but I ended up having all sorts of funny, uncontrollable muscle spasms when the cold water hit."

"I'm sorry!" Esme apologized, whining. "Aww, now I feel bad for not warning you. The under-floor heating and the hot water system that's not working properly, due to the storm."

"Ah, I figured that much."

"It has actually never happened before," Carlisle shook his head. " We have solar cells on the roof, but rely on electricity for backup. I suspect some of the electronic circuits must have been damaged from one of the many power fluctuations we have been experiencing."

"I think he could be right," Esme was quick to agree. "The lights have been flickering on and off all morning."

Emmett was a bit more skeptical. "Maybe it's just a fuse that's blown, but you're simply too untechnical to find it."

"Maybe… I'm merely a simple trauma surgeon, after all."

His wife hid a snicker behind her hand. Apparently even the sun had its spots… interesting…

"Either way, it will take a while before we can get someone here to look at it," Esme, concluded, turning her attention back to Bella. "In the meanwhile, just let me know if you want me to boil some hot water for you on the stove so that you can wash up properly."

"I'm good at the moment, but thank you. I'm going to need some help with the dressing on my arm though. It's wet through and through.

"Carlisle will help you! Wont you honey?"

"Of course. We can go straight to my office once Isabella is done with her breakfast. There are a few other things we need to discuss as well. I have some notes I'd like her to have a look at among other things."

"Among other things? Wow, that didn't sound creepy at all, dad!"

"Yes Edward, you can come too."

"Mom, would you mind watch-,,,?"

"…watching my grandbaby. No honey, I don't mind at all. Didn't you say you wanted to bring Bella down to the pool house to show her those fancy new security cameras we installed last month?"

"Smooth, mom! Real smooth," Emmett laughed, while Edward rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I'd love to have a chance to talk with Bella in private if that can be arranged."

Gawd, he was like a dog with a bone… never giving up.

"Good, then it's all settled." Esme agreed.

"Actually, I've got a question…" Bella interrupted, half amused, half alarmed that these people were making plans over her head. – it was like they'd forgotten she was even there. "This one is for Emmett. Not to sound impatient or anything, but we need a revised time plan for the remainder of the day. When do you think you've sobered up enough to get on the road. The weather seem to have improved a great deal. I don't mind driving the first part or even the entire way if necessary, as long as you provide a car."

"I… ehm…"he spluttered, the green tint returning to his face again.

"What Emmett is trying to say is that we need to do something about the snow on the driveway first." Esme, informed matter of fact. "We were actually talking about this before you came down. There are inches after inches of untouched snow piled up, starting on our front step and all the way down to the main road."

"Isn't your driveway almost four miles long?"

"Four and a half. Normally we have someone that helps us take care of the snow, but his assistance and expertise is needed elsewhere at the moment."

"That's true. I've heard the West River Road is still closed down," Emmett piped in.

His father nodded in agreement," yes, as is the northbound freeway entrance. It's a mess. The ambulances can't get to where they are needed. The same goes for the staff. I'm suppose to clock in for a shift this afternoon."

"You better grab a shovel and start shovelling then, if you want to make it there in time."

"Actually, fresh air and physical exercise are believed to be some of the most efficient cures for hangovers," Carlisle smirked at his two sons over his cup of coffee. "It will do wonders for your headaches."

"You want to see me puke my guts out?" Emmett asked, with a groan. "It won't be a pretty sight, I can assure you."

"There will be NO puking today," Esme decided in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "I'm sure if the lot of you work together you can have the driveway cleared in a few hours."

"Your mother is right. Just make sure you rehydrate properly before you go out and you'll be fine."

"Now Bella, let me get you some food. Do you like fruit or syrup with your pancakes?"

Bella felt her stomach churn and swallowed hard, bracing herself for the worst. She would have to side with Emmett on this one. No matter what Esme said, someone would most definitely be puking before the day was over.

….