AN: I promise this story will move forward in the next few chapters, but first the mandatory ultrasound chapter…
Chapter 45 - It's a bird, It's a plane, No, It's super shy baby curled up like a pretzel
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"Ba ba ba," Tony blabbed, patting Bella's cheek a little too enthusiastically.
She pulled a face, and then pretended to bite his fingers. He giggled, withdrawing his hand, before going at it again. Though the boy was charmingly adorable, he was also a source of aggravation at the moment - stealing her attention, making it difficult to focus and darn near impossible lie still… and she needed to lie still.
"This is fun and all, but Tony you're making me fall off the table!" she groaned, looking up at the giggling child.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Edward look over and stare at her for a moment, then as if he'd finally understood what she had said, he turned to his sister. "Earth to Alice, you're slacking again!'
"Sorry. I know I promised to keep the little guy entertained, but this is so exiting!"
"Alice!"
"I know, I know... you'll throw us out if there are any more interruptions," she said, grabbing a firmer hold on the boy in her arms, taking two, three small steps back. "Look, I'll go stand over here. You won't even know we're in the room."
"Shall we continue?" asked the white-coated woman, conducting the ultrasound exam. " I'm afraid it's all back and butt, again. Either we have a shy baby or a troublemaker on our hands," she joked, shifting the probe down toward Bella's pubic bone.
She wasn't just an ultrasound tech, as Carlisle had led them to believe. No, Dr. Sallie Hoffman was an actual certified Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist with an interest in fetal growth restriction and developmental abnormalities; the best in the area.
Dr. Cullen had explained that he had feared neither Bella nor Edward would have gotten any sleep, had he told them that he though getting a second opinion from a specialist was not only necessary, but crucial the future outcome of the pregnancy. Though, in virtually the same breath, he also assured them that he would never allow for Alice or Anthony to stay in the room for the exam if he thought there was anything seriously wrong with the baby.
"Bella, I'm going to press down on your belly a little," Dr. Hoffman announced, bringing Bella back from her thoughts. "The baby is being stubborn. Bear with me a few seconds while I try to get it to turn."
"Shocker, the little bugger is both stubborn and uncooperative," Edward muttered, though a smile was twitching up the corners of his mouth
"Gee, wonder who that comes from?" Bella retorted, then hissed slightly when she felt a change of pressure. "Oofff that's my bladder!"
"There! This is a better angle. See that string of pearls? That's the spinal column."
"Wow, did you guys see that?" Alice interrupted, her eyes glued to the screen where a clear outline of a fetus was evident. "She's waving at us!"
"No, " Edward interjected "I believe HE just flipped you off."
"Actually, that was a foot, "Carlisle chuckled, to which Esme immediately started giggling. "Oh, I actually thought it was a penis."
"Cute, but can we get back to measuring whatever it is that needs to be measured," Bella suggested, feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the hoopla she was surrounded with.; overwhelmed and in dire need of a bathroom break.
Seriously, what had she been thinking when she had agreed to have this many people in the room for this? The answer was; she hadn't been thinking. Alice had pretty much twisted her arm… plus it had been obvious that Edward didn't want them to leave his side… not to mention, it had seemed easier and faster, to just go along with it… and faster was good. In fact the faster, the better…
"I'm not joking about my bladder being about to burst," she felt the need to point out, though it should be pretty obvious from the way she was squirming on the table. "I'm clenching my thighs together so tightly at this point that I'm pretty sure I can crack walnuts between them."
"That doesn't sound very comfortable. Try crossing your legs instead," Dr. Hoffman suggested with a smile.
"Is that allowed?"
"This isn't a torture chamber. I know it's hard to relax, but being too tense can have the opposite effect. Try not to think about it."
"Right, easy-peacy," Bella grumbled, as she followed the advice given and crossed her legs. "Trying NOT to think about something is actually a foolproof way to ensure you will think about it even more."
"Let's think about something entirely different then for a moment." Dr. Hoffman suggested, turning back to the ultrasound machine where she pressed a few keys that caused a set of lines and numbers appear on the screen. "There you go. The fetus measure 5.12 inches from crown-to-rump."
"Crown-to-rump?" Edward repeated the unfamiliar term.
"That means from the skull vertex to the midpoint between the apices of the buttocks."
"Oh, okay."
Bella tilted her head to the sideand followed the faint white line. It certainly looked more like a baby now, compared to the first time she'd had seen it… or an alien hybrid maybe… There were tentacle-like limbs sticking out in different directions, but truth be told she could hardly tell the arms from the legs. The head was easy to locate though, as it looked huge compared to the rest of the body. It was also the first body part that the doctor had chosen to examine more closely.
She had shown them the nose, the lips, the eye sockets and of course the brain. It was kind of freaky that you could already see the actual brain structure and the way it was divided in two separate spheres. Next up for a close-up had been the heart and the main vessels. It had taken forever to obtain a proper four-chambers view, but hearing the doctor say that no abnormalities could be detected, had been a relief unlike no other
This was probably the point where, in the movies, the parents-to-be would join hands andbawl their eyes out. Bella braved a glance over at Edward, but nope, no watery or glassy eyes…not one single tear and sadly there had been no hand holding either.
Edward had been looking a bit awed though through out the whole exam, so chances were that he would warm up to this baby, just like he was slowly but surely warming up to Anthony. If this little one actually made itout of the womb alive, that is.
It was looking awfully small, even to Bella's untrained eyes, and then there was the issue of the galloping heart rate…
She must have zoned out for a bit, because the doctor had moved on from measuring the spinal column to inspect what appeared to be a.. thigh…? The woman was painstakingly thorough in her work. Next up, after checking the tickness of the arms and thigh bones, was measuring the length around the fetus's abdomen. Then she went on to show them the nifty piece of software that could be used to estimate the fetus' weight from 20 weeks until birth.
"How precise is that thing. Can you like, tell the size of her feet? Or calculate what size of clothes she will need once she is born?" Alice inquired with a furrowed brow. "Or if it is a boy, could you measure his… you know…?"
"ALICE!" Edward hissed. "That's disturbing, even for you !"
"What?! Those are relevant questions."
"Don't worry. She's not the first one to ask ," Dr. Hoffman laughed. "The answer is I could measure and calculate all those things, assuming it's a boy, and assuming he is willing to cooperate of course."
"Elliott, that's our other grandson, was very cooperative." Carlisle supplied, with a chuckle. " Let me tell you, he was sure a very proud boy, flaunting his "stuff" BIG time. He even peed right when his daddy got his first look. However, the way this baby is napping, all curled up like a little pretzel, I doubt we'll see anything of the sorts today."
"It's so funny when you can tell they have a little personality already in the womb," Esme mused, "Some babies will give you the money shot straight away, while others are shy and will make you wait for it."
"I don't want to know the sex of the baby. I told you that before we even got started," Bella reminded them with a frown.
"Don't worry. In order to determined the gender you'll need to get a good look at the relevant area and so far we've seen nothing that could spoil the surprise for you."
"I don't care if it's a boy or a girl, I just want it to be healthy. A healthy sized baby, with a healthy and normal beating heart."
"Growth-wise I'd say the fetus about is two weeks behind on the charts, but measuring small does not necessarily mean that there is anything wrong."
Carlisle was nodding in agreement. "So monthly ultrasounds from now on, to keep track on how the fetus is growing and developing?"
"Yes, that would be my recommendation. Though, you should know, that other than it being a bit on the small side, I haven't seen anything too alarming during this exam. All of the organs are there and formed. The brain structure looks good. The spinal column is formed and closed. The heart and all the four chambers appear to be working, if not perfectly then at least passably for the time being."
"But the heart rate-…"
"Try not to worry too much," Dr. Hoffman suggested. "At this point, it's a waiting game. The best thing you can do now is calm down, take care of yourself and avoid getting into stressful situations."
"I know, it's just…. It's just crazy how something SO tiny can…can…ugh," she broke off, gesturing with her hands, searching for the right words.
"…can make my entire body feel out of whack," she finally settled for, at the same time as Edward blurted. "…can cause such a big commotion."
"Ha, you call this commotion," Bella let out a small laugh, feeling some of her anxiety disappear. "Wait until we tell Renee we're making her a grandmother, that's when the real commotion begin!"
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It really was...fucking crazy.
A beating heart the size of a small grape…
Over the past two days Edward had come to accepted the fact that Bella was pregnant with his child, but to see that child growing inside her belly was surreal.
It already had arms and legs and tiny little fingers and toes. He had even seen its face, with small, small lips and a button nose and everything. That face would soon be cooing, drooling, burping at him… er, on him… hopefully… assuming that the little bugger kept growing and developing like he or she should..
"So, we are nearing the end of this baby tour," Dr. Hoffman announced, lifting the probe off of Bella's stomach. The screen went black and Edward heard Bella mutter a strained 'Finally!' beneath her breath.
The doctor caught it as well and chuckled a bit. "Unless, of course, you've changed your mind and want me to try and determined the sex of the baby after all," she said in a light-hearted manner. "What do you say 'daddy'? Last chance, before I wipe the gel off…"
Edward looked up in surprise, having not expected to be addressed in such a direct way. "Well, if you ask me, I wouldn't mind knowing what we're having, but it appears as though I don't have much say on the matter," he shrugged, choosing to act like it didn't bother him, when, in actuality, it bothered him a great deal.
Bella had been very adamant about how she felt on the subject. It surprised him the doc even bothered to bring it up again, because Bella had made it perfectly clear she did not want to know the gender beforehand. Not necessarily because she wanted to be surprised, but because she didn't want to get too attached in case, God forbid, something were to go wrong.
As expected, Bella head was moving from side to side in a "no" gesture. Then, when Edward's words registered with her, she sighed exasperatedly. "It just seem too soon. I haven't even felt it moving yet. What if something goes wrong?"
"What kind of talk is THAT? Nothing will go wrong, alright!" Edward stated with conviction.
"You can't know that for sure," Bella argued.
He scanned her face, knowing from her expression that there was no way he was getting her to budge. He tried anyway. "You may think you're protecting yourself from getting hurt by not putting a name or a face to it, but that doesn't change the fact that this little fellow is as real as they get," he stated, trying to keep a polite and conversational edge to his voice. "Hiding your head in the sand and hoping for the best is never a solution to any problems."
"No… Just no.. " she said, shaking her head again. "I'm sorry….I really don't want to know the sex of the baby at this point. Please respect my wishes, alright!"
Edward leaned forward, until he was almost in her face. "Only if you acknowledge that I have the right to be a part of this decision too," he demanded. It wasn't as much the suspense of not knowing as it was the principle that bothered him. He should have a say too. Not just about this, about everything concerning this baby.
He hadn't had time figure out the logistics of it yet, but he would figure it out. There was just no way he would let her take his child away from him and raise it on her own. No way… Their lives were about to be linked for the next eighteen years or so – if only to the extent that they would be co-parenting a child together.
"You guys don't have to settle this right here, right now," his mother, the mediator, hurried to intervene before the argument could degenerate further. "There will be more opportunities, right doctor Hoffman?"
"Absolutely. You wouldn't believe how often I see couples disagreeing over this matter. So often in fact that I have a ready-made solution. How about this... I'll have a look, write down what I see on a piece of paper that I put in an envelope for you to take home with you leave. That way you'll have all the time in the world to decide if and when you want to find out the gender of your baby."
"That sounds like a wonderful compromise," Esme responded in an overly chipper voice.
"I second this," Alice clapped her hands in delight. "You can have a big reveal party and make a special occasion out of it," she suggested, and then, in true Alice-fashion, began talking a mile-a-minute about dinner party ideas, baby-themed party favors, decorations and something about a betting pool.
"No party!" Bella looked horrified at even the mere thought of one. "I'm serious Edward, I will castrate you and hand you your family jewels on a platter if you don't squash this."
"Right, no party, I agree with you there…. But please let me have this," Edward pleaded. "I have missed out on so much with Anthony… and now with this new baby, I feel like I was the last one to know…" He knew it was a low blow but she was starting to scare him with her pessimism.
"Fine!" she finally caved. Sighing she turned to the doc asking, "Is there any way we can do this like super quick?"
Her question was almost drowned when Alice whooped in triumph and started twirling Anthony around in some sort of crazy victory dance.
"Alice," Bella groaned. "No party, I mean it!"
"But I-…"
"Quiet down, people!" Dr. Hoffman laughed, shushing them. "This is another argument you don't have to settle right this very moment. Let's keep the party spirit though. It might be just what we need get the baby moving. Now Bella, there are a few things we can try. The fastest way is usually to drink something that's high on sugar. Fruit juice is known to work wonders."
Bella's face turned at least three shades paler, "Uh-uh… Not going to happen. Crossing and uncrossing me legs here, remember?"
"Ah, of course, I see…Well, in that case we could try putting a bit more pressure on your belly. It did work last time, remember? We got a little foot action out of it."
"Eh, isn't there ANYTHING else we can try."
"Well, a simple change of position will sometimes get a baby moving even if only momentarily. You can try rolling to the side, get up and walk around or even just sit up and then lay back down."
"I guess I can do that," she agreed, slowly swinging her legs over the edge of the table. She got to her feet, ignoring the hand Edward offered her. "Now what? Should do jumping jacks or squats or something?"
"No need to overdo it. Take a walk around the room and move your hips from side to side a few times."
"Come on Bella, shake that booty!" Alice said cheerfully. "Me and Tony can show you how it's done. Right Tony?" she added, launching herself into another series of crazy dance moves, causing Tony to squeal in delight in her arms.
"Bounce, bounce," the boy chanted, enthusiastically.
Bella rolled her eyes at the two of them, but gave them a little cha-cha move on her own.
"That's right. Bounce that belly jelly!" Alice laughed, while Tony giggled hysterically.
"Okay, enough excitement," Bella stuck her tongue out at them, making her way back to the table. "And no talk about jelly right now. Actually, make that no talk about pee, fluids, food or anything liquid, semi-liquid or gel like substances, alright!"
"Party pooper!"
"Also no talk about poop, or parties!"
"Not much left to talk about then," Alice huffed in mock exasperation.
"I know something we can talk about, " Esme's face lit up with as an idea apparently occurred to her. "Have you given any thought to how you're going to tell Anthony?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Bella inquired, her expression morphed into a confused frown.
"I think she means telling Anthony about the baby," Edward supplied with a faint smile.
"Yes, that's what I meant. This would actually be a good time to not only to explain, but also show him, that you have his little brother or sister in your belly. I think visual aids will make it easier for him to grasp."
"But what if something goes wrong… It's too early… It woul-…"
"Yeah mom, isn't it a bit early? He's only two years old, he's not going to understand this."
"He's almost three. And you need to start preparing him for what's about to happen. Trust me you don't want him to feel left out. They'll be close in age. There will be enough sibling rivalry without him thinking that he is being pushed away."
"God, I would never… We would never do anything deliberately to make him feel left out," Bella hurried to interject
"Yeah, what she said," Edward hummed in agreement. "I see your point, though. We should probably start preparing him. The sooner, the better."
"Can I tell him?" Alice asked. " I know exactly how to do this. It's just like putting on a puppet show." She touched a finger to her brow as if tipping an imaginary hat, then she bowed and began speaking in a sing-song tone of voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, let me present; the doctor lady with the magic wand and the mystery of the belly monster."
Anthony, of curse, looked instantly intrigued, but also a little scared, no doubt still remembering the last time his auntie put on a show for him.
"No offence Alice, but I prefer to handle this on my own," Edward declared, with a roll of his eyes. "Dad, you haven't said anything. Do you agree that today is the right time for this?" he asked, turning to Carlisle for advice.
"This is as good as time as any, but it's not my permission you need, son," his father said, with a pointed look in the direction of the exam table where Bella was shaking her head, turning her face towards the ceiling.
"Bella?"
"God help me, I'm such a pushover these days. Bring him over here already," she grumbled. "I swear, this is turning into the longest ultrasound exam in history."
"Hey Tony, I miss you buddy. Will you come and sit with me for a while?" Edward cooed, lifting the boy out of his sister's arms before he returned to his assigned seat by Bella's side.
"I've got something we want to show you. Do you remember when we listened to your heart and you lungs with grandpa C's stethoscope?" he asked, tapping the boys chest, imitating the rhythm of a beating heart. "Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap."
Confused, the child scanned the room, until his glance landed at Carlisle. "I have?" he asked stretching his arms out.
"Nah, it's his day off. He didn't bring his doctor stuff. You know what, though, Tony? We have something that's better than a stethoscope. You see this lady over here. She too is a doctor and I happen to know that she has this really super cool magic wand."
The boy squinted first at his father, then at the doctor, as if trying to decide whether he was getting his leg pulled or not.
"You see it? She has it right there in her hand."
"I have?" This time he pouted, sticking his bottom lip out, like the two-year-old he was.
"Nope, the doctor is going to use it to see why Bella's stomach have been getting so big lately."
"Is big?"
"Yeah, its been growing kinda big, don't you think?" Edward couldn't help but smirk a little while he patted the bare skin on the side of Bella's exposed mid section. His hand ended up slick with lubricating jell, but it was totally worth it, seeing the annoyed-yet-amused expression on her face.
He was about to tease her about it, when the whooshing sound from the ultrasound machine filled the room and his eyes were drawn to the screen. "If you look at the TV thingy over there Tony, you can see what Bella has been hiding inside her belly."
"No," Tony shook his head, looking at his daddy rather than at the screen. "In my belly!"
"No silly, no need to look inside your belly. We already know what's in there; pizza and cinnamon rolls and lots and lots of cookies."
"I eat."
"Yes, you ate them and now they are in your belly."
"Look, what do we have here?!" Dr Hoffman exclaimed, trying to subtly get Edward back on the right track again. "I think someone wants to say hello!"
"Yeah, look at the screen Tony! What do you think that is?"
"Isa creem?" the boy suggested, turning his head to the side while studying the image before him.
"Ice cream? I dunno…" Edward laughed, shifting the boy in his lap so that he could point at the screen. "There's a head and an arm, and look two feet. It doesn't look like ice cream to me."
"Is a head?"
"It's a baby, Tony! Bella has a baby n her belly."
"Nu uh!" the child protested, shaking his head vehemently.
"You don't believe me? Look again! It's a baby, I'm not kidding you."
"A baba?"
"Yes, a baby. You're going to be a big brother."
"Bewah eat a baba?" Tony asked, looking seriously confused.
This time it was Bella's turn to laugh. "Oh, no honey. I didn't eat it. It just lives there until it's big enough to come out and meet you."
"Isa baba?"
"I know it sounds crazy right," Alice butted in, leaning over to ruffle Tony's hair. "I didn't believe it at first either, but they are telling the truth. Bella really DO have a baby in her belly."
"NO", the toddler growled, pushing her hand away. "No eat baba, ina belly."
"That's right, you can't eat babies," Alice agreed, hiding a smile behind her hand. "You see, what happened is that your daddy put his seed i-…"
"Whoa! I think that's enough explaining for today," Edward cut her off, leaping to his feet. "Mom, take the kid outside. Help him to a treat from the vending machine or something."
"Certainly! Come to nana," Esme suppressed a laugh and stretched her arms out to move the boy over to her hip.
"Geez Eddie, overreacting much," Alice sniggered. "I wasn't going to go into specifics or anything. I just figured he'd understand better if you explain to him how seeds can be planted and grow into living things. "
"Oh, good idea! We could let him plant bean sprout in a paper cup."
"Mom, weren't you leaving," Edward reminded her.
"Right….We're going now. Come on sweetheart! Let's go look if we can find some soda."
At the mention of soda, Bella let out a pitiful groan, her facial expression turning alarmingly strained. "Ugh, I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"Well, then you'll be glad to know that I've seen what I needed to see," the doctor told her with a smile.
"Really? Just like that?"
"Yes, it happened very fast, but sometimes one brief glimpse is all you need."
"Does that mean I can…?"
"Yes, go ahead! We're done here."
Bella literally jumped off the table. "Oh my goodness, thank you!"
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"So…." he trailed off.
"So…" she mimicked in a dull, lagging tone.
One second stretched into five, then ten, then half a minute.
"So, I'm gonna leave now, " Edward said, breaking the odd silence. "We're going to leave now. Right Al? "
Alice merely hummed in reply, too caught up in taking photos of the ultrasound pictures with her phone to engage in conversation. Hence the awkward silence.
"You know, Christmas dinner and everything…" he added, turning back to Bella.
"Right, of course. You wouldn't want to miss that. Your mom's cooking is sure to be awesome," she replied, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Maybe you could bring me some leftovers tomorrow? If you were planning on coming back tomorrow? I mean, you don't have to… I understand if you don't want to." she rambled, getting a little flustered.
"No, I'll definitely try and be here." He gave a light shrug, not meeting her eyes. "I'll just need to find a way to work up the… courage, strength, or whatever it is that makes 'this' so difficult," he paused to motion between the two of them a few times. "I realize it can't be fun spending Christmas in a hospital and I know I'm at least partly to blame for all this so…"
Bella shook her head, but before she could say anything, Alice rushed to intervene. "Hey, do not start the blame game again. Accept responsibility, apologize, fix it if possible, and move on."
"You're such a hypocrite, Alice. I swear no one can hold a grudge better than you."
"Must run in the family then," his sister threw back at him, as she proceeded to put her phone away. She turned to Bella to return the pictures. "We really do need to go now, but I promise I'll have him back here bright and early in the morning."
"Don't force him. If he doesn't want to be here he can just stay away."
"He DOES want to be here."
"I can speak for myself," Edward said, looking mildly amused, but also very, very tired. "Listen, I can't give you an exact timeline. I still need time to process… well, the things I need to process. The only thing I can promise you is that I will try to be an adult about it. I am planning on being around - so much you'll probably get sick of me."
"Lucky me," Bella commented dryly. "For someone that's not ready to talk, you sure do a lot of talking."
"Right, okay so…uhm leaving now," Edward said, giving her what seemed an odd, almost hurt sort of look.
"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." She fiddled with the sheet covering her as she spoke. "I know you need to get going but… I just want to say thanks for bringing Tony around. I really appreciate it!"
"You're welcome, but really I'm the one that should be saying thanks," he countered, firmly. When she raised her eyebrows he went on to explain, "The ultrasound. It was… uhm interesting."
"Awkward you mean?"
"No, well that too, but mostly it was interesting, as in thought provoking, awe-inspiring, surreal… "
"Okay, just checking. You didn't say much during it, so I wasn't sure."
"I'm sorry," he sighed, and runs his hand over the back of his head in a frustrated gesture. "I'm sorry I'm not jumping for joy and running to the nearest Babies R Us just yet."
"I know you need time. You've said it repeatedly already. Besides shopping? Isn't that's what we have Alice for?" Bella suggested, earning herself a dirty look from her shopaholic friend.
Edward snorted and Alice elbowed him in the ribs.
"Well, don't come to me when you need a babysitter."
"Please, you'll be volunteering before the umbilical cord is even cut."
"Will not," she laughed, pulling her brother towards the door. "Edward, we should get going."
"Oh wait, I almost forgot!" Bella called out, causing them to halt their steps. "My phone…" she trailed off, giving Alice a pointed look.
"Edward has it. Don't you Edward?" Alice replied, all but clapped her hands together. It was obvious that she had done her part of the deal.
"Uhm sure… "he sighed, reaching into the pocket of his coat. "It's right here. You want it back?"
"I need the phone number to my obstetrician," Bella explained. "If you could look in the contact list under M for Montgomery."
He held the phone out to her. "Probably faster if you look for it yourself."
"I'm not too sure about that. My shoulder is giving me all sorts of hell. Besides your dad is the one that needs the contact info, so I was counting on you to write it down and deliver it to him."
"Fine, I'll do it," Edward huffed, bringing the phone to life with a swipe.
" Let me see if I have a pen," Alice offered, digging through her purse.
"What was the name again?" Edward inquired.
"Montgomery," Bella reminded him, then drew a deep breath. "Look, I wasn't going to ask yet, but seeing as you have the phone out… Have you had time to listen to the mes-…"
"Don't!" he silenced her with dark eyes.
"I know it is a lot to ask. "
"A lot?! There are like hundreds of them. Was there anything in particular you wanted me to hear, because in my ears they all tend to blend into one endless rant of nonsense and nothingness."
"Ouch! I suppose I deserved that."
Just then, the phone in Edward's hand started ringing, causing them all to jump.
"Jesus," Alice gasped, clutching a hand to her chest. "Who is it?"
Edward's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the screen. "Remember what you said about commotion. Bella?"
"Yeah," she answered after a moment's confusion. "You're kidding!"
"Nope," he said popping the p. "I'm afraid not. Do you want to speak with her?"
"Not now, no," she grimaced. "Hit ignore."
"It's Christmas day. Don't you think she'll keep calling and cause all kinds of trouble when she can't reach you?"
"Maybe, but I don't want to speak with her right now."
"Alright, how about you let me deal with it then?"
"No, I don't think that's such a go-…"
Edward waved away her concern, " I'll deal with it."
Pressing the green accept button, he brought the phone to his ear. "Hello Mrs. Dwyer. Filed any new restraining orders lately?"
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AN: Got any funny ultrasound stories to tell?