Chapter 59 – Pillowtalk. How long had they slept? An hour? A day?

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"Freak!"

Her voice startled Edward. He had thought she was sound asleep, her eyes were closed and her face relaxed, but clearly his assumption had been a foolish one.

"You're watching me while I'm sleeping… again…" Bella accused him, her eyes still shut.

"You're not sleeping," Edward rasped, his voice low and almost soundless. He was lying on his side, with his face propped up in one hand and yes, he had indeed been watching her intently.

"You know what I mean," she grumbled and tried to turn over, but must have found it uncomfortable or something because she sighed and fell back flat on her back again.

"Maybe I like watching you sleep," he said softly, craning his neck to check the time on the clock by the bedside table, only to find it blocked by his discarded boxer shorts. The room was still mostly dark and the rest of the house seemed quiet, indicating that the hour was an early one. How long had they slept? An hour? A day? He couldn't seem to muster enough energy to care. His body was so tired. Good tired, but tired just the same.

Meanwhile Bella was still creeped out apparently. "It's perverse. I should have you arrested," she grumbled.

"It's not that strange, or perverse, when you think about it. It's really the only time you're quiet and you know…easy to deal with," he smirked at her, knowing this would push her buttons even more. "I mean, it's no secret that a lot of the shit coming out your mouth lately has been infuriating me a great deal." He trailed a finger down her bare arm, goose bumps rising on her skin from the touch. "Also you're like buck naked right now. How am I not supposed gawk at that?"

Her eyes snapped open. "I wish you wouldn't do that," she whined, and immediately began tugging at the sheets and blankets, attempting to restore some sort of order of the tangled mess that the bed had become. "I lose all ability to think clearly when you're touching me… and the gawking makes me uncomfortable."

"Hey, don't cover yourself," Edward protested, grabbing onto his side of the blanket just to be difficult. "You've got nothing to feel uncomfortable about."

"I feel gross and I probably look like a wreck," Bella sat up and yanked the fabric with all of her might. Unfortunately this happened roughly at the same time as Edward decided to let go. The momentum caused her to topple backwards and she would have fallen off the bed if Edward had not launched himself after her and grabbed onto her arm.

Thankfully it was her good arm, but that didn't stop her from groaning in pain when her upper body made contact with the mattress again.

"Are you alright? Where does it hurt?" he asked, searching her facial expression for some sort of answer as to what was going on.

"I -...landed badly, and then… " she started, but winced again, cutting her explanation short and Edward feared for a second that it was something serious. His eyes must have revealed some fraction of the panic he felt because she was quick to reassure him that it was just the shoulder.

"Bad angle….and the added weight… I'm just a bit sore in general. I'll live, don't worry about it Edward."

"You sure?" He propped himself up on one elbow to get a better reading of her face. "I'm sorry for acting like such a brute. It was not my intention to make you uncomfortable, but you have no idea what seeing you like this does to me. I should have known better, I'm sorry."

"No, I get it. You were hoping for another round of whatever it was that came over us before. I know I practically jumped you then, so I don't fault you for being confused now. The sex was great, like always, surprisingly intense and even a little overwhelming… Listen, I'm sorry if I'm tired, and rambling, and making no sense right now, but… I… I… " she trailed off, searching for the right words.

"You want more," he guessed with resignation. "You want it to mean more than just sex and I can't promise you anything at this poi-.."

She cut him short with a brusque, "It's not that," then she thought better of it and shook her head. "I mean, that's part of it, but I know there are trust issues that will take both time and effort to work through."

"So what is it, then? I thought I warned you not to expect everything to turn rosy overnight. "

"You did, but I'm pregnant and my mood swings have me wigging out over the silliest things. Like having you see me naked when I look like this." She was frowning and gesturing to herself, as if her appearance had turned repellent overnight.

"Bella," he tried to interrupt, but she wouldn't have that. Instead she pushed on telling him, "I know it's laughably vain and stupid. It's not like you haven't seen me naked various of times before, but not like this, not when I'm feeling flabby, and out of shape, and completely and utterly unsexy. I get that you're loving my boobs right now, heck I'm loving my boobs right now, but the rest.. eh, not so much."

"Is that's what's bothering you?" he asked not quite believing what he was hearing. "Come on, I'm a guy... Can't you tell how much I'm enjoying the bigger, fuller, you?"

"Sure, but I'm a girl and I'm terrified I'll never fit into my favorite black lace lingerie set again. It's frightening the way my hips have spread out like the base of a pyramid. I swear my bum has grown to accommodate not one baby, but a whole army of little midget aliens…"

"Your bum? You're worried about me seeing your bum?! I hate to break it to you Swan, but you've always been kind of bottom heavy. That's not a complaint… that's a compliment. I find your bum to be of adequate size in proportion to the rest of your body. It's one of your finer assets. "

"You think this is funny?" She reached out and twisted one of his nipples – hard.

"No, no… Fuck that hurt!" he squirmed miserably.

"I'm serious. This shit is frightening. I've just barely past the halfway mark and… " she stopped mid sentence and looked around the room seemingly alarmed.

"… and what? Geez, what is it now," Edward asked, following her gaze.

"Someone's at the door," she hissed at him.

"Is that all?" He felt a flicker of annoyance. "It's probably just someone heading for the kitchen."

"What time is it?"

"Early? I don't know, you tell me."

"Shhh… I'm telling you, someone's right outside the room," she insisted.

Sure enough seconds later there was a series of knocks on the door.

"I told you so," she snapped, groping blindly for the comforter at her feet. "Don't just lay there like some half wit. I'm not getting up. You have like three seconds to get dressed and handle whoever's at the door. They are your relatives, not mine."

"Dang, alright!" She had a point. He jumped off the bed and scrambled to find his clothes.

"Hang on a minute. I'll be right there," he called out as the door rattled again from the pounding it was receiving on the other side. Still shirtless, but now with his sweatpants back in place, Edward strode to the door and opened it a fraction, peering out.

Bella felt like she should have known this would happen. When was the universe ever on her side? Never. She felt naked, both literally and emotionally, despite being covered from head to toe underneath the comforter. Of course a Cullen would come bursting into the room at a time like this. They had impeccable timing and never missed a chance to embarrass the hell out of her.

Edward was talking quietly with whoever was on the other side of the door. Bella strained her ears to hear what was being said. The other voice was unmistakable female. If she had to guess she would say it was Esme. From the side of the conversation she could actually hear she gathered that Anthony was awake and looking for his daddy.

Edward seemed to argue for a moment, but then he gave a resigned sort of sigh and opened the door wider to allow the clearly unhappy looking little boy to enter.

Anthony toddled into the room, carrying his stuffed tiger by an ear. His face showed traces of tears, but his mouth was set in a determined scowl as he plopped down on his padded bottom on the floor.

Edward made some vague gesture with his hand like he expected Bella to do… well, something, while Edward himself stepped outside to finish his conversation.

"Hi Tony!" Bella offered the boy a smile and a small wave. "Bet you were looking for your dad, huh?"

"Edda?" the boy asked, eyeing her carefully.

"Yeah, you found him. He'll be back in a second."

"Go bye," he sighed and pulled his beloved tiger onto a tight embrace.

"Aww, sweetheart. I promise he'll be back," she answered him softly, feeling her chest tighten with a tender, choking emotion that made her want to cry. She didn't want to scare the boy though, so she tried to maintain her composure and keep the smile on her face. "Why don't you come over here and hang with me for a while?" she suggested, waving him closer.

Of course Anthony wasn't that easily convinced. "No," he pouted and scooted further away from her. She noticed him rubbing his eyes and yawning, so she figured his sulky mood had to do with him being tired. He crawled a few feet to his right where he evidently found himself a pair of balled up socks to play with.

She watched him in silence for a few moments, but then felt she had to intervene when the next article of clothing he picked up from the floor looked suspiciously lacy and well… bra-like.

"Hey buddy, what's that on your pajamas?" she asked, in an attempt to distract him. " Is that a plane? Can you show me? I want to see, it looks pretty cool."

"Is mine," Tony replied with the impeccable logic only a toddler can posses.

"Get outta here! It's yours? Now I'm jealous," Bella told him acting, appropriately impressed. "Come let me look at it. I want a t-shirt with an airplane on it. Did you get that from Santa?"

"Dunno? Ali?"

"Ah, that's right! Your auntie Alice gave that to you. She's nice isn't she?"

Anthony never got a chance to reply, because just then the door opened and Edward came back into the room. Not seeing the child on the floor he stumbled, and quite dramatically so, only narrowly escaping a full on face plant by bracing his hands against the wall.

"Geez, this morning just keeps getting better and better," Edward muttered, disentangling his legs and feet from Anthony's grasp. "I'm sorry about that kiddo. You should come with flashing warning sign above your head." He ruffled the boy's hair and stood back up. "Not a battery operated one though," he added after a moment of afterthought. "Apparently I was supposed to charge the batteries in the baby monitor for twelve hours before that thing to use. Guess I should have read the manual."

"You're kidding me," Bella half-laughed, half-groaned. "So in other words that hideous sound we heard last night was actually the low battery warning chime?"

"I guess so," Edward scratched the back of his neck, seemingly embarrassed at his little blunder. "So… it appears as though a certain someone has been up wreaking havoc since five o'clock this morning. It's a little after six now, so I imagine it must have been pretty bad if my mom gave up after only an hour."

He swiftly scooped the child off the floor and then resolutely went about plopping them both down on the vacant side of the bed in a controlled tree-falling motion.

The impact had them bouncing on the mattress like a bunch of kids on a bouncy castle. Anthony was not as amused by this as one would have guessed, perhaps because it made it difficult for him to hold on to all of his 'toys'. Of course it was the socks and not the bra that he chose to abandon in order to keep his balance.

"Wrecking havoc? Are you sure we're talking about the same kid?" Bella teased, because to minute the bounces died down and everything stilled again, Anthony stuck his thumb into his mouth and curl himself up into a tight ball, seemingly more interested in taking a nap than anything else.

"Sure, sure… now he's behaving, but mess with his sleep or his carb intake and he turns into a walking advert for contraceptives. It's quite scary, actually."

"You shouldn't say stuff like that," she scolded him. "It's not like he can help it."

"I was joking, obviously. Besides, it's not like he understands anything we're saying," Edward snorted, giving her a look that told her he thought she was being stupid.

"You sure about that? Kids pick up on more than you think. They have brains like sponges. Like, they absorb everything that's being said around them. It wouldn't surprise me if he understands more than he cancommunicate back with words. He's smart like that."

"Of course he's smart, he's my kid,"

"Just take him upstairs and sit with him for a while. He obviously needs more sleep."

"You think," he joked, eyes wide in mock-disbelief. "Look, I'm not going to move him now and risk having him throw another fit."

"Well, he can't stay here," she said, her voice rising a notch.

"Why not? He's all settled in."

"Well … because … because …" she stuttered, then thought better of it and made a grab for the piece of underwear that the kid was still clutching. "You don't find this awkward at all?" she asked and held it out in front of Edward's face. "I'm sort of, kind of N-A-K-E-D over here. The stuff we did in this very bed….There could still be wet spots or crusty dried spots, or whatever…"

"Swan, how old were you, when your parents got divorced?" He snatched the bra from her and carelessly flung it on the dresser on the far end of the room, where it caught onto one of the drawer handles.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I bet that when you were Tony's age, you were crawling into your parent's bed, like ALL the time " he pointed out and couldn't help but smirk as he watched her reaction. "Every other morning, just like most kids tend to do. And you turned out reasonably alr-…."

"Eww! What the fuck, Edward! That's a mental image I so could have lived without!"

"Sorry, I was just trying to make a point. Look, since I'm such considerate and sensibleguy, I'll make sure the kid stays on top of the comforter at all times. How is that?"

"Please, don't go to any trouble on my account. Especially seeing as I'll be busybleaching my eyes out for the next hour or so…."

"No you won't," he laughed, pointing at her face. "You'll stay right where you are and you'll take a nap with us. We have at least another two hours, maybe three hours, before breakfast is served."

"Could you at least get me a t-shirt or something?"

"Nah, where's the fun in that!"

. .

AN: I got so many great reviews for the last chapter and I hope that you enjoy, and are not disappointed by, the long awaited update! Enjoy!