A/N: Just a little filler chapter. I might get more out. I'm about to get some sleep, and good news is, I don't need to work tonight. Have a great day.

No copyright infringement is intended. All recognizable characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer. I own the plot and the mistakes.

ENJOY!

7/08/2023

Cherry Pies and Backwards Baseball Hats

Chapter TWENTY-FOUR

BPOV

20 weeks pregnant

When you plan for a baby, you can't necessarily plan for a boy or a girl. You can't, very well, plan to have just one if it's done naturally. Much like in my case; we're having twins. That's something we definitely didn't plan for. We're happy, regardless, but adding two more boys to our brood, that's trouble in the making.

Edward and I just had my initial ultrasound which both babies were more than willing to let us know that they're boys. Edward couldn't wipe the damn smile off his face. It's now that he's willing to stop with just three boys, but he knows that I'd like to have a little girl one day. As to when, that remains to be seen.

As for names, we had no clue and we wanted to make sure their names fit their personalities. Edward was pressing for Fred and George from Harry Potter, and my response was Hell No.

To top it all off, I already had a nice little baby bump going one. Emmett was the first one to point it out when he and Rosalie came to Ben's 2nd birthday party the weekend before. Those two are definitely happier than pigs in shit. Emmett made sure he put a ring on it, and now Rosalie had a nice fat rock on her finger. Jasper and Alice were beside themselves when Rose made the announcement. It was only a matter of time before they were telling everyone about a new baby Cullen. Carlisle and Esme are just as happy and ready for grand-kids, too.

Esme and Alice were already planning a wedding that Rose would be more than happy with, and definitely a wedding I wouldn't miss.

Every day I had to bite my tongue about the twins. I thought about telling the family that we were having a boy. Mostly, they had all agreed with each other that we were having another boy, anyway. Uncle Al had said that the only off spring the Mason men could reproduce were male. Vicky said he didn't know what he was talking about, and said to ignore him. I was actually starting to believe Al.

I had just finished with my 4th patient of the day, and I was exhausted. I was ready for lunch and a nap, but lunch was all I was getting. Left overs from the night before were calling my name. Stuffed peppers were a huge craving I had been having.

"Bella, Mrs. Whitlock is in room four. They squeezed her in before your lunch hour." I took the clipboard from Amber and headed that way.

I tapped my knuckle against the door a couple of times before entering. Alice was perched on the exam table waiting on me. "Hi, Alice." I opened my laptop and started looking over her information. "What's going on?"

"I've been feeling a little off lately. I'm tired and I'm catching myself getting dizzy now and then."

"Have you had any breathing issues? Like you can't catch your breath?"

Alice nodded. "Yes. It has gotten a lot worse the last couple of weeks."

"Any headaches?"

"Yeah, but they haven't been too bad. I get little chest pains now and then, too. It's a sharp pain that'll come and go. Then it won't pop up for a while."

I was making notes as she talked. "Well, your blood pressure looks good and your heart rate is excellent." I pulled my stethoscope from around my neck. I did the routine of listening to her lungs and heart beat. "I'm going to have some blood drawn to run some tests. Your thyroid could be acting up or you could be having a vitamin deficiency."

"I take a multi-vitamin," she informed me.

"There could be one you're still not getting enough of." I made a few more notes. "We'll test you for the flu, too."

After a minute or so, Alice spoke up, breaking the silence. "Do you think I could have cancer?"

I looked at her funny. "Why would you think that?"

"My mother died from cancer. So did my aunt and their mother before them."

I looked over her file and read the area she had filled in explaining the types of cancer her mother, aunt, and grandmother passed away from.

Alice's mother died from lung cancer. She had never smoked a day in her life. Her aunt battled breast cancer close to six years before the cancer spread and started eating at her insides. All this information peaked my curiosity because Alice is at the age her mom, aunt and grandmother were when it showed up in their system.

"Have you had your mammogram, and pap for this year?"

Alice gave me a small smile. "I've had my mammogram."

I scrolled through a few pages until I found the fax results. They were negative. "Does Esme usually do your paps?"

"No. I see Dr. Whitley over at St. Joe's." She was twisting her fingers together, I'm sure from nervousness.

"I can make that appointment for you," I suggested.

She shook her head. "I'll call as soon as I get home."

"Okay. We'll get all these tests ran so we can get the answers we're looking for."

"Don't tell Rosie or Emmett." She looked down at her hands. "I know you're all friends, but I can't have them worrying about me."

I gave her a sad look. "I can't tell them even if I wanted to."

I hated to even think about the results of her tests. Too much stuff was starting to point towards the big C word and I didn't want to be the one to break the bad news to her or any patient.

I hugged her and promised to get lunch from the deli the next day. I also told her I would call her as soon as her test results came in.

We exchanged small smiles when the Phlebotomus came in to take her blood. I made sure to put a rush on her information.

"I was wondering how long it was going to take for her to come in." I turned to see Emmett behind me.

I shook my head. "Don't let her know you saw her here."

"I can see the yellow in her eyes, Bella," he said, raising his brows at me.

"I know, I did, too, but I didn't point that out to her. I wanted to see what the results say. She could just be anemic." I shook my head, again. "Don't say anything to Rosalie. Let's get all the facts first. She's making all the appointments she needs to."

Emmett sighed heavily. "I guess I need to keep Rosie busy until we get some answers."

I patted his huge bicep. "Definitely do that. I'm sure Edward and I would love to go out to dinner one night this week or the next."

My patients for the rest of the day were a lot easier than Alice, but still exhausted me, and by the time I pulled along the curb to pick up Ben, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for days.

When I walked into the house, Ben came running towards me. He latched on around my legs yelling. "Mommy, mommy, mommy," at me.

"Hi, bubba." He was getting too big for me to pick up, so I crouched down to hug him. "You been good for aunt Vicky today?"

Vicky laughed. "He was excellent."

I stood up and pressed my hands into my lower back. "Good gracious, girl. How far along are you, again?"

"20 weeks," I replied as I stretched.

"I'd say you look more like seven months instead of five."

I raised my brows at her. Comments like that made me want to shout to the world that I actually do have two babies growing inside of me. "I feel like I'm seven months."

"You look like you're having twins."

I choked out a laugh. "That's funny."

There wasn't anything else I could say without giving our secret away. We've made it this far, so what's four more months.

I rubbed my hand over my belly where Baby B gave my hand a good kick.

Vicky and I chatted for another 20 minutes before I lugged Ben out the door and into his car-seat. He kept yelling for Sonic when we passed the one by Al and Vicky's house. As tired as I am, Sonic sounded perfect.

While I waited for our food, I sent Edward a text to let him know that Ben and I were having Sonic for dinner. He messaged back telling me that Sonic sounded good, but eating me sounded way better.

I'd be lucky to keep my eyes open. It was still another two hours before it was Ben's bedtime. Vicky said he slept for two hours at nap time, so there was definitely not an early bedtime for him tonight.

Ben and I sat at the table eating our Sonic dinner and picked on each other. I think I laughed more than we ate. I was still having bouts of nausea and small meals were all I could handle. I try to eat a little more here and there, and that was okay, but less was more.

I finally climbed into the shower by 9pm and when I got out, my husband had just stepped through the door pulling his shirt over his head. "I was hoping to join you."

"I could always turn the water back on." I hadn't even wrapped my towel around me.

Edward kicked his pants off and came to stand in front of me. "Where'd that come from?" He pointed to my stomach. "It was barely there the last time I saw it."

"You just saw it this morning." I placed both of my hands over my protrusion. "I think they grew while I was at work today."

He nodded. "They have certainly grown, that's for sure." He bent over and kissed me before stepping into the shower and turning it on. "Give me 15 minutes."

I went ahead and dried off before I slipped into an over-sized t-shirt then braided my wet hair. That was the only way I could sleep with it wet.

The boys were doing somersaults as Edward climbed into bed. I finally got a ten second video of the movements rippling over my stomach. "That's so weird and neat at the same time."

"If you could only feel it," I told him. "It's a whole different experience."

"I bet," he said before placing his hand on my stomach. "Ben go down easy tonight?"

I nodded. "Yeah." Then I chuckled. "I can't believe how well he talks for a two year old. You'd think he was five already."

"He's a genius just like his momma." Edward nuzzled his nose into my neck. "He's going to succeed at anything he decides to do when he grows up."

"I'm sure he will, and he can be a good teacher for his brothers." Edward scooted down a little to talk to the twins. They didn't move when he started talking. "Your big brother can't wait to meet you both. Mommy and Daddy love you, but now it's time to go to sleep. Mommy needs all her energy to chase after your brother tomorrow."

No sooner than Edward spoke his last word, Baby B decided to give one big kick to my side where his daddy's face was. "I think he's telling you no."

"I guess I can always ground him until he's born for talking back."

I chuckled. "You're too funny." Then I rubbed the spot right where I was just kicked. "I've thought of a couple of names."

"Oh yeah?" Edward moved back up to the pillows so we could talk. "They're not the cliched rhyming names, are they?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "They start with the same letter; Decklan and Devon."

Edward let the names bounce around in his head for a minute. "They're not bad, but we still have time."

"Seems so far away," I stated. "But I know they'll be here before we know it."

Thank you!

RTB