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JT's did not disappoint. Edward bought her a double bacon cheeseburger with jalapeños, a large order of spicy curly fries, and, to top it off, a large strawberry milkshake. And Bella ate every bit of it.
When they made it back to her house, Bella kicked off her shoes and lay on the couch, watching as Edward moved around from room to room, making sure that somehow, Peter Cullen hadn't snuck in while they were gone. It was adorable, she thought, how protective he was of her.
"What time do you have to be at The Oasis?"
"I don't."
Bella leaned up on her elbow. "You don't?"
He shook his head. "Ben and Angela are going to cover for me."
"Why?"
"Why do you think? I'm not leaving you alone until I am sure you're really okay."
"I'm fine," she insisted, rotating so that she was sitting upward.
"So you say."
Bella sighed. "Will you at least sit? You're making me tired just watching you move around."
Edward laughed and sat next to her. "Better?"
"Yes." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Are you okay, Edward?"
"No," he admitted. "I mean, physically, yes, but I never thought he'd come after you like he did, Izzy."
"Can't say I did, either," she said with a yawn.
"You really are tired."
"All the time," she groaned, sliding her hand over her stomach. "Would you like to take a nap with me?"
"You'd be okay with that?"
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."
He nodded before he stood. "Okay."
She smiled and allowed him to help her up. He kept his hand wrapped in hers as they walked into her bedroom. She climbed onto her bed, rolling onto her left side, and patted the bed. He smiled before kicking off his shoes and lying next to her. Bella scooted closer, laying her head on his chest. She felt him sigh before wrapping his arm around her and holding her firmly.
"Can I keep you, Edward?" she whispered, curling her fingers around his hip.
"For as long as you want, sweetheart," he murmured.
—RtW—
She was shaken awake when she heard someone banging on the front door. Groaning, she rolled away from Edward and sat up. He was still asleep, his other arm draped over his eyes. She was about to lay down again, but the knocking continued. So, instead, she placed her hand on her stomach, stood, and walked into the living room. She opened the front door, sighing when she found her father there.
"You were supposed to call me when you got home, Izzy!" he exclaimed.
"I'm sorry," she said, softly glancing behind her. "Don't be loud. Edward's asleep."
"He's asleep? He's asleep inside your house?"
"Don't make it out to be a bigger deal than it is. I was tired, he was tired, so we took a nap," she explained, waving him inside.
Charlie nodded as he walked past her. She saw the way his eyes moved around the room before he sat on the sofa. She closed the door and settled next to him.
"Talked to Jay," he said, looking at her. "He said you forgave him."
"I did."
"Good, good."
"I really am okay, Dad."
"No, I know, but you're my daughter, so . . ." Charlie cleared his throat. "I know you're not going to want to hear this, Izzy, but you need to move back home."
She rolled her eyes.
"It's dangerous for you to be by yourself."
"This is my home now, Dad."
"I just want you to be safe."
"I am safe. Peter Cullen is in jail, and hopefully, he'll be there for a long time."
"What if you go into labor and you're by yourself? What are you going to do then?"
"Call you or Jay. Or Edward."
Charlie tensed.
"You said you were okay with us being together."
"I am. Doesn't mean I don't worry."
Their attention was drawn to the hallway when they heard her bedroom door open. A moment later, Edward walked into the living room with his shoes in his left hand.
"I should go."
"Thought you were staying," Bella said, standing with her hand on her belly.
Edward's eyes briefly shifted to Charlie before saying, "Ben called. Said the bar is slammed, so . . ."
"Oh, okay." She walked up to him, placing her hands on his chest. "Call me tomorrow?"
He smiled. "Yes."
"Be careful, okay?"
"I will." He brought his hand up to her face before he kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep."
"I will."
Edward nodded toward Charlie before he walked out of her house, closing the door behind him.
"Wow."
She looked at her father. "What?"
"Nothing," he scoffed, leaning back. "How was JT's?"
"Delicious," she snickered, sitting next to him again. "You know how much I love their spicy curly fries."
"Always did, honey."
"Have you eaten dinner?"
Charlie shook his head.
"I have some leftover lasagna in the fridge. Want to share it with me? We could watch a movie."
"Sure, kiddo."
Bella wandered into the kitchen and pulled the leftovers out, laying them on the counter before grabbing a couple of plates. When she turned around, she found her father watching her from the doorway, a playful smile on his lips.
"Why are you just staring at me? It's weird."
"You really like him, don't you?"
"Dad . . ."
"Izzy . . ."
She shook her head. "I do. I can't explain why, but I do. He . . . he sees the real me."
Charlie nodded. "I've never seen you look at someone like you do him. Not even Carlisle."
"Dad," she groaned.
"I'm just saying, kiddo."
"Well, just keep saying it to yourself and mind your own business," she teased.
Charlie laughed before walking back into the living room. While Bella finished heating their leftovers, she thought about what her father had said. If she were honest, her feelings for Edward differed from how she felt about Carlisle. But what that meant wasn't something she was ready to admit to anyone, especially herself.
—RtW—
Peter Cullen was denied bail and was being held over for trial. Bella, Edward, Jasper, Charlie, and Alice sat in the back of the courtroom while Lauren Mallory presented her case to the judge. Bella breathed a sigh of relief when the judge denied his attorney's request. Peter, of course, didn't help his case when he kept turning and glaring at her. She tried her hardest not to be intimated, even if he terrified her.
Jasper and Edward had met for lunch, though neither would tell her what they had discussed. They just said they'd hashed out their differences and were starting new. It meant a lot to Bella that her brother was able to put aside his feelings for Edward, knowing that he'd become important to her. And he was. Edward had become the most important person in her life, other than Little Bit.
"Izzy, are you listening to me?" Alice said, drawing her attention from the pile of cake samples on her coffee table. She'd come over as soon as she dropped the girls off at school to finalize the details for the baby shower she was hosting the following afternoon.
"Yep."
"No, you weren't," Alice snickered. "You really don't care about all this, do you?"
"Not really," she admitted with a smile. "Sorry, I'm just tired, Alice. Haven't really been sleeping much lately."
"Well, you are thirty-two weeks pregnant," she teased, standing and picking up four little plates. "Other than tired, how have you been feeling?"
"Fat."
Alice tipped her head back and laughed. "Oh, girl, do I remember that feeling. By the time I hit thirty weeks with the girls, I could barely see my feet. Jay had to help me roll from one side to the other, and, well, I had a lot of gas. Of course, that could be all the Mexican food I craved."
"How'd you manage to carry twins, Alice? I only have one and feel like I'm about to explode."
"Well, the girls were born early, but by the time labor started, I could barely move. Jay kept trying to get me to go on walks with him, but I . . . Well, I may have unleashed the most unladylike language when I told him off."
Bella giggled.
Alice cleared the rest of the cake samples off the coffee table before sitting next to her. "How's it going with Edward?"
She bit her lip to try to hide her smile but knew when her sister-in-law grinned, she'd failed.
"Oh, I see."
"He . . . Alice, he's been great. I mean, not just with supporting my pregnancy, but he makes me feel beautiful and wanted. Needed."
"You love him."
"I don't know about that," she scoffed.
"No, you do."
"The way he makes me feel . . . When you and Jasper were dating, Alice, how'd you know he was the one for you?"
Alice blushed. "I knew the moment I saw him that he was the man I was going to marry. He walked into our English Lit class, Izzy, and it felt like everyone else just dissipated around me. When he looked at me and smiled, I swooned. I'll admit that he had me tingling, girl, but then he looked away and sat next to someone else. I couldn't keep from looking at him, though. He was handsome, and his laugh was . . . Girl, when he laughed, I felt like a giddy little schoolgirl. When class was over, I had planned on introducing myself, but he booked it out of the room before I could even stand.
"Every time we had class together, I planned to make my move, but every time, he ran out before I could. I'd never been one of those girls who chased boys, Izzy. Not to sound vain, but I didn't have to. Boys came to me. But not him. Not Jay."
"Why not?"
She rolled her eyes. "After we finally started dating, he told me I intimidated him."
"Wow, I never thought of my brother as someone who was intimidated by girls."
"One night, toward the end of the semester, I was studying in the library when I saw him walk in. He looked right at me before he turned and sat at a table on the other side of the room. Well, I marched my pretty little ass over to him, told him I was tired of waiting for him to man up and ask me out, and told him he could buy me dinner to make up for it."
Bella laughed. "I wish I could have seen his face. What'd he say?"
"He stammered out an apology and asked what I wanted to eat." Alice grinned. "We grabbed takeout from this little sandwich shop on campus and found a bench. While we ate, we talked about our families, our majors, and the usual first-date crap. When he took me to my dorm, he walked me to the door and kissed me. Said he'd been wanting to kiss me since our first class together. Then, he asked me to meet him for breakfast the next morning. We just . . . never stopped seeing each other."
"I remember when he told me about you," Bella murmured, shifting on the couch and placing her hand on her stomach. "He'd come home for winter break. Christmas wasn't the same after our mom left. We were in his room, watching horror movies because that was our thing. Dad refused to watch them with us. We were in the middle of one when he paused it and told me he'd met someone. Being a nosy little sister, I, of course, pestered him for details. It was the first time I saw my brother blush, Alice."
"He did?"
She nodded. "He told me he was in love; said he was going to marry you."
"Oh," she whispered. "He hadn't said those words to me yet."
"Well, he told me." She winced as she once again adjusted her position.
"You okay, Iz?"
"My back hurts," she whimpered, standing. The moment she was straight, she felt a sharp pain shoot through her back, radiating around to her stomach. "Oh, fuck."
"Oh, honey, I think you just had a contraction."
Bella's eyes widened. "It's too soon, Alice."
"Yes, it is." She was immediately on her feet, pulling her phone from her back pocket. "I'm calling Dr. Black."
Bella nodded, cradling her stomach.
"Hello, Bree, this is Alice Swan. I need to speak to Dr. Black about Izzy Cullen . . . Yes, I'll hold," Alice said, rolling her eyes. She paused for a moment before saying, "Dr. Black, Izzy just had a contraction . . . Yes, of course." She held the phone out to Bella. "He wants to talk to you."
Her fingers trembled as she took it from Alice and brought it to her ear. "Dr. Black."
"Honey, tell me what you felt."
"A sharp pain in my back, radiating to my stomach."
"Is this the only one you've felt?"
"I think so. I mean, my back has hurt all day. Couldn't really sleep last night because of it. Kind of like a menstrual cramp, to be honest."
"Okay, honey, I need you to come to the hospital. I will meet you there."
"It's too early."
"Hey, we are not panicking. We're going to see what's going on, but we will not panic, understand?"
"Yes."
"I will meet you there," he said again. "Now, let me talk to Alice."
She held the phone out to Alice. While she spoke to Dr. Black, saying 'yes' repeatedly, Bella shoved her feet into a pair of Crocs, grabbed her bag, and dropped her keys and phone inside.
"Okay, honey, are you ready?" Alice asked, placing her hand on her elbow.
Bella nodded, though the last thing she was ready for was a trip to the hospital.
Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! Big shout to Sunflower Fran for being an awesome beta and cleaning up my mess. See you next Thursday!