Chapter 25

EPOV

I fucking hate this.

Bella is over in her room crying and there is not a damn thing I can do about it. I followed her out of the playroom shortly before ten, watching as she only stepped on her toes going up the stairs. In the kitchen I handed her two Tylenol and a bottle of water before she went to her room while I stayed behind to take care of Seth.

Now here I am a half hour later in my room listening to Bella’s muted sobs. I consoled myself with the idea that I had no choice; she had left me no choice. When we came home from the center, I brought her up a glass of wine, thinking that she needed something to unwind with and get into the right frame of mind. I had every intention of cancelling our session for the evening, but Bella insisted on the drive home that she not only wanted but needed our usual.

It truly was against my better judgment, but again I thought that once Bella had a shower and a meal she would be alright. I had planned a movie night which basically consisted of some light bondage, teasing and video watching which would eventually lead to both our releases. I had planned to address her nutrition and make the consequences of her reckless eating habits known. But other than that there was nothing physically strenuous or emotionally draining.

As I sat in her room while Bella explained what had occurred I was becoming agitated. It wasn’t the drive itself that concerned me, it was the fact that she went by herself into a volatile situation. Then add driving recklessly to get there and placing the children in danger by not using proper car seats. The kicker came when I inquired what would have happened had she been pulled over and she dismissed the whole thing by basically saying that her daddy would take care of it.

I understood why she felt the need to do it, Bella is one of those rare people who would step in front of a firing squad if she thought an injustice was occurring. The problem was, I fucking loved her and maybe I was being selfish, but I didn’t want anything to happen to her.

Then when she told me she purposely turned off her phone - that was too much. I thought that possibly the battery had drained or perhaps she was in a spot where the signal was low. But for her to blatantly disregard not only my rules but my feelings of concern for her, I had to leave the room before my anger got the better of me.

While I started the rice I was festering in my irritation and torn between just wanting to go up there and hold her all night and bending her over my fucking whipping stool. I needed some advice, so I called the one person who would understand.

“Hello Edward.”

“Aro, am I interrupting you?”

“No my boy, is everything alright? You sound out of sorts…” Was it that obvious?

“Yes…no, I’m not alright.” I took a deep breath before telling him. “Isabella is going to need to be punished and I don’t know if I can do it.” That was my problem in a nut shell.

“Hmmm, well, am I to assume that this is not a minor offence?”

“Two, major offences.” I corrected him.

“Two?” he chuckled, that just pissed me off more, but then he grew serious. “Well Edward, you have to ask yourself if the infraction or behavior is something that you are willing to put up with? If it is not, which it sounds like it isn’t, then it is up to you to correct it.” I knew that it was my job, that wasn’t the problem.

“Aro, she is going to hate me.”

“Ah, and that is the true problem. She won’t be happy, and she will be more upset with herself for making you do it. But in the long run she will respect you for it.”

“I love her and I don’t know if I can look into her eyes and do what I have to do,” I admitted.

“Then you might as well call Caius right now.” He made a simple statement of fact that pissed me off.

“What? Why would you say that?”

“Caius will train her for you; he’ll do all the dirty work… he wants to; I’ll give you his number.”

“No fucking way! He aint talking to Isabella, none the less touching her!” I said with conviction.

My uncle answered immediately, “good,” he went on before I could say anything, “now, stop thinking about your feelings and focus on Isabella’s. This is where the rubber meets the road Edward. You can be Isabella’s boyfriend and dominate at the same time, but you can not only be her boyfriend, that is not what she needs. If the offence warrants punishment then it is at your hands, you made the rules so you enforce them. If you don’t, you might as well throw them out the window or else release her and let someone else do it.”

He was right and I knew that.

Aro continued speaking, “Edward I’m glad that you have feelings for Isabella but you don’t punish in spite of those feelings, you correct her behavior because of them. Because it is in her best interest to have you do so. If you can’t or won’t then you might as well expect the behavior to continue. So ask yourself Edward, is that something you are willing to allow, and is it in Isabella’s best interest to allow it?” He was quiet for a few seconds while I thought over what he said.

“That doesn’t mean that you correct without thought or with malice to prove your point. Use your feelings for Isabella to make her understand why the correction was necessary. Edward, I have always been of the mind to make the punishment fit the crime, and if you make it memorable you will not find yourself revisiting the same dilemma anytime soon.”

He chuckled then added, “of course, there will always be a new dilemma.”

I sighed because he was right, there will be, and I was going to have to man up and let the chips fall where they may.

“Now is there anything else I can help you with?”

I sighed, “no, I just needed…I don’t know what I needed…”

Aro’s voice was chipper when he answered, “a pep talk from your coach.”

I smiled while I started the water to steam the beans, “yeah, I guess.”

Our quick conversation was over and I was going to say good-bye when he asked, “do I need to inform my slave that Isabella will not be able to make lunch?”

“No, Isabella will be there.” I informed him with conviction, I kind of figured she was going to need someone to talk to.

“Good then, until tomorrow. Oh, and Edward, I don’t need to remind you about after care do I?”

“No.” That was one thing I was not concerned about. We said our good-byes and hung up.

It was twenty minutes until six and I took Seth outside while I started the grill. I had to think about what I was going to do with the fact that Bella turned off her phone. She needed to realize the predicament that she put everyone in. No one knew where she was; and she just walked all over their concern for her, especially mine.

So then it came to me, something that would make her think for a few days about the repercussions of her actions. I told her I would not use corporal punishment on her because of the past abuse. If I did, the marks from the caning she would have received would have lasted for days, and every time she sat down she would have been reminded of her transgression.

What I was going to do would also last for days; but instead of her ass hurting it would be her heart and every time she stepped she would also be reminded, it was more of a mental spanking and it seemed like a viable option.

Part of me had hoped that she would not come down into the kitchen, and we would have spent the night wrapped in each other’s embrace watching some mindless movie. But to be honest, I wasn’t surprised when she walked out the back door. Bella has a stubborn streak in her that can be both endearing and annoying as hell.

It was then that I figured we might as well get this over with, and Aro was right, if I couldn’t do it I should just call Caius right now. That thought alone set my resolve, Isabella needed her Master; she was relying on me and I loved her enough that I couldn’t let her down no matter how much it was going to fucking hurt me to do so.

While Bella was in the kitchen setting the table I finished the prawns and scallops, getting myself into the right frame of mind. She presented herself, as was expected when I entered the kitchen. When her stomach growled and she informed me she had not eaten all day, my decision became concrete. This was going to stop, and if Bella was angry with me it didn’t matter as long as Isabella was safe and healthy.

I didn’t say anything to her during the meal, and when I actually analyzed her eating habits it was worse than I had imagined. I counted over twenty-five missed portions, which by my estimation would account for at least half a pound weight loss. I wasn’t a tyrant and I could let a few slide by, but that was totally unacceptable.

While Bella readied herself downstairs I cleaned up the kitchen, took care of Seth, and hunted down a black permanent marker. I grabbed a wooden folding chair, picked up Bella’s journal and headed down the stairs with a heavy heart.

I hated that this had to be done and I knew that Bella was going to be beyond devastated but what choice did I have? Was this something I could live with? Was this a behavior I wanted to continue? The answer was no on both counts.

Bella kneeled in her waiting position just inside the door where I had left her mat. She was truly amazing in her submission and while I stood there I appreciated her form. The fullness of her dark hair laying gracefully over her shoulders, the slope of her back where her grasp hands rested against the smooth curve of her bottom. She was female, she was submissive, and she was mine.

Her breathing was slow and heavy as if she was trying to calm herself, and as I stood behind her in admiration I realized that it was too quiet. Shit, way to go Edward you forgot to set the audio timer. I smiled to myself wondering if in Bella’s mind I would warrant a spanking for forgetting.

Once I stood in front of her I could see the tension on her face right before the tears started. In order to keep myself distanced I asked what the tears were for, and as she started to raise her eyes to me I stopped her. I was not immune to her tears and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to look into Bella’s deep brown eyes and do what had to be done. Besides, I didn’t want her to see the conflict that was raging in my own eyes.

I knew she was sorry, but Bella had to understand what it was that caused me so much discord. It wasn’t the driving and I explained that to her. If that was all she did, we would have had this discussion in her room as Bella and Edward. But here in the playroom it was about something far more important and I wanted her to confess to the breaking of my rules.

“So tell me again Isabella, what exactly my girl is sorry for? What rule did my girl completely disregard today that caused me so much worry?” I prompted with a stern voice. When Bella answered her voice was shaky and weak and had I remembered the audio I would not have heard her.
“She is sorry for turning off her phone.”

I was glad she recognized why I was so disturbed; and I proceeded to explain to her my opinion of her actions, and how to me, it was as if she was walking all over the feelings of those that cared about her. That had she answered the phone only one time, all of the worry that she caused could have been avoided. Making my voice very stern I made sure Bella fully understood my standing on this topic.

“This cannot happen again. Your phone is not ever to be turned off. I don’t care where you are, what you are doing, or who you are with. Your phone will remain on and charged at all times. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Sir.” Her answer was muted by a sniffle.

Bella hesitated when I told her to sit with her legs out in front of her, but finally complied. I saw the trepidation on her face while I sat in front of her requesting her right foot. As I held her foot higher and removed the black pen from my shirt pocket I chanced a glance in her eyes; she was scrutinizing what I was doing. When my name was plainly written I had her look at me for the first time to receive her instructions, there were tears in her eyes and I knew I did the right thing by not looking at her before.

“You are not to scrub that off; it will wear off on its own in a few days. Now, look at it.”

Bella was baffled at why I would write my name on her foot so I explained my reasoning. “Maybe this will remind you of how insensitive you were to my feelings today and with each step you take you can remember whose concern for your safety you completely disregarded. Besides, the way I figure it, if you are going to walk all over me you might as well do it with my permission.”

I watched as her fingers traced over the letters that would remain for a few days as a reminder of how much her disregard had wounded me. A new round of tears came to her eyes as Bella told me how sorry she was and that she just wasn’t thinking. But that was the problem; she needs to think at all times. I had her kneel while I took care of the next infraction.

While she held her journal I made it very clear that her eating and sleeping habits were not satisfactory and that I would give her a week to get it under control. I could have just told Bella what her punishment would entail, but I figured a demonstration later would drive the point home in a more effective manner.

The evening progressed as I had planned. The other day when I went to the adult toys-r-us I had seen the chrome jeweled plugs. They came in several sizes and the flat jewel made them very practical for extended wear. While I approved of the red ruby that adorned Bella’s backside, I remembered that I had not yet showed it to her. Using the remote, I zoomed in so she could get a first hand appreciation of what I was seeing.

“It’s pretty.” While I was watching her take herself in on the screen her words broke through my thoughts.

“Hmmm…pretty?” I had never heard a butt plug described as pretty before and I found it humorous, because she was right, the red jewel lying against her bare pink skin was pretty and I wondered how the blue was going to look. I had to shift in my seat when my dick throbbed at just the thought…a pretty butt plug? We were going to be working up to that blue one very soon.

My instructions for her were clear, she was to watch. It was the first time she would be viewing our session and I wanted to see her reaction. She had indicated on her limits that she would like to participate in voyeurism, and I needed to judge when she would be ready for that. I figured if she did not enjoy watching us, then watching others would be out of the question.

Bella was to relax into the bondage of the ropes. She needed to focus her attention on the bindings and let them surround her in a cocoon of security, allowing that feeling to lull her into a gentle sub-space so she could be free of all outside disturbances. This was going to take time and practice on her part and patience on mine.

My last instruction was that there would be no orgasm for Bella. That came with the punishment; had she received corporal punishment, she would not be rewarded with a release for as long as the evidence of the discipline remained on her body. In my book this was no different.

While she watched the video, I used the dick-on-a-stick on her; and watching her reaction to the video I noticed she looked totally engrossed and fascinated. I pointed out how her body reacted to the flogging, how she begged with words and actions craving more.

Bella’s face took on a serene look and when I slid the crop down her thigh she jumped and I had to remind her to keep watching. I turned the audio on, because I loved the noises she made when she came. Apparently Bella did too, because she began to push her hips against the dildo, making me warn her again to hold still while giving her thigh a quick slap with the crop.

It occurred to me that she was on the verge of losing control, and the last thing I wanted to do was have her orgasm without permission. So I stopped everything, giving Bella a moment to calm herself while reminding her to use the breathing and relaxation techniques from yoga.

Giving her time to calm down, it became very evident that, yes indeed, my Bella enjoyed watching. The idea came to me that perhaps not this weekend, but the next time we go to New Moon, we just might take a trip up to the third floor. I would have to check the schedule to see who booked a room, and make sure they wouldn’t mind if we joined them, only as observers not participants.

Bella had composed herself allowing me to move on with my activities, I replaced the dildo with a rabbit. She was going to have to use her muscles to keep it in place while I worked on her breasts. I asked her about increasing the intensity. I was going to do it anyway, but when she didn’t answer I needed to remind her that I expected an answer. No matter what is going on she needs to always be aware of my touch, and my voice, and then respond accordingly.

Once I was satisfied with the sensitivity of her nipples, I applied the vibrating cups and turned on the rabbit, before using the crop. Bella responded with heavy breaths and throaty moans. I couldn’t help but grow excited as she calmly lay still in the bonds watching the screen. I could see her stop struggling as she gave herself over to the sensations. It was hauntingly beautiful and I needed to keep my dick under control because at that moment it was begging to be let loose.

I knew that if I allowed it, Bella would have cum, and I had to stress that she was under no circumstances allowed to. The warning in my voice gave her some respite, and she became slightly calmer while she translated her words from Friday night. Bella’s legs started to shake and I figured it was getting time to bring this to an end.

I used the edge of the crop to flick off one of the suction cups making her suck in a breath. I knew she was close and had that been a clamp the pain from the removal would have pushed her over the edge. As it was, Bella was suspended somewhere between control and surrender. As I removed the other suction cup she screamed “Yes!” she would like to cum. But that wasn’t going to happen, not for a few days anyway, and I needed to tell her why, so I explained while removing the rabbit.

“I believe that you need more of a reminder of who you belong to, and that your life is no longer your own. Your orgasms are mine to give or to withhold, and as long as one mark remains on your foot, they will be withheld.”

Bella sighed, and I wasn’t sure if it was out of disappointment or gratitude; the woman completely befuddled me.

The screen was black but the sound was still on, and the sounds of Bella’s cry of pleasure caused my dick to throb. I made sure she was comfortable before lowering myself over her, groaning when she took me into her mouth.

I told her how much I enjoyed her mouth on me for two reasons. One it was true, Bella had a way of using her tongue to create the most amazing sensation. The second reason was because I wanted her to understand that she was the only one who could do that for me. I needed her to realize that my coming inside her mouth was a privilege and one I was going to be taking away.

Pulling away from Bella’s mouth was not fucking easy. It was an exercise in control and a tribute to self discipline. Looking down at her face she was completely confused so I enlightened her.

“When your nutrition is as it should be, then you can have the privilege of me finishing inside your mouth.”

The confusion turned to devastation and I literally watched as the pain swept over Bella’s features echoed by a loud sob. It seemed to take forever to get her out of the restraints and I ended up just cutting them away cursing myself. I should have had her kneel free of the bonds before dispensing the punishment.

Scooping her up off the floor as quickly as I could, and holding her against my chest I began calming her with words and gentle strokes. I knew she would be upset but I didn’t think she would have this kind of reaction. I’ve reprimanded a submissive many times before, but this was the first time I felt the sorrow along with her.

Such was the nature of our relationship; Bella was special to me, and even though it was so very necessary I hated what I’ve done. I needed her to understand that the chastisement was strictly about correction - not criticism.

“Listen to me.” I cupped Bella’s chin making her look at me. She looked so pitiful and my heart broke but there was no turning back and she had to understand that. I spoke as gently as I could.

“I told you that my rules are not something that I play around with. I also told you that I would not take pleasure in having to reprimand you, because it will hinder my enjoyment of you. Now it is what it is, take the reprimand and learn from it. So we do not have to have this discussion ever again.”

God, please Bella, don’t make me do this again.

I didn’t invite her to share my bed, in hind sight that was the wrong thing to do. I wanted to, but I was afraid Bella would turn me down, and I was more worried about my own feelings of rejection than her feelings. So there I sat, listening to her muffled sobs on the monitor. After a while it became very quiet, and when I went to check on her the light was still coming from under the door.

There was no response to my quiet knock so I hesitantly went inside. Bella was asleep, curled up in the chair with a throw blanket covering most of her body. Her hair was braided into one strand running down the side of her splotchy face; she looked frail, lost, and distraught.

Bella’s journal fell to the floor when I lifted her, she didn’t make a sound while I placed her in bed. After turning out the light I made my way back to my own room, only to be confronted with the sounds of her crying once again. I wasted no time in returning not even bothering to knock.

“Bella?”

She didn’t answer; the only sound she made was a sniffle. I sighed going to the bathroom to get her a cool cloth and some tissues, leaving the overhead on so there would be some light in her room. When I squatted on the floor next to her, placing the cloth on her head, Bella was so distraught her body was shaking and gasping for breaths.

“Shhh…baby calm down…” Her sniffles sounded like hiccups. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure if this was just a reaction to what occurred in the playroom or if there was another cause. Once she had settled down slightly, I felt like she would be able to tell me.

“Talk to me Bella,” I implored her wiping her forehead. I wish she would just fucking talk to me, I couldn’t help her until I knew what I was dealing with.

“You…you left me. You shut…the door…and l-left me all alone. Am I so...so horrible…that you c-can’t stand …to…be with me?”

“Baby, I thought you were sleeping. That’s the only reason I left.”

“I was waiting for you…t-to come…and when you did…you…you just left.”

Fuck, I never should have left her alone to begin with. Aro warned me about after care and I thought I had it covered; I had taken care of her physical needs with the shower and massage, but let the emotional ones take her over the edge. Bella needed reassurance not isolation. I moved next to her on top of the blankets, wrapping her in my arms.

“I’m sorry Isabella; I never should have left you alone. That was my bad, and I am so very ashamed that I let you down like that.” I confessed kissing her head.

“What? I’m the one that messed up.” Typical Bella taking the blame.

“Yeah, and you are being punished for that. But I messed up too, Isabella; I was more concerned about the way I felt then your emotional needs, and I promise I will try very hard to never let that happen ever again.”

Bella pulled back to look at me, “how did you feel?”

I sighed not sure if I should tell her or not. I thought about it and decided I wasn’t going to lie. I expect complete honesty from her and she deserves the same.

“I felt terrible. I love you and my natural inclination is to protect you from any harm or sadness. It is very difficult for me to punish you.” I sighed before continuing, “you have no idea how I agonized over it, realizing I was going to hurt you, and knowing I had no choice because it had to be done.” I ran my thumb over her cheek, “I’ll do it again Isabella, no matter how much it hurts me because it is what you need and your needs come before mine. I’m just so very sorry I forgot about that fact afterwards.”

Her fingers ran a line across my cheek and in the muted light I could see the outline of a sad smile.

“I forgive you Edward, and I am sorry I caused you pain. I love you too, and I don’t want to hurt you either.”

I smiled back at her.

“I know you don’t.” I tucked her head back into the nook of my neck. “Come on sweet girl, let’s go to sleep.”

Bella tilted her head placing a kiss on the underside of my chin.

I was glad to have this day behind us. I have not dealt with so much emotional stress since Mason got sick. I shied away from anything that remotely would have caused me worry, or strained the walls of the sanctuary I had made for myself. I could see those walls crumbling and normally I would have done everything I could have to strengthen them. But I wanted Bella, and if that meant I had to let the walls fall and weaken my defenses, then so be it.

The morning sun was shining brightly through the window. I was still on top of the blankets, but I was not cold because Bella was on top of me. I turned my head to see the time and she started talking.

“No Edward, no, someone will see us…” I grinned, waiting to see if there was any more of the conversation. After a few minutes it appeared that was all that I was going to get; disentangling myself from Bella I sat stretching my neck before getting up to use the bathroom.

“What time is it?”

I smiled at her sleepy voice, “seven-thirty, how about we get dressed and go out for breakfast?” We had a busy day ahead and we might as well relax as much as possible.

“Yeah? Blueberry hotcakes with sausage?” She sounded hopeful.

“Sounds good to me baby,” I leaned back over her and ran my hand down the full length of her braid. “I bet if you ask them real nice they would chop up the sausage and cook it inside the hotcake for you.” I chuckled at her blush before kissing her.

“Half an hour?”

She nodded in agreement.

Bella was sitting on the edge of the bed staring at her shoes. She was dressed in a pair of black pants and a dark grey sleeveless shirt. Her hair seemed to have extra waves and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what she was doing.

“What’s up baby?”

When she looked at me, her eyes held a pain that I wanted so badly to take away.

“Edward, I don’t like this,” she whispered and her right foot lifted so I could see some of the black writing.

“You’re not supposed to like it. That’s the point.”

She sighed sliding on the left shoe and still hesitated with the right.

“How long do you think it will last?” She asked, staring down at the floor.

“A few days.”

I watched her face scrunch together and she sighed and slid her foot into the shoe.

“You ready?”

She nodded, picked up her purse, and we left.

The diner was actually rather full and we had to wait a few minutes before being seated. The hostess took our drink order and as we sat down Bella got a huge smile on her face, “I guess this means I’m official.”

I was puzzled, “official what?”

“I count now.” Her announcement gave me no clue as to what she meant.

“Paul, who was the biggest man whore, told me that unless you take a girl out for breakfast then they don’t count as someone who you slept with.”

“Well then, my dear Bella, you are my only one.”

“Really? I feel honored,” she answered with a grin.

I shook my head grinning. “You’re silly,” I chuckled as the waitress sat down our coffee taking our orders.

A thought then occurred to me. “Paul was a man whore, has he changed his ways?”

Bella took a drink of coffee before answering, “Yes, he is actually married to Rachel, Jake’s sister.” She smirked, “Jake hated that, I was in Hanover and Jake would call me almost every day bitching about it.”

“You and Jacob are very close.” I wasn’t asking I was just making a statement.

“Yes, we have a lot in common. His mother was killed the year after mine in a car accident and we bonded.” She got a strange look on her face and then she smiled saying, “he was my first kiss.”

What? I was shocked. I had seen the bond they shared but it never seemed romantic in any way. It was more like a sibling’s kind of thing.

Bella continued before I could ask, “If you ask Jake, he will tell you I forced him to do it, but I didn’t. I was thirteen and he was twelve and, believe it or not, I was taller than him.” I watched her in amusement as she told the story.

“All the girls at school were talking about kissing this person and kissing that person and I wanted to know what it felt like. So I had Jake do it, but it was bad,” she laughed making me grin.

“He wasn’t a good kisser?”

Bella shook her head still giggling. “No…he had too much pucker.” Her lips pinched tightly together and she laughed making me laugh with her.

“Ah…no it was wrong, just wrong! We never did it again, and Leah was so mad at me…” she would have finished but the waitress came with our food.

Once the waitress walked away I asked, “why was Leah mad?”

“Oh my god Edward, when I told her, she didn’t talk to me for days. She said…,” Bella giggled then continued on, “…she told me I was going to go to hell for being an adulteress because Jake was her husband!” I was stunned and she must have saw it on my face

“I know! She was serious too. But I didn’t even know what an adulteress was, so I asked Charlie. He told me it was someone who goes to hell, so I spent forever thinking I was going to hell,” she giggled, “for kissing Jake,” her giggle was infectious, “it was so not worth it,” she said flatly with a grin.

The waitress was back to refill our coffee cups and see if we needed anything else, once she was gone I asked Bella if she wanted to get her car, or just leave it until tomorrow? She decided she’d prefer to get it and check on Sally, but added that she wasn’t sure if Sally would still be there. I didn’t understand the last comment and asked about it.

“The first two weeks that a woman leaves are the most critical. If she stays away for three days there is a forty percent chance she will stay away. After a week it increases to sixty percent, and if she lasts two weeks there is an eighty percent chance she won’t go back,” Bella explained.

“Why would they go back?” It didn’t make any sense to me. If they were gone and safe, why go back into that misery?

Bella sighed. “It’s all they know Edward. Then if there are children, the woman feels guilt over taking them away from their home and their father to live in a shelter. In the woman’s mind even a bad home is better than none at all. Taking the kids away from everything and everyone they know. She will start to doubt whether her comfort is worth destroying the family.” Bella shrugged, “the victim feels the guilt, and believe it or not she loves the man and feels like she did something to deserve what happened to her. So they go back.”

It sounded like a sick dependency to me. In med school we talked a little about abused women, but nothing too involved. As a doctor we were being trained to diagnose and heal physical problems, and this sounded like a mental one. But still I thought that a physician should have more training in dealing with these kinds of patients because I’m sure they will encounter many in their practice. Bella’s phone rang as I was having my own little tae-ta-tae.
“Good morning Jane…no we are out for breakfast…that sounds good, let me make sure that’s alright.” Bella put her hand over the speaker on the phone then asked, “is one o’clock good Edward?” I nodded and she told my aunt that we would be there before saying goodbye.

We were running a little late, so I went with Bella for her appointment. I had never been in an OBGYN waiting room, and to be honest I felt out of my element sitting with a bunch of pregnant women. While Bella went in to the office area I looked through the magazines for something to read. There were only a few old and worn issues of Sports Illustrated, the rest were all Good Housekeeping, Modern Maternity, and Working Mother, and I was very glad that it didn’t take her long in there.

“Good to go?” I asked, standing up so we could leave.

“Yup, all set. Twenty-four hours and your little guy’s aren’t getting anywhere near my eggs.”

I glanced at the woman sitting across from me with a very round belly, and for a second I was sorry about that. But only for a second, because the next moment the room filled with the sound of a screaming infant and the sorrow was replaced with relief.

I dropped Bella off at the center watching as she made her way through the breezeway, pulling away only when I was sure she was safely inside. I had something I wanted to do, and then if there was time, I was going to go home and take a nap.