A Fresh Start

The House

Author's Note: I own nothing. I just like to play with the characters that were created by Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

Also, thank you for those of who have commented and offered well-wishes in my difficult time. It means a lot to me. Writing these stories has been my strength (as silly as that sounds) and has grounded me.

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. It means so much to me. More than you can imagine. These stories (this one in particular) are my babies and I adore the reviews and comments I receive. Much, much love to ALL of you!

Chapter 43: The House

EPOV (It's been awhile since we've heard from him...)

Bella's pregnant. Pregnant with our baby. Our Bean. Our little angel. Our miracle. I stared down at my wife and held her closely to my chest. We were in the guest house of my parents' home until further notice. We closed on the new home on Pavilion. We were in the process of cleaning up and cleaning out the house on Maple. Bella nearly had a heart attack when she saw all of the damage. Hell, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw all of the damage. The living room furniture was unsalvageable. My piano was ruined. Turpentine poured all over the black lacquer and the strings slashed. The bedroom was also ruined. The bedroom furniture was sliced with a knife and our bedding was torn to shreds. There was NO WAY in HELL that I was going to let Bella back into this house.

Thank God the family was willing to expedite our closing on the house on Pavilion. Esme was already working on purchasing new living room furniture. She also said that she was going to purchase a new piano for me as an early 33rd birthday present. Not like 33 is a big deal, but I think she was feeling guilty. And generous. A grand piano ain't cheap.

However, why am I awake, watching my sleeping wife? I can't sleep. Sleep has evaded me since the break in. Like Bella, I am afraid that something will happen. Something big. Huge. Beyond us both. Even Alice feels it. And she's omniscient. Since Bella took her test for her FOID card, she's been carrying the loaded revolver in her purse in a small box. I insisted on it. I definitely anti-gun, but I don't trust Mike. Hell, I'm willing to take the damn test if it means I'm going to protect my wife and child.

Tomorrow we were spending the day finishing up packing our home. All of our friends and family helped out and now we were just finalizing things. Most of our belongings were already in the house on Pavilion. We were just cleaning and making sure everything was set to put the house on the market. However, I had a sinking feeling in my gut.

Something is GOING to happen tomorrow. It's not going to be good.

I pulled Bella closer to me, laying my hand on her belly. "I love you, Bella," I said into her ear. "You too, Bean."

"Hmmm, Edward. My love. Hero...cheese," Bella mumbled.

"Nothing says I love you like good Gouda," I chuckled as I nestled closer to Bella. "Shit, I can't lose you. Promise me I won't lose you."

"I promise, Dr. McFuckme," she sighed. "Pork products."

I really love when Bella sleep talks. It's so random.

I closed my eyes and tried to will sleep to come. However, like the past week or so, it didn't. I just held onto my wife with all of the strength I could. I only hope that it was enough to protect her. To protect Bean. To protect us all.

xx AFS xx

"Edward? Wake up, handsome," Bella said as she pressed sweet kisses to my cheeks. "We have a date with a house. It needs a good cleaning."