Kiss Me Now, Kiss Me Never

Mother

Edward

My mother had no tact, and why would she possibly think that Bella was…pregnant? I looked at Dad over Mom's head and he smiled sheepishly.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, looking back down at Mom.

She looked at me and shrugged. "Your father indicated that Bella was on antibiotics while you were still together. You know, before the break."

"We were never on a break," Bella said firmly, scowling while clutching the bag to her chest.

"When were you on antibiotics?" I asked her. She shrugged, confirming Mom's suspicions. "Have you had a period since?" She shook her head, turned on her heels and ran down the hallway into her bedroom.

I rounded on Mom and Dad, glaring. "You certainly could've handled that better."

Mom shrugged. "Your dad told me he was worried and considering Bella owns a club, I worried she was drinking alcohol while pregnant with my grandchild."

"She doesn't drink," I said, running a hand through my hair. "You could've told me your suspicions, Dad, and we could've handled this without embarrassing her." I turned toward the hallway. "You might as well serve yourselves dinner. We're going to be a while."

"I'm sorry, Edward," Mom whispered behind me. It was a miracle she hadn't followed me and wondered how long her patience would hold.

I simply nodded and made my way toward the bedroom. I found Bella sitting on the bed, looking at the opened French doors that led to the adjoining bathroom. During my absence, it had been finally completed.

"Did you already?" I asked, joining her on the bed. She nodded, staring absently ahead. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and she turned to tuck her shoulder against me to cry softly.

I knew what scared her. Emmett and Rosalie had their child the week before, all of us expecting a little girl. She would've been the first of their generation, and the one that would carry the curse. However, Elena turned out to be born an Evan. They had a big, healthy little boy, who was the light of his parents' life.

Everyone was relieved since it meant that he wouldn't carry the curse. The problem was that any other baby girl could. Bella only had one other cousin, Lauren, who was far from ready to have children. And then, there was Bella.

Worse yet, our first child could carry both of our curses – combined. It wasn't something we would've risked. She made it clear that we'd wait until we could find a way to break the curse before we even discussed children; though getting married was not off the table.

Talk about doing things backwards.

"How many days late?" I asked, kissing the top of her forehead.

"A couple of weeks," she whispered against my neck. "If…if I am, we'll be okay, right?"

I squeezed her closer and nodded. "Of course, nothing will come between us. Did you really think otherwise?"

She shrugged. "We both agreed we'd wait, to make sure it's over."

"Sometimes, things happen for a reason," I murmured. "But I don't want you think that it would change how I feel about you."

"I know that," she said. "I'm just thinking that what if we can't break it. A baby would tie us together."

"I thought we discussed this, Bella," I sighed, pulling away and pacing. "We both agreed we'd stick together, even if we can't break it."

"I know that," she whispered, averting her eyes. "I'm saying what if I end up hating you?" Her voice cracked as if it pained her to even consider it.

"I don't think that will happen," Mom said at the door, followed closely by Dad.

Bella turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. She looked pointedly at the bathroom and shook her head absently. "You don't know that." Bella was right and it wasn't something I was willing to risk.

No bowl and dagger, no third kiss. No third kiss meant she wouldn't be cursed to hate me.

"Perhaps, but let me divulge you both on a little secret," she said, walking into the room. Mom had always been direct and usually fought tooth and nail to get what she wanted. But I had no clue what she was doing at the moment.

"What's that, Mom?"

"I may be cursed to hate your father," she said, causing me to wince at her words. Dad just avoided my eyes, but I knew it hurt him, too. As I mentioned before, she was direct and she never failed to let everyone know how she felt.

"The difference between the curse and true hate," she continued as if discussing the weather, "Is I don't want to hate your father."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

She shook her head, sighing deeply. "It had taken me years to figure out why I was so unhappy, had so many failed relationships. That includes marriage to a man I couldn't love. The thing was, that no matter how much I hated your father because of the curse, I couldn't figure out why I did. That led me to believe that I didn't want to hate him. That is not to say we can have a normal relationship, not yet at least, but –"

Bella laughed, looking at my mother. "But you can still sleep with him." Mom lifted a shoulder, smirking. Dad ducked his head and gave me a "what the hell do you except me to say no" look.

"And I'm sorry for intruding what should be a private moment," Mom continued. "But Carlisle mentioned that you had a very hard time when you sent Edward away. We were both worried about the medication and any possible alcohol you may be ingesting."

I looked at Bella in question. "Pain meds and antibiotics for a tooth ache and an antidepressant," she replied.

"I also sedated her twice," Dad murmured.

We had discussed everything that happened to me during our departure and to those involved in Bella's life. At that moment, I'd become aware that we hadn't really discussed how she did while we were apart.

"How bad?" I asked her. She looked away and I knew. "How bad?" I couldn't touch her, because I was inexplicably angry. Fuck, if I had known it was that bad, I would've never stayed away longer.

"She's alright now," Dad said, placing his hand on my shoulder. I shook it off and walked back to the bed.

Holding Bella at arm's length, I pulled her to her feet. "How bad?"

Her solemn, dark eyes finally met mine. "It was horrible, you happy?"

"No!" I hissed and pulled her against my chest. "All this time, almost two fucking weeks and you haven't said shit."

"You didn't ask," she snapped, but tightened her arms around me. She was right. I hadn't asked, and maybe because I was too scared to. If it was anything like what I'd gone through, I couldn't imagine what she felt like having been the one that pushed me away.

"You've been kicking yourself about everything," she whispered. "I knew if I told you, you'd loathe yourself more." She was right about that. Grasping my shirt tightly in her fist, she breathed, "I'm sorry. I love you so much."

I pressed a kiss on her cheek and whispered the same words, just as the alarm on her cell phone chimed on the nightstand. She tensed in my arms, her nails almost biting into my skin.

"No matter what happens, or what that test says," I stated firmly. "We'll get through this." She nodded and watched as I stepped toward the bathroom. My parents joined Bella by the bed, offering her a hand each.

I picked up the test that sat on the counter, my hand almost trembling. I had no idea what I wanted the test to say. Pregnant or Not Pregnant.

Lifting it up so I could read it, all I felt was crushing disappointment.