Buying Love Teaser

“Is he on his way?” I groaned, gripping my belly. “I need Edward to be here, Dad!”

“He just texted. He’s on his way,” Dad replied. “He said that he didn’t trust himself to drive and he’s sprinting across the quad.” I snorted. That made sense. Edward had to focus 100% on driving. Stressing about me and nugget would make him an anxious mess. “Bella, do you want something?”

“I want Edward,” I whimpered.

“I’m here, bellissima,” he panted, gripping the edge of the door. His face was pink and he was breathing heavily. Tossing his bag on the floor, he moved closer to me and sat down. He took my hand, kissing my knuckles. “Are you okay, Bella? Is the baby okay?”

“Fine, but the baby is coming today,” I said. “I thought I was having Braxton-Hicks but when my water broke in the shower, I knew I had to come to the hospital. You were taking your tests so I called Dad.”

“It’s okay,” he smiled, his fingers tucking an errant damp curl from my face. “Nugget is just anxious to meet us, baby.”

“But, it’s too early,” I sniffled.

“Dr. Rollins said that our baby might come early. But the baby is fine,” he said, leaning his forehead against mine. I gripped his hand, pressing it to my chest. As we shared that moment, another contraction hit. I cried out, wanting the pain to stop. Edward soothingly helped me through it. But, once the contraction was done, he hit the call button. “I know you wanted a natural birth, but I can’t stand seeing you in so much pain, Bella.”

“You won’t think I’m a wimp?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I think you’re an amazing, strong woman.”

A nurse walked in, Rebecca. She had checked me in and was very sweet. “How are you doing, Ms. Swan?” she chirped. “Do you need ice chips?”

“No, I need drugs,” I said. “I thought I could do this without them, but …”

“I’ll have Dr. Rollins paged and page the anesthesiologist on call,” Rebecca smirked. “You lasted longer than most.” I nodded, wanting Dr. Rollins and the epidural man to magically appear. Dr. Rollins came ten minutes after Rebecca left. She examined me and said that there was enough time to administer the epidural, but by the end of the night, Edward and I would be parents.

Within an hour, I had the epidural and felt no pain. It was strangely reminiscent to when I was dealing with my spinal shock, but I was grateful for the lack of pain below my boobs. The only way I knew I was having contractions was the beeping on the machine to the right of me.

Once Edward arrived, Charlie stepped out to call Elizabeth, Rose and Alice. They wouldn’t make it to the hospital on time, but would at least know that the newest addition to our family was on the way. “We haven’t finalized names,” Edward said, his hand pressed to my belly and our fingers threaded together. “We still have a list that’s a mile long.”

“We should come up with our favorites for both a boy and a girl,” I said, munching on some ice chips. “I still love the name Ava. It’s so pretty, classic.”

“Don’t you want to honor your mom?” he asked.

“I loved my mom, but not her name,” I replied, wrinkling my nose. “If I do use part of her name, it’ll be as a middle or baptismal name. Ava Renee Masen?”

“That’s pretty,” he said, his eyes misting over. “I think we’ve got our girl option of the way. Now, boys?”

“What do you think for a boy’s name?” I asked, picking up his hand and kissing his palm.

“There’s no way in hell I’m naming him after me. Edward is so stuffy,” he said, wrinkling his nose. He pushed up his glasses, having removed his contacts after he’d arrived. “How about Jared? It’s pretty modern and a fitting tribute to my friend.”

“What was your dad’s middle name?” I asked. “If you don’t want to use Edward …?”

“Same as mine, Anthony,” he shrugged. “Jared Anthony Masen?”

“His initials would spell JAM,” I giggled.

“Nope. Not that. He’d be tormented,” Edward chuckled. “Carlisle Jared Masen?”

“Meh,” I shrugged. “Or, we could use Carlisle’s middle name: William?”

“William Jared Masen,” Edward murmured. He narrowed his eyes and then a beautiful smile spread over his face. “I love that. William Jared Masen or Ava Renee Masen. Both are gorgeous names. Now, we just have to wait to see what we have.”

“I love you, Edward,” I said. “You’re going to be an amazing father.”

“I adore you,” he breathed. “You’re already a phenomenal mother.” He kissed me and then moved down to my belly. “Don’t take too long, kiddo. Be kind to your beautiful mother.”