Seattle General - Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but I'm grateful to Stephenie Meyer for her vision!

BPOV

Being a working mother was exhausting! Don't ever let anyone tell you any different! Carlisle was very accommodating with my schedule – letting me come in a little later in the mornings so I could get Victoria to school on time and leave earlier to pick her up. Even though I still loved my job, I was glad I had set up some interviews for later in the week for my replacement.

Edward and I had some minor disagreements about the raising of Victoria, but we seemed to come to a consensus pretty quickly. We didn't argue in front of her. We felt presenting a united front would be better for her in the long run. We made sure any disagreements were over before bedtime as we loved lying next to each other, wrapped up in one another. Even if I was dead tired, I still wanted to snuggle into him.

I was glad to spend extra time with Victoria before Edward got home. We baked cookies for Edward or made him little craft projects. He was thrilled with whatever offering we came up with – and they weren't all my ideas either. Victoria was actually a very creative little girl. If her idea wasn't too outlandish, we usually compromised with something that didn't take forever to put together. I cherished her hugs and kisses. I was growing so attached. She still called me "Bella," though. I tried not to let that get to me. But her mother was still fresh in her mind, so I couldn't fault her for that.

* * *

On my last day of work, when I had finished training Kate – my replacement – Carlisle insisted on taking us all out for dinner. While we were there, Esme said Carlisle told her we were looking for a house. She wondered if we wanted to possibly use her realtor friend as our realtor. We told her that would be great! She said it would help if we put together a list of items that were a "must-have" in a house so our realtor could start looking for the perfect house for us.

As Edward and I snuggled together in bed later that night, we agreed on a home with a fireplace, at least five bedrooms, and Edward wanted a master suite with a large shower. He had some grandiose plan of amazing shower sex – I think I inserted an eyeroll there beside him in the dark. We wanted to make sure there was enough room for an office for him and a craft room for me. We also hoped there was a basement we could turn into a game room or something similar.

Edward turned to me and said as he ran his fingers along my jaw, "Baby, after we get our house, will you finally marry me?"

"Yes, always and forever, yes," I replied as I kissed him. "When would you like to set the date?"

"Hmm," he pondered, "tomorrow?"

I laughed, "You are so silly. We can't get a house by tomorrow. How about a month or so after we get into the house and get settled?"

He ran his hands up my sides as his thoughts turned to more carnal things and replied, "Mmmm…as long as you're marrying me."

My reply was muffled as his mouth captured mine and we made love slowly.

* * *

As the next week started out, I called the realtor and gave her our specific information. She said she'd get to work on it right away. I also gave Alice a call and told her she'd need to start those wedding plans. She squealed with glee. She was a total nut! I knew she was going to involve me somehow; I just hoped it wasn't going to be too painful – like let me just pick out a dress and show up on the right day.

EPOV

I didn't mean to push Bella about the wedding date. I knew she wanted to get us settled in our house first – and I did as well. I just felt we were living in limbo without being properly married. We were, for all intents and purposes, living like a married couple – with a child even, who by the way, was no doubt mine after the DNA results came back showing that fact.

I also knew our dear friend, Alice, would have a screaming hissy fit if we tried to fly down to Reno, Nevada, one weekend to get married on the spur of the moment. She wanted to make it very special for us and I was grateful for that. I knew Bella would appreciate it later – after it was over. She wouldn't appreciate a quickie wedding chapel version the same.

Alice had called me after Bella called her. We had been discussing somewhere very special to hold our wedding that could be a honeymoon destination as well that wasn't too far away. I suggested Orcas Island, which is about 80 miles north of Seattle. Alice thought it would be a perfect spot and said she'd get on it right away…say the end of March? I had to chuckle at that and told her "yes." I gazed heavenward, said a little prayer that we could find a house, close and be all settled in by then. If not, I'd have two angry females on my hands. Heaven help me!

My home life was better than I ever expected. Bella and Victoria greeted me every night with something homemade, whether it was a small craft project, cookies or some other special dessert. They both took such good care of me. I was going to have to start working out pretty soon if they didn't stop spoiling me – but I wasn't complaining. Bella did try to keep me on a regular workout schedule in bed after Victoria fell asleep at night.

A week or so went by when Bella texted me with news:

I think I've found us a house! Well, 2 houses! - B

I responded:

Great, baby! When can I take a look at them? - E

After you get off work. Victoria & I will come pick you up. – B

OK. I love you. – E

I love you more. – B

Wanna prove that? - E

Uh huh. Tonight I will lick you up one side & down the other. – B

Promises, promises, baby. – E

It's a fact, Edward. – B

How could I not be madly in love with this woman? I seriously had to get my mind back on my work or I'd be heading off to my office or the bathroom to take care of some business that was totally unrelated to work.

We went to look at both houses. The first met all our requirements, except it didn't have a fantastic shower in the master suite. I tried not to sigh too loudly. I think I saw Bella roll her eyes. The second house was perfect in every way. It even had a medium-sized yard that came complete with one of those wooden play sets already installed. It also had a small view of Puget Sound. Did I mention the best part? Yeah – the shower of my dreams was there. I was already fantasizing about all those shower heads and all the ways I could pleasure Bella in there until she playfully slapped me in the arm to break me out of my daydream. We signed the papers right then.

My girl was so good to me. After we put our daughter to bed, Bella made good on her promise to lick me up one side and down the other. Life was sweet!

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night to find myself alone in bed. What the hell? I hated that feeling. Where was Bella? I threw on my pajama pants to go investigate. The lights were off in the living room and she wasn't on the couch. The bathroom was unoccupied as well. Then I quietly opened Victoria's door. The sight I beheld in the soft moonlight I knew I'd remember even when I was an old man. Bella and Victoria were both lying in Victoria's twin-size bed, asleep, with our daughter's arms wrapped around Bella's shoulders, while Bella's arm was lying protectively over our daughter. I wasn't sure what caused this to occur, but I shut the door again quietly and went back to the bedroom I shared with Bella.

Some time later, I heard some rustling around and I opened my eyes warily. The sun was starting to come out and I glanced over at the clock. Bella was trying to hurriedly get dressed without waking me. "Morning, baby," I said quietly to her.

She spun around, surprised. "Oh! I'm sorry if I woke you," she said.

"You didn't," I assured her, "plus I like watching you get dressed – or undressed anyway. Come here, baby." I pulled her next to me on the bed and gave her a kiss. I asked her gently, "Can you tell me why I didn't have the pleasure of you next to me all night long?"

She blushed a little and said, "Oh, Edward, I hope I didn't wake you up then. I heard Victoria crying, so I went into her room. She was having a nightmare. So I decided to just lie down with her for a little while, sing to her for a bit, and maybe stroke her hair so she'd feel better. I guess I fell asleep in there."

"Sheesh," I replied, "I must have been dead to the world. I didn't hear a thing. Thank you for doing that, baby. I appreciate it."

"It's no trouble. I'm glad I was able to console her. I know I'm not her mother."

I assured her, "Baby, she really does like you. I've seen how she looks at you when you think she's not looking. She thinks the sun rises and sets on Bella."

Bella sighed, "But it's still so fresh – Jessica passing away. I don't want to take the place of her mother."

I hugged her to me and said, "It will work out. I love you both. Now, why are you getting dressed so early in the morning?"

"Alice wants to take me wedding gown shopping after she takes me to breakfast. Can you please just kill me now? You're a doctor. You have access to drugs for that," she whined.

"Baby, I'm not going to kill you – not now, not ever. I love you and want to be with you forever. Just go to your happy place while she's making you try on those dresses and think about our life after we're married." I kissed her again; her lips were so damn inviting. Just then, a little knock was heard at the door. I said, "Come in," and Victoria came barreling in.

"Morning, Daddy and Bella!" she crowed. She came right up and joined us on the bed. She was perfectly okay with us giving her morning kisses as we did every morning. She wanted to know why Bella was getting dressed and I was not. I explained Bella was going shopping with Auntie Alice and she and I were staying home.

Soon, the doorbell was ringing and Alice was ushered inside. Victoria was thrilled to see her again. Then Bella was getting her purse and getting ready to follow Alice out the door.

Victoria careened over to Bella and wrapped herself around one of her legs. "Bella, don't go!" she cried.

Bella unlatched her from her leg, picked her up and held her. She rubbed her back and tried to quiet her. "What's the matter, Sweetpea?" she asked.

"I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here with me and Daddy," Victoria said between her tears.

Bella hugged her tightly and said, "I'm just going to go shopping with Auntie Alice and then I'm going to come right back. I'll even bring you a surprise!"

Victoria's lip quivered, "But what if you don't come back?" Obviously, she was having abandonment issues because of her mother dying and now didn't want Bella to leave. I hoped Bella could fix this or I would step in and say – what, I didn't know.

"Sweetpea, I promise I will come back to you and your daddy. I don't want to be anywhere else. You take care of your daddy while I'm gone. You want Daddy to hold you while Auntie Alice and I go?" Victoria nodded that she did. Bella handed her to me and then gave both of us a kiss. "I'll call you while I'm out so you'll know I'm thinking about you, okay? I love you and your daddy. I'll see you soon!"

Victoria clung to me as Alice and Bella left. I held her tightly. She mumbled into my shoulder, "Daddy, let's don't ever let Bella leave us." I agreed wholeheartedly and took her to the kitchen with me to start fixing breakfast. From that morning on, Victoria was known in our family as "Sweetpea."

Bella was true to her word, as I knew she would be. She called and talked to Sweetpea and me. She brought her a surprise of a small apron Victoria could wear while they worked in the kitchen. It was so cute, seeing the amount of admiration that little girl had for Bella.

* * *

A couple weeks later during the day, I had wrapped up everything at work and was taking the rest of the day off. I was starting my new job in a week or so and was glad I could take some extra time off before then. I called Bella to find out where she was. She said she was over at her old apartment, boxing things up. I told her I'd be over to help her.

I let myself in with the extra key I had. I came up behind her and kissed her neck. "Hi baby," I said as I nuzzled her.

She giggled and said, "Are you really here to help me, Edward, or distract me?"

I smirked and said, "Both!"

I was good for quite awhile, filling box after box of kitchen items. Then we moved on to the living room and boxed up loose items from there. Then we moved into the bedroom. That's where I lost my focus. Can you blame me? There's a nice, soft bed…and nice, soft Bella…and a nice, hard dick just waiting to plunge into her.

I peeked into her closet and said, "Hey baby, I see you didn't pack these scarves yet."

She was distracted by taping up a box and replied, "No, I didn't get to this room yet." I was beside her in an instant, tugging at the hem of her shirt. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Undress and get on the bed, Bella," I said as I kissed her.

She raised one eyebrow and challenged, "Is that an order, Dr. Masen?"

"Yes," I told her as I swatted her on the ass. She squeaked a little, but went to do as I asked. I grabbed two scarves from the closet. By the time I turned around and stalked over to the bed, she was struggling to remove her bra. I roughly assisted her with it, then secured one of the scarves around her eyes so she couldn't see. "Lie on the bed, baby," I ordered her, as I tied her hands to the ornate headboard.

"Dr. Masen, what do you plan on doing with me?" Bella asked, attempting to twist away from me.

"I think you know exactly what I'm going to do with you, baby," I replied as my mouth claimed hers. My hands ran down her body as my mouth and tongue followed. She was moaning in response and trying to arch her back to get closer to me. "Did you want my nice, hard dick inside you?"

She moaned again and said, "Yes, Dr. Masen, that's exactly what I need." Holy hell – she was going to have to stop with that Dr. Masen stuff or I was going to blow my load before I even got inside her.

"I know something you want more," I told her as I twisted her nipples a bit rougher than normal. The only sound in the room then was her heavy breathing. I shed my clothes beside the bed and then made a short trek to the kitchen. Bella's faithful freezer ice maker was going to come in handy one last time. I carried one ice cube in each hand back to the bedroom.

Bella had a smile on her face. She said, "Dr. Masen, that will be very cold."

I stuck my index finger deep inside her wet slit. "Oh, baby, your hot body will melt them very quickly." With one thrust, I placed one ice cube fully inside her. She gasped at the coldness and writhed around on the bed for a bit. I took the other ice cube and ran it all over her nipples. I said, "Baby, you should see how erect your nipples are for me right now. Are you ready for me to suck on them?"

"Please," she panted.

I went to drop the remainder of the ice cube in the bathroom sink and came back. I blew on Bella's nipples and then popped them into my mouth to suck on them and bring them warmth. She was still moaning and panting and I loved having her like this – at my mercy – and I knew she enjoyed it as well. "Are you ready now, baby?"

"Yes," Bella panted again, "please fuck me, Dr. Masen!"

Her thighs were already open to me and I plunged inside her. There was still some residual coolness from the ice cube, but I had been right – her hot body had melted it in no time. We moved in our own perfect rhythm, although I had to concentrate a bit more than usual as I was untying Bella's hands. As soon as she was untied, her arms were around me, then in my hair, then trailing down my jawline as we kissed passionately. It wasn't long before we both came together.

I held her closely to me afterward, carefully removing the scarf from around her eyes. She looked up at me and said, "Edward, do you realize how much I love you?"

"I think I do, baby. And I love you, so very much. Thank you for being the kind of woman who will play with me sometimes."

She stroked my chest and said, "Let's don't ever lose that – the playfulness." I smiled against her hair as I hugged her to me and agreed.

Soon it was time to go pick up our daughter from school. We did get a lot accomplished that day. We also decided that since both our beds were king-size, but we had a lot more playful times in Bella's bed, we'd use that bed in our master bedroom once we moved into our house. These were important decisions!