Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Epilogue Part One (They Had a Baby)

EPOV


June 30, 2011 (8 weeks)

Bella and I had been home from our cruise for about a week and were sitting in the waiting room for her first OB appointment. While she appeared to be the picture of cool, calm and collected, I could only assume that I looked like the typical first-time-dad. She was dutifully filling out the paperwork, occasionally asking me random questions, while I sat beside her bouncing one of my knees so fast it could only be keeping time to The Flight of the Bumblebee. I may have even been chewing on a finger nail, which is something I have never done before.

She reached her left hand over and squeezed my knee cap, trying to get my attention so that I would calm the hell down.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, and decided to look around for a magazine. I was in serious need of a distraction.

“Don’t be sorry. Just…chill out. You’re going to make me nervous if you keep it up.”

“Sorry. It’s just,” I sighed, looking up into her big brown eyes…the same eyes that were full of amusement at this point. “How can you be so calm? I mean this is huge! This is our first baby!”

Her eyes softened and she leaned over to whisper in my ear, “I’m a nurse, Edward. I have a good idea about what is going on and don’t forget, I went with Sassy to her first appointment with Brooks, so I kind of know what to expect at today’s visit. No worries,” she assured me with a smile and laced her fingers with mine.

“Right.” After a few minutes of deep breathing and flipping through the pages of what she called a ‘boy magazine’, her name was finally called from the overhead speaker.

“Isabella Cullen please report to Lab One.” Okay. I can’t even lie. It was still awesome to hear that name.

“I’ll be right back, sugar,” she said, leaning over to kiss my cheek.

“What? You’re leaving me here? Why can’t I go too?”

She sighed. Apparently I was the dumbest man on the planet. “You don’t need to be there for this part. This is where I pee in a cup and they weigh me. I’ll come get you when it’s time for the show.”

She turned to go to the lab, or somewhere, and I decided that I needed some reinforcements so that I wouldn’t freak the hell out any more than I already was. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I had been crazy with excitement all week long, but this nervousness felt like it was coming out of nowhere and I really needed to get a handle on the situation. The problem with that was that we had decided not to tell anyone until after the next appointment when Bella would be finishing up her first trimester. Let’s be clear. That was NOT my decision. I was personally ready to holler it from the top of my lungs at the moment I opened that little box.

Best. Birthday. Present. Ever! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing even though all I was able to do in the moment was to stare at it. We had no clue how long it would take to get pregnant after she came off of the shot, so we were just enjoying being together…a lot! We weren’t trying, but we weren’t preventing it either. We had decided that for the first year it would be in God’s hands; whatever happened…happened and we would be grateful for the time that we had to just be a couple.

My thumb had been hovering over Jasper’s name when Bella poked her head out of the door that she had disappeared behind earlier. “You ready?”

I slid my phone shut and smiled at my woman, thankful that I didn’t break my promise to her in a moment of sheer chicken-shitedness. What? It’s a word.

The nurse led us to a small room and told Bella to undress from the waist down and handed her a paper sheet to cover up with, letting us know that the doctor would be with us in a few minutes. I took my place on the stool beside her as she got settled, looking around at all of the cross-sections of female anatomy everywhere. That shit is just weird. Reason number one I had no interest in following in my dad’s footsteps. I also thought it was hysterical that there were posters and calendars with the names of oral contraceptives plastered across, them littering the back of the door, and we were here because my wife was pregnant.

“Are you better now?”

“Yeah. Just ready to get this show on the road.” Lord why couldn’t I calm down?

She shook her head at me, grinning. “You are normally so laid back about everything. Is this nervousness or excitement?”

I thought about it for a minute because honestly, I hadn’t even taken the time to consider that it might actually be more about excitement than nervousness. Then I remembered my previous thoughts about how I was ready to snatch anyone’s arm who walked by us and scream it in their face and decided that it was probably about thirty percent nerves and seventy percent excitement.

Finally I was able to give her a genuine grin and not something that resembled a grimace when I answered her truthfully, “Definitely excitement.”

She giggled. “Well good. I was starting to worry. You have been so excited all week with your belly rubbing and baby naming and then today, you started acting all weird.”

I stood up and kissed her temple. “No, I’m good. I swear.” The doctor came in and suddenly I felt like a perv for kissing my wife while she was half naked, covered only by a piece of paper. He reached out to shake each of our hands as he closed the door behind him.

“Hey Bella! How are you feelin’ today?”

“I’m good,” she beamed. “Dr. Brady this is my husband, Edward Cullen. Edward, Dr. Brady.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said. “Are you Carlisle’s son?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Well that’s great! He’s a real nice guy. Don’t know him very well, but you know…small hospital and all.”

The nurse joined us about that time and she instructed Bella to scoot down on the table as far as she could while Dr. Brady put gloves on. First he pressed around on her belly while he made small talk, asking about Bella’s job and then he basically lubed up his fingers and felt up my wife! Right there in front of me! This was so not what I thought was gonna happen today.

“Okay, Bella. You can sit up. Everything seems fine here. We’re just gonna take you to the ultrasound room and take a peek that way. According to the date you gave us as the first day of your last period, you should be about eight weeks along right now. The ultrasound will allow us to measure the baby and give you a more accurate date. We also want to see that heartbeat today and this early on, this type of ultrasound is the best way to do that. So I’ll step out and Rachel will come get you in just a minute and show you to the ultrasound room.”

He left and Bella got dressed just to undress again in a different room. All this hurry up and wait and dress and undress was insane, but I obviously knew nothing so I kept my mouth shut and followed my wife’s lead.

Rachel joined us in the ultrasound room a few minutes later, turning off the lights and turning up the dial on my freak-out factor when she rolled a condom on some kind of wand looking thing and then lubed it up and told Bella to relax. I’ll say it again…this shit is weird. Thank the Lord that I couldn’t see below that paper sheet!

After a few minutes of pressing buttons and rolling knobs, Rachel turned the screen to us and smiled. “Congratulations guys! This is your baby!”

What is? The ladies giggled. Crap. That was out loud.

“The area that looks like a big black hole in the middle is the inside of your wife’s uterus. That little white kidney bean lookin’ shape? That’s your little one. That thin white line is the sac surrounding your baby. Oh! And there is only one. I saw that you do have twins in the family.”

Absentmindedly I replied, “Yeah…fraternal, though. My cousin has a set and my granddad was a twin.” How have I missed out on this stuff with Dad being a doctor? A kidney bean? For real?

“What did you say?”

Finally looking away from the screen, it was Bella who had asked the question. “What? About the twins thing?”

The nurse pressed a few more buttons before removing the wand and tapping Bella on the knee. “I’ll just step out and let you get dressed. The doctor will be back in to talk to you about your due date and your next appointment,” Rachel said, excusing herself.

Bella cleaned up and started putting her clothes back on. “Yes. Your granddad was a twin? Masen or Cullen?”

“Pops. He had a twin sister that died when she was like one or something. The flu I think.”

“I had no idea. No wonder Alice was scared about having another set,” she giggled. “Fraternal twins do run in families.”

Just as she got back up on the table, Dr. Brady walked back in and handed us the first picture of our baby. I propped up on the table beside Bella and just stared at it. I think I was in shock. I knew I was in love.

“The heartbeat already looks good. You’ll get to hear it on the next visit which will be in four more weeks. The date from your last menstrual cycle and the measurements Rachel took of the baby match up pretty well, so we are going to leave your due date at February tenth for now. We may move it in the future if the baby’s measurements change. Just be sure to continue taking your vitamins every day, drink lots of fluids, rest when you can and limit your caffeine and artificial sweeteners. Do y’all have any questions?”

“No, sir.” Obviously that was my wife and not me.

“Okay. Rachel will give you a bag of goodies, the slip for your next lab appointment and they will make your return appointment to see me as you check out. Y’all have a good day!” He turned and left the room, leaving us staring at each other.

“You ready?” she asked. I nodded and gave her a quick kiss before we left to go home.

As I drove, I think everything finally started kicking in for me. At first I was excited, but nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. Once everything was over and I started to wrap my brain around it, I was back to just being plain old excited! My gorgeous wife was having my baby!

I looked over at Bella once I pulled into the drive; she had been staring at the ultrasound picture the entire way home. I reached over and wrapped my hand around the back of her neck, letting her long hair tickle my knuckles.

“Whatcha thinkin’?”

It seemed like she had breathed for the first time since leaving the doctor’s office as she inhaled and looked at me, eyes glistening. “I just can’t believe it! It’s so real now. We are having a baby!”

I pulled her over to me so that I could kiss her and hopefully let her know how excited I was about our new little development as well. I leaned my forehead against hers and thanked her from the bottom of my heart.

We walked inside and started fixing lunch after she had put the ultrasound picture on the refrigerator. Just seeing that picture there started to make things so much more complete in my mind. I would be happy forever with just me and my girl, but a baby made me freakin’ ecstatic. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and had to tell her how I felt.

“Baby girl?”

“Yeah?”

“I wanna tell people.” She raised her eyebrows as she turned to hand me my plate. “I know we said we would wait because we didn’t want to steal Sassy’s thunder with Brooks arriving any day now, but I really can’t hold it in. It has nearly killed me to not say anything to Emmett or Jasper and especially my mama all week. I know we also said we’d wait until you got out of the first trimester, but I really don’t want to.” I set my plate down and walked around the kitchen island to her and wrapped my arms around her from behind. I nuzzled her neck while I was there because it was really pointless for me not to at this point because I swear if I wasn’t touching her, I was sniffing her.

“God forbid it, but if something were to happen to this little one,” I said, rubbing her belly, “then I think I would want as much love and support as possible to get us through the hard time. Our family will rejoice when we rejoice and will weep if we need to weep. Do you see what I’m sayin’?”

She turned in my arms and threaded her hands in my hair, looking deeply into my eyes and then kissing me every bit as good as she knew how. Hmm…I might be feeling like a little afternoon delight if she keeps that up.

“You’re absolutely right, sugar. I have been dying to tell the girls and Doc. Being at work has been really hard this past week, too. We just have to have faith, right?”

“Right. It’s natural to worry, but I know it’ll be just fine. Now…who do we wanna tell first?”

“Well obviously Pops is last, otherwise everyone else will know before we ever get the chance to call them. I think maybe we should just pay a little visit to Papa and Grandme’s house tonight.”

“Sounds perfect. Now, let’s eat. I don’t want you starvin’ my son.”

She raised her groomed little eyebrow at me. “Your son, huh?”

I nodded. “You’ll see.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Not without tellin’ everyone else. You know they’ll want in on it, too.”

-x-X-x-

I was an idiot not to bring my ear plugs when we told my parents, and Rose and Alice for that matter. Since we were already out and about, we decided to just make the rounds and tell all of my family that same night. My mama was a blubberin’ mess, hugging Bella even more than she did me. Dad was also thrilled, but I could already see that he was going to miss working with Bella. She was an excellent nurse and he trusted her implicitly. She had sort of become his right hand.

I may or may not have sack punched Emmett when he acted surprised about the news, only because he was certain that as pretty as I was that surely I was shooting blanks. He then proceeded to thank Bella for luring me out of the ‘priesthood’ with her wicked ways and said that now he and Rose could quit pretending that they were trying to give Mama another grandbaby.

Rosalie immediately led Bella by the hand out to the garage to show her all of the plastic tubs full of baby items from when Riley and Ally were little that she had managed to save from being sold by Sassy.

Bella actually told Alice to stand up for the news because she knew that if Alice was sitting down when she heard it, she’d jump up off of the couch and her water would probably break. Not that it mattered; she started trying to jump up and down while holding her basketball belly and damn near wet herself anyway.

Jasper offered me the one-arm-fist-grab-back-pat man-hug and welcomed me to real adulthood. He also suggested that I take as much advantage of first and second trimester horniness as I could because once the third one rolled around Rosie Palm and her five sisters would surely be making a re-appearance. I knew he was right, but Lord that was depressing.

When we told them about how we originally wanted to wait until Brooks was born to tell anyone, Alice responded just as I suspected that she would and basically told us we were insane. She would have been even more upset had we waited, especially since she loved Bella so much that she had already asked her to be present in the delivery room. It was then that I realized that Alice truly saw Bella as a sister because it was Rosalie who had been in the delivery room along with her and Jasper when she had Brandon and Mary Beth.

Pops didn’t even want to talk to me; only to his Sunflower once I told him about the baby. I swear it’s like I’m not even here anymore! Once the baby gets here I know I’ll be demoted one more spot in the Cullen family love chain.

So far the vote for ‘girl’ was winning out in the bet concerning the gender of our baby. Only Alice, Pops and I were guessing that it was a boy. Oh ye of little faith.

-x-X-x-

Two and a half weeks later our phone rang at 4:30 in the morning. It was Jasper letting us know that Sassy’s water had broken and that we should make our way to the hospital. It took a little convincing to wake up my slightly snoring beauty, but it wasn’t anything that a little kissing and groping couldn’t handle.

We made our way to the hospital, barely beating the sunrise, only to find on our arrival that Sassy was completely awake, completely made up, hair and all, and completely dilated. She wasn’t even breaking a sweat as the nurse busied herself getting everything set up for the delivery.

“Holy shit! Why didn’t you tell us to come sooner?” That was my wife hollering at my cousin who oddly didn’t look like she was in labor at all.

“I didn’t know. It took me forever to have the twins. This one just wants to walk out, apparently.”

“When did your water break?” This conversation is happening somewhere in the background of my mind as I watched two other nurses roll some sort of baby station into the room and ready it by laying out arm bands and blankets and hats and papers and the booger-sucker thing. Gah, I’m glad I’m not gonna be in here this time.

“Well, I got up to pee around three, but it felt like I kept going and going and that’s when I figured it out.”

“I hate you. Brooks is a week and a half early and you just watch…I’ll have one of those twelve hour painful labors that will only happen after my due date has come and gone! Three hours…does that even count as labor?”

“Probably not,” she grinned, “especially since I was far enough along to get my epidural as soon as they had me hooked up to the monitors and checked out. I highly recommend doing it this way if you can.”

“Duly noted.”

Just as the nurses got everything ready, Dr. Brady strolled into the room like he owned the place and had all the time in the world.

“Well hey Bella…Edward! I didn’t expect to see you two here,” he said, reaching out his hand to greet us.

“Bella is my cousin-in-law…so to speak,” Alice explained. “She’s gonna be in here with us, if that’s ok?”

“That’s great! She needs to see this anyway, right? It’ll be you two next.” He sat down on the stool in front of Alice and I took that as my cue to leave. It wasn’t until I had joined Uncle James and Aunt Caroline in the waiting room that I realized I hadn’t even spoken to Alice or Jasper while I was in there. But I wouldn’t have to wait long because literally twenty five minutes later, Bella was showing me pictures of Brooks Jackson Whitlock. Bella said Alice pushed three times and that was all it took. I wasn’t sure how to tell her that I was an almost nine pound baby and that three pushes probably wasn’t in the cards for her.

“Isn’t he precious? Look at those cheeks! The nurses said he weighed seven pounds and three ounces and was nineteen inches long. He looks so tiny!”

“He is cute, but what I can’t get over is how much stinkin’ hair he has or the fact that it’s black! Both of the twins only had a peach fuzz worth of white blonde hair when they were born.”

“As soon as they get her cleaned up and settled she said you could come in,” she murmured, still flipping through the pictures on the camera.

“I can’t wait,” I whispered against her temple before kissing her there.

“I know. I’m so grateful that she asked me to be there. Even though that was like the dream delivery, it was still an absolute miracle to watch.”

She was so caught up in Alice and Brooks that she totally missed the fact that I meant it was our baby that I couldn’t wait to see. I had calmed down immensely since our first doctor’s appointment, deciding that Bella knew what was going on and I’d just follow her lead. Well, that and she gave me the copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting that she got in that sack of goodies from the doctor’s office. Between those two things and the daddy-to-be knowledge that the Cullen and Whitlock men had begun to impart on me, I knew I could totally rock this expectant father thing.

-x-X-x-

Twelve Weeks (end of July)

We were finishing up the first trimester of Bella’s pregnancy and so far, everything had gone smoothly. She was definitely more tired in the evenings and didn’t have much appetite, but otherwise, you wouldn’t know she was even pregnant. Secretly I was dying to see the evidence by way of a little baby belly bump.

At her appointment today we got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time and I don’t know how else to say it other than I felt like my nerves were finally melting away, leaving me with nothing but pure joy and excitement. Bella cried, which I actually wasn’t expecting since she had been so relaxed about everything, but I totally understood where it came from. It was the sweetest music I had ever heard! With that sound, my little bud was really…real.

I had noticed that Bella was writing about her pregnancy in a journal one night before going to bed, and well, you know I don’t like to be outdone so I started one of my own. I wanted my little bud to know just how much I already loved him and how excited I was that he was coming…and how much his mama meant to me. He also needed to know that his mama called him a ‘her’ for the first few months. I mean come on, if he had issues, it was all on his mama.

Dear Mama (and probably baby boy),


Just so you know, I’m starting this journal as a way to let you both know what I was thinking and experiencing while waiting on our first little butterbean (‘cause those are way better than kidney beans…just sayin’.) Today you are the size of a lime! We are finally out of that weird seed and lentil stage and are getting into fruit comparisons. See, now that’s something I can wrap my brain around. I know how big a lime is! We didn’t get to see you today, which was disappointing, but we did get to hear your tiny heart beating in a perfect rhythm. You are already so strong. You can’t possibly understand how much I love you and your mama. You are absolutely my world.


Love,


The Daddy

Sixteen Weeks (end of August)

Things were definitely beginning to move along. Bella was on top of the world that she had finally sprouted a small baby bump and couldn’t fit into her regular clothes anymore. She was surprising me left and right with her reactions to the changes in her body. Whereas most women had a breakdown because they thought they just looked fat, she stood in front of the mirror all the time, turning to the side and placing her hands low on her belly, admiring her new curves. I personally spent most of my time placing them higher on her much fuller breasts. My woman was becoming insatiable and I was not about to turn her down, especially now that school had started back for me. I had gotten really spoiled during the summer by getting to spend most of the day with her on Tuesdays and Thursdays when she only went in for a couple of hours to work on the education stuff.

Fortunately her appetite had come back, however anytime I asked her what she wanted to eat, I was almost always met with the same response…Mexican. I was afraid she was going to turn into a taco or a quesadilla. Another thing she couldn’t get enough of…sweet tea! Always a woman after my heart.

Dear Little One that I just know is a baby boy,


Today you are the size of an avocado and weigh in at a whopping three and a half ounces! (You go big man! You show ‘em how to hulk out!) I have to say…I’m completely jealous because Mama says that she thinks she can feel you moving around in there; kind of like a tickly bubble. When will it be my turn? You need to know that patience is not a virtue that I even pretend to possess. In the meantime, I’ll do my best and keep talking to and rubbing your mama’s belly, making sure that I’m your favorite. I never knew love until I found your mom and now you have made it even more complete.


Love you too much,


The Daddy

Twenty Weeks (end of September)

Bella’s belly had really rounded out and was all the way up to her belly button. She was absolutely the cutest thing I had even seen. The new symptom that she had developed was heartburn. I mentioned that it could possibly have something to do with the Mexican food we were eating two to three times a week. She assured me that wasn’t the case. My mama told me it meant that my little bud would have a head full of hair. I was sticking with my theory.

For her birthday, she wanted to keep things low key. It’s not that she minded the attention, but she felt like the world was revolving around her and her growing belly these days. Mama offered to cook a big supper and invite the family over, to which Bella happily agreed. Rosalie and Alice went together and gave her a gift certificate to some kind of maternity store, knowing that she’d need some new clothes as she grew. I bought her a year’s worth of pedicures and a prenatal massage to use when she was farther along in her pregnancy. That earned me a very enthusiastic thank you. Boy was I ever grateful I gave her that gift in private. Which reminded me…

Things in the bedroom continued to change; she was even more aggressive, but we were having a lot of fun time trying different positions that took the weight and pressure off of her abdomen. And Lord help me she was insanely sensitive. I could take care of her at least twice before I even thought to be finished.

Dear Little One that I’m sure we’ll find out is in fact a baby boy today,


I have been dying to get to this day for what seems like forever now. You should know that only Pops, Aunt Sassy and I think that you are a boy. If you hide today, consider this our first fight when I give you the silent treatment tonight before bed. Well…no…scratch that. I can’t even go one night without ‘seeing’ you grow inside Mama’s belly and talking to you. You’ll be my second best friend, you know, officially giving Uncle Jazz the boot to number three. I’d give you the first spot, but that title will now and forever more belong to your beautiful Mama. You’ll understand one day. Oh! You are now as long as a banana, and I won’t even tell you what Uncle Emmett said when I told him that, especially since he knows I think you are a boy. For future reference, don’t hang out with Uncle Em. He has lots of potty humor that is totally lost on Mama. I’ll see you in a little bit love angel! Your mama is the absolute best…did you know that?


Love,


Your Daddy

Twenty Weeks-Addendum

Currently doing the “Toldja-So Dance” in front of Mama! For some reason, she isn’t very receptive. I knew you’d be a boy!! My son…yeah, no words.

Twenty-four Weeks (end of October)

I can feel my little bud moving!! I mean, responds to my voice with a kick or a nudge every time, feel him moving! Bella had been able to feel him moving around regularly for a few weeks and I was getting more and more impatient by the day. But one night after a long day at work, she was kicked back in the recliner with her feet propped up watching one of her shows on either A&E or The History Channel when she gasped. I looked over at her to see what was wrong, because pregnant women really shouldn’t gasp about anything, and she held her finger up to me; basically telling me not to move or speak or probably even breathe. She slowly lifted the hem of her scrub top and pointed down to her exposed belly when I saw the quick flinch of movement that really kind of looked like a muscle twitch.

“Was that…?” I whispered. Her bright eyes and wide smile said everything I needed to know. We sat for hours that night just waiting for the baby to move and when I felt him, I knew that there was nothing better. It was mine and Bella’s love that could now be physically felt not only by us, but by others as well. Well, for anyone she let near her belly anyway.

Something else that was new…she was beginning to sleep with a pillow shaped like a ‘C’ to help support her belly better. To say that I was miserable with poutiness would be an understatement. I was hating that a pillow was now getting all of my snuggles. At least she faced me so that I could rest my hand on her and my baby boy while we slept. That small action helped me to at least put the pout away.

Dear baby boy who needs a name,


This week you are the size of an ear of corn. We’ve moved on to vegetables now, which is a little weird. I kind of preferred fruit, but I bet it won’t be long until we get to the melon family, something Mama does not like, by the way…the fruit that is, not the comparison. She says the comparison is inevitable since giving birth is kind of like shooting a watermelon out of your nostril. Nice. Mama says a lot of weird stuff since she’s a nurse, but I grew up with Papa, so medical humor is something I get. You’ll learn too. Oddly, it’s more accepted than Uncle Em’s potty humor. I said before that you finally felt real to me once I heard your heartbeat, but when I got to see it beating and now that I know you are in fact a boy and have seen your precious little profile…I find myself speechless more times than not. How will I ever make it through the 4-D ultrasound? PS-Congratulations on making it to viability! I think your mama and I can rest somewhat easier knowing that, but it’s really not the time to plan a surprise visit, so just hang in there little man!


Love,


Daddy

Twenty-eight Weeks (middle of November)

Lately all that has been going on is growing and moving, and let me tell you…it’s fantastic! My favorite is when Bella sings to him or I play my guitar and he settles down for the night. My kid was already amazing!

We had also started converting the office across from our bedroom into the nursery. She put her foot down when I suggested an Alabama theme, however did give me a compromise by using elephants. We painted the walls a moss green to match the trim on the bedding that she had picked out; it was striped with that exact color and a pale blue. It was such a calm room and I couldn’t wait to see my little bud sleeping and playing in here.

The other thing we had started working on was picking out a name for the little man and let me tell you, that’s a lot harder than it looks!

Dear baby boy who has a tentative name,


Alright, these comparisons are getting weirder every week. Apparently this week you are the size of a Chinese cabbage. I don’t even know what that is, but am thankful to babycenterdotcom that they included a picture of one in their weekly emails. Don’t think badly of me because I signed up for those emails. There was only so much I could take of Mama knowing everything and me knowing diddly squat. Anyway, what that means is that you weigh over two pounds now and are around fifteen inches. Look at you grow! You’ll be a big Cullen man before long and I already know that I’ll hardly be able to stand it when you’re grown.


Love,


Daddy

Thirty Weeks (beginning of December)

Dear baby boy who is so cute I can’t even stand it,


I saw you today! I mean, like really saw you and I won’t even lie…I totally lost my shit. (Oh, wait…don’t say that word if you are under eighteen when you are reading this. Mama will whip my ass and yours too. Wait, don’t say ass either.) Anyway, Mama totally thinks you look like me but all I could see was the precious upturn of your mother’s nose and you sucking your sweet thumb. That’ll be a hard habit to break; trust me. I sucked mine ‘til I was five! Oh, and you really do have a teeter! A Cullen man indeed! I couldn’t even help myself…I had to show Uncle Emmett!


Love,


Daddy

Thirty-two Weeks (middle of December)

I hadn’t missed a single doctor’s visit until that one, but it couldn’t be helped. The annual Christmas parade was that evening and I had to be at school so that we could get in a final practice. Bella assured me that I wouldn’t be missing anything at that visit, but that was the point…I didn’t want to miss a single thing. I guess that’s life. She told me that she was measuring right on track and that the baby’s heartbeat was strong and steady. While Bella used to be happy about her new curves, these days she was feeling a little apprehensive about how she looked. The mommy-to-be was not happy that she had already gained twenty pounds and still had eight weeks left, but I assured her that it was all belly…well, that and boobs. I can’t even lie; the girls looked and felt awesome!

Dear baby boy who has a name but we won’t tell anyone what it is,


What in the world is a jicama? I know I have never eaten one. Can you even get those in Alabama? Is it ethnic? It sounds more like a tree. Anyway, that is how big you are today; the size of a large jicama which is apparently three and three quarters pounds. We are getting into the home stretch now with only two more months to go. I can’t believe you are almost here. It seems like we have been waiting forever to see you, but then again, it feels like just yesterday that your mama broke the news to me that you were on the way. I’ll say it again; that was the best birthday present ever! You can’t possibly understand how much I love you!


Love,


Daddy

Thirty-four Weeks (end of December)

Bella was surprised the day before Christmas Eve with a baby shower thrown by the girls and Angela. We received our crib from Mama and Dad, the changing station from Uncle James and Aunt Caroline, the stroller/car seat combo from Pops and Carmen and tons of baby clothes and accessories from everyone else. Alice had decided to monogram the burp cloths with only the letter ‘C’, which gave absolutely nothing away. However it was Angela who gave her the biggest surprise of all by telling her that she was moving to Cotton Creek.

Apparently she and Dad had been talking quite a bit in the last few months and he offered her a job at the Dialysis center. She was actually going to be taking over Bella’s regular shift since she was quitting that part of her work after the baby was born. Bella hadn’t been overly emotional during her pregnancy, but this really got her waterworks going. I couldn’t even lie about it; I was just as thrilled as she was, having gotten to know her even better over the last year. Angela and Ben were a great couple and I think my wife really felt like she finally had her whole family surrounding her when Angela moved here with us.

Dear baby boy who’s initials we had to give to Aunt Sassy for monogramming purposes,


You made it! You are now the size of a cantaloupe! Mama is starting to slow down a little these days. I’d never tell her to her face, but she does in fact waddle just a little bit. She is currently terrified that her water is going to break in the middle of Target, which is why it has now become my job to do the random pick-ups there as well as the weekly grocery shopping at Publix. You won’t tell on me if I let you in on a secret, right? She had something called ‘breast pads’ on her list and when I saw those words, I immediately went to Rosalie for help, knowing that she would never tell on me. Of course, now I owe her a deluxe pedicure, but that was a smart investment on my part if you ask me. I’m starting to get antsy for your arrival, little bud. Man I love you so stinkin’ much! I’m so ready to see that little face!


Love,


Daddy


Thirty-six Weeks (middle of January)

Dear baby boy who will be here in one month,


What in the name of all that is holy is a honkin’ Crenshaw melon? I swear they make this stuff up. And how do they even know? Do they just walk around the produce section and weigh weird looking stuff? They are going to measure you and check the fluid all around you next week to try to guess how big you are and to be sure that you are still swimming safely. Mama says you have run out of room to wiggle around as much and she may or may not be saying some very adult words when it comes to how often you head-butt her bladder. You might want to calm that down a little bit so that she’s not mad at you when you get here. I, however, love watching you move around, no matter how weird it looks.


Love,


Daddy

Thirty-nine Weeks (beginning of February)

Dear baby boy who better get his act together and put on a show next week,


Your mama says a mini-watermelon is an oxy-moron and that you feel heavier than the seven pounds it claims that you are. (She also didn’t believe the doctor when he measured you via ultrasound and said that you could be over eight pounds when you are born and again, it was another time that I kept my mouth shut. I’m glad I’ve had you to talk to because I’ve had to learn to tame my tongue quite a bit in these last months. Not because Mama is mean, but because the hormones are starting to get to her here at the end and let’s just say that my tendency to be a smart-tail doesn’t mix so well with that sometimes.


Love,


Daddy

Forty Weeks (February 10th, 2012)

Dear baby boy who is supposed to come today, but has yet to do anything but something they call ‘efface’,


Listen bud…there needs to be new meaning to the term ‘lay low’ today. Mama looks like she swallowed a beach ball and if you make her cry by not coming today, you will surely get your first “talkin’ to” as soon as you get here. Remember how I told you that your mama was terrified that her water was going to break while we were out in public a couple of months ago? Now she has been haulin’ me all over town because she is trying to ‘walk you out of her’…whatever that means. She no longer fears being in public when you decide to make your debut; she has been praying for it to happen, actually. I’m sure that being wrapped up inside of your mama is all warm and toasty, but I swear it is so much better on the outside! She is so beautiful and smells really good. That has to be better than amniotic fluid…just sayin’.


Love you bud,


Daddy

Four days later…

About damn time…

After a long labor, that I do believe got jump started by me thank you very much, we finally get to introduce you to our favorite little Valentine…

Cooper Charles Cullen


8 lbs. 1 oz


20.5 inches


7:32 PM


Precious son of Edward and Bella Cullen

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