Fanfiction Based On Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series

Rated MA For Mature Adult. Foul Language.

A Royal Bun in the Oven

By MistressElektra

Chapter One

EPOV

My wife and I walked through the Generovian airport together, the paparazzi and amateur paparazzi taking
pictures of us as we walked to our limo. She, as always, hadn’t tanned at all on holiday, I, on the other hand,

got dark.
All they wanted to know about was if we were happy for my cousin Tanya. We could lie and say yes, we
were. In private, we were anything but.
Tanya had made Bella’s life a living hell any time she was around her, most of the time. The conditions of
Isabella’s law in Parliament were that Bella had to give birth to child before any other member of the

Generovian royal family did, and I’d still be eligible for the crown. We both hated Tanya for getting
pregnant.
“I’m certain I’m pregnant,” Bella said in the limo. “You don’t have to worry.”
“I’ll worry anyway,” I said.
We were driven to the Generovian Palace. Most of our country’s sites went into disrepair during
communism, except the Palace, so this was the only place that was suitable for living, currently. The

Christmastime decorations were up, already, welcoming us home.
Bella and I went to the Dowager Princess’s Apartment, where Mum was waiting. She had been waiting all

afternoon for us, embroidering.
“Hi, Mum,” I said.
“Hi,” Bella said.
“Good afternoon,” Mum said, welcoming us in. “I take it you’ve heard the news.”
“Yes,” Bella said.
“I’m not sure this is a legitimate pregnancy or not. If it is, the Parliament will consider Isabella’s law null
and void,” Mum said. “We have yet to find out when she conceived this child, but with the way my sister-in-

law raised these blood thirsty brats, I wouldn’t put it past her to lie about it all. Bella, you must sit down if
your systems indicate anything at all.”
“Of course,” Bella said.
My beautiful wife was seated on the fainting couch while Mum called Gerard and asked for some tea. “This

is horrible news for you,” Mum said. “I know. But, it’s not over, yet.”

“I might be pregnant,” Bella said. “I feel so different- but Edward thinks it might be my mind playing tricks

on me.”
“She took a pregnancy test while we were on the Riviera,” I said. “The results were inconclusive.”
“Then we can send her to the obstetrician,” Mum said. “He’ll be able to tell. One or two week’s difference
isn’t that much. You can still deliver a baby before she does, Bella.”
“I know,” Bella said. “I can’t stand her.”
“I heard about the love tap Tanya received at your wedding,” Mum said.
“Oh,” Bella said, blushing. “About that-”
“I understand. Tanya went a little too far,” Mum said. “Oksana always had a problem with keeping her

mouth under control when she was little. Of course, Oksana herself left her upbringing to her nannies. This
is a royal manner, so as long as no one goes to the press and you get pregnant as planned, we’ll be just fine.”
Just fine. That’s always the plan.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Two

EPOV

We entered the royal bedchamber which we hadn’t been to in almost two weeks. There were maids putting

the sheets on the bed and putting away the content of our luggage at our early arrival, but they quickly
packed up and left once we stepped in. Most of our laundry was being taken out for us. I remembered when

Bella taught me how to do my own laundry almost a year ago in Forks. I had always had people do my

laundry for me until then. I smiled at the memory.
Bella caught me smiling and smiled back.
I had vowed to not use any of my inheritance or any of my stocks options, just the money I earned as an ER
doctor when I moved to Forks. I wouldn’t have made it if it hadn’t been for Bella then.
I was in love with her then, but I had pushed it aside to keep her name out of the tabloids; she wasn’t
trained and groomed for a life of fame. She was an average, everyday girl, who led a simple life. I knew how

horrible it could be to not only be famous but to have a royal birthright affecting everything you did. I loved
her enough to not want to expose her to that. She loved me more, when it came down to it. I was lucky to

have found a woman like her.
“Alone at last,” Bella said, sitting down on the sofa. “Should we take my temperature?”
“Yes,” I said, hoping she was ovulating.
I secretly wanted to see her pregnant with a swollen belly, although I had never confessed that to her.
We took her to the bathroom and I got out the ear thermometer. It showed that she was at her regular
temperature, but she took her temperature orally, and it was only .2 degree different. “Should we try

anyways?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said.

“Can you give me a minute?” she asked.
“Certainly.”
I left her the bathroom.
Bella emerged- in a midnight blue bustier slip that hardly covered her. She smiled, shyly. Why didn’t she
realize how perfect she was?
“Angela gave me this,” she said.
“Can I see it on you?”
She spun in a circle. She raised her eyebrows at me.
“Very nice. Now can you get over here?”
It was tiring trying to keep up with getting her pregnant. I didn’t know it was going to be this hard.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Three

BPOV

I had only been home a few hours. Edward and I did it every chance we got. We were like rabbits, I swear. I

had high hopes- I was pretty sure I was pregnant, but not the hormones weren’t showing it, yet.
And then, I went to pee, and there it was- a red splotch on my panties.
I screamed a very bad curse word in frustration.
“Bella?” Edward asked.
“I just… shit,” I muttered, putting on a tampon. “I got my period. Damnit.”
I didn’t want to come out of the bathroom.
This was so shameful for me. I had let down Edward and my new country. Edward was going to lose his

crown because I couldn’t get pregnant.
I hadn’t told Edward- or anybody- about Tanya’s little affair with that butler in the broom closet the night

before her wedding. I hoped that that baby was the butler’s, not William’s. I promised Tanya that if she
fucked with my friends again, I’d expose her. I should have told her that if she fucked up Edward’s chance at

the crown, I’d do it to her again. No one would say how far along she was.
“Bella, are you ever coming out of there, or did you fall in?”
“I fell in.”
“Come out.”
“Fine. I’m so pissed off.”
“It’s not the end of things,” Edward said. “For Tanya to be pregnant this soon- they didn’t send her to a

gynecologist before her wedding.”
“They didn’t?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “Maybe Parliament will make an exception for you. The people like you- much more than

Tanya.”
I sighed and exited the bathroom, finally. “I hope so.”
We had to go out in public like a happy couple, soon. I changed into a warm winter sweater, jeans and a pair
of camel-colored boots. The butler brought me some Tylenol before we left. It was started to get cold in

Generovia- I wanted to take pictures to send home to Charlie and Renée. I wish Rose would hurry up and
move out here so I could have someone to talk to.
She was trying to get a job here before getting married to Emmett. My only trusted friends out here were
Elizabeth, Edward and while I hated to admit it, Antonio.
We took Edward’s Aston Martin with a group of secret service behind us. “What do you want to do?”
“Take pictures,” I said. I had neglected my beautiful, expensive camera I had gotten from him last spring

right after he left.
“I think I know just the place,” Edward said. We stopped in one of the parks. It was a beautiful winter day.

Please stopped to gawk at us while the royal guards (what I affectionately dubbed ‘the secret service’) kept
only a few paces behind us. It wasn’t long before the paparazzi caught up with us, but kept their distance.
“Princess Bella!” one of them called out to me in English. “What do you think of Tanya’s pregnancy?”
I decided to answer him in French. “We couldn’t be more please for her,” I replied. Edward took my hand as
we walked.
We got to the pond in the center of the park. I began to take pictures of the leaves and the dying wilderness.
“I feel so useless if I can’t get pregnant,” I said as best as I could without moving my mouth.
Edward sat on a bench, tossing dried leaves into the water. “You’re not useless.”
“It’s obviously not you,” I said.
“We haven’t been at it that long, yet, Bella,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. At least, not yet. We don’t know
how much of a headstart she’s got.”
I clipped a picture of Edward on the bench in his sunglasses and peacoat. He looked like a male model.
Always. I didn’t even have to try.
“Edward… what’ll happen to you if you lose your crown?”
“I guess we can go wherever we want,” he said. “We could travel the world, sail the seven seas. We could

even go back to Forks, if you wanted. It would just be you and me. And possibly even a baby. If you wanted
to settle down.”
“We couldn’t go to Forks,” I said. “We’d have to be hermits to live there. John Milton said ‘No man is an

island.’ I think it was him, anyway.”
“Bella, I couldn’t live with out you,” Edward said. “Why do you keep talking like I could leave you?”
“I don’t know… Edward, I’ve kind of been keeping a secret.”
“Bella?” Edward asked, surprised. He sounded a little hurt. “How could you?”
“I just… it’s not about me… or you. I just… the night before Tanya’s wedding… I saw her with one of the
Palace butlers,” I whispered.
“You… what?”
“Yes, she was getting it on with one of them,” I said. “They didn’t see me, but the day of our wedding, when

she made a comment to Angela that made her cry, and I went to call her out on it and she tried to hit me. I

caught her hand, and I told her that if she ever tried to mess with my friends or me again, I’d expose her

little affair with the butler.”
“You don’t think… the baby is…”
“It could be,” I said.
“Can you point him out when we get back to the Palace?” Edward asked.
“Sure- every time I see him, I get a little creeped out. He’s the lothario that works by the pool,” I said.
Edward nodded, thoughtfully. “I’ll keep this in mind,” he said.
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing yet. I’ll let Mum know.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?”
“I’m pretty sure,” he said. “No need to make her suspicious right now. Let her think your threats are idle.”

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Four

BPOV

Three days later, I was escorted to the gynecologist’s office, despite the fact that I tried to talk them down.
My period was light and ended quickly.
This was the same obstetrician that examined me the day before my wedding to prove that I wasn’t
pregnant. I was treated very well- taken into a very nice room and given a nice dressing gown and slippers

to wear instead of a flimsy paper gown to change into. There were fresh linen sheets on the examining bed

instead of a pull-out sheet of paper. The obstetrician met me in the office with her nursing assistant and
they did all the pre-appointment work together before they left me alone to change into exam gear. They

spoke to me in English the whole time, knowing I was native English speaker.
“We’ll leave you alone in here unless you need any help changing,” she said.
“No, I can change clothes alone,” I said, still modest.
“Just call us when you’re ready,” she said.
They waited outside until I called for them.
“Alright, Your Highness,” the doctor said, entering the room.
“It’s just Bella, please,” I reminded her.
“Bella, what can I do for you today?”
“I’d like to get pregnant as soon as possible,” I said.
“Ah, you’re seeing the Duchess getting pregnant and you’d like to, too, hmm?”
“Something like that,” I said.

“Babies aren’t to be taken lightly,” she said. “Let’s take a look and see if you’re in good enough shape to have

one, shall we? Can you put your feet in the stirrups and lay back?”
I remembered that my butt had been royally pounded a few days ago. Literally. Shit. I hope she didn’t

notice. She put a warmed clamp inside me that was slicked down with KY jelly and clicked it open.
“Hmm,” she said, “It looks like you’ve been really enjoying your honeymoon.”
“Yes,” I admitted, blushing. “I just finished my period. It was a very light one.”
“Hmm,” she said, again. “Hmmm.”
“That sounds bad,” I said, keeping my eyes fixed on the ceiling.
“It’s not really that bad,” she said. “There are some women out there that have a very little period during

their first trimester. Lighter than their normal, but they don’t think they are pregnant and are very
surprised when they find out they are.”
“Are you saying there’s a chance that I really am pregnant?” I asked, sitting up.
“Yes, this there is. I want to run some labwork on you right now,” she said, taking the clamp out.

“Everything looks pretty healthy to me, but I just want to check your hormones.”
They took a blood sample and then she sent her nurse out to get a cup for me to pee in and sent me to a

room with a toilet in it. I returned with a sample for her and she sent it down to the lab. I had done this the

day before my wedding and they had the results back in less than an hour.
“Just get dressed and if you don’t mind, I want you to wait in my office,” the doctor said.
I dressed in the examining room and was escorted to her office and offered tea and pear-flavored cookies (I
was beginning to get sick of pears by now). I tried to read a magazine in French when she returned with a

clipboard.
“I have good news for you,” she said. “You are pregnant. Only a few weeks along, not even a month, but you

are expecting.”
I knew it! I thought. “So, how many weeks?”
“Only two,” she said. “But you were difficult to tell. We’ve got many things to go over, Your Highn- Bella. I
have to put you on liquid prenatal vitamins, a light exercise regimen, a folic acid rich diet and we have to

have a meeting with your publicists as to when we’ll advise the public about this news.”
“But, I am pregnant?” I asked, feeling the mild shock wearing off. Giddiness crept up inside me.
“Yes.”
“That’s great. I have to tell Edward!”
“Yes, it is good news. Very good news. I’ll have my receptionist schedule another appointment with you at

your convenience.”
“Thank you,” I said.
As I sat in the backseat of the small limo driving me home, I felt an irrepressible urge to tap my toes and
sing with the radio. I was only a week behind Tanya. The crown would be as good as his.
I had called Edward and left a message on his voice mail that I wanted to talk to him about something very
important as soon as possible. With the tone I used, it sounded like something serious. Hopefully, he’d take

it seriously.
My Christan Louboutin heels clicked across the marble floors of the Palace as I made my way to the Royal

Apartment. Edward wasn’t there, yet, but I’d have the kitchen deliver a very special dinner.

I had a copy of my diet sent to them so they’d know what to do for me when it came to food. I even had a

bottle of Champagne sent to our room.
The food had just been brought in when Edward walked in the door.
“I came as soon as I got your message,” Edward said. “What happened at the doctor’s office?”
“Well,” I said, drawing it out. “They did the exam like usual, but the doctor was there the whole time, except

when I was changing clothes. And when I said I wanted to get pregnant, she took blood work, a urine
sample, all that. She sent me to her office to wait, and when she came back, she announced that I was

actually pregnant!”
“This isn’t a joke?”
“No,” I said.
“Blimey,” he muttered. That was the first time I ever heard that word come out of his mouth. “Blood hell.

You’re kidding me. You just got your period.”
“But it’s over. It was really light, that’s kind of how she knew.”
“I’ve heard of that- women having a very light period in the first trimester. You’re one of them,” he said. I
nodded, happily.
“We’re not that far behind Tanya- and sex can cause labor, so the week before her due date, we’ll just jump

in bed and that baby’ll pop right out! The crown’s as good as yours!”
“Bella, this is a child, not a game,” Edward said. “If this child is born after Tanya’s, I don’t care, as long as it’s

healthy.”
“Edward- what?”
“Don’t you understand what’s going to happen to you?” he asked. “All the physical changes your body will
go through, alone, let alone, the baby’s?”
“I read up a lot before the wedding,” I said. I had no real idea how drastic a change this was going to be for
me.
“This is going to be a human life inside you! A baby- a real human life. We weren’t playing. We’re still not,”
he said.
“Edward, let’s just be happy,” I said. “We’ve got thirty-four weeks to go, let’s enjoy it. Plan it out. Let’s be
happy.”
And happiness would have a hard time coming our way.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Five

EPOV

“You’re joking!” Mum cried. “I’m going to be a grandmother?”
“Yes,” I said.
“We just need some time to tell the press,” Bella said. “I want to tell Charlie and Renée and Phil in person.”
“We’ll have them out here for your American holiday- what is it- Thanksgiving? That’s coming up, soon,”
Mum said. Her eyes were shiny with tears. She dabbed daintily at them with a handkerchief. “I’ll be a

grandmum! How exciting! Bella, will you be breastfeeding? I did that for Edward, and look at how he turned

out!”
“I’ve got plenty of time to think about that,” Bella said, nervously.
In all honesty, Bella hadn’t thought about pregnancy very practically. She didn’t know how much it was
going to affect her. She was viewing her pregnant the same way the Parliament did; it was a means to an

end. It was actually the start to a whole new chapter of our lives together, the ending of the careless single
days.
“I’d like to be hands-on, like you and Dad were,” I said, thinking fondly on my father before cancer claimed
him. My parents were much more involved in my life than most royals were with their children. Most

royals dumped their children with nannies and au pairs, and spent a few hours a day with their children,
but did the dirty work. Mum and Dad did the dirty work with me until I insisted on going to boarding

school with my friends. The punished me when I acted out, we had discussions when I wasn’t proper, made
sure I ate my vegetables, did my schoolwork, and they taught me what was right and wrong. Yes, I had a

nanny, but she was more of an emergency babysitter and watched me when they were dragged away from
me for a few minutes at a time.
We stayed for about another hour before I needed to take Bella back to the royal chambers. She was

ordering cappuccino after dinner when I yelled “No!”
“What?” Bella asked, defensively.
“Pregnant women shouldn’t drink caffeine!” I cried. “It’s bad for the fetus.”
“Oh. Shit,” she mumbled. I dismissed the butler. “I am so not prepared for this. I can’t give up coffee!

Especially in the mornings!”
“I’ll give it up, too,” I offered. “Tea is an excellent substitute.”
Bella groaned.
I had so much to think about. I looked over her gynecologist’s diet. It didn’t include as much calcium as

she’d probably need. Or green vegetables. I decided that the most raw, organic food was best for her. The
exercise was just a half hour of walking a day. She needed more help than that. I was going to call in yoga

instructors for fitness. Body weight had nothing to do with how much the baby would weigh.
This was not going to be easy to convince her of all these things. Thanksgiving and Christmas were

probably going to be the worst. Last year, she had baked and given everybody Christmas biscuits with icing
she had made herself. We had people to take care of that, here.
The next day, we made arrangements for Charlie, Renée and Phil to come to visit us at American

Thanksgiving. They all agreed, surprisingly.

Emmett called me- “Rose is having problems getting a visa because she doesn’t have a job. Can you pull

some royal strings?” he asked.
“She needs a job, Emmett.”
“Bella didn’t have a job!”
“She was my fiancée, she needed training and to plan a wedding,” I said. I sighed. “Let me see if we can get

her a job as a personal assistant to Bella. I don’t think anybody else would be any better. She’s going to need
somebody to lean on in the next few months.”
“I owe you one, bro!” Emmett shouted.
In our bedroom, I discovered Bella trying to knit. “Look!” she cried, holding up her knitting, only to tear it

apart. “Damn!” I had to smile.
“You’ve got nine more months to perfect it,” I said.
“Eight and half,” she said.
“Bella, love,” I said, sitting down beside her. “I want you doing yoga instead of walking.”
“Edward, I know you know you think you know what’s best,” she said. “Being a doctor and all, but really-
we’ve got the holidays coming up and if I’ve learned anything in this year, I’ve discovered that I can’t be a

poor hostess.”
“I’m not worried about your duties as a princess, just preparing for the baby,” I said.
“I’ll take care!” she cried.
“Would you take on a personal assistant?” I asked.
“Only if I interview her,” Bella said.
“I’ve already picked someone, you’ll love her.”
“Edward, you can’t go over my head like that! No, call them back and tell them I have to meet them, first!”
“I already know you’ll love her,” I said.
“I can’t believe you!”
“You already know who it is.”
“Who?”
“Rosalie. She needs a job to come to Generovia on a work visa.”
“That’s perfect!” Bella cried. “Good planning!”

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Six

EPOV

Bella was excited when Rosalie came to Generovia. They were inseparable. Bella taught Rosalie the ropes in
a non-English speaking town while they reviewed Rosalie’s remedial French.

Rosalie had only been here a few days when I came home to a bedroom full of clothing bags.
“Bella, what’s this?”
“Maternity clothes,” Bella said.
“She’s going to need it,” Rosalie said. “And baby stuff.”
I noticed several large bags from baby stores. I opened up a bag and found a u-shaped pillow. “What’s this

for?” I asked.
“It’s to help the baby nurse, it goes around the middle,” Rosalie said. “And when the baby’s bigger, it’ll help

out with tummy time.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” I said.
“It’ll help the baby develop it’s stomach muscles when I set it up on it’s stomach,” Bella explained.
“We have a list of things to buy,” Rosalie explained, holding up a sheet of paper she had printed out. “We’ve

been pretending to go to shopping for Tanya.”
“But these are things I want to pick out with you, Edward,” Bella said, picking up the list. She handed it to

me. “Why don’t we announce our pregnancy soon? After we get a chance to tell my parents?”
“Of course,” I said. I looked at the list of baby furniture and items Bella wanted. A crib, a stroller, a changing

table, a rocking chair… We had a lot of this, but most of it was antiques that had been stashed before the

Fascists took over and we fled. It had been returned to us, but I thought it was more appropriate to send it
on to the National Generovian Historical Museum. It was fragile, probably. I’d have to discuss it with Mum,

first.
Bella wanted her parents to stay in the Palace with us during American Thanksgiving. Bella even went to

the kitchen to explain how American Thanksgivings were done and how she expected it. Our Parisian-
educated chefs turned their noses up, but she explained that her father and stepfather probably would not

want to eat it if it wasn’t done by American standards and she couldn’t stand the thought. The chefs still
looked down their noses.
The night before they were to arrive, Bella was already laying awake in anticipation. “I can’t believe this,”
she said, softly. “I always heard about Thanksgiving being such pressure on a girl the first time she had it in

her house, but Chef Didier and his staff acted like I was over-stepping my bounds when I told him what
kind of cranberry dressing Charlie wanted and how to make the candied yams right with the mini

marshmellows.”
“Bella, of all the time you’ve spent in the Palace, you’ve never once asked them to do anything,” I said.

“Everything they did, you had no problem with. The French are like that.”
“You’re French,” Bella said.
“Bella, I am your husband. Don’t ever insult me like that,” I said. I found the French to be dirty, selfish, mean

people. Generovians were better than that- we were clean, generous, friendly, efficient people. “My people
speak a dialect of French, but we aren’t French.”
“Okay, I’m sorry!” Bella cried.
I too, had a hard time sleeping that night.
In the morning, we waited for Renée, Phil and Charlie were scheduled to arrive, but we were preempted by
news. The news of our pregnancy had already been announced in the media.
“How did they find out?” Bella cried.

“I have one guess,” I said. “I don’t think I need another.”
“Who the hell does Tanya think she is?” Bella muttered.
The limo came through the Palace gates. “Hi, Bella!” Renée cried, climbing out of the car. She was actually

sober, for once. She ran up to Bella and hugged her. “Why couldn’t anybody tell us you were pregnant?”
“Because I didn’t want it announced in the media before you found out,” she said. “Oh Mom, I’m sorry!”
“We wanted this to be her Thanksgiving surprise to you,” I said.
“Ah Bells, you couldn’t wait a little while longer to make me a grandpa?” Charlie asked, fake-punching her

on the shoulder.
“She’s pregnant!” Renée cried, catching his wrist.
“Hi, Dad,” Bella said, shyly. He hugged her, instead.
“How far along are you?” Charlie asked.
“Only a few weeks,” I admitted. “Not even a month.”
“I’m too young to be a grandpa!” Phil complained.
“Oh, no complaining,” Bella said.
“Edward, where’s your mother? I’m just dying to say hello to her,” Renée said.
Bella got morning sickness the morning of Thanksgiving. She was in a weepy mood, too, so I sent her,

Renée, Rosalie and Mum off to the spa. Emmett and I took Charlie and Phil out to the shoot range, where
Charlie showed us a thing or two.
“Just remember what I’ve done today,” Charlie said. “If you ever make my daughter cry- just remember to
apologize or I can shoot a running man at three hundred yards. Prince or not.”
Emmett almost fell over laughing at that, clapping Charlie on the back so hard he fell over.
When Thanksgiving dinner was done in a Parisian Chef way that afternoon, Bella lost it. The turkey had a

fish sauce on it, the yams had a strange herb in them, the green bean casserole had strange herbs too, the
potatoes had asparagus and onions in them. Everything looked like art, what we were used to, but not like

an American Thanksgiving. Bella got up and went to the bathroom to cry.
I went to retrieve her.
“Bella?” I asked, entering. She was leaning on the sink, sobbing.
“They’ll never want to come back for holidays!” she sobbed. “I told the kitchen staff to make everything a

certain way and Charlie won’t eat anything too foreign and the food is like- like weird shit- and Renée’s
trying to pretend it’s all normal- my first time to host Thanksgiving sucks!”
“Charlie will come back,” I promised, hugging her. “I took him to the shooting range this morning, did I tell

you that?” She nodded. “He promised to kill me if I made you cry, so you can’t cry in front of him. He told me
he can shoot a running man at three hundred yards, Prince or not.”
Bella began to laugh through her tears. “Okay,” she said. She began to dry her eyes. In the dining room,
Mum was telling a story about meeting an African dignitary and a faux pas she made that was actually very

funny in the end. “We’ll make the best we can out of this,” she said. “I’m sorry it was ruined, everyone.”
“It’s not ruined,” Phil said.
“I guess now is the time to do some announcing,” Charlie said. “I’m retiring from the Police Force.”
“Oh, Dad, really?” Bella cried, bursting into fresh tears.

“I can’t be here as much,” Charlie said. “Not as much as I want to. And you’re having a baby. I was offered

early retirement, so I took it.”
“I’ll take care of you!” Bella said. “Always.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Charlie said. “I’ll be the old man at the front of Wal-Mart handing out carts if I need
a job.”
Renée laughed- and it caught on. We all laughed at that thought.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Seven

BPOV

Today was my first ultrasound- ever. Edward insisted on coming along. I was hardly out of my first

trimester- we couldn’t even tell if it was a girl or a boy, yet. I had been humoring him all along, but
sometimes, he was playing doctor too much- and not in the way I liked.
As always, I was walked into the office and given a cotton robe to put on over my pants. “I think you’re
doing well, Bella,” Edward said. “So far. You haven’t gained much weight, but that’s good.”
I rolled my eyes.
I didn’t have to wait too long before my gynecologist and the ultrasound technician came in. “Hello, Bella.

How are you today?” she asked.
“I’ve had some morning sickness and some indigestion,” I said. “Is the indigestion normal?”
“Yes, it is. Are you sticking to my guidelines like I asked?”
“Yes,” Edward answered for me.
“Edward’s making sure of that,” I said.
They ran the normal diagnoses on me before putting warmed KY jelly on my stomach. “Alright,” my
gynecologist said. “We’ll look at how’s the baby’s coming along.”
I had only a slight bump at the base of my stomach- not even that big. The ultrasound technician ran the
tool over my stomach.
“Don’t press too hard,” Edward ordered.
“I’m not!” the technician said.
“She’s not,” I said.
“Hmm,” the technician said. The gynecologist looked on the monitor as well.
“It looks OK, doesn’t it?” Edward asked.
“Yes, we found it,” the technician said, turning the monitor around.
For the first time, I saw it- a tiny little lump. It was moving. There was a tiny, funny little alien being inside
me, moving around.

“Are you alright?” the gynecologist asked.
“I just…” I began.
I didn’t know what to say.
It all came crashing down on me- I was really going to be a mother. This was a life. I was going to have to
take care of it! The monarchy all seemed so stupid and far away all the suddenly. It was all so real, now.
“A normal reaction,” she said. “Everything’s progressing normally. This was all we needed. You can get
dressed and go home.”
“Thank you,” I said. They left the room. “It’s a real baby!” I cried. “It’s something alive inside me!”
“Bella, calm down,” Edward said. “You knew what this meant when we married, didn’t you?”
“No- yes, I mean, sort of!” I cried, putting my top back on. I wiped my face- I had tears running down my
cheeks. “Oh my God! It’s real!”
“Of course it is! Why are you going mad?”
“It’s a real baby!”
“Of course it is.”
“Edward, you don’t understand what I’m going through here!” I cried. “It’s a baby! A real baby!”
“Bloody hell, where’s Rosalie?”
As I was carried down to the back exit to keep me out of the paparazzi, I sobbed. “This isn’t real, is it?”
“Yes, it is. This was part of the agreement. You didn’t think once you got pregnant this would be smooth

sailing, did you?” Edward asked.
In the Palace, Edward had to carry me in. “I can’t believe this,” I muttered. “Oh my God!”
Butlers came by to pick me up out of Edward’s arms but he refused. He carried me into the royal
bedchambers and sat me down on the fainting fainting sofa.
“Here,” he said, handing me a pear.
I looked at it. I used to love pears before I came here. “Jesus Christ!” I shouted, throwing it. “I can’t stand

these things anymore!” I covered my face when the vase broke across the room.
“Bella, I know,” he said. “I know it’s a lot to take in.” He ran his fingers through my hair to get it out of my

face. “I’ll be right back.”
He went into the bathroom and I heard the bathtub running.
A little alien inside my body. A black-and-white little alien. It was going to come out and want me to feed it.
It suddenly hit me how helpless and demanding children were. I began to cry- sobbing- heavy, hard sobs.
Edward came out and picked me up. “Come on,” he said. “Baths always calm you down.”
I sniffled. “Don’t look at my stomach.”
“Why not?”
“I’m getting so fat,” I said.
“You’re pregnant, not fat,” he said. He pulled my pants down and then my shirt. “It’s only going to get

better.” I stepped into the bathtub. As always, he made it too hot. “I’m going to call Rosalie and see if she’ll
come over, now.”

“Okay,” I sniffled. “I want a brownie.”
“Bella, that’s not on your diet-”
“Brownie, damnit!” I shouted, pointing at my mouth.
“No, I’m not ordering that for you.”
“I can’t drink or even smoke weed, and I could really use it right now,” I said. “Give me my one vice!”
“Okay, fine!” he said.
“With vanilla ice cream!”
“I’m on my way!”
“And chocolate sauce!”
“We’re not having sex, Bella.”
“I want it anyway!”

~*~

The bath calmed me down a bit. Yes, I was going to be a mother, and it was stressful to think about. God. I

didn’t even realize how big of a deal it was going to be. Everybody always said, ‘nothing prepares you for
parenthood.’ That was true. Nothing prepared you for pregnancy, either.
I had a dream I was having twins, then quadruplets, then sextuplets, then octopulets. The kids kept on
multiplying inside me until my belly exploded and babies came flying out, screaming and needing diapers.

Nobody else was willing to diaper them, but I had to- and once I got them all diapered, one of them needed
changing. I woke up screaming. I held onto my stomach- got, I was getting the worst indigestion ever

traveling up my esophagus.
“What’s wrong?” Edward asked, sleepily.
“They multiplied!” I cried. “Inside me!”
“We’re not having twins, that’s been confirmed,” Edward said. “Bella, I think you need to go to a therapist.”
“No!” I cried. “The press with have a field day with that!”
“You’re driving me bloody mad,” he said. “I can’t put up with this. We’ll bring a therapist here.”
Of course, I got heartburn from the chocolate brownie and the ice cream didn't balance it out. Damnit. It got

worse when I laid down.
I spent a sleepless night going back and forth pacing. Every time I got up, Edward woke up. Come breakfast

time, he was about to kill me.
Nothing prepared me for pregnancy. At all.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Eight

BPOV

The elevator doors opened and a few respected members of the press were there. “Hello,” the head nurse

said. “Welcome to the Michaelsburg Children’s hospital, your Majesties.”
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said.
“We can’t wait to meet the children,” I said.
“They’re very excited about meeting both of you,” the nurse said. “On the tour, you’ll have to wear a face

mask and gloves in a few of the rooms. The children have extremely low white blood cell counts and can’t

be exposed to germs at all. All the children you come in contact with can’t be kissed in any way shape or
form on any part of their bodies. They can kiss you, but don’t let them kiss you on the mouth. Don’t give

them anything out of your purse, either. Most of them are very sensitive to infection.”
She gave us face masks and gloves to hold onto and she began our tour.
As we went through the hospital, I met bald children left and right. The ones that had better white blood
cell counts ran up to us and cheered. Some of them hugged us and the ones that understood I was pregnant

kissed my stomach.
“Princess,” one of the children said. “Read us a story!”
In my poor French, I figured my pronunciation was good enough to read to them. The head nurse brought
us to a rec room. I was handed a book and told to sit down. I felt like I was teaching elementary school. The

press took pictures of me as I began to read.
We played a few games before the staff made me go on.
“We love you, Princess!” the children chorused as I left. “Come back soon!”
I was handed babies- dying babies- and my heart broke.
By the end of the day, we left the hospital.
I was so happy to be having my baby, now. I hoped my baby would be strong and healthy. I wanted to go
back to the children’s hospital when it came time for the annual fundraiser. My heart was bursting for the

children of Generovia, now.
“It’s time to go,” the head nurse told us. “The children all have to go back to their rooms. They’ve had

enough excitement for the day. Thank you so much for coming today.”
“I’m so happy I could visit,” I said. “Thank you so much for having me.”
“Our pleasure, your majesty,” she said.

~*~

When I got home, it was announced that the Duke William and Duchess Tanya would be joining us for

dinner.
And I thought I was thisclose to getting over my morning sickness.
I laid down for a nap instead of having dinner, sending my regrets. Edward came to look for me.
“Why are you still in bed, love?” he asked, climbing in with me, kissing my shoulders.

“I got a little nauseated.”
His mouth found my clavicle. I giggled slightly at the way he tickled me with kisses. “At the mention of the
Duke and Duchess being invited to dinner?”
“I can stand William, he’s alright, I just can’t stand Tanya. I don’t even want to look at her.”
He draped my arm around his shoulders and moved in to kiss my lips. “Bella, you must have learned by

now that as a royal, you have to learn to see things you’re not going to enjoy,” he moved down to my neck.
“The Holocaust Memorial Museum is one. Tanya is another.”
“I’d learn something with one of those,” I scoffed. I felt him unbuttoning the top of my pajama top. “Don’t
you want to hear about my day?” I moaned.
And then he pulled away. “Hey!” I cried.
“I’ll be happy to hear all about your day at dinner,” he said. “Get dressed. If you’re a good girl, we’ll take up

right where we left off after coffee.”
“You tease!” I cried, sitting up. I didn’t know how I was going to sit through an entire meal with him.
He walked out of the royal bedchambers.
I’m gonna kill him, I thought.
I put on some clothes and went to the dining room. Edward was seated at the head of the table, the seat to

the right of him was empty, Elizabeth on his left. Tanya looked a bit disgusted when I entered, but only for a
moment. They were eating appetizers and wine, except Tanya. “How nice of you to join us, Princess Bella,”

she said her voice dripping with mock sympathy. “I do hope you’re feeling well. I, too, am getting over the
morning sickness portion of the pregnancy. It does happen in the first trimester.”
“I’ll thank you for your kind thoughts, Tanya,” Edward said. nodding. All this false politeness when Tanya
was ravenous for the throne and wouldn’t let Edward and I get in her way was ridiculous.
“Have you had an ultrasound, yet?” I asked, trying to be polite, smiling. “We had one, recently, and it just…
brought my child to reality for me.”
Tanya smiled at me while her eyes said, BITCH!
“Yes, we’ve had ours, too,” William said, patting her almost non-existant baby bump. She was doing pre-

natal yoga and pilates, according to her interviews with the press. She didn’t want to lose her figure. “Our
baby looks like a tiny little lump of moulding clay so far.”
“Ours too,” I said.
“The reason why we came by tonight is to invite you to our baby shower,” Tanya said. “All my bridesmaids

have been invited by me in person.”
“When will it be?” I asked.
“In seven weeks,” Tanya said. “By then I’ll be far enough along to know which sex the baby is.”
I saw a glance from Elizabeth to Edward that said, I don’t know what shit she’s trying to pull. Tanya didn’t
even know it.
“I’ll come to the party,” I said, nodding. It would be rude to skip out, and if I did, the press would know
about it. They were catching on to this little race to the stirrups and how much Tanya hated me. “What kind

of baby do you want?”
“We’re secretly hoping for a boy,” William said.
“To carry on the family name?” I asked as plates were put down in front of me.

“Yes,” Tanya said. “What about you?”
“We don’t care either way,” Edward said. “Just as long as the baby’s healthy.”
Tanya and William exchanged a glance this time that said almost the same thing that Edward and Elizabeth

said.
Dinner took forever and I was rubbing my thighs together, thinking about all the nasty things Edward and I

were going to do after dinner. Was it possible to take dessert to our rooms?
When dinner was over, we said good-night to Tanya and William and then to Elizabeth. Edward and I went

back to our bedchambers. I practically ran the last thirty feet.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Nine

BPOV

Tanya’s baby shower was mainly an excuse for her friends to get drunk. They had plenty of good reason

with the fact that we found out Tanya was having a girl. I was going to find out if I was having a boy or a girl
tomorrow.
I brought a present for the baby.
“Oh, Bella,” she said, when I arrived, hugging me and kissing me on both cheeks. She laughed. “Didn’t you

read the invitation? You don’t have to bring a present to a royal baby shower. Our stylist picked out
everything to match, already.”
You may be royal, but you’re not a crown princess, yet. “You didn’t give me an invitation, you just told me to

be here,” I said. “Besides, it’s impolite to show up without a present.”
She giggled, snarkily. “Your presence is the only gift I needed. You’re too kind. I guess you’re still learning

how to be royalty.”
I wished Rose had been invited.
Mostly, Tanya’s bridesmaids hadn’t changed a bit. Tanya gave a toast.
“…And to my new, dear cousin, who came with a present, bless her,” Tanya said, sweetly. I felt my cheeks

burning as her friends giggled. “We already have everything we need. Isn’t she sweet with her American
ways?”
“Thank you, Tanya,” I said, returning her smile, although I wanted to kill her.
I wondered what was so bad about being American? She talked about it like I should be ashamed of it.
I left the party early, although I lost it in the car. Even Rosalie agreed that bringing a present was the right
thing to do. I should have asked Elizabeth. The paparazzi tailed the car, and I was happy for the tinting in

the windows so they couldn’t see me sobbing.
Back at the Palace, I was escorted in by Rosalie. “What happened?”
“She embarrassed the hell out of me,” I hissed. “Over the present. In front of all of her friends.”

“Tanya has no manners at all,” Rosalie said.
“I know,” I said. “She’d never admit she did it on purpose.”
“Better things are going to happen tomorrow,” Rose said.
“I know,” I said.
That night, when Edward got home, he already knew about what Tanya had done. Rose and I sat in the

Royal Apartment, trying to knit.
“She’s being an arse,” he said. “That was completely inappropriate.”
“I know,” I said, rubbing my eye.
“I think she should have her baby shower soon,” Rose said. “We’ll know if she’s having a boy or a girl, and if

people want to bring her presents, we’ll let them.”
“No, we’ll do one better,” I said. “We’ll donate them to the Children’s Hospital.”
“That’s even better,” Edward said. “We’ll even fly Angela and Alice in. And your mother, too.”
The next day, as I was getting ready to go to the gynecologist for my next ultrasound, I turned on the TV.

The morning news went on, I just liked it for the background sound.
“… At Duchess Tanya Thornbury’s baby shower yesterday, the Crown Princess made a faux pas by

reportedly bringing a gift for the new baby, despite what the invitation said no gifts were required,” the

entertainment news announcer said. I gasped and felt nauseated. “The Duchess proceeded to tease her, and
the Crown Princess left the party early.”
They showed a serious-looking picture of Tanya on the screen. “The crown princess released a statement
concerning the event, ‘I think of Bella like a sister, I’d never do anything to intentionally hurt her feelings.

She’s just learning Royal ways. I thought she’d laugh over it, too. I didn’t mean to embarrass her,’ the
Duchess said through her representative.”
“I look like a spoiled, American baby!” I cried.
“Don’t you understand, this is what I was trying to protect you from?” Edward asked. “Don’t worry about it.

If you make a big deal about it, the press will notice and they’ll keep it going.”
“I want to reschedule the ultrasound,” I said.
“Don’t. It’ll show you’re upset,” Edward said. “She’s just a bully. If you avoid the public, you’ll look like it
affected as much as she’s claiming it did. Take a deep breath. You’ll be Okay. I’d call your publicist.”
I picked up the phone and called her in Paris. “Just tell them that you had been developing a migraine and
needed to go home and rest before the ultrasound and it was all a misunderstanding. That’s our statement.”
“Alright,” I said, nodding. “Will do.”
Edward and I went out to the car and, as always, there was a hoard of paparazzi waiting at the gate and
they chased us all the way to my obstetrician’s office.
They called to me, taunting me, but as my publicist said, I ignored it.
Inside, we were ushered in and I changed into a robe for the ultrasound. We were taken back to the

ultrasound room.
“Alright, we should be able to find out if you’re having a boy or a girl today,” my obstetrician said, entering

with a physician’s assistant.

She poured some warmed up KY jelly on my stomach and ran the device over my stomach. “Found it…

now…” she moved it around. “There….” She flipped the screen around to face us. “It’s a boy! You’re having a
boy… See?”
“It looks all fuzzy,” I said. “I can’t see.”
“Here,” she said, pointing. “Here’s the penis, right under the umbilical cord.”
“I’m having a son?” Edward asked. His face flushed, suddenly and then turned an ashen grey shade. “He’s
sucking his thumb already!” I squenched my eyes- there was definitely a thumb in the mouth. I squealed in

delight. “I need to sit down.”
I realized Edward had been looking at this thing like a doctor all this time- and now, it was real to him. A

human being inside my body that was half his. He was finally flipping out.
“He’s about to faint,” I said. “Seriously.”
“Oh God…” Edward muttered as the physician’s assistant got him a chair. He bent his head between his
knees. “God… this is real. A baby. He’s going to be screaming and needing diaper changes…”
“You’ll have a nanny, won’t you?”
“We weren’t planning on it… but I was expecting a little adult. Something I could communicate with,”

Edward babbled. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Edward, calm down, please,” I said. “We can talk about this at home.” Oh shit, I thought.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Ten

BPOV

I laid down and lifted my shirt- I had tried to clean off all the KY jelly they had smeared all over my belly,

but it had soaked into my shirt and I now had an oil stain all over this nice maternity top. I wiped it some
more with a towel when I saw a kick. I gasped. He had kicked before, but never when I had my shirt off and

could see my bare stomach move.
“Edward, I just saw it kick!” I cried. “Him, I mean!”
He was staring at my stomach in- was it disgust? A shock to me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your belly is looking at me,” he said. “Like one giant eyeball- like that evil all-seeing eyeball from Lord of
the Rings!”
I thought he had thrown up all his insecurities over the last hour- literally- and it was over and done with. It
only took me a brownie and some ice cream to get over my insecurities about pregnancy. “Less than

twenty-four hours ago, you were telling me my girth was sexy!”
“I- oh, God,” he said, clutching his stomach. “It’s real.”

I got up. “Edward- calm down,” I said, getting up. He backed away from me. I grabbed his hand and pushed

it against my stomach. He was kicking inside me, again. “This is what normal babies do. It’s real- you’re
right about that.”
Edward’s face soften as he watched my stomach, feeling the tiny foot through my skin. He felt it with his
thumb. “It’s a life- a human life- and if it messes up, every one’s going to hold us responsible for screwing

him up,” he said.
“Is that what you’re worried about?” I asked. “That we’re going to mess him up?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
“There’s going to be a whole staff full of people to help us,” I said. “And then, we’ve got the best shrinks

money can buy.”
A smile crossed his face for a moment. He kissed me. “I know,” he said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t very sympathic to

you.”
“It’s OK. You understand, now.”

~*~

When the news got out that Edward and I were planning a charity baby shower, Tanya sent me an email.

Isabella,
Darling! I didn’t know you were planning a baby shower for yourself! We were going give you a
surprise one, although I hate to ruin it for you! It’s your maid of honor’s responsibility,

although I am due before you and it’s very stressful, I’m doing it anyways! We have a room in

L’Hotel D’Amiritage already reserved and all sorts of baby gifts!
I’m so happy you’re having a boy! I can’t wait to see him- I do hope he has Edward’s good looks.

What good news for the throne!
Love and kisses,
Tanya

I wanted to ralph after reading this- she was basically saying I was ugly. I didn’t want to be within 30 feet of

Tanya- ever again. I knew that she was planning on letting the press know she was throwing me a baby
shower to live up to her image of being “almost sisters” with me. My “almost sisters” were Angela, Rosalie

and Alice.
Angela came to Generovia with Will, who was getting so big, I could hardly believe him. Once we got to the

Palace, I showed Angela my ultrasound. “See? It’s a boy!” I cried.
“Aww!” Angela cried. “He’s sucking his thumb!”
“Really? It still looks like a bunch of fuzz to me,” Rosalie said.
“Have you come up with a name, yet?” Angela asked.
“No, we’re still working on it and considering the royal family names,” I said, rubbing my growing baby

bump.
“You look so cute pregnant!” Angela said.
“That’s what the press is saying,” Rosalie said.

“I’m about to pass out,” Angela admitted, taking Will back. He was fast asleep. “I’m going to go to bed. Good

night, girls.”
“Good night,” Rose and I said.
The charity baby shower Edward and I held went over very well. We raised fifteen thousand euros for the
Children’s Hospital before the matching money.
Alice wasn’t able to stay, but Angela did for the Tanya’s baby shower.
I held my breath, not wanting to go, but this time, I was able to take two of my best friends along and

Elizabeth and Renée. Renée came in the next day after the first baby shower to go to the one Tanya was
throwing.
The press came along, and I did my best to act surprised when Tanya and all her friends popped out,
screaming “surprise!” And Tanya running up and hugging me like she was so happy to see me. She didn’t

say or do anything for my best friends, just hugged Elizabeth and Renée. She had finally gained some
weight- gah, finally! The vindictive part of me was happy.
Her friends bought presents for the baby- really pretty expensive things for decoration, mostly. Tanya’s
assistant took note of who gave me what, mostly, so I could write thank-you notes.
Renée felt very uncomfortable for once, because everyone was speaking in French and she didn’t speak a

word.
I was promised everything would be sent to the Royal Apartment in the Palace. Everything was done for

me. It suddenly struck me that I had left normal life a long time ago. I had married out of it.
Renée, Rosalie, Angela and I went back to the Palace.
“Could she be any more passive aggressive?” Rosalie grumbled on the way home in the car.
“She reminds me of the teachers I used to work with,” Renée said.
“Me to!” I cried.
“I didn’t think she’d ever gain weight,” Rose grumbled.
“I’m surprised the press hasn’t caught on to her, yet,” Angela finally said. “I felt so uncomfortable sitting
there with her.”
“I knocked the shit out of her on my wedding day,” I said.
“What?” Angela cried. “You never told me that!”
“I knew something changed about you between the wedding and the reception,” Renée cried. “That’s my
girl!”
“You hit a pregnant woman,” Angela said, her face pale.
“I just smacked her really hard,” I scoffed. “She deserved it, Ang. She went to smack me, first. I caught her
hand.”
“Well, as long as it was in self-defense,” Rose said. “I don’t blame you.”
“I really don’t like her,” Renée said.

~*~

As I progressed, Edward and I considered baby names from his family. It made me sad- I couldn’t consider
names from my own family. “It just make sense to make him Edward Anthony the third,” I said.

“Why not do something different?” he asked. “I like the name Jack.”
“Can’t we wait until it’s later kid? One that won’t mind as much?” I asked.
“You’re already planning on more?” he asked.
“Yeah, of course,” I said. “I always hated being an only child. Didn’t you?”
“I never considered it with you,” he said. “What are we going to call him if he’s Edward Anthony the third?”
“Eddie?” I asked.
“I still like Jack,” he said.
With each day, my stomach got bigger. As I got bigger, my libido got bigger, too. I got into the bed, one night,
wearing maternity lingerie, and Edward came into the room and saw me. “Bella, I can’t,” he said, groaning.

“We had sex this morning, in the middle of last night, right after dinner- I just physically can’t.”
“Why not?” I cried.
“You’re fucking me to death!” he cried.
“What?!”
“Don’t get me wrong, just give me time to recover,” he said. “And please, put some pajamas on. You’re very
sexy, but you’re making me hard just looking at you. You’ve drained me, literally.” I climbed out of bed and

stomped over to the dresser to put on some pajamas. Then, I had to pee. I had to pee all the time, lately,

since the weight of my uterus was pressing on my bladder.
I sat down to pee in the bathroom and looked down- and saw blood. A lot of it- and it didn’t smell like

period blood. “Oh god! Edward!” I cried, standing up.
“What is it?” he cried, running into the bathroom. I stood there, with my panties around my ankles.
“I’m bleeding!” I cried.
“Does it hurt?” he asked.
“No, but-”
He pulled my pants up. “I’m calling the obstetrician. Don’t move.”

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Eleven

EPOV

It was only a few minutes before paramedics came rushing into the royal bedchambers to get Bella. She was
strapped into a gurney and rushed to the hospital.
In the ER, she was admitted immediately- at met by our obstetrician. She ran all sorts of tests on her and
the bleeding finally stopped.
“You’re not in labor yet. The baby’s fine. You can’t have sex for the rest of the pregnancy,” she said, finally.
“That’s it?” Bella cried.

“I’ve heard of that,” I said. I was just grateful the baby hadn’t miscarried, yet.
“Yes. For certain women, sex at a certain stage of a pregnancy can lead to early labor and miscarriage,” she
said. “Get some rest.”
After she left, I contemplated three more months without sex.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Bella said. “This is going to be the longest we’ve ever gone with out

sex.”
“We’ll make it,” I said. “The baby’s more important than that.”
“I know,” she said. “I just feel like… I just feel like sometimes, I don’t know how else to show you I love you.
I can’t really offer anything.”
That was absurd! She was carrying my child, what other way was there to tell me she loved me? And
putting up with Tanya? That meant she loved me way more than she loved herself. “Bella, don’t be

ridiculous. You don’t have to show me that you love me. I know it. I can feel it. You can show me you love
me just by the way you look at me.”
Bella sighed. “I like having sex, too.”
“I do, too, but sex isn’t everything. We’ll have sex again after you recover from the pregnancy,” I said.

“Patience.”
I went downstairs to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee and to calm down.
I honestly thought she was having a miscarriage when I found her standing there in the bathroom, a look of

panic on her face, clutching her stomach. I was so relieved they were going to be alright. Upstairs, I found
Rosalie sitting in the room with Bella, who was sleeping. She smiled when she saw me enter, but didn’t say

anything. She got up and went out in the hall with me.
“She’s calmed down,” Rosalie said. “How are you feeling?”
“I thought it was all over,” I said. “I thought I was going to lose my mind if anything happened to either of
them.”
“You’re already thinking of the baby like a person?”
“Yes,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief at myself.
“She does, too,” Rosalie said. “I think you two are ready to give birth.”
“We’re ready to take Lamaze,” I said.
“You need to. It’ll help her. She’s looking forward to this baby so much.”
“I am, too.”
We took Bella home the next day, amidst reports of a royal miscarriage.
Renée flipped out and insisted on coming to stay with us for the rest of the pregnancy, although I knew
Renée couldn’t do much more for Bella. Renée was so absent-minded and Bella was always the adult

between the two of them. Renée just needed the comfort of being near her during this.
The next ultrasound showed a form that looked more and more like a baby boy. His hair was floating

around inside. He liked to kick and move a lot- Bella had been noticing.
At home that night, Bella laid in only a pair of boxer shorts with the DVD camera between her breasts,

focused on her stomach. We watched and waited- my son’s foot jabbed it’s way out, I could almost literally
see it through her flesh on her upper belly. We had it on DVD, now.

“I can’t believe I was scared of that,” I said. “What a beautiful thing.” He kicked again, and I touched it

through her skin.
“Maybe we rushed into this,” she said. “But, I just like the fact that we’re going to be a family.”
“I’m so proud,” I said, kissing her soft, round lips.

~*~

Lamaze and her yoga were going just fine until I woke up one morning and squeezing her elbow before

kissing her shoulder. Despite watching her diet and all the exercise she was doing, Bella had been gaining a
lot of weight in her eighth month. I looked at her elbow and saw my fingers had left an indention in her

skin.
“Bella, love?” I asked.
“Hmm?” she asked, waking up.
“Are you feeling tired at all, lately?”
“Yes, but it’s part of pregnancy, isn’t it?”
“No… not normally,” I said. “You look like you’re retaining water.”
“I am?” she asked.
“Yes. Look.” I squeezed her wrist and they left a white indention that turned pink, but didn’t resume it’s

regular shape. “This is not good. It’s edema. The tiredness could indicate toxaemia.”
“How do we know?” she asked, trying to sit up.
I helped her up. “We’ll call your obstetrician.”
Our obstetricianhere was no protein in her urine, but her blood pressure was somewhat high.
“I had it with you, too,” Renée said, sadly. “I’m sorry, Bella, you’re going to bloat up and have a racing heart

until the pregnancy is over.”
“It can even get deadly,” our obstetrician said. “It might even turn into eclampsia, the most severe and final

phase of preeclampsia. The best thing to do is to rest. You only have six weeks before the due date, but you
could safely deliver in four weeks.”
“A month in bed?” Bella asked, in shock.
“I’ll take good care of you!” Renée promised.
Bella looked at me, scared.
“We can put the baby in an incubator if needed if it’s early,” our obstetrician said. “We’ll have weekly check

ups until the baby’s born.”

~*~

Bella was absolutely miserable in bed with toxemia. Renée and Rosalie spent their days talking to her,

knitting, reading aloud. I thought Bella’s stomach got bigger, and she got larger- a lot larger.
Bella got edema, and her eyes got so swollen, her eyes almost swelled shut. Her cheeks got huge, and her

neck, too. Her fingers looked like swollen sausages and none of her clothes fit her any more. Her wedding
ring had to be cut off because her ring finger was turning violet. Tanya was having a beautiful pregnancy-

she was featured on the covers of French-speaking pregnancy magazines, holding her belly lovingly. Bella

was anything but photogenic right now with her edema. She felt even worse. From her breasts to her knees,

she hurt all the time. She had contractions at least once an hour, but we were told not to worry about it
unless she experienced four or more in an hour.
“I hate pregnancy,” Bella said. “I can’t wait until this baby’s out of my belly.”
She cried when Renée told her what the scale said when she stepped on it.
“I weigh 180 pounds!” Bella sobbed, coming out of the bathroom. “Was I really that bad with my diet? I’m
going to have so much baby weight to lose! I don’t know how I’m going to do it!”
“Love, calm down, it’s the edema,” I said, hugged her. “I love you no matter what you weigh.”
“But- but- I’ll never fit into all those clothes I wore before the pregnancy!” she sobbed. “They’re going to

waste!”
“They’re out of style by now,” Rose offered.
Bella laughed, some at that.
I checked her blood pressure and it was getting so high, I was beginning to worry. This could turn into full-

blown eclampsia and would kill both Bella and the baby. “I’m not going to induce labor,” our obstetrician
told us over the phone. “She’s got five weeks to go.”
“Her blood pressure is too high,” I said. “She’s going to go into eclampsia.”
“One more week,” she said. “Then we’ll talk about it.”
Bella sat on the couch while Renée read an English tabloid. She looked so bloated and pathetic, I wished I

could do something.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Twelve

EPOV

The phone rang on the nightstand in the dark.
I picked up. “Hello?”
“Son?”
“Hi, Mum,” I said.
“Tanya was admitted to the Michaelsburg hospital last night,” she said. “She’s having her baby.”
I sighed. I wasn’t sure what to tell Bella, who was sleeping, fitfully beside me.
“What do I tell Bella?”
“It’s over. You’re losing the crown. Tanya and William will be crowned once the baby is christened.”
“I’m sorry, love,” I whispered, feeling sick.
“Hmm?” Bella asked, her eyes opening.
“I’m sorry to wake you,” Mum said. “Try to get some sleep.”

“Thanks, Mum,” I said. “Bella, are you awake?”
“Um… yes,” she said.
“Tanya was admitted to the hospital last night to have her baby,” I said.
“I’m awake, now… are you telling me that you’re losing the crown?” Bella asked.
“Once Tanya’s baby is christened, yes.”
“Edward, no!” she cried. “If only-”
“I love you- so much,” I said. “Don’t ever say ‘if only.’ It’s just a crown.”
“Tanya doesn’t care about the people! You do!”
“The laws are laws, love. We’ll still be taken care of- and we can go somewhere and I’ll start a medical

practice and we’ll raise our baby- preferably, someplace close to Forks-”
“It doesn’t matter,” Bella said. “The Generovian government will fail again because you’re not there.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’d never risk you. Or our baby.”
Around 3:30 in the morning, my sleeplessness led me to watch TV- and await the fait of Tanya’s birth.

Around dawn, William Thornbury walked out in front of the hospital with a big, goofy grin on his face. “The
Duchess has given birth to a healthy baby girl- two point nine kilograms, she’s already got blonde hair- and

both mother and baby are doing fine! We’ve named her Margaret Megan Elizabeth Thornbury- and we

couldn’t be happier!”
I bet he couldn’t be happier, I thought.
I took Bella’s blood pressure at Breakfast- and again, she was higher than ever, but not deadly. This couldn't
be good for the baby. She was bloating up more and more. I called her obstetrician, again.
“She’s probably just upset about the Duchess’s birth and how she can’t get up to go see her and retaining
more water because of it,” the obstetrician said. “Keep her calm.”
“You’re killing her!” I cried.
“I’m not going to do anything right now,” the obstetrician said. “It’s too soon to induce labor- three more

weeks. A little water retention isn't going to bother anything. She's not seeing spots in her vision nor has
she had protein in her urine. If her blood pressure gets any higher or she sees spots, we'll induce her. Until

then- forget it."
I didn't have anything like MgSo4- I didn't have that on hand in the Palace. I couldn't induce her myself by

stripping the membrane. I'd be in a world of trouble if I did that- but there was one last way...
I stormed into our bedroom where her mother and Rosalie were sitting with her. “Rose, Renée,” I said.

“Bella and I need some alone time.”
“What’s going on?” Rosalie asked.
“Her blood pressure’s too high,” I said. “I’m going to try to induce labour.”
“No!” Bella cried. “Giving birth now isn’t going to make a difference, either. Isabella’s law is null and void-”
“You’re going to die if you don’t give birth soon,” I said. “Renée, Rose- out.”
“Well, good luck,” Renée said.
“Take your clothes off,” I said, unbuttoning my shirt. “We’re going to induce labour the old-fashioned way.”

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Thirteen

BPOV

I sat in the royal bedchambers, my heartfluttering.
I didn't recognize my fat fingers, my bloated belly, my breadloaf-looking thighs. Even my feet were huge. I
hid under the covers while Renée and Rosalie were watching the Generovian version of 60 Minutes. I had

had two contractions in the past forty-five minutes. I hadn't told everybody because I didn't want them
freaking out. I was told four contractions in an hour and I could go to the hospital to give birth by C-section.

"Could these people be any more Anti-French?" Renée mused.
"I made the mistake of calling Edward French once," I said. "The Generovians hate the German and the

French, since they invaded the country on several instances. They're very snotty about it."
Edward suddenly burst into the room. "Rose, Renée," he said. "Bella and I need some alone time."
"What's going on?" Rosalie asked.
"Her blood pressure's too high,"Edward said, matter-of-factly. Ugh, the doctor was back. I liked role-playing

with him during sex when he played the sexy doctor treating me for my nymphomania, but this was not the
sexy doctor. This was serious, matter-of-fact Dr. Edward. "I'm going to try to induce labour."
Induce labor? What exactly did he have in mind? Tanya's baby was born, we were too late! "No! Giving birth
now isn't going to make a difference, either. Isabella's law is null and void-"
His face twisted. I saw why he was taking matters into his own hands, suddenly. "You're going to die if you

don't give birth soon," he said. "Renée, Rose- out."
"Well, good luck," Renée said.
"Take your clothes off," he said, unbuttoning my shirt. He still looked incredibly sexy. And I was a fat,
bloated whale beached in our bed. "We're going to induce labour the old-fashioned way."
"How?" I asked. "You can't do anything medical to me!"
"Orgasms induce labor," he said. "It's really quite simple, actually- contractions help to induce contractions.

More contractions in your case. I won't have to do anything that will violate my medical licenses."
I couldn't even undress myself- I sure as hell didn't feel like having sex with him. It was like my worst fears

come true- I was some ugly, fat chick having sex with this Greek God. I was probably around 200 pounds by
now, I was gaining weight so quickly with my edema. "No way," I said.
"Do you want to do this with your top on?" he offered.
"No, it's just… I look so disgusting!" I cried.
"Love," he said, laying down beside me, now naked. "Love, do you know how I see you? I'll always see your
face the way I did the first time I made love to you- when you allowed me to take your glasses off- and your

face was all tear-stained and your eyes were red and your nose was running- your eyes were so afraid. And

I knew I had to take care of you- forever- because you were the best thing that had ever come into my life.
I'd die if anything happened to you." He kissed my forehead.

"But, I'm so gross looking," I said. "My stomach is covered in stretch marks and my ass is huge!"
"I'll always remember you in the townhouse," he said. We both smirked. "Come on. I'll take your clothes
off."
"Just from the waist down," I said.
"Alright, alright," he said, standing up. We struggled. Finally, I climaxed. No contractions, yet. I wasn't in

labor.
What a waste. Edward just had to fuck a whale and all for nothing.
"Sorry," I said. "I don't think anything's happening, yet."
"We'll try again," he said, patting my hip. I knew he wanted to hit my ass like a bandit when I was just

walking around and not anticipating it, but he hadn't done it while I was pregnant. "Come on, you'll need a
shower after that." He took my hand and helped me up.
And that's when I felt something, like a thread, break inside me, and water fall down my legs like I was
wetting myself. "Oh!" I gasped. "Was that-"
"I think you broke your water, love!" he cried.
"Put your clothes on- help me get dressed!" I cried. "We have to go to the hospital!"
"I knew it would work!" Edward cried. "I knew it!"

~*~

In our birthing suite, I had to wait until I was fully dilated before I could go into the labour and delivery

room. They decided to put me on a epidural early so I wouldn't feel all the contractions. My obstetrician

wasn't too happy that I had gone into labor so quickly by having four contractions in an hour. They were
coming on faster and faster.
"We have to get this baby out!" she shouted. "Screw the last three weeks! Get her into the delivery room!"
They took me into a labor/delivery room and strapped me down on something like a cross, including my

arms so I was motionless, and then put up a screen over my stomach so I couldn't see it. The next thing I
knew, I was be rocked back and forth while my obstetrician cut me open.
"It's a boy!" she announced.
"Why isn't he screaming?" I asked.
"Just a moment," Edward said, holding my hand. I watched as they rinsed him off and removed the phlegm
and mucus out of his mouth and nose and ears. He finally began to cry.
Finally, my son was laid down on my chest. My son was here.
His little face went from pale white to bright red. I couldn't help but laugh- and tears were blurring my

vision. How cute. He drew me in- he had no idea what was going on. His face was so red, it almost matched
the thin layer of red hair on his skull. He opened his eyes- they were a light blue. "Edward," I said. "He's got

light eyes- he's going to look like you! He's beautiful!"
"I want to hold my son," he said.
I felt selfish for a moment- I had held him- I had been the one who had carried him, been through pain for

him, he was mine, wasn't he? But, then again, he was half Edward. I had to offer him back. "Take him," I
said.

Edward picked him up, awkwardly, and gazed into his face while he screamed some more. Edward stroked

his son's head while they sewed me back up. By then, I was ready for the recovery room and let me off the
cross contraption. Edward carried our son to the recovery room.
Edward gave me our son back to me once I had some feeling back in my arms. By now, my boy had stopped
crying and had been put into a diaper and a blue blanket.
I had finally given birth. That was it. And it was all started because Edward insisted on making love to me.
A labor and delivery nurse taught me how to breast feed him- it took a few tries, but once he started

nursing correctly without causing me pain, he started falling asleep. "Hold him," I said to Edward. I was
already feeling tired.
"Yes," Edward said, taking him off my hands. "He's perfect."
"Yes, he is," I said. Maybe we had lost our throne, but I had gained a son- a beautiful boy. The throne didn't

matter right now. I couldn't have been happier at that moment.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter Fourteen

BPOV

I woke up to Edward holding our son.
“Have we heard anything from the Royal Advisors, yet?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “Maybe they’re not going to.”
“Edward, really,” I said. “I think that Tanya’s child is not William’s.”
“A lot of people at the Palace think so,” Edward said. The baby sighed. “We can’t just go and accuse her
ourselves.”
“I know,” I said, curling up in the bed.
“Let’s talk about happier thing,” Edward said. “We’re calling our son Jack.”
“His official name is James Anthony,” I said. “Jack is a nickname.”
“We agree.”
“Okay.”
Over the next few days, our friends and family came to visit us- Charlie even promised to come out to see

me and the new baby. He had scheduled some time off at work to see me after my due date, but Jack was
early.
I was excited when I woke up to see my face- my real face- in the mirror on the third day. My edema went
away, finally. The doctors finally allowed me to go home.
When we left the hospital together, Emmett escorted us out and the paparazzi took photographs of us-
pasting them all over the news media.

While I was recovering at home, the news was broken to Generovia that Isabella’s law was considered null

and void because another member of the Royal family had given birth before the crown prince and
princess.
I never expected what happened next- a riot in St. Juliana’s Square.
The Palace went on lockdown- they didn’t want the riots getting to us.
“We’ll all be safe here,” Emmett said. “Even Parliament is on lockdown until the riots end.”
I watched TV- and all the Generovian channels covered the riots. I was surprised. “The Duchess has no right

to the throne!” a rioter complained. “She’s a slut and doesn’t care about Generovia, she’s spent her whole
life trying to get the crown simply to have it!”
“Our Crown Prince and Princess are genuine,” a college-aged girl said. “Isabella cares about our children-
she volunteers and has a degree in education- she’s better suited to be our crown princess than Duchess

Tanya any day! Why can’t we have Edward and Bella for our monarchs?”
The images went on for three days, until the police and finally, the national guard got under control when

the pool butler came forward and claimed baby Megan was his to the media.
Tanya hid in the background, waiting for the media circus to die down.
Parliament wanted to have DNA testing done on Megan and William.
Finally, Tanya went to the press, crying that she got cold feet the night before her wedding and was drunk
and was seduced by the pool butler. Doubtful. She looked extremely sober when I saw her that night.
I called Charlie- it was almost time for him to come to Generovia.
“Well, of course, I’ve been following the soap opera in Generovia,” he said. “Who’d have thought she was

such a slut?”
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” I said. “Jack can’t wait to meet you.”
“I can’t wait to meet Jack,” Charlie said. “I’ll see you next week.”
“Wave hello to the Queen Mum when you stop over in London,” I said, since Charlie was stopping off.
“When will we hear back about Megan’s baby daddy?” I asked Elizabeth while Jack, Elizabeth and I sat in
the garden and played in the springtime weather.
“In a few days,” Elizabeth said, holding Jack. “I won’t have much respect for William if he stays with Tanya
after this. But, if Megan actually is his, he probably will stay with her simply for the crown, and make a big

deal about forgiving her. Money and power make you do strange things. One act of infidelity isn’t going to
change Tanya’s claim to the throne. She was born into royalty.”

~*~

The result of Megan’s DNA test was splashed all over the news. I felt terrible for the poor innocent baby.
She was actually William’s.
William gave an interview with a local news station that he forgave Tanya for her infidelity, as Elizabeth

predicted, and that he loved her, despite it. Isabella’s law was officially null and void.
I took it with as much grace and dignity as possible. “We’re free,” Edward said. “That’s one of the best

things about this situation.”
“Free at what cost?” I asked.

Edward and Elizabeth and eventually me, we had represented a royal family that unified Generovia. They

people were proud of us, what we represented. And we were being ousted because Tanya had give birth
before me. The government risked falling, again.
The maids began to pack out things and to make sure we were secure to be set up in our new homes.
Elizabeth and Gerard (who was retiring) were planning on going to a house on the French Riviera together.

Edward, Jack and I were going to go back to the townhouse I had lived in while they groomed me to be a
princess.
Megan wasn’t officially being baptized for another month, but we figured we might as well get comfortable
in our new homes.
As I was bathing Jack and putting a onesie on him, I heard the doors to the crown apartment being opened
and a familiar whiney voice ringing out.
“And I want this wall painted bright red- this is going to be my love den!” she cackled. Ugh. Jack began to
cry.
“You haven’t been announced, you can’t be in here,” Rosalie said.
“I’m going to be the queen, I can be in here all I want,” Tanya snapped. I picked up Jack.
“Tanya, this is still the crown bedchamber,” I said, walking out. “You’re not allowed in here without our

permission.”
“Unless you’re a maid,” Rosalie said, her eyes narrowing to slits.
“Watch your back,” Tanya snarled. “You don’t know what can happen when an American’s visa suddenly
gets lost.”
“Edward and I live here,” I said. “And it’s our private apartment. Please leave, you’re not welcome.”
“This is my apartment, now,” she said, an evil smile playing on her collagen-induced lips.
One of the royal advisors ran through the door. “Princess Bella?” he asked.
“Yes?” I asked.
“There’s been an emergency,” he said. “Your father was shot.”
Rose and I gasped.
Tanya snorted.
“Remember my wedding reception, Tanya,” I said, darkly.
“I’ll leave you be,” she said. “To deal with your father that deals with common criminals.”
She turned and left with her entourage.
I squeezed Jack closer to me. “What happened?” I asked.
“His flight was delayed because of the terror level in England,” the royal assistant said. “He was spending a
day in a hotel, and when he left, there was a car passing. He saw someone with a gun with a full clip-”
“And he jumped in the way?” I asked.
“He knocked him out of the way and was shot in the shoulder,” he said.
“Rose, help me get packed!” I cried.
“Does this sound familiar, Bella?” Rose wise-cracked.

~*~~*~~*~

Chapter

BPOV

The Generovian Royal jet landed in Heathrow London. We had to wait a few minutes to get cleared, but

when they found out who was on board, they let us off. We went through to customs. Elizabeth came with
Rose, Emmett, Edward, Jack and I. On the way to England, we found out that the car that Charlie was out of

the OR and was recovering but wasn’t out of the woods, yet.
I became antsy while we waited to get to the hospital.
“I guess this runs in the family,” Emmett said. “Taking down people that point firearms.”
“I guess learned a little too much from Charlie,” I said.
We found ourselves at the hospital, finally. “You’ll have to go,” Elizabeth said. “I have to go see the other
Elizabeth and her royal advisors, since we’re all here.”
“Bye, Mum,” Edward said, picking up Jack. “We’ll see you later.”
I went to the information desk, but was intercepted by a hospital representative.
“Prince Edward, Princess Bella, we’re so pleased to have you here,” she said. “Chief Swan is waking up. He’s
doing well, he’s stabilizing.”
“I’m relieved,” I said.
“Follow me,” she said.
We went through the wings of the hospital until we were taken to a recovery room.
Charlie was laying in a hospital bed. He looked completely grey- his right shoulder was completely casted
over.
“Dad?” I asked.
“Bells?” he muttered.
“Hi, Dad,” I said, going over to the bed. “Dad, do you remember what happened?”
“I saw somebody pulling a gun on a really nice car,” he said. “And I thought, ‘what a shame, that’s a really

nice car.’” He tried to laugh, but it hurt him, obviously, he stopped short.
“Dad, it’s not funny."
“It sure wasn’t funny when the son of a bitch shot me,” he said. “And when I got to the ER, I thought, ‘Man,
like daughter like father. I sure hope Jack doesn’t do this.’”
“Oh, Dad,” I sighed.
“I haven’t even gotten to see him, yet,” Charlie said.
“He’s here with us right now- Edward has him,” I said.
“Edward’s here?” Charlie asked.

“Yes,” Edward said. “Jack says hello.”
“I haven’t even gotten to hold him, yet."
“Here,” I said, picking up Jack. I held him in Charlie’s view. “See? Here's Jack.”
“Heeeeeeey, Jack,” I finally realized Charlie was completely high on pain meds and probably wouldn’t
remember this at all.
“Say hello to your Grandpa Charlie, Jack,” I said, although Charlie wouldn’t remember it. Jack yawned. Yeah,
high people could be boring.
Charlie was going to be Okay.
We were taken to a house that Edward had grown up in. Later that night, Elizabeth came home and we had

dinner.
I was exhausted. “You know who Charlie jumped in the way of, don’t you?” Elizabeth asked.
“No, who?” I asked.
“The Duchess of York and her daughters,” Elizabeth said. “The gun than man was toting could have

penetrated the car.”
“Sarah Ferguson? You’re kidding!”
“No,” she said. “Why do you think he’s in such a good room?”
“Because of his relation to us!”
“No,” Elizabeth said. “Why do you think Queen Elizabeth of Windsor wanted to see me when we got here?

She’s an old friend of mine. She wants to Knight Charlie for his bravery and sacrifice.”
“Dad’s not going to have a problem finding a girlfriend, now with the Lamborghini and Knighthood,” I said.
Elizabeth laughed. “He shouldn’t, that’s true.”
The next day, Charlie wasn’t nearly as high when we returned the next day. He got a bit cranky when Jack

started screaming, so I had to take the baby home.
That night, I went back to the hospital. “So, Dad, I hear you’re going to be knighted,” I said. “I’m sure you

won’t have problems picking up chicks from here on out.”
“Very funny, Bells,” he said. “I heard about how you’re losing the throne.”
“Well, it’s a blessing in disguise,” I said. “It means we’ll get to leave Generovia more often. Jack will lead a
normal life. He'll still be a Prince.”
He sighed. “Bells, I always thought you’d do something great with your life.”
“Marrying a prince isn’t something great,” I said.
“No, the opportunities I couldn’t afford to give you are being given to you through Edward,” he said. “He

loves you. You’re going to do great things as a princess, regardless of if you have the throne or not.”
“Well… I could,” I said. “I’d like to do one of those boundless playgrounds in Michaelsburg for the Children’s

Hospital- you know, the playground where kids of all abilities can play.”
“See, that’s a great idea, Bells,” he said. “I want to see you do that. It doesn’t matter if you have the crown or

not.”
“I know,” I said.
As I went to a more private area of the room to breast-feed Jack, Rose came in. “Hi, Bella,” she said.

“Hi, Rose, how’s it going?” I asked.
“I’m glad you’re sitting down,” she said. She looked excited and a little ruddy-cheeked. “You’re not losing
the crown, afterall.”
“What’s happened?” I asked.
“If Charlie gets Knighted, that’ll make you nobility by being his daughter,” she said.
“Rose, I’m not up for some weird Conspiracy Theory.”
“It’s not a conspiracy theory! The Generovian Parliament is talking about this! Edward was born crown

prince. And he’s married a girl who’s the daughter of a Knight. That makes his marriage arrangement
complete for the crown. So, he has completed the conditions to obtain the crown.”
“But Isabella’s law is-”
“The Generovian Parliament says that it’s not needed any more. They’re going to go ahead and let you and

Edward take the crown!”
“You’re kidding!” I cried.
“No. You, Edward and Jack have to get back to Generovia. Tanya and William are approaching the
Parliament tomorrow. Come on.”
“I gotta say good-bye to Charlie.”
I got up and took Jack back into Charlie’s room. “Dad? I gotta go.”
“What’s happened?”
“Your getting Knighted will make me nobility,” I explained. “And this whole mess with Tanya and William
and the babies- it’s going to be over, as long as we appear before Parliament.”
“I knew it would all work out!”
“Dad, I love you!” I cried, bending down to hug him as best I could. “I’ll come back to see you when I’m

done! Promise!”
“I love you too. And you too, Jack,” he said. “Bye!”

~*~

We got back to Generovia a few minutes too late- Tanya and William made their plea on behalf of
chronology.
As we went through Michaelsburg, the traffic was terrible. People were driving around, honking their car
horns and walking around with signs in French that said, “We want OUR Prince and Princess” and similar

things.
The Parliament was deliberating privately, no cameras.
“I have a good feeling about this,” Emmett said.
“Shh, don’t jinx it,” I said. Jack was gurgling and wouldn't go to sleep.
Back at our townhouse, Rose, Emmett, Edward and I started dinner while I put Jack to bed. We waited,

watching TV, for the Parliament’s decision.
“You know,” Edward said. “If we don’t get the crown, it’s not the end of the world.”
"I agree," I said.

"I'm still a Prince. That shouldn't limit what you can do. Charlie was right about you."
The baby monitor went off- Jack was crying. I ran upstairs to him.
He needed his diaper changed. I was getting so used to it, it didn’t bother me at all any more. “How’s my

little Jack?” he asked.
“Oh,” I said. “He’s fine. Just need a diaper change.” I picked him up. Edward was holding a fresh bottle of

breastmilk that I had pumped earlier. “Thanks.”
“Bella, I wanted to tell you something,” he said. He flipped off the baby monitor. “You know Jack’s two

month’s old, now, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course… wait,” we hadn’t had sex since the night Jack was born. Yes… “Are you suggesting we kick

Rose and Emmett out?”
“Are you suggesting that?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Please, do it,” I said. “I’ll get him to sleep, I promise."
Edward went downstairs to kick Rose and Emmett out. I heard him take the stairs two at a time and he ran

into the bedroom. I rocked Jack. The movement put him to sleep, finally.
I carefully tip-toed out of the nursery and into the bedroom. Edward was laying in bed.
"Let's not mess with foreplay tonight," he said.
"Agreed," I said, taking my top off. I didn't care that there was ten extra pounds of me, still.

~*~

In the morning, it was announced Jack would be the next crown prince. Edward and I would represent the

royal family.
I'd miss being Princess Bella. Just like I missed being invisible, geeky, awkward Bella.
But, life is change.
And change it did.
Jack became the older brother of three younger sisters, Anastasia, Elizabeth (Beth), and Renee, (Beth and
Renee were twins). My later pregnancies weren't as troubled as the first- mainly because I wasn't so

stressed out about the crown.
Rose and Emmett married and settled in Michaelsburg.
Alice and Jasper opened a design shop in Generovia so they could come out to see us more often.
Angela and Jacob had a second and a third child- Wendi and Samantha respectively- and I got to actually be

there for Sam's birth.
Charlie went back to being a fisherman on the weekends with Billy after he retired from the Forks PD. He

still drives his Lambo to pick up chicks and taught his grandchildren how to cast a line, which they practice
every summer with him.
Tanya and William eventually divorced over a "private matter" seven years after Princess Megan was born.

Edward and I bore no ill will towards the child, and we welcomed her into our home when they sent her off
to boarding school. She and Jack were inseparable and best friends.
Elizabeth settled into anonymity with her favorite Butler, Gerard, in the South of France. She keeps her
kitchen freezer stocked with Totino's pizza rolls at all times.

I spent my days as Queen attending to royal functions, fundraising and bringing awareness of the less

fortunate to the world- but being a mother came before all of that. My children quickly became the light of
my life. I was looked at by the world as the poor, ugly duckling who came out of her shell and brought some

good into the world. Little American girls wanted to grow up to be me, although I wouldn't wish my
heartache on them that I had to go through to be Queen. Edward had to risk his crown for me to be his wife.

And nearly lost it. But like all fairy tales... good triumphed over the forces of skanky ho-dom...
And Edward and I lived happily ever after.

~*~~*~~*~

The End