Page 31 of Complete Me

Belle shrugged. "I don't know. I never really had one."

"We're terrible at this friend thing, aren't we?" Edward pointed out.

"Maybe." She agreed.

"How about we get pissed and you tell me about the dangers of marriage?" He suggested.

"As long as your spouse doesn't have a murderous employer, I think you'll be all right."

She took a long sip of her beer and pondered what he'd said. Were there things she'd wished she had known before she married Smith? She hadn't had time to really consider her decision. They'd eloped on an impulse, and miraculously, it had worked out. Belle supposed that when you have people trying to murder you, you don't sweat the small stuff.

"You've grown dangerously silent," Edward said, lifting his glass and tapping it to hers. "Care to share?"

"I was trying to think of something to warn you about," she said, "But I can't come up with anything."

Edward groaned, and laid his head on the table. After a moment, he lifted it and gave her a crooked grin. "If only every relationship could be as perfect as yours."

"Mine's not perfect," she reassured him, screwing up her face as if the thought was unpleasant. If he knew the half of it, he would never suggest it.

"You never fight, always have a post-orgasmic glow. Your husband is gorgeous and rich. What don't you have?" It was a rhetorical question, but Belle answered before she could think about it. "A baby."

Edward set his beer glass down. "Is that something we want?"

Belle bit her lip and nodded. She had already come clean to Clara. It was time to open up to Edward as well.

"I suppose my days are numbered," he said sadly.

"What days?" She asked. They would still spend time together. They'd even go out to the bars every once in a while. It took her a second to realize that for the second time this evening, she was treating motherhood as an inevitability instead of an outside possibility. She wanted to slow down, and not get attached to the idea, but it appeared it was too late.

"David will want to adopt," he said, "and then we'll be having play dates instead of pub dates."

Belle scrunched up her nose. "When I think about spending the afternoon with Elizabeth, that doesn't sound so bad." None of them had complained about taking care of Elizabeth because they all adored her. The thought that Belle and Edward could add to the adorable brood didn't scare her.

"At least you can get pregnant," he said casually. "We'll have to adopt."

"You won't have any trouble." She said with a tight smile. "You have the pedigree."

"I suppose I could just walk in and take any baby I like." He said flatly.

"You are the Prince of England," she pointed out.

"I don't think it works that way, but if you're telling me that this whole time I could have been walking in places and taking whatever I wanted, I feel this should have been brought up sooner."

"It will work out," she reassured him. "It will probably be easier."

"Than your getting pregnant?" Edward asked. "I doubt it.”

“I've seen both you and Smith. Somewhere, the two of you are at the height of a Darwinian evolution chart. He could probably impregnate you just by looking at you."

Belle's eyes found her glass, and she stared at the tiny bubbles floating to the top of the golden liquid.

"I hope it's that easy," she said in a small voice.

Edward reached over and took her hand. "It will be." He had no reason to believe otherwise.

Belle hadn't shared her miscarriage with him, or her fears about getting pregnant. Maybe if he knew, he wouldn't have said it, but something about the reassurance, the confidence in his voice, made her believe it too. She squeezed his hand, then lifted her glass.

"I'm not pregnant yet. Let's drink."