The Next Chapter Teaser...

“Sleep, Mrs. McCarty. In a few days, your sleep schedule will be all sorts of screwed up because of the baby.”

“Okay, okay,” she chuckled and as soon as she snuggled onto the couch, she was snoring deeply. I smiled, covering her with a blanket. My children were still enraptured with the show on the television. I snuck into the kitchen and began pulling together food for dinner. I decided on making rump roast so Rose could take home the leftovers when she had her baby. The meat made wonderful sandwiches.

After I had made the meat and set it to simmer on the stove, I made some roasted peppers. Once they were done, I put them into a bowl, covering it with some aluminum foil. Checking on the kids, I noticed that my children conked out on the couch opposite of Rose. Evan was whimpering quietly in his pack and play. “Come here, buddy,” I said as I scooped him up. He nestled in my arms and I knew immediately why he was whimpering. “You got a wet diaper, Evan. Did you go potty?”

He gurgled, putting his head on my shoulder. I picked up his diaper bag and set him up on the island. Quickly, I changed his diaper. “Oooh, big boy, you did more than pee in your diaper.” He gave me a gummy, quasi-toothy grin, kicking his feet. “You smell like you daddy. Can you say daddy?”

“Da! Da! Da!” he changed, putting one of his feet in his mouth. I chuckled and wrapped him in a new diaper, scooping him back into my arms. “Da! Da!” He reached over my shoulder and I knew why. Edward was standing there, giving me a soft grin.

“You’re so good with babies, Bella,” he whispered wistfully.

“They are adorable,” I said, kissing Evan’s warm skin.

“Are we babysitting?” he asked, taking the squirming Evan from my arms.

“Kind of. Rose was exhausted and I put her to sleep on the couch. She’s going to stay with us until Emmett gets back from the state tournament. If she goes into labor while he’s gone…”

“Smart idea, beautiful girl,” Edward smiled, kissing my lips sweetly.

“Daddy,” came sleepy voices from the family room. David wandered into the kitchen and hugged his father’s legs. Lizzie was snuggled on the couch, her head on Marie’s tummy. Marie was rubbing her eyes and yawning widely. Edward picked up his groggy son and quietly snuck into the family room. He crouched down. Marie clambered onto his shoulders and Edward picked up Lizzie who was still half asleep. He clumsily stumbled into the living room with our three children using my husband as human kid-hanger. I giggled as he sat down on the living room couch. His children crawled over him and were so happy that their daddy was home. Nessie, the crazy dog, even jumped into the fray. I was about to get my phone from my purse when Rose let out a sharp yell.