Chapter 1
"Goodbye my loves" Edward says as he gets up from the kitchen table.
"Bye Daddy" Lila says, quickly bringing her face up to receive a kiss from her father before bringing it back down and continuing to devour her eggs. I look from our beautiful daughter to my handsome fiancé as he makes his way over to where I am.
"I love you." he says, and bends down to place a soft kiss on my lips. Even after so long together, his kiss still sends shivers down my spine.
"I love you too. Be careful"
"I always am" he says, winking at me. He grabs his suitcase and makes his way out the door.
"Are you almost done, sweetie? Aunt Alice is waiting for you" I say to my daughter. She looks up to me and places a spoonful of eggs in her mouth. I smile and grab her napkin, wiping off the food from her face. I take her out of her chair and place her on the floor, telling her to go grab her bag from her room.
It's been over 2 years since that horrible day where I thought my life was over. Instead, it became the day my life began.
Edward and I have been living our happily ever after, with our daughter and our good friends near by. Our daughter, Lila turned 2 a couple of months ago. Edward and I are still engaged, but that's about to change next week. Edward and I are finally getting married.
We had decided to wait until I graduate college to get married, which is happening this weekend. I have my last class this morning, and then after our honeymoon, I will start my new job as an accountant for the same company Edward works for. We have grown close to Emmett's parent's and when Carlisle offered this job for me, I was ecstatic.
"Ready, Momma" Lila says, running back into the kitchen with her Tinkerbell backpack over her shoulder and her brown hair in an organized mess all over her head. I bend down and untie her hair, run my hands through it and put the pony tail back.
I walk over and grab my bag from the counter and turn back to my daughter, grabbing her hand in mine and walking out the door. We get in and make our way a couple of blocks over to Alice's house. Alice found out she was pregnant the same day I got out of the hospital, so my nephew Blake is a little less than 9 months younger than Lila. Alice has watched Lila for me whenever I needed her because of school or anything else. She's been a great friend as well as sister in law.
We stop in front of Alice's house and I walk to the backseat and take Lila out of her car seat and once I put her on the ground, she starts running to the front door. I join her just before Alice opens the door.
"Aunt Alice!!!" Lila screams, jumping into Alice's arms.
"Hey girly. Go on in and join Blake, he's eating breakfast" she says, placing a kiss on her head and then Lila shoots past her and into the kitchen.
Alice and I look at each other and laugh. Lila loves spending time with her aunt and her cousin, but she is in love with her uncle Jasper.
"Hey Bells, you excited for Saturday?" she says
"Excited for Saturday but Anxious for Next Saturday" I say with a smile. Edward and my wedding day is next Saturday. Alice and Rose helped me plan everything, including the honeymoon.
"You'll do great on both days, Bella" she says with a smile. I laugh and then nudge her shoulder with mine and tell her I'll be back later.
I walk back towards my car and get in, heading towards school.
******
I get into my car after the last day of school. I still cant believe I'm actually a college graduate right now. I never thought I'd get the chance to go, but thankfully Edward came into my life and changed all that. The drive finally comes to an end when I stop in front of Alice's house and shut the car off. I get out and walk up to the front door and smile as the door opens and Lila comes running to me, telling me how much she missed me.
"I missed you too, baby. Did you have fun today?" I ask, picking her up and walking her inside the house. She nods her little head and squeezes me tighter. I put her down once we're inside and she goes running to the living room, joining Blake.
"Hey Al" I say once I step in the kitchen to see Alice standing behind the stove, cooking.
"Hey, How was it today?" I take a seat behind the counter
"It was good. Just a lot of last minutes things and stuff like that"
"I'm so proud of you, Bella." she says
"Thanks Alice. I'm proud of myself too" I say and then ask her if she needs any help, to which she tells me she's got it and tells me to keep my butt in the chair.
30 minutes later, I'm helping Alice set the table for dinner. Jasper got home a couple of minutes ago and he is currently in the living room with his son on one knee and his niece on the other, watching "The Wonder Pets".
My phone rings from my pocket as I'm making my way back to the kitchen to collect more plates. I reach my hand in and grab my phone and smile when I see that it's Edward.
"Hey handsome"
"Hey beautiful. I'm almost home, are you there yet?"
"No, I'm at Alice's. I thought you were going to be late so she asked if I wanted to stay for dinner."
"Ok. I'll be there in 10 minutes. I love you" I tell him I love him and end the call.
"Alice, your brother will be here in 10 minutes" I tell her when I get back into the kitchen.
"Good. I made extra anyway."
I continue to set the table, making another place for Edward. He comes in a couple of minutes after and I walk over and wrap my arms around him.
"I missed you" I whisper into his chest.
"Me too, baby" he says before bringing his lips down and placing a kiss on the top of my head. Lila must sense that her father is near by, because she hops off of Jasper's knee and comes running to where we're at.
"Hey Princess" Edward yells when he sees his daughter making her way towards him. He lifts her up into a hug and she brings her little face up to his and kisses his cheek.
"Dinner's ready" Alice yells. Edward and I make our way to the table and he puts Lila in a chair between us.
*****
After dinner, and talking, we say our goodbye's and get into our cars and drive home.
Once we get there, I get out and see that Lila has fallen asleep in the back seat. Edward gets out of his car and walks to my side, and when he sees that Lila is sleeping, he reaches down and unbuckles her. He pulls her into his arms, and I grab her backpack and we make our way inside the house.
I put her bag down and meet Edward in Lila's room, where we change her and put her in bed. We turn to walk out of the room, but Edward stops me once we reach the door. I look back at him and he motions for me to look back. I turn back and watch our beautiful daughter as she sleeps.
"Thank you, Bella" he says, eyes still on our daughter's sleeping form
"For what?"
"For her" I get up on my tip toes and press my lips against his. We leave the room then, and walk across the hall to our room where our lips meet once again.
His hands move up and down my sides as our lips move together. I bring my hands up and fist them in his hair, which makes him moan into my mouth. I kick off my shoes, and he does the same, our lips don't leave each other. His hands move down from my sides and he cups my bottom in his hands, lifting me up. My legs wrap around his waist as he walks us into the bathroom, and sits me down on the counter.
His lips leave mine and move to my neck as he grabs the bottom of my shirt and starts to tug it off of my body. My hands work fast to untie his tie and unbutton his shirt, and I slide it off of him once I've finished.
We continue to undress each other, our lips on each other in one way or another. Completely nude, we make our way to the shower and step in. Edward turns me around so I'm facing him and lift one of my legs up, hitching it around his waist and entering me slowly as the water cascades down our bodies. I grab onto his shoulders, keeping myself steady as we rock against one another. I throw my head back, up against the tiles as our pace quickens, causing fire to spread through my body until I feel my insides begin to quiver.
Edward groans my name as he finds his release, pouring himself into me, but not pulling back from my body. I bring my head up and stare into the eyes of the love of my life, and grab his face in my hands, kissing his lips lovingly.
He slides out of my once our breathing returns to normal, and we continue our shower. We take turns washing each other, and rinsing under the flow of water, which has now turned cool.
Edward shuts of the water, and he steps out, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around my shoulders before going back and getting one for him. We dry ourselves off and I slip on my nightgown, while he tugs on some boxers and gets into bed.
"How was your day" I ask as I slip in next to him. He brings his arm out and I snuggle into his side.
"It was good. How was yours?"
"Good. It was basically just last minute things and what to do on Saturday"
"I can't tell you how happy I am Bella. Graduation this Saturday and then our wedding next Saturday…" he says and then kisses my temple.
I shut off the light and scoot closer to Edward. He wraps his arms around me and after a couple of minutes, the comfort of his smell and the sound of his breathing lulls me to sleep.
*******
EPOV
"Today is an important day for mommy, so we have to dress up real nice and cheer her on, ok?" I say to Lila as I zip up her dress. She nods her head and I kiss her, telling her to wait for me in her room.
I walk into my bedroom after Lila runs off, and I spot Bella combing her hair in front of the bathroom mirror. I walk over behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, resting my chin on her shoulder.
"You look beautiful, baby. You're going to be late if you don't hurry up" she smiles at me in our reflection in the mirror and brings her hand up to caress the side of my face.
"Ok. I'll see you guys there. Remember to bring some quiet things for Lila to play with if she gets bored and don't forget the camera." she turns to face me and I nod my head, before leaning down and kissing her mouth.
She walks out of the bathroom, grabbing her cap and gown from behind the door and walks out. I finish getting myself ready and then go and grab Lila from her room, making sure I have the camera and she has some crayons and a coloring book in her backpack.
We walk out to the car and drive over to Alice and Jasper's place. I honk the horn in the driveway and watch as they all come out. Alice dressed Jasper and Blake to match and I know Bella is going to want a picture of this so I roll down my window.
"Jazz! Get over here, let me get a picture of you and Blake!" Jasper walks up to me and proudly shows the matching outfits him and his son are wearing. Emmett and Rose watch as I snap a picture quickly and thank him and they make their way up to the car.
I wait until Jasper and Emmett are behind the wheel of their cars, and then I start driving down the road and towards Bella's school.
The parking lot is filling up quick, so Jazz, Emmett and I park next to each other. I get out of the car and walk to the back, getting Lila out of her seat and grabbing her bag. I wait with her, hand in hand, as Jasper and Alice get Blake and all of his things out of the car and Emmett and Rose join us.
Together we all make our way onto campus and follow the crowd of people in front of us, into the auditorium. We find our seats and we all settle in and wait for the ceremony to start.
The dean of the school gets up and makes an eloquent speech. I look in the crowd of students for Bella and smile when she looks back at me and waves.
"Mommy!!! There's mommy!!" Lila yells out, causing most of the crowd to look back and smile. Bella waves back at her and blows a kiss, and then turns around when they announce that they're going to hand out the diplomas.
"……Peter Stevens…. June Summers…..Isabella Swan" We all stand up and cheer as we watch Bella walk across the stage and collect her diploma. Lila jumps up and down her chair and waves her arms at her mother, and I grab the camera and take pictures of her getting the diploma and shaking hands with the dean, and the counselor.
Before she leaves the stage, Bella's eyes meet mine and she blows a kiss to me and mouths "I love you". I mouth it back as my eyes become misty.
I look over at my sister, and see that tears are falling from her eyes as well and I smile. We're so proud of Bella for getting here.
The ceremony finishes and Bella runs back to us, diploma in hand and jump up into my arms.
"You did it, baby. You did it" I say into her hair as I grip her to me.
"Thank you so much, Edward. Without you, this never would have been possible. I love you so much" I place kisses from her temple to her jaw, before bringing my lips to hers and kissing her, pouring all of the love I have for her into the kiss. A throat clears next to us and we look up to see Alice, hands on her hips.
"Can I get a turn, Edward? Geez, you guys have plenty of time for all of that later" we laugh and I put Bella down, and she walks over to Alice, pulling her into a hug.
They separate and Lila tugs on her mother's gown and Bella reaches down and picks up her daughter, holding her close.
"You look pretty, Mommy" she says.
"Not as pretty as you, baby" she says, kissing the top of Lila's head and then putting her down and walking over to Jasper, Emmett Rose and Blake and hugging all of them.
We make our way out of the building and Bella drops off her cap and gown, but keeps her tassel. We walk over to the car and we decide to meet at the Italian restaurant for dinner.
I get into the drivers seat and wait for Bella to bring her car around. I follow her home once I see her and once we get there, we all go in and change for dinner.
******
I waited in the bedroom for the right time to give Bella her graduation gift. Alice had been keeping a hold on this for me and when I asked her if I could give them to Bella, she proudly handed them over.
Bella walks in the room, and walks to the closet taking out a black dress and some black pumps. I watch as she undresses and changes into the dress, and then comes over to me so I can zip up the back. I get a kiss on the lips when I finish and she walks over to her shoes, slipping them on and walking into the bathroom.
I watch from the doorway as Bella picks up different pieces of jewelry, trying to see which piece would look good with her dress. She goes through everything in her jewelry box, before looking over at me and telling me nothing looks good with the dress.
"I have something that will look good with it" I say and walk over to her. I held the necklace behind my back, and stepped behind her. I kiss her neck before lifting up the chain in my hands and bringing it around her neck. She gasps when she sees the diamonds on the necklace and once it's fastened behind her, she turns to face me.
"Edward… this had to be expensive…. You shouldn't have…. It's beautiful, but you shouldn't have"
I bring my hands up and cup both of her cheeks, and smile at her.
"It was my mother's." she looks up at me and wraps her arms around me.
"Thank you so much. It's beautiful."
****
We get to the restaurant and the hostess shows us to our table, where everyone is there waiting for us already.
We take our seats and Alice and Rose compliment the necklace around Bella's neck.
"Thank you. It's beautiful, thank you for letting me have it, Alice."
"You're family, Bella. My mom would have loved for you to have it."
We all begin our own discussions, while the kids color on their kids' menus.
"I can't wait until next week, Bella. So you know we're going to rent a room in the hotel to spend the night in and get ready in the day of, right?" Rose says
Bella nods her head and smiles. Since Bella's dad passed away, Carlisle offered to walk her down the aisle. We've gotten close to Emmett's parents these past 2 years, and they've become our surrogate parents.
"I had them put the wedding announcement in the paper. I made sure they put that you were going to be walked down the aisle by Carlisle, and that your dad would be at your side, in spirit as well." Alice says. Bella looks over to her and grabs her hand in hers.
"Thank you Alice."
Our food arrives and we all eat. We laugh when Emmett makes some crude comments and Rose smacks him in the chest.
After dinner we all say goodbye and make our way back home. Bella takes Lila to the bathroom and brushes her teeth and cleans her up before putting her to bed. I walk to the bedroom and jump into the shower and after a couple of minutes, I feel a blast of cool air and look up to see Bella stepping in with me.
I pull her close to me and she grabs on to my hair.
"I keep on thinking this is a dream. I pinch myself, expecting to wake up in that house in the woods…" she says, burying her face into my neck.
"This is real, baby. I'm here with you, and this isn't a dream, and all we have to do now is live. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore"