DISCLAIMER: This chapter has many flash forwards and flashbacks. Sorry for the inconveniences. Also, still don't own Twilight. ONLY THE EPILOGUE LEFT!

[3 years and a half later]

"And I'm telling you we're not getting back together!" Vicky snapped for the billionth time, stabbing her fork into the salad.

"But he made a mistake, Vicky. Shouldn't you give him a chance?"

"No. I'm done with chances, and he's gonna have to find some other girl who's willing to be a stay-at-home mom for him," Vicky huffed, stuffing her mouth with lettuce.

Bella sighed, not knowing how to convince her friend to let go.

"He was shocked by you saying you wanted to cover stories abroad. You want to go into war zones, Vicky. He didn't even say he wanted a stay-at-home wife, he just said he wanted a breathing girlfriend," Bella explained, for once not caving under the pressure of her friend's glare. She felt totally intimidated, but in a complete betrayal of their friendship, she had to side with King James. She also didn't want her friend dying for journalism, selfish as that might be.

"That's bullshit and you know it. We've been dating for three years, and that asshole hasn't even asked me to marry him. I'm not gonna decide my future based on what a man who doesn't have the balls to bind himself to me legally says." Victoria growled through the lettuce in her mouth, spraying a bit on the table. "Sorry."

Mouth pressed into a flat line, Bella ignored it.

"Well, that's another issue entirely. If you want to get married and he doesn't, you have two options. Either you stay with him and wait for the day he miraculously changes his mind, or you find someone who does. I don't see the point in making yourself miserable over something you're so clear you want," Bella said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Vicky scowled fiercely.

"Get that obnoxious rock away from me," she pointed at Bella's engagement ring, but she didn't budge.

"No. You could have this too, if you wanted." She turned her nose up, even scratching her cheek with her left hand so Vicky could get a better look.

"Fuck you and your perfect fiancé," Vicky pouted, wallowing in self pity over her useless ex-boyfriend.

"We aren't into threesomes."

On her way home from lunch, Bella thought of the turn her life had taken, and the key points that had made her be where she was today.

"Is this for me?" Bella asked the morning of Christmas Day, when she found a small box with a ribbon on top lying next to her. Thankfully for the two, Edward hadn't been called in again, and he had the day off. The night had been spent making love and having raw sex -only low curses and each other's name could be heard after their first time together. They'd fallen asleep shortly after that, both of them drained; then a couple of hours later Edward had woken Bella up with sweet kisses down her neck, needing her again. A few hours after that, when the sun had shown signs of rising, Bella had woken Edward up with her own trail of kisses down his chest, needing him like she'd never needed anyone more. Sex with Jasper had been bland, normal, maybe even sweet because they'd loved each other. With Edward, every push inside threatened to unravel her, and every time he backed away left her fearful that he wouldn't thrust back in. It had been an irrational fear, of course, because he wouldn't stop until both of them had found their own release. Sex with Edward was everything.

He nodded.

Cautiously, she opened it, her eyes bulging as she held up the object to her boyfriend's face.

"You got me a key!" Bella exclaimed, stating the obvious. Smiling, he nodded.

"I figure you should be able to come here anytime you want and surprise me whenever." Edward explained, smiling when she launched herself at him and peppered his face with kisses.

"I love you," she repeated, over and over again.

"What about my Christmas gift?" Edward asked, once they'd had breakfast and (he'd) cleaned the dishes.

She gave him a blank look.

"Was the lasagna yesterday not enough?" Bella asked, enjoying when she saw his reddening face.

"It was, love. Thank you for making it." He instantly replied, making a smile spread across Bella's face.

"Of course I got you something, silly," she said, making him follow her to her overnight bag. He waited as she dug around, then turned around with a broad smile on her face.

"It's a new first aid kit! I figured you never know when Emmett might punch you again and you'll need to be better equipped."

-.-.-

"Edward, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Bella sobbed, banging on the door to his bedroom. It was silent on the other side, which pulled at Bella's insides.

They were currently in the middle of a fight. One that was sort of her fault, even if her intentions had been mostly misunderstood.

First, they'd been in the middle of a cold war because of Bella's jealousy. Justified jealousy, but jealousy nevertheless. Bella had gone to visit Edward at the hospital, still high from the feeling of having hit her one year anniversary with him. She didn't visit him as often at the hospital anymore, needing to take extra courses on Japanese to complete a level of language proficiency to do a sequenced MA-PhD once she finished undergrad. That, coupled with Edward's fellowship, meant they'd been having to fight for time together during their regular schedule. So when she'd gone to visit her boyfriend to find him hugging a female doctor, she'd been seriously annoyed.

"Edward?"

Edward had felt his blood freeze inside his body, hearing the chilly undertone in his girlfriend's voice. With inhuman strength, he'd managed to do what he hadn't during the last five minutes: he pushed Emily off.

"Bells!" Edward had exclaimed, admittedly looking very relieved and not too guilty when his eyes made contact with his girlfriend. He'd closed the distance between them, letting himself be pulled down by the lab coat for a hello kiss.

It had been too short.

"So, this is the infamous girlfriend?" Emily had approached them, looking way too much like a villainous character and not enough like a doctor. "I see you downgraded, Edward."

Downgraded? Excuse you, you bitch?

Frowning, she'd turned up to look at her boyfriend, who'd just flinched.

Are you going to defend me or what? Bella's eyes asked.

Or what.

"Emily, be nice. Bella, this is Emily, my colleague." He'd explained, shivering at the obvious anger coming from Emily.

"Colleague? That's what you'll call me? Fine," she'd snorted, giving Bella the once over. "Good luck with this shitty guy. He'll dump you as soon as he gets tired of fucking you, or when things start getting serious."

She'd stomped away, leaving a furious Bella with Edward.

"Who the fuck was she, Edward?" Bella had all but screeched, needing to remind herself this was a hospital. She'd grabbed his elbow, leading him out to the nearest exit so she could raise her voice as much as she wanted. "No, actually, what I want to know is why she insulted me to my face and you did nothing to defend me. 'Be nice'? What the hell?" Bella had fumed, and Edward hadn't known what to say.

"Um… I'm bad with conflict?"

Her scalding glare had confirmed for him that hadn't been the right answer.

"I'll be busy this week. Don't call or text me." Bella had snapped, too angry to think straight. It wasn't that she'd thought he was cheating, but the aspect of him not defending her had threatened to drown her in anger and jealousy.

She'd turned, and he'd caught her by the wrist.

"Seriously? You're not even gonna let me explain?" Edward had asked, tone disbelieving as he ran the other hand through his hair.

She'd shaken him off with one hard tug, eyes burning.

"Maybe once I stop feeling so humiliated," Bella had said, going away faster then so he wouldn't be able to catch her.

Bella had received a call from Rose a couple of days later, with the girl explaining that Edward had had a sex buddy, which was Emily, who'd been bitter over him not liking him enough to start an actual relationship with her. Emily had been stewing on her insults for a year, Rose had explained, and Edward had known that she was the type of vindictive person to spread rumors if he'd shaken her off more violently or made her feel like she'd 'lost' in front of Bella.

"But I'm his girlfriend. It's me he should've been concerned about," Bella had replied, wiping away the tears that had slipped.

"He was, and he feels terrible he couldn't think of a better solution. He never wanted you to know he'd had a sex friend, and he was probably flustered by you finding out about her."

Bella's nostrils had flared, now with anger towards her future sister-in-law.

"Well, this isn't productive now, is it? You're gonna defend your best friend no matter what, disregarding completely how I felt about it." Bella had hung up on her, and had sought solace from another person who could've understood her.

"You're being a brat and you should apologize," Alice had replied easily enough, making Bella's mouth drop. After time had healed wounds, she and Ali had renovated their friendship. They were great friends, and they probably would've been much closer if not for the initial fallout. "What does Angela have to say about this?"

"I'd rather stick my hand in a box with slugs than tell Angela about it." Bella had said indignantly. "She pulls no punches, and right now that she's on a break with Ben, she'd tell me to break up with Edward. I don't want that."

"True. Anyway, I've also got a dash of reality for you: you overreacted and left before he could even apologize. You let your temper get the best of you. You should also apologize to Rose for hanging up on her, by the way. That wasn't good."

Where have my friends gone? Bella had asked herself.

"Also, don't go around asking everyone you know for input. Knowing you, you'll ask Edyth or Nyla, then move on to any of your high school friends to back you up if they didn't. This is your fight with Edward."

Then Alice had hung up.

I am officially friendless.

So she'd gone to a trusty source the next day: her brother.

"He's cheating on you. You should dump him," he'd stated, switching the channel he was watching to a rerun of Iron Chef.

"He's not!" Bella had exclaimed indignantly.

"Of course he's not, you moron. That man worships the ground you walk on," Emmett had rolled his eyes, protesting when Bella had stood between him and the TV.

"Take this seriously. Do you think I overreacted, too?" Bella had asked, giving him such hurt eyes Em had to turn off the show. He'd patted the spot next to him on the couch, then put an arm around his little sister when she sat.

"You overreacted." Em had agreed, making her pout.

"But—"

"No buts, Rie. You could've handled that with more grace, and you didn't. He also could've been more straightforward with his fuck buddy, too, but I just can't see him being like that."

Bella's mouth had dropped in outrage.

"The first words he told me were 'who the fuck are you'! And that's when he thought I was your side thing. Isn't it logical for me to expect a bit more from him?" She'd cried out, refusing to believe she was wrong.

Em had seen her point, but hadn't budged.

"He also hadn't known who you were. You and Emily, on the other hand, have in common that he's—"

"I swear if you tell me he's fucked us both I'm going to break every piece of glass in this apartment."

"—had a relationship of some sort with you both. Give him a break, will you?" Em had diverted quickly, thinking of how well his sister knew him. "You didn't even give him a chance to explain, did you?"

Guilty as charged.

She'd spent the rest of the week thinking of what to do, leaving Edward on read and ignoring his calls. He'd even shown up at her house, but she'd hid in her room and had threatened her mother that if she let Edward in she'd name her firstborn Helga, the name of Mrs. Swan's nemesis.

By the time one week had gone by since their fight, she'd come to the conclusion that there was only one thing she could do.

So she'd called Jake and asked him to meet.

After the ER fiasco, they'd kept in touch. Bella because she'd wanted to check he'd survived, and he because he felt grateful she'd cared enough to keep an eye on him. He'd told her he owed her one, and she'd figured it was time to cash it in.

"Are you sure about this, Bella?" Jake had asked, face dangerously close to hers. She'd been having to remind Jake that she liked a two feet distance between them, what with how much he still tried getting into her pants.

"Yeah. Come on, let's do this before he gets here," Bella had replied; Jake had been crushed when he'd heard that Bella was taken, and had pulled back a little, but not completely. Enough for Bella to withstand, too much for her to attempt to form an actual friendship with him.

"I'm gonna need you to hold this," Jake had said, sitting down on the ground. She'd done as told, helping him with whatever he'd needed. Twenty minutes later, they'd been done, and overjoyed, she'd let Jake give her a bone crushing hug. Honestly, they were are awful lot like Emmett's.

"What are you doing to my girlfriend?" A deadly voice had asked, and startled, Jake had dropped Bella and let his wrench drop on Edward's velocimeter, causing it to get completely shattered. Suddenly, Edward's focus had changed.

"Gertrude!" He'd rushed to his bike's side, moaning as he saw the fragile board that hadn't been able to withstand the heavy tool. Glaring, he'd spat at Jake. "Leave."

"No! He—"

"Were you trying to destroy my bike out of anger or something?" Edward had snapped, pushing away from his beloved bike. "You should go, too. I have to make a call."

Then he'd stomped away.

"Sorry Jake," Bella had said apologetically. "And thanks for your help. I'll deal with the rest."

Which brought her to now, begging Edward to open up his door so she could explain what had happened.

She'd hurt Gertrude, which was a big no no in Edward's book.

"Edward, please," Bella cried, snot running down her face. "I was wrong, alright? Please let me explain. Please, Edgar …" She didn't use his nickname much anymore, but she felt this was necessary.

Still he didn't open.

Is this what it's like to be ignored?

Her crying intensified, and she fell to the ground, feeling the weight of her recent meanness fall on her shoulders.

"Edward, please…" she sobbed, banging her hand against the door. "I brought Jake to fix Gertrude! He's a great mechanic, and I wanted him to fix that annoying noise it had been making!"

The door opened.

"You wanted to fix Gertrude?" Was the first thing he asked, squatting down so he was at eye level with his sobbing girlfriend. Maybe he'd overdone it with his anger, but it had been bottling up. Bella ignoring him had gotten him in a terrible mood all week long, and it didn't make things any better that he couldn't let it show in front of his patients or coworkers. Then, when he'd been pulling into the apartment's parking lot in his car, all he'd been able to see was the monster of a boy that was Jake hugging his unresistant girlfriend. Worse still, he understood then what Bella must've felt when she'd seen Emily hugging him and him not shaking her off.

"I did," Bella sniffled, wiping away her tears harshly. Things hadn't gone as planned, which frustrated her to no end. "I wanted to apologize, and thought fixing your beloved bike would be a nice gesture."

Her lip quivered, but she stilled her urge to cry.

Their first real fight ended with Edward hugging Bella and telling her a single thing.

"Make up to me for the burst dash by cooking for me a month's worth of chocolate chip cookies any time I ask."

And so, Edward also gained ten pounds in a month.

-.-.-

"Congrats, big bro," Bella cried into her brother's neck, who swung her around as they waltzed. It was his wedding reception, after all, and he'd demanded of Bella to learn dancing for his special day.

"Thanks, Rie," he mumbled into her neck, wanting to cry as well. This day marked a whole new journey for him and Rose, and he couldn't wait to see what was to come.

"You'll make beautiful children together," Bella continued, and Emmett agreed wholeheartedly.

"They'll have to have Rose's smile, because mine sucks," he said, and Bella agreed with him.

The two siblings continued crying insult-like compliments for a while, ignoring the couple behind them that was also bawling their eyes out.

"Our baby!" Renée cried, her tears being matched by her husband.

"Our son!" He cried back, mustache twitching.

"It took so long to marry him off," Renée continued, and her husband nodded along. "We thought we'd have to pay someone to accept him with how long it took him."

Charlie wiped away some of his wife's tears.

"Thirty-three years old," they moaned together, thinking of what a close call it had been. They were both aware that Bella would probably marry Edward, and that she'd seal the deal much earlier than her brother. This saddened them, because their daughter would be moving out, but made them happy, too, because that probably meant she'd give them more grandchildren sooner rather than later.

"You're married!" Edward repeated for the nth time, holding Rose close. He had been Rose's maid of honor, while Bella had been Emmett's best man. The roles had been switched, but neither would have it any other way.

"I know!" Rose beamed back, letting him give her a twirl. "Tell me, are the idiot Swans still crying?"

Edward looked behind her shoulder, then shook his head.

"Their newest addition isn't. Remember, you're a part of the idiot Swans now, too." Edward said, and nothing would've made Rose happier in that moment.

"I am," she said, giving him a large smile. He looked at her pensively.

"Hey Ro. Did you know? I always believed you and I would end up married, even when I didn't like you that way," he confessed.

She gave him a pensive look, too.

"You know what? I always did, too," she admitted, getting another twirl. "Our mothers pushed us together too much for me to believe otherwise."

He agreed with the analysis.

"I'm glad we didn't," he said. "I still want you in my life forever, but like my children's aunt —holy shit I think I'll get my wish!" It dawned on him then, and giving him a confused look, Rose waited for him to elaborate. "Don't you see? We're marrying siblings! That means you'll be the legal aunt of my children, and I'll be the legal uncle of yours."

The wondered at that for a few moments.

"You're assuming Bella would marry you though," Rose pointed out, making Edward scoff.

"Please. I'd chase her to Hell and back if she didn't agree to marry me." He said in all seriousness, and Rose had no doubt that he meant it.

"Nice. Love through fear."

In the distance, they heard Mr. Hale also crying in happiness that their daughter had married off. Just him, because Clare Hale was busy drinking herself into oblivion alongside Esme Cullen, both being faced with the harsh reality that their families wouldn't be joined in holy matrimony. They each liked their son and daughter in law, and a lot, but their dreams of being grandmothers to the same children were now crushed.

Carlisle only cared that he'd probably have to carry his wife home.

Slowly, with a lot of time and effort, the relationship between Edward and his parents had improved. Both parties had been willing to make the change, and they apologized again and again to Tanya for making her be Switzerland. She was dangerously close to being able to tap into her trust fund, her grandparents having made the age where she'd come into it thirty, and the Cullen family and Bella were thinking of ways to get her to use it wisely.

She was an accountant, they really shouldn't have had to be involved in that kind of thing.

"Can I take him away from you?" Bella tapped Rose's shoulder, and both friends were startled by her. Had she heard them? How long had she been there? But Bella didn't seem aware, so they both relaxed, and Rose left to go find her bo- husband.

Husband.

"How was dancing with your brother, love?" Edward asked, wiping under her eyes when he saw her crying had smudged her makeup a bit.

"Awful. He's big and has two left feet." Bella complained good-naturedly. "I saw good luck to Rose."

"Your sister-in-law, you mean," Edward teased, and Bella just smiled back.

He gave her a very skilled dip, then brought her up again.

"Hey Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever been jealous of Rose?" He asked, elaborating when Bella just shot him a quizzical look. "I mean, I remember how much you disliked Maria when you were dating Jasper, and she was his best friend. I was wondering if it was ever the same with her."

Bella considered this question carefully.

"No, I haven't." Bella said honestly. "I disliked Maria because I wasn't delusional. She wanted Jasper and she was double faced about it. As for Rose... I always knew how in love with Emmett she really was. Her friendship with you is like mine with Jasper once was, I think. Minus the part where you two didn't date."

This prompted another question.

"Do you miss him?"

Even though time had gone by and Bella had settled her feelings about the time after her breakup with Jasper, she still hadn't been able to quite reestablish the friendship they'd once had. A few months ago they'd started trying meeting up once every two weeks, just to talk; though they always had fun, their time together wasn't as light-hearted as it had once been. It had gotten better with every occasion they met, obviously, but they were still a work in progress.

"As my best friend, sure. I think that what hurt me the most was that when I lost Jasper as a boyfriend, I also lost him as the friend closest to me." Bella admitted, having never been able to hide anything from Edgar. "But that's as far as it goes."

Edward hummed.

"I still get jealous every time you two meet up, you know," he informed her, which wasn't all that surprising. Edward's foul mood every time she called him after purposefully meeting Jazz had been really hard to hide, though she knew he'd tried. "Don't you think it's unfair? You see Rose and I interacting with a smile, but I bite a nail off every time you call to tell me you saw Jasper."

Bella rolled her eyes.

"Unlike you two, Jasper and I did have sex," she reminded him, giggling from his deep scowl. "What? That's why I don't find it unfair."

"What about Emily? You never said a thing about her after we made up. Never even asked for how long we'd had the casual sex relationship."

Bella glared.

"Are you trying to make me jealous, Edward Cullen?" She snapped, huffing when he gave her a twirl to avoid answering. "I don't care how long you two were together. I know you never felt anything for her, and you gave up on pursuing Rose to pursue me. So, should I have a reason to be jealous of them?"

Sighing, Edward brought his girlfriend closer to give her a deep kiss.

He really could never win against her in an argument.

-.-.-

"Hey Edward, where are you taking me?" Bella asked for the billionth time, unhappy about the lack of answers she was getting.

"Secret."

"I swear, if you're taking me to the gym under the guise of something else, I'll break up with you right now."

He'd done it before.

Edward just chuckled nervously.

"No physical activity, love," he said, and this placated her enough to stop badgering him with questions the rest of the ride.

"Are we there yet?"

"Yes, actually, we are," Edward said thankfully, having had to hear that question time after time.

"Can I take the blindfold off then?"

"Absolutely not."

Alright then.

Bella heard Edward getting off of the car, then open the passenger door. Instead of helping her off, he suddenly swiped her into his arms, princess style.

She hated it.

"Put me down, Cullen!" Bella screeched, wanting to make use of her own two legs. Though she struggled, Edward was stronger and determined.

"No can do, love. I have to make sure."

Sure of what? Bella whimpered to herself, finally going limp in his arms.

She couldn't make out a lot of sounds, and what was most prominent was Edward's footsteps. She had an inkling of knowing where she was, but whenever the thought started taking shape, a sharp noise or movement would startle her and make her lose her train of thought.

Bella sighed.

"You hate being in my arms that much?" Edward teased, actually enjoying having his girlfriend depend on him in this way. He remembered when she'd made a huge commotion over him carrying her after getting injured at the gym before finally settling.

"Yes," she pouted, poking her bottom lip out. Unable to resist, he bent down to kiss it. "Hey! I'm sulking over here!"

He chuckled. He was always laughing when he was with Bella, and he hoped to spend the rest of his life doing it.

A few seconds later, Bella heard a lock being turned, then a door open and close. Wherever they were, it was a closed space.

"Is this a panic room? Edward, I thought I told you I didn't ever want to step foot in one." Bella said; she didn't even know what panic rooms were really about, but their names weren't friendly towards coward-like people like her.

Again, Edward chuckled.

"I wouldn't do that to you." He promised, then set her down on something soft. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips, lingering just enough to leave them both wanting for more. "Please give me one minute. Can you swear you won't try to peek?"

"What's in it for me?" Bella asked, sounding like more like a witness in the scene of a crime unwilling to spill and less like a loving girlfriend.

"Me," he said cryptically, and then left before Bella could think of something to retort with. She heard a door open and close, some shuffling, and then the door open and close again. She heard Edward's footsteps, then felt him sit down next to her. Suddenly a TV was on, and she could've sworn she heard Kim Kardashian saying something about Kanye.

Then the blindfold came off.

Blinking owlishly, she opened her eyes to survey the area around her. It was a living room, she was sure of that. There was a TV in front of her, a low table and the couch they were sitting on. There was a glass sliding door, and through it she could see what must've been a backyard.

She recognized the layout; this was her dream house.

Then she turned to see her boyfriend, who was now wearing scrubs and had his arm lying behind her, on the couch's backrest.

He was looking at her with so much love in his eyes that she couldn't bring herself to utter a single word.

"Say something?" Edward asked, and Bella shook her head.

"Three years ago today, I went to pick you up at your house so we could go on a date. Everything had been carefully planned, but you went and blew all of my romantic plans away. You did the same thing for the first time I told you I loved you and when I asked you to be my girlfriend. One of the many things that I learnt in our first dates was that there was an old house you really liked near your parent's home, but that for some reason nobody was buying it. Then a few months ago you told me during dinner that the house was being renovated to attempt to be resold, and that you'd come to see it and loved it even more. So..."

Edward showed her some papers.

"I bought it."

Bella's mouth dropped open.

"I mean, what if we broke up and you'd bought it? That would've been terrible; I'd have been left with no girlfriend and no super swanky house."

She hit his leg, but still said nothing.

Chuckling, he got serious again.

"I want us to live here, Isabella Marie Swan. I want us to raise our children, spoil our grandchildren and chase your brother out in this house. I want to come home after a shift and sit down to talk about our day, mindlessly watching reality shows. I want today to be the beginning of that. I want to marry you, Bells. I want to build a family with you, and I want us to love each other until the day we die. You're everything to me, and I hope you want to have everything with me."

By the end of his speech, Bella had a trail of tears running down her face and snot pouring out of her nose. Her makeup was beyond repair, and she was splotchy red. If she'd been able to see herself, she'd have told Edward to find a wife that cried in a prettier way than her and leave her to fuse with the ground. But because she didn't, and all she saw was love shining out of Edward's eyes, there was only one thing she could wail out.

"Let's elope!"

"Our mothers would kill us, love," Edward said, a smile inching up on his face as Bella muttered that he was probably right. "So, is that a yes?"

She cleaned her snot with the inside of her shirt, because that's what classy girls did.

"I was trying to find a way to make a joke and continue with my streak of foiling your romantic plans," Bella laughed shakily, honestly. "I guess I can't."

Crying harder as she saw Edward slip a beautiful ring on her left ring finger, her answer was obvious.

"Yes, I'll spend the rest of my life bugging you."

"So, when do you move into your dream house?" Angela asked, catching Bella on the phone just as she'd come home.

"After the honeymoon. Edward has already started moving the heavy stuff from his apartment into the house, although I left mom a list of things she should throw away while we're in our honeymoon. Edward refuses to throw out some nasty shit, and I know my mother has no qualms about throwing out his stuff."

"And you don't?"

"I would feel bad and not end up doing it. That's love for you," Bella shrugged, then heard a baby cry in the background. "Is that Bree's baby?"

In a move that shocked all of them, Bree had gotten knocked up a year ago during a one night stand, and she'd decided to keep it without a second thought, never even contacting the father. It was even more shocking given the fact that right around that time, Lauren and Tyler's condom broke, which meant that now Lauren and Bree were proud mothers of months old babies.

In other news from that group of friends of hers, Jess and Mike broke up a short while after Jake's ER stunt, and they'd stayed broken up for almost two years. That was the amount of time it had taken Mike to get his act together and crawl back to Jess who, despite everything, still loved him desperately. Han hit the jackpot and became some quarterback's girlfriend, and Ben and Angela were still going strong, even if they showed no sign of getting hitched any time soon.

"It is," Angela groaned, trying to hush it. "Nothing I do works to shut it up. I love Emma, but fucking shut up."

Bella rolled her eyes at Angela the Impatient.

"She's a baby. She's probably just hungry," Bella said, looking at her watch. "Oh, gotta go. I've got a student waiting."

Bella was currently working as a tutor in basic Japanese. She needed the money for her PhD, which she'd hopefully get started on in a few months.

"Seriously? You refused a bachelorette party to work?" Angela yelled, frustrated to no end with her friend.

Tomorrow was her wedding. No biggie.

"Yup," Bella said, popping the p. "Bye bye Auntie Angela. See you tomorrow"

She hung up.

/././.-.-./././

"You look so beautiful, honey," Renée Swan cried, seeing her daughter dressed in all white. The dress was beautiful; it had belonged to Esme, and had been altered for the wedding. Renée had used a rental for her own wedding, after all, having not been affluent enough to buy one. Bella's wedding dress constituted as 'something borrowed', and she was using electric blue heels, which constituted as 'something blue'. Bella had always been very wacky with her sense of style, and had never cared about what anyone else thought, so why start now? 'Something old' was her pearl necklace (and engagement ring, she supposed, since it had been in Edward's family for generations), which belonged to Grandma Higginbotham, and 'something new' was her new earrings, a present from Esme and Carlisle.

"Thank you, mama," Bella sniffled, doing her best not to cry. She felt beautiful, too, and didn't want to ruin it, even if it was with tears of happiness. In the mirror, she saw reflected her maid of honor and bridesmaid.

In order to avoid conflict, Bella had chosen to just have Angela as her maid of honor and Rosalie as her bridesmaid, while Edward had chosen Tanya as his best man and Emmett as his groomsman. It had been hard, choosing the roles, but ultimately it had worked out for the best. Edward didn't have many friends, and none he'd consider asking to be his best man over his own sister or Rosalie.

"You look much better than I did at your wedding," Bella noted, pointing at Rose's dress. It was a mocha-like color and, in her opinion, quite beautiful. Angela's was the same but in emerald green, and Tanya's was the same mocha color but with a blue sash. Emmett's tie matched Rose's dress perfectly.

I'm so good at this colors thing, thought Bella proudly.

"Well, I did choose an ugly dress on purpose," Rose shrugged, not feeling guilty at all. She'd only done what was expected of her; ugly bridesmaid and maid of honor dresses were a given.

"My daughter-in-law is so bad," Renée sighed, winking at Rose. They both knew Renée thought it was neat.

"Hey! What about me? I look much better than you did at Rose's wedding, too," Angela complained, having seen the pictures of Bella's dress.

"Everyone looked better than me then, alright? Better?" Bella huffed, and the women laughed at her.

A knock came on the door.

Charlie Swan popped his head in.

"Ladies, it's time to head out," he said, telling them they'd head out in five minutes. "I need to have a word with my daughter."

He closed the door behind him, approaching Bella slowly.

"My baby girl," he said gruffly, mustache twitching. "You look so beautiful, Rie. I…"

Bella's eyes watered, but again, she held herself back.

"Thank you, daddy."

He reached out and wiped away a tear threatening to fall.

"I have something to say before you head out there," he said, and Bella could've sworn she heard his voice quiver with emotion.

They sat on the chaise lounge.

"You and your brother are my greatest accomplishment," he began, warming his daughter's heart. "I saw you crawl for the first time, and I saw your first tooth fall out. I saw your first day in school and your first day in college. I've seen your first heartbreak, and I see you now get married. I hope this is one first that is durable, and unique. I hope you and Edward always love each other, through your best and worst, and make each other happy. I hope…" he cleared his throat, needing to finish saying this. "I hope you're three times as happy as I've been with your mother, and that you have children as kind and good as I've had. I love you to the moon and back, my lovely girl."

"Dad!" She wailed, throwing herself into her father's neck. "You ruined my makeup!"

Chuckling, he gave his daughter one last squeeze before pulling away and standing up.

"Come on," he said, dabbing away at the waterworks. The makeup artist had predicted she'd be a crier, so they'd used any and all products waterproof for the occasion. He offered her his arm. "You've got a wedding to go to."

/././.-.-./././ /././.-.-./././

She saw him waiting in the altar. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She could only hear the blood pulsing through her body with so much speed it was faster than lightning. She felt her father's warm arm accompanying her, felt the weight of the stares of the guests around her. Without looking, she knew that on one side of the Cullen there would be her family sitting —her mother, her grandparents, her cousins. Her high school friends —Jessica, Lauren, Siobhan, Bree (with her baby), all with their respective dates. Her college friends —Alice with Jasper, Edyth with Nadel (they'd finally gotten together, after many years of Edyth pining after him), Nyla with her girlfriend. Jacob with his girlfriend Vanessa, along with his parents. On Edward's side, she recognized few people. Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, for one. Edward had invited Riley and Kate, as well as some very pretty doctor (Irina was it?). Mostly, Edward had invited work colleagues and college friends he'd kept in touch with, as well as family.

Bella didn't know why she paid so much attention to the people in the sidelines, when all she cared about was the man waiting for her at the end of the road.

Edward Anthony Cullen.

Her almost husband.

His hair was sleeked back to the best of his ability, and he was wearing a tux that she really felt like ripping off. No beard, thank God. So she saw his smile grow until it almost split his face, and much to her relief, she saw a trail of tears on his cheeks that mirrored her own. 'Beautiful' he mouthed, and in typical Bella fashion, she just winked. Few people caught the interaction, and those who did, awed.

"Love her," was the only thing Charlie said as he handed his daughter to his son-in-law.

"Yes," Edward said, and that was that.

Whatever the priest said was lost on Bella and Edward, who were too consumed getting lost in each other's eyes. At this point in their relationship, they didn't know who was cheesier. They wanted to be lost to each other now, knowing they'd paid good money for someone to tape this so they could watch it later and know what the priest had said.

Then it was vow time.

"Isabella," Edward began, then shook his head and started over. "Bella. My promise to you is best surmised from a quote in the classic Great Expectations. It says: "Love her, love her, love her! If she favors you, love her! If she wounds you, love her! If she tears your heart to pieces —and as it gets older and stronger it will tear deeper— love her, love her, love her!" That's what I vow to do, Bella. I don't know what adversity we will face in the future, or how many gifts life will give us. All I can do is tell you that come Hell or high water, I'll love you. I'll laugh with you when you're happy, and I'll hold your hand when we face the worst obstacles. Together. Always."

And as you said, you held my hand as life left my body, telling me over and over again that we'd face the worst obstacle, death, together. You didn't let go, and when I felt my eyes let out tears for the last time, I felt my wrinkly hand become warm with yours.

"Edward," Bella started. "As I tend to do, I wanted to poke fun at you with my vows. Say something about your proneness to accidents or how when we met the second time you did a spit take because I said something shocking." Bella smiled as chuckles filled the church. "But then I figured I have the rest of my life to do that. I want to live my life poking fun at you, and then getting offended when you dare retaliate. I want to live my life being chased around by you so I'll finally hit the gym, even though we both know I'll eat five minutes later the equivalent of whatever I lost in the workout. I want to live my life annoying you, and cooking for you then making you wash the dishes, and loving you and making you happy. I… I just want us to grow to be old, annoying grandparents that make their grandchildren eww and aww whenever they see us be cute together. I, too, vow to love you forever."

You did spend the rest of your life poking fun at me, eating burgers after going to the gym and annoying me in that meticulous way you have. And when we were old, crinkly and had to wear fake teeth and diapers, we still spoiled our grandchildren and annoyed them in that unique way old people have. We held hands and sat on the couch, glaring at our kids as they tried taking away the snacks we'd given the little ones (who were actually quite grown up). We, as they say, loved with a love that is more than love.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride," Bella and Edward heard, and didn't miss a beat before kissing each other in a way that was desperate and filled with love.

/././.-.-./././ /././.-.-./././

"So, how does it feel to be a taken woman?" Jasper asked, sipping from his wine happily. He has his arm around Alice, and the bride and groom were currently doing rounds saying hello to their guests.

"What do you mean, taken?" Edward huffed, kissing Bella's temple. "She's been taken for well over three years."

Jasper chuckled.

"You know, the day Izzy and I broke up," he began, ignoring Bella's glare. She still didn't like him calling her anything other than Bella. "I told her that I'd almost feel offended if you didn't put the moves on her. You took it too far, dude," Jasper chuckled, then yelped when Ali dug her elbow into his side.

"Well, one person's loss is another one's gain," Edward said smugly, getting elbowed by his wife.

"And you met your soul mate, or so you say, so everything's fine, isn't it?" Bella pointed out, having a thankful look thrown her way by Alice. She knew Jasper was totally over Bella, but it was still hard to see them being amicable like they'd been when they'd been dating. Especially when she thought she felt Jasper a little wistful over missing his chance with Bella. She didn't seem too put out over ending up with Edward, after all.

"That I did," Jasper said, kissing Alice's cheek and in the process placating her. "Still. You ended up with an old fart, friend of mine."

Edward's mouth dropped indignantly. Old fart? He was thirty-four! He still had a few months until he turned thirty-five, too!

"Oh, shut up, Whitlock. You're just jealous you won't age as well as Edgar," Bella sniped, and Jasper pretended to get shot in the heart.

"I remember when we still loved each other," Jasper whimpered. Bella shrugged.

"I remember when I liked you," they went on bickering for a few minutes, and the whole time Alice and Edward gave each other sympathetic eyes.

"Children, children," Emmett showed up out of nowhere, tugging along his own wife. "It's not good to fight."

They all rolled their eyes at him.

"What's up, brother?" Bella asked, fiddling with her new wedding ring. It felt odd, having two rings on a finger she'd never worn anything on. It didn't bother her too much; she knew she'd have decades to get used to the feeling.

"Your first dance as husband and wife is about to start. I was told to recruit you."

"Mrs. Cullen?" Edward smiled widely, standing up and holding a hand out to his wife. "Would you dance with me?

"Mr. Cullen," Bella sighed, slipping her hand in his. "I would love to."

He led her to the dance floor, where after a couple of beats, the song Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley started sounding out of the speakers.

Love me tender,

Love me sweet,

Never let me go.

You have made my life complete

And I love you so.

"Hey, Edward?" Bella said softly, humming along to the song.

"Yes, love?"

"Nothing," she said, not knowing how to continue. There was too much she wanted to say, but didn't know how to.

They said nothing until the song had ended and a new one had started, and now Charlie cut in to dance with his daughter, while Esme cut in to dance with her son. They danced half the song together, telling each other soft words in each other's ears. Advice, jokes, I love you's. Then the dance partners switched, and Carlisle cut in to dance with Bella while Edward danced with Renée.

"Keep him in check," Carlisle whispered in Bella's ear when it was time to give her away to Tanya, being the best man.

"Lord Disick all the way," Renée declared war on Edward before letting Angela, the maid of honor, take over.

They danced for another half a song, and then the rest of the guests were allowed in the dance floor. Bella danced with her cousins, her friends, her uncles and aunts, until settling on her brother who looked about ready to burst into tears.

"But you were doing so well," Bella sighed, seeing his red eyes.

"I can't help it, alright? My baby sister is getting married," he sobbed, lifting her up in a crushing hug and twirling her around.

"Your baby sister is dying," Bella gasped out, thankful when he put her down.

"B, I have something to tell you." Emmett suddenly said, pulling back long enough so she could see his face.

"What's up?"

He got his mouth really close to her ear, and said:

"Rosie's pregnant."

Then he immediately covered her mouth with his hand, having foreseen her reaction.

Once the initial squealing was done, he let her say her piece.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm going to be an aunt?" Bella beamed, lowering her voice as much as she could.

Proudly, Emmett nodded.

"Oh, brother of mine, I'm so happy for you." She said, properly reaching up to hug him now. "Do mom and dad know?"

He shook his head.

"No, right now I'm telling you, and Rose is telling Edward. We thought it was important for you two to be the first to know."

And now she was crying. Again.

Together, the new Mrs. Cullen and the old Mr. Swan cried.

"Can you believe Em and Rose are having a baby?" Bella said in wonder for the billionth time.

They were currently in their hotel about to head to bed. After some grueling endless hours, they had finally arrived at (surprise!) Tokyo, Japan. In a surprising move, Esme and Carlisle had gifted them for their wedding a week in Japan, telling Bella that it would serve as a preliminary scout for her years-long planned visit. Besides, they told her; she should probably go once with Edward, and which occasion was more special than for their honeymoon? And for the cherry blossom season, no less, given that they'd chosen an April wedding (April 8th, to be exact).

"I can, although I can't believe they did it," Edward said, laughing when Bella scrunched her nose up in disgust.

"I'm just saying—" Bella stopped. "What are you doing?"

Edward was currently resting his hands on her hips.

"Trying to get you to shut up about your brother and remember..." he paused, kissing her neck. "That this is our wedding night."

He pressed himself tightly against her, telling her what exactly he thought about her semi-nude state. She'd been talking and undressing, forgetting that she'd bought special white garters for the wedding.

Guiltily, she ruined the romance for her husband for the very first time of many.

"I'm on my period."

My God just one chapter left. Also, I used like three sentences from one of my other stories, so technically, I'm only stealing from myself. If you see any mistakes it's because I edited with burning eyes and I might not have caught it when I checked again; I did like three checks, and during the final one I saw how inefficient I'd been with the other ones. At one point, I had Edward calling himself Mr. Swan. Not the idea, fellas. I know many of you were looking forward to a sex scene, and while I enjoy reading them, making them is kinda hard. Very, actually, and I feel sort of lewd when I do write them so I never post them. On the other hand, I might try it out.

Leah.

P. S. I've been telling y'all I might make an outtake, which would be posted sometime within a month, so if you have any ideas about what it could be about, don't hesitate to tell me. I'm open to suggestions; it could be that you want a specific scene, or even a specific conversation, or to know what Bella or Edward think about something.

P. P. S. Did any of you see Riverdale yesterday? It was actually rather good, although to be honest I was only there for Cole Sprouse and he didn't have nearly enough screen time. #ShamelessAdvertisement

P. P. P. S. Again, thank you all so much for your support. Every view, favorite, review, and follow means the world to me, and you should see me when I read your reviews. Even the ones that just leave a smiley face make me smile on reflex. Thank you, thank you.