A/N: Of course most of you knew what Edward asked …

Two years later

BPOV

"Happy birthday, dear Bella, happy birthday to yooooooou!" Emmett, Renee and Lily dragged out the last syllable for a ridiculously long time. Emmett took a dramatic bow at the end, sending the girls into fits of giggles.

"Very nice," said Edward sarcastically.

We were sitting in the back yard, enjoying a rare day of fall sunshine. And I was 40.

"It's my birthday," I said with a serene smile. "So someone else can burp him." Instantly, five pairs of hands were thrust under my face. I'm surprised they didn't snatch him right off my breast in their haste to hold him.

Baby Jake was just finishing his lunch and starting to doze off in my arms. I picked him up and handed him to Esme while I covered up. "Use a cloth – last time, he spit up all down your back," I warned her. Esme wandered away into the garden, holding her grandson and cooing away. She was in heaven – even when he threw up down her back.

It wasn't every year that you became a grandma again – four times over. A moment later, Rosalie came out of the house, her arms full.

"Here you," she said, putting one toddler in Carlisle's arms and the second one in Alice's lap. "Now everyone gets a baby."

"I want a baby," whined Lily.

"I want a baby too," echoed Renee. Edward murmured something that sounded like "Over my dead body."

Rosalie sat down in the lounge chair and put on her sunglasses. "Wake me in about three days," she said to Emmett. He grinned and came up behind her to give her a shoulder massage.

"World's best mom," he said, his eyes brimming with love. Alice made a gagging sound, and he aimed a swat at her. "Jealous?" Emmett asked.

"Not a chance," said Alice with great contentment. Alice and Jasper had successfully resisted the Cullen baby boom by their own choice. "Why do I need to have a baby when I have all these delicious morsels to play with and then hand back to their parents at the end of the day?" She bounced Charlotte on her knee, who laughed in response. "See? They all love Auntie Alice." As well they should – Alice kept all the babies ridiculously well clad. Renee now had three designer handbags that collectively cost more than my car.

"D'ya think this one will want to be a doctor?" murmured Carlisle to himself, holding up Ethan.

Rosalie and Emmett's twins were just over a year old. They were – as Esme delicately referred to it – an "unexpected pleasure." Which meant that Edward and I did have a wedding in Vegas – but it ended up being Rose and Emmett's shotgun wedding, not ours.

Edward and I had married not long after he proposed in a small ceremony at an inn north of the city. Lily and Renee had been flower girls. Carlisle stood for Edward, Rose stood for me. Again.

"Isn't it bad luck if you stand up for someone at their second wedding when you stood up for them at the first one?" Rose had fretted.

"It's not like you were responsible for the end of the first marriage, Rose," I pointed out. "And who else would I have with me on my wedding day than you?"

After much debate and more than a few tears, we had decided to sell Edward's house and move into mine. The person who ended up buying it was a fabulous woman in her mid-40s, single, dynamic and successful. Her name was Kim, and she and I clicked from the first day.

"Why has this piece of railing been removed?" asked the house inspector severely as he reviewed the house prior to the sale. Edward and I stammered our way through a lame explanation which nobody believed. Afterward, Kim pounced on me and demanded the real story. I told her – reluctantly – and she squealed with delight.

"See, I knew moving here was the right thing. It's a sign that I'm going to meet the man of my dreams here too. You guys have left good vibes all over the place!"

"As long as it was just good vibes and nothing else," joked Emmett afterwards, earning a sharp smack on the back of the head from Jasper.

Kim wouldn't let us replace the railing.

Baby Jake took his time coming, despite our near constant practice. Although we never knew for sure, we suspected he had been conceived on the back deck – an activity that we still indulged in from time to time. When the stick turned finally pink, we knew it was time to sell the remaining townhouse and find something larger. This decision engendered copious amounts of hormonal tears on the part of yours truly.

We sold my house to a newly divorced guy named Neil. He had two sweet daughters and shared custody of them with his ex. He wouldn't let us put the railing back either. When we drove away in the moving van, he and Kim were already sharing a coffee.

"Send us a wedding invite!" we shouted out as we pulled out of the driveway for the last time.

We moved not far from Twilight Hills, halfway between our old houses and Carlise and Esme's home. Four bedrooms – enough for each of our children and us. Renee seemed a little troubled by the move and asked a lot of questions.

"This is my own bedroom?" she asked for the sixth or seventh time, touching the walls.

"Yes, baby. Remember, you chose the paint color," I reminded her. She cuddled into my vanishing lap as we sat on her bed. I stroked her beautiful black hair. "Are you worried about living here?"

"Maybe," she said. "You'll still be my mommy after the new baby comes, won't you?" I cuddled her close.

"I'll always be your mommy, no matter what. Even after your new brother or sister comes." She chewed pensively on her lip for a moment. Edward leaned against the door frame, listening to our conversation.

"I think I'd like to have my new kind of daddy now," she said suddenly. "Could Eh-ward be my daddy?"

"Yes, darling. If that's what you want. I know Edward and I would like that very much. And I think your daddy in heaven would be just fine with that too." Both of us were suddenly wrapped in a pair of very warm, strong arms. I could feel the tears on his cheeks as he hugged us close.

The paperwork for Renee's adoption came through not long before Jake was born. And suddenly Esme, after years of griping about only have one grandchild, now had five.

It wasn't perfect. No marriage, no family is.

But it was close.

A/N: I know … sweet as sugar. But I just loved my grown-up Edward and Bella so much that I couldn't deny them anything. Including sweet baby Jake.

So first … some thank yous. I would be incredibly remiss if I didn't thank EdwardsCandyCane, trutwilightfantasy, Moxi, Curious88, SweetSouthernGal, CMGeek, sli723, SoManyObsessions and skaye5880 for all of their review and encouragement. I got so many good suggestions and encouragement, but these ladies were my regulars. You have no idea how much your words meant to me. Thanks, girls.

I have outtakes, as promised. But they might take a while because I got caught up in creating a new story which is pretty much threatening to take over my life because I'm so crazy about it. It's called Behind Enemy Lines. It's very different than this one – more of an adventure story than anything else. Bella and Edward meet as teens while they are travelling around the world in an educational program. They fall in love but just can't reconcile their divergent goals enough to get together.

Nearly 10 years later, Edward – now a doctor – covertly enters a war zone to help defend his beloved home country against a foreign invasion. Bella – now an international aid worker – refuses to believe he's dead after he goes missing in action. This is the story of Bella risking everything in the middle of a massive humanitarian crisis in a desperate attempt to find Edward and bring him back to safety.

Hope you'll check it out and give it a try. It's an unusual story line, but people reading it so far have been incredibly generous with reviews and praise.

Outtakes later, I promise. Thanks again for sticking with me on my first fanfic!