Epilogue: D-day

"Alright, come on over," Edward said as he snapped his phone shut for the fifth time that night. It was midnight, and Edward had just got five consecutive calls from five different wolves saying the exact same thing; their wives were getting contractions. It had been four months since we had been in Volterra, and they were all full-term. Brooke, who was having twins, was still tiny, but her babies were a good size.

"Leah's calling her mom," Edward told me. Carlisle was already up in his office trying to get things ready before they got here, because we were in for one wild night.

"I'll get Rose and Esme," I said. They were out back towards our house with Emmett and Jasper, but we needed all hands on deck.

I sprinted to them and quickly told them what was going on. "Are you ready?" I asked.

"Do we have a choice?" Rosalie questioned.

"Nope."

And I was off again. I ran back up into the house, with Rose and Esme trailing behind me. "I'm going to go meet them out front," I told Edward, and he nodded.

I flipped on the porch lights, and I heard Edward start having the girls set up the cots. Paul's old silver Pontiac was the first set of headlights coming down the road. Following close by were Jared and Kim in his Chevy. Brooke and Embry were next, followed by Joel's blue pick-up. Sam and Emily were last, putting along in Sam's jeep.

"Fancy meeting you here tonight," I said as they all headed up the porch steps.

"Ha ha," Joel said.

"Oh this is going to be fun," I said as I opened the door and led the way upstairs.

Leah snorted. "Yeah, okay."

"I'm scared," Brooke said suddenly, but calmly.

I stopped and turned around to look at her. "Me too," I told her. I raised an eyebrow. "Let's do this."

I opened the door and saw several members of my family doing a numerous amount of things. Esme was finishing off the cots, Edward was busy getting everyone's charts ready, Rosalie was pulling out various supplies from a list Edward had written, and Carlisle looked like he was trying to plan for what would happen after the babies were born.

"Hi," Edward said as we all came in.

"Hi," a few people sighed.

Carlisle turned toward us. "You know the drill," he said. He pulled the five soft gowns I had nicked from the hospital out of the cabinet. He tossed them at them. "Bathroom's that way," he said, and he jerked his thumb right outside the door.

As they changed, I helped Edward start their charts. We would have to keep track of their progress all at the same time, and that wouldn't be very easy. Esme went downstairs to let Sue and Abbey in when we heard the car. They were the only other help we would have tonight… The thought worried me a bit. Everyone filed back into the room just ahead of Sue, Esme and Abbey.

Leah yawned. "Where are your kids?" I asked everyone.

"Two words; Kaylie and Lauren," Emily said.

"They're watching all of them?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, but they're asleep," Emily said.

I kept my eyebrows raised and nodded my head. "Alright," I said.

Edward finished scribbling out the last chart, and turned toward us at the same time Carlisle did. "Okay," Carlisle said. "Um…" he blinked and looked around. "I think that it would be best if we paired each of you off with one or two of us. Let's see…" he quieted for a moment as he considered who needed to be paired off with whom. "Brooke you're definitely with me," he said decisively, and began to think once again. "Rachel you're with Edward," he said after a minute. "And Kim you'll go with Sue and Rosalie…" he trailed off again. "Um… Leah you're with Bella so… Esme and Abbey will be with Emily."

"Okay," Rachel said.

"Well then," Carlisle said in his calm, sure voice. "Pick your cot."

They all seemed to choose randomly, and when they were all settled down, Carlisle spoke again. "Okay, can you all tell me how fast the contractions are coming?" He turned to Brooke who was at the far end of the room.

"About every nine minutes," Brooke said.

"About that," Kim said.

"Yeah," Rachel agreed.

Emily nodded, and Leah said, "Yep."

Carlisle shook his head. "This is crazy," he sighed. "I like it." He smiled. "We should get you guys checked to see where we're starting." Edward turned around and began looking through the cabinet until he pulled out a box of rubber gloves. He pulled out a pair and handed it to Carlisle, who pulled out another pair and threw the box to me. I pulled out a pair and felt them snap on my wrist.

"Who's brave?" Carlisle prompted to the girls.

"Me, though there's a very good chance I will regret this in a few seconds," Leah said.

"Great," I said. "Love the positive attitude."

She smirked and gave me a thumbs up. "Who else?" Carlisle prompted again. "Two more, and you're all going at some point."

"Emily's going," Leah volunteered.

"Uh, okay," Emily said. She stuck her tongue out at Leah.

"I'll go," Brooke said. I glanced at her.

"Alright," I said.

"Eh, I figure I'm going into it blind," Brooke admitted.

"Whatever you gotta do," I told her.

"Okay," Carlisle said. "Let's get going."

"Assume the position," I said. Joel raised a brow at me. I smirked. Leah sighed and spread her legs. "Just relax and let me know if it hurts more than it should."

"Uh-huh."

It only took me about thirty seconds, but I saw Leah's hand tighten around Joel's.

"I've got about one cm," I said, and I went to write it down on Leah's chart.

"Yep," Edward said next to me, and I passed him the pen.

"Try to relax, Brooke," Carlisle muttered on the other side of the room.

Brooke took a deep breath and let it out, and Carlisle got what he needed in that time frame. "One cm," Carlisle agreed.

I had already moved to check Rachel, and Edward checked Kim. We recorded the same dilation for each of them.

"Well," Carlisle said. "You know the drill; you guys are going to have to walk."

There was a creaking and shuffling as they were all pulled up off their cots, Brooke being last. Seeing as she was having twins, she was quite a bit bigger than the other four girls. She was actually very small considering she was having twins, but definitely big compared to the others.

And so the walking began. They formed a pattern around the big empty house; everyone else had left to go hunting. I noticed the way that they would all get contractions around the same time, or right at the same time. They went around and around the house, over and over again, for a little over two hours. It was about two-thirty in the morning when we brought them back upstairs to get checked.

Once everyone was settled, I began to check Leah. Sue, Abbey, Esme, and Rosalie were observing right now, but they would help with the actual deliveries. Abbey was asking a lot of questions, which we were happy to answer. She was thinking of becoming an OB/GYN when she got out of college. Forks hospital could use one of those…

"I've got about four cm's," I announced.

"Me too," Edward said.

"Uh-huh," Carlisle muttered as he finished with Brooke.

We got the same for Rachel and Kim. "On the bright side," Carlisle said. "That's really good progress. On the not-so-bright side, you've still got six cm's to go."

"Could be worse," Emily commented.

"Could be way worse," Rachel agreed.

Kim yawned. "Back to walking," she sighed.

"Yep," I agreed.

They walked for another two hours. They all had several decently sized contractions, and I thought it was interesting to watch how each of them handled it. Leah seemed to like closeness, and always wrapped her arms around Joel, but Emily was very independent and wanted nothing more than Sam's hand to squeeze. Rachel and Kim both straightened their backs and kept walking, while Brooke closed her eyes and leaned into Embry.

After a while, we decided we were going to check them again. Leah winced a little this time, but they had all dilated up to six cm's. As they were all being pulled up to go walk again, Leah went, "Oh!" And stumbled forward a little. Emily sat back onto the bed with a gasp, Rachel put her hands on her face, Kim winced, and Brooke went, "Ow…"

I knew that their water had just broken by the sound. I caught Edward's eye for half a second in all the chaos. "Everyone just sit back," I said.

There was some movement as they all did what I suggested. "Okay," Leah sighed as she hit the back of the cot.

Joel had his hand on the back of her neck, rubbing it a little, and had his other hand holding hers. "Well that'll speed things up tremendously," Edward said positively.

"Uh-huh," Emily said breathlessly. "Ow."

"We should check you all again," Carlisle said.

"Oh my," Rachel said.

"Just breathe through it," I suggested. "It'll be over before you know it."

"I know," she sighed.

I moved as fast as I could, but I knew it still must've hurt quite a bit because Rachel stiffened a little. I checked Leah then, and she was the same as Rachel. "I've got about eight-and-a -half," I announced.

"Me too," Edward said as he finished with Emily.

"Same here," Carlisle said. "Why don't you guys walk for just a little longer, and then we'll check you again."

There was a loud creak as they all got pulled up again. They were all moving much slower now. I heard sighs, and gasps, and moans, and winces, and whimpers from downstairs as they all walked around. Slowly for them, and much more quickly for me, an hour ticked by.

We brought them back upstairs to get checked for what would hopefully be the last time. A contraction rocked through Leah's body as I checked her, bringing her up another half- centimeter. She winced. "A little over nine," I said as I finished with Rachel.

Edward nodded. Carlisle agreed as soon as he was done with Brooke. "Just sit tight for a while," Carlisle said. "It should only be a few more minutes before you guys are ready to push…"

He started passing out rubber gloves to all of our 'volunteers'. I heard the very faint creak of metal and flexing of material as Leah's legs stiffened through the next contraction. Joel soothed her quietly. They were almost there…

Exactly twenty-seven minutes later I had just finished checking Leah and Rachel. They were fully dilated, as were Emily, Brooke, and Kim. "Alright," I said. "You guys are ready to push." Esme and Abbey went over to Emily, and Sue and Rosalie went over to Kim. Edward stayed by Rachel, as did Carlisle with Brooke. "Okay," I said once everyone was situated. "You're going to pull your knees up a little, and push your heads down. Hold the push until my count of ten. On three," I said.

They all brought their knees up. Their husbands put their hands under their wives necks, so they could hold their heads up. "One," I counted. "Two… Three."

Leah didn't make a sound as she began to push. She was very strong-willed, and the push was powerful. "Eight…Nine…Ten," I finished. "Very good," I told Leah. "You moved the baby down quite a bit…" I heard reassurances around the room as they prepared for the next push.

"One, two, three," I said, and they started to push again. This time I could see the head as they finished pushing. "You're crowning," I told Leah. "Just a little more now."

"Almost there," I heard Joel whisper, he kissed her head.

"One, two, three," I counted again. With a gasp and a moan from Leah, the head of the baby slipped out. "Ok stop pushing," I said calmly. I heard the same thing going on around me with everyone else. Leah whimpered.

"Push hard now," I coached. "One, two, three," I said one last time.

The baby slipped out easily, and the room was filled with the sound of babies crying. I cut the umbilical cord, and grabbed the blanket from behind me. I laid the baby boy on Leah's chest, seeing her tear-stained smiling face. A thought occurred to me before I had time to do anything else. Brooke had another baby coming…. And Carlisle would need help. I jumped up from where I was kneeling and quickly moved to the other side of the room where Carlisle, as calm as ever, was wrapping the first baby in a blanket. He caught my eye as I came over, and the second I was there, he turned his attention back to Brooke, leaving the screaming baby girl in my arms.

Through all of the chaos, I heard Brooke wince as she pushed again. I heard her whimper and moan, and then the sound of one more baby crying. I looked to the baby I was cradling in my arms; a little girl, strong and healthy. The little boy Carlisle was laying on Brooke's chest looked just as healthy as his sister. Brooke looked a little shocked, but she was smiling. I held out the little girl to Embry. He looked just as shocked as Brooke, but took her and held her like it was the most natural thing in the whole world.

The babies were being soothed and hushed all around the room, and Edward was getting down all of the names.

"Cole Andrew," Joel said.

"Allison Grace," Sam told him.

Edward moved down the line of cots to Paul and Rachel. "Joshua Kyle," Paul sighed.

"Kelsey Renee," Jared muttered.

Edward got to where I was still standing and asked, "Names?"

"Madison Faith," Embry said.

"And Marcus John," Brooke finished quietly.

"Alright," Edward said. "Now we can actually call them something."

"You did awesome Abbey," Esme said.

Abbey smiled. She looked tired, and completely drained, but happy. "That was terrifying," she said breathlessly. "I liked it." I smiled. I knew the feeling well.

"We should get their shots," Carlisle reminded.

About an hour later we were getting ready for a few very important visitors. I had thrown the east window open and the faint light; coming from the sun hid behind the clouds, was flooding throughout the room. The babies slept cradled to chests and swaddled in thick blankets. The moms were exhausted from the middle-of-the-night labor and delivery, but they had agreed to see their wolf families, and their kids, if they had any.

Abbey had driven over to Sam and Emily's house where Lauren and Kaylie were staying with all the kids, and she had returned thirty minutes later to report that they had all gathered there, waiting by the phone for news. Now, I heard cars on the road outside, and I recognized the sound of Jake's old Rabbit.

"I'll go meet them," I said.

I shut the door quietly behind me, and made my way down the stairs. When I opened the door, I was slightly shocked to see my daughter getting out of the Rabbit with Jacob. "Nessie?" I said in surprise.

"Hi," she said. "Sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving, but I woke up super early, like two hours ago. I got about half-way to the big house before I realized what was going on, and I didn't want to bother you, so I just went over to La Push."

I raised my brows and nodded. "Works for me. Trust me, it started getting ugly about two hours ago, so you wouldn't've wanted to be up there anyway."

"Ah," she said. "I thought not."

The other cars were pulling in behind the Rabbit now, and Seth was pulling out the almost-five-year-old Nick with one hand, and carrying two-year-old Lexi in his other arm. They both looked tired, but Nick seemed to realize what was happening, somewhat. Kaylie was holding Jenny's hand, and Jenny was holding Brandon's hand. Brandon looked confused, but let Jenny and Kaylie tot him along. Lauren was carrying both Kristen and David, one in each arm. They looked half asleep.

Several of the younger guys had all squeezed into one car, and soon they were all standing in front of me. I led them up the front steps, and said, "Sh!" briskly.

They silenced immediately. "You don't even want to know what I've done in the past six hours." I told them. "But you do want to know that silence would be a very good thing right now." I smiled a little, and sighed as I opened up the front door.

We made our way up the stairs silently, and I cracked open the door to Carlisle's large office. "Can we come in? Or do you want me to send them all back home?"

"Bring them in," Leah said. "I want to see my other babies."

"Mommy," Alexis said sleepily on Seth's shoulder. She blinked her sleepy, electric blue eyes.

"Okay," I said.

I pushed open the door and went to stand by Edward where he was leaning against the counter. I leaned on him. He wrapped his arms around me. The others slowly followed in behind me. "Daddy," Lexi sighed. He came to take her out of Seth's arms.

"Hi sweetheart," he said. He kissed her head. Kristen and David had both fallen asleep on either one of Lauren's shoulders, and they were dozing quietly.

She peered over his shoulder at her mom, who was holding her baby brother. "Baby," she said, and she pointed her finger at him.

Joel rubbed her back. "Uh-huh," he said. "He's your brother." He told her. "His name is Cole. Can you say that?"

"No," she admitted bluntly to him.

"Thanks for the effort," he said sarcastically.

"Daddy," Jenny said. It was not a question; it was a statement to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Sam responded.

"Can you please tell me if I have a little brother or a little sister?"

A few people laughed at her impatience. "You have a little sister," he told her. "Her name is Allison."

She walked over to where he was sitting to get a better look at the baby, bringing Brandon with her. Sam pulled his son onto his lap, where he looked surprisedly at the baby.

"She's pretty," Jenny sighed. "And very, very little."

"She looks just like you did," Emily sighed. Nick was still clinging to Seth's leg. He seemed much more tentative than Jenny.

"Come here," Leah said, she held out her hand to her first son. He walked toward her slowly. She pulled him into her other arm, and showed him his sleeping brother. "Cole," she said tiredly.

"Cole," he repeated. "He's little."

"That's because he hasn't had time to grow yet," she explained.

He nodded his head. "Why did he come so early in the morning?" he asked with a yawn.

She laughed. "Oh Nick, I have been asking myself that for the past eight hours."

Leah's laugh made both the kids Lauren was holding stir. Kristen popped her head up and looked around. "Mommy," she said immediately.

"I'm right here," Rachel said instinctively. Paul was already on his feet to take his daughter from Lauren. Jared followed, David was still a little asleep, but he'd be fully awake in a moment anyways.

"Seth," Leah said. "Do you want to hold your nephew or not?"

He scrunched up his nose and raised his eyebrows when he looked at the tiny baby. "Little babies scare me. All babies scare me," he added with a sigh. "You're going to make me do it anyway aren't you?"

"Oh yes," Leah said. "And trust me, I just had a baby, you do not want to cross me right now." She wagged a finger at him once.

He shrugged his shoulders and winced. "I'll take your word for it." He sat down on her other side, and she slowly shifted the baby into his arms. He held it gently, but you could tell he had done it before.

"See, it's not so bad," Leah commented. She propped herself up a little. "Brooke? Are you alive?" she smiled at the sarcasm.

"Barely," Brooke said from the other end of the room. "Yeah… I was not prepared for that." She laughed. "Don't want to do that one again."

"Eh, give it two years, then you'll want another baby," Emily said.

"I have two babies; does that mean I get four years?" Brooke questioned.

"Maybe," Emily agreed reluctantly.

Embry sighed. "That was crazy."

"Crazy awesome," I said. "That was the most exciting thing I've ever done as a nurse."

Edward laughed. "Hey," he said. "We work at Forks hospital, life doesn't get more exciting than that."

That got several laughs. Brooke yawned in the corner of the room. She looked like she was dozing already.

"Okay," I said. "I think it's time that everyone gets some sleep." I gestured to the door. "You know the way out."

"That was the most polite way I've ever been kicked out," Wyatt said as he left the room.

"Seth," Joel said. "I'll pay you ten bucks to take Nick and Lexi for the whole day."

"Or," Seth said immediately. "I'll just take Nick and Lexi for the day." He smirked. "Don't argue back, you won't win."

Joel raised his brows. "I see," he said. "Thank-you."

"Uh-huh."

Lauren and Kaylie walked out with the other kids before anybody could really protest. They closed the door behind them, and Abbey and Sue made their way home with the others. Soon, it was just Edward and I upstairs, and we left everyone alone to get some sleep.

Nessie had gone back home with Jake, and we had the house to ourselves. We didn't say anything, just pulled off our shoes and curled up on the couch together. I kissed him, and laid my head on his chest.

"I love you," he said.

I could hear Alice and Jasper in the woods talking about something, and Rosalie and Emmett close by hunting. I knew Esme and Carlisle were at home, probably working on one thing or another. Andrea and Zach were the furthest things I could hear, and they were way over by the Quileute River, watching it rush past. Connor and Julia were alone somewhere in the distance. They had made it just like we had. I knew my daughter and my best friend were together, no matter where they were. Six new lives slept peacefully by their parents just a mile or so away. All was well.

"I love you too," I told him.

THE END