AN: Thanks for all the suggestions on baby names; they were great, but, of course, I can't use all of them. I have changed the boy name, though (thanks laren50) and I got a suggestion for the girl name that I had already picked out, so I went with that. I hope you like them! And thanks for all the reviews, both for the last chapter and for the ones before – this story has almost gotten as many as "Hearts in Pain" now, and I hope that this chapter will mark the one where it passes it! But I need your help! Please, please, please let me know what you think!!!

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

26 – What's in a Name?

Bella

"You can go home and sleep, you know," I told Edward later that evening. Carlisle, Esme, Renée and Lily had left a few hours ago and we were alone. Angela, Ben, Jacob and Vanessa had also been here but only stayed for a little while, not wanting to tire me out. "The place is full of doctors and nurses, we'll be fine here."

"I'll be fine here, too," he countered from the chair by my bed. He was holding our daughter, while I had our baby boy in my arms. I frowned.

"We really need to talk names," I pointed out. I wasn't sure why we hadn't discussed this more before now, but after we had decided to come up with two names each, the subject hadn't been brought up again.

"You're right," he agreed, looking up at me. "So what are your suggestions?"

"I was flipping through the channels on the TV a while ago, and I stumbled across a show on Discovery Channel about Amelia Earhart," I told him. "I didn't really watch much, but the name kind of stuck with me. What do you think?"

He thought about it for a moment.

"I like it," he finally said. "I just figured you'd pick a name from Austen or something."

I laughed at his words – it was actually a little weird that I hadn't thought of that.

"I didn't even consider that. So what name did you think of?"

"I actually went with Austen." He gave me a teasing smile. "I was googling a few weeks ago, and I found a website with names from literary classics," he added.

"Which name did you pick?" I asked curiously. There were quite a few to choose from, after all.

"Well, there are a lot of Janes and Marys and Lucys." He chuckled. "But there was one I really liked."

"Which one?" I went through the characters in the books mentally and had just arrived at one that I really liked when he said…

"Emma."

I smiled; that was the name I had just thought of. I contemplated it for a moment, studying our daughter's face.

"I think it's perfect," I then told him.

"Are you sure?" he wondered. "Because I like Amelia too."

"No, I think Emma fits her better," I insisted, scrutinizing the face of the sleeping baby. "Yeah, she's definitely an Emma."

"OK," he concluded. "And boy names?"

"Nuh-uh. You go first this time."

"Well…" he started. "Again, I was searching the internet, and I found a site with names from Shakespeare…"

"Please don't say Romeo or Hamlet," I interrupted him. He shot me a glare.

"Do you honestly believe I would expose him to the ridicule of being named Romeo?" he asked dryly.

"Of course not. Sorry. Go on."

"Well, there were a few names that I thought might work, and Adrian was the one I liked best." He looked up at me to see my reaction.

I tasted the name for a moment.

"I like it," I decided.

"Your turn."

"Well... I was thinking we could go with a family name, you know. But I'm not all that into naming kids after living relatives, it just gets all confusing. But then I thought of something else…"

I hesitated, not sure how he would take my suggestion.

"Go on," he encouraged.

"I just thought, your last name before Esme and Carlisle adopted you was Masen, right? Your dad's last name?"

"It was." He nodded.

"Well, it works as a given name too, you know." I looked down at the little boy I was holding, and realized that it really suited him.

"Masen." Like I had, mentally, with Emma, he seemed to be tasting the name. "Masen Cullen…"

"Or we can go with Adrian, I really like it," I cut in.

"No, no," he replied. I looked up to see a smile on his face. "I'm glad you thought about it, I never would have. And I love it."

I let out a relieved sigh. For a moment, I had thought that he hated the idea.

"I'm glad."

"So we have names, then," he concluded. "Emma and Masen."

"Perfect."

Satisfied with the progress, I returned to the previous issue.

"Seriously though, go home and get some sleep. That chair can't be very comfortable."

"And ruin Lily's sleep-over with your parents and Sue?" he countered with a smile. "Besides, the chair won't be a problem."

"And why not?"

"I asked one of the nurses if they could bring in an extra bed earlier," he replied with a shrug. "She was very eager to help out in any way she could."

Of course she would have been. If he put his mind to it, he could probably charm a bedouin into buying sand in the Sahara. As long as it was a female bedouin.

"Should I be offended that you're off flirting with nurses only hours after I've given birth to your children?" I asked, amused.

"Flirting." He huffed.

"OK, flirting might be the wrong word," I admitted. "Dazzling, then." I remembered the first few months after we had met, and how I'd frequently had trouble thinking when he'd smiled at me. Come to think of it, that still happened more often than should be possible. Shouldn't I get used to it at some point?

"There might have been some of that involved," he confessed. "But it was only because I wanted to stay here with you overnight, so it was for a good cause. I don't usually go around dazzling strangers for no reason."

"Good to know." I laughed.

I was actually a little relieved that he insisted on staying. It wasn't like with Lily, when I'd had no idea what to do, but there were two of them. Sure, I could hold them both; if someone gave them to me. But picking them both up… that would take some practice. It was at times like these it would come in handy to have an extra set of arms.

At around nine, two young female nurses brought another bed into the room. I saw them whispering to each other while they arranged the bed by the wall, every now and then glancing over at Edward in his chair. He barely seemed to notice them; his attention shifted between Masen, in his arms, and me and Emma in the bed. One of the nurses – who seemed to be a little bolder than the other one – cleared her throat when they were leaving.

"I hope this will be OK for you, Mr. Cullen."

Edward finally looked up at them then.

"Yes, thank you," he replied with a polite smile. The two young women giggled quietly and then left. I thought I heard one of them mumble something along the line of "too bad" before the door closed behind them.

"I think they were disappointed," I noted.

Edward looked up at me, a confused expression on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think they were hoping for a little more than a polite smile and a 'thank you'."

"Don't be ridiculous." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not," I insisted, mostly because I thought it was fun to make him a little uncomfortable. He didn't like it when I pointed things like this out to him. "Did you see the way they were looking at you? They were practically undressing you with their eyes."

He just sighed and ignored me. Well, that was no fun. I gave up.

"We should probably try to get some sleep," I pointed out, the last few words coming out through a yawn. "It's been a long day, and tomorrow will be even longer."

"I guess you're right." He slowly stood up, careful not to jostle the baby in his arms, and put him down in one of the bassinets. Then he scrutinized the extra bed.

"What are you doing?" I wondered.

"Aha," he mumbled, doing something to the bed and then rolling it across the floor towards my bed. "I don't want to be all the way over there."

He put the bed next to mine and then locked it in place there. There was a small gap between the two beds, and he frowned.

"Hang on." He went to the closet in the corner of the room and rummaged through it for a moment before finding a blanket, which he bundled up and put in the gap. "Better."

He rolled the bassinet with Masen to his side of our make-shift double bed. I shifted a little so I could put Emma down in the other bassinet, which was on my side, and winced a little.

"You OK?"

I looked around to find Edward frozen in the process of removing his jeans.

"Yeah, just a little sore, you know," I assured him. "Nothing I wasn't expecting."

He pulled the jeans the rest of the way off and tossed them in the chair he had been occupying a moment ago before climbing into the bed next to me. His index finger traced the side of my face from my forehead to my chin.

"I'm sorry you're in pain," he mumbled. "You know that, if I could, I'd take it all away."

"I know." I leaned in to give him a kiss. "Anyway, it'll pass, and they're totally worth it."

"I know what you mean."

He moved a little on the bed and pulled me closer. I leaned my head against his chest and felt his arm around me. He pulled the blanket over us and I felt him place a kiss on top of my head.

"Thank you," he whispered after a moment.

"For what?"

"For giving me more than I ever hoped for."

Edward

We were released from the hospital on Monday morning – they wanted to keep the twins a few days extra, just in case – and Alice brought the Volvo to the hospital for us.

"Did you tell her to bring the car seats?" Bella asked as I rolled her towards the hospital's exit, accompanied by two nurses, each with a baby in their arms.

"Yes," I told her; it wasn't the first time she had asked.

We found Alice and Jasper waiting in the parking lot next to the Volvo, Alice's Mini in a space a little bit away.

"Hey guys," Alice greeted us. "Ready to head back home, to reality?"

"God yes," Bella replied, getting out of the chair and taking Emma from one of the nurses. I took Masen from the other woman, and they went back into the hospital.

"We put the car seats in the back for you," Jasper told us, opening the door to the backseat. "Well, Emmett helped us. There are just too many buckles and stuff on those things!"

I knew what he meant; you practically needed to have a Master's in technology to be able to read the instructions.

"Thanks, guys," Bella said with a grateful smile, getting Emma settled in the car seat. I walked around the car and put Masen in the other before closing the door and getting in the driver's seat. Bella got into the passenger seat next to me.

"Oh, and Lily wanted you to stop at the store and get ice cream on the way home," Alice said through the open window on Bella's side.

Bella sighed.

"We'll go there later," I concluded, but Alice put on a pleading expression.

"She really wanted ice cream."

"It'll only take a few minutes to stop by the store," Bella pointed out. "I don't want to have to worry about going back out, I just want to go home."

It was my turn to sigh.

"Fine, we'll stop on the way."

"Bye, guys, see you later," Alice said, walking towards her car. Jasper waved from the passenger side.

"Does she really need ice cream right now?" I grumbled when we left the parking lot. "Renée can go out later to get it."

"Let's just stop at the store," Bella replied. "I don't want to make her feel like we prioritize the twins over her."

So that's what it was about.

"She won't think that, not over some ice cream," I objected gently.

"I know," she admitted. "I just don't want to start out like that."

"OK, we'll stop at the store."

She gave me a quick smile.

"Thank you."

We stopped at a store a couple of blocks from home and Bella stayed in the car while I went inside. I quickly found the freezers with the ice cream and got a tub of Lily's favorite before continuing to the register. We had already stocked up on diapers and other baby stuff we would need in the next few days.

There was only one person ahead of me in line, and soon I was back in the car. Within a few minutes, we were pulling into the driveway at home. Carlisle's car was parked on the street behind Charlie's cruiser, which was to be expected since they were still here.

We got the twins and the bags out of the car and crossed the lawn to the front door. I opened it, letting Bella go inside first, and then followed her. And then…

"SURPRISE!"

I was glad that I didn't have heart problems; I had no doubt that I would've had a heart attack if that had been the case.

"You guys…" Bella said weakly next to me, her free hand pressed against her chest and her eyes wide.

"You scared the hell out of us!" I complained, closing the door behind us and going into the living room, where our family and friends were gathered.

"Sorry," Esme apologized, taking Masen's car seat from me. She put it down on the floor and picked him up out of it. "Hello sweetheart."

"We decided that we wanted to surprise you with a baby-shower-slash-welcome-home party," Alice explained, gesturing to the room.

There was a large banner against one wall with the words 'Welcome home Emma and Masen' on it, and streamers and balloons all over the room.

"You guys…" Bella repeated, and I saw that she had tears in her eyes. "This is amazing!"

It seemed like pretty much everyone we knew were in the room. Family, friends, Bella's coworkers, even a few guys from my old job that I still kept in touch with.

"It's a good thing you insisted on staying at the hospital, or we never would have been able to pull this off," Jasper noted, taking the bag that was still slung over my shoulder.

"I'm guessing the ice-cream thing was just a diversion?" Bella assumed, still frozen in the doorway to the room.

"Well, we wanted to be here before you got home," Alice explained, taking Emma from Bella. "Come on, don't just stand there, it's a party!"

Before either of us could really react, we had been pushed down on the couch and were ordered to open presents.

I had honestly thought that we had gotten every single thing for the babies that we could possibly get, but it appeared that I had been wrong. A few of the things looked like they would be better suited in a lab at NASA than in a nursery, but Bella seemed to have everything under control and was happy with the things.

"So that's why you said we might as well use Lily's old playpen," she said with a laugh when I had ripped the paper off a particularly large box from Emmett and Rosalie.

"Well, I couldn't very well say 'no, don't get that, we've already bought one for you, but it's a surprise', could I?" Rosalie countered with a smile.

"I wish you luck with that, man," Emmett muttered from behind me. "We have the same one, and it took me a whole day to put it together."

"Just because you're completely useless with a screw driver," Rosalie snapped back, but I could see a smile on her face and knew she wasn't serious… at least not completely.

"If they had just made the instructions clear, it wouldn't have been a problem," Emmett complained.

"The instructions are plenty clear," Rose said quietly to Bella. "He just didn't bother looking at them until he had gotten it all wrong, and then it took him forever to fix it."

Emmett seemed about to object, but I shot him a look and he closed his mouth without saying anything. They could go on like this for hours if nobody stopped them. Not that they didn't love each other, but they were just both so stubborn that neither would give in once they got started.

We finished opening the presents, watching as the pile of clothes on the coffee table grew larger and larger, until, finally, Bella ripped the wrapping paper off the last one and put a set of matching onesies, one pink and one blue, down on top of the pile.

"OK, cake," Alice announced, darting out of the room and returning a moment later carrying a large cake in the shape of a stork carrying two bundles in its beak.

"It looks delicious, but I am definitely not having any cake," Bella said resolutely. "It won't help much with this extra weight."

"Oh, come on," Rosalie objected. "Breastfeeding'll take the weight right off. Just look at me."

Bella contemplated her for a moment. It was true that Rosalie had lost most of the weight she had put on during the pregnancy already.

"But you only put on twenty pounds," Bella then retorted. "Not thirty-six."

"And you have two to breastfeed, so there you go."

Alice seemed to think that that settled the matter, because she handed Bella a plate with a large piece of cake on it. Bella sighed.

"I hope you've gotten used to me looking like this," she told me, taking a bite. "It might last a while."

I was pretty sure that whatever I said wouldn't turn out well; if I said that I didn't care how she looked, she'd think I thought she was fat, if I said that she'd lose the weight eventually, she'd think I thought she was fat. So I just smiled what I hoped was an encouraging and supporting smile.

"Good choice, man," Emmett mumbled next to me. "Never get into the 'do I look fat?' discussions. You're doomed from the moment you open your mouth and the next thing you know, you're sleeping on the couch."

At the moment, I agreed with him. Normally, Bella didn't care that much about her appearance, and she'd never been obsessed with her weight, like I knew Rosalie was from time to time. But she was still dealing with a ton of extra hormones that I felt were best left undisturbed at the moment.

Bella

By late afternoon, all our friends had left, Emmett and Rosalie had taken Noah and Ellie home and Charlie and Sue had just left to drive back to Forks. Carlisle and Esme had decided to stay a few extra days and Alice, who was sitting on the couch with Emma in her arms, didn't look like she was going anywhere in the immediate future.

"I think it's dinner time," Edward noted after glancing at his watch when Masen, who had up until now been asleep in Lily's arms, gave a shrill cry.

Already, in only the few days we'd spent in the hospital, it had become clear that the twins had very different personalities. Emma appeared to be taking after Lily; she seemed mostly content, and didn't complain without a reason. If she cried – which she so far hadn't done very much – it was because she was wet or very hungry. Masen, on the other hand, cried a lot, and not only when he was hungry or needed his diaper changed. On the plus side, he always stopped crying when someone picked him up, so maybe it was just physical contact he craved. If it was, he was getting plenty of that.

"Can I feed him?" Lily asked excitedly, looking up at me with a pleading expression on her face.

"Sure," I agreed. I was breastfeeding them, but we were also trying to bottle-feed, so I wouldn't be completely tied to them all the time. Masen didn't have a problem with the bottle, but so far Emma hadn't wanted to take it.

Edward went into the kitchen to warm up a bottle for Masen, and Alice moved so she was sitting next to me on the couch.

"I'm guessing little miss sunshine will be hungry soon, too?" she assumed, looking reluctant to give up the baby in her arms.

"Probably," I replied, nodding. "We try to feed them at the same time, so we'll only have to get up twice every night and not four times."

"Good plan," Alice acknowledged with a smile, holding Emma out to me. She stirred a little, her eyes opening, and as soon as I got her settled, she latched on and started sucking. I looked up to see Edward coming back into the room, sitting down next to Lily and helping her to get Masen to eat.

"Maybe we should get out of your hair," Alice said, sounding very reluctant, and made to get up from the couch. I could only assume that she had finally surrendered to Jasper's pointed looks, which he had been throwing her way ever since Emmett and Rosalie left half an hour ago.

"Don't be silly, you don't have to leave," I objected. "It's a full house here, anyway, two more or less doesn't make a difference."

"Are you sure?" Alice insisted, but she sank back against the couch.

"Why don't you help me with dinner?" Esme suggested. "Make yourself useful."

"Sure!" Alice happily agreed, jumping up from the couch. I saw Jasper shake his head, an indulgent smile on his face, out of the corner of my eye.

"Do you want a hand?" Renée asked from one of the armchairs, looking like she was about to get up as well.

"No, no, you sit," Esme disregarded, looking a little uncomfortable. Renée's cooking abilities – or lack thereof – were widely known in the family, and nobody accepted her help in the kitchen if they could avoid it.

"Oh, alright." Renée looked defeated, but stayed where she was.

Within half an hour, the smell of lasagna came from the kitchen, and I realized I was really hungry. We'd had pasta salad for lunch earlier, but that was hours ago.

"OK, guys, dinner," Alice announced, taking Emma, who was asleep again, from me so I could get up. "Except for those of us who are still on a liquid diet." She looked up at me. "Do you want me to put her down upstairs? They should be out for a while, right, since they just ate?"

"Yeah." I nodded in agreement. "Just bring the baby monitor with you."

"I'll go with you," Edward said, taking Masen from Lily.

"I can take him," Jasper offered, holding out his arms. "You go eat."

Edward handed Masen over without hesitation, and I watched Jasper carefully cradling him in his arms. He hadn't exactly been at the front of the 'can I hold the baby' line, but he seemed comfortable enough. I even thought I saw a smile before he turned and followed Alice up the stairs.

I hoped being around Ellie and the twins would get those two going as well. I knew they would make amazing parents, but so far, I hadn't heard them discussing it.

Alice

I walked up the stairs slowly, terrified of tripping on a step and dropping the tiny person in my arms. I heard Jasper behind me as I opened the door to the nursery with my foot and entered the room. I had already seen it, several times, as a matter of fact, but it stills truck me what lengths my brother would go to. It was absolutely perfect.

I put the sleeping baby down in one of the cribs and leaned against the bars, watching her tiny fists move as she slept. I felt, rather than heard, Jasper come up to me.

"They're perfect when they sleep, aren't they?" he noted after a moment, and I laughed quietly.

"Yeah. Not so much when they're screaming at the top of their lungs, though."

"No," he agreed, and I could hear a smile in his voice. "So, are we going to have a talk when we get home?"

"Talk?" I turned to face him and frowned at the question.

"Don't think I haven't noticed," he told me. "I could see it back when Noah was born, too. And Ellie."

I contemplated that for a moment.

"I assume you're talking about the baby gene? Maternal instinct, or whatever it is."

"Yeah. "He scrutinized my face, as if he was expecting me to try to deny that I had, at times, longed for a child of my own. Our own.

"I'm not going to lie," I started.

"I would know if you tried," he interjected.

"Yes you would," I agreed. "So I won't. I've thought about it, more than once. And especially now, being practically surrounded by babies, it's tempting. I won't deny that. But… I have my kids, my first graders, and, right now, that's enough."

He seemed to think about that for a few seconds.

"Are you sure?" he finally asked.

"I am," I replied with a smile. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I want kids. Some day. As long as I can have them with you. But… not right now."

"OK." He took my hand, and I grabbed the baby monitor off the dresser before he pulled me out of the room.

"You know…" I said with a smile as we walked back down the stairs. "That doesn't mean we can't practice…"

Edward

Lily had been asleep for over an hour, my parents and Renée had just retreated to the guest rooms, and Bella had decided to take a quick shower before bed. When I heard the water turn on in our bathroom, I snuck out of our bedroom and into the nursery. We had put Emma and Masen in their cribs, despite the fact that I didn't like not having them in the same room as us, baby monitor or no baby monitor, and I told myself that I was just going to check on them quickly, that I'd be back in our room before Bella got out of the shower and realized I was gone.

But, of course, once I was actually in the room, I couldn't just make sure they were OK and then leave. I moved one of the rocking chairs into the middle of the room, between the cribs, so I could watch them both sleep without problem.

Emma had kicked the cover off, so I carefully pulled it back over her little body, afraid of waking her. But she didn't stir, just sucked on the pacifier and continued to sleep soundly. I couldn't help but run one finger, very softly, over her pink cheek. She turned her head a little at my touch, and I wanted to believe that she knew I was there, that she knew I was watching over her as she slept, that I would always be there to watch over her, no matter what.

Masen had spit out his pacifier – he had done that every time we had tried to give him one so far – and was sucking on his thumb instead, just like he had in one of the ultra sound pictures. I reached into the crib and took the discarded pacifier; might as well let him have his way. I caressed his soft palm with my littlest finger, and his fingers closed around it in a tight grip, as if wanting to hold me there. I didn't complain, but moved the rocking chair a little closer so I could sit down without taking my finger out of his grasp.

I remembered Bella saying, several years ago, that she used to sit by Lily's crib for hours when she was a baby, watching her sleep. I had always understood that, but now I could feel it on a completely new level. I wasn't sure that I would be physically capable of getting up and walking out of the room. I wanted to stay here, with them, forever. I never wanted to leave them, not even for the smallest amount of time.

I knew, of course, on a rational level, that that was impossible. I wouldn't be able to be with them every second of every day. Eventually, they wouldn't want me to. But right now, when they were too little to object, I wanted to be there as much as was humanly possible. Things like sleep seemed very insignificant, as long as I got to be near them all the time.

"I thought you might be in here."

I looked up at Bella's voice and saw her leaning against the doorframe, her hair wet from the shower, wearing her threadbare, terrycloth bathrobe.

"Whatever would give you that idea?" I joked.

"Just a hunch." She came into the room and leaned over Emma's crib for a moment, tucking her cover in a little and letting one hand linger on the tiny chest, which rose and fell in a regular rhythm. Then she turned to Masen's crib and I saw a smile on her face. "He doesn't like that pacifier, does he?"

"Apparently not," I agreed.

"Well, on the plus side, one less to look for when they get lost," Bella reasoned. "On the downside, not so easy to send to Santa."

"Santa?" I questioned with a frown.

"Yeah, when Lily was three, and I thought it was about time she gave up the pacifiers, I said that we'd send them to Santa, so that other kids who didn't have any would get them," she explained. "Worked like a charm. At least, after some persuasion."

"Ah." I realized the problem. "Won't be as easy to send his thumb to Santa."

"I think the authorities might frown upon it, at least."

"Yes, child mutilation is usually not that popular."

She laughed quietly at that.

"Mind if I join you for a moment?" she then asked.

"Sure." I spread my free arm wide for her and she crawled into my lap.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mind sitting here, watching them all night," she assured me after a few minutes of silence. "But we really should get some sleep. They'll wake us up soon enough."

"I know." I sighed and gently pulled my finger out of Masen's tight clutch.

"Come on," she stood up and held out her hand to me. I looked down at the sleeping babies one last time, then took her hand and followed her out of the nursery and into our bedroom, all the while trying to convince myself that, if they needed us, we would know. We would hear them.

When she had closed the bedroom door behind us, she looked up at me.

"We'll hear them when they wake up," she assured me with a knowing smile. "That's what the baby monitor is for."

"I know," I replied, not sounding as convinced as she might have wanted me to.

I picked up the baby monitor and, before joining her in bed, placed it on my bedside table. Then I turned the volume up as loud as it would go. If I listened closely, I thought I could hear them breathing.

Bella

I stayed in the shower for a little longer than necessary, turning the temperature of the water down to where it was almost cold. It felt nice, cooled down my body after the hot day. Eventually, I stepped out of the shower carefully – sudden or quick movements were still a little painful – and dried off before pulling on my favorite bathrobe and going into our bedroom.

I hadn't really expected to find Edward in there, but his absence still brought a smile to my lips. I had no problem figuring out where he was.

I had insisted that the twins sleep in their own beds, in their own room, from the beginning, and hadn't given in no matter what arguments Edward had been able to think of. I knew – from experience, though it had been out of necessity at the time – how hard it could be to move a child into their own room once you had gotten used to having them right there while you slept, and I didn't want to go through that process again. I had a feeling Edward would have even more trouble with that than I'd had with Lily.

So it didn't surprise me when I found him in one of the armchairs in the nursery. I leaned against the doorframe and watched him for a while. He didn't notice me standing there, his eyes were intent on Masen, who was asleep in his crib and holding on tightly to his father's finger. After a few minutes, I decided to make my presence known and at least try to get Edward to come to bed with me. He needed sleep just as much as I did.

"I thought you might be in here," I said, quietly so as not to wake anyone up. Though, if they were anything like Lily had been as a baby – and still was, come to think of it – they wouldn't wake up if a herd of angry bulls hurtled through the room.

He looked up when I spoke, and the flash of pure, undiluted love I could see in his eyes made my breath catch in my throat for a moment. Then he smiled and turned his attention back to the sleeping baby.

"Whatever would give you that idea?"

I smiled at his attempt to joke about the situation. He was only too easy to read sometimes.

"Just a hunch." I stepped over the threshold and went over to Emma's crib. Edward must have pulled the cover up over her again – she always kicked it off as soon as she was asleep – but it was already sliding back down. I tucked it in around her and turned to Masen. He had, as I knew he would, spit out his pacifier and was happily sucking on his thumb. I smiled as the image brought back the memory of the ultra sound a couple of months ago. "He doesn't like that pacifier, does he?" I noted, spotting it in Edward's hand.

"Apparently not."

"Well, on the plus side, one less to look for when they get lost," I said, thinking about the hours I must have spent looking for pacifiers that Lily had lost when she was little. And then I remembered the weeks and weeks of persuasion and tricks it had taken to get Lily to agree to part with her pacifiers and frowned. "On the downside, not so easy to send to Santa."

"Santa?" Edward looked up at me, a frown on his face. Right, he didn't know about our little 'arrangement' with Santa regarding pacifiers.

"Yeah, when Lily was three, and I thought it was about time she gave up the pacifiers, I said that we'd send them to Santa, so that other kids who didn't have any would get them," I clarified. "Worked like a charm. At least, after some persuasion."

"Ah." He looked back down at Masen, sucking on his thumb, and apparently realized the problem at hand. "Won't be as easy to send his thumb to Santa."

I had to suppress a laugh.

"I think the authorities might frown upon it, at least," I concluded.

"Yes, child mutilation is usually not that popular."

I couldn't help laughing a little now, mostly at the matter-of-fact tone in which he said it. Then I remembered why I had come in here.

"Mind if I join you for a moment?" I wondered.

"Sure."

I slowly crawled into his lap, not wanting the rocking chair to start moving too violently. I leaned my head against his shoulder and watched him watch our sleeping son. Now that I was here, I found it a little hard to remember why we actually couldn't sit her all night.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mind sitting here, watching them all night," I told him after a while, my rational side winning the internal debate. "But we really should get some sleep. They'll wake us up soon enough." And then we would regret not sleeping when we'd had the chance, I knew that.

"I know." He had an almost tortured look on his face as he sighed and gently freed his finger from Masen's hold.

"Come on," I said, getting up out of his lap and holding my hand out to him. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes lingering first on Masen, then Emma, but then he took my hand and let me lead him out of the room, down the hallway and into our bedroom. I was amazed that the battle had been won so easily. When I closed the door behind us, I looked up at him and saw a torn expression on his face. I smiled, knowing exactly how he felt, because I felt it too. Perhaps not as strongly, but still. He wanted to go back in there, keep watch over them as they slept, make sure nothing bad ever happened to them. But we couldn't do that, couldn't be there all the time. And it would be easier to just get this over with right away, instead of later. I knew that. And still, it took all my willpower to stay where I was.

"We'll hear them when they wake up," I said, to convince myself as well as him. "That's what the baby monitor is for."

"I know," he replied, looking and sounding far from convinced.

I pulled the cover back and crawled into bed, leaning back against the pillows. I was really tired, and the twins would be waking up in only a few hours.

I watched as he took the baby monitor from the dresser by the door and brought it with him to the bed, placing it on his bedside table before slipping under the covers next to me. He leaned over it, fiddling with the dial, and then lingered for a moment, as if listening. I realized he must have turned the volume up and was trying to hear them breathing in there.

When he finally lay down, I moved closer to him and leaned my head against his chest. His arm wrapped around me, and I heard him let out a sigh.

"They'll be fine, right?" he asked after a moment.

"They'll be fine."

He didn't seem completely convinced, but after a few minutes, I heard his breathing become more even, and his arm around me relaxed a little. I glanced at the baby monitor on the bedside table, making sure it was on, and then I fell asleep too.

AN: I put the little scene with Alice and Jasper in there because I have gotten the question why they don't have any kids yet, and I just wanted to make it clear that they will, eventually. Though perhaps not before the end of this story.

I also considered ending the story with this chapter, but then I realized that there are a few things I still want to write about, especially some of the 'firsts' from Edward's point of view. So you're stuck with me for a little while longer, I hope that's OK!