Alright, we're finally in the epilogue. This will be the first part, and the second part will be posted next weekend. This one is only a few years in the future, but the next one will be several years after that.

I'll see you guys at the bottom. Enjoy!

EPILOGUE

EDWARD POV

November 2019

I was awake at some ungodly hour on a Saturday off, for some reason. Probably from all those days waking up at four in the morning in order to get to the hospital by five-thirty to start rounds and keep an eye on the residents. Two years in and I was still getting all the shitty shifts, but it meant I was home when Bella was done with lectures. Now that she was in her third year, she was starting her clinical hours, and she happened to be in my hospital. Though she was with surgeons all day, I saw her around when she was running around finding attendings for a consult or running information relay for other doctors. She'd be starting her pediatrics rotation next month, so I'd get to see more of her.

My body was pressed snugly into Bella's, sharing our body heat in the late fall weather. It definitely didn't get as cold in D.C as it did in Portland, but it still got down to the mid-forties in the evening. We'd turn the heater on, but Bella enjoyed cuddling in sweaters and snuggling under blankets, so we left it off during the night. I was tempted to wake her up and start off our weekend with no duties besides each other, but I wouldn't subject her to a six a.m wake up call on this rare day off.

I stayed wrapped around her in bed for another half hour or so until I decided it was time to get up and get some things done. I needed to piss and take a shower, so I'd get that done while she was still in bed. We had plans to go out and do something today. We'd lived here for a little over two years now, and we hadn't really even explored the city. We had done obvious things like go to the capitol and a tour through the Smithsonian, but besides touristy things, we hadn't been out. Work and school happened to be pretty demanding. Even though I tried to help Bella with navigating her internship, I knew my experience was a cakewalk compared to her's. There was a reason I didn't want to go into surgery, but I was very proud of her for sticking with her decision.

After I had taken care of business and brushed my teeth, I hopped into the shower, taking the time for once to let the water work out some of the knots in my shoulders. Bella used to offer shoulder massages when I got back from work, but now that she was spending most of her days in the hospital, too, we essentially just fell into bed after dinner. We were both really looking forward to this weekend in order to get some much needed down time and relax a little bit.

My eyes were closed, water flowing over my head, when I heard the glass door of the shower being opened. Squinting open one eye, I saw Bella, naked and her hair a little bit of a mess from sleep, step in and wrap her arms around me. She was still warm from being under the blankets. I pulled her under the spray of water with me and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"What are you doing up, baby?" I asked, watching as her hair got darker as it got drenched with the water.

"You weren't there when I rolled over, and I heard the shower turn on," she explained, barely holding in a yawn. "I decided to come join you."

I brushed her hair back from her face. "You could have stayed in bed, angel. It's early still."

She shrugged and pressed her body closer to mine, causing arousal to shoot through my body, waking me up significantly. My cock was already pressed insistently against her hip. "I know, but it's been awhile since we had some hot shower sex."

Her hand stroked over my back, her nails digging in a little bit, before she moved lower and grabbed my ass, pulling me even more against her. Her breasts were pressed into my chest, and I could feel her hard nipples brushing against my skin with every breath she took. Who was I to deny my wife the hot shower sex she wanted? I was not fool.

I pulled her lips to mine and ran my hands over her body. I turned her around, so her back was pressed to my chest, and I immediately had my hand between her slick folds, noting how wet she already was. My fingers rubbed over her clit, and she moaned, while I pushed her forward to brace her hands on the wall. I had her panting and begging for me to let her cum before I slid my cock into her. I let out a content sigh as I pressed all the way in, glad to finally have some time with my wife for once.

Apparently I was taking too long to start moving, so Bella gave a little huff and thrust her ass back against me. "Fuck me, Edward. I need you, baby."

I didn't have to be told twice.

Once we were done in the shower, after actually getting around to cleaning, we ate breakfast and got ready for our day out. We had planned to go to some of the parks nearby, and Bella really wanted to go to Madame Tussaud's, so I promised that was on our list of plans today. We both really wanted to visit the Smithsonian again, without the tour guide and mass group of people. Being the complete nerds we are, we wanted to go by the research facilities. We'd have dinner at this little Italian restaurant we both loved before coming back to get ready for a surprise Bella said she had for me. I had been curious for weeks, but any time I asked, she just brushed me off and told me I didn't know the purpose of a surprise.

We took a walk through a park nearby our apartment before she asked if we could visit a botanical garden she had always wanted to see. I readily agreed and we made our way back home to pick up our car before heading over. We spent about two hours in there before going to a deli for lunch and making our way over to the wax museum. Bella was amazed by how well they got all the details, and I had to admit, it was pretty cool. She took some pictures and had a little bit of a moment when she came to the figure of Patrick Dempsey. All these years and she had never given up on her obsession with McDreamy. She had told me that Rose tried to make up her own stupid Grey's doctor name for me when we first met, but a concrete name never came to fruition. Thank God.

The Smithsonian was next, and we took a brief look around some of the exhibits before making it over to the research portion of the institute, completely geeking out over all the machinery they were using. Bella expressed her thoughts of going into research if the hospital route ever stopped appealing to her, but she assured me her love for applicable medicine was alive and well, even after a few months of rotations and grunt work.

We stopped for our dinner before heading back home. Bella told me to put on a dark pair of jeans and a button up shirt before disappearing into the bathroom. I was ready quickly, so I sat and waited in the living room, watching the football game while she got ready. I wasn't quite sure what was taking her so long, but I had learned to not ask questions when it came to a woman's prep for a night out. Alice had reprimanded me enough when they came out to visit over the summer and we all went out. I had just asked when they thought they were going to be ready, and Alice talked my ear off about how it takes time to look perfect and all this other nonsense. I just don't say anything, now.

Luckily, when she was alone, Bella didn't take very long to get ready, so twenty minutes later, she was in the living room with me, wearing a white, very low cut, top, a black mini skirt that hugged the curve of her hips, sheer black tights, a maroon leather jacket, and these pale pink heels that made her legs look forever long. I felt my breathing get labored as Bella went to grab her purse off the table, showing off the roundness of her perfect ass.

"Ready to go, baby?" she asked perkily, flashing me a smile, even though her eyes told me she totally knew what she was doing to me.

"Are you trying to seduce me, gorgeous?" I asked, rising from the couch and wrapping my arms around her. When I looked down at her, I could see straight down the low neckline of her shirt, and there was a peak of black lace. I barely held back a groan.

"Is it working?" she countered, her tone sultry. She gave me a quick, but passionate kiss, before grabbing the car keys off the counter and ushering me out the door.

Bella drove, since I had no idea where we were going. I still had no idea where we were after a twenty minutes drive, until she pulled up and parked outside of a dark building with neon signs out front, advertising for exotic dancers. I raised my eyebrow at her as she took the key out of the ignition.

She giggled. "Come on, it's gonna be fun. I miss being in a club."

I just shrugged and joined her outside of the car, walking with her to the entrance. The bouncer ushered us in after a quick look at our IDs, even though, at twenty-eight, I definitely didn't pass for anything younger than maybe twenty-five. Bella could still probably pull off eighteen, though, which bugged her to know end. People always looked at her skeptically when she gave them her ID at bars, obviously thinking she wasn't the twenty-four years her license displayed.

Bella pulled me straight back to the bar, ordering a glass of bourbon on the rocks for me and a soda for herself, as well as to speak to the manager. I was curious about the manager thing, but when he showed up, I realized it was the man who owned the strip club she used to work at in Portland. They hugged and introductions were made before Bella whispered in his ear, and he gave a nod, handing her something that she pocketed. I had finished my drink during the interaction, so she ordered another for me before grabbing my hand and leading me to another part of the building. We passed by girls in various states of undress, most with tops on, serving customers and giving lap dances, but some of the girls on stage were already topless, smiling for the men who were throwing money on the stages.

We happened onto a hallway and Bella pulled the thing her old boss had given her from her pocket, and I realized it was a key. She opened the door and corralled me inside, shutting and locking the door behind us. The music from the club was streaming through speakers in here, and soft lights light the room and the pole that was in the center. It took me back to when Bella and I had first met, the times I had paid her to dance for only me. We had come a long way since then.

"Sit down, Edward," Bella instructed. I sat in the cushy chair and placed my drink on the little table provided.

"What's going on, baby?" I asked, slightly confused.

Bella smirked at me as she took her jacket off and tossed it to me. "What does it look like I'm doing, Edward?" She pulled her shirt out of her skirt and peeled it off, throwing it onto the seat beside me. I had to swallow my tongue at the black lacy bra she had on that barely covered any of her breast. I could see a hint of her dusty pink nipple popping out of the edge of each cup.

I couldn't help from licking my lips when she slid her skirt down her legs, revealing a matching garter belt and tiny panties. What I had previously thought were tights were actually thigh high stockings, held up by little clips on the garter belt.

Bella chuckled, bringing my eyes back up to hers. "Like what you see, baby?"

"Always," I guaranteed. Bella wouldn't come any closer to me, and my fingers twitched with the need to wrap them around her hips. She hadn't danced in years, but her body was every bit as in shape as it had been when we first met. She was the most gorgeous, sexy woman I had ever met, and I was one lucky bastard to have the honor of calling her my wife. I had seen other interns and doctors looking at her and heard hints of conversations about how hot she was around the hospital all the time. I barely held my tongue any time I heard them, but Bella didn't want us to announce that we were married because she wanted to create her own merritt. We had agreed to tell people we were married if they asked but it didn't have to be common knowledge. You'd figure everyone would have put it together by now given our last names and the rings we always wore, unless Bella was in surgery.

She gave me a very sensual smile as a different song started up, one I recognized from one of our meetings back in Oregon. I hated the stupid movie that this came from, but the way it was sung and the smooth sounds of Beyonce's voice just begged for it to be danced to. I had requested that song that night, wanting to see the mysterious and beautiful Bambi dancing for me along to the slow beat of the song.

For the first time in a long time, I got to see Bella dance. She gripped the pole with one hand and slowly pulled her legs up onto it, showing the strength she had never lost. I watched her lithe body twirl around the pole, lifting and lowering herself with just her arms like it was no big deal. I felt my breathing get more shallow every time she made eye contact with me. She was flexible beyond belief, and watching her got me harder than I had been in a while.

She slowly made her way from the pole to where I was sitting, kneeling between my open knees, hands on my thighs and a knowing smirk on her face by the time the song ended. I don't know if she had more planned, but I needed to have her now, and I knew that was a big no no in a respectable club.

"Fuck, Bella," I groaned. "We need to get out of here."

She giggled. "I thought you'd say that."

I helped her quickly get dressed and I was soon pulling her out of the building and into the car. I had no patience to wait until we got home, so we pulled into a little patch of dense trees and I took her in the back seat of our car, like a pair of teenagers. I had no regrets.

December 2019

Bella and I were snuggled in my bed in my parents' house on Christmas morning. We had both been able to get some time off from the hospital in order to make a trip out to Seattle to celebrate the holidays. We'd be able to stay until January second before having to head back to the real world where our jobs and school awaited. I wasn't really looking forward to the monotony the pediatric ward had been in recently, but Bella was anxious to get back to surgeries. She would have two weeks on the neuro rotation before being sent to trauma, which she was looking forward to.

A glance at the clock told me it was only seven in the morning, but I was still used to east coast time, so I was well rested and eager to be up. No one else was awake yet, and no one was set to show up for food and festivities until eleven, so I could take the time to just lay in bed with my wife for a couple hours before we had to get up and get moving.

I pressed a kiss to the base of her neck when she started moving around and stretching a little, signaling her wakefulness. I trailed my kisses down her neck and across her shoulder, and I could see the little smile on her face from the corner of my eye.

"Good morning, Edward," she said, her voice still rough with sleep. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, angel," I mumbled against her skin. She was warm and soft from being under the covers all night.

She let out a little hum. "I have a present for you before we go down and see everyone today."

I was a little surprised by her revelation. "We exchanged gifts last night, love."

"I know, but I wanted to wait until this morning to give you this one," she said, sliding herself out of bed and over toward the dresser. She pulled open one of the bottom drawers, where I still kept old pairs of sweats and basketball shorts that hadn't seen the light of day since I was in high school. Which was much farther back than I cared to think about. At twenty-eight, I felt like I was getting old, though Bella told me I was being a baby about it. But she was still in her mid-twenties. I was in my late twenties. We'd see how she felt when she was twenty-eight.

Bella came back to the bed with a little black bag with white tissue paper coming out of the top. She handed it to me before she slid back into bed next to me. I propped myself up before I started pulling out the tissue paper. Bella was looking at me with a wary look on her face, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth. That was something she only ever did when she was nervous or turned on, and I hoped this was the latter. But the look on her face told me it was the former, and that made me apprehensive.

I pulled the little bundled package out of the bottom of the bag. It was wrapped pretty excessively in the tissue paper, so I just tore through it. What stared back at me was a little white onesie with the words "Daddy's Future Doctor" with a stethoscope printed around the collar. If I wasn't a doctor and knew better, I would have sworn my heart stopped beating in my chest for a few seconds. I unfolded the piece of clothing, and a little plastic bag fell out of it, dropping into my lap. Picking it up, I realized it contained three pregnancy tests, all with little plus signs in the window.

I must have been silent too long for Bella's liking, because she spoke up in the most timid little voice I had ever uttered from her mouth. "Edward? Say something."

"Holy shit," I breathed out.

That made Bella laugh. "Well, that's something, I guess."

I looked up at her finally, and was relieved to see that her teeth had released her lips, though it looked a little swollen from being chewed on, but that wary look was still in her eyes, which was just unacceptable. Realizing now that she had been so nervous and worried about telling me made me feel like the worst excuse for a husband.

Was I surprised by her revelation? Of course. Was I terrified of becoming a father? Absolutely. But there was no way that I'd ever be upset about this news. Maybe four years ago when Bella and I hadn't even been married, but not now. Neither one of us was ready for kids back then, and my mother's insistence of the matter made me want them even less at that point. But now, when Bella and I were as great as ever and I wanted nothing more than to be with her for as long as we both lived, as per our wedding vows, a baby seemed like an amazing thing. Hell, I was planning to bring up the topic of possibly starting a family once the new year passed, but we were apparently already there.

I gathered Bella in my arms and pressed a long, hard kiss to her mouth, unable to contain my smile. My obvious happiness at the news seemed to relax Bella, and she was giggling.

"When did you find out?" I asked, curious as to how I didn't already know. I was with her all day after I got home from the hospital, and I had never seen anything different with her. I was pretty sure it was hard to miss morning sickness or sore breasts. I was pretty well acquainted with Bella's body.

"A little less than a week ago." She leaned back from me a little and looked at me. "I threw up a few times after getting to the hospital. I thought it was something I ate or, God forbid, the sight of blood, but after a few days, I realized I hadn't gotten my period, so I decided to take a test. I would have told you sooner, but I wanted to do something cute, and since Christmas was coming up, I decided to put something together."

"Do you know how far along?" I asked. Bella had been on birth control for years, so I was curious as to how this happened. Obviously nothing was one hundred percent effective, but it hadn't failed us prior to this.

She shook her head. "No, it can't be more than four or five weeks, though. I had a period last month. I figured I'd schedule an appointment for after the holidays."

Bella had a gynecologist in the hospital we worked at, who she also happened to be on service for before we went on vacation, so a week after we returned to D.C, we both escaped from patients for a few minutes to get to her appointment. When the doctor entered the room, a smile on her face, it dropped slightly in confusion.

"Dr. Cullen, this is unexpected," she greeted. She looked between Bella, who was sat on the exam table, and me, as I sat in the extra chair in the room. We were both still in scrubs and coats, having to go back after we were done here.

"Dr. Hunter," I greeted the red-headed woman. We worked with each other frequently, seeing as I was usually left to treat babies that she had delivered. We were relatively close, since I saw her so often, and she was a nice enough woman. Victoria flirted a little, but I knew it was harmless.

"Not to be rude, but is there a reason why you're here?" She seemed genuinely befuddled, and Bella giggled a little, having watched our interaction.

"He's here to see the sonogram, Dr. Hunter," Bella replied, drawing attention to herself. I could see the corners of her mouth twitching with her amusement. Not telling the rest of the hospital staff that we were married made it amusing when people figured it out, sometimes. Besides the chief and some of Bella's friends in the program, though, no one else knew. I don't see how, though, considering we had the same last name.

"I'm still a little confused," Victoria admitted. "I usually don't have the peds attending sitting in on one of my appointments."

"Well, considering the baby is his, I'd sure hope he's only here for this one." Bella smirked as Victoria's mouth dropped open in astonishment. Great, now Victoria was assuming that I had knocked up some random intern. I gave Bella a look and she just grinned back at me, thoroughly enjoying this situation.

"Bella and I are married, Dr. Hunter," I explained.

She quickly glanced down at the chart that was in her hands. "Oh, jeez, good job, Vicky," she muttered to herself. "I didn't even put two and two together. I always just called Bella by her first name. Jesus."

After all that confusion was cleared up and Bella was sufficiently entertained, we actually got to the point of the visit. There was an internal exam first and then we got to listen to the heartbeat, which caused Bella to cry and I definitely got a little teary eyed, not that I'd admit that to anyone but Bella. Then when Victoria switched the wand over to get a visual, she quickly showed us the little bean shape that was our baby and then did some measurements on the screen.

"Alright, you're about eight weeks along, according to the dimensions of the fetus. So, I'd project your due date at about August sixteenth," Victoria determined. She captured a few photos while Bella spoke.

"I had a period last month, though," she commented, obviously a little befuddled at how far along she was. "Unless it was just implantation bleeding."

Victoria glanced down at her chart as she handed Bella a paper towel to wipe the gel off of her still flat stomach. I was excited to see it grow with the development of our child in the next few months.

"You were still on birth control, correct?" she asked. Bella nodded. "Yeah, it was very likely it was just due to implantation of the egg. I'm assuming your periods are very light anyway, considering the hormonal birth control, so the pregnancy spotting is easily mistaken for a period. It's actually very common."

With a projected a due date and a recommendation for lab work and prenatal vitamins, Victoria waved a goodbye and Bella and I left the room, heading back down to the floor below, where the peds ward was and the neurology wing. We were able to step on the elevator together alone. I immediately wrapped my arms around Bella and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"August sixteenth," I muttered. That was so far away, but I knew it would be showing up in no time. I was already anxious to meet our baby.

"Right smack dab in the middle of both of our birthdays," Bella chuckled. "We sure know how to plan for a baby's arrival."

I grinned at her. "I don't know about the arrival, but I sure do like practicing." I moved my kisses to her neck, and she giggled.

"Stop," she protested, pressing her hand gently against my chest to push me away slightly. "I'm sure my hormones will soon be begging me to have sex with you any and everywhere. But not in this hospital."

The doors dinged open, and thankfully, no one was standing on the other side. We exited, Bella's hand clutched in mine as we stepped out.

"We had sex at the other hospital," I reminded her. I quite looked forward to my breaktime rendezvous with Bella back then. They definitely made my shift more interesting and enjoyable. We were even in the same hospital now, so it just made it that much easier.

I could see the blush creeping up Bella's neck. "That was when I didn't work in a hospital," she protested.

We were in a hallway that split the space between the peds and neuro departments, and there was hardly anyone there, so I pulled her back to me. I could see the protest already on her lips, so I hurried to say my piece.

"This isn't about the sex thing," I assured. "I was just thinking that maybe we shouldn't tiptoe around each other at work. I feel like we're hiding, and I don't want to hide the fact that we're married. I mean, people are going to know that you're pregnant soon, and they're going to ask questions."

Bella nodded. "I was actually thinking the same thing. As fun as it was to see Dr. Hunter so flustered, it would just make our lives easier in the long run if people knew."

I smiled at her. I was always glad when we were on the same wavelength. "We don't have to announce it or anything."

"But if people inquire, we'll let them know," she amended, which was what I was going to say. I leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss.

It was in that moment that two sets of footsteps echoed down the hall, heading straight for where we were. When I looked up, I caught the eyes of one of my ped residents and the oncology attending, Dr. Call and Dr. Rhys. Both of their eyes were wide as they looked between Bella and me, my wife still wrapped in my arms. She looked over her shoulder and her blush from earlier just intensified.

No time like the present.

"Embry, Maggie," I greeted, giving them both a slight nod. I released Bella from my arms, but I kept her by my side, her hand in mine.

"Good afternoon, Edward," Maggie greeted coolly. Her piercing blue eyes were like icicles to accompany her chilly disposition. I had suspected that she may have been interested in my, based on the few interactions we had when we worked together, and I think she was seeing Bella as competition. "One of the new interns?" She jerked her head in Bella's direction, her gaze a little loathing. It was also possible she was upset with me for engaging with one of the interns. Whoops.

"Uh, yeah, this is Bella," I introduced. "Bella, this is Dr. Maggie Rhys, the oncology attending and Dr. Embry Call, one of my residents."

"Aren't you on Dr. Manning's service today, Bella?" Maggie asked, her tone a little harsh. Bella nodded. "Well, I'm sure she'd like to know you're wasting time standing around and flirting with an attending when you should be doing rounds. Neurology may not be your ultimate area of interest, but you still owe your undivided attention to the patients. Or should I let them know you were making out with another doctor in the hallways, as well."

My hackles were immediately up, and I opened my mouth to reprimand Maggie for being so rude and presumptuous, but Bella beat me to it.
"My apologies, Dr. Rhys, but I was actually taking a permitted break in order to attend an appointment her in the hospital with my husband, who also went to the appointment with me. I assure you, Dr. Manning was aware of where I was going, for how long, why, and with whom. If you weren't aware, there are three interns on neuro rotation, and my peers are more than capable for checking the black screen that reads you the vitals and writing them in the charts. Unless you're suggesting that my fellow interns are so completely incompetent that they can't even manage to read and write?"

The second 'husband' was uttered from Bella's mouth, Maggie blanched, her mouth dropped open and her eyebrows nearly into her hairline. I mean, that was one way to let people know.

Maggie just muttered something about seeing us around the hospital before walking away briskly, Embry trying to contain his snickers by her side. He shot me an approving look behind Maggie's back, looking between Bella and I and offering a cheeky grin and a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help the grin that stretched across my face. I loved my wife.

"You know she's going to make your life a living hell, right?" I asked

Bella smirked. "Worth it. Though, she's not a surgeon, so I doubt I'll be seeing a whole lot of her."

"I'm sure she has her ways," I assured.

She chuckled. "Still worth it."

May 2020

I couldn't help the grin on my face at seeing my wife standing at the nurse's station, facing another intern so I could see her profile. She was just past the twenty-four week mark, and her growing stomach was visible underneath her scrubs. Unlike most women who I've seen freak out over the protrusion of their stomach-cough Alice cough-, Bella had embraced the first visual signs of her pregnancy, reasoning that it meant our baby was growing and healthy. Her confidence in her changing body was one of the sexiest things I had ever seen, and the extra curves in some areas just added to it. Bella always had a nice body, but seeing her carrying my baby was one of the best things I had ever witnessed. It was a good thing that Bella was still up for sex, because it was pretty hard to keep my hands off of her.

Bella finished her conversation with the other intern and turned to face the counter of the nurse's station. I took the opportunity and walk up behind her, my hands automatically finding her hips. Bella leaned back into my chest, but made no move to look away from the charts that were laid out before her.

"Are we still being good and abiding by the 'no sex in the hospital' rule?" I asked. I wanted her always and Bella was typically willing when I was, except for at the hospital. Four months later and she was still putting her foot down. It didn't help that she was working the general rotation, and their department shared a wing with pediatrics, so I saw her almost all day.

"I'd actually probably take you to an on call room now, but I have four cases and presenting with the same symptoms, but all of the tests I've ordered have come back inconclusive. Dr. Halstead is allowing whoever figures it out decide who is on scut for the rest of the rotation. And Alec is the biggest asshole I've ever met, so I really want to figure it out."

"What are the symptoms?"

She sighed. "Four patients of various ages, no obvious relation to one another. All presenting with difficulty breathing and some sort of puss filled rash around the nose and mouth with severe swelling. There's a poor four year old girl with her left eye completely swollen shut." She shook her head. "Anyway, there's some sort of nasal congestion, but no obvious signs of inflammation, unless it's in the sinuses and not just nasal passages. Low grade fevers, but they're obviously fighting some sort of infection, or trying to. All have a weakened immune system, and some are complaining of chest pain, but all EKGs and blood panels I do come back normal. I've also taken biopsies of the rash, but nothing conclusive is coming back.

"I'm nearly ripping my hair out because they're all getting worse and their vitals are dropping. I know it's some sort of infectious disease-we all do-but no one knows what."

I looked at the charts over her shoulder, noting their symptoms and the results from the blood panels. WBC was obviously up, but not incredibly so, considering the immune system thing. Everything else seemed to be relatively normal. The only thing that really stood out was the shortness of breath.

"How are lung sounds?"

"Wet and wheezy on both sides for all patients."

"Have you done X-rays for pneumonia?"

I could nearly feel the eye roll she gave me. "Obviously, Edward."

"Sorry, had to ask." As I stared at the charts, I started piecing some possibilities together. "Collect respiratory fluids from them and have the lab run a fungal assay. The problems with the sinuses and respiratory system means they most likely inhaled something. "

"Like fungal spores," she stated. I nodded. "Alright, I'll get on this. I hope I get something. I wanna kick Alec's ass."

"Hey, I'm helping you win. Don't I get any retribution for this?" I joked.

She turned to me and that hungry glint she got when she was horny was in her eye. "If I figure this out and win, we can do that thing you've been wanting to do." She gave me a grin and gathered her charts, walking away. She left me standing there, staring after her with longing.

I hoped to God she won.

August 2020

I was shaken awake at some point in the middle of the night. I cracked my eyes open and saw that it was still pitch black in the room. I thought maybe Bella had gotten up to use the restroom and the movement of the bed was what woke me up, so I closed my eyes and attempted to fall back asleep. I was almost there, but the shaking woke me again and then Bella's voice broke through my sleepy haze.

"Edward, wake up," her soft voice called. I groaned and turned over to face her. She was propped up on one elbow in bed, seemingly alert at this late hour. I was pretty sure it was about three in the morning, and we had both laid down at just after eleven.

I hummed at her to show her I was listening and attempting to wake up. I wasn't quite sure what was so important that I be awake at three in the morning for, but I wasn't going to deny my pregnant wife her request.

"Edward, we have to go," she muttered, running her free hand through my hair, which just made me want to go back to sleep.

"Where are we going?" I asked through a yawn. I was in no state to go anywhere.

"The hospital, Edward," she chuckled. "My water just broke."

Those words were probably about the only thing that could've gotten me out of bed that early in the morning. I finally groaned and sat myself up and rubbed at my eyes. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I'm good, contractions aren't too bad. They're about nine minutes apart right now, so we've got a little bit of time." The fact that Bella was so calm about this helped to tamp down the anxiety that was starting to swell in my chest. As a doctor, I knew that lives were brought into this world everyday and everything was going to be fine and we had time to get going. But, as an expectant father, I was starting to freak out about the fact that, most likely, within the next twenty-four hours our baby would be here. I was having a tough time wrapping my head around that part, so I put all of my focus on Bella and what she needed in that moment.

"Do you wanna take a shower or something before we go?"

She nodded and flashed me a smile. "Yeah, that sounds good. Would you like to join me?"

I grabbed her hand and presses a kiss to the back of it. "Absolutely."

After we had taken a shower and redressed, Bella grabbed her purse and my wallet while I got the bag we had already packed from its place in the closet. I went to go grab the keys and I noticed that Bella was on the phone. She had called the hospital to inform them that we would be there soon. We had already had a private room arranged for when it was time for Bella to give birth, and it would give them time to get Dr. Hunter into the hospital if she wasn't already there.

Bella grabbed the car keys and tossed them to me on our way out the door. I had the overnight bag in one hand and Bella's in the other. The car seat had already been installed so we wouldn't have to worry about it when Bella was in the hospital. We made our way down into the car and I made my way to the hospital. Bella had two contractions on the ride over, and I held her hand through them, even though she insisted that they weren't that bad.

As we were nearing the hospital, she looked over at me and gave me a soft smile.

"We're going to meet our baby today," she whispered.

I brought her hand to my lips and placed a kiss there. "I can't wait."

Carlie Anne Cullen was born at 3:22 pm on Sunday, August ninth and weighed eight pounds, three ounces. She already had a full head of my crazy hair, god help her, and her eyes were a light grey color, which I knew were going to turn into my and my mother's green. She had Bella's full lips and cute little nose though, and I knew she was going to grow up to look just like her mother, just with some of my features. She was the most precious little thing and I actually cried when I held her for the first time, but no one but Bella would ever know that. Carlie was so serene after she ate and was properly bathed. I sat with her while Bella napped, and I couldn't take my eyes off her little sleeping face, so soft and cherub-like.

Everyone had visited right after Carlie was born, when Bella was still awake and willing to take visitors. Our parents had flown in as soon as possible, and had made it just an hour before she arrived. My mother was going to be staying with us for a few weeks while we got acclimated to having to take care of a newborn. Bella had taken some time off from the hospital, so we should be able to get into the swing of things by the time my mom left. I was hoping, anyway.

I saw Bella sit up in the bed out of the corner of my eye, and she was smiling over at me when I looked at her. The love that was sparkling in her eyes was evident, and I had a feeling the same look was in mine.

"We get to take her home," she whispered, still in awe of our child, as was I.

"Tomorrow," I agreed. "And then we get her for the rest of our lives."

Bella's smile widened and she stretched her hand out to me. And took it in mine and pressed a kiss to it.

"Perfect."

So, epilogue part 1, done! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Like I said, I will be posting part 2 next week, so we have that to look forward to.

Again, if you guys have any outtake requests, feel free to send them to me! I will happily write up something for a scene you'd like to see. I love these characters, and I'm a little sad I'll be saying goodbye soon, but I'm looking forward to other projects.

If you didn't know already, I've posted a new story, Anything Could Happen. I will be posting the next update to that in just a few hours, so definitely go check that out!

As always, thank you guys so much for reviewing. I read each and every one, and I love hearing from you. So thank you so much!

Until next time, lovelies!