E P I L O G U E
10 Years Later
.:Bella:.
"Mom! Mom! Mom!" I looked up from my book and saw Rose-Marie running into the room. "Mom Jason and Kate are here!" she called happily. Her eyes flashed to a brilliant green and I smiled. My daughter's eyes were similar to mood rings. They would change from brilliant green to brown and every color in between.
I put my book down, stood and stretched. Jack looked up at me and cocked his head to the side. I smiled at him and looked around to see the rest of the 'pack', as we so fondly called them, were spread out lounging in the living room near the warm fire. Some puppies that Jack had fathered with one of our female's Lia, were playing with a ball we had gotten them.
I moved to the front door in time to hear a light knock. I opened it and grinned. I pulled my son into a tight hug, happy to see him home. I turned to Kate and pulled her into a hug as well. They had gotten married a few years ago and now Kate was pregnant with their first child.
"I'm so glad to see you both. How are you doing?" I asked ushering them inside. Kate grinned.
"We're good." She said rubbing her swelling stomach. I smiled and led them into the kitchen.
"Jason! Kate!" the triplets screamed happily. Jason grinned and scooped up Rose-Marie in a tight hug as the boys tackled his legs
"Hey squirt. How are you guys doing?" They all grinned. "Ready for Christmas?" They nodded eagerly. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. I opened the door and smiled.
"Emma! Jake! Dakota!" I said smiling. I picked up my granddaughter and she giggled in response. I turned to Emma and Jake and smiled.
"How are you guys?" I asked kissing the top of Dakota's tiny head. She was three now and the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen. She had Emma's candy apple green eyes and Jakes dark hair and a perfect blend of skin tone between them.
"We're good mom. Is dad home yet?" I shook my head and lead them into the kitchen where Jason and Kate were talking to the kids. Clara and Luke had come down stairs and were now talking as well.
"Emma! Jake!" they said excitedly. All we were waiting on now was Simon and Jodi who were both in college, and Edward.
.:Simon:.
"Simon are you sure your parents will like me?" I looked down at Amanda and smiled. I kissed her hand gently, reassuring her.
"They will love you, just like I do." She smiled a sweet smile and nodded. I stood and got out of the car, coming around to help Amanda out. She tucked her blond hair behind her ear and smiled tentatively, grasping on to my hand. I lead her to the front door and knocked sending her a smile. The door flew open and we were suddenly embraced in my mom's tiny arms.
"Simon! Oh I am so glad you are home!" she cried happily. I grinned and kissed her cheek.
"Mom this is my girlfriend, Amanda." Mom turned to Amanda and grinned, pulling her into a tight hug.
"I'm so happy to meet you." She said warmly. Amanda smiled.
"You too Mrs. Cullen." Bella shook her head.
"Oh no, please, call me Bella." Amanda nodded and mom dragged us inside to the living room where Emma, Jake, Jason and Kate sat around with Clara and Luke. I smiled at everyone and introduced them to Amanda.
As I predicted, she fit perfectly with everyone else.
.:Jodi:.
"So Jodi, Ryan seems nice." I looked up at Emma who was grinning at me. I blushed lightly and nodded.
"He's a good guy." Clara smirked.
"How long have you been dating?" I shrugged. The truth was Ryan was in all my classes and was my first friend in College. His sister was my roommate and we had started out as just friends.
"About a month I guess. We've been friends though since the beginning of the year." Emma and Clara nodded. Kate waddled in and I smiled at her.
"Hey ladies." She said grabbing a glass of water.
"Hey how is my little nephew?" Clara asked patting Kate's stomach gently. Kate smiled.
"Kicking like crazy." Clara smiled.
"Have you thought of names yet?" I asked softly. Kate shook her head.
"No we haven't decided yet. Jason likes Trevor or Kevin. I like Timothy or Derek."
"I like Brandon." Emma said rubbing her stomach gently. Kate looked over at her.
"Oh that's a nice name." Kate said nodding. The kitchen door opened and we looked up to see Amanda and mom walk in. I grinned at them and they smiled back.
"Come join the party." Clara said waving them over. Amanda smiled and came over as mom leaned against the counter. We all started talking when there was a loud shout from the living room. Kate, mom and Emma glanced at each other.
"It's not my husband." Emma said shaking her head.
"My husband is at work." mom said smirking. Kate sighed and walked out of the kitchen. She came back a few minutes later shaking her head.
"Football." She said shaking her head. I laughed. There was no time quite like the holidays.
.:Luke:.
"So, how far along is Kate?" Jake asked Jason. We were all sitting in the living room, talking and watching football. Jason shrugged.
"Absolutley nothing like when mom was pregnant. Kate will be super calm one minute and yelling at me the next. I've learned to just ignore her and she calms down eventually." Jake snickered.
"I know what you mean. When Em was pregnant, she had all these horrible mood swings and cravings and stuff. I spent half the pregnancy running around, getting food for her or running away from her." we all laughed.
"What about you man? How long have you known Amanda?" Everyone looked at Simon and he shrugged.
"A while, but I didn't have the guts to talk to her at first." I snickered and I felt an fist hit my arm.
"What about you? Got a girlfriend yet?" At school I was known as the heartthrob, much to my dismay. I hated the girls flinging themselves at me, acting desprate and skanky.
I shrugged. "This girl just moved from Chicago. She's really hot but she doesn't talk to anyone. She's really the only person who has caught my eye." I said shrugging. They all nodded.
"Have you tried talking to her?" Ryan asked. I looked up at him and nodded.
"We sit next to each other in History. She's brilliant in that class but just, doesn't talk." everyone frowned.
"That's just because you aren't wooing her the right way." Jake said winking. I frowned.
"What?" he nodded.
"You have to be cool, suave." We all laughed at him and our attention was brought back to the TV.
"Jason!" we looked up to see Christopher and Anthony run into the room. They were identical appart from their eyes. "Jason can we come visit you and Kate for our birthday?" I smirked and glanced at Jason. Growing up, the triplets hadn't gotten to know Jason or Emma as well because by the time they were four, both Emma and Jason were in college. They had known Simon and Jodi better, but still not as well as they knew Clara and me. To the triplets, Jason and Emma were the coolest older siblings, only because they didn't know them as well.
"Well, um, go ask Kate." he said in a panic. They hopped down and ran into the kitchen.
"Real smooth, send your brothers to poke the emotional pregnant wife."
.:Clara:.
I was happy to have my siblings home for the holidays. I didn't get to see Jason and Kate as much, mainly because they lived in Olympia, about an hour and a half away.
Emma on the other had lived with Jake in Seattle so I got to see her more frequently which was nice.
Jodi was going to college in England and Simon was in California. I myself had applied to schools in the east coast and in Europe and was just waiting on the response. Luke had applied to every art school he could find. Art was his passion and he was amazing at it.
"So Clara," I looked up at Amanda and smiled. "What do you want to major in college?" I smiled.
"I really want to be a musician." Amanda nodded.
"You play?" I nodded.
"Piano, violin, guitar, bass." Amanda smiled.
"Wow, that's really impressive." mom grinned.
"She gets it from her father. He plays the piano and he's absolutely magnificent at it." I blushed lightly and shrugged.
"Will you play for us later?" I grinend at Amanda and nodded.
"Sure, only if my dad will." Mom rolled her eyes and smiled.
.:Edward:.
I got home to find all nine of my children home. I was happy to see the older four, who were all either in college or out of college, married with their own families. Simon had brought his new girlfriend Amanda home to meet us and Jodi had brought her boyfriend Ryan. It was a full house, as it was every time everyone was home for the holidays. To accommodate everyone, Bella and I had done some construction a few years ago adding four more rooms to the house. It was always crowded, but that was how we all liked it.
"Daddy! Look who is home!" Rose-Marie said running to greet me at the door. I picked her up into a hug and grinned. "Daddy everyone is home!" she said happily. I nodded.
"That's great sweetie." I said moving to the living room where everyone was gathered. I greeted my kids and granddaughter with smiles.
We were all together again.
.:Bella:.
Christmas dinner was one of our most crowded yet. Charlie, Esme and Carlisle came over every year, as well as Alice, Jasper, Rose and Emmett and their families. Alice had gotten pregnant again about two years after having the twins and had a little girl she named Margret and had another son a few years after that. After I had the triplets, she wanted her own set of triplets, but so far had had no luck.
Emmett and Rose had surprised everyone by having a boy about a year after the triplets were born.
"Mom?" I looked up at Emma who was helping me in the kitchen with a few other women. "Do you think you'll have any more kids?" I looked up at her stunned.
"What?" she shrugged.
"Well, you're still really young. Do you and dad want any more kids?" I laughed.
"Sweetie, after the triplets, I think I'm set as far as kids go." I said smiling softly. Emma grinned. "As for grandkids, I can't wait for more." I said winking. Emma grinned.
"Good. Because I'm pregnant again." I smiled and hugged my daughter tightly.
"I'm so happy for you sweetie." Emma grinned.
We set the table for everyone to fit and soon dinner was served. There were several tables set up, one large one for the adults and several for the kids.
I had never enjoyed dinner with family in all my life as much as I did tonight. We talked late into the night and just enjoyed each other's company.
It was bliss and somehow I knew it would be forever more. We were stuck in our own fairytale and that was exactly where we all wanted to be.