Well it's been a long ride and I apologize for the delays in getting this chapter out to you. Real life has thrown quite a few curve balls my way but I am glad to finally be bringing a close to this story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed writing this story.

I want to send a special and heartfelt thanks out to my girls, Ellie, Nikki, and Melody as well as to all the people who took the time to send me messages and PM's encouraging me. A special shout out to mellobonesfan101 and the Aussie girls for their cheerleading and dedication to this fic. I love each and every one of you and thank you for your patience. Without further ado, I give you Paramedward.

"In the next thirty days 6,000 people will fight to survive violent assault. Today alone, 200 people will compete with assailants for their lives. These statistics represent the number of individuals assaulted with the aid of date rape drugs, which, in 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice found were responsible for the fastest-growing drug-facilitated sexual assault crimes in America.

The three most popularly used are, flunitrazepam, also called Rohypnol, 'roofies' or 'roaches,' Ketamine, also known as 'K', 'Vitamin K' or 'Special K,' and gamma-hydroxybutyrate which has a host of names including, GHB, 'Easy Lay,' 'Georgia Home Boy,' 'G' or 'Liquid E,.' All these drugs are ideal for sexual predators because they render their victims defenseless. The drugs themselves are colorless and odorless, either in powder, pill, or liquid form, which makes them easy to add into someone's drink. Moreover, all of them leave the system quickly, within 72 hours, taking the evidence of the crime away faster, in many cases, than the victim can report it.

I know you're probably thinking 'it can't happen to me'. But it can. I know because I once said the same thing. My name is Edward Masen. I am an EMT here in Seattle, and I am a survivor of date rape drugging."

The audience erupted. No matter how many times I gave this speech the reaction was always the same.

A sea of faces staring back at me in disbelief and astonishment.

Raised voices and exclamations of shock.

The principal quickly scrambled to maintain order as students turned to their friends and made speculation about my unexpected statement. I simply smiled and held my head up waiting for the audience to calm down enough for me to continue.

"Students, please," cried Mr. Monroe loudly. "Mr. Masen is our guest and he is not yet done his presentation. This is a very serious subject and we need to all calm down and pay attention."

I held my hand up and stepped forward to the microphone. "I know you all have questions, and I'll get to that in a minute, but first, I want to tell you all how to protect yourselves so you don't end up a statistic, like me."

Before I could continue a young girl stood up in the second row. "Excuse me, but you're a guy. I thought that this kind of thing only happened to girls."

I shook my head and stared out at the audience, my expression serious. "I know what you're thinking…I am a strong capable man, I can defend myself right?"

Several students nodded in agreement and there were loud comments from several guys stating they could take care of themselves. I held my hand up again to restore order, waiting until the noise had died down before continuing. "Well that is where you are wrong. Date rape can happen to anyone. It doesn't even have to be sexual intercourse, but oral sex as well. The point I am trying to make is that anyone is vulnerable, and this is a growing problem, especially on college and university campuses. Now, I'll ask you to direct your attention to the screen behind me…"

I spent the next hour going through my presentation and answering questions about my own story before handing out information packages to the seniors who had attended. When the last student had left I turned to the principal and stuck out my hand. "Thank you again, Mr. Monroe, for allowing me to do this."

"Edward, it's I who should be thanking you. It's a real service you provided to these kids today, giving them the information to protect themselves. It was our pleasure to have you here." He smiled and shook my hand. "Can I count on you for next year, too?"

I grinned and leaned down to pick up my bag. "Absolutely. Just call the chief and have him set it up whenever you are ready."

After being thanked once again I exited the school and headed back to the fire station to stow away my equipment.

I had been giving these presentations at local high schools and colleges for the past four months after speaking with the Chief and coming clean about my own experience and James' threats. Together with the help of Bella and my family, we had formed a coalition against date rape which was quickly picked up by several law enforcement agencies across the state of Washington.

That's not to say it had been an easy road. The situation with James had been diffused somewhat by my coming out, so to speak, however he had not been apprehended until some weeks later.

Billy and Jacob Black has set up a surveillance team around Bella in the hopes of catching James, but once my story hit the local media (thanks to Esme and the publicist she hired) he went underground and stopped all contact. It was literally weeks until he surfaced again, but he was eventually arrested waiting in the parking lot of the fitness centre Bella attended for yoga classes.

James was charged with breach of probation, harassment, destruction of property, and blackmail. His probation officer was fired after an inquiry into the situation divulged that James had been paying him to keep his mouth shut about James' trips to Seattle and documentng that he was checking in regularly as ordered. With the evidence that was collected against him, James was going to be locked away for a long time once his trial was completed.

Tanya's involvement was also exposed and we were even further shocked at the extent of her involvement. Her ex-boyfriend Laurent called us one night to inform us that Tanya had been brought to the hospital and admitted in the psychiatric ward after trying to harm herself. He told us that Tanya had informed him that she had sought James out and had provided him information such as Bella's home address and cell number in the hopes that James would take Bella out of the picture so she could finally have me to herself.

When James was arrested Tanya went into a downward spiral. She began drinking and eventually called Laurent one night in a drunken stupor threatening to kill herself. Laurent then divulged that he had left Tanya due to her erratic behaviour and her obsession with me but had admittedly never seen her like this. He quickly called her parents then drove to her apartment to find her wrestling with the cap on a bottle of prescription sleeping pills. When he snatched the bottle away from her, she had broken down and confessed the entire situation to him, crying and clawing at her hair.

When her parents finally made it to the apartment Tanya had completely drawn in on herself, and was rocking back and forth mumbling my name. Laurent told them what she had done, including her obsession with me and they immediately had her admitted into psychiatric care. Her mother had called Esme and tearfully apologized, admitting that Tanya had been suffering from mental illness for years. Her family had tried to hide it the best they could as they were a wealthy family and often in the media. They, of course, were unaware that she was fixated on me or they would have taken action long before the situation had deteriorated to this extent.

In the end, Bella was stoic throughout the whole thing, while I was an absolute nervous wreck. I actually started seeing a counsellor to help me deal with the emotional distress that had surfaced with the whole thing. The suppressed memories of losing my own family on top of the James/ Tanya fiasco had me living in constant fear that something was going to happen to make me lose Bella or the baby, and I was having a hard time reconciling the past with the present.

This had all come to head one day when I literally had an anxiety attack after Bella failed to call and let me know she had gone out shopping with Alice. I came home from work to find the house empty with Bella's car still in the drive. When my calls to her cell phone went straight to voicemail the panic bubbled up in my stomach and I began to hyperventilate. Jasper found me curled up on the kitchen floor when he came over to let me know the girls were picking up supper and had immediately called for medical assistance. I was embarrassed to say the least, but the counselling had helped and now things were on their way back to normal for us.

A loud horn jolted me from my musing and I suddenly realized that I was sitting still at a green light. I waved in apology and drove quickly through the intersection and turned into the fire station parking lot, driving back towards the ambulance bays.

Seth greeted me as I jumped out of the rig. "Hey man, why the hell aren't you answering your phone?"

I winked at him and started walking away. "Why? Did you miss me, sweetie?"

He grabbed my arm and stopped me with a wide grin. "No, douchebag, but your woman has been trying to reach you for the past half hour. Her water broke. It's show time, Daddy."

I gasped and started frantically digging through my pockets in search of my phone. "Shit, shit, shit! How could I be so stupid?"

I gave up my search of the cell phone and sprinted towards the building. I would call her from inside.

"Dude! Edward! Dude, stop!" Seth shouted, trying to catch up to me.

I waved him off in irritation and raced through the doors towards the crew lounge. "Not now, Seth. I have to call Bella."

I had one hand on the phone when he wrestled me sideways onto the couch, knocking over Ben in the process. "Edward, I was just shitting you. Bella didn't call….dude, calm down!"

I sat up and glared at him, ignoring the laughter coming from the rest of my coworkers. "That's not cool, Seth. Not cool at all."

"It was everyone's idea," Seth admitted, "but I had started it. Bella told me about you being paranoid that she would go into labour while you were on the road and we thought it would be funny." He tried to keep a straight face and then cracked up laughing. "Dude, you should have seen your face. I thought you were going to pee your pants."

I tried to stay angry but quickly lost the battle, joining their laughter. I seriously thought that I was going to pee my pants too. We had just settled down to a game of poker when my phone chimed with Bella's distinct ring tone.

"Hello, love," I answered winking at the guys.

"Edward," she cried, her voice somewhat shaky. "You need to come home, my water just broke."

I laughed heartily and smirked at my coworkers. "Ha, ha, Bella. I already heard that one today. Nice try though. Seth already got me."

Surprisingly I was the only one laughing, while the boys stared at me curiously.

"Edward Anthony," I jumped when Alice came on the line, her normally cheerful voice practically dripping with annoyance. "Get your ass to the hospital, this is NOT a joke."

I jumped to my feet and snapped my phone shut. "Shit! I've got to go! It's the real thing!"

The boys cheered and Seth quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me out towards my car.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pulling away from him.

"I'm driving you over to the hospital, douche. You're bound to run someone over in the state you are in. Don't worry. Mikey's calling the Chief to replace us."

Thank goodness the hospital was not far and before I knew it we were racing up the stairs towards the maternity ward, too anxious to wait for the elevator.

We skidded into the delivery suite area just in time to see Bella being ushered into one of the rooms, clutching her stomach as a contraction overtook her.

I quickly ran over and pulled her against me, supporting her weight while she grimaced and gasped through the pain. When it was over, she opened her eyes and gazed up at me. "I'm so glad you're here."

I carefully guided her to the hospital bed and helped her get into a gown, then stood back as the nurse began hooking her up to the fetal heart monitor, wrapping the straps around her belly. Bella had just settled into the bed when another contraction started.

She gasped out my name and grabbed for my hand, the swish, swish, swish, sound of the monitor growing louder and louder as she trashed her head back and forth. I sucked in a deep breath and smoothed her hair away from her sweaty brow, overcome with remorse at seeing her in so much pain.

"We're already coming along quite nicely," the nurse remarked. "I had better call the doctor, your baby is really anxious to greet this world."

As she stepped out to make the call Alice rushed into the room, her normally put together look thoroughly mussed. "You," she pointed accusingly at me. "You thought this was funny? I almost had a heart attack, Edward. One minute we were walking across the road, the next minute she was bent over with a pool of water under her."

"I'm sorry about your shoes, Alice," Bella whispered, her face red with embarrassment. "I….I….oh…oh….Ed-Edwarrrrrrd!" Her back arched up off the bed as another particularly strong contraction washed over her.

Alice paled and squeezed her eyes shut. "I am never having sex again."

I glared at her and turned back to Bella. "Just breath, baby. You're doing just beautifully, my love. That's it…..one, two, three, four…."

When the contraction was finally coming down I turned back to Alice. "Why don't you go out and call everyone. Bella has a list in the front pocket of her bag. At least Renee and Esme…okay?"

She nodded and left the room in a rush, thoroughly traumatized by this time.

I continue to soothe Bella as she laboured, pulling her hair back in a low ponytail and rubbing her lower back between the contractions. The pain soon intensified and Bella began dry heaving after each bout. My eyes watered and I felt tears track down my face. I had never felt so helpless in all my life.

When the doctor came in, I could have kissed him with the relief I felt. "Dr. Beaver! Thank goodness you are here. Please, can you give her something for the pain?"

The doctor just smiled serenely at me and settled onto a low stool in between Bella's legs. "I heard your son is in a big hurry today, folks. Let's take a look." He pulled on some gloves and reached over to the tray beside the bed for some KY jelly. Smiling up at us he reached between Bella's thighs. "You'll feel a little pressure, but I'll try to be quick, okay?"

I looked down into Bella's eyes and spoke soft words of encouragement as another contraction took her, making her groan loudly.

"Wonderful!" The doctor sat back and grinned at us. "It's go time, Bella. You are fully dilated already. When your next pain comes, I want you to bear down and start pushing."

I shook my head and looked up at him. "Isn't it supposed to take longer than this?"

He threw his head back and laughed. "Edward, it is my experience that babies come when they want to come. It's a blessing that this labour has progressed so quickly. Trust me."

Before I could respond Bella was crying out my name and my attention was focused back onto her. The nurse quickly adjusted the bed to a semi sitting position and the doctor began calling out orders. "Okay, Bella. This is it, start pushing."

After thirty minutes of sweating, crying and pushing with all her might, and at the end, cursing me loudly, our son took was born, his lusty cries echoing through the room as Bella lay panting against me, a proud smile on her face.

"A good healthy baby boy," the doctor announced. "Edward, would you like to cut the cord?"

I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and readjusted Bella as the doctor handed me a pair of surgical scissors. I cut through the cord and watched as the nurse picked the baby up off of Bella's stomach and walked him over to the incubator to clean him up and weigh and measure him.

The nurse documented his weight and length and quickly brought him back to us, swaddled in a pale blue blanket and laying him gently in Bella's arms.

I smiled down at my family, tears of joy running unabashedly down my face as I stared at my son. "You did it, my love. He's perfect."

Bella gazed lovingly at our child as he nuzzled against her, and then back to me as reached for my hand. "No, Edward. We did it. Together."

"Together," I agreed as I pulled them both into my arms. "Always and forever."