A/N: Well... I thought there would be one more chapter before we came to the Epilogue, but as it turns out, there wasn't. I want to thank every single one of my readers for sticking with this story throughout the last year it has taken to write it. Without all of you, I would not be. I never would have finished had it not been for the support of my readers and friends, and especially My Lillie. More than Romeo, darlin'.

Disclaimer: Many thanks to the Goddess that is Stephenie Meyer for creating this universe and allowing us to play in it.

Bella

The day of the interview, Edward was upstairs asleep. He had been in the studio until after five that morning. The MTV crew was set to arrive at eight, so I knew he wouldn't be up yet. Rhianne had promised to be there for moral support for me, as well as Alice and Rose.

When I got up, I had gone to my dressing room and put on the outfit that Alice helped me pick out for the interview. It was simple. Jeans, sneakers, and a dark blue blouse. She had said something about the midnight blue going well with my skin tone, or some such bullshit. I never knew with her. I just went with it because she always seemed to know what was best.

I watched as they set up the lights and cameras, choosing the best spot in our living room to hold the interview. I was nervous as hell and wanted it to be over, but I knew I had a long row ahead. The producers had told Rhianne to have me prepared for an all day affair. They would interview me, take a tour of the house and the grounds, do some shooting of me with Abby and Edward, and speak with Edward briefly, but the show wasn't necessarily about him, it was about the families of superstars and how they coped. I wasn't sure I was a good example of that, being so new to everything, but I was willing. Rhianne had said it would be good for Edward's career and for us as a family, so I went with it.

Finally, it came time for the interview and I was grateful that the interviewer made me feel so at ease.

"Hi, Bella. You ready for this?" she asked with a smile.

"Um, yeah, I guess." I noticed I was wringing my hands in my lap and consciously tried to stop. It wasn't working.

"No need to be nervous. We're going to go ahead and get the cameras rolling. Don't worry, only the best parts will be on the air, not the nervous parts." I chuckled at that and wondered if there would be any footage good enough to air.

The questions weren't hard for me to answer, like I thought they would be. In fact, it was really easy.

"So, Bella, this series is about the families of superstars and how they cope with the superstardom and everything that goes with it. The first thing I'd like to ask you is how you and Edward met."

I detailed how I had written Edward the fan letter, his response, our subsequent correspondence, and the day we met. The words just flowed out of me more easily than I could have imagined.

Next, the interviewer asked about the hardships of being on tour and how it affected our new relationship. I laughed and relaxed before I started to answer that one.

"Being on tour is… crazy. I could never have imagined all of the thought and planning that went into it, let alone the difficulties involved in hauling that many people and equipment all over the world in such a short amount of time. Honestly, some days you wake up and wonder where the hell you are."

"Of course, my decision to go with Edward on tour was pretty heat of the moment and I had no freaking idea what I was getting myself into. Although, it's possible that had I known, I might not have gone."

"You just can't even know what it's like until you've been there and done it. I mean, driving all over the country in a bus, even though Edward and I had one to ourselves, it didn't make it any easier because you couldn't just stop and get out whenever you wanted. If you wanted to do sightseeing, it had to be planned. And then there were the 'disguises'," I added with a hearty laugh.

Overall, I was really pleased with the interview, and the night that the show was to air on MTV, I was more disgusted with Edward for inviting the entire world over to watch it than I was embarrassed by everyone seeing it.

Several times throughout the hour long program, Edward squeezed my hand or kissed it, and he had so much love in his eyes for me.

Apparently, I said some really funny shit, because several times the whole room broke into laughter, too. I didn't know I was that damned funny.

After the show was over, and everyone had gone home, Edward took me to our room and made love to me for hours. His kisses were reverent and his touch on my skin left a trail of fire wherever he moved his hands. It had always been that way… and as far as I knew, it always would.

It took Edward eight months to finish his album. He had invested so much time and energy into it, that he was exhausted when he was done. I knew that since the album was done, that meant it would be time to start planning a new tour, which I had some really mixed feelings about.

While going out on tour with Edward again would be exciting and fun, it would also be exhausting and taxing on us and our relationship. It was no wonder that rockstars and actors had so much trouble staying married with the schedules that they keep. I just wasn't sure I was ready for all that again.

Of course, Edward was ever vigilant, making sure that I was able to participate in all the planning. We shortened his tour schedule a little from the last one, making sure to keep as many dates as possible without being on the road for six months.

Abby started Kindergarten so we also had to make sure that her schooling went with her. The days of having a little one to travel with who had no responsibilities other than eating and sleeping were over. For the most part, I planned to work with Abby on her school work, but when I couldn't do it, Mary was always available to pick up my slack.

Therapy. Therapy fucking sucked ass. I hated every fucking minute of it until I started realizing that I had one hell of a lot of insecurities where Edward was concerned that were totally unfounded. After three months of going to sessions twice a week, we had a great breakthrough. As we climbed into the Ferrari afterwards, Edward turned to me and just sat there, staring.

Finally paranoid, I asked, "Is something wrong?"

His response was soft. "No, absolutely nothing. I'm just letting myself feel how much I love you for a minute. Is that okay?"

I turned to look into his piercing green eyes and we just sat there quietly, drinking each other in, for the longest time. We were communicating with each other silently. It was amazing. It was the defining moment in our relationship. His eyes spoke to me and warmed my heart. With a simple look and a gentle touch, he made me realize just how loved I truly was.

And it was with that one moment, that one small hitch in time, that I let everything go. I let go of everything and allowed myself to be loved, wanted, needed. Edward was, and would always be, everything to me.

When the magic lifted, Edward smiled and leaned over the console to kiss me gently before starting the car and roaring away from Heidi's office and down Lake Shore Drive towards the apartment.

We ran inside giggling like teenagers, yanking our clothes off and stringing them all over the floor.

Every touch and every kiss felt like our first time together, maybe because I finally let down all of my barriers that were there to protect me from being hurt, and let myself feel the love and respect that Edward had for me.

Slowly, over the next months, I transformed, somewhat. I found myself immersed in the hip-hop world. My vocabulary went from being a prissy English Lit professor's language, to sounding like a sailor on leave after months at sea. I had to really start watching myself around Abby so that she didn't say 'fuck' every other word like I did.

I became closer with Esme and Carlisle, enjoying our Sunday dinners together, even if Edward did bitch about it all the time. Esme was a little on the controlling side and Edward didn't handle it well. It was understandable, to a certain extent. I learned to manipulate them both into getting along better and for that, Carlisle was eternally grateful that his wife and son weren't bickering all the time.

The next few years felt like a record on repeat. Tour, record, tour, record, tour, record… it was an endless cycle. Abby was growing up right under our noses and was becoming quite the beautiful young lady.

Fortunately for us, we never had as many problems in the next few years combined as we did in that first year. It was a damn good thing, too, or we may never have made it.

The interviewer had asked me how the hectic pace of our lives made it easier or harder for us to stay together. At the time of the interview, I thought it made things harder, but later on I realized that it really made things easier, for us anyway. The busier we were, the more we were in tune to each other's needs. It was strange in a way. On the rare occasions that we had down time, it almost made us drift apart somewhat. Almost.

"You comin' to bed, baby?" Edward's voice broke through my reverie, bringing me back to the present. I turned to him and smirked.

"Yeah, I'm comin'." I stood up from where I had been sitting staring out the window.

My fucking house. Fuck yes. I got so caught up in the memories from the last few years that I almost forgot we were home.

The exhaustion was overwhelming me and I walked into the bedroom to see Edward lying naked, sprawled across our huge bed, with his shock of coppery hair in stark contrast with the pristine white sheets. His eyes were closed and he looked almost angelic. Of course, I laughed out loud at that, because Edward is about as far away from angelic as a person can get. He rolled over on his side and propped his head up on his arm. "What's funny, babe?"

God I love that fucking smirk.

"I was just standing here thinking how angelic you looked laying there with your eyes closed, and then realized that was about as far from the fucking truth as it could be," I told him as I crossed the room and started taking off my jewelry and putting it on the dresser.

Edward chuckled and yawned. "You gonna shower first?"

"God yes, I feel fucking disgusting." I went into the bathroom and turned on the water, quickly stepping into the shower and letting the hot water from the eight shower heads flow over me.

Six years of Edward in my bed. Six years of touring, being in the recording studio, going to awards shows and movie premieres, it was all wearing on me and I was starting to feel old. As I washed my body, I had memories of Edward on every part of me. I ran my soapy hands across my belly and stopped at the level of my womb. My fruitless, worthless womb. Four miscarriages. It was yet another reason for me to feel inadequate for Edward, but he had always maintained that he loved me regardless of my ability to bear him more children. I winced and moved on.

After my shower, I pulled one of Edward's t-shirts over my head and headed for the bedroom. I paused to watch Edward as he snored softly in the bed. So fucking hot and all mine.

I turned towards the mantle and took in the items sitting there. A photograph of Charlie, with lots of grey hair, but smiling with his arm around his new wife Sue was the first thing to catch my eye. I ran my fingers over the glass and smiled. It was so good to see him happy. I moved on to the photo of Carlisle and Esme, both glowing with happiness. I gently touched the glass on that photo before moving on to the next.

It was a family portrait of Rose and Emmett with their two beautiful blonde haired children, Sydney and Ethan. I chuckled to myself about Sydney's namesake, because of course, that's where she was conceived. They always called me Aunt Bella and I did my best to spoil them as rotten as I could. Well, okay, Rose and Em did a hell of a good job spoiling them all to hell, but I tried to contribute anytime I could. I couldn't wait to see them.

The next picture on our mantle was a family portrait of Edward, Abby, and me. It was nearly time for a new one. Abby had grown so much since that one had been taken the year before. I smiled seeing her sitting on Edward's lap and holding my hand. She has always been so attached to us. I couldn't believe how beautiful she was growing up to be.

I moved on to the photo of Alice and Jasper. Alice, as always, looked like a Mexican jumping bean about to jump off the table. You could almost see her bouncing around between photos. Jasper looked handsome and sinister in his black silk Italian fitted suit. I shook my head and was anxious to see them again as well. It had been too long.

Renee and Phil were next on the mantle. They were somewhere in Mexico when that picture was taken. Phil was playing Mexican league baseball since he wasn't able to play in the majors in the U.S. At least they looked happy.

The last thing sitting on our mantle was a wrinkled, well-worn piece of paper in a frame. I picked it up and stared at it briefly. There it was. The thing that made all of this happen for me. The Letter.

Fin