BACK TO YOU
"Hey…. Wake up, I think its time," I mumbled, still half asleep myself, but I couldn't ignore the sharp pains in my back and lower belly any longer.
"What?" Edward asked groggily.
"Its time," I repeated through gritted teeth as another contraction hit me.
"Time?" he asked confused, but then it must have finally occurred to him. "The baby!" he shouted excitedly, before getting up so quickly that he ended up tripping on something and fell straight to the ground.
"Wow, that was graceful," I laughed at him.
"I'm okay," he said while jumping right back up to his feet.
"Well you won't be okay if you don't go wake up Alice before we leave," I warned him.
"It's the middle of the night," he argued. "I'm sure it'll be hours before the baby actually arrives."
"You promised her," I reminded him.
He huffed. "Yeah… and I think she was serious with all those threats she issued out."
"She was definitely serious," I agreed.
"Alright. Let me just help you down the stairs, and then I'll run in to wake up Alice."
"And Esme," I added.
"She can wait…" he started to argue again, but I just gave him that stern look I so often gave when I wasn't kidding around, so he huffed and then nodded in agreement.
It was almost funny how our family dynamic had shifted since I had moved in with the Cullens. Esme had always been the only mother figure I had ever known, but since living with them full time, and Edward turning to Alice for more and more of his motherly needs, Esme had truly become more like my mother than his. It was as if we both had our own moms there in a way, and yet, we were all still very close.
Edward walked me out to the car, and helped me get in, before racing into the house to wake up the moms to let them know it was time to leave.
Less than two minutes later, the three of them emerged from the house, each looking more excited than the last. It figured I was the only one nervous. They all got to just sit by and enjoy the process, whereas I had the wondrous joy of all the pooping, and ripping, and all the other nastiness that went along with the excruciating pain. I was definitely the least excited out of our bunch. Hand me a healthy baby after all the pain was done, and then I'd be excited.
"Bella, you do not look happy at all," Alice commented as Edward began driving us to the hospital.
I forced a smile through my next contraction in an attempt to lie about my nerves. It didn't work…
"That had to be the worst fake smile I've ever seen on your face," Alice said in almost a scolding tone.
"Sorry. I'm trying," I told her.
"You don't have to pretend to be happy for our benefit. We both know first hand how giving birth sucks," Alice said supportively, and then she grabbed my hand so I could squeeze hers through the pain.
"Actually, you and your brother were both born by C-section," Esme reluctantly admitted from the front passenger seat.
"What?" Alice nearly shouted. "Why am I just finding out about this now? It's no wonder I have emotional issues. I was robbed of the opportunity to be brought into this world naturally."
"Alice, somehow I don't think any of your emotional issues are from your birth," Edward told her evenly.
"What else can they be from?" she deadpanned, and I could see Edward's humorously confused expression reflecting in the rear view mirror. "Traumatic births can carry a lifetime worth of emotional issues, even if they can't remember the experience," Alice continued.
"Look, if you want to blame all of your anxieties and insecurities on your unnatural birth, rather than your years of torture and captivity, then I'll support you," Edward told her casually.
"Thank you," she said, seemingly sincere.
"So basically, all your problems in life are my fault, because I couldn't fit your big head down my birth canal?" Esme grumbled.
"If you want to apologize, I could be ready to forgive you," Alice told her straight faced.
'Is she joking?' – I mouthed silently to Edward in the mirror.
He shrugged. "Who knows," he said out loud.
"Who knows what?" Alice asked him perplexed.
"Who knows if you're actually serious with all this mystic mumbo jumbo," he told her.
"Its not mystic mumbo jumbo," she said defensively. "The soul remembers even before the body is born. Just because your brain can't recall certain things, does not mean your inner self can't. I can even read your pre-birth story in your aura."
"Okay, Obi Wan, the force is real, I believe you," he teased her.
"Edward, your child is sensing your disbelief as we speak. You could be doing permanent damage to him if you're not careful," she scolded him.
"Alright, alright, I yield. My aura is calm, okay? Why don't you stop worrying about me, and concentrate all that healing power onto Bella right now," he said, trying to appease her.
In the past few months or so, Alice had started reading books about mystic healing and aura reading. The rest of us thought it was all nonsense, but she was super into it, so we all just went along with it. It was at least somewhat entertaining. I only felt bad for poor Jasper, because he definitely had to suffer the brunt of Alice's crystal and aura babble, and freaky mystic experiments. Of course he just took it all in stride, and still looked at her like she sun rose out of her eyes, so I didn't feel too bad for him.
By the time we made it to the hospital, the pain was getting so bad, and so close together, that I wasn't at all surprised when I was determined to already be at an eight after I was first checked.
"Wow, that is very impressive," Carlisle said when he walked in and read my chart. He had already been at the hospital doing some rounds that night, so he was glad to get the opportunity to be there when otherwise we would have left him at home to sleep.
"Hey dad, guess what?" Edward told him excitedly.
"She's actually going to let you do it?" Carlisle replied with a smile on his face, clearly already knowing what Edward was going to say.
"Do what?" I asked confused.
"Deliver the baby myself," Edward said eagerly.
I huffed. "Really?" I asked, lacking the proper strength to actually care in that moment.
"Oh yeah. I already spoke to your OB, and she's all for it," he told me with an enthusiastic grin.
"Ugh, whatever!" I shouted as another contraction hit me full force.
"This baby is coming fast," Edward said while going over to the sink to wash his hands.
"Carlisle, please go see if her doctor is here yet," Esme instructed. "She's going to freak if Edward tries to check her without her here."
"Edward, wait for the doctor," Carlisle demanded before heading out to hopefully find my obstetrician.
"You people are paranoid. I'm trained for this," Edward said unfazed.
"You might be trained to catch a baby when its born in an emergency setting, but I don't think you're trained for Bella's death glare as she cusses you out while trying to kick you in the face, because that's what's about to happen," Alice warned him.
"I wouldn't disrespect your mother by cussing like that," I told Alice calmly.
Two minutes later my strongest contraction yet hit me hard, and I was certainly cussing like a trucker stuck in heavy traffic. Thankfully, Esme wasn't offended, or at least she pretended not to be.
A few minutes after that, my OB finally arrived, and she checked me again. I was so close, so she didn't go very far for the next small stretch of time.
When I was finally ready to start pushing, Edward was ready to be the one to catch it. I knew if I really minded he would have backed off, but I also knew how important it was to him, so I allowed it. He wanted to be the first one to touch and hold our child, not some doctor, and I did understand that, and actually thought it was rather sweet.
"I see him, baby!" Edward told me as the head slowly emerged. After the head, came the shoulders, and then Edward pulled the baby the rest of the way out of me. He did it all by himself - well, I suppose we did it together. It was such a beautiful moment, and we were all crying.
"Charlie, say hi to mommy," Edward cooed as he tearfully placed our beautiful baby on my chest, while kissing me tenderly on my forehead. "You did so good, babe," he murmured to me.
"So did you," I told him emotionally, before tilting my head up so he could kiss my lips. Then I looked down at the precious new life on top of me. "Hi, sweetie!" I cried as I tried to focus on his little face. "Oh, he does look like a Charlie, doesn't he?" His pink chubby cherub cheeks made him look so much like my dad, that I knew we picked out the right name for him.
"Oh, Bella, he's so perfect," Alice sang before bending over to kiss his little head.
"Your dad would be so honored to have him carry his name," Esme told me gently.
I nodded with more tears rolling down my cheeks. "I wish he was here to see him."
"He is, Bella," Alice assured me. "He definitely is."
My dad had passed away suddenly of a heart attack, just two days after my last ultrasound where we discovered I was having a boy. It was right after the funeral that Edward and I decided that our son would carry his name. It was a difficult time, but I was also so incredibly grateful to be surrounded by such an amazing supportive family to help me get through it. My grief was still raw, but the birth of our baby was a welcomed blessing that certainly helped me in the healing process.
"Honey, Emmett is texting. He really wants to come. Are you up for it?" Esme asked gently as I was attempting to nurse little Charlie for the first time.
"Of course," I said with a smile.
"Are you sure? It's totally understandable if you want to try to get some rest first," she told me.
"No, I'd really like him to be here. I want our whole family together," I assured her emotionally.
"Okay, I'll tell him," she said before kissing my forehead, and stepping out of the room to call Emmett.
By the time they got there, Edward was holding little Charlie again on the rocking chair, so my arms were free to receive what had to be the biggest hug I ever got before.
"I've been so worried about you," he cried in my arms as I held him back securely.
"Oh, baby, I told you mommy was going to be okay, right?" I cooed as I tried to comfort his sweet little body as he trembled.
He wiped his tears and nodded at me. "I just didn't know you wouldn't be there when I woke up this morning."
"I know. We didn't want to wake you up that early. But that's why you were sleeping in the big house with Uncle Emmett, remember? Because we weren't sure when your baby brother would be here," I reminded him.
"Is he here yet?" he asked while looking around the room.
"Pssst," Edward tried to get his attention.
"Daddy!" he said excitedly. He ran across the room to Edward, but then paused when he saw the baby in his arms.
"Hey buddy, this is your baby brother, Charlie," he told him while pulling him on his lap so he could see him better.
"He does look like Grandpa Charlie, huh?" he said with a smile, which only made me cry again.
"Yeah, he certainly does," Edward agreed.
"Do you think Grandpa can see him in heaven?" he asked his daddy.
"I think so," Edward said quietly while looking over at me.
Alice approached them, and then got down on her knees so she could be closer to their level.
"Teddy… nobody is ever truly gone. Your grandpa will always be with you… in here," she said while pointing at his heart. "As long as you remember him, and love him, he will always be with you."
"I know," he said with a sad smile, and then he reached his arms around her neck, and hugged her tightly.
Teddy was just five years old, and like me, he was still processing my father's death. It was tough on him, but he was a strong little boy, and he was handling it so bravely.
...
The day Teddy was born, Edward and I had yet to come up with a name for him, since we didn't even know if we were having a boy or a girl at that point. Edward got to assist in his birth, but mainly he had just watched and learned from it. He too had been a beautiful healthy chubby little guy, but there was absolutely no mistaking who he looked like…
"Oh, Teddy!" Alice cried the first time she held him.
"Uh… we agreed you'd call me Edward," Edward told her lightly, somewhat shocked she had called him Teddy again after so long of calling him Edward.
"Not you," she told him. "Well, I guess yes you. He looks just like you did when you were born," she told him with tears streaming down her face. "Sorry, he just reminded me of that moment when I first held you."
I knew right then what our first son's name had to be. It took Edward some convincing, but eventually he agreed to let us name our baby boy after him. His name was formally Edward Cullen Jr., but everyone called him Teddy. It just fit, and Alice was over the moon excited about it.
So much had happened in the five years since we first became parents. We got married when Teddy was six months old. It was just a small backyard type wedding, with mainly just family there to take part of our special day. My dad gave me away, and Alice and Esme took turns holding our baby throughout the festivities. It was simple and perfect, just like we had wanted it.
We spent the next few years happily adjusting to life as parents, and with the help of our family, we both managed to finish school. Edward reached the top level paramedic, and after I took a few years to figure out what I wanted to do with myself, I finally got licensed to become an emotional support therapist for PTSD patients. I actually split time between a few different physical and psychological rehab centers, but my dream was to open up my own practice, where I could help patients find some peace through working with animals. It was still somewhat of a pipe dream, but I truly believed one day I could make it happen.
...
"Can I hold Charlie?" Teddy asked after a few minutes.
"Yeah, of course. Why don't you go sit up on the bed with mommy so she can help you, okay?" Edward told him.
Teddy smiled widely, and looked so much like his daddy that it was nearly impossible for me to not smile at him as a response. He pushed himself off of Edward's lap, and then raced back over to me.
"Here, let grandpa help you up," Carlisle told him before lifting him up onto my lap, and then Edward brought baby Charlie over to us.
"Okay, you have to support his head," Edward told him.
Teddy smiled, and nodded excitedly as his daddy placed his new brother in his arms.
"I love you, Charlie," Teddy whispered, and then leaned over so he could kiss him on his head.
Of course we were all crying. It was just about the sweetest thing any of us had ever seen.
Adjusting to being parents of two was actually not nearly as hard as I was expecting. We were already used to being busy, and thankfully little Charlie was an easygoing little guy. However, our apartment on the Cullen property was getting pretty cramped, but any time we even remotely brought up the idea of moving to a bigger place, Alice would just about have a heart attack and beg us to let her come. Edward and I weren't upset by her reaction; we didn't really want to leave either, so we just put a smile on our faces, and dealt with the chaotic mess of not having enough space for our growing family.
...
Time continued to move quickly, and before we knew it, we had a seven year old and a two year old, and the main house was in full swing as Alice, and Emmett's new wife Rosalie, put all the finishing touches on a huge twenty fifth birthday bash for me. I still hated parties, but it made Alice so excited that I just went with it.
"How many people are going to be here again?" I asked wearily as Alice was setting up the numerous tables on the back lawn.
"Forty five, or so," she replied distractedly.
"Forty five?" I asked surprised. "Do I even know that many people?"
"We invited all your friends, and some of the patients you've worked with over the past couple of years," Alice explained.
"Oh… that's sweet," I told her, but I was a little confused as to why any of my patients or former patients would want to come to my birthday party. Sure, working closely with people over a stretch of time often formed more personal relationships, but it still seemed a little odd.
"Oh, hey Teddy, want to help?" Alice asked as my oldest son came skipping up to us. He nodded with a smile, so she handed him a big stack of napkins. "Can you put these on the tables, please?"
"Okay, Alma," he agreed, happily eager to help her with anything she needed. Teddy had been calling Alice 'Alma' since he could talk. It was the name Alice chose for herself as a combination of Alice and Grandma, and I think they both loved that special connection. "Not everyone gets an Alma," he had told me once, and he was definitely right about that. Of course Charlie followed his lead and called her Alma as well, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
"I want to help too!" Charlie squealed excitedly.
"Of course you can help too," Alice told him with a big grin and a kiss to his chubby cheek. "Here, take these, and go follow your brother," she instructed.
"I do it?" Charlie insisted.
"Yes, you can do it, but listen to brother. Okay?" Alice said sternly, but with a smile on her face.
"Okay. Me a big boy now!" Charlie said happily as he ran off after his brother while carrying a much smaller stack of napkins.
"So… why are we having a big party again?"
"You only turn twenty five once," Alice replied as if it was self-explanatory.
"But…."
"Oh, Bella, just go with it," she told me.
"Alright," I said with a sigh.
People started arriving, so I put on a brave face, and mingled to the best of my capabilities.
Once everyone was settled with some food at the tables, I was surprised to see Carlisle stand and address everyone.
"I'd like to make a toast to our beautiful daughter in law, Bella, on her twenty fifth birthday," he said while holding a glass of champagne.
"I'll never forget how happy your parents were on the day you were born," he continued. "Two hard working people who finally took a moment to find real happiness for the first time in their lives. Bella, you made them so happy, and even though both of their lives ended far too soon, I know they are extremely proud of the woman, and mother, you have become. You have touched the lives of everyone here so positively, that we just want to celebrate you," he told me, and then everyone clapped in agreement.
"Thank you," I replied with tears in my eyes, despite the fact he probably couldn't even hear me from where he was.
"Now, time for gifts," Carlisle announced.
"Uh…"
"Don't worry, we know you hate opening gifts, so the invitations that went out stated not to bring any, but we still have something for you from us. Here," he said while handing me an envelope.
I looked at him confused, and then shot the same expression to Esme.
"Just open it," she encouraged.
I opened the envelope, and was flabbergasted by what was inside. "Uh… why are you giving me the deed to your house?" I asked slowly.
"Not just the house, but the entire property, and the pink slip to the new work truck and horse trailer we bought you, which is right over there."
My mouth literally fell open from shock. "I don't understand," I said after a minute.
"Oh, this place has always been too much for us to handle, so it's time for us to finally move on, and who better to take care of it all than you," Esme explained.
"Now you can actually turn this place into that therapy ranch you always wanted," Carlisle added. "And look, you already have customers," he said while gesturing out to all my patients there.
Everyone started clapping again, and then I finally understood. They were all actually there to support my dream and make it into a reality. It was absolutely incredible.
"But… you're moving?" I asked them, unsure if I was understanding everything.
"We found a beautiful old Victorian that we just fell in love with on the other side of town," Esme told me. "We're already moved in. We just have a couple things left here."
"But this is your home," I argued.
"There's too much land here. We know you will put it to some good use," Carlisle said with a warm smile.
I looked to Edward, and he was smiling at me, but not at all surprised.
"How long have you known about this?" I asked him.
"Since they bought the other house," he admitted.
"How could you keep this a secret? You're horrible at keeping secrets from me."
"I know. It was really hard… but the look on your face right now made it all worth it."
People started approaching me to congratulate the start of my new career, and every one of my patients there said how excited they were to soon have access to a real therapy ranch. I realized then that my dream was actually becoming a reality, and judging off of everyone's excitement, it was a service that was greatly needed, so I couldn't have been more eager to get it started.
After all our guests went home for the evening, I was surprised yet again when Carlisle and Esme were also heading out.
"Where are you two going?" I asked as they came to hug us goodbye.
"Home. We don't live here anymore," Esme told me with a smile and a kiss to my cheek.
"You're moving out tonight?" I asked confused. I thought we'd be spending a few more days with them at least.
"Everything is ready for us there, and everything is ready for you guys in here," she said while gesturing to the main house behind her.
"It is? How?" I asked surprised.
"We've been moving stuff little by little without you knowing for a week now, and we hired some people to finish it tonight during the party," Carlisle explained as he came out of the house carrying one last box.
I honestly didn't know how to feel about all of it. It was incredible and a dream come true, but I couldn't help feeling guilty, as if I was kicking them out of their home. Of course they sensed my ambivalence, so they hugged me again and reassured me how happy they were to move into their "dream home".
"Let them go," Edward said as he came up behind me, and rubbed my arms tenderly. "Its about time we get some space from them," he added in a joking but encouraging manner.
"And it's time for us old folk to have a little peace and quiet," Carlisle said in the same light hearted tone Edward was using.
Tears started flowing down my cheeks, which only made Edward playfully annoyed. "They're only moving across town. They'll be here annoying us all the time, trust me."
"All the time," Esme echoed with a giggle.
"Thank you," I told them again, before they gave us one last hug, and got into their car to leave.
"Don't worry, Bella, you'll always have me here with you," Alice said casually from where she was sitting on the porch swing.
I turned and smiled at her. "I wouldn't want it any other way," I said sincerely as I skipped over to where she was, so I could hug her tightly.
"She's moving into the apartment," Edward clarified.
Alice smiled mischievously, and then leaned in to tell me a secret. "What he doesn't know, is that Jasper is moving into the apartment with me."
"Oh," I said with a laugh.
"What is she mumbling about?" Edward asked curiously.
"Nothing," I said with a wink.
"You know, it's super annoying when you two put your heads together and start whispering crap," Edward said, humorously frustrated.
Alice and I just giggled at him, so he huffed. "Whatever. I suppose that's one battle I'll never win."
"You won't, so stop trying," I told him.
"Alright, alright. Come on, let's go inside. I want to show you something," he said with his most adorable crooked smile.
"Hey bro, we're heading out," Emmett said as we walked into the living room.
"Kids are both snuggled up tight in their new beds, waiting for you two to go up and say goodnight," Rose informed us.
"Their new beds?" I asked in shock. "They already picked out their bedrooms?"
Edward shrugged. "They wanted to share for now, but I'm sure they'll want their own rooms eventually, and they actually can do that in this house. Right now they're in my old room, and they're actually super excited about it."
"Super excited," Rose agreed.
"Thanks for everything," I said while hugging my favorite sister in law.
"It's our pleasure, really," she said sincerely.
"Yeah, we love putting the kids to bed, even though Charlie is a little hellion," Emmett said, brutally honest. He refused to sugarcoat anything, but I honestly loved that about him.
"Oh, they've been perfectly fine," Rose argued.
"Perfectly fine?" Em scoffed. "Teddy was good like always, but I actually thought Charlie was possessed by some demon with the way he was running around and screaming."
"Terrible twos," Edward said with a shrug. Little Charlie was definitely a handful, even if Rose didn't want to admit it.
"Yes, but we love every minute of spending time with them both," Rose finally admitted reluctantly.
"That is true. I do love that little hellion," Em conceded. "Even if he's even worse than his dad was," he said while playfully smacking Edward's chest.
"Um… I beg to differ," Edward disagreed with his statement. "I was an angel, just like Teddy is now. That's why he was named after me."
Alice laughed. "No way. Little Charlie is tame compared to how you were."
"I was locked in a tiny basement at his age," Edward argued defensively. "I'm sure even the most mild mannered child would go crazy without room to run and blow off steam."
"That's true. Caged animals are always worse," Alice agreed casually.
Edward smirked at her, and then just shook his head.
"Come on, we have an early day tomorrow," Rose told Emmett, and then the two of them took off for the night.
"Tomorrow we are moving all my bedroom stuff to the apartment, right?" Alice asked Edward.
"Yes. The sooner we get you out of here, the better," he teased her.
She just smiled at him. "Good. I'll text Jasper that you will be at his place after that to move his stuff too."
"Okay… Wait, what?" Edward asked perplexed.
Alice just giggled, and then skipped up the stairs to her room.
"What was that about Jasper?" Edward asked me.
I shrugged. "They've been together long enough," I said dismissively.
"Yeah, but…"
"Just show me whatever it is you wanted to show me," I said quickly, trying to change the subject.
"Alright. Up to the boy's room."
I followed Edward up to his old room, and I nearly cried after seeing the way it had changed from the last time I was in there.
We had bought a new bed when we moved into the apartment all those years ago, so his old bed had been in there all that time, and it had been used as a guest room, but that was all gone now. Two twin beds were in it's place, and everything was decorated with airplanes and trains. There was even a big blue sky painted on the ceiling.
"See, momma?" Charlie asked excitedly as I was looking around. "Planes!"
"I see, baby," I assured him.
"When did they do all of this?" I asked Edward emotionally.
"When was the last time you've even been up here?" he asked with a laugh.
"Uh… it's been awhile," I realized.
"They started painting it a couple weeks ago," he explained.
"Is the bathroom still purple?" I asked with a giggle.
"Not anymore. Thank god."
"Mommy, do you like our new house?" Teddy asked from where he was lying in his new bed. "Grandma and grandpa said it's ours now."
"I think it's wonderful. Do you like it?" I asked him. "This is a much bigger room than what you guys had in the apartment."
"This is daddy's room!" Charlie said excitedly.
"I tried explaining to him that this used to be my room, but he doesn't really get it," Edward said with a quick chuckle.
"Its our room, now," Teddy tried clarifying.
"And daddy's!" Charlie insisted.
"Daddy is sleeping down the hall," Edward told him with a kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, buddy."
"Nigh-nigh, daddy," Charlie said happily.
I kissed him as well, and we both took turns kissing Teddy, and then we turned off the light, and left them in the room to sleep.
"Are we really sleeping in your parent's room?" I asked Edward as we headed down the hall.
He froze mid step. "I didn't think about that. Ugh! I don't want to sleep in the same room my parents have been screwing in for the past two decades."
I laughed at him. "Well, I'm assuming they took their bed with them to their new house, so it's not so bad."
"Yeah, but still…" he shuddered.
"Come on," I told him. I opened the door to the master bedroom, and was pleasantly surprised to see that all our clothes and my mom's rocking chair had already found places in the room, but everything else looked brand new. "Wow," I said in awe.
"Nice stuff, huh?" he said with a nod while patting the new king sized bedframe. "Rose did a good job picking it all out. You should have seen the gaudy crap Alice suggested for this room. You would have hated it."
"But what about all the furniture downstairs?" I asked, just realizing the living room and kitchen were never changed. "What are your parents using in their new place."
"They bought all new stuff….Just like we will here. I wanted you to be able to pick out what you wanted down there, and it would have been too hard to surprise you if it was all changed ahead of the time anyway," he explained.
"This is all…"
"Pretty awesome, right?" he said with his big grin.
"But…" I sighed.
"What?" he pressed, realizing I probably wasn't as happy as I should have been.
"I just… this is all incredible, but I hate that we didn't do anything for it. I'm so excited to start the therapy ranch, but I don't feel like I earned it since this was all just given to us."
He shook his head in disagreement. "You have been working hard for the past several years. We both have. We could have moved a while ago, but we stayed here and sacrificed the space we needed, and a little of our sanity, to stay close to Alice. My parents didn't just give us this place anyway, we're buying it from them."
"We are?"
"Yeah. They bought you that new truck and horse trailer as a gift, and they wanted to just give us this place too, but I insisted we pay them for some of it. It's not market value, but…" he shrugged. "And we still have to buy the horses ourselves too."
I nodded. "So… it's like we really just bought our first house?"
"Its not 'like' we did, we did. We are buying this place. Not any different than anyone buying a house with a loan. We're just paying my parents instead of a bank. But listen, if this isn't what you want, or if you'd rather we buy something else, we totally can. My parents will just put this place on the market, and we can buy whatever we want ourselves. I just thought with this land here…"
"Its perfect!" I said wholeheartedly. "I don't want to move anywhere else."
"So… we're home for good then?" he asked with his crooked smile.
"Home for good," I agreed. "And, it's a good thing we finally have some more space."
"I know. The boys were so cramped in that little apartment. I'm actually surprised they still want to share a room. One of them can have Alice's room when she moves into the apartment."
"Or we can make it the baby's room," I told him casually.
He nodded, and then looked at me questionably.
"I've been a little worried about where we were going to put the baby in that cramped apartment since I found out yesterday. Now that problem is solved," I added.
"We're having another baby?" Edward asked with hesitant excitement.
I smiled and nodded at him. "And I really hope this one is a girl."
His smile spread across his entire face. "We're going to have a baby!" he cheered, while wrapping me in his arms and hugging me tightly. "Who else knows?"
"No one. You really think I'd tell anyone before you? I would have told you as soon as I took the test yesterday, but you've been so busy getting this party together. Gosh, I cant tell you how stressed I've been since then, thinking about how we were going to fit three kids in that apartment. I was awake all night last night thinking about it."
"Three kids - going on five!" he said eagerly. "I can't believe you're actually going to let me have ten kids. And here I thought you were planning to stop us at two."
"Still not having ten kids," I told him evenly, as he continued to jump around the room celebrating.
"But we're getting closer," he replied unconcerned.
"I think three is good. It's just about time to make you an appointment to get snipped."
"No way! We have seven more kids to go," he maintained.
I just smiled and shook my head at him.
…
Life on the ranch moved even quicker than I ever thought possible. The horse therapy was a hit, and I immediately started gaining clients and patients the moment we brought the horses home. Everyday was so full of wonder and excitement, that time just flew by, and before I knew it, I was back in the hospital welcoming our third baby into the world.
Elizabeth Renee Cullen, named after Alice's middle name, and my mom's first name, was born happy and healthy. She was everything I could ever hope for in a daughter, and I truly felt our little family was complete – convincing Edward that we were done having kids, however, would take more time.
If someone would have told me ten years prior that one day I'd be married to Edward, and we'd have an amazing life with three beautiful kids, I probably would have laughed and called them crazy. We had started out as closer than best friends, but it took a long and bumpy road to get us back to a place where we could actual admit the love that we always had for each other.
It had been a journey of stress and devastating heartache, but we faced our demons, and we were truly stronger for it. Edward had found his way back to Alice, and we found our way back to each other, and I knew, without a doubt, we would never take a moment of our happiness for granted.
…
***A/N: Yes, tis be the end. Lol.
Like with most of my stories, I'm never quite sure when they will end since they tend to write themselves, so I apologize if you weren't quite prepared for this ending just yet (I was a little surprised myself). Hopefully I wrapped everything up well enough for this alternate version. It ended up being so much longer than the original, and I enjoyed letting it all play out, but I do have to say, I still liked the other version better ;-)
Thanks for taking this ride with me. I really do appreciate everyone supporting my crazy insane stories. XOXOX