A/N: Thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts.

Final epilogue to follow tomorrow.

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine as well.

Chapter 41, Part II: Life – Neither is it Unfair.

Four-and-a-half-years after That Day:

"Okay, how does this sound?"

Bella and I sat side-by-side in bed with our respective laptops on our laps and our thighs brushing against one another under the sheets. By then, working in bed together was yet another of those commonplace scenes. That night, I read Bella the beginning of the letter we'd meticulously crafted together for the past hour or so.

"Director Clearwater, for the past twelve years, I've had the honor of being a part of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an organization whose primary goal of restoring, maintaining, and improving both the physical and mental well-being of the general public has been in direct correlation with my own lifelong goals. It's a goal that the CDC has always carried out with integrity and with focus, all while utilizing the most advanced medical, technical, and ethical health developments at its disposal. In working toward our goals-"

"Replace working with striving."

"In striving toward our goals, I've been fortunate to work alongside-"

"Replace fortunate with privileged."

When I gave her a sidelong glance and caught her biting her left thumbnail bed, Bella chuckled.

"What difference does it make, right? You're composing a resignation letter so that you and Em can start your own consulting firm. They'll be too devastated by the fact that they're losing you both to care whether you say 'fortunate' or 'privileged'."

Leaning in closer, I pulled her thumb away from her mouth and brushed my lips against hers.

"My loquacious wordsmith. What would I do without you?"

"You'd finish a resignation letter much quicker."

"That might be true." With a snicker, I returned to the letter. "Okay. 'I've been privileged to work alongside a host of talented and dedicated individuals as well as to learn from some of the foremost leaders and innovators in medical, technical, and ethical health developments. Therefore, it's with sincere gratitude for the trust that's been placed in me throughout my tenure that I now tender my resignation, etcetera, etcetera.'"

"That's perfect." Bella nodded her approval. "Really perfect. It might be the best damn resignation letter ever written."

"If it is, it's because you helped me with the wording."

She offered me a wry grin. "You were writing great, wordy documents long before you met me."

Shutting my laptop, I set it aside on my nightstand, then reached for Bella's laptop and did the same.

"Hey, I wasn't done!"

"You need your rest."

"Oh, brother. Here we go again with the overabundance of caution."

Turning off the table lamp, I spun around and yanked Bella by the legs, splaying her out on the mattress. Her shrieks turned to giggles as I hovered above her, all the while mindful of supporting most of my weight on my forearms. When I searched her eyes, her giggles subsided, and I was encircled by warmth and a sense of being understood that I'd only ever felt when locked in that bottomless gaze. City lights filtered through our windows and reflected their brilliance in her dark pupils, pupils that already shone with a luminosity all their own. What resulted was the most intense sparkle in those eyes. My haven. And my instinctive draw to them, whenever I needed to center myself, was another commonplace yet far from the mundane scene. Bella's fingers tenderly raked the hairs at my forehead while she patiently waited.

"Bella..." I murmured, "apart from writing a kick-ass resignation letter…am I actually doing the right thing?"

She placed a warm hand on my bare chest, and her reply was quick as if she'd known all along what the question would be.

"If it feels right in here, then it's the right thing."

"But the timing-"

"Edward, you and Emmett have considered this for years. You've been planning toward it for months. It's not a sudden whim. Back when I agreed to adapt my book into a screenplay for the film version of Gemma, we knew it would entail a year-long move to London for the movie shoot. At the time, we agreed it would be the ideal time to move forward with your career plans as well."

"That was before we moved forward with our other plans."

"Why should one plan exclude the other?"

I hung my head and shook it back and forth. "Maybe I should've just taken time off from the CDC, instead of using the temporary move to London as an excuse to quit my job and start all over now. Now."

When I met Bella's gaze again, she was smiling. "What better excuse would there have ever been, Edward? We're at one of those crossroads, where a butterfly flaps its wings."

Sighing, I raked an uncertain hand through my hair and kept it there, gripping a fistful tightly. Bella reached up, and much as I'd done with her raw thumb a short while earlier, she replaced my hand with her own. And though she pulled as I'd been pulling, her tugs were much less brutal and all the more soothing.

"I love this sexy head of copper hair too much to risk losing it to a misplaced episode of second-guessing yourself."

"How can I not second-guess myself? Bella, we're going to have a lot going on for the next few months; maybe too much, considering the...the..."

Bella quirked a brow. "The pregnancy?"

"Yes. The pregnancy." I released a long breath.

The IVF had required a few months of preparation, of cycle monitoring, of fertility drugs. In the meantime, we'd carried on with much of our lives as usually as possible. Once we were settled and everything was in place, Bella and I had gone into the IVF clinic…and two anxious weeks later, we'd sat in Doctor Laurent's office and learned...

We'd learned that one embryo and one cycle of IVF was all we'd needed. For about half-a-minute, I'd admittedly been more than a bit smug about my so-called Herculean sperm - until I realized everything we were going to have occurring while this pregnancy was in full swing.

"Let me ask you something, Edward, and be honest. Do you think I should've turned down the opportunity to work on the screenplay and the shoot in London because of the pregnancy?"

I shook my head, no hesitation in my reply.

"No, Bella. Of course not. We consulted the specialists. They assured us that a move to London won't increase any risks as long as we wait until you're in your second trimester to travel, and as long as you receive proper prenatal care as soon as we get there as well as throughout the pregnancy. We've already been in touch with the best perinatologists in London. You'll only be on set once or twice a week. Charlie's over the moon and plans to come stay with us for a while. Rose and Vera, as well as Mack and Em are carving out time to come stay with us. With Masen still so young, it's not as if he'd miss anything here, and Vera, as a pediatrician, agrees that Mase will settle in with no problems." Swallowing, I paused for a moment.

"Jay..." Bella breathed.

"Jay...on the other hand…"

Bella's tugs on my hair were now a bit more absently forceful and anxious. A series of successive sighs escaped her. When she spoke again, her voice wasn't as sure or calm as it'd been a moment earlier.

"Unlike Masen, Jay is at an age where he'll soon begin remembering what he sees…and what he hears - the constant fights and yelling and screaming. His home life isn't getting any better, and his parents refuse to acknowledge the damage it can cause him."

"Selfish asses."

"Edward, do you think they'll agree when we ask them to let us take Jay to London for the year?"

I drew in a deep breath and released it through suddenly flared nostrils. Talk of Alice, and even more, of Jasper, always served to rile me.

"It fucking infuriates me to say this, but I honestly don't think his father will give a shit, one way or another. The spineless, indecisive asshole that he is, he'll leave the decision to Alice. I swear to God if he would've made it upstairs into the bedroom the day of my parents' party-"

"Edward, that was over a year ago, and all he would've gotten for his trouble would've been his ass handed to him by me before he got it kicked by you."

A mirthless chuckle escaped me. "As for Alice, she needs to see that this can be an opportunity for her as well. It's an opportunity to get herself together and figure out her priorities, all while knowing that Jay is being loved and cared for right."

For a long while, we remained silently locked in one another's gaze.

"Edward, are we doing right by him?"

It was a difficult question, one which we asked ourselves often lately. Unfortunately, it was also one for which we still hadn't determined a straightforward answer. There were so many variables...so many ways to mess up a kid, as Bella and I knew only too well. Raising kids was a daunting task, full of trial and error, even when you had the best of intentions. On the other hand, when you were too distracted by your own misery...

"If they say no, Edward, I don't know that we can leave him for a full year."

Bella's breath caught, and unable to provide her any reassurances, I lowered my mouth to hers and gently brushed our lips together.

"Let's take it one step at a time. We'll set up a meeting with Alice and Jasper, where we'll explain to them, calmly and rationally, why we think it would be a good idea for Jay to come with us to London. And if they say no...there are other, more formal and official avenues we can explore, Bella."

"She would never forgive you - or your parents if they back us as they say they will."

"That can't be my main concern."

"I know," Bella whispered. After a while, she exhaled a long breath. "We'll meet with them and offer to take Jay to London so that they can get their shit together once and for all," Bella nodded, "though, of course, we'll bite our tongues and lay it out in less-offensive terms."

I snorted. "I'll leave the synonyms to you."

She smiled. "Okay, and Edward? This is an opportunity for everyone, babe – even for Jasper and your sister. So, why shouldn't it be an opportunity for you? Why should you hold back on your dreams? You're like me, Edward; we love what we do, and it helps us remain sane and focused when Life gets a bit hectic."

And that…was why she was my haven and my focus.

"Where would I be without you, Bella?" I breathed.

She grinned impishly. "Like we agreed, you'd probably be finishing resignation letters quicker - and you'd probably be stuck with some old ball-and-chain somewhere. Maybe Kate, the tall, blond dentist; or Maria, the tiny, exotic scientist; or Lauren, the woman who didn't vaccinate her son. Ouch!" She yelped when I bit her lip.

"Definitely not Lauren, the woman who didn't vaccinate her son."

She chuckled heartily before yanking my forearms and toppling me over her.

OOOOO

"He's not going to London with you, Bella, if that's where this is going. He's my son, not yours. So, if you're planning on playing Little Miss Movie-Maker in jolly, old England," Alice said, putting on a mock British accent, "pack up your family and give my J.J. a big kiss goodbye because you won't see him until you return."

I gripped and pulled hard on the ends of my hair.

We'd set up a meeting with Alice and Jasper and waited for them at the coffee shop where Bella and I once met – or rather, re-met. When Alice finally showed, she was alone, and almost a half-hour late because she and Jasper had gotten into another fight. Unfortunately, she was in full battle mode. As had been the case since we were young, her go-to instinct of going on the offensive instantly set me on the defensive. When she went on her rampage against Bella, all my good intentions of laying things out calmly and rationally flew out the window.

"Do me a favor, and watch how you speak to Bella," I hissed. "She's never done a thing to you for you to speak to her that way."

"She once back-handed me!"

"Edward, it's fine. I can handle my-"

"After all the shit you've pulled, you've got the nerve to bring up that back-hand?"

"The hell with you and with her, Edward."

"That's your go-to attitude for everything, isn't it, Alice? That's why your life is such a disaster right now."

"Edward-"

"Don't tell me about my life! As if you ever took the time to know me well enough to tell me about my life."

"Alice-"

"I've known you all your life, Alice, and you're nowhere near as complicated as you think you are. You've been nothing but a spoiled brat since you were-"

"Edward-"

"Here we go with Mister Perfect's lecture, only now he's got Miss Perfect along for the-"

"Alice-"

"What the hell did I just tell you about watching what you say about Bella?"

"Both of you, stop this," Bella hissed. Her eyes. flashed from Alice to me and back. "This back and forth is getting us nowhere productive, and we're here to discuss Jay and what's best for him because regardless of our differences, the three of us love him."

I took a handful of seconds to draw in a few calming breaths, while Bella took over dealing with Alice. All the while, I hated myself for losing my patience. But Alice had always known just how to push my buttons.

Now, for example, despite Bella's plea and reminder that we all remain calm and rational, Alice leaned across the table. Her eyes were two fiery flames, and her face was so close to Bella that for a moment, I feared that Alice would actually try to strike her. My instinct was to lunge in between them. However, before I could act, Bella squeezed my hand under the table and gave me an almost imperceptible shake of the head. It took every minuscule ounce of self-control I still possessed to remain still and silent while Alice ranted on.

"J.J. is my son. Mine." She dug a finger into her chest. "And you two think you can come in with your 'Aunt Bella' and 'Uncle Edward' and take him away from me? Why?" She sneered at Bella. "Because I took Jasper from you?" She narrowed her eyes accusingly my way. "Because our father slept with my mother?"

"This has absolutely nothing to do with either of those," I said as evenly as possible.

"Bullshit! She wants to raise him because he's Jasper's son, so she can have the final win!"

Still unable to think straight when Bella was being attacked, I opened my mouth to retort. Bella squeezed my hand again, and instead of countering, I shut my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"And you want to prove that I'm exactly the useless piece of shit you've always believed me to be."

In the short and loaded pause that ensued, I sensed that here...here I was supposed to counter with something. But when moments stretched into seconds, Bella filled the awkward silence.

"Alice, that's not true. None of that is true."

Alice expelled a bitter laugh. "At least some of it is true, isn't it, big brother? That's why he can't refute it, why he can't even look at me. Even in his silence, he's painfully honest."

She spoke the last few words in a strangled voice, and when my eyes shot up to meet hers, I saw...a toddler.

A toddler with blond pigtails, hair more like her son's than I'd ever realized...than I'd ever allowed myself to see. We were on a beach, on a vacation day decades in the past, splashing around in the water. When I dunked her and pulled her up right away, she laughed hysterically.

'Again, Edwahd! Again!'

'All right, Al, but hold on tight!"

My brow furrowed...and I saw a six or seven-year-old who followed me from room to room.

'Edward and Janey sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-'

'Al, she's not even my girlfriend.'

Then there was a ten-year-old who glared at me angrily when I left for college.

'You know, Al, you can call me sometimes. And I'll be home once in a while.

'Whatever, Edward. I know you hate being here as much as I do, and I'm not calling you." She swiped angrily at her cheek.

There was a defiant pre-teen, who grew into an obstinate, headstrong, and increasingly confrontational teenager.

'Dad told me what happened with that boy in your school. He's shocked, Al, because you're barely sixteen, way too young for sex, and I swear to God if I ever find out where that kid lives-'

'Oh, please. First, we both know Dad has no right to be shocked by something like that. Second, you're hardly ever around, so spare me your bi-yearly, caring big brother act. That guy wasn't even my first.'

There was a young adult who grew all the more rebellious.

'They have a zero-tolerance policy, Alice! You were this close to getting kicked out of college, regardless of how much Dad paid to get you in!'

'Don't lecture me like you're Mister Fucking Perfect!'

A young woman who emailed me articles she'd written for her first writing job and asked my opinion on them as compared to the articles her supervisor wrote.

'Alice, your articles aren't half-bad. Now that you're an adult, if you're patient and pay your dues, perhaps one day you'll be promoted to head writer as well.'

'They're not half-bad, huh? What a compliment. Anyway, what the hell do you know about how the writing industry works? I don't even know why I asked your opinion.'

"You bitch."

Alice's latest attack forced me out of my bewildered musings.

"Damn it, Alice-"

"Let me finish, Alice," Bella said while simultaneously giving my hand yet another squeeze. "Babe, please let me finish."

Contrary to every instinct, I allowed Alice's venomous vitriol to continue. And continue she did, with draining belligerence, sharp-tongued lashes, and no sign of relenting.

Except...her bottom lip abruptly began quivering. A tick started at her left eye then switched to the right then back to the left until she blinked both eyes excessively. When one, solitary tear managed to escape, she swiped at it furiously. Yet, the biting resentment and harsh accusations continued. When she opened her mouth, dark flames dancing in her eyes despite the tears, I knew her sharp tongue was poised to go in for the kill - the way it always did when she felt cornered and alone. That was always when she struck with her worst.

'...you hate being here as much as I do...'

'...the guy wasn't even my first...'

'...Mister Fucking Perfect...'

'...I'm two months pregnant!'

"Al."

Two sets of very different eyes, one pair light, and one pair dark flashed to me. Around the small table, the three of us went perfectly still. In fact, in the space of those few seconds, after I called my sister by a nickname I hadn't called her...hadn't even thought of calling her in years, I would've sworn the entire coffee shop froze. The air itself ceased circulating. It evaporated and dissipated, leaving in its wake three inert bodies startled into an abrupt, mistrustful, uncertain, and momentary respite.

Alice leaned back heavily against her chair's backrest. When another and then another tear escaped, she didn't wipe them away.

And I drew in a deep breath, exhaling it over the table separating the three of us.

"Al…Bella and I, we don't want Jay to grow up knowing that his parents signed him over, because no matter how much love we ever give him, that'll always be a burden he'll have to live with. Al, you and I both know how those burdens our parents inadvertently place on us as children follow us through the rest of our lives. We don't want that for Jay. Like Bella said, if you keep us from taking him to London, let it be because you're ready for him, to make him your priority. Don't do it to perpetuate a situation that existed between us long before he was even born."

Silent tears streamed down her cheeks. Her words were thick and garbled when she spoke.

"Despite the monster you think I am-"

"I don't-"

"I love my son more than I've ever loved anyone in my life."

"I've never doubted that, Alice."

For one long moment, she held my gaze unflinchingly, then swallowed hard.

"You just question my capability to love enough."

OOOOO

A couple of months later…

On a crisp day in September, five years after That Day, four years after Bella and I met…re-met, we boarded a plane to London, England.

Jay had the window seat, Masen sat between Bella and me, and our daughter, whom Bella and I named Grace for all the blessings in our lives, traveled safely inside her mother.

While the pilots performed final flight checks and latecomer passengers shoved too-full carry-ons into over-packed, overhead bins, I took in the beauty of a life that wasn't always fair...but neither was it always unfair.

Masen took in all the action through observant and familiar green eyes.

"Da-ddy, we go bye-bye?"

He had a habit of splitting up the syllables in the word, but only when he called me, not his mom. It was one of those quirks I knew I'd always remember about my son's early years, even when he was forty.

"Yeah, my little man." I grinned and ruffled his dark copper hair. "We're going across a biiig ocean to a new home for a bit."

He seemed to weigh that for a few seconds, his eyes scanning his immediate surroundings. "Mommy, Da-ddy, Jay, go with me."

The extrapolation was as much a statement as a request for reassurance.

"Yes, Masen," I said gently. "We're all going together."

"Don't forget our baby, Grace."

Jay stopped playing with the window shutter long enough to turn and take me in through blue eyes just like his father's. Still, they possessed an innocence I'd always protect. Jay's quirky habit was referring to his unborn cousin as 'our baby.' And just like Masen's quirks, it was one I'd always remember, even when my nephew was a grown man.

"Our baby, Grace, is coming with us, too. Right, Uncle Edward?"

I chuckled and reached out to ruffle my nephew's blond hair. "That's right, Jay. Our baby, Grace, is coming along too."

"Yay!"

The boys played together for a bit, while everyone settled in for the long, cross-Atlantic flight. I set the tub of disinfecting wipes conveniently within reach, sent out a few last-minute texts, and triple-checked the bag underneath the seat to make sure we had all the in-flight entertainment we'd planned for the boys as well as the two dozen pairs of ear plugs for our fellow passengers in case our planned entertainment failed.

Snorting to myself, and with all pre-flight preparations checked off, it hit me that Bella hadn't said much since we'd boarded. She was healthy, the pregnancy was healthy…and our boys were safe and sound and with us. Nonetheless, for a quick moment, I worried.

Weaving my fingers through hers, I waited for her to meet my eyes. The serene expression on her face set me at ease, but when she drew in a deep breath and released it in a series of successive sighs, my brow furrowed.

"You feeling okay?"

"Perfectly fine."

"No nausea?"

"Not right now…Edward…I was thinking…"

"What were you thinking?" I prompted when she paused.

Again, she sighed unevenly…and smiled radiantly. "When everyone comes to visit for Christmas…and we get married...let's hyphenate our surnames, okay?"

For a handful of seconds, I remained entirely immobile.

If I had to be completely honest, I'd begun to lose hope - if one could lose hope in something one dreamed of even while being perfectly happy. Regardless of how content we were with the current state of our relationship, there was a part of me which had always wanted to call her...my wife; to give her that title which encompassed all those other titles: girlfriend, mother of my children, lover, best friend, and partner in all facets of life.

And now, here we were, in the middle of a commonplace scene...yet, with that proposal, it was anything but commonplace.

As the shock wore off, a heady warmth took root at the tips of my toes and gradually made its way into every limb, every extremity, all the way up to the ends of my hair. It steadily thawed me, so that by the time it finished spreading, my mouth was able to form a smile so broad, my jaw ached, and I half-feared my face would split in two in front of the boys.

When I spoke, feigning a serene calm that I didn't feel, that smile and my shaking voice betrayed me.

"Okay, Bella. But why are you so quiet, love?"

It was a long moment before she replied. By the time she did, her smile had grown as unrestrained as mine. It spilled over with gratitude for a life that didn't always allow for such a brilliant smile. But sometimes, in those commonplace moments, it demanded them.

"I'm enjoying the beauty of the meadow on the other side."

With our hands and hearts entwined, I leaned around our son while our nephew held my other hand, and while Bella stroked her stomach with her free hand, and I kissed my soon-to-be ball-and-chain.

"It's a damn great meadow."

A/N: Thoughts?

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Final Epilogue to follow tomorrow. :)