Thank y'all for your birthday wishes! I had a lovely birthday weekend and got to visit with my family, so that was pretty great.
Waves of Hope
Chapter Twenty-eight
Bella
Exactly a week before Christmas, Edward and I bundle up in sweaters and jeans, strap babies to our chests, and join Garrett on the edge of town to watch from a safe distance as the remains of his grandparents' house are knocked to the ground.
"Sorry, man," Edward murmurs, reaching over to squeeze Garrett's shoulder as I bob side to side to keep Asher happy in the carrier. Rylee is strapped to Edward's chest, always happy when she's with her daddy.
Garrett sighs, but he's grinning when he turns to look at us. "It's actually a relief. I've spent so long wonderin' what to do with it, whether to try and save it or just get rid of it." He shoves his hands in his jacket pockets and shakes his head as the last wall falls down. "Yeah, it's a relief. And it's a fresh start for you guys. Did you get those plans worked out yet?"
Exchanging smiles with Edward, I nod, leaning into his side as he drapes an arm around my shoulders. "We did. Did you tell him about the architect?"
"I don't think so, actually." He shakes his head, the same mystified smile on his face now as the one he wore when we got that strange call a month or so ago. "This guy called us, said he owns an architectural firm based in Kissimmee and his brother owns a construction business. They throw work each other's way, that sort of thing. Anyway, the architect called us up and his wife's been following our family on Instragram—"
"Instagram," I correct gently, pursing my lips because I swear he calls it 'Instragram' just to wind me up at this point.
With a wink, he continues as if I never interrupted. "—Since Bella was pregnant. She even sent us some clothes for the babies, those shirts and the dress you liked, honey."
I nod, because I actually remembered the exact package as soon as he mentioned them the first time. They had adorable little sailboats on them. They remind me of the cap Dr. Biers wore when he delivered the sixers.
"Anyway, this guy came over with his wife and he wants to cut us an insane deal on the plans, the construction...everything."
"Holy shit, man," Garrett exclaims, looking between us with wide eyes and an even wider grin. "No shit? That's awesome!"
As Edward and Garrett lose themselves in ideas for the house we're going to build, I breathe in the cool air, stroking my hand over Asher's back as he snoozes happily against me. I'm honestly surprised he's sleeping through the noise of the heavy machinery, but I'm glad he's content. When we left the house, he and Rylee were the two fussiest, so we left Mom, Everly, and Little Grandma with the big boys and the four calmest babies. Between the six of them, they should be fine.
In the meantime, I wander along the border of the property, mindful to avoid the demolition right in the center. Trees border two sides of the lot—the left and right. We only have neighbors to our left, a panoramic view of the ocean from the back of the house, and a sweet, elderly couple in a cosy house across the street. It's the perfect location for our family.
As I amble through the grass, I picture a family home rising up from the ground. We're going for two stories rather than Florida's typical one story home, purely because we want to keep plenty of outdoor space as well as having enough room indoors for all our kids—and for us to hide when all our kids are driving us crazy.
With nine of them, that's inevitable.
I can picture shutters on white windows, planters filled with brightly colored flowers lining the edge of the porch, and a driveway leading up to a two or three car garage.
We'll need the space when the big twins can get their permits and take themselves to school.
So, three car garage it is, or at least a carport, I decide, following the border of the lot so I can try to visualize the back of the house. If we went for something in a similar style to Mom and Dad's house, we could have a big deck out the back, maybe the stone firepit and grill Edward was thinking of building at our current place before we realized we'd have to move, and a pool.
With the boys and the sixers, a pool is a definite must. I don't want to have to haul nine kids to the beach every time it's hot and they want to swim.
By the time Garrett yells that he's got to go pick up his girls and Edward makes his way over to me, I'm leaning against the fence overlooking the ocean.
"Hey," Edward murmurs with a small grin. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"I was just trying to picture our house," I admit, turning to look at the pile of rubble that was once a happy family home. After Christmas, the crew will start getting rid of it all so Taylor, the kind architect, can come and start figuring out some detailed plans.
I have to admit, I'm getting more and more excited.
"I'm going to miss our house," I breathe, once again picturing a new family home springing up from the grass in front of us. "But I'm a little excited to build something for our family, something we can grow into rather than out of."
He chuckles, kissing my temple and leaning back against the fence beside me. "I know what you mean. I'm over having a nursery for a living room."
"Me, too," I snort. "What do you say we try to figure out the nursery situation after Christmas, get these babies in their own rooms?"
I say the words, but I immediately regret them. Edward knows it, too, because he aims that silly, crooked smirk at me. The one I fell in love with four years ago and have continued falling in love with every day since.
"Let's just start with getting the rooms tidied up. We can work on the babies sleeping in there after that, we're in no real rush."
In the last few weeks, we've transitioned from sleeping downstairs to hauling all the bassinets up into our room at night so we can get some decent sleep rather than tossing and turning on the couches all night. Now we're in a good routine and the babies sleep for slightly longer stretches at a time, we're less reliant on helpers—at least at night time. In the day, we still have people coming and going. We're incredibly grateful for their help, but I can't put into words how nice it is to be able to crawl into bed with Edward, instead of squeezing ourselves onto the couch, and not wonder if we're going to wake up to our neighbor standing over us or Sullivan taking photos to put on the sixers' Instagram page.
"All right," he finally sighs. "Let's get home, shall we?"
~ oOo ~
Planning Christmas while battling through the six-month sleep regression and trying to sell our house and working on plans for our new home is not something we ever anticipated doing. We're sleep-deprived and the boys are on Christmas break so they want to do all the fun stuff, but really, just getting through each day is about the best we can do right now. We do however make it out to see Santa.
Every year, Dad's hotel hosts a big Christmas party for all the Jackson Bay kids, so we haul all nine of ours down to In The Bay and enlist the help of our family members to keep the babies happy. None of them want to be stuck in the strollers with so much going on, so we allocate each baby an adult and that's their person for the afternoon. It works surprisingly well, and with just one baby to worry about, I find that I can give the bigger boys some attention, too.
Much to my dismay, Jaxson, Finley, and Arlo are starting to lose faith in the magic of Christmas, but Edward, Sullivan, and I have a plan.
A few days before Christmas, as soon as the big boys are tucked into their beds with their iPads, we get started. Carrying River down into what used to be a living room with a fresh pack of diapers to restock our changing station, I grin at Sullivan sneaking in through the window.
"We have a front door, Sully," I laugh, shaking my head. This guy...he never fails to surprise me.
He shrugs, grinning. "Eh, thought this would be more fun. This is a secret mission after all. Sneaking is necessary." As his flip flops hit the hardwood and he swings himself upright, he looks at the stockings hanging on the mantle and purses his lips. "Runnin' out of room there, huh?"
"No kiddin,'" Edward chuckles as he strolls in with an armful of bottles and another arm full of Asher and Mackenzie.
Our mantle is definitely full with twelve stockings hanging up there; one for each of the kids, one for Max, and one each for me and Edward.
Adding 'wide fireplace' to my mental checklist for the new house, I start getting the babies ready so I can feed them while Edward and Sullivan haul the Christmas tree in from the garage. It doesn't take long before we've pulled our changing station over to the other side of the room, then it's just a matter of clearing a space in the corner where the Christmas tree goes every year.
"All right," Edward grins, pulling our 'little helpers' from the toybox. "How are we going to do this?"
"I think the best way is just to stage it well," Sullivan theorizes, rubbing his jaw as he looks at the box of Christmas decorations on the sofa. "I've got an idea."
While I feed the babies, the guys face their task like it's a military operation. From my spot on the sofa with babies propped on boppy cushions on both sides of me, I laugh and cry real tears as two grown men lay on the floor and arrange Stormtroopers in all sorts of positions, taking pictures of them every so often as the little army get to work putting up the Christmas tree. Starting with the runner, they work through each step methodically, making sure to immortalize each step with a photo. They even go so far as to cut out some little speech bubbles and write things on them, taping them to the wall where they have a trio of troopers leaning with their guns at their sides.
"You two are crazy," I giggle, brushing tears from my cheeks and muffling my laughter into my hand when the tree stand is up, the tree comes out, and Sullivan manages to get one of the plastic figures to dance around the trunk.
The babies coast through happy hour in my arms, on their cushions, or in their swings, their big, curious eyes following their daddy and uncle around the room as they start snapping pictures of the Stormtroopers climbing the branches to hang baubles and strings of fairy lights. One of the troopers winds up tied to the trunk by the lights, and another dangles from one of the upper branches by an ornament Jaxson made at school last year. It's brilliant and I can't wait to see the boys' faces when they come down in the morning to find Stormtroopers 'sleeping' under the tree in sleeping bags Sullivan made before coming over here.
Inspecting one, I can't help but admire his ingenuity. "Are these Burger Co. napkins?"
"Sure are," he grins, proud and the picture of domesticity as he swoops Oakley through the air before holding him against his chest. "Those thick-as-shit things worked great, I just had to glue the sides and fold the top down like a pillow."
He's always hated the thick napkins Edward prefers for the restaurant, but it looks like they might have won him over now.
"All right," Edward says, clapping quietly. "Beer?"
"Yes, please, bro," Sullivan grins, flopping onto his back to hold Oakley up above his head.
I'm not going to remind him that Oakley only ate a little while ago and he should have learnt his lesson the first time he did this and got milk spit-up in his mouth.
When Edward returns with beer for him and Sullivan and an OJ for me, I plant a kiss on his cheek and settle back into the couch, Rylee babbling away in my arms. "You've got a lot to say tonight, Sis," I laugh, gently twisting one of her blonde curls around my finger.
"She takes after her momma," Sullivan teases, shooting me a wink. "You're gonna be a little ballbuster, aren'tcha?"
"That she is," Edward agrees. "She's already bossing the boys around. Did you see her take Asher's binky earlier?"
I nod, because I did. They were lying next to each other on one of the play mats and she just reached over and took it right out of his mouth. It took her a couple of tries, but she got it and then smiled around the damn thing as I rushed to find another one for Asher.
"The audacity of this little girl," I coo, peppering kisses all over Rylee's soft cheeks as she grabs at my face, squealing and snorting and lighting us up when Edward buries his face in her neck and blows noisy raspberries against her skin, the most precious giggles tearing out of our itty bitty baby girl.
Pulling back slowly, Edward blinks a few times before a magnificent grin spreads across his face. Diving back in for more as my eyes start to sting, he tickles the shit out of her until she's full-blown belly laughing.
Looking at Edward's face as he steals her from me, holding her against his chest and breathing her in with a closed-eyed smile, I know our daughter's laughter, her first real laugh, is one of his top Christmas gifts ever.
~ oOo ~
Last Christmas, we were lazy. We had everybody come out to Utah to us, but we were alone with Max and the boys until shortly after lunchtime.
This year, we're awake way before them. The sunrise sneaks through the gap in the curtains, Max snoozes on the floor on Edward's side, and the babies are sprawled out around our legs with milk-drool on their chins and happy smiles on their faces. Every morning feels like Christmas morning when we turn over in bed and find six smiling faces staring back at us, but they look especially cute this morning in their festive sleepsuits. Half of them have red and white stripes with green trim, and the other half have green and white stripes with red trim. They're crazy cute and I snap about a billion pictures before our big boys join us.
Surprisingly, they don't immediately ask if they can go downstairs to open gifts.
"I call Rylee," Arlo grins, wiggling into a gap at the end of the bed by his little sister while Jaxson and Finley squeeze onto the bed amongst the boys.
'Bigger bed' goes on my mental shopping list for the new house as I snap a photo of all our kids piled around my and Edward's legs. It's one for the wall, for sure, half of them not looking at the camera and the other half a little blurry. It's still everything.
"Nice pjs, bud," Edward chuckles, spotting the dabbing T-rex on Arlo's tee.
"Oh, look!" Arlo jabs at a spot on his tummy and the fairy lights on the T-rex start flashing as he flashes us a big grin. "Cool, right?"
"Very cool," Edward agrees, wrapping his arm around me as we lean back against the headboard and let the boys handle holding the babies' bottles.
It's the most relaxed we'll be all day.
Once all the babies have full bellies and are getting bored of just lying on the bed, we load up and head downstairs. The boys each take a baby, leaving Edward and me to grab the last three.
"Merry Christmas, Bella," Edward whispers, brushing the words over my lips as we stop at the top of the stairs and listen to the boys cheering the big stack of gifts under the tree just like they cheered the Stormtroopers the other morning.
"Merry Christmas, handsome," I smile, breathing him in and revelling in his closeness until Oakley lets out a shriek from my arms. When we look down, Rylee is blinking big, innocent gray eyes at us while Oakley reaches for the binky I know he had in his mouth thirty seconds ago.
~ oOo ~
As is the rule, Max gets his walk before the boys get to open their gifts.
We load the babies into the twin carriers—I take Rylee and Caben, Edward takes River and Oakley—then pull out the second hand twin stroller we were gifted by a kind neighbor 'just in case.' It actually works out great for times like this, when we don't want to haul a triple stroller around. Still, we can't take the stroller onto the sand unless we want Christmas to start out with Edward cursing up a blue streak, so we take a shortcut through town with Max towing Edward along while I push Asher and Mackenzie, then the big boys and Max get to run around on the dunes to their hearts' content. Edward and I linger on the flat boardwalk with the babies, smiling at the calm ocean and the beautiful blue sky. There's a slight chill to the air today, but it's warm enough not to need coats and we're not the only ones taking a walk before settling into the holiday festivities.
"Babies!" Freya yells as she races through the sand toward us, Danny hot on her heels and a huge bundle of fur right behind them. I can't help but grin at my brother's chagrined expression as he's towed all the way to us.
"All right, get lost, you brute," he grumbles good-naturedly, releasing the newest addition to their household—six-month-old St. Bernard, Stuart. They picked him up from his old home a couple of weeks ago and he's settled in really well. Even Max, who was used to being the spoiled only dog, loves him. As soon as he's free, Stuart tears off to join Max and the boys in the shallow surf, leaving Freya to fuss over 'her babies' while Benjamin catches his breath.
"Who's idea was getting a dog?"
"Yours," Edward reminds him with a shit-eating grin. "Merry Christmas, Ben."
My brother complains, but he loves their new dog as much as we love our beast. "Yeah, you, too."
After kissing my cheek, he reminds Freya not to poke the Asher in the eye. "Ange kicked me out of the house and told me to take all the crazies with me before she cancelled Christmas," he admits somewhat sheepishly.
While our kids and dogs charge around, hopefully taking the edge off their boundless energy, Edward, Benjamin, and I loiter on the boardwalk where my brother swings the twin stroller around to keep Mackenzie and Asher happy. By the time we yell for the kids to come back and split up to head home, my heart is happy and there are smiles on all of our faces.
Smiles that only widen when we get home and Edward tells the boys they can open their gifts now.
"You know the rule," he reminds them as Jaxson tears into a box containing a new soccer ball.
He flashes Edward a grin. "No paper left on the floor, it has to go in the trash bag. We don't want the babies to eat it."
"That's right," Edward agrees, popping Asher into his swing as I buckle Rylee into hers. We've got them all lined up in front of the couch, so after checking that Max's water bowl is full and giving him his Christmas chew, we sit our butts down on the floor with hot cups of cocoa.
We don't get to stay still for long. One by one, the babies get bored of sitting in their swings and there's only so much waving of a rattle I can do before it's just easier to free them. Soon they're wiggling their little bodies, using the hardwood to their advantage as they slide around the floor, wedging themselves under the couch, the coffee table, even the Christmas tree. The big boys create a pile of gifts for the babies and take it in turns to help them open them. We didn't go overboard as we figured, one, the babies would just eat the paper anyway, and two, they already have far too much stuff. We finally got around to setting up a PO box and it's been inundated with packages from around the world. In sheer desperation not to be buried in baby paraphernalia, I had to put a message up asking people to kindly make donations to NICUs instead of sending the babies things because we just don't have the space.
In an attempt to get the babies used to sleeping in places other than their bassinets in the living room, we set up four of the cribs and put them in the guest room. The babies are now—mostly happily—taking their naps in there during the day, but it really just means we've got less storage space.
As the boys open box after box, gift after gift, I find myself praying we're in our new, bigger house by this time next year.
~ oOo ~
"All right, do we have everything?"
"Yes, honey, we're all set. Hop in." Edward slides the door shut behind Max, then kisses my head with a smile. "Stop worrying. If we have forgotten anything, although I honestly don't know if there's anything left in our house after I just spent an hour loading everything into Big Blue, we're only a few minutes away. I can come back. Anything to make you happy, Bella."
Yeah, I melt. "I love you, handsome."
Rounding Big Blue, I do one last head count before jumping in so we can set off for Mom and Dad's house. I wasn't totally sold on the idea of having our first Christmas with the sixers at someone else's house at first, then I tried to picture our big family trying to squeeze into our house and us trying to cook dinner while looking after six infants.
My mind flew back to Thanksgiving and I called Mom right back to accept her invitation.
At Thanksgiving, the babies had only been home a little over a month and it was...chaotic, to say the least. Almost every adult had to feed a baby while we ate our meal because the turkey took longer to cook than anticipated—mostly because Sullivan forgot to turn the oven on, but that's another story.
When we roll to a stop outside my parents' house, I notice the cars by the garage and on the grass and it's clear we're not early like I hoped to be. We're getting used to being the last ones to arrive, so it doesn't come as a surprise.
Thankfully, reinforcements pour out to help us unload Big Blue. Leading the charge is Little Grandma, Mom and Jude not far behind her.
"Thank you," I breathe with a grateful smile.
"No need to thank us, love," Jude winks, reaching for Caben as I take him from his car seat. "Just hand me a baby and I'm content."
Mom and Little Grandma agree, taking Asher and Mackenzie from me. As they try to work out who has who, I pass Rylee and River to Edward, then take my chunky little Oakley man for myself as the big boys and Max race inside.
"C'mon, chunky monkey," I coo, following the parade of babies up the porch steps, into the house, and right back outside again. The back yard is where the party's at, so most people sport sweaters and sneakers instead of swimwear and flip flops. With the exception of Caben, my shy, sensitive little man who'll take a while to warm up to all the strangers, the babies are full of smiles as they soak up their very first Christmas as part of our huge family.
~ oOo ~
With so many people desperate to snuggle our sweet babies, Edward and I get some much-needed two-on-three time with Jaxson, Finley, and Arlo. We play games, goof around with them on the bounce house Mom and Dad got as a gift for all their grandbabies to use whenever they come over, and soak up our funny, not-so-little boys. When feeding time rolls around and Mom brings Caben to me, we flop on the grass and drink the festive green and red slushies Everly and Rosalie are making over on the patio.
As my eyes wander over everybody, seeking my babies in the arms of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, I can't stop smiling. When we were repeatedly told that we might lose some of our babies or all of them if we didn't opt for selective reduction, this was what got me through—imagining our babies strong, healthy, and delighting everybody they meet. It was a dream, a far-fetched one.
Now it's our reality.
Throughout the afternoon, we eat the food Dad, Edward, Sullivan, and Grandpa Freddie cook on the massive grill Dad rented for the holidays. Our boys run around the yard with Danny, Freya, and our cousins' kids, all of them squealing and throwing wads of balled-up paper as they tear into gifts and give hugs and enjoy the festivities. The dogs scratch at the pool cover, frustrated they can't get in there to swim. Mom and Dad are magnificent hosts as always, playing the best music through the speakers strung up above the windows. As Bing Crosby croons about white Christmases, family members slowly start to trickle away until it's just my parents, siblings, Edward, and our not-so-little family gathered around the Christmas tree in the great room.
It's milk time again, so I have Caben in my arms while the other babies are spread amongst our family. The big boys usually like to help but they're on the floor with their cousins, ripping open some of the gifts their grandparents, aunts, and uncle held back.
Shooting Edward a quick glance, Sullivan flashes me a completely ridiculous look. I think it's supposed to resemble innocence, but it's just dumb. "So, uh, did you give EC his gift yet?"
Pursing my lips to stifle my smile, I shake my head and ignore Edward's gaze on the side of my face. "Not yet, no."
The boys obviously hear us and flip over onto their backs, bright, excited smiles aimed right at me because, like Sullivan, they know what Edward's gift is.
They're kind of part of it.
"Hey, bro, can you come help me grab my stuff out of the truck?" Sulivan suddenly says, hopping up from his spot in Dad's recliner.
It's a real struggle not to laugh my ass off at how not subtle he is as he pretty much snatches Asher from Edward's lap, handing him off to my dad before dragging his brother out of the room. On his way out, as Edward is asking what the hell he's doing, Sullivan shoots me a pointed look and mouths 'hurry up.'
Thankfully, Caben chooses that moment to be done feeding. Quickly wiping milk-drool from his chin and rubbing circles on his back, I wave the boys over and focus on them, not the curious eyes of our family as they stare at us and ask each other if they know what's going on. "Okay, boys. Are you ready?"
"Uh-huh," Jaxson nods eagerly, Finley and Arlo doing the exact same. "We're ready. Do you think he's gonna be surprised?"
"Oh yeah," I grin, already feeling the ache in my jaw, the sting of oncoming tears. I'm not nervous, just excited. It's not often that you can give someone a gift and feel one hundred percent confident that they're going to love it. "All right, do you remember which one it is?"
Jaxson, Finley, and Arlo scramble to find the gift they helped me wrap a couple of days ago. It's easy to spot because it's the only big, flat package left under the tree.
"I don't know what to tell you, man," Sullivan's voice floats in from the foyer, then the front door slams. "I guess I forgot them."
He steps into the room first, raising his eyebrows at me. When I nod, he flashes me his goofiest grin and drops himself onto the couch between Everly and Rose since Dad reclaimed his chair in the window.
Edward runs his hand through his hair as he follows him in, shaking his head at his brother. "How do you forget the gifts, little brother? It's Christmas."
"I dunno, dude."
It takes a second of everybody looking between him and me for him to pick up on the expectant atmosphere.
"All right, what's goin' on? Why's everyone staring at me like I've grown a second head or somethin'?"
As half our family laugh at his confusion, the other half complain that they don't know what's going on and ask when I'm going to put them out of their misery.
"Boys, do you want to take this?"
"Sure," Arlo says with a beautiful, beaming grin. Hopping up, he holds out the gift. "This is from me, Jax, and Finn."
He's still visibly confused, but Edward smiles anyway, ruffling Arlo's hair as he takes the wrapped package and perches on the edge of the couch by my feet. "Thanks, boys. Can I open it now?"
"Well, duh," Jaxson laughs.
"All right."
Anticipation floods my body as he starts picking at the tape on one side, trying to keep it neat and not tear the paper. Could he be any slower?
"Okay, you're goin' too slow," Finley finally sighs, hobbling over on his knees to rip into the other end. "Let me help you."
There are titters of laughter all around the room, but it's Edward's face I'm watching, Edward's eyes I see crinkle at the corners as a huge smile spreads across his face. "This is amazing!"
"Uncle Sully's friend painted it for us," Finley tells him, bouncing on his haunches in excitement.
"T?" Edward queries absentmindedly, glancing over at his brother as Sullivan nods. "Tell her to expect a call from me. I've been wanting to commission a piece for the restaurant for years."
"I'll let her know."
"Did you read it, though?" Arlo gets even closer, tearing the paper all the way off of the frame so the whole thing is visible. He's vibrating with excitement.
It takes a couple of seconds, then I see it. The hitch of Edward's breath, the catch of a gasp in his chest. His shoulders lift and fall in a shaky sigh. "You…"
"We changed our names!" Arlo gushes, unable to wait any longer. Reactions around the room are a mixture of surprise and elation, but there's only one I really care about right now.
"Oh…"
Edward's fingers trail over the glass, the image underneath, until he raises his gaze to me. Tears swim in his eyes. "I don't…"
"The boys wanted to be Cullens," I remind him gently with a smile that makes my cheeks hurt. "We're probably not going to get married any time soon what with the babies and the house, so we figured out a different way to make it happen. I wasn't sure it'd be done in time for Christmas but I got the paperwork through last week."
Scooting a little closer, I look down at the picture Sullivan's friend Tiani painted for us. Sullivan sent her a photo he took of me and Edward with our big boys when we went to see Brody play last season, then she added the babies in by having each of us hold a baby on our hip. Or two, in Edward's case. We all have the same name painted on the back of our Gator green shirts.
Cullen.
My breath catches slightly in my throat as I reach out with my free hand, twisting our fingers together and staring at us all facing the field, 'Cullen' written in blocky white letters across our backs. "The boys are Cullens, handsome. One day, I will be, too, but until then, we have this and it's—"
"It's incredible," Edward croaks, squeezing my hand as a fat tear rolls over his cheek and everybody starts talking at once, scrambling to see Edward's gift and congratulate the boys on being Cullens.
Sudden movement catches my eye and I furrow my brows as Rosalie runs out of the room, dumping her bowl of food on our sister's lap, leaving Everly staring after her with obvious confusion.
"Uh, I'll just be a second, okay?" I murmur, making room for the boys beside Edward as I get to my feet with Caben still in my arms.
I'm leaning against the upstairs railing while Caben plays with my necklace when Rosalie steps out of the bathroom. Her eyes widen as I arch an eyebrow, take one look at her pale face and the mint she's about to stick in her mouth, and sigh.
"When were you going to tell us that you're pregnant, Rose?"
A bunch of you were asking what's been up with Rose...now you know ;) I have plans to write her story, but right now I'm not sure whether there's the want for it as a Fanfic or whether I should think about writing it with original characters. I'm having the same dilemma with Sullivan, although his is a story I will definitely be telling one way or another. If you want his story, let me know. I can be swayed.
Huge thanks to my wonderful team, annaharding and maplestyle, and to each and every one of you for making this journey such an incredible one.
As I've mentioned before, there are 29 regular chapters of this story, plus an epilogue and an undecided amount of futuretakes. As of right now, I have four. I've managed to write a good chunk of my next project so you can expect that pretty soon after I'm done posting this. For teasers, details, and the cover announcement, come find me in CiaraShayee's Dreamers on FB.
The last regular chapter before the epilogue will probably be up Wednesday, but y'all know I'm a sucker for updating early, so maybe just keep checking your inboxes. *mwah* xo