I do not own Twilight or its characters—no copyright infringement intended.

I finished the epilogue the day before athome Jo passed away, so she never had a chance to read it. I only hope she would have liked it. Betaed by iadorepugs. Any mistakes are mine.


Epilogue

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Abby! Happy birthday to you!"

Abby's eyes were bright with excitement as the birthday song ended. She squeezed her eyes closed extra tight and concentrated on making her wish before opening her eyes and blowing on the candles before her. The crowd surrounding the table cheered when all seven candles were extinguished. "All wight, time for cake!" Abby said.

Bella couldn't hide her smile; seven-year-old Abby seemed so grown up these days that Bella sometimes missed her toddler-speak. Her speech impediment was slowly disappearing with age, usually only showing up when she was tired or excited. And her seventh birthday party was the epitome of excitement in their family.

Bella started cutting and serving pieces of birthday cake, Edward at her side scooping ice cream as fast as he could for the rowdy crowd. Grandma Sue and Grandpa Charlie helped pass out the sweet treats, starting with the kids' table where Abby was holding court.

On either side of Abby sat Rose and Emmett's twin boys, Alexander and Zachary. Four years ago, Emmett and Rose had been shocked at their 20-week ultrasound to find out that Rose was expecting twins. Alex and Zach looked just like miniature Emmetts, identical right down to their matching dimples and devilish grins, and quite literally twice the handful Abby had ever been. And now Rose was pregnant again. With twins...again. It had taken a while for that shock to sink in, but now they were only a couple of weeks away from welcoming Annabelle and Zoe into their family. Sue delivered a double plate of cake to Rose, who was sitting nearby with her swollen feet propped up. Rose accepted the plate with a grin, swatting playfully at Emmett as he tried to steal a bite.

Sitting next to Alex was Leah and Sam's son, Brady. It was a well-known fact amongst the family that he worshipped the ground his cousin Abby walked on. He politely requested a piece of cake "Just wike Abby's" (even though there was nothing wrong with his speech, he always copied Abby). Bella handed her father a plate with another corner piece with a bunch of frosting, which Charlie happily delivered to his grandson.

Sitting next to Zach were Nettie and Lucy, Abby's step-sisters. Shortly after Edward and Bella reconciled, Alice had abruptly broken up with Jasper, dumping him for one of his co-workers, with whom she had been having an affair for almost a year. She and her new boyfriend, a pretentious asshole named Alistair, moved all the way across the country to New York City. Last Bella had heard, Alice had been fired by Nordstrom's and abandoned by Alistair, forcing her to return to live with her parents in Mississippi.

Jasper had a hard time at first, dealing with Alice's deception. Especially because it finally forced him to confront his own responsibility and guilt for what he'd done to Bella by cheating on her with Alice. Months after Alice left, Jasper was grocery shopping with Abby when he literally ran into Maria with his shopping cart. While Jasper sputtered his apologies, Maria's two daughters and Abby hit it off right there in the grocery-store aisle, and Maria—a widow of two years—impulsively invited Jasper for coffee so the girls could continue to play.

While Jasper had dragged his feet where Alice was concerned, he and Maria were married within six months of that first meeting. Abby adored her step-sisters, who were one and three years her senior, and got along well with Maria. Bella liked her, too. She was much more down-to-earth than Alice had been, and Jasper seemed much more like the happy-go-lucky guy Bella had first known. Without Alice in his life, Jasper was a different, better person. That didn't change Edward's opinion—he still despised Jasper. Even though they were never going to be friends, all four of them had a civil co-parenting relationship for Abby, and that was enough.

Bella had to giggle at the sight of Jacob sitting at the far end of the kids' table, eagerly waiting for his cake and ice cream. Vanessa stood behind him, laughing and shaking her head at her husband's antics. They married shortly after Nessa and Bella graduated from nursing school, but weren't in any hurry to add their own offspring to the kids' table. Instead, they were happy indulging in a love of travel that had already taken them on three trips to two other continents.

It didn't take long for the cake to disappear, and Bella sent the children to the living room under Edward's watchful eye to play before Abby opened her presents. After she, Nessa, and Sue had cleaned up after cake and ice cream, Bella went looking for Edward and found him animatedly discussing a construction project with Emmett. "Hey, guys, this is a birthday party. Work can wait until Monday," Bella insisted, interrupting their conversation.

As Bella had predicted, Rose and Emmett had been happy to welcome Edward back to Hale & McCarty once he was healed from his accident. And as Edward had hoped, Emmett started asking him to collaborate on architectural designs in addition to putting him back in charge of his own crew. But the changes didn't stop there.

Rose stepped away from Hale & McCarty with the birth of their twins. With her blessing, and the agreement of Mr. Hale, Emmett had offered Edward a partnership buy-in, and Hale, McCarty & Cullen was born. Edward's focus in school had been clean, streamlined, eco-friendly architectural designs. Emmett and Jake—who was now the main foreman and general contractor on all their builds—focused their efforts on sustainable materials and green builds, and the revamped business began making a name for itself.

So much so that a year later, Carlisle and Esme brokered a deal with them, bringing Hale McCarty & Cullen under the Masen Designs umbrella as its affiliated-yet-independent sustainability division. It was a partnership that had already benefitted all parties involved. Emmett was happy to have additional resources at the ready as they expanded their business. Edward was happy to have a hand in both design and construction. And Esme and Carlisle were happy to have Edward back in the family business.

Bella glanced over to where Esme and Carlisle sat with Charlie and Sue, talking animatedly while helping to keep an eye on the children. While it had taken her and Edward time to grow into their relationship with his parents, Abby's immediate, unconditional acceptance of them as her newest set of grandparents had helped to foster that.

Edward had confided in Bella that his parents had seemed to change as much as he did over the course of his "time away," as Esme preferred to call it. There had been some bumps in the road; despite what he'd told Esme about not regretting what had happened, he'd harbored some pretty deep-seated resentment that had taken all of them a while—and some pretty intense family counseling—to work through. Ultimately it had been worth the struggle; Edward got along with his parents better now than he ever had.

Bella's and Edward's post-reconciliation relationship had essentially picked up where they left off before his accident, although they did take the opportunity to date and get to know one another again. This time with honestly and transparency; no more hiding secrets. A few weeks after they reconciled, Edward moved in with Bella and Abby, and the only thing they really squabbled over was his financial contributions to the household, with Bella insisting they split the bills 50/50.

About five months later, Edward got down on one knee at La Vita é Bella, presented her with a beautiful heirloom engagement ring, and asked her to be his wife. Bella didn't have to think twice about it, accepting the ring and proposal as the patrons around them clapped and cheered. They agreed they didn't want a long engagement, and started planning immediately.

Their wedding planning caused a brief clash with Edward's parents. Esme and Carlisle expected an extravagant church ceremony and formal, country club reception. Edward and Bella opted instead for a much more casual event, attended only by their closest family and friends. It had taken a while for the Cullens to come around, but once they realized that Edward and Bella weren't going to budge, they graciously offered to host the toned-down event in their backyard, which was perfectly suited for what Bella and Edward wanted.

Bella wore a simple, ivory silk slip dress, while Edward endured Rosalie's teasing about his Armani trousers and Prada loafers. Everyone agreed it was Abby that stole the show in her sparkly pink dress and matching slippers. She'd been given a basket full of rose petals to scatter as she walked down the aisle, but she'd taken one look at the people waiting for them and ran straight to her Grandma Sue in the front row. Her unusual shyness abated by the end of the ceremony, when she walked before Edward and Bella and sprinkled the petals for the recessional.

One thing they did splurge on was their honeymoon. They spent two amazing weeks on the beach in Hawaii. They returned home tanned and relaxed...and pregnant, as they found out six weeks later. Not that it was a huge surprise, given that they had decided to forego birth control.

Olivia Lynne Cullen entered the world two weeks before Abby's fifth birthday. Abby declared "Ollie" to be the best birthday present ever, and the two sisters were inseparable. Even now, Abby kept checking the nursery monitor, anxiously waiting for her sister to wake from her afternoon nap. It was why Abby had insisted on waiting to open her presents; she wanted Ollie by her side when she did.

Bella's second pregnancy could not have been more different than her first. Done with school, with Edward at her side for every single appointment and more than willing to step in when Bella needed to put her feet up, she actually enjoyed being pregnant this time around. And although she'd had some growing pains going from public assistance to trust fund, even she couldn't deny the money was a blessing when she was able to take six months off work after Olivia's birth. When she did go back, it was only three days a week; she'd missed so much of Abby's infancy and toddler years when she was in nursing school and couldn't stand the thought of missing out on Ollie's as well. Edward had suggested that she didn't really need to work at all if she wanted to stay home with the girls, but Bella wasn't quite ready to give up the career she'd worked so hard to achieve. For now, the girls were doing great at the daycare across from her office, with an occasional day with their Grandmama Esme.

Edward's ears perked up when he heard Olivia's voice over the baby monitor. He looked over to the screen to see her standing in her crib, bouncing up and down as she chanted Abby's name. He nodded across the room to Bella to indicate he'd go get their daughter, and padded down the hallway and away from the noise of the party.

"Daddy!" Olivia called when he opened the door, raising her arms to him. Edward swooped in and picked her up, nuzzling his nose in her fluffy chestnut curls, so like her sister's at that age. "Where Abby?" she demanded.

"She's waiting for you, pumpkin," he answered, changing her diaper efficiently and straightening out her party dress as he stood her up on her changing table. "Are you ready for the party?"

"Party!" Olivia shouted, launching herself at Edward, who caught her mid-air and settled her on his hip. Their younger daughter was quite the daredevil; he was certain that most of his gray hairs would come from this one.

"Ollie, you're awake!" Abby shouted as Edward and Olivia entered the living room. Olivia wiggled to be let down, and the two sisters hugged like they hadn't seen one another in days, not a mere hour while Olivia napped. Bella couldn't help but smile at the sight of their daughters together, in matching party dresses and matching pigtails. There wasn't a single thing that either sister wanted to do without the other.

With her sister by her side, Abby declared she was ready for presents. Everyone gathered around and watched as Abby opened her gifts, Olivia helping to tear wrapping paper and gather all the bows together. Once they were done, Bella handed out gift bags to the other children, trying to make time to visit with all the family and friends that had come out for the birthday party.

Hours later, they had set the house to rights and finally it all to themselves again. The girls sat side-by-side on the loveseat while The Little Mermaid played on the television; Olivia's favorite, just like Abby at her age.

Bella smiled when Edward returned from the kitchen with two glasses of wine. "I think we deserve these after today," he said, handing one to her. "Good job with the birthday party, Mama."

Bella clinked her glass with his. "Even without the petting zoo and pony rides?" she teased, snuggling into his side as he sat down and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I still think that would have been awesome," Edward pouted, taking a sip of his wine. "You always shoot down my best ideas."

In some respects, it had been harder for Bella to adjust to Edward's world than it had been for him to become accustomed to hers. Even now, she still wasn't entirely comfortable with money. More specifically, having money. Lots of it. She still clipped coupons, bargain hunted, and shopped at thrift stores, and Edward loved to tease her about it. But they kept one another in check: Bella reining Edward in when he wanted to go overboard—like wanting a full blown zoo for Abby's birthday party—and Edward encouraging Bella to loosen the purse strings when her instinct was to buckle down.

"Aww, poor baby. How about I promise to let you go crazy on our trip?" Bella asked, kissing his cheek.

"What trip, Mama?" Abby interrupted. "Are you an' Eward going somewhere? Without us?"

Edward looked at Bella, who grinned and nodded. He set their wine glasses down carefully, then opened a drawer in the end table and grabbed a small box that he'd put there before they sat down. "Hey Abby, it looks like you missed a present earlier," he said.

Bella reached in and grabbed a second box. "And look, this one has Ollie's name on it!" she exclaimed in surprise.

Both girls launched themselves off the loveseat and climbed up between Bella and Edward, begging for their presents. "Okay, but you have to open them together, all right?" Edward asked.

Abby and Olivia nodded enthusiastically, and tore into their paper at the same time. Abby was more coordinated and had her wrapping off first, but she set her box aside to help Olivia with hers. Once the wrapping paper was off, Abby started to open her box, while Edward helped Olivia take the cover off her hers.

Abby's eyes widened as she stared at the contents of the box. "This was my wish," she whispered, almost in shock. "This was my birthday wish!" she shrieked happily. Olivia copied her, not understanding but wanting to share in the excitement. "When?" Abby demanded, looking from Edward to Bella and back again.

Edward laughed. "We leave tomorrow morning," she told her. "Happy birthday to both of you."

"Whazzit?" Olivia asked her sister, admiring the pretty pink bracelet in the box.

"Ollie, we're going to Disney World! We get to meet Ariel, right Mama?" Abby asked, touching her sparkly purple band reverently.

Bella nodded, thrilled by Abby's excitement. "Yes, as a matter of fact, you get to have breakfast with her one of the days."

"Oh Mama, Eward, this is the best birthday! Thank you!" Abby said, jumping up and dancing around the room, singing "Under the Sea" at the top of her lungs. Olivia climbed down from Edward's lap and imitated her sister, the two of them twirling around like the princesses they were.

"Are you sure you're ready for two weeks in the happiest place on earth with these two?" Bella asked, already exhausted just from watching them.

"I honestly can't wait," Edward admitted, smiling widely. "And by taking my parents along, that means you and I can get some alone time." He wiggled his eyebrows and playfully leered at her. "You know, the last time we went away for two weeks, you came home pregnant."

"I know. I'm game if you are," Bella replied with a wink.

Edward stopped short for a moment, not sure if he'd heard her right. Then his grin got even wider, and he leaned down to press a long, lingering kiss to her lips. "Maybe we should start practicing tonight," he suggested.

"You get the girls in bed, and I'll be waiting in our room," Bella agreed with a wink.


And that's all she wrote... Everlasting love and gratitude to the best beta in the entire fandom, iadorepugs, who worked through this one with me during some of her own difficult times. You're the best, bb, and I love you :) And thanks to all you for taking this trip with me - even though I am a complete fail at review replies, please know that I read each and every one.

Until next time...

*mooches*

Andrea