End Notes (and a surprise bonus scene at the end)

Playlist:

"High Hope" by Patrick Droney – This song inspired this story. I could go on for days. I won't; just listen.

"Pink Confetti" by Tow'rs – I toyed back and forth for baby Black, whether it would be a girl or boy. I had friends vote on a random tally, did random number generators, flipped a coin. This song (and a picture I came across on Pinterest) was the deciding factor. It's exactly how I picture Jacob reacting to fatherhood.

"Welcome Home" by Joy Williams – AKA Marie's Lullaby

Other Honorable Mentions:

Chapter 5 – "Bone Structure" by Ron Pope – Drunk Nessie

Chapter 8 – "Like a Movie" by Cam – THE song that inspired the kiss

Chapter 10 – "Everything Falls for You" by Seaforth – The song I imagined playing during Jake and Nessie's date in Chicago

Chapter 13 – "Who Would Have Thought" by Dylan Dunlap / "YOU" by Michael Andrew – Leah /Adam dynamic

Chapter 16 – "Cherish You" by Mikky Ekko – Bow chicka wow wow

Chapter 18 – "How to Love You Today" by Son of Cloud / "The One You Need" by Brett Eldridge

Chapter 19 – "Every Time You Go Away" by Lennon Stella and Kevin Garrett

Chapter 19 – "Hate to See Your Heart Break" by Paramore – Leah/Nessie's friendship

Chapter 20 – "Unconditional" by Aaron Smith

Chapter 21 – "Evermore" by Taylor Swift

Chapter 24 – "Cult Classically" by Penny & Sparrow – The inspiration for Jared and Kim's wedding, and effectively, their first dance song

Chapter 32 – "Never Stop" by Tyler Brown Williams – The Wedding Song

A List of Things I Googled During the Making of this Story:

-F. Scott Fitzgerald Quotes (I'm honestly glad this story wrapped when it did, because I was running out of good, usable quotes)

-Do wolves actually bite their mates – That claiming bite thing is so cool to me, but I couldn't find any factual evidence for it.

-Best sex positions for pregnancy

-Timeline for pregnancy

-Seattle to Chicago Flights

-Seattle to Cabo Flights

-Are panties singular or plural

-When can kicks be felt on the outside

-Synonym for desire

-Quileute Marriage

-Emotional Groom Reaction

-Name for junction of neck and shoulder

-What can go wrong during pregnancy

-What can go wrong during childbirth

-Black Family tree twilight (also Uley, Clearwater, Ateara, etc) – The family names I used are real, and Billy really does have four sisters (yet another reason why I knew in my soul that Marie was meant to be a girl)

What Changed & What Didn't

"How" Jake & Nessie got together – Originally there was going to be a big car accident while Jake was teaching Nessie to drive, which would have pushed this timeline way forward. She was going to get hurt, Jake would blame himself, they'd get in a fight, Jake would give up and kiss her (effectively breaking his promise to Edward.) At the end of the day, it felt rushed and out of character for the narrative I was creating.

The Proposal – I had it written that Jake and Nessie went star gazing often when she was little, and that when Jake proposed he'd tell the story of that stupid, crazy in love wolf. But logistically, it rains all the time, so it didn't feel realistic. I'm glad I still found a way to incorporate it.

The Ending (Sort Of) – Originally Nessie really wasn't going to get pregnant. I was going to end this story after chapter 24 (Jared and Kim's wedding). If you go back and stop there, you might be able to see that. But I like happy endings. I also toyed with the thought of Nessie getting pregnant as the epilogue, but I couldn't do that to myself, either.

Acknowledgements:

To my husband, for putting up with me, giving me name suggestions which I mostly ended up not using, and putting our TV time on pause while I worked on this for literal hours.

To my friend Michelle, for prying this out of me and encouraging me to share with people in my actual life. For finding my typos and making me laugh out loud at your commentary on the regular. When you finally make it here, in a year or so, I hope this makes you smile.

To the Twilight Wiki page, for making it so I didn't have to go out and buy the official illustrated guide.

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Jake

"It was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being." – F. Scott Fitzgerald.

"Has Bethany thought any more about moving in?" I ask. "And where do the supply invoices go?"

Embry smirks, pointing at the slot on the desk labeled Supply Invoices. "I'm not a rock, Jake."

"Sorry," I mumble.

He sighs, leaning back in the chair. "I brought it up again a few days ago and she flipped. Her and Kim and Rachel ran off to Portland yesterday for God's sake because of it. I don't get it. She's perfectly comfortable leaving me to watch Sadie for the weekend, letting me pick her up from school. But when it comes to making it official, she just drags her feet."

I can tell he's troubled, so I try to distract him. "Show me where to catalog the outgoing bills," I say, gesturing to the computer.

He nods, grabbing the mouse. "This thing is basically a dinosaur, you know that? If you got a new one you could save time. And a lot of this stuff could probably go digital."

"That might actually be a good idea," I admit.

"I do have them on occasion," he chuckles. "Maybe I'll just do it anyway while you're gone. Ask forgiveness, not permission."

"That'd be a bad idea," I say, punching his shoulder.

He cuffs my ear, and I swat back at him. Our scuffle is starting to pick up heat when my phone rings. I shove him away, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

"Tell Nessie I said hey," Embry says, turning back to the computer.

Incoming Call: Claire Young

"It's Claire," I mumble, confusion evident as I lift the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

There's a brief pause. "Jacob?"

I instantly know by her tone that something is wrong. "What?" I ask, standing to my feet. My chair tumbles to the ground behind me.

Embry stands too, studying my face.

"The baby is coming," she says. "Apparently fast."

Baby. I'm not sure how my heart can feel like it's not beating and be about to explode at the same time. "Where?"

"Home. The cabin."

I can just barely pick up Nessie moan in the background. And it's not a pleasured one. I end the call and turn back to Embry. "The baby's coming," I say, but the words don't feel like they belong to me.

His eyes go wide. "You need to go, then," he says. I can't move, can hardly feel Embry's hand my shoulder shoving me toward the door. "For fuck's sake, Jacob," I hear him sigh. What I feel, though, is a sharp smack across my cheek.

Nessie. Baby. Right.

I break into a sprint, hardly managing to make it through the door before I phase. No time, no time. Nessie. Baby.

Claire said the baby's coming fast, but how fast is fast? Rachel was in labor for six hours. Emily was less, maybe four. And Nessie most certainly wasn't in labor when I left this morning.

Regardless, I pull the earth below me as hard and fast as I can. It's still not fast enough.

When I approach the cabin, I hear muffled voices, and a loud scream I recognize as Nessie's.

I shove the front door open, and it rattles the foundation as it bangs against the wall behind it. I run toward the bedroom, and when I round the corner, it takes me only a millisecond to process everything before my eyes.

Nessie's on our bed, naked aside from a towel covering her. Her face is screwed up in pain, her eyes shut tight. Both her heartbeat and Marie's are racing. Claire's standing next to her, pale and shaking.

"Oh, thank God," Claire breathes when her eyes land on me. And then she gasps.

"What's happening?" I hear Carlisle ask. It takes me a second to find the source of his voice – Nessie's phone, lying next to her on the bed.

"What the hell do I do, Doc?" I yell, rushing to Nessie's side and gripping her hand, which is clenched into a tight fist.

Nessie's eyes fly open, and I see relief flood her face, replacing some of the anguish there. I already feel tears pricking at my eyes, because I don't like seeing her like this. She's so obviously in pain, horrible pain. She's drenched in sweat, when I've never even seen her shed a drop.

"Put some clothes on," Nessie spits through gritted teeth.

God, my mind is so fucked right now. I move at superhuman speed, grabbing the first pair of shorts I can find, back at her side before what I assume is her next contraction.

"What do you need?" I ask, pushing her hair from her face with a gentle touch. It clings to her skin.

"I need to—" She takes in a sharp breath. "Push. I need to push."

"Okay, Jacob, you're going to deliver your daughter," Carlisle says.

As I move to the foot of the bed, I have to take a steadying breath. It's pointless in the end, especially as I comprehend Doc's words. Me?

"Jacob, can you see the head?" Carlisle asks.

I want to tell Carlisle that I absolutely don't think I can do this, that he thinks higher of me than I deserve. But then I look between Nessie's legs, and I can't think of anything other to say than, "Holy shit." That looks different. I can just barely see a patch of dark hair emerging. And honestly, it's really fucking cool. "I think so."

Carlisle says, "Stay right there while Renesmee pushes, Jacob. Have the towels ready, and don't pull on anything. It's important that as soon as she's out, place her directly on Nessie's chest. She'll be cold."

"Stay, towels, don't pull, chest, cold," I repeat, my eyes still fixed on Nessie's center, the way that's it's stretching. For a split second, I wonder if it will go back to normal after this. I'm such a fucking guy.

"I don't think I can do this," Nessie groans.

And I'm a dick. I've been so wrapped up in this, in what I'm seeing, in my responsibility for making sure Marie gets here safely, that I've all but forgotten that Nessie's the one actually doing this, actually feeling pain.

I want nothing more than to be able to take her pain away. I think about moving back to her side, but Claire pats Nessie's arm first. "Of course you can, Nessie. You're one of the strongest people I know."

Stay. I have to stay here.

Nessie's eyes are still squeezed tight, but I manage to give Claire a gentle nod. She gives me a small shrug in return. I'm lost here, Jake, her body language is telling me. Good grief, this kid. She's only fourteen.

Towels.

I look around, finding a pile of towels next to Nessie's knees and grab one.

"Renesmee," Carlisle says, "with your next contraction, bear down. You'll know what to do. It will feel natural."

Nessie gives a small nod, and I hear her heart racing as she starts to push. From this angle I can see her body working, see her stomach contracting and the progress it produces.

I have to force myself to tear my eyes away from her face, twisted in all its pain, and focus back in on my job. She has hers, and I have mine.

Nessie lets out a single, long moan, that progresses into a scream in the same breath. That much I expected. What I'm not expecting though – although if I'm being honest, I wasn't expecting today to go like this at all – is for Marie to arrive so swiftly.

I count three pushes.

The first delivers the head, and I want to yank her out right there. Because she'll be safe in my arms, safe from the world and hurt and heartache there. Because I'm her father.

Don't pull.

With the second push, Marie's shoulder pops out. Nessie's still screaming.

Don't pull, Jacob. Don't.

On the third push, Marie is spilling out into my arms. "Oh, my God," I breathe.

And then she wails. And it's the most beautiful thing in the world. She is the most beautiful thing in the world. Maybe even more so than her mom.

"Hi there, beautiful," I breathe, tears running in thick tracks down my cheeks.

Chest.

"Ness," I say, stepping around the bed to her. "Meet our daughter."

Cold.

Although it's physically painful, I have to let Marie go when I place her on Nessie's heaving chest, bloody towel and all, grabbing another clean one and holding it to her back.

"Hey there, baby girl," Nessie chokes, her own words riddled with sobs. I watch as she reaches up to stroke Marie's face with a featherlight touch. "Jacob," she whispers, grabbing for what I can only assume is my face.

I drop to my knees next to her, pulling her hand to my face. One of us is shaking, maybe both. I can't be sure. She flows her emotions freely to me, showing me Marie through her eyes, the perfect little combination of us. Together.

I can't control my emotion in this moment, but why would I want to? My world is here. I hold Nessie's hand to my face tightly, never wanting to let either of them go. I lean down and press a hard kiss to Nessie's hair, her forehead, cheeks, lips. Anything and everything I can reach. Because we made a baby, and she's here, and she's safe and she's in our arms.

I hear sirens in the distance, way off, about two miles probably. "About fucking time," I whisper, unable to tear my eyes off my girls.

My girls.