This is ittttt!

I won't make this long or sappy, but I really could not have done any of this without the help of a few certain ladies! Hadley made this story flow and much prettier than I ever could. Liv, May, and Rahnnie offered the most wonderful feedback and constantly held my hand when I was discouraged.

Thank YOU for trusting me with this story! It was daunting and I'm honestly still a little um, shocked, that I was able to complete it with how involved it was. But I appreciated every review, every comment on FB, and every time anyone rec'd this unconventional story. Means the world to me!

Hope to see you all soon! :3

Epilogue
Five Years Later

The yearly anniversary of Emmett's death always brings renewed sadness, but we find joy in our reminiscing about him.

As often as certain moments feel healing, there are other times that worsen the loss. Like when little Em asks why his cousin has a daddy, but he doesn't. Or when Rose is having a hard day, and she drops him off with us for a few hours. Her nose is always red and her eyes glassy when she returns. She doesn't like to talk about it though, so I've stopped trying.

She's not the same after everything. None of us are. What we went through was traumatic. The desperate need to escape a toxic world, and then the sheer will to just survive.

And we did. For four and a half years, we survived in the wilderness. We gave up luxuries and even some everyday necessities just to be able to live freely. Some days, I don't know how we managed, especially during the winters we had to endure. All I do know is that if we had to do it again, we would because having left means we're here now. Back in the city, with no fence or border locking us in. Having left means we were able to avoid the uprising and chaos when the information I'd given Carmen led to others realizing there was widespread corruption happening.

But most importantly, it means that my daughter won't ever have her memories tampered with. No one will. Ever again. And that alone makes every sacrifice we've made worth it.

XXX

"Morning," Edward mumbles, a sleepy smile on his face as he stretches out in our bed.

I've already been awake for hours, just reveling in the silence of him and our daughter sleeping in. Well, he slept in. Lilly was awake at five then fell back asleep once she crawled into bed with us. Pepper, of course, followed.

Adjusting to life in the city has been more difficult than I imagined. Not necessarily for me or Edward, but for our four-year-old. She's been clingier and wants me all hours of the day. She doesn't sleep in her own room, and she cries anytime we leave her. But it makes sense. We were inseparable in the unincorporated land because we didn't have a choice. She slept in our bed and was with us at all times. Now that we're back home and trying to live a normal life again, it's been hard. Sometimes I forget this isn't normal for her. The wilderness was her home. Some days I feel guilty for coming back. Other days, I know this is best.

It's a phase. We'll get through it. We've been through worse before.

Lillian Esme Cullen was born nearly eight months after relocating to the unincorporated land. She has her father's hazel eyes and his courage. She has my lips and my tenacity. Watching Edward with her is one of my favorite things in the entire world.

"When did she come in?" he asks quietly, brushing some brown wispy hair from her face.

"Early this morning."

He shifts to sit up a little and leans over her to kiss me. "You've been up for a while?"

I shrug. I have, but it's fine. I'm nervous for today, but I don't necessarily want to get into it now.

"You know, you don't have to do this," Edward murmurs because he knows, even without me voicing my worries and doubts. He's too insightful not to notice.

"I know."

"In fact, I really wish you wouldn't."

He doesn't want me to visit Charlie, and I get it. I haven't had the desire to see him either. After having Lilly, my anger and resentment for Charlie grew into something unhealthy. Something darker. After having my own child, I understood him less, and I couldn't fathom how he could have hurt me that way. I would die for Lilly. I'd do anything to make her happy. But Charlie only looked out for himself and what was best for him. I will never, ever understand his motivation.

"I know you don't want me to, but…" I trail off.

"I'm going with you," Edward insists.

"I don't want you anywhere near him," I say hotly. "Lilly, either."

He opens his mouth to say something, but Lilly shifts, and he stays quiet.

I haven't seen or spoken to Charlie since the night we celebrated my placement with James. There are things I want to say to him… alone. Things I need to get off my chest. I could avoid him for the rest of my life, and I think he'd take the hint—that he means nothing to me, and I'm glad he's going to rot in prison. But in the back of my mind, I know this animosity isn't beneficial. It's not serving me. Though I'm finally living the life I deserve, knowing everything I had to give up and how hard I had to fight to make it happen still enrages me. I think Charlie deserves to know that.

"I won't go in, but I'll be there, waiting outside," Edward says, his tone final. "Lilly can stay with Carmen."

"Fine," I agree, knowing we'll have to compromise on this.

"Fine," Edward echoes, a small smile on his face. "You know, Lill gets her stubbornness from you."

"You usually refer to it as tenacity," I laugh quietly.

"It's stubbornness when I don't want you to do something," he clarifies, his eyes shining.

"It's one of the things you love most about me," I taunt and tease, and he leans in for another kiss.

"You're right. I do," he murmurs against my lips. "Amongst… other things."

Lilly stirs between us, and we freeze as her little lashes flutter open to reveal sleepy hazel eyes.

"Mama?" she whimpers.

I run a soothing hand over her cheek, and she relaxes before rolling over and nuzzling her body to mine.

Pepper stands and stretches then snuggles closer to Lilly, settling in for yet another nap.

Edward sighs. "Breakfast?"

I nod and mouth "I love you" before he kisses me, then Lill, and leaves the bed.

XXX

The drive to visit Charlie is quiet without Lilly in the backseat chatting away. I stare out the window, mentally rehearsing everything I want to say to him, but all I can think about is Lilly's tears when Edward took her from her booster seat, and she realized we were leaving her with Carmen.

Ever since we've come back, Carmen has been like a grandmother to Lilly and little Em. She loves them fiercely, the way she loved Emmett and me, and I'm so grateful to have her in our lives again.

"Did we traumatize her by moving back?" I ask.

"No. It'll take time for her to adjust, so please stop feeling guilty," Edward says with a resigned sigh.

"I know, I know."

"Hey." I look over at him, and he reaches for my hand, the other still on the steering wheel. His eyes briefly leave the road to look over at me, and he brings my hand to his mouth, kissing it. "We've always done what was best for her. This is no different. What was the other alternative? Live out there forever?"

Now that we're back, I can't imagine being out there again. We could have come back sooner, like immediately after the fence was down two years ago, but we waited a bit. We were hesitant, still unsure about all of the events that had taken place here. We didn't want to get caught up in the chaos surrounding everything.

"She'll be okay," Edward reassures me. "We've only been back for six months. She'll get used to it."

I know he's right. I just can't help but worry.

"Maybe she needs a little brother to look after," I say, staring at his profile and waiting for a reaction. "Or a sister."

He raises his brows and grins. "Yeah?"

After Lilly was born, we took as many precautions as we could to not get pregnant a second time. Raising one child in the wilderness, under those conditions, was reason enough to hold off.

"She's growing up too fast," I sigh, thinking back to those early years fondly. It seems like taking care of a newborn was easier than this new stage. "I miss the baby days."

"I miss making babies with you," Edward says with a smirk, eyes still on the road.

"I mean, it's not like we've stopped that part completely." We still have sex when we can. It's not like before, but still. "Should we actually try?" I ask, serious now.

He's quiet as he thinks it over. "I'd like more kids."

"I'll give you as many babies as you want," I say sweetly, my heart buoying.

"Today?" he asks, his grin infectious.

"What?" I ask, smiling.

"Does that mean can we start trying today?"

I laugh. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" he echoes, deflated.

With my fingers still tangled with his, he brings my hand to his mouth again, but this time he peppers slow kisses along the inside of my wrist and slightly up my arm. My skin tingles. My stomach flips. There's a definite ache between my legs when I remember how long it's really been.

"Today," I finally say, my tone lower and more seductive.

His eyes cut to mine, playful and heated. "Okay."

XXX

The room I wait in for Charlie is sterile and bare. It unsettles me, almost reminding me of my days at the clinic. There's no plexiglass, nothing to separate us. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this.

The door opens, and Charlie is escorted in, hands shackled together. Ankles, too. It makes me feel better, having a visible sign that his freedom has been taken from him. No matter how much power he thinks he might still have, he'll always be here, rotting away. Unable to hurt anyone ever again.

The guard stands in the corner of the room. His presence is overwhelming but appreciated.

I let Charlie get settled as I take in his appearance. He hasn't aged well at all. His hair and mustache have grayed, and his face is worn and weary. I wonder how much of this has to do with time and how much with stress.

He opens his mouth to speak, but I hold up a hand. I don't want him to have the first or last word. I don't want to hear whatever it is he thinks he has to say. Not yet.

"I almost didn't come here today," I tell him.

"I'm glad you did."

That's surprising to me. I thought I'd be the last person he'd want to see, especially since he likely knows my involvement in everything. I wasn't the one to bring down the government by any means, but the information I gave Carmen was apparently the first domino to fall.

After Edward and I escaped, everyone on the list of people who were forced to have the Procedure were contacted and informed of what had happened to them. Some believed it. Some didn't. But it definitely raised questions.

Soon enough, person after person came forward and admitted their association with the forced Procedures. Maybe they thought if they came clean before shit hit the fan that they'd be let off easy. The forced Procedures ranged from politicians erasing memories to further their careers, to others simply wanting certain people erased for their own benefit. It all stemmed from jealousy and control. Complete manipulation of the system. Once the government found out there was some truth to the information that had been leaked, they took action and began an investigation.

The decision to ban the Procedure didn't occur overnight. We heard it was a grueling process, and took years of protests and riots, multiple investigations, and court hearings for the change to ensue. We waited patiently for it to all blow over. We lived our lives as far away from it all, as best we could, until we felt safe enough to return.

Apparently Charlie was involved in a lot more than just forcing Edward and me. He used the Procedure for his benefit in all aspects of his life, from his professional to his personal. He had a corrupt team working for him. I'm told he never came clean, either. He never owned up to his part. He waited for the enforcers to show up and place him under arrest. That makes me hate him even more.

"How's Edward?" Charlie asks, pulling me from my thoughts. I balk at his fucking nerve, my blood already boiling.

"I didn't come here to talk about Edward. In fact, I'd rather you keep his name out of your mouth." Charlie shifts uncomfortably, quieting down. "I came here to see if you even feel the slightest bit remorseful about everything you did."

"Of course I do," he says blandly.

I scrutinize his face. "I really tried to move on and let go of the anger I feel for you, but… the older my daughter gets, the less I understand you."

"I have a granddaughter?" he asks, voice a bit softer now.

"No. Edward and I have a daughter. You have nothing," I say simply, holding his gaze.

"Bella, you have to understand—" he begins to say, and I almost laugh.

"Are you going to try to convince me that what you did was for my own good?"

"It would be good for you to know the whole story," he clarifies, leaning forward a bit, his shackled hands on the table now. "I was just doing what had been done for years before I was ever Mayor. None of this was my idea. None of it—"

"So, you're taking zero responsibility," I say flatly, already unimpressed by how this is going. I mean, I figured he'd try to blame others for his actions, I just didn't think he'd try this early on. "It doesn't matter what policy or corruption was in place before you. What matters is that you went along with it. You didn't stop it. And then you used it to your own benefit. You threatened the man I love. You erased my memory. You took him away from me when I had the right to choose who I wanted to be placed with," I say, tone sharper now. "How fucking dare you?"

"I do feel badly about that," he mumbles, but I sense zero remorse from him.

"Do you feel badly about Renee, too?" I ask, and now his eyes finally do flash with something close to regret.

"Don't talk to me about your mother," he quietly begs. "Please."

I won't ever know the depth of Renee's involvement in all of this. I never saw her after that night we spoke in Charlie's office. All I know is that shortly after everyone was indicted, Renee took matters into her own hands with pills and booze. The police must have found her since Charlie had already been locked up and sentenced to life in prison.

"What would you like from me? Did you come here to make me feel guilty?" Charlie asks, pulling me out of my grim thoughts. "Isabella, I'm sorry. Undoubtedly so. I hate myself for what I did to you. Your mother and I truly believed it was for the best, but I see now I was wrong, and I…" he trails off. "I can't take it back. I can't take any of it back."

"If you could, would you?" I ask, and he doesn't answer. I can at least appreciate his silence if he can't be honest with me. "I don't want anything from you," I say evenly. "I just wanted to make sure you're actually locked up so you can't ever hurt me or my family again now that we're back. And I wanted you to know that I'm happy. Not that my happiness ever mattered to you, but... " I trail off this time, and his eyes shine with unshed tears. "I won't ever forgive you, either."

"I don't expect you to."

"Good." Finally, something we can agree on. "You know, it's the anniversary of Emmett's death."

He looks down at his lap. "I know."

"Did you know he was dead? The entire time?"

"No. I assumed he escaped," he admits.

"He did," I say proudly. "He risked his own life to protect Rose and his baby. He saved Edward's life that day, too. Em would've been the best father. But you took that away from him."

"He tried escaping on his own volition," Charlie replies. "I had nothing to do—"

"He left because you'd given him no choice. He wanted to be with Rose. And you wouldn't let him. So yes, I blame you for his death, too."

Charlie hangs his head and sighs. "I'm sorry. I never wanted any of this to happen."

I shrug, and stand from my chair. Even if he didn't want any of this to happen, he still let it occur. And it's not good enough. It will never be good enough. I realize now that I don't need his apology. I never have.

"Part of me used to wish that the Procedure was still around so I could do the same to you. But you don't deserve that," I say quietly. For a moment he looks surprised, but then I add, "That would be too easy. I think knowing that you have to live with what you've done for the rest of your life is particularly satisfying."

I turn away from him, then, having said the last of what I need to say.

When I reach the door, he speaks.

"What's she like?" he asks, and I assume he means Lilly.

I look back at him and for a moment I see a glimpse of the man I used to love unconditionally. The man I looked up to and adored. But his love came with conditions, and his promise to keep me safe was a lie.

"You don't deserve to know anything about her," I tell him, fire behind my gaze. "She'll never know about you, either."

Maybe one day if Lilly asks about her grandfather, I'll tell her about him. Until then, I won't utter his name. He doesn't deserve to occupy my daughter's mind. And by the time she's old enough to know the truth about everything, he'll be dead.

XXX

Edward's waiting outside for me when I'm done with Charlie.

He searches my face, and worry clouds his expression.

"That was fast," he says, pushing off the cement wall he's leaning on.

"Didn't have much to say to him."

He pulls me in for a hug, and I stand on my tip-toes to wrap my arms around the back of his neck.

"Are you okay?" he asks, exhaling into my hair.

I clench my eyes closed and take a healing breath. "I'm fine."

"Do you feel better?"

"I don't know yet," I mumble, pulling back to look up at him. I don't really know how I feel. "Take me home?"

Edward's gaze softens. "Okay."

"We can pick up Lill on the way."

He shakes his head. "Why don't we let her stay with Carmen a little longer? I just checked in a few minutes ago, and Rose had dropped off Em, so they're busy playing."

"She's not begging to come home?"

"Nah, she's good."

With a kiss to my temple, Edward guides me back toward the car.

The house is quiet without Lilly running around. Pepper immediately winds herself around my legs, meowing up at me.

"Your bestie will be back soon," I tell Pepper, rubbing her little head.

Edward's phone rings, and he answers, greeting our lawyer. I move into the living room to let them talk, not wanting to focus on all of that right now.

After all was said and done, everyone who was forced into the Procedure was given a lump sum in order to right the government's wrongdoings. This helped us get on our feet once we returned. But it's the money that Renee left behind that will keep us set for a very long time.

A week before she took her life, she changed her will to leave me everything. We didn't find this out until a month ago, though. At first, I didn't want anything to do with her pity money. But after many long conversations with Edward, and needing to support Lilly and our family, I accepted Renee's gesture for what it was. An apology, an admittance of guilt, and the offer of a comfortable life—all of which were the very least she owed me.

With Edward still on the phone, I instantly start cleaning, picking up different items that need to be put away. Toys. This morning's breakfast. The abandoned art project I tried distracting Lilly, and myself, with before visiting Charlie.

When I can no longer hear Edward's murmured voice, and assume he's off the call, I call out to him.

"What do you want for dinner?"

He finds me in the kitchen, filling the sink to wash the dirty dishes.

"Bell." He shuts off the water, looking at me.

"What?"

"I can do all of that," he insists.

"I don't mind," I tell him, desperate for the distraction.

"Take a minute, baby."

"I'm fine," I say automatically. "What did Jenks want?"

Edward eyes me, but says, "We just need to fill out a few more documents before everything is settled and in your name."

"Okay." I turn the water back on, returning to the dishes, but Edward shuts it off again.

"Hey."

"What?"

"You just saw your father for the first time in… years. It's okay to just… be."

I'm about to protest again, but let his words sink in.

"It's okay," he says again, gentler this time, tucking some hair behind my ear.

The way he says it so sincerely, so softly, makes my heart pang. I dissolve into my sadness, and move closer to him, pressing my face against his chest. With his arms around me, I give into my emotions. I'd kept this icy exterior for so long, needing my anger to fuel me. Needing to survive for him and Lilly. Needing to be strong for Rose and little Em. I never allowed myself time to properly grieve the life I suddenly left behind, and the family I lost. The family who scorned me.

Standing there in the middle of the kitchen, I allow myself to crumble and cry. Edward just holds me. Strong and steady and comforting. He allows me the space to let go and just be… sad. Underneath that somberness though, I'm grateful. I really am. There's a sense of relief that comes with confrontation. Though it was hard for me to answer his question earlier, I do feel better. Not exactly healed or whole, and my heart definitely still feels vulnerable and raw. Knowing that Charlie will spend his remaining years understanding how outraged and resentful and heartbroken I've been does make me feel slightly mended. Maybe it's twisted, but I feel like I can move on.

Like finally, finally I'm free.

Eventually, my tears stop, and our embrace slowly turns into a kiss. It's my lips that find his. My hands that tug at him, needing him closer. Our kiss is chaste and loving. Slow and sweet.

"Baby, we don't have to…" he starts to say, and I shake my head.

"Let me love you. Please."

He swallows and searches my face, then kisses his way from my mouth, to my jaw, to my neck. I lean into his touch, neither of us trying to rush this alone time we so rarely have.

When his hands move down my body and cup my ass, I moan. He lifts me up so my legs are wrapped around his hips, and with our mouths still attached, he walks us into the bedroom. He lays me down with ease and settles between my legs, and we take a moment.

He stares down at me like he's taking in every little detail. Like he can't get enough. Like I'm the best thing he's ever seen. I drink him in with the same intensity, feeling so overwhelmed and so, so fucking loved and lucky and just… grateful.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks, voice gravelly, eyes on my lips.

"You."

His smile is shy. "What about me?"

"How good you are to me. And Lilly."

"Now is not the time to think about Lilly…" he trails off, laughing self-deprecatingly.

"You know what I mean," I laugh, and he just grins.

"I know." He sighs, nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck, pressing the gentlest kiss to my skin. Another kiss then, but this time it lingers and there's fire behind it. This time, he presses his hips against mine, making me moan.

We take our time undressing each other, and relish in the freedom to do so. Going slow and focusing solely on each other is something we so rarely get to do nowadays. It's usually quick sex between rushed moments, hoping Lilly doesn't walk in. Right now it's slow and passionate, tender and sweet.

It's like it used to be, and it makes my heart swell.

When he thrusts into me, I don't have to be quiet. And when I ride him, slow and purposeful to torture him, he doesn't have to hold back, either. He groans and curses out loud as he tells me to ride him faster, so I give him what he wants.

I come first, and the wave of pleasure seems to last longer and more intensely that I've felt in a very long time.

"Goddamn, you feel so fucking good," he grits out, feeling me clench around him, his mouth parted as he stares at where we connect. "Fuck, I'm gonna come," he warns, but then relief flashes over his face when he remembers he doesn't have to pull out this time.

We're lazy, then, and stay in bed as long as we can. Laughing and touching. Being sweet with one another. Staying unclothed, and soaking up whatever child-free moments are still available to us.

"So…" he trails off, kissing his way down my naked body, looking up at me with the most intense eyes before pressing his mouth to where he was twenty minutes ago. "Round two?" he asks, his voice vibrating around my clit.

"Oh?" I ask, intrigued and turned on and so, so willing.

"I mean, just in case that first time didn't work," he laughs, staying between my legs but moving to his knees. "Might as well try as much as we can."

"Round two for baby number two?"

"Makes sense to me," he agrees, deep and throaty and fucking sexy as he strokes himself a couple of times before sliding into me again.

There's nothing slow about this time. It's quick and needy. Raw and gratuitous. We chase our pleasure, both coming in unison until his body goes limp against mine.

When he lifts his head, there's a sparkle in his eyes. Sweat makes his hair stick to his forehead and I brush it away.

"You look very pleased with yourself," I laugh.

"I'd say I'm feeling a little more than pleased," he says breathily, rolling off of me. "Two times in a row? That never happens."

"It'll happen even less with another kid," I say as an afterthought.

"We'll make time," he promises, his lips finding my shoulder before pressing the sweetest of kisses to my abdomen. "Please be a boy, okay? I don't think my heart can handle another girl," he says to my stomach.

I laugh and tug on him. "Get up here, you weirdo."

"You love me," he says with a proud grin that makes his eyes squint.

"Of course I do," I tell him sincerely. "I always will."

With our alone time coming to an end, we shower together, scrubbing each other's backs and washing each other's hair. I linger under the hot stream, but he gets out before me, urging me to stay home and relax while he runs out to pick up Lilly.

When I step out of the shower, my towel and robe are waiting on the counter for me, and a foggy heart is drawn on the mirror. I smile, and my chest swells with affection as I add a second heart inside of his.

XXX

Instead of cleaning up around the house, I take Edward's words to heart and relax. I pour a glass of wine and open a book I've been wanting to read for a while, reveling in the silence as long as I can.

When an hour passes and Edward's still not back with Lilly, I start to miss them. The house is too quiet. Too lonely. I'm about to call him and see where they are when I hear his car pull into the driveway. I meet them at the door, picking up Lilly who runs right for me.

"Look!" she squeals, holding up a paper swan, the same ones Carmen used to make with me when I was younger. "It's a birdy," she says, her "r" sounding too much like a "w."

"I love it," I laugh as she pretends to make it fly, landing in my damp hair.

Edward's still behind the car, unloading some stuff. With Lilly on my hip, I walk over to him to find a tent and sleeping bags, and a few bundles of firewood in the trunk.

"What's all this?" I ask.

"I might've promised Lill we could camp in the backyard tonight. Like h-o-m-e," Edward spells out, giving me a look. She still refers to the unincorporated land as home, so we avoid saying it sometimes. "It was the only way she'd let me leave her with Carmen this morning."

"Camping, huh?" I echo, not hating the idea. "But it's almost winter."

"Yeah, I figured when she falls asleep we can move inside," he says quieter.

"Okay. I guess we're camping," I say animatedly, kissing Lilly's cheek. If we can find a compromise for allowing her to slowly adjust to this new life, I'm all for it.

"I told her that we could make s'mores. Didn't I, Lill?" He pinches the cheek I just kissed. "Chocolate and marshmallows and graham crackers… definitely didn't have all that back in the wilderness."

Lilly's focus is on us again, and she perks up at the mention of s'mores, attempting to say the word "marshmallow." She kind of butchers it, making us laugh in the process.

When evening nears, the three of us bundle up and sit in the backyard around the firepit. Our new tent is set up across the yard, filled with sleeping bags that are currently occupied with all of the stuffed animals Lilly wanted to bring with her.

"Mama, look," she giggles, pointing up. "A shooting star!"

I look up. The stars aren't as bright or visible as they were in the wilderness, but it's better than nothing. Seeing Lilly light up the way she is right now will be worth the backache Edward and I will likely have in the morning from sleeping on the ground.

"Daddy, did you see?" she asks Edward, moving from my lap to his.

"I missed it. I was busy looking at my girls," he tells her playfully, but his eyes are on me and my heart fucking melts.

"You'll see the next one," she says with a determination that makes me smile.

He kisses her cheek and whispers, "Did you know that there's a star for every single thing I love about you?"

She giggles like it's the funniest thing, and he purposely lets his beard tickle her ear, coaxing more adorable laughs out of her.

I catch his eye over Lilly's head, and smile fondly. "That's what you used to say to me."

He grins, too, but the recognition that flashes in his eyes quickly turns to confusion.

"Wait, what?" he asks.

"That first summer we were together, when we'd camp out in my backyard and look up at the stars—you'd tell me there was a star for everything you loved about me," I reiterate. The time before our forced Procedures feels like a lifetime ago, but those first months of being together were so magical, despite our dark future that was to come.

"You remember that?" Edward asks, almost dumbfounded.

"Yeah?"

"We haven't talked about that since… since it happened," he explains, eyeing me. "That's never come up again."

"It hasn't?"

"No."

It's been a while since I've had him detail something from our past that I can't recall. Eventually we stopped grieving what I couldn't remember, and started making new memories. Focusing on the present.

"What else can you remember? About the first time we were together?" Edward asks, his tone buoyant and excited.

"I… I don't know," I say, trying to think it over. "I remember the bus. Seeing you, every day. And Pepper. Taking her to the vet… and drinking beer in your room," I list off. "I remember our first time," I realize, meeting his gentle eyes.

"You do?"

"We danced in your living room, right? You were messing with a record player. 'Sea of Love' was playing? It was right before…" I don't expand on exactly what we did because Lilly's right here. How the room was stifling, summer sun beaming through the windows. How he moved between my legs, coaxing the sweetest sounds from my mouth. "We danced before we went into your bedroom. That was also the first time you said you loved me," I recall, my heart soaring.

"You remember," he murmurs, almost in disbelief. "You actually remember."

"Mama, you remember?" Lilly echoes, and though she has no idea what we're talking about, Edward and I laugh, tears filling our eyes.

After the scandal, the science behind the Procedure was later explained that no one was ever fully removed from one's mind, but the connections to that person were just… lost. Detached. Which is why it was so vital for friends and family to never mention that person, and why any memorabilia or photos needed to be confiscated. We've heard of others eventually regaining their full memories, and personally know that it happened for James and Bree, who are now together and raising Liam. But it hadn't happened for me.

Until now, I guess.

It doesn't happen in a rush. I don't see every memory that was taken from me being played out. The memories are just there, like they never left. Which is why it didn't dawn on me that recalling Edward's comment about the stars was a memory that had been lost to me before now.

Lilly leaves Edward to check on her stuffed animals, oblivious to this monumental moment.

"Tell me everything," Edward coaxes, pulling me to sit in his lap.

Of course, with the good memories come the bad. Being ripped apart from Edward, and forced into the Procedure. My father, walking in just before the technicians injected me, and explaining this was for my own good. Even now, I can recall the deep hatred and fear I'd felt. How I chanted over and over again how much I hated him. And I meant it. I still do.

I tell Edward everything that has been missing from my mind. Every little memory I thought I'd never be able to recall. And it's just like he'd said, way back when. How he remembered every touch, every laugh, every kiss, and every fight. I do, too. It's all there now.

"I can't fucking believe it," he murmurs, relief pouring off of him and filling my chest so wholly.

"I know," I laugh softly, nearly speechless because I still can't believe it, either. I lean in and caress his face before kissing him. He cups my cheek and kisses me back deeply.

"Tell me again," Edward whispers against my mouth, pressing his forehead to mine.

"Which part?"

"All of it," he says, still mesmerized. "Start from the beginning."

XXX

Some say love is blind.

Not me.

Love is eyes wide open.

It sees everything.

Forgets nothing.

And now, I remember it all.

The End