A/N: **I totally goofed last chapter and forgot to provide the translations to what Abuela said. Here they are for those who are still wondering:

Pero mira que chulo – Look at how hot he is.

Este blanquito tuyo 'sta mas chulo que'l blanquito de tu mai – This white boy of yours is hotter than your mom's white boy.

Alright, hitting the 'COMPLETE' button with this one. :) Once again, thank you.

Betad by the wonderful Michelle Renker Rhodes

Most characters belong to S. Meyer.

Final Epilogue – Life

It's the final show of the evening, the very end of the performance where my fellow dancers and I thread our arms around one another and in a perfectly synchronized line, kick our legs eye-high over and over to the joyful amazement of our audience. My eyes remain front and center but out of my periphery, I see each right leg lift and kick at precisely the same moment, followed by each left, then right, then left, and then right.

Sighs of admiration and awe rise up in the audience followed by tentative, almost dazed applause as they realize that they're witnessing almost a hundred years of tradition and perfected harmonization, intricate choreography timed to the nanosecond. Stunned applause soon turns into thunderous ovations.

By the time I deliver the final kick, I've lifted my legs about three hundred times tonight, and I'm exhausted yet exhilarated all at once. It's like this every evening; this beautiful exhaustion somehow injects me with a rush of adrenaline that fuels me with energy.

We take our bows as one, as with everything else, our chests heaving in perfect sync. My eyes scan the audience, searching for my family. They don't make every show. It would be ridiculous to try to do so what with four performances a day October through December and this being my fourth season at Radio City. But tonight, my husband has brought our eighteen-month old daughter, Alicia Belle, so that she can see Mommy onstage for the first time.

As the audience cheers, I locate them in the third row orchestra – one of the advantages of having a family member in the Rockettes. Watching them, I'm suddenly inundated with an abrupt flood of images dancing through my mind of this family of mine that was once so broken, this family that was brought together by the strongest love and devotion. A reel of reflections flashes before me, full of tears and smiles, arguments and compromises, loud laughter and broken hearts, all alongside the two people who were constants through it all.

Just like any mom, my eyes hone in on my daughter first. She's sitting on her father's lap. He sees me looking and presses the tips of his fingers to his mouth, flipping them my way before lifting Allie's hand high up in the air, making her wave wildly. She blinks a few times, big, blue eyes searching curiously yet not focusing on any one thing. I laugh at the bewildered expression on her sweet, little face.

Then I look at the rest of this family of mine that's gathered here tonight.

There's my husband. I knew he was special from the moment I first laid eyes on him. But I was so young back then…so confused…only just beginning to heal…

On his left sit Angie and Ben. Quirky, wacky, crazy Angie, whose antics and laughter have been a saving grace from day one, and Ben, her husband and my agent – one of the top agents in all of New York City.

Next to them sit Carlisle and Esme, who are more than friends; they're family.

I spy movement on my husband's right side. Allie's grandmom gently takes her from her father and situates her on her own slender lap, helping Allie clap her two small hands together. My eyes meet the sweetest, most tender brown eyes in existence, the eyes of the woman who saved me, who made it possible in every way for me to be where I am right now…

OOOOOOOOOO

As I step out of the dressing room I share with seven other dancers, I hear my name yelled out in a familiar, pre-pubescent voice right before someone crashes into me and almost knocks me over.

"Oomph!" I stagger backwards as Jasper and I collide, but he rights me before I can fall on my ass and wraps his arms around me in a bear hug that almost leaves me breathless. My nine-year-old little brother has inherited a lot from his dad, including his strength.

And yes, technically he's my cousin, but we've never referred to each other as such.

"Jass, you break my legs, I break your face."

He snorts because he knows the real deal. When he was born, he was this tiny, fat little thing that cried for hours and would keep me up all night. One night, I took him from his mom to give her a break, and as I danced around the room with him, he gazed up at me through amazingly green eyes and smiled, gurgling unintelligible gibberish…I rarely put him down after that.

"I thought breaking a leg was good luck in your business," he smirks, looking so much like his dad when he does…and like his namesake as well.

"Smart-ass," I laugh. He chuckles impishly in return with that same crooked grin as his father. "Where's Noelle?"

"With Dad." He scrunches that cute, boyishly-handsome face. "You know she doesn't leave his side."

I snicker cuz it's so the truth. Our little sister is forever attached to her father.

I'm about to ask about the one I wanted to meet me back here, when I hear a swift set of heels rounding the corner.

"Guys?"

"I tried to lose her, but she was right on my heels!" Jasper says, swearing he's whispering. "You got everything ready?"

I nod, and a huge grin spreads across my face when I see her.

She walks our way with the same graceful movements she's had since the first day I met her over fifteen years ago. We celebrated her fortieth birthday this year, but you'd never guess it by looking at her, so young and breathtaking and elegant, so warm and tender and down to earth yet there's never been anything frail or weak about her. She instilled that same strength in me, that same energy and love for life and family.

When she reaches us and wraps her arms around me, I feel that same sense of security and belonging I felt from the very first time she hugged me that day long ago when she took me home with her because my uncle's fuck buddy was late, and she couldn't stand the idea of me having to wait, of my not being well taken care of.

My Aunt Bella.

"You performed so wonderfully," she says as she pulls back, her dark eyes brimming with pride. "But is everything okay? Your uncle said you wanted me to meet you backstage?"

I nod slowly and take her hand. "I have a surprise for you - a late Christmas present."

She grins and shakes her head, sighing as she gazes at me softly. "Mel, Sweetie, I don't need any more presents. Having all you guys has always been enough for me."

"Aw Mom, come on, that's so boring!" Jasper says.

"Jasper."

He rolls his eyes at the warning in her tone.

"Cullen through and through," Aunt Bella says, making me chuckle because it's so true.

"It's just a little something, Aunt Bella. Just something I've been wanting to…share with you."

She narrows her eyes curiously, and I take her hand. "Come on."

My aunt cups my cheek tenderly, making me feel all of twelve again, slowly learning that my world wasn't over, that maybe, just maybe, my uncle and I may have possibly found the one person in the world who could make it all better.

She deserves this. She deserves so much more for teaching me her art - though I'll never be as good as she is, for nursing me through heartbreaks, for celebrating with me through all my achievements, for being on my side, for being my biggest cheerleader when called for and my steady discipliner when necessary.

Aunt Bella deserves this for all her love.

"Come on," l repeat.

She nods slowly. "Alright, Mellita. Jasper, go back with Dad and the rest. For some reason, they refuse to leave the auditorium."

"Aw come on, Mom, I already sat through almost three hours of singing and dancing. Can't I go exploring instead?"

"Jasper Anthony Cullen, vete con tu papa ahora!"

"'Sta bien! Perdon!" He frowns, but he hugs her because he's only nine, and he's a hugger, and he knows how lucky he is – how lucky we are.

"Te quiero, Mami."

"Yo tambien te quiero, mi amor. Now go back with your dad and the rest."

OOOOOOOOOO

Aunt Bella laughs hysterically. She says she can't believe I'm making her do this, but I see in her eyes, in the way they sparkle and shine, how excited she is despite her protests.

"Mel, it's been over six years!"

"That means absolutely nothing when it comes to you, Aunt Bella!"

I called in a few favors and promised a few more. The Great Auditorium at Radio City has been vacated by all except our family. They're once again seated front and center, and when Aunt Bella and I step onto the stage hand in hand, where the rest of my fellow Rockettes wait in costume, everyone claps hard.

And my Uncle Edward sticks his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and whistles through his teeth. He grins at me, calls out my name loud and proud, but it's as if he can't help it – how much he's always needed to look at her, how much he's always needed her in every way, and it's fine because she's always given him her all. They've been each other's proponent, supporter, sustainer, each other's biggest ally in everything.

Aunt Bella performed on some of the best stages in New York, and through it all, she remained a teacher at Baila, always making time for her students, always making time for me. As the years went by, I became an assistant and then a teacher myself, and when I turned eighteen, Jake noticed me.

And I went to Juilliard all while Uncle Edward's and Uncle Emmett's contracting business grew.

And then Uncle Edward and Aunt Bella expanded our family. After Jasper was born, Aunt Bella continued performing for a couple of years. My pops, Charlie, went into business with Uncle Edward and Uncle Emmett, and S&D Contracting became SCM Contracting – one of the most well respected contracting companies in the city.

When I turned twenty-two, Jake proposed.

When little Noelle came along, Aunt Bella quit the stage and focused on Baila and her family, never looking back.

When I turned twenty-four, Jake married me.

And through it all, Aunt Bella has been our backbone.

But she never did dance with the Rockettes. She's made so many other people's dreams come true.

Tonight, it's her turn.

"Are you ready?" I ask her.

She nods vehemently, her exhilaration apparent in the beautiful, rosy tint to her naturally honey-toned skin. Her costume glitters and shines, fitting her well. She's never lost her dancer's figure.

I give the signal and the music starts playing, and we kick our legs in unison while our family hollers and whistles. I look at all of them: Angie and Ben, Carlisle and Esme, Aunt Rose, Uncle Emmett and their five kids, Pops and Granny Sue, my beautiful husband and sweet little girl, my pretty, little six-year-old sister, Noelle, with the long, copper locks and dark, dark eyes, sitting so close to her daddy - my Uncle Edward.

My strong, handsome Uncle Edward, who was the first to save me, who hasn't had a drink in over fifteen years.

I remember my real parents, of course I do: Mary Alice Brandon, the woman who gave me life and who gave me the foundation for who I'd become, the woman who used to sing to me at bedtime. Jasper Adam Cullen, the man who used to carry me on his shoulders.

I miss them every day. I honor them as my parents. I speak to them all the time, letting them know that I'm okay, that I'm happy. And they smile down on me; I know they do. I feel them in a warm breeze; I see them in my daughter's smiles.

But Aunt Bella and Uncle Edward… they taught me what it meant to love…to grow…to mature…to trust…to be a family…

Aunt Bella and I kick our legs up high for the last time. When the music ends, she turns and hugs me so tight.

"Mellita, I love you so much. Thank you," she whispers fervently. "Thank you."

"I love you, Aunt Bella." I sigh. "And thank you...for everything."

A/N: Thoughts?

As I said, this was it. Thank you.

**I'll be writing a piece for the Fandom4LLS – Fandom for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's a wonderful organization that has been raising money to help with the fight against cancer for the past four years now. For a donation as small as $5, you'll receive a compilation of stories from some great authors. Please check it out and donate at .com. I believe the compilations will be out sometime in the fall.**

I'm not sure exactly what I'll be donating as of yet – probably an outtake from this story, but if you have any suggestions from any of my other stories, let me know on Twitter or Facebook.

Besides that, as I've said, there should be a short, summer beach read posting some time in July, and a new, full length feature in the fall. ;) Hit me up on Twitter or fb to stay informed.

Twitter: PattyRosa817

Link to 'Stories by PattyRose' is on my profile page.

Translations for this chapter:

Vete con tu papa ahora! – Go with your father now!

'Sta bien! Perdon! – Alright! I'm sorry!

Te quiero, Mami. – I love you, Mommy.

Yo tambien te quiero, mi amor. – I love you too, my darling.

See you around, guys. :)