A/N: I don't own this. We all know who does.

Forever thank you to drivingedward for beta'ing this and Momma Laura for prereading. I moved a few things around in this chapter after they got done fixing stuff, so hopefully it all still makes sense. :D

In this story the even numbered chapters all had flash BACKS in them. This chapter has a flash FORWARD. Please don't be confused – the flashforward takes place about 2 years after this chapter. It's in italics just like the flashbacks were, but it's forward. FORWARD. In the future. Flashforward... Okie dokie? :)

~*o*~*O*~*o*~

Chapter Sixty

Six months later

As we walked across the wide expanse of grass I couldn't help but remember two different days nearly a year earlier. It was warmer then, which was a good thing, I guess.

The ground was frozen solid from a recent storm and the hard, dead grass that remained under the patches of new snow crunched under my shoes. Emily, Collin, and Mckenna ran ahead of us, each of them bundled up in new winter jackets and gloves. They were all growing like weeds and I wondered if Alec and Jane would even recognize them anymore. Edward walked beside me, holding my hand. Each of us carried a bouquet of flowers in our other hand, and we hadn't spoken since getting out of the car. There was nothing wrong, we just didn't have much to say at that moment.

"Mommy, I finded it!" Mckenna yelled from several rows ahead of us. How she found them, I wasn't sure. Maybe it was because she had been here several times over the past year. Maybe one of the other kids showed her where to look, because she couldn't read. Maybe it was the two huge arrangements of new red roses sitting on top of the still-fresh white snow. Maybe it was her father's handsome face smiling back at her from atop the granite stone. Whatever it was, she stood still looking at her fathers headstone and smiling as she ran her fingers over the engraving of his name. Emily stood in front of Jane's stone and Collin stood between them, but a little farther back. He still struggled with losing his father, but he was making strides back to his old self with each passing day.

After the accident and Jane's death, Aro and Heidi bought eight plots in the Forks Cemetery. They said they were for anyone in the family who might need or want them. Jane was buried in one, and then two weeks later Alec was buried in another. I knew two of the plots were for Aro and Heidi, and I assumed they thought two plots would go to me and Edward. I was pretty sure the other two plots were for Felix and whoever he ended up with. I knew that was wishful thinking on their part, because I didn't think Felix would ever come back to Forks, much less want to be buried here. Placing Alec and Jane in the two center plots made sense, since everyone imagined Edward and I on either side of them someday, but that wouldn't happen. We all knew that and we were okay with it. When the time finally came, Aro and Heidi would be on one side, and Edward and I would be on the other. What would happen to the two outside plots, I didn't know. That was a problem for another day.

"She's so pretty in her picture," Emily said as she traced the image of Jane on the headstone. It was a close up from her and Edward's wedding, and she looked beautiful in it – so full of life and happiness.

"You look a lot like her," I said, smiling down at my daughter. I might not have given birth to her, but she was mine in every other sense of the word.

"I look like Daddy, too, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Edward teased in reply, making her smile.

I looked back at Collin who was standing behind us, hesitant to come closer. "Are you okay?" I asked, letting go of Edward's hand so I could go to him.

He let out a deep sigh and nodded. "I'm okay. It's just sad."

"I know," I said, squatting down and trying not to get my jeans wet from the snow. "But he's always with you, remember? You can always talk to him and we can talk about him and remember all the good things that happened. He loved you so much. I know he's happy you're here today."

Collin just stared at the headstone and his father's image that was smiling back at us. His picture was one from a family photo session we had the summer before he died, and he was as handsome as ever as he smiled for the camera.

"I know," he softly said.

Kenna was beginning to get restless and had started dancing around the headstones, singing some new song she learned from one of the cartoon shows she liked to watch. It made me smile to see her so happy on this somber day. It gave me hope that someday each of us would feel more joyful when we visited this place. That someday we could smile and find joy in the time we were able to share with Alec and Jane and for the memories we still had of them, yet happy in our lives as we continued to live and love each other.

Emily started to tell a story she remembered about Jane, and soon enough each of us were mentioning things we remember. It helped to remember them when we were together, and we were all smiling by the end.

"Do you guys want to leave your letters?" Edward asked the kids. Each of them had written a little letter and sealed them into envelopes. Kenna drew a picture and I wrote down a few things for her, but Emily and Collin had written their own notes. It was sweet and I had happily helped them figure out what to say.

After each of them tucked their note between the bases of the headstones and the arrangements of roses, the kids said their goodbyes. Emily kissed the top of her mother's stone and whispered something I couldn't hear. Collin ran his fingers over his fathers picture before saying "I love you". Mckenna wrapped her little arms around Alec's headstone and pressed her face against the granite. "I love you, Daddy, but you don't gots to worry. I gots a new Daddy and he loves me lots. Him takes care of me and gots me a swing so I can go high to the sky." She placed a kiss on his picture before pulling away and skipping around us.

Edward stepped toward Jane's stone, placing his hand on top of it for a moment before bending down to lay on the ground the bouquet of pink carnations he had brought.

"It's kinda funny. For as picky as she was about most things, and as expensive as her tastes were in almost everything, her favorite flowers were pink carnations. Such a simple flower that most other people don't like, but she loved them," he said, before turning to look at me. "Not that she ever would have admitted that to her friends," he said with a laugh.

"Do you want a minute alone?" I asked Edward, wondering if he had anything he wanted to say to Jane.

"No, I'm okay. I've already said everything I needed to say." He walked back to where I was with Collin. "Do you want some time?" he asked me.

Looking at Alec's stone, I let out a deep breath. "Yeah, I think so. Just a minute or two will be good."

I smiled at him, reaching out to take his hand and squeeze it. We stood there hand in hand for another minute and then Edward leaned over to place a kiss on my temple. "I'll head these guys toward the car. You take your time and we'll be there when you're ready to go."

I watched him gather the kids and walk back toward the road where we'd parked. Turning to look at Alec's headstone, I sighed.

"Hi, baby. I can't believe it's been a year. Yesterday would have been our ninth anniversary. Crazy, huh?" I said with a hint of a laugh. "I don't know what to say that I haven't already said to you, but I miss you. Everyday I miss you. I think I always will."

I looked up to see Edward and our children slowly making their way across the cemetery lawn, stopping every so often to look at different headstones or to inspect something on the ground.

"Edward's taking care of us. I think he's what you meant that last day when you said there was something more." I ran my fingers over the top of his headstone. "You know I loved you as much as I could – as much as I knew how. It's different with Edward, but you probably know that." I smiled at the thought of him checking in on us every once in a while.

A breeze picked up and blew some dry leaves across the ground. "We got married last month. Maybe you were there, I don't know. It wasn't big, just our family and a few close friends, but it was nice. Your parents were there. I think they still have a hard time with us being together, but they're really trying to be okay with it. I can't say I blame them since I would probably be the same way if I was in their shoes."

I looked down at the bouquet of forget-me-nots in my hand before leaning down to place them on the ground. "I'll never forget you, Alec, and I'll make sure the kids never do, either. We talk about you all the time and we have pictures of you and Jane in the house and in the kids bedrooms. We all love you, I hope you know that," I said as a my eyes began to tear up. I stood in the cold breeze for a few moments, listening to the sounds of my children in the distance. Running my hand over to top of his headstone, I let a few tears fall before leaning over to lightly kiss the top of the stone.

"Maybe you already know, but I wanted to tell you first before anyone else," I whispered. Looking toward the car I saw Edward helping the kids into the backseat. "I'm pregnant," I said with a smile. My hand automatically moved to my stomach, protecting the life I knew was growing within me. "I know, I'm a cliché. Honeymoon baby and all that." My smile widened. "I think Edward's gonna be happy. Really, really happy. If you could, would you just watch out for our little one? Tell him or her all about us and how much we're gonna love them. Maybe tell them about Emily and Collin and Mckenna and how great they are."

As I lay in my bed, I watched Edward sitting in the chair next to me. He sang softly to the little bundle wrapped tightly in his arms. I couldn't tell what the song was, but I knew it was probably something he was coming up with in his mind. He'd done the same thing when our daughter Charlotte was born just 16 months ago.

We had moved into the house and were living as a family while we planned our wedding and started living our lives together. The wedding happened in November, and it was small by most standards. We didn't need attendants or a wedding party – we just wanted us and the kids. Our family members were there, as well as some close friends and employees, but that was it. Our backyard had been beautiful enough for Edward's proposal that we thought it was the right place for our wedding, too. It was perfect.

After discussing the matter of more children several times, I made an appointment with my doctor to have my IUD removed the week before the wedding. She cautioned me that it would be wise to wait a few months and let my body get "back to normal" before I tried to conceive, and I was fine with that. Little did I know Edward's swimmers were Olympic gold medalists and those boys swam right around the precautions we took on the honeymoon. By the week before Christmas I knew something was up, but I thought maybe it was just the stress of the upcoming anniversary of the accident. The test I took on New Years Eve told a different story, and by the middle of January Edward knew something was going on. I couldn't hide it from him anymore. To say he was elated would be an understatement.

My pregnancy with Charlotte was like a dream. No morning sickness, no pains or problems, no mood swings, no cravings – nothing. It was perfect, by all accounts. Her delivery was just as good – quick and easy. She was such a sweet baby, too, that I was lulled into a false sense of security. When she was six months old I started to get a little sloppy with my birth control and thought if I had another baby so soon, it wouldn't be such a bad thing. Boy, was I wrong.

My following pregnancy was terrible. I was sick almost the whole nine months. I was on bed-rest for three months. My mother and Edward's mother took turns staying with us and helping with the kids. When my blood pressure began to spike, Edward got worried. I'd never seen him so distraught – not even after Jane's death. I knew he was scared of losing me, and I was scared, too. When my doctor suggested induction we both knew it was the right choice. It was only a few weeks early, but we were ready to be back to a normal life again. That's when we got our Riley.

As I continued to watch Edward rocking our son, singing to him as he marveled over him, my heart was overjoyed with love. How I ever thought the love I felt for Alec was enough is beyond me. Sometimes I think it was good that I fell in love with Alec first, because if I had loved Edward first and lost him, I know I never would have found that kind of love again, much less a far greater love. Alec would always be my first love, but Edward... Edward was my true love. My soul mate. My ride or die. He was the one I was made for.

"Looks like Momma's awake," Edward whispered to our sleeping baby.

"I was just watching you," I said with a smile. "You're such a wonderful father."

Edward smiled back at me. "Thank you, Bella. He's perfect."

He really was a beautiful baby, and as far as I could tell from the three whole minutes I'd had him to myself so far, he was a good mix of me and Edward. Where Charlotte seemed to look more and more like me with each passing day, I prayed with every once of me that Riley would look like Edward.

Riley began to grunt and squirm a little in Edward's arms. "I think someone's hungry," he said, looking up at me.

As he handed me our sweet boy, he sat on the bed next to me, placing a kiss on my cheek before pulling my face toward him so he could kiss my lips.

"I love you, Edward. Thank you for everything. For Riley and Char and Em and Coll and Kenna. Thank you for you, for everything," I told him as my eyes searched his, trying to show him how much he meant to me.

With his forehead pressed against mine, he smiled the smile he saved just for me. "I love you, Bella. Always," he whispered.

I stood, leaning away from the headstone and looking over to find Edward watching me. "I'm gonna go, but I'll always be with you, and you'll always be with me. I love you, Alec. You made my life so wonderful, and I'll always be grateful." Smiling at Edward, I kissed my fingers and then pressed them to the top of his headstone. "Bye, baby."

Stepping away, I turned and started toward Edward, seeing the smile on his face as he waited for me. I tried hard to keep my hand from moving back to my stomach, which was where it wanted to go. I knew if Edward saw that, he would figure me out, and I wanted to think of a special way to tell him he was going to be a father again. I just had to come up with something without spilling the secret first.

As I got closer to him a wind blew across my face, whipping the baby hairs along my temple into my eyes. Just like a day almost a year before, they stung my eyes, but they didn't stay there. Reaching up to brush them away was my husband, my Edward. His fingers traced down my cheek to my jawline before curling around my neck and angling my face up toward him. "You okay?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm better than okay. I'm with you."

And he smiled as he pressed his lips against mine.

~*o*~*O*~*o*~

A/N:

Everyone still with me? The flashforward wasn't too confusing was it? :) This is the last regular chapter of the story. I hope you love where these two ended up as much as I do. :)

There are a few pictures from this chapter in my FB group, if you're interested in them. After this chapter we'll have a few outtakes before the final Epilogue / flashforward will post on Tuesday, March 1st. I'm plotting out a few mini outtakes, so there may be some surprise updates over the next two weeks. As of now we have 3 EPOV outtakes that will post on Fridays and Tuesday. If I can write out what I'm planning, I'll post a few more times between those days and outtakes. :)

Reviews get a teaser for the first outtake. And in my group, instead of posting a word teaser, I'll post picture teasers to go with each outtake, so if you wanna see it, make sure to check the group. And if you don't have FB, I'm happy to email them to you. Just let me know and I'll do it!

Thank you for sticking with these two!