AN: Alright guys here's the next chapter. It's a bit short I know but the next one will be a BIG one (in more ways then one). Thanks for the reviews and i hope you continue to enjoy the story. I know i upset some ppl with chapter 35 and have lost some readers but what can you do. I hope those of you who have stuck with me continue to sick with me...ahaha. Much love xoxox

Chapter 37

The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy-Karl Von Clausewitz

Bella's POV

There they stood, the rest of the Cullen family, looking as excited to see me as I was to see them. I ran to Esme and embraced her in a huge hug.

"You guys really need to stop surprising me. One of these days I might just keel over from shock…" I laughed as I pulled away from Esme and reached for Emmett. He gave me a huge bear hug that lifted me off my feet for a few seconds. Rose was next. I grabbed her hand and pulled her close. Being away from Rose was hard on me. I was so used to seeing her everyday while we were back in Washington. I was so happy to see her. On the ground, sleeping in their car seats, were the girls. I bent down and kissed each of their cheeks gently before straightening up and looking at everyone again. It was this point that I noticed that Edward, Jasper and Alice were surprised to see everyone too. I guess this wasn't a planned occasion. I looked towards Esme for answers.

"Well, this was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I was going to come down of course to see Carlisle receive his award and surprise you guys but Emmett and Rose were dying to visit after you called them yesterday. Actually I heard you invited them…" Esme chuckled.

"That's right I did! This is so unbelievably great!" I announced trying to keep my voice hushed since my nieces were sleeping.

"Glad you think so" Emmett said with a wink. "What do you guys have to eat? I'm bloody famished!"

"Emmett all you do is think about food! Can't you wait a few minutes before making yourself so at home?" Rose whispered before swatting his arm.

"No guys it's totally alright. We have a whole fridge full of goodies. Help yourself…" I said as I pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

"Alright! Edward and Jasper care to join?" Emmett asked while making his way to the kitchen. After kissing me on the cheek, Edward followed after his brother with Jasper at his side.

"Can you believe him?" Rose giggled.

"That's Emmett" Esme said with a smile before walking to Alice's side and draping her arm over her shoulder.

"So girls are those your dresses for the ceremony tomorrow?" she asked while pointing to the dress bags that hung from the spindles of the staircase.

"Yes! We just bought them now. How about you guys? Did you pack your dresses?" Alice asked Esme and Rose.

"No I was hoping to buy one here" Esme replied.

"Didn't have time to pack one" Rose said with a smile. "Emmett doesn't have a suit and the girls don't have dresses either"

"Well then it looks like were heading back out to shop!" Alice screeched. Thankfully she didn't wake the girls.

"Why don't you let everyone get settled and then we'll go back out…" I told Alice. She rolled her eyes.

"We are Cullen women Bella. We don't need rest in order to shop. Mom you're up for it right?" Alice asked. She nodded and then looked towards Rose to see how she felt about the whole thing.

"Are you up for it Rose? Are you too tired?" Esme asked her

"Are you kidding? I'm super excited. Let's leave like right now" she laughed. Oh boy. I'd been outnumbered. This would be interesting.

"Yay!" Alice giggled while bouncing up and down for a bit. "Okay Emmett will have to come along to get fitted for his suit. Do you want to bring the girls?" she asked Rose.

"If Edward and Jasper are staying here I think they'll be capable babysitters…" she replied.

"They'll watch them. They'd be happy to" Alice said before running towards the kitchen. She remerged, pulling Jasper and Edward behind her. Emmett traipsed behind them with a sandwich.

"You want to watch the babies while we go and shop right?" Alice asked eyeing Edward and Jasper. They both light up with smiles and nodded. They seemed pretty excited to spend time with them.

"Great! Alright let's hit the road people. Edward we'll need your keys" Alice ordered. Edward threw her his keys from his back pocket. Rose instructed Jasper and Edward on their responsibilities with the girls while she and Emmett were away and showed them all the babies toys, diapers and formulas. They appeared to understand the process and urged everyone to get going.

"Bye! Have fun!" I whispered as I gave Edward a quick kiss and a hug. He reciprocated the words. We all left the house quickly yet quietly and piled into the car. Esme called Carlisle and informed him that they had arrived and would be waiting to meet him for a quick bite to eat in a couple of hours at a nearby restaurant.

Alice drove like a mad person until we hit the same boutique we were at hours before.

Edward's POV

"This is going to be a piece of cake" I laughed to Jasper while admiring my nieces sleeping.

"I know. They'll probably sleep the whole time everyone's away anyways". Wrong. Oh so very very wrong. As soon as Jasper finished his sentence Mimi started to wail. Jasper picked her up and began to rock her but she continued to cry. Jasper passed her on to me and I had about as much success of calming her as he did.

"What's wrong with her?" Jasper asked looking a bit frantic.

"Maybe she misses Rose…" I suggested. I really didn't know why she was crying like that. I held her close to my chest and bounced her slightly. That was no luck either. Of course Sophie had awoken now too and wasn't thrilled either. Jasper moved to pick her up.

"Sophie likes you more Ed. You should take her. I'll try again with Mimi…." Jasper said. I nodded and we carefully switched. Sophie calmed down immediately when she was in my arms. Mimi took a hint from her sister and quieted.

"See? Piece of cake" I said again.

"Ha" Jasper said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at him. We moved to sit down on the couches in the living room. The girls rested in our arms looking happy to be here. Eventually though it was time to feed them.

"We need to grab their formula and bottles from their bag…" I said to Jasper as I headed towards the kitchen holding both girls. Soon he busted into the kitchen carrying the whole bag.

"I don't even know what the hell I'm looking for…." He said. He was obviously frazzled.

"Formula and bottles Jazz…" I informed him again. He rummaged through the bag eventually pulling out what we needed.

"How can two little precious things like this need so much crap?" he asked me with a look. I laughed. Rose had jam packed their diaper bag with everything they could possibly ever need. Jasper began to read the label of the formula we had to make for directions.

"Okay it says…. add breast milk" Jasper said with his eyes widening. "Add breast milk! What? We can't do that!" he added looking worried. I couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter. He looked at me with a mean glare.

"We can add water instead Jazz…it says right there on the front…don't panic" I managed to say between laughs.

"Oh. Thank god" he whispered. Deciding Jasper was too overwhelmed by the process of making formula I passed the girls to him and made the formula myself. After making sure the temperature of the formula was just warm enough I took Sophie from Jasper's arms and began to feed her. Jasper fed Mimi.

"They seem to be fine with it…" I said. Although I felt confident enough to make the formula I wasn't sure if I made it the way Rose always did.

"I guess so. Mimi already gulped hers down. She's defiantly a little Emmett..." Jasper chuckled, now more relaxed. Sophie took much longer to finish her bottle. You could tell she'd be just like Rose when she grew up. Petite and just as beautiful.

After their feeding and burping I figured they'd probably fall asleep soon. Jasper and I plopped ourselves down in front of the TV in the family room. We rested our feet on the coffee table and laid the girls to rest against our thighs. They both looked like they were about to doze off when Sophie began to cry. I tried to soothe her by rubbing her tummy and playing with her tiny hands but nothing worked. Then it hit me…well the smell did at least.

"Ew. Diaper changing time Uncle Jazzy…" I said as I held Sophie up for Jasper to get a whiff. Cruel I know. Jasper gave me the finger with a laugh before we both stood up and walked the girls upstairs to their bedroom.

Once in their room I gently placed Sophie on the change table. I'd never really changed the girls diaper before. Bella would always do it for me. I grabbed a diaper from below the change table and looked at it. I had no idea what to do.

"Jasper how do I do this?" I asked over my shoulder while keeping Sophie secure on the table.

"You're asking me?" he gasped. I sighed. Why did I even bother to ask?

"Some help you are Jazz…" I laughed. I knew I would just have to figure this out myself. If I was going to be a doctor I could sure as hell figure out how to change a diaper. I removed Sophie's old diaper, nearly passing out from the stench, and wiped her down. I fumbled with the new diaper. I couldn't even remember if the sticky tabs went to the front or the back. Sophie looked annoyed with me. I had kept her waiting for too long.

"Uncle Eddy is very sorry Sophie…he's just stupid today…" I sighed. Then a huge smile appeared on her face and she actually giggled. Two months old and she could already read me. I finally figured that the tabs should go in the front and I successfully completed a diaper change. I redressed her and walked towards the bed where Jasper was sitting with Mimi.

"You're turn" I said while I slumped onto the bed beside him.

"I can do this" Jasper whispered to himself. I don't think he even meant to say it out loud. As badly as I wanted to laugh I controlled myself. I watched Jasper at the change table. He seemed to be doing fine. In actuality he finished quicker than I had. He turned around with Mimi in his arms and a huge smile on his face. He felt very accomplished.

"Nice job man" I said while motioning for him to give me a high five.

"Ya gotta do what ya gotta do" Jasper sighed before sitting back down on the bed beside me with Mimi. "I'm exhausted already Edward…"

"You're telling me. Who knew so much was involved in watching these beauties…" I said while lightly ticking Sophie.

"You have some throw up on your shirt by the way…" Jasper said randomly. Swell. It must have happened while I was burping Sophie. I made a somewhat disgusted face. This whole baby thing was gross at points. I noticed that Mimi had drooled all over the front of Jasper's shirt as well but I decided not to say anything.

"I think we should put them down for a nap" I suggested.

"Excellent idea!" Jasper announced before rising from the bed. He placed Mimi in her crib and tucked her in. I lay Sophie in her crib and kissed her hand.

"Sleep well girls" I cooed before turning to Jasper. "What do we do now?" I asked

"I don't know. Stay here and make sure they fall asleep?". I didn't even have time to respond before the girls began to cry simultaneously. I gave Jasper a worried look. I had never heard the girls cry this much before. We rushed back the cribs and picked the girls up.

"What are we doing wrong?" Jasper asked while he bounced Mimi up and down as he walked in a circle.

"I have no idea. They've never acted like this before" I said while I held Sophie close to me and walked back and forth across the room. After a few minutes both girls had settled and Jasper and I were relieved. We placed them back into their cribs and threw ourselves onto the bed.

"This is a lot of work" I mentioned to Jasper as he knocked the back of his head against the bedroom wall.

"A lot is an understatement my friend" he said with his eyes closed. He seemed to be cringing like he knew something was about to happen. And indeed something did happen. The girls were balling again.

"Maybe we should call Emmett and Rose" I said while I bounced Sophie in my arms.

"We're going to sound like total idiots…" Jasper informed me. I had just about had it at this point. I was beyond worried and I didn't know how to cope. I was also so extremely tired that I could barely hold myself up anymore. I flattened myself out on one side of the bed and lay Sophie on my chest. Her crying stopped abruptly and she had fallen asleep. I think I had discovered the secret to getting them to sleep. They needed contact.

"Jazz!" I shouted in a low whisper. He turned to face me. "Do what I'm doing" I said while pointing to Sophie. Jasper slid onto the bed and laid Mimi on his chest. Just like Sophie, Mimi fell asleep right away. Jasper let out a loud sigh.

"Finally" he whispered. I nodded towards him and closed my own eyes.

Bella's POV.

After spending two hours in the dress store and another hour getting a suit fitted for Emmett, we were on our way home. We had just finished grabbing some food with Carlisle and he informed us that he'd be home later tonight since he needed to get back to help with the conference preparation.

The dress shopping was successful. Esme had chosen a beautiful yet simple white cocktail dress that had sequence embellishments. Rose had opted for a short, purple, puffy dress. A delicate bow sat at the hip of the dress and the bust was covered in crystals. It fit her incredibly well. I was shocked to see how good she looked for just having twins a couple of months ago. We also managed to get matching dresses for the girls. They most definitely would be attending the event. Carlisle would not have it any other way. The dresses were predominantly white. One had pink flower attached to it while the other had a purple. They would look so cute.

We hadn't received any calls from Jasper or Edward while out shopping so I was sure they were making out fine with the girls. Rose and Emmett didn't even have any separation anxiety. Actually they were dying for some adult time.

In no time Emmett was pulling into the drive of my house. He parked the car in the garage and grabbed all the stuff we had bought from the trunk. I led everyone into the house through the laundry room. As we entered the kitchen we looked around for the guys.

"Where is everyone?" Esme asked

"Maybe upstairs?" I suggested. We all traipsed up the stairs. I scampered to check out Edwards's room to see if he was there. He wasn't. I hurried to meet up with the others who were now standing in the doorway of Emmett and Rose's room.

"Isn't that just precious?" I heard Esme whisper to Rose. I had no idea what was going on. I tried to squeeze my way to the front of the group to get a good look. Eventually I was squished between Rose and Esme.

"Awwww" I hummed as I admired the scene in front of me. Edward and Jasper were resting peacefully with Sophie and Mimi lying on their chests. Their hands held the girls protectively and securely to them. Their hair was all ruffled and I could see that they were covered in drool and spit up. They actually looked quite haggard. Rose and Emmett approached them and pulled the girls off of them. Their eyes shot open instantly and they seemed worried.

"It's just us" Emmett whispered as he placed Sophie back in her crib. The guys still seemed dazed and confused as they rubbed their eyes and started to sit up straight.

"How were they?" Rose asked quietly as she put Mimi in her crib.

"Fine" Edward said hoarsely. He then proceeded to clear his throat. Rose turned on the baby monitors and then walked out of the room with Emmett and Esme. Alice tip toed over to Jasper's side and led him out of the room. You could tell he was thoroughly exhausted. Edward met me at the door and wrapped his arm around my waist. We closed the door behind us as we left.

"Look at you. It looks like the girls really had some fun with you…" I giggled.

"You have no idea…" he sighed. I rubbed his back.

"Well can I have some fun with you?" I asked in a very seductive voice. He glared towards me with a smile on his face.

"I'm all yours…"

PS: i posted the links to Esme and Rose's dress on my profile. Let me know what you think! xoxoxox