Epilogue: 1 year later
"Can you go and put this in your room, please." I ask my daughter, handing her the baby doll that was left in the living room.
"Ok, mommy" she says, and grabs the doll from my hands. I watch her as she skips back to her room, and tosses her doll in her toy box. I smile to myself at how much she's grown this past year; she's almost 4, and she is already a little lady. I walk into the kitchen, and turn the faucet on, and grab the sponge to start cleaning up from breakfast.
"Someone wants their mommy…" I hear Edward say and I look up as he rounds the corner with Anthony in his arms.
"Hi my handsome man…" I say, leaning over into Edwards arms and kissing my sweet little boy on top of his head. Anthony Masen is almost 3 months old, and he is the spitting image of his father. His eyes are the same deep green as his sister and his father, but where his sister's hair is brown, Anthony's hair is the same penny color as Edward's. I pull back from him, only to lean forward again and kiss his nose, and the toothless grin I get is enough to make me forget about doing the dishes, and just hold him.
I grab a paper towel and dry off my hands, and toss it in the garbage, and walk over to Edward and hold out my hands to grab the baby.
"I'll do the dishes." Edward says as he shifts Anthony to my hands, and I smile and reach up on my tiptoes to kiss him.
I watch from the doorway as Edward reaches the sink and starts the water and I can't believe how truly lucky I am. Not only is Edward the perfect husband, but he's also the perfect father. He adores our kids, and after a long day at work, he still comes home and helps me even if he's exhausted. I recently started working again after having close to 2 months off after the baby was born, and even when I wasn't working, he would still come home and help.
That's a good man.
This past year has been crazy for us. The whole thing with James was tough, and I still think back to the short amount of time I spent not knowing if we were going to be Ok. I remember as if it was yesterday, the feeling of fear that I had and the thought that my life, as well as the lives of my children were over.
I will never forget those couple of seconds where I though I had lost Edward. I will also never forget the relief I felt, knowing he was Ok, only to have that washed away when I saw them taking Aro. Aro was a good man, and after his death, Edward was distant. Until of course the funeral where we talked to Aro's wife, Gianna.
We still talk to Gianna, at least once a week if not more. Her and Aro's son, Chris, is actually thinking of pursuing a career as a detective, like his father, and while that might freak the hell out of anyone else, Gianna couldn't be prouder.
"Go and get ready, baby. I'm almost done here, and then we can get going." Edward says over his shoulder at me, and I smile, and shift Anthony to my other arm so I can go and get ready. I walk down the hall and into the green room that belongs to my son, and set him down in his cherry wood crib.
"I'll be right back, handsome." I say to him, and then turn on his aquarium soother hung up on the side of his crib. I walk out of the room, and into mine and quickly shed my clothes, and walk into the closet, picking out a pair of capris and a blue v neck.
Emmett and Rose invited us all over to their house for lunch and to just hang out and let the kids play together. I slip on my flip fops, and then make my way out of the room, and back to Anthony's room where he is still watching the fish dance across the soother. I smile, and decide to leave him there for a little longer, and then walk across to where Lila is watching a movie on her TV.
"We're almost ready to go" I tell her and she nods and gets up from her bed, and walks over to her TV and shuts it off. She follows me out to the living room, where she sits down and watches the cartoons that are playing.
"Ready?" Edward says from the doorway, wiping his hands off on a paper towel.
"Yea, just let me get Anthony." I say with a smile, and he nods his head, and walks over to the counter to grab the car keys.
We get to Rose and Emmett's a little after 11, and there to greet us at the door are Emmett and Gage. Rose and Emmett's son, Gage was born 2 months before Anthony, and he is just the most adorable thing you've ever seen. His hair is curly like his fathers, but it's his mother's blonde, and his eyes are the same icy blue, but their shape comes from Emmett. He also has the deepest dimples in his little cheeks, and although his hair and eye colors are the same as his mother's, there's no denying that he resembles his father more.
"Hey guys!" Emmett says, slapping Edward five as he reaches the door with his free hand.
"Hi Uncle Em!" Lila yells, and Emmett laughs and bends down, peppering her face with kisses and making her giggle.
"Hey Emmett" I tell him as I reach the door, and he leans down and kisses my cheek. "Hi Gage." I say, bringing my finger out and letting him grab it in his and start to bring it to his mouth.
"He's teething, so watch out. He wants to put everything in his mouth." he says, and I can't help but laugh.
I walk into the house, and see Rose in the kitchen, putting together some salad for lunch.
"Hey Rose" I say, and she turns around quickly and smiles. She places a kiss on Anthony's head, before kissing my cheek and asking if I need anything to drink.
"No. I'm fine, but do you need any help?" I ask and when she says she does, I drop of Anthony with his father and come back to help her with lunch.
Not too long after we get there, Alice and Jasper show up with Blake, who is now a running, crazy toddler, smack dab in the middle of his 'terrible two's'. he runs up to Rose and me, and tugs on our pants until we kneel down and kiss his cheeks before he runs away, dark hair bouncing with each step. Jasper says hi to us, and then goes with the guys to watch the kids while us girls finish making lunch.
"Ugh, my back is killing me…" Alice says as soon as she reaches the door of the kitchen, rubbing her swollen belly as she waddles to the stool behind the breakfast bar.
"Babies dancing on your spine again, Al?" Rose asks, and Alice scoffs, and settles down in the chair.
Alice was in the hospital for less than a week after what happened with James. She healed pretty quickly and luckily has no scars to remind her of that day. Six months ago she found out she was pregnant again, and we were all ecstatic for her. She went in for her first check up when she was 9 weeks, and that's when they heard the heartbeats.
Yes. Alice was having twins.
"It's like they alternate dancing on my spine, and then moving to my bladder. Sometimes one is on my spine and the other is on my bladder… it's crazy" she says, chuckling and Rose and I join in with her.
We finish lunch, and set the table and all of us eat. Soon after, I help Rose clear the table, and we put the kids down for their nap and we all settle in around the living room and talk.
"… No. I want it to be a surprise…" Alice says.
"Come on Ali, I need to know if I'm having two nieces, two nephews, or one of each!" Edward says. Alice decided to keep the sex of the babies secret until delivery day and it seriously bugs Edward.
"You'll find out soon enough!" she says, as we all start t laugh as Edward huffs and throws himself back onto the couch.
The room goes silent as our laughter dies out and I know they are thinking of how to bring up something, but not sure how to do it. I look around the room, and Alice, Rose and Jasper are all looking at Emmett. He clears his throat and then begins to say what they've been meaning to bring up for a while now.
"So, Uh. You guys heard… about…" he pauses, looking at Rose, who nods her head, encouraging him to go on. "about James?" he finishes. I look over to Edward, whose eyes are down, looking at his intertwined hands in his lap.
Edward hadn't said a word about it since we heard about it yesterday. My eyes stay on him as he raises his head, but keeps his eyes on the ground.
"I'm glad but I'm pissed off too. I don't know how to feel" he says, and I know just what he means.
James was arrested that same day that everything happened. He was charged with attempted murder, for what he did to Alice. Kidnapping, for Lila and me. And 3 counts of murder because of Aro, Jacob and Kate. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
We were happy. We were glad he would spend the rest of his life behind bars, paying for what he did to us, and other families. I felt like it was justice, not only for us, but for the family of that poor girl who was murdered who got a slap in the face when he got only 10 years.
We went ahead with our lives, knowing as we enjoyed our lives out in the world, he would be in a cell for the rest of his life.
Then, the other day we saw on the news that he had killed himself in there.
"I'm happy he's not in this world anymore, but I'm pissed that he shortened his sentence by taking his life." Edward says, clenching his hands into fists at his sides.
"He's still paying for it, Edward. There is no heaven for monsters like that; I'm just pissed that I couldn't be the one to end his life… after what he did…" Jasper says, as Alice leans closer to him and places her hand on his shoulder.
0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0
Later that night, after we put the kids in their beds, Edward and I take our showers and then slip in next to each other. We meet in the middle of the bed, me with my back to his chest as he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me to him. I let out a loud sigh at the feeling of being pressed against his warm, hard chest, and he brings his head close to mine and places a kiss on my bare shoulder.
"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Bella." he says, and I turn my head around to look him in the eye.
"Ditto, baby" I say. He smiles and squeezes me tighter to him.
"No matter what life throws at us, or what kind of obstacles we have to overcome, I will always fight to get passed them. As long as it keeps me with you, I'll do whatever it takes. I love you, Bella."
I smile as he says this, and the thing is, I feel exactly the same way. Nothing could keep Edward and I apart; he's the one who saved me when I thought there was no hope left. He showed me what love really was, and supported me when I was pursuing my dreams.
He is the man of my dreams, and sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this is all real.
But if it isn't, one things for sure… I never want to wake up.
*~The End~*
*Sniff* So that's it guys.
I want to thank all of you for reading, and a big thank you to my girlys who reviewed every single chapter, and left me alot of kind words as well as subtle threats when I left them with numerous cliffies. :)
For those of you asking if I will continue on with this story... are you crazy? haha After all they went through, you want them to go through more? As pengirl25 said, these guys have been through alot of drama, so they deserve their pass into happyland and I am happy to say that they are all packing right now, and their flight leaves at 5 ;)
Remember! My new story "Finding The Perfect Man" is posting, and it's a nice little break from all the murdering, kidnapping, and all that. I have alot of hilarity coming so please go check it out, if you haven't already.
Again, Thank you all for reading!
*Hugs* Ana