Disclaimer: I do not own any character originating from the Twilight Series. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: When the words came this week, my brain apparently jumped ahead to the epilogue, which I hope you guys like once I get to that point. We are getting very close to the end. I'm thinking we will have possibly three more chapters (if the words ever come) before the epi. Hope you enjoy the chapter. I was doing a lot better this morning, and then I tripped over my son and dropped my laptop in my ankle and now it's screaming at me again :( I beginning to think I'm never going to get a break from this stuff!!!!

Thanks as always to my beta AgoodWITCH for her always speedy beta work and her constant encouragement and support.

Safe

The sun was low in the sky as I lay on my stomach next to Edward in a tall field of dead grass. He was hurt and couldn't move well, doing his best to try to make his way toward the coast during the nighttime when it would be less likely he would be spotted. He had an extremely hard landing, his leg snapping painfully on impact. He did his best to try to reset the bone, using the lines from his chute to tie two somewhat straight tree limbs he managed to crawl to find at the edge of a nearby forest to create a brace for his leg. He found another thicker limb, which he used as a pseudo crutch to hobble along the shadowed edges of the sprawling grassland. He had a general idea of where he had landed and knew he was quite close to the supply lines that bridged from the coast inland through the recently reclaimed Belgium to support the defense of Germany's newest assault to try to reclaim Belgium. With any luck, he would be running across some Allies soon, but was still unwilling to travel in the daylight on the chance that the Germans had managed to push that far into Belgium since his crash landing two days before.

I wished so desperately I could help him as the darkness loomed deeply enough for him to slowly stand, hissing as he placed weight on his injured leg once more. Lodging the Y-shaped branch under his arm, he began the shuffle once more, doing his best to make up as much ground as possible.

It was cold; the only additional insulation he had against the freezing chill was the material of his parachute, which he had wrapped around himself in such a way to allow him to walk. He had managed to find some water earlier in the day, but I knew he still had to be thirsty and his stomach often rumbled deeply in famished agony. My heart splintered at his discomfort for which I was powerless to abate.

For the past two nights, I continued doing this, walking with him through the Belgium countryside, or laying in a field, hoping that he could somehow feel my presence. Occasionally he would say things as if he were talking to me, frequently pulling out the picture of Cherie and I, sighing deeply before another surge of determination would fill his features. I just hoped that his body could hold out as long as his will.

As we continued on through the field, we both froze, not even breathing as we listened to the new sound echoing off the trees to our right and the rolling pasture we had just been lounging in. With a painful expression devoid of the verbal cry I knew should have accompanied it, he dropped to the ground, watching for the motor vehicle we could hear approaching us.

Edward leaned as best he could from his place of concealment to get a glimpse of the vehicle, which had stopped only a few dozen yards from our location. With a gasp, he jumped up, not bothering to stifle the cry of pain as he began to wave his arms. I stood at his side and felt relief flood my body when I saw a jeep full of three allied soldiers, illuminated by the full moon. Salvation had finally come. He would be safe.

After a few yelled confirmations across the distance, the guys ran to Edward, helping him reach the jeep where they gave him food and water. He didn't speak for a long time as he gobbled the food with fervor.

A Brit with blonde hair patting him on the shoulder, "I can't believe we actually came across you, mate. We thought you might have gotten turned around and headed the wrong way. Good thing you didn't. Hitler's Panzers are pushing through not thirty miles east of here."

Edward gulped past the lump in his throat. I could tell he was thinking of how close he had come to not making it home to us.

The officer laughed and continued speaking as Edward's eyes grew heavy, the exhaustion of his few days of the survivor life was catching up to him quickly. "Well, your wife will be relieved. I hear she and her friends harassed the Americans until they finally got word. Supposedly your wife dreamed about your crash and had them on the telly before the rest of your mates had even landed."

A slow smile spread across Edward's scruffy face as he leaned his head back against the seat. "I can believe it, boys. Matter of fact, she probably already knows you've found me."

I giggled, leaning in close to whisper in his ear, "You better believe it, baby. I love you."

Edward shivered a little before sighing and drifting off to sleep sitting up in the jeep as the soldier behind the wheel sighed deeply.

"Well at least somebody is getting something nice for Christmas."

I sat up in bed, wiping my eyes for the first time in several days out of happiness instead of misery. I just hoped against hope that it was real as well, and not simply my mind concocting what I wanted to happen. That was the maddening part, I knew it wasn't ALWAYS correct, but so much of the time it was that I couldn't let go of the hope that it really was real. I had an additional hope that his injury would mean a plane ticket home. Oh God did I ever want him home!

I slid out of bed and went about taking part in the holiday festivities, doing my best to make it happy for Cherie, all the while haunted by the hope of dream and the dread that it may have simply been just that.

I willed myself to him every night when I tried to sleep, but I couldn't seem to reach him. Panic was growing thick in my chest as I began to wonder if his rescue was all a dream and I wasn't finding him anymore because he had frozen to death on a field somewhere in Belgium. Days passed with the painfully slow cadence of a death march as my feet paced the floors of the house relentlessly. The calendar flipped each day as my feet continued to roam, my body incapable of finding peace without knowing for sure he was safe.

Four days later, the phone rang. I sprinted to the receiver, barking out a hello laced with the tension I had been holding tightly to for the past week. The line was filled with static as I listened for a reply.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" Still nothing. I felt my voice cracking as I spoke speedily into the mouthpiece. "Please, if this isn't either my Edward or someone calling with news of him, then please free the line now."

I sniffled as I reached up to wipe away a tear just as a weak and scratchy voice barely came across the line. "Bella? Can you hear me? Please don't hang up, baby…it's me."

I fell to my knees as I cradled the handset tightly to my ear, trying to hear every breath proving he was alive. "Edward? Oh God, Edward!"

A shuddering breath breached the crackle filled air before his voice grated again on the line. "Yes, sweetheart, it's me. I'm okay, but then again, I think you already knew that."

I began to sob as the tension holding me together throughout the past week melted away. I could hear everyone in the house congregating behind me, but I didn't take time to acknowledge them. They had already heard the important part…Edward was safe.

"I did, baby. I did. I was with you every time I closed my eyes until the Allies found you. I will always be with you if I can."

Another ragged breath mixed with a sniffle rang in my ear. "I love you, Bella. With my injury, I will be coming home as soon as I am well enough. They won't let me travel until it is a bit more healed, but it won't be long now, my love."

I smiled and cinched my eyes closed as tears of relieved joy dripped off my chin unhindered in their journey from my eyelids. "We will all be waiting. We miss you and we love you more than you know."

"I love you too, Bella."

Cherie began fussing in the background, fighting in Grammy Esme's arms to be let down. When Edward heard her high pitched protests he gasped.

"Oh God, is that her? Is that our little Cherie?"

I chuckled, "Yes, that's her. She voicing her protests because Grammy Esme won't let her down."

I turned to Esme with a smile, nodding for her to let Cherie down. Cherie giggled, toddling over to me and hugging my arm.

"Would you like to talk to your daughter? She's right here."

"More than anything," he gasped on the line.

"Okay, hold on." I lowered the earpiece to Cherie who leaned in to listen. This was something we often did with Grammy Esme, so she was used to listening to the cooing voices on the line. She listened intently with curious eyes.

"Okay Daddy, she's listening," I said leaning close. I could hear the muted mumblings from the earpiece as I watched my daughter's expressions. She furrowed her brow slightly looking confused, but didn't move to pull away.

After a while, there was a pause in the bass tone coming from the receiver. I started to pull it away to talk again and tell him about how she listened closely to his words when she giggled and began to babble in her own personal Cherie language that nobody but her understood. The only words we could make out were Mama, Sue, and Mammy, which was what she called Esme since she hadn't yet found her 'g's.

I smiled as I heard the bass mumble back before Cherie giggled and pushed the handset toward me. I took it, hugging her to my chest as I greeted my husband once more. I could hear his sniffles for a few moments before he finally spoke again.

"I am going to get back to the two of you as soon as I can. I can't believe I've missed so much already. I love you more than you know, Bella."

I sighed, holding onto every syllable while recognizing that our time was already coming to a close.

"I love you, Edward. We will all be counting the seconds until you're back here with us!"

With that, our conversation came to a close and the line went dead. I listened to the vast emptiness for a long while until the loud beeping brought me back to reality. It was only then that I began to wonder how he had made the call. The last time I had to accept reversed charges, but this time there was no operator to go through.

A shock of fear ripped through me for a moment as I began to wonder if this was yet another dream. I began to search frantically for proof that it was real when Cherie tugged my hair lightly before resting her hand on my cheek.

"Yummm, Mama," she said, pointing at her mouth to indicate she was hungry. I sighed with a smile, hugging her closely and kissing her forehead. It was real, it just had to be. I climbed up off the floor, accepting the hand of assistance offered by Esme, before walking into the kitchen to settle Cherie into her high chair and begin cutting up a banana for her to eat.

I smiled as I worked, focusing on one thing and one thing only…I didn't know how soon, but in the not so distant future, my husband would finally be home! I couldn't wait!