First I wanted to apologize for the delay on this chapter. I am almost finished with my bachelor's degree and the work load is crazy! I also just had one kid move to England and one graduate from High school and move out. I still have two kids at home and I work full time at the university so real life is all kinds of messing with my writing time.

We are going to jump ahead a bit and see life from Natalie's point of view. This is not the last chapter but it is likely the first of three closing this story out. I love these characters and this story and I am so happy that you all love them too!

Chapter 20

Three years later

Have you ever looked back at your life and just been amazed at how things turn out?

I have. I am twelve now. Mom and Dad are getting ready to have their first baby together. We have been a family for three whole years now and I am quite possibly the luckiest girl on the planet. I know I had a rough start but here I am. I am starting middle school and I haven't had a single grade less than an A since I started my new school. I have learned to play the piano. My dad is the best teacher. I play soccer and I love it. One season of playing for the recreation center and I was hooked. Now I play on a select team and we just won our second championship together. I have a bunch of friends. I have a few girls that became my friends over the first few weeks we lived in our house and the rest came from school. My best friend is Callie Hoffman. She lives on the next block and we practically live at each other's houses. She even calls my parents mom and dad. Our birthdays are two days apart.

Mom is pregnant with a baby boy. I can't wait till he is here. He is supposed to be born in two weeks. I think he is going to have mom's brown eyes and dad's funny red hair. He is going to be the cutest baby no matter who he looks like. Mom and Dad got married two years ago. I got to be the maid of honor. I was so proud because I was worried they would make me a flower girl but they asked me to be the maid of honor instead. Jamie got to be the flower girl. She looked really cute in a dress that looked just like mom's only little for her.

Mom wore a dress that I can only describe as a princess gown. It seemed weird to me to see her in such a poofy, girly dress but once she had her hair and make-up done and her veil in place it was perfect. She looked amazing. Dad couldn't stop staring at her. He looked pretty awesome himself in a black tuxedo suit. I got to wear a one shoulder floor length rose gold dress. It was so beautiful. It was lace at the top and had a long soft skirt. I even got to wear heals. Aunt Alice wore a dress like mine but hers was strapless since she has boobs. The wedding was so sweet and I got to be a big part of it. Daddy bought me a ring! He and mom had a ring made for me that was engraved on the inside. It says "One Family, One Love". They even said vows to me like they did to each other. I cried the whole time. So did they. We had a big party after the wedding where I danced with my daddy while Mommy danced with Papa Charles. I helped them cut their cake. It was a day I will never forget.

Grandma Esme and Papa Carlisle have turned daddy's old bedroom into a room just for me. Jamie has a room too so now when we come over we each have our own place. Grandma learned to cook from mom and she makes us all kinds of sweet things when we come over. Papa plays soccer with me. Well, he lets me shoot the ball at him and he pretends like he is trying to stop it. Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice had a new baby right before the wedding. He is a tiny little thing like Jamie and Aunt Alice. He has blonde hair like Uncle Jasper though. They named him Noah, which I thought was funny cause the day he was born there was a big flood in one of the local creeks.

I was officially adopted by Bella six months after we bought our house. That is another day I will never forget. I got to tell the judge how great of a mom Bella was. I also had to tell him that I wanted her to be my mom from the time I met her. I really did too. I think from the moment she stepped into the hallway I knew she was supposed to be my mom. I know that sounds bad but I really don't care anymore. I always knew things were not right in my house. I'm pretty smart. Dr. Angela says that I am beyond my years. I guess that is true. I never understood why my mother didn't have a regular job or why we never had enough food. I didn't understand why I had to be alone all the time. I knew I was different from the kids at school but it was just how my life was. I know now that my mother did what she thought she had to do but it still makes me angry that she didn't try to do something different. Now that I know and understand what it was she did to make money, it just makes me sad. In a way I feel guilty that she did that to make enough money to keep me but then I feel like she didn't try hard enough to find another way. I looked up some stuff on the internet and found out that she could have gotten so much help from so many places but she didn't try to do that.

Bella helped me deal with the anger. I wasn't very nice to her for a little while. I wasn't mad at her but she was there and I didn't know how else to deal with what I was feeling. So we talked to Dr. Angela and Dr. Rose about it. They told me that what I was feeling was perfectly normal. I had a lot of emotions to deal with. They helped me find a way to express it without yelling at mom or dad. I write in a journal a lot. Sometimes I write every day and sometimes I may only write once a week or so.

Daddy and I started a project where we collect clothes and toys for kids who are in foster care and living in group homes. I met a couple kids at school who were wearing the same clothes every day and when I pointed them out to daddy one day he said he knew them. He had helped move them from their parent's house into a foster home. He didn't tell me what happened, just that they probably needed a good friend. So I started talking to them, Robert and Thomas are their names. Robert is a year older than me and Thomas is a year younger. I learned from Robert that his dad used to beat Thomas up all the time. His mom left them when Thomas was five and his dad started beating him up as punishment. I asked Robert if he ever got beat up and he said only when he got in the way. He said that his dad didn't like Thomas at all but he wasn't mean to him like that. He felt bad for his brother. He told me that the foster family was nice but they didn't have a lot of money so he and Thomas didn't have anything except what they got to take from their dad's house. So for my birthday last year I asked Mom and Dad if I could ask for gifts for Thomas and Robert. They were all for it. Mommy cried when I told her why I wanted to do that. We actually went to visit with them and took all the stuff over. Mommy wanted to take them home with us. Daddy said he would be happy to do that but we just didn't have the room and we weren't on the foster family list.

Mommy and daddy talked a lot about getting licensed to foster. I think after the baby is born and we buy a bigger house they will do it. Daddy told mom that he is afraid she will get hurt because "we can't save them all" he said. She loves Thomas and Robert and she helped to get them into a forever home. You'll never guess who adopted them. Dr. Rose and Emmett! Mommy told Rose about them when we went for a session and I told her what I knew about their situation. Dr. Rose cried. A few days later at school Thomas ran up and hugged me. Robert told me that a couple had come to see them and they were going to be adopted. I was so happy for them.

So here we are in our home painting the baby's room. Daddy got rid of a lot of his stuff from his apartment and Papa Charles bought the baby a crib. Daddy and I painted the room a soft blue color. Grandma Esme is bringing over a painting of an elephant family for the wall. Mom picked out the bedding. It is dark blue with a momma and baby elephant on it. I picked out a bunch of blankets and stuffed elephants for him. We are almost done with his room. Once we hang up the painting and get his clothes put away we will be ready for him to come.

Mom has walked around the house all day rubbing her back. She looks more tired today than usual. Daddy is keeping an eye on her more today too. I think that something is happening but I don't know what yet. Papa Charles is here and he is keeping me busy. We spent two hours at the grocery store and that was after he took me shopping for clothes. Papa Charles doesn't shop for clothes so I know something is up. I helped him cook supper while mom and dad hung out in their room for a while. We made pork chops on the barbeque grill and I made a pasta salad from one of those box mixes. It isn't as good as what mom makes but it is pretty tasty. I also made a fruit salad all by myself.

I called mom and dad in to eat but only daddy came. He said mom was taking a bath. While we were eating Mom yelled from the bathroom and daddy went flying out of the room. I was worried so I ran after him. Mom was standing in the bathroom with a towel around her and there was a puddle of yucky looking water under her feet. Daddy told me to go get the bags off the chair in their room and take them to Papa. I was stunned so I couldn't move. That's when mommy called my name, "Natalie, honey I am going to have the baby soon so I really need you to help me out here." I snapped to and ran the bags to Papa. He hurried them to the car and came back for mom. Daddy had helped get her dressed and was helping her walk to the car. She had to stop twice to yell. Daddy decided to take her to the hospital in his police car and Papa and I followed in Papa's car. Daddy hurried out of the driveway and turned on his lights and siren. I was so scared. I cried all the way to the hospital. When we got there we saw daddy's cruiser parked close to the door and there were two other police cars behind his. Papa said that was okay because since he used his lights and siren the other police officers would follow him to assist him if he needed it. He said that he was sure daddy called in and told the department what was going on. He seemed pretty nervous but was trying to seem calm for me. I just wanted to see my mom and find out if she is okay.

We talk to the nurse at the window of the baby section. She tells me they took mom right into a delivery room and that the baby should be here right away. She is smiling really big so I figure everything is okay. We sit in the waiting room for ever. I know it had to be like an hour cause two episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants plays on the TV. Just as the third episode starts Daddy comes rushing into the room with the biggest smile I have ever seen on his face. Natalie, you have a baby brother. He is tiny but he is so beautiful. Do you want to go see him? I cry and nod yes. Papa Charles follows us as we make our way down a long hallway. When we go in the room I finally see mommy. She is so tired but still so beautiful. She has a tiny little bundle of blankets in her arms and is crying. I don't know what to do so I just watch her. She looks up at me and her face lights up. "Natalie, come meet your baby brother."

I walk over and carefully get as close as I can to her. Daddy picks me up and sets me on her bed. I get to see his beautiful face. He looks like daddy. He has a tiny pointed nose and peeking out of his tiny little blue hat is a mess of red hair. He is staring at mom with the biggest darkest blue eyes I have ever seen.

"His eyes are blue?" I question. Mommy giggles softly, "All babies have blue eyes at first. What color do you think they'll change to?"

I say without having to think about it, "Brown. Just like yours." I want to touch him but he is so small.

Papa asks about his size and I think he can't weigh much he is so small. So I am a little shocked when daddy says he weighs almost seven pounds. I start to cry again and then mommy starts to cry. She moves the baby to her other arm and wraps her now free arm around me. I cuddle into her and finally touch my little brother. His hands are bundled into the blankets so I ask mommy if they can uncover him. "I need to see his hands and feet."

Daddy takes him and unwraps the blankets. Now I can see just how tiny he really is. He looks like a baby doll. When he brings him back to mommy, she asks if I want to hold him. I nod but I am so nervous. I am afraid I will break him. Mommy puts a pillow under my arm and with her arm wrapped around me she helps me hold him. He wraps his hand around my shirt collar and hangs on tightly. I love him so much.

"So what are we naming this little guy?" asks Daddy.

"I vote for Charles," says Papa Charles.

Mommy giggles and shakes her head. "What do you think, honey?"

"Aiden. Can we name him Aiden?"

"I like that name," says mommy.

"Aiden Edward Cullen," I say.

Daddy smiles as a big tear runs down his cheek. "I love it," he says.

I hope you enjoyed Natalie's thoughts as much I as I did. Leave me a review and let me know.