February

- Chelsea's visit takes up two weeks of the month, and I get used to the toll roads in Virginia.

- I buy three succulents and only one dies.

- I rearrange the living room furniture, and when I email Edward pictures, he just laughs and tells me he loves me.

- Rose calls to tell me that she's coming to visit in March. She also has news about Jake.

- March

- I feel really comfortable in my job. It's basically marketing for Fleet and Family Services. I make sure that service members and families know that we're available and ready to help them with so many different scenarios.

- Rose comes to visit, and she brings Alice as a surprise.

- I take a Friday and Monday off to have a long weekend with them, and it feels so good to see them and spend time with them.

- Rose tells me that not only did she locate Jake, but she convinced him to turn himself in to base police. She spoke with Sergeant Hunter, and I may or may not receive a courtesy call from him.

- She's closing my case on Jake, and she's advising me to do the same.

April

- Dee calls me weepy one day because she's panicking. She's just realized that she's pregnant.

- We've become close over the last two months, and I go to see her after work.

- She emailed Alec, although she didn't mention the big news. He hasn't responded yet. Neither of us are surprised, but I can tell she's disappointed.

- Once Liam goes down for the night, Dee tells me that she has a doctor's appointment next week.

May

- I go to Texas for Memorial Day weekend to visit Esme and Carlisle. Emmett and Rose are there to see Emmett's parents, and I get to meet them as well.

- Chelsea tells me that she's thinking about relocating somewhere, but she's not sure where. Sam is bugging her, texting her constantly to hook up.

- They live in a small enough town that she feels like she can't get away.

- I almost offer to have her come out to Chesapeake, but Rose pipes up before I can.

- If Chels can find a job, she can stay with them until she gets settled.

- It's getting closer to Edward's homecoming and things seem to be falling into place.

June

- In addition to work, I start making plans with the command group for the fleet's return.

- In April, I sent Edward a small package for his birthday in the hopes he would get it in time, and I'm blessed with a short phone call from him.

- It's like a small treasure in the bleakest of times, especially with only a few more weeks left of the deployment to go.

- He reminds me that anything can change, but he can't wait to see me in five weeks.

July

I've been cleaning and preparing for Edward's return for the past week. He won't be able to take any leave for a couple weeks after he gets back, so I'm not taking any time off yet either.

I've tried to catalog any changes to the house, our vehicles, or myself so I can tell him everything when he comes home.

Nothing truly huge happened in our circle, so it'll just be reacclimating to each other.

Our friends are making plans to come out to visit for Labor Day, and I've already promised Esme that I'll do my best to bring him home for the holidays.

The night before the ship is to pull in, I finish some journaling and make a list of things that Edward says he really wants to do in the first 48 hours that he's stateside again. Little things involve taking a shower longer than five minutes and eating at our favorite Italian place in Norfolk. Bigger things include me and several positions in our bed that he says he's been dreaming about on repeat for the last six months.

I don't write those down on the list.

Dee texts me with a picture of Liam's outfit for tomorrow. It's a navy-blue shirt that says "Outta my way, my daddy's home today!". It's cute and Liam is more than steady enough on his feet at 21 months to make it to Alec when they can finally make their way to us. I ask her if she's wearing a cliche pregnancy announcement shirt tomorrow, and she sends me a GIF of Liz Lemon rolling her eyes.

Dee chose not to tell Alec about her pregnancy, primarily to keep him focused on the deployment and so he wouldn't worry about her and Liam any more than he already was. I don't know if I could keep something like that from Edward, but I don't know Alec that well or how their relationship works.

The ship is expected sometime after one PM. I have the day off and a therapy appointment in the morning, so I'm trying to make it an early night. Just as I'm crawling into bed, I'm hit with a familiar sensation, and I think back to the night Edward left. I pull his pillow close to me and breathe in deeply.

I've managed to keep his scent intact, even if it's faded significantly over the months. I cried a lot in those first few days and certainly when the week wore on and things felt hard. We stayed in touch as much as we could, and I made it through. I don't really know how Edward fared, except for what he told me. I suspect he put on a brave face the few times we got to speak to each other on the phone, but I also know he wouldn't hold back if there had been something truly wrong.

I settle into bed and send him a text. He's had his phone the entire time, but it was mostly a small tablet for him—an e-reader and music player. Since I know the ship is floating out along the coast, I send a text in the small hope that maybe, just maybe, he'll be on deck and catch a signal from some cell tower.

I love you. I can't wait to see you.

There's no immediate response, and I'm not surprised. I set my phone on the charger, and just like every night for the past six months, I make sure the ringer is on and loud. Drifting off to sleep, I smile to myself, happy and excited to see Edward after all this time.

When I wake in the morning, I check my phone and tear up when I see a text.

I love you, Bella. I'm so excited to come home to you.