Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.

A/N: Well here it is. The last chapter. I'm a bit sad, I must say. I really enjoyed writing this story, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it. I'll definitely have at least one outtake in the near future, and then I'm on to the next story. I was planning on taking a break from writing for a while, but once you've started, you can't stop.

Design For Life

"And they lived happily ever after."

6 Years Later

BPOV

"Abigail Esme Cullen! Let go of your brother!" I hollered out the door, watching as my three year old attempted to drag my fourteen month old son around.

"But, Mama—"

"Abbie," Edward said from across the yard. "Let go of Luke. He'll walk when he wants to."

My daughter let out a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was clearly not happy. I rolled my eyes and went back to decorating the cake. It was Emmett's birthday, and we were having a party for him at our house. He had divorced Rosalie almost five years ago. At the time, I hadn't honestly thought that he'd really do it. Apparently, neither had Rosalie. She had been shocked and furious. At first she'd begged him to take her back, claiming that she'd go to marriage counseling, but Emmett stood strong and refused. Six months later, he was single. He'd given her their house and continued to live next door to us.

He'd recently gotten engaged to very nice woman named Maggie, and the family was thrilled. Well, most of the family was thrilled. Abbie was a little jealous. She loved her Uncle Emmett and wasn't too keen on the idea that she would have to share him.

Alice and Jasper had flown into town for the party. They had gotten married right after we did, and things had been good for them at first. They had moved to Seattle after Alice had gotten a job working with a well-known designer. But six months ago, Jasper's father had fallen gravely ill, so he'd gone back to Texas to be with him. He'd gotten a job teaching history at the local high school, and he loved it. He loved being back in Texas near his family. Alice, on the other hand, hated Texas. All she did was bitch about it whenever she called to talk to Edward or Esme. I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before she left and went back to Seattle.

Sometimes it was hard to believe that six years had flown by. Almost a year after my kidnapping, I'd had to testify against Caius. Doing so, had brought back all the nightmares, and I'd gone back into therapy. Caius had been given two life sentences with no chance of parole. Something I was extremely grateful for. After the trial, life went back to normal. Our marriage continued to flourish, and we had decided to wait a while to have children, but sometimes things don't go according to plan.

I still remembered when we first found out I was pregnant with Abbie. We'd been vacationing on Isle Esme for our third anniversary, and I hadn't been feeling well. By the time we'd gotten home, Edward was convinced that I had picked up some rare tropical disease and was on the verge of death. He hated my being sick and tended to freak out anytime it happened. I had assured him that I would talk to Carlisle, so that was what I had done.

"Bella! How are you? How was your trip?" Carlisle had asked as I'd taken a seat in his study.

"It was great. I haven't been feeling too well though, and your son is convinced I have some tropical disease."

Carlisle had cracked up. He was used to Edward's over protectiveness. I had explained my symptoms to him as he took notes and after I was done talking, he had looked at me.

"Could you be pregnant?" he'd asked me.

My mind had completely faltered. I hadn't even considered that option. Mentally, I had counted back and realized that my period was late. I had opened my mouth, but nothing came out so I tried again.

"Maybe. I don't know. I'm on the pill," I had blurted out, a blush creeping up my cheeks at telling my father-in-law.

"Have you missed your pill or been on any antibiotics?"

"No antibiotics, and I take my pill religiously," but there might have been a time or two that I had forgotten, but I hadn't wanted to tell him that.

Carlisle had kept talking, but I had tuned him out. I was still trying to process the fact that I might be having a baby.

"Bella?"

"Huh?"

"Have you heard anything I've been saying?"

"No," I had said, sheepishly.

He'd let out a small laugh. "Go buy a test and take it. All your symptoms indicate that you're pregnant."

"Can you please not tell anyone? I want to for sure."

"Of course. Doctor-patient confidentiality applies."

I had left Esme and Carlisle's feeling off balanced. I knew that if I went to the store in Forks and bought a test word would get out, so I'd headed into Port Angeles. Two hours later, I was at home staring at the three boxes I'd boughten. I had been scared to open them and take the damn tests. What if I was pregnant? It wasn't like we didn't want kids, but I hadn't been sure I was ready just then.

"Bella?" I'd heard Edward call from downstairs.

What was he doing home? It was only a little after noon. He should've been at work. I had frozen in my panic and didn't have time to do anything.

"There you are," he'd said, coming into the bedroom. "What's all this?" he'd asked, gesturing toward the kits.

"Uh," had been my brilliant response.

Picking one up, he'd looked at it, then at me. "Bella?"

"I went and saw Carlisle, and he thinks I might be, you know. Pregnant.

"Are you?" he'd asked me softly.

I had shook my head. "I don't know. I haven't taken any of them yet."

He'd sat down next to me on the bed, holding out his arms. Immediately, I'd climbed onto his lap. He'd wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly, and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. I had clung to him like he was my only lifeline.

"I'm scared," I'd whispered. "What if I'm pregnant?"

"Then you're going to make an awesome mom."

I had smiled at the conviction and confidence I heard in his voice. Leaning back, I'd looked at him.

"Can you go get me a disposable cup? There's no way I'm going to be able to pee on a little stick."

A few minutes later, we were sitting on the edge of the tub waiting for the three minutes to pass. It had been a long nerve-wracking three minutes. Finally, it was time to look. There were three different tests lying on toilet paper on the counter. We'd stood up and walked over. One test had two pink lines, another the word 'pregnant', and the other a plus sign.

"Looks like we're having a baby," I'd said quietly.

Edward hadn't said anything, so I'd turned to him. "Edward?"

"We're having a baby," he'd said softly. "Holy shit! We're having a baby!" he'd yelled, before picking me up and swinging me in a circle.

Seven months and twelve hours of labor later, Abbie made her appearance into the world. Almost immediately, she had Edward wrapped around her little finger. He adored his baby girl, and she was definitely a daddy's girl. The first six months after her birth, had been terrifying. We had no idea what we were doing and more often than not, we found ourselves calling Esme and Carlisle for help. Of course, they were more than happy to help us out. They adored their granddaughter.

And then, fourteen months ago, Lucas Charles Cullen was born. Much like Abbie, he'd been a bit of a surprise. We had planned on waiting until Abbie was a little older before having another child, but that didn't happen. After Luke was born, we decided that we didn't want anymore children. We had our boy and girl, and we were perfectly content with our little family of four.

"Alright, gang! Come in and wash up. Our guests will be arriving soon," I hollered out the door.

Edward scooped up a giggling Luke in one arm, and a pouting Abbie in the other. I just finished washing Luke's hands when a car pulled in the drive. Abbie let out a gasp as she saw her Uncle Jasper get out of the car.

"Unca Jazz!" she screamed as he walked in the door.

Immediately, Jasper snatched her up in a huge hug. He loved our kids, and he was wonderful with them. I knew that he wanted a couple of rugrats, but Alice was adamant that she didn't want children. It was just another bone of contention between them, and I had a feeling it would be the one that ended their marriage.

"Hey, Bells," he said, planting a kiss on my cheek. "Where's the little guy?"

"Edward's got him," I told him, pointing toward the kitchen.

It was then that I noticed that Alice wasn't with him. "Jazz? Where's Alice?"

He set Abbie down and told her to go see Edward. I frowned. Something was definitely wrong.

"She's not coming. She's got a job interview in Seattle today."

"What?"

He ran a hand through his hair in a show of agitation. "Yeah. I overheard her telling Emmett she couldn't make it because she had a job interview. She didn't even have the fucking nerve to tell me to my face, Bella! I mean, fuck! If I hadn't overheard her, who knows if she would have told me. I confronted her about it, and she told me that she was tired of living in a bumfuck town in fucking Texas. I told her I wasn't leaving to come back to Seattle. Not only is my dad too sick, but I love my job and life there. She said that she wasn't staying and that if I really loved her, I'd move back to Seattle."

"That bitch!" I seethed. "How dare she give you an ultimatum?"

"She justified it by saying that she gave up her life to move to Texas, but she's done. She's coming back here no matter what."

"I can't leave, Bella. More importantly, I won't leave. My dad needs me, and Alice is too selfish to see that."

I gave him a hug, but nothing that he said wasn't the truth. We all knew that Alice was selfish bitch. "How is your dad?"

"Slowly dying. The mouth and throat cancer is too far gone for the doctors to do much. All they can do is hop him up on morphine. It's horrible, Bella. He's just withering away. He's nothing but skin and bones, and it makes me sick to see him like that. I don't want to remember him like that."

I had no idea what to say, so I just hugged him harder. How in the world Alice could leave him while his dad was dying was beyond me. It just showed how immature and selfish she truly was.

"Ma!" a tiny voice cried from behind me.

I let go of Jasper and turned to see my little guy wobbling toward me.

"Well, hello my sweet boy. What have you got there?" I asked, seeing that he had something in his little fist.

He opened up his fist to show me a smooshed up dandelion.

"For me?" I asked.

He nodded. My little guy was too sweet.

The doorbell rang a few minutes later, and I saw that Jake, Seth, Jared, and Paul had arrived. I was still working at Eclipse and loving every minute of it. A few years back, Jake and Seth had actually expanded the building and hired a few more artists. We were well known in our little neck of the woods and even had clients from all the country. Jared and Paul had done well with Wolfmen Comics. So well in fact, that they had opened up another location in Seattle and moved there, leaving Edward to manage the store in Port Angeles.

Edward had finished his novel and self published it, making a bit of money, but it wasn't picked up by a national publishing company. I was afraid he'd be heartbroken, but he wasn't. He took some time off from writing when Abbie was born, but he's gotten back into it, and has another novel in the works.

"Daddy?" I heard my baby girl ask.

"Yes, sweet girl?"

"When's Unca Em coming?"

"Soon."

"Kay. I want cake."

Edward let out a laugh as he scooped her up. "I bet you do."

By the time Emmett and Maggie arrived, Abbie was sitting on the time-out step.

"Hey, hey! Where's my best girl?" he boomed upon entering the house.

"In time-out," I told him, watching his face fall.

"Aw, man. It's my birthday. She shouldn't have to be put in time-out on my birthday," he whined.

Sometimes it was hard to tell who the bigger kid was.

"She'll be out in a few minutes," Edward told him, coming over and giving Emmett a man hug while I greeted Maggie.

"What did the munchkin do?" Emmett asked me a few minutes later.

"Abigail," I called to my daughter, motioning her forward. "Why don't you tell your Uncle Emmett why you were in time-out."

She looked up at Emmett with a innocent look on her face. "Luke wanted some cake, so I gave him so."

Emmett raised an eyebrow at me. "When she says she gave him some, she really means that she shoved cake all over his face."

I could tell it was taking everything Emmett had not to crack up. It had been hilarious, but Luke had been furious. He'd cried like it was the end of the world, and Abbie had been adamant that she hadn't done anything wrong.

The party was a huge success. Everyone had a great time, and we spent the afternoon catching up. A little after seven, we put the kids down before returning to the living room. Emmett had said that he had news, and I was anxious to hear what he had to say.

"So, uh—" he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're having a baby."

There was a moment of silence before chaos rained down. Emmett and Maggie were hugged, kissed, and congratulated countless times. Emmett was beaming. There was no other word for it.

"I'm so happy for you guys!" I squealed, giving him a hug.

"We're excited as well as terrified. We'll be calling you with all kinds of questions," he warned me.

I let out a snort. "Just do what we did. Harass your parents."

Esme was beside herself at hearing the news. "Oh, I'm getting more grand-babies! I can't tell you how happy this makes me!" she exclaimed.

3 More Years Later

EPOV

"Luke! Put that down!" I hollered at my son as he was about to stuff a bug in his mouth.

He was four and going through a phase where he attempted to eat any bug that he saw. I had a feeling that his big sister was behind it all. Luke shot me a look before he dropped the bug with a huff. Some days, my kids drove me crazy. Although, not as crazy as Emmett's kids drove him.

Emmett and Maggie had gotten married right before the birth of their first daughter, Emily. A little over a year later, Siobhan was born. Those two little girls had Emmett wrapped around their fingers and were constantly getting into things.

Jasper and Alice had gotten divorced. Alice continued to live in Seattle and was dating some smarmy guy that no one liked. Jasper stayed in Texas after his dad died, but he came up to visit us for every major holiday. Bella had talked to him a few nights ago, and he was doing good. He wasn't dating anyone at the moment, but he was okay with that. Even though he and Alice were no longer together, we still considered Jasper family.

"Daddy!" a little voice called to me. I turned around and found my baby girl staring at me, hands on her hips.

"What is it, sweet girl?"

"Luke is eating bugs again!"

I let out a sigh. Abbie had gotten into the habit of tattling on Luke every chance she got.

"Abbie. What have Mom and I told you?"

She frowned for a moment, then her face lit up as she remembered. "Not to talk to strangers. To always hold your hand when crossing the street. Not to jump on the bed."

I smiled. She was right on all of those. "What did we say about tattling?"

Her face fell. "That I shouldn't tell on Luke every time he does something. Only when he does something that's dangerous or wrong."

"That's right. How would you feel if Luke told on you all the time?"

"I wouldn't like that," she admitted quietly. "But, Daddy! He was eating bugs!"

I couldn't contain my laughter at her sound of utter disgust. Granted, I felt the same way. I made my way over to Luke and took his hands.

"Hey, buddy."

"Hey, Daddy."

"Abbie says that you've been eating bugs again."

He shook his head. "Nope. No bugs," he said, holding out his hands to show me they were empty. "No bugs."

"Where did the bugs go?" I asked, crouching down next to him.

"Away," he said before he stood up.

I was afraid that away meant in his belly. Ugh. Taking his hand in mine, we headed inside where I knew Bella was getting lunch ready. It was our last weekend of summer and next week my baby girl would be starting first grade. She'd attended preschool and kindergarten at the same place, so going to the big kid school was going to be different for her. I already knew that I was going to cry like a baby when she walked into the school building. I just hoped that she wouldn't. There was nothing worse than seeing my baby girl cry. Except maybe seeing Luke or Bella cry. But somehow, when it was Abbie's tears, it was worse. Her tears made me feel like I'd let her down; like I was failing as a father.

"You okay?" Bella asked me softly as we walked Abbie out to the car. Mom was watching Luke while we took Abbie to her first day of school at Forks Elementary.

I shook my head. "Not really. She's my baby girl. She can't be ready for school yet."

Bella laughed softly. "I feel the same way. She's growing up so fast. Before we know it she'll be dating."

I let out a growl. There was no way baby girl was ever going to date. Not until she was at least thirty.

"Daddy?" my little girl whispered as I put her in the car.

"Yes?"

"I'm scared," she said, her lower lip trembling.

Aw, heck. If she started crying, it was going to be all over for me.

I reached over and gave her a hug, pulling her in close. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and then to her cheek.

"You're going to be just fine, sweet girl. You're going to have so much fun, and you're going to make a lot of new friends. Plus, some of your friends from kindergarten will be in your class. You're going to do great!"

After some tears shed, Bella and I watched as our little girl walked into the school. She had found her best friend, Hope, and the two little girls held hands as they bravely walked through the doors. We watched until she was out of sight before climbing into our car and driving to my parents' house.

"How was she?" Mom asked as we sat down on the couch.

"Pretty good. A few tears in the car, but once she saw Hope, it made things better," Bella told her.

"And how are you?" she asked the both of us.

"I'm okay. A bit sad to see my little girl growing up, but I know she'll do great. Edward, on the other hand, was about to have a meltdown."

"I was not!" I protested. "I just had a moment, that's all. She's my baby girl!"

"I know, my boy. I know. It's always hard to send your children off to their first day of school. I remember when your father and I took you. You threw a fit and refused to get out of the car. Said that you knew everything already."

Bella cracked up at hearing that. "Abbie said almost the same thing."

Bella and I had taken the day off and spent it hanging out with our boy. By the time two rolled around, we were anxious to pick Abbie up from school. We pulled up the school and got out, waiting by the car as the children came out in a line. Upon seeing us, Abbie's face lit up and she ran toward us.

"Mama! Daddy! Look!" she cried out, waving a piece of paper at us.

Bella took the paper as I scooped my girl up and held her close. Peering over Bella's shoulder, I looked at the paper. It looked as though she was practicing her writing and there was a gold star at the top.

"I got a gold star! It's cuz I knew how to write my name and the whole alphabet!" she exclaimed, pride written all over face.

I hugged my girl tighter before planting a kiss on her cheek. "Well done, sweet girl! I take it you had a good day then?"

She nodded. "The best. My teacher, Miss June is super nice. And she let me sit next to Hope!"

"That's great, baby!" Bella enthused, planting a kiss on Abbie's cheek.

Mom had insisted that we stop by their house after picking up Abbie. She was throwing a "Congratulations on your first day of school" party or something like that. We arrived at the house and found the whole family gathered with the exception of Jasper. Even Alice was there, something that Bella was less than pleased to see. Their relationship hadn't strengthened, but lessened as the years had gone by. Actually, Alice's relationships with the whole family had deteriorated over the years.

I was less than pleased to see that Alice had brought Vincent with her. He was her boss/boyfriend and a less than pleasant man. It was obvious to us that he was using her for her money, but she refused to believe us. I had tried talking her out of dating him at first, but eventually I had given up. Nothing I said would change her mind. Personally, I felt that she was only dating him because she knew we didn't approve of him.

"Hello, Alice."

"Hi, Edward. Hi, Abbie."

Abbie shied away from Alice, choosing to stay close to me. She wasn't comfortable around Alice and it showed. Alice frowned when Abbie didn't say anything to her, and I shot Alice a warning look. If she said anything negative to my baby girl there would be heck to pay.

"Gramma! Papa! Guess what?" Abbie hollered upon seeing my parents.

The rest of the evening was spent listening to my baby girl tell us all about her first day of first grade. As we drove home with two sleeping children in the back of the car, I couldn't help but smile as just how good life truly was.

a/n: Ta da! And it's done. Thank you all so much for staying with me throughout this story. Throw me on author alert if you haven't already, so that when the next story is up and running, you'll know.