When I woke up, there were quiet voices around the room. I shifted slightly and pain shot through me.

"Don't move, you tore something."

"Well, at least I'm not dead."

There was a low chuckle around the room.

"Did we get them all?"

"Yes, they're all gone. We counted them off the boat and then counted the bodies. You did a number on the two that got to the house."

"They were threatening to eat my children."

"Fair enough."

"Did we lose anyone?"

There was a long silence. "Jared and Leah. She got bit. She went out swinging, though, took two with her. We had to put her down. Helluva thing. He did too, though they managed to knock him over a cliff onto the rocks."

I pushed myself up and scanned the room. "Embry?"

"He's not taking it well."

I nodded, blinking back tears. "Anyone else?"

"No the rest of us are fine."

I nodded again and closed my eyes, blinking back tears.

"You were amazing, B, I've never seen anything like it." Sam was grinning at me. "You looked like some kind of Amazonian warrior or something when we got to the house, covered in zed and brandishing that bat. Frankly, I was a little scared of you."

I smiled and shifted carefully on the bed. "I told you I'm good in a pinch. You should have taken me on more raids."

"I definitely will once you're up for it."

"Sorry bucko, with two kids and no daddy, I'm off the roster."

He smiled and reached forward, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "You're definitely allowed to do that."

He leaned down then and kissed the top of my head. "You did good today kid. Really good. Get some rest."

Before I could reply, Sue bustled in, shooing everyone out of the room. "The children need their mother and you need rest." She handed me a fussing baby and I smiled, offering my breast. After a moment, the fussing ceased and the nursing commenced.

"I've never seen anything like that," Sue said softly, settling beside me with the other one. I hadn't seen them long enough to be able to tell the difference when they were swaddled like this. "Most newborns take a little while to get used to nursing."

"Well, I was always an overachiever. Maybe it's spilled into them."

She chuckled softly and nodded. "Maybe so."

I spent a couple of weeks in bed recuperating. We hadn't lost anything in the way of supplies, thankfully, so we were able to eat and survive that way, though the house was definitely colder with the window gone. We managed by piling into the rooms and beds, Sue and I awkwardly sleeping with the twins between us, careful not to squash them in the night.

We slowly made our way towards spring, the snow gradually melting away and the grasses poking their heads through. The vegetables were planted again and the cow had a baby. We were definitely doing better now there was more food available, but we still made our treks to the top of the hill, searching. I didn't think we'd ever be truly at ease in our little world until we knew something about our missing men.

Occasionally more zeds would attempt to make their way to the island, but we were better prepared now, keeping a close eye on the mainland than before and we met them at the docks, taking them out before they even had a rotting foot on shore.

The spring gave way to summer and the kids were all growing like weeds, the twins among them. Just like me, they were overachievers, rolling over fairly quickly that spring. The pond became a swimming hole again and the raids continued, though they were now bringing back less and less. On the plus side of that, they were seeing less and less zeds. It looked like they'd finally run out of people and were dying off.

I was sitting by the pond one hot June afternoon, watching the kids play in the water. The twins were lying on the blanket beside me with their feet in their mouths. It was a good day and I was tempted to stretch out beside them and sleep. I stretched my legs out instead, leaning back on my hands and tilting my face back to catch the sun, enjoying the unusual warmth. It was almost like spring back home.

"B!"

I sat up and shaded my eyes, turning to see who was calling to me. Rosalie was running down the steep hill towards me, her face pink with exertion. Emily was close behind her. My heart leapt into my throat. More zeds. I leapt up and grabbed Aron, reaching for Abra when Rosalie shouted again.

"Sails! We saw sails!"

I froze, straightening up and staring at her after a moment. "Sails?"

She nodded excitedly. I hugged Aron to me while she scooped up Abra and we took off, running up the hill to our lookout post. I could hear Emily behind me calling the children in from the water. Aron and Abra complained about our grips on them as we hurried up the hill. I lost my footing but managed to catch myself on a branch before I went down in a heap. Rosalie laughed breathlessly behind me.

"Don't die now, he'll be back tonight."

I grinned and nodded, pushing myself forward. We finally reached the apex of the hill and looked out, shielding our eyes from the bright midday sun. I nearly started crying when I saw the white sails on the horizon, steadily making their way towards us.

"You think it's really them?"

"God I hope so."

I nodded. We stood there as the others joined us one by one until everyone was on the hill, watching apprehensively. We couldn't yet see if it was our boat or not, but my heart told me it was. The throbbing that intensified with every passing moment told me that Edward was getting closer. Rosalie reached over and grabbed my hand. I knew in that instant that she felt it too.

We watched for hours, only the twins becoming restless. The other children knew that this was important and that we wouldn't be calm until we knew who this was.

As the sun started to dip below the horizon, the boat was swallowed up by the shadow of the island. We moved around on the hill anxiously, waiting until the boat was in the golden wash of sunlight, lighting up the side and proving that it was our boat. I pressed my face into Aron's soft neck and started to cry then. Esme's arms encircled me and I felt her crying too. I handed her Aron and looked at her, wiping my eyes. "I'm going to meet them at the docks."

She nodded, taking him and motioning for Carlisle to take Abra. Rosalie and I moved quickly towards the docks, stumbling and tripping in the dusky light. It would be a while before the boat reached the docks, but we would be there to meet them.

I paced up and down the docks nervously, chewing on my thumbnail as I walked. How was I going to tell Edward he was a daddy? What if he wasn't even there? How would he react to my keeping my pregnancy a secret? What had kept them gone for a whole year instead of just two months?

I stopped pacing when the boat rounded the corner and I could see three figures on the deck. I grabbed Rosalie's hand as we scanned them, terrified. I couldn't tell at this distance who was who. We were all gaunt after years of undernourishment and hard work, so the men were hard to discern from each other when all we could see was a distant outline.

"Maybe someone's below," I whispered.

She nodded, squeezing my hand tightly. A hand lifted as the men on the boat saw us. We waved back excitedly.

"Is someone below?"

We turned and saw several others coming towards us. It looked like all the adults were here, Rachel staying behind to take care of the little ones.

"We don't know yet."

We all turned back to the boat and I screamed excitedly when I finally made out Edward's shock of crazy bronzy hair on the man at the front of the boat.

"Edward!" I shouted.

"Bella!" he shouted back. If the water was shallower, I had a feeling he'd jump in and swim to me. I definitely would if I could.

It took far too long for them to get close enough for him to safely disembark but when he did, I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms and legs around him as I burst into tears. I heard another set of feet hit the wooden dock and Rosalie's sobs as Emmett scooped her up.

"Who's lost?" I asked softly, pulling back and looking up at Edward.

"No one. Seth's below decks. We're all here."

"And? Europe?"

"They had some outbreaks, but nothing like here. They managed to contain it and only lost thousands as opposed to millions."

"So we can go there?"

He grinned and nodded. "Yeah. They're actually getting a larger boat together to come here for us."

"Thank God," I sobbed, pressing my face into his neck. He held me tightly and kissed my crown.

"Everything is fine, Bella, I swear. We can get really married now if you want, have a dozen babies, live in a real house with heat and hot water."

I laughed and looked up at him. "I have something to tell you."

"Ok." He raised his eyebrows at me expectantly. I could dimly hear movements behind me, unloading or something. I didn't really care.

"I was pregnant when you left. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I just…I didn't know how and then you said you were going and I didn't want you to worry or resent me."

His eyes widened. "A baby?"

I shook my head. "No, twins. You have a son and a daughter."

He let out a whoop and spun me around to laughs from the others. "I love you, Bella."

I smiled and pulled his face to mine for a kiss. "I love you too, Edward."

By the time we made it back up to the house, Edward and the others had made the rounds, hugging and kissing everyone in turn. Edward always returned to me, crushing me against him and grinning stupidly as he picked up the pace, eager to see his children.

Watching them meet for the first time was…indescribable. Aron regarded his father solemnly while Abra immediately reached out and grabbed a fistful of hair. I almost lost my grip on her when she did that and Edward laughed, holding tightly to Aron and reaching for Abra, attempting to hold them both at the same time. It was awkward for anyone not used to it, but he seemed to do pretty well.

Over dinner, the sailors told us about their trip. They told us about the storms that blew them way off course, landing them in Spain of all places after over two months. They'd made their way to England after a while and had been put into quarantine, the Brits anxious about them carrying the infection. Once they were given a clean bill of health, they were released into the general population and made arrangements with the government to come and rescue us. There were other Americans who'd made it out ahead of the infection in various places around the world, most eager to get home and begin rebuilding.

It was well after dark, our meager supply of candles starting to sputter in their holders. The children were sleeping in the laps of their parents or other available adults. Edward was beaming down at Aron, fast asleep in the cradle of his father's arms.

"We should get to bed. If we're all going to England soon, we'll need to start packing up," Esme said finally, noticing the yawns of the older children struggling to stay awake to hear more stories.

We didn't disagree. I personally couldn't wait to have Edward to myself again. Sue winked at me and joined the older girls in their room so Edward and the twins and I had our tiny room to ourselves.

I sat on the bed, nursing each one in turn while Edward moved around the room, touching things as though to remind himself that he really was back. He held the other twin while I nursed.

"It feels like a dream," he said finally.

I laughed softly and adjusted my clothes, holding Abra at an angle to burp her. "I know what you mean."

"Did you really take down four zeds after giving birth?"

"Hey, it was us or them," I said defensively.

He grinned and held up a hand defensively as I set Abra into the makeshift bed we'd made for the twins. "I'm not saying I disapprove." I shot him a look and he laughed and handed me Aron. "Ok, fine, I do kind of disapprove. But at the same time, I'm impressed. I didn't realize you were so badass."

"Yeah, well, I am. You better watch out."

"I definitely will." He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder and looking down at the twins. They were sleeping peacefully. For now.

I twisted in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him firmly. He pulled me closer to him, his hands palming my back as he slipped them under my shirt.

"You were gone a really long time."

"I know."

"Like, a really long time."

"I know."

"And I was sharing a bed with Sue. It's been ages for me."

"Me too."

"It better have been."

He grinned. "You think I'd fess up to anything else knowing what I now know about your badassness?"

I laughed softly. "If I wasn't so horny right now, I might get upset about that."

"Frankly, the badassness is really a turn on."

"Good. You better not disappoint me tonight."

"Do you think that's even possible?" he grinned, lowering me onto the bed. We were both naked now, the cool breeze from the open window raising goosebumps on both our bodies.

"Not even a little bit." I shifted over and pulled him down. "I love you. I never stopped believing you'd come back."

"I love you too. And I never stopped trying."