Epilogue
"Daddy!" my five year old screams excitedly and in the next second I feel little hands and feet on my back. I groan and turn my face into my pillow.
"Riddoc?" Adrian mumbles sleepily next to me, "Your child wants you"
I laugh as said child starts incessantly jumping up and down on the bed "My child? don't you mean our child?" I ask
"No" she says with a yawn "At half past six in the morning that little monster is all yours, it's Saturday" she says and rolls over. I roll onto my back and my son Max dives knees first onto my chest. I sit up and grab Max, I pick him up by his ankle and stand up with him just dangling there, he wriggles and laughs.
"So tell me little monster, what are you waking me and your mother up for?" I say and pretend to drop him, he squeals then laughs hysterically.
"You promised we'd go a get a tree today with Marina!" he pants out of breath
"Baby if he hurls you're cleaning it up" Adrian tells me from under the covers, I turn Max the right way up and carry him out of the bedroom and down stairs. I'm about to drop him on the sofa when I see Collin laid there, I grumble and put Max on the armchair instead.
I turn and give Collin a quick kick in the side, he groans and turns away from me, I sigh then look over my shoulder at my son, "I'll let you have candy before breakfast if you wake Collin up for me" I tell him, he smiles at me.
"Will you tell Mom?" Max asks me and I smile, I make a gesture of sealing my lips then tossing the imaginary key over my shoulder. Max giggles then jumps up out of the armchair.
"Is Marina up yet?" I ask him
"No, I tried but she told me to get the F... hell out of her room" Max tells me.
"was that a cuss little man?" I ask and his eyes widen
"No" he shakes his head vigorously from side to side
"It sounded like one, what did Grandpa Jake tell you about cussing?"
"That if he caught me talking like that he make me do a chore for every cuss" he says, I turn my back so he won't see me smirking then I wonder down the hall to Marina's room. I knock on the door.
"What?" she shouts and I let myself in.
"You coming to get a tree with me and Max today?" I ask her
"Do I have to?" she says sarcastically, Marina was twelve but sometimes she acted like she thought she was sixteen or something.
"No not if you don't want to, Adrian's sleeping I don't think she's up to it today but I'm sure she won't mind if you wanna stay home" I shrug.
"Ok I'll come" Marina says and I smile.
"Ok, get up and get dressed then" I say then shut the door. It seemed the older Marina got the more difficult she got too, she wasn't a bad kid though, and I personally thought me and Adrian were doing ok.
When I walked back into the living room Max was screaming and red in the face while Collin tickled him. "Dad! Help me!" he gasps between giggles.
"You got yourself into that mess" I tell him
"Dad!"
"Let him up Col" I say and Collin lets Max go. Max rockets off into the kitchen and I turn on Collin. "What the hell you dong here? Again?"
"I had patrol, it was a long way home" Collin shrugs
"Yeah and you wanted to be near Marina" I say "if I catch you on my sofa again I'm gonna start charging you rent" I tell him.
"Come on Duck?"
"No, she's not to know, she's twelve Collin, twelve!"
"Yeah I know that" he frowns at me
"Do you?" I snap, Marina knew about the wolves she knew everything but I'd been adamant that I didn't want her knowing about the imprint. If she was gonna end up with Collin one day, it was gonna be because she choose it, not because Collin told her she was his soul mate and she felt like she had no other choice. I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. "Just back off, I want Marina to have options other than you" I tell him and he looks hurt. "Don't pull that face, when she's older don't you want her to be with you because she choose it not because you were her only option?" I ask
"Duck? I'm incapable of even thinking about that right now, she's a child I love her like a little sister nothing more you know that. I'm sorry I'm here a lot invading your happy family, but I have to know that she's safe and happy, it drives me crazy if I don't know how she is. You don't get it you and Adrian were the same age when you met"
"No I don't get it, if it's sympathy you want go talk to Quill or Shila? They know about that shit" I snap
"She won't figure it out if that's what you're worried about, I don't want her to know either" he tells me
"You don't?" I ask surprised
"Hell no, all I want is to protect her, when she's older if things change between us then they change, but they only ever will if she wants them to" Collin says. "Are we ok?" he asks
"Yeah, we're ok" I say and walk into the kitchen.
I see Max sat on the kitchen counter stuffing a peanut butter cup in his mouth. "How many of those have you had?" I ask Max and a guilty look spreads across his face.
"One" he says and I can hear the lie in his voice. I smirk
"Ok, no more, Collin's gonna make you and Marina breakfast ok?" I say
"I am?" Collin asks waking in behind me
"You are if you wanna come get a Christmas tree with us today" I tell him "Marina's coming" I add and he smiles
"Ok" he agrees and I roll my eyes, what a sucker.
"I'm gonna grab a shower!" I call to them and head back upstairs to mine and Adrian's bedroom. When I get there Adrian is still asleep on her side, she's been so tired lately. I bend over and kiss her forehead and brush her hair back from her face before heading into the attached bathroom to shower.
Things sure have changed over the last six years. Leah and Embry hadn't been able to have any more children but not for lack of trying, Seth and Misty were happily married but had never really considered having Children, Shila proposed to Lucinda a few months ago and Brady and Willow were still living in New York. Willow had gotten into NYU after high school and attended Tisch school of the arts there. She was starring in a low budget production of Wicked right now, Willow was playing the good witch, we all missed her and Brady but she was happy and I was happy for her.
I used my engineering degree to help Dad expand the Garage business; it was booming now and doing really well. Adrian never finished her solo album she was too busy marrying me and having Max, she said she'd go back to it one day. She was writing music for other people now instead, she liked it. She still had the Surf Shack, and it made good money, though Misty mostly ran the place for Adrian now so she could work on her music at home and be with the kids, it was an arrangement that suited everybody.
Adrian's Father showed up in La Push two years ago he and Adrian had a blazing row and since then he only showed up for holidays. He was stationed in Hawaii now; Adrian wanted to go visit him some time soon with the kids. They were all really excited about it and I kind of was too, Hawaii would be a nice change from rainy La Push that was for sure. I was just a little concerned about seeing Mr Fox again, last time we met he'd made it obvious he didn't like me.
I turned the water off and stepped out wrapping a towel around my waist. Adrian is sat up in the bed now sipping at a cup of tea. It's that herbal stuff that smells like ass but the doctors said it was good for her so I don't complain about the smell. I wonder how she got it then hear Collin retreating down the stairs; I roll my eyes and think 'Ass Kisser'.
"Damn, my husband's ripped" Adrian smirks at me. I look down at my stomach, my abs are still there even though I stopped phasing when Max was born, partly because I didn't want to miss anything and partly because I wanted to keep up with Adrian age wise. When we were old I wanted us to be old together. I guess my body hasn't changed too much in six years I'm only twenty eight, is that old?
I smile at my Angel and walk over to the bed. "And my wife is smokin' hot" I wink at her at sit on the bed next to her.
"No I'm not, look at me I'm fucking huge" she pouts and I laugh
"Angel you're allowed to be, there is two of them in there. Besides I love seeing you pregnant" I tell her, I pull the covers back and stroke her round tummy. "Did you sleep any better last night?" I ask
"No, your children were kicking the crap out of me again" she says and I wince. "I think one of them is definitely gonna be a kick boxer" she says and we laugh together.
"I'm sorry; I wish I could help more"
"I think you've done enough" she laughs and I grin.
"I told you, I like you Pregnant" I shrug
"I think you just like getting me pregnant" she says and I laugh
"Well that too" I nod. I take the cup of tea off of her and place it on the nightstand. I kiss her lips gently and cup her face with my hands. "I love you so much Angel, I'm so fucking lucky"
"You are?" she asks and I nod again.
"You love me, you married me, you brought Marina into our lives and gave me an amazing son, and now you're giving me two more beautiful babies, thank you Angel" I say and kiss her again.
"Riddoc what if they come on Christmas day" she asks pulling away from my lips, I smile at her.
"Baby they're not gonna come on Christmas, you've got a week to go yet" I remind her
"Yeah I guess" she sighs
"Does it feel like it might be soon?" I ask, Max had come early but only by a few days. the doctor had warned us twins had a habit of coming early.
"I don't know"
"Maybe I should get a tree with the kids tomorrow" I say but Adrian shakes her head
"Riddoc it's Christmas eve tomorrow. And I'm ok, they're not gonna come today, I've got a fifty on Christmas day, while you're carving the turkey" she laughs
"Well it would make a good story" I tell her
"Anyway Claire and Leah are coming over this afternoon I'll be fine" she assures me. I kiss her again and move over her.
Collin, Marina, Max and I pilled into Adrian's Hilux, not the shitty old one that was failing apart I'd bought her a new one as a Wedding gift, same colour, same everything just a newer model, she loved it. Marina and Max sang Christmas songs the whole way there.
We pulled off the road and down the track to an area of the forest a couple of hours outside of La Push where there was a lot of pines. The kids took off running and laughing as soon as we stopped; it took forever to find one that would actually fit in the house. Adrian had told me to just take the kids to a tree yard so they could pick one but I refused, when I was a kid Dad would take me and Willow into the forest and let us pick a tree, then he'd cut it down and drag it back to the house with his bare hands, I used to think it was the coolest thing ever.
Now that Max was old enough to really remember this Christmas I wanted him to have those memories too.
"This one, this one, this one!" Max shouts jumping up and down. I look over and give the tree a once over, it's not that bad actually.
"You know what little man? I think you're right, this is the one" I tell him and he jumps up and down again. Marina's mouth falls open when I pull a chainsaw out the bed of the pick up.
"Dad! What is that?" Max laughs
"Oh my God Dad can't you just use an axe!" Marina says. I freeze and so does she, Collin's eyes widen and he looks between me and Marina. Marina covers her mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry" she says quickly.
"It's ok Sweetie" I tell her. Marina had called me dad once before but I don't think she meant to. She was eight years old when it happened. It was the first time I'd had the kids on my own for any real amount of time, Adrian was in New York for a week working and staying with Willow and Brady. That day the school had called me telling me Marina had the Flu and had to come home. She was really tired and spent most of the day in bed sleeping, and when she was awake she was sneezing and coughing. I went to tuck her in that night and say goodnight, she'd woken up long enough to say goodnight back, although her eyes had been closed and she was half asleep. But she mumbled "Thanks Dad" to me. I'd never brought it up since, I never even told Adrian about it.
I quickly moved to Marina's side, I ruffled her hair and bent to kiss her on the head, I didn't want Marina to be embarrassed about that, but I didn't want her to think she couldn't call me Dad if she wanted to. "Alright let's get us a tree" I say and Max cheers.
"Can I do it Dad?" Max asks
"No you can not, sorry kiddo, go stand with Collin and Marina ok" I tell him he scurries off and then I fire up the chainsaw.
We stopped by the store to pick up some extra lights and candy canes as per Marina's request then picked up some take out on the way home, Collin managed to convince me to let him stay for Dinner.
I was anxious to get home I could feel weird vibes coming off Adrian because of the imprint. She was worried and feeling something a kin to pain. She must just be really uncomfortable because of the babies but I still wanted to get back to my angel as quickly as possible.
It was a lot later than I thought it was when we finally started heading in the direction of home. We'd spent most of the day searching for a tree, I was glad I'd had the foresight to pack lunch.
My heart stops as we pull up in the driveway, there's an ambulance parked outside my house. "Is that an ambulance?" Marina asks leaning forward in her seat
"Cool" Max says sitting up to get a look, the kid loves Ambulances and fire engines and that stuff, basically anything with flashing lights and a siren. I unbuckle my seat belt and climb out of the pick up.
"Stay in the truck with Collin" I tell the kids then run to the house, I barge through the front door and see a paramedic coming down the stairs. Where was Adrian? I silently begged and prayed that she was ok.
"Duck? Is that you?" I hear Leah call and then she appears at the top of the stairs.
"Lee what's going on? Why is there an ambulance here? Where's Adrian?" I splutter in one shaky breath.
"She's upstairs come on?" Leah says and holds her hand out to me; I take the stairs two at a time and grab her hand. Leah leads me to mine and Adrian's bedroom. She pushes the door open and my jaw drops.
Adrian's lied in the middle of the bed looking sleepy with a little baby in her arms; I see Claire sat in the rocking chair with the other baby. Adrian's eyes fall on me and she smiles. Another paramedic is sat on the bed next to Adrian taking her blood pressure; the Paramedic takes the arm band off of Adrian and stands up. "You're fine Mrs Black" he tells her, I still getting tingles when someone calls her by my name. He walks towards me and shakes my hand "Congratulations Mr. Black" he says then leaves, I still can't even talk.
"You ok Duck?" Leah asks and I nod, I see Leah give Claire a look and Claire stands up, she gives the baby to Adrian so she's holding both. "We'll give you two a minuet" Leah says and she shuts the door behind her and Claire.
"Well do you wanna come over and meet our babies or what?" Adrian laughs lightly. I shuffle over and sit on the bed next to her.
"I can't believe they're here, I can't believe I missed it, how long were we gone?" I ask, Adrian glances at the clock on the nightstand, it's seven thirty.
"A while" she smiles "My water broke just after you left, I tried to call but I couldn't get through" she explains and I nod, that was understandable cell reception around here was atrocious.
"I'm sorry Angel" I say "Was it ok? You're all ok?"
"You heard the Doc" she says and I sigh in relief "It was a very sudden, very painful, very natural birth. I wanted to go to the hospital but the paramedic said I was too far along and that it was happening here weather I liked it or not" she laughs. "Leah and Claire were amazing I don't know what I'd have done without them. However I'm on bed rest and Carlisle said he's be here in the morning, Kim's gonna come check on me when she get's off work too" Adrian tells me and I breathe a sigh of relief, I'll feel a lot better when I've heard that she's ok from Carlisle.
"What types are they?" I ask looking down at our new babies, God they're so fucking cute. Adrian and I had wanted to be surprised this time so we waited to find out the sex of the twins.
"This one's a boy" she tells me gesturing at the baby on the left. "And this one is a girl"
"Oh my god one of each that's so perfect, now we have two of each" I say, Adrian looks up at me and her eyes fill with tears
"I love you" she says, I lean down and kiss her.
"I love you too. What are we gonna call them, Do we still like Travis?" I ask and she nods
"Yeah, but what about the girl?" she asks
"I don't know, we could never agree on a girls names" I sigh.
"What about Isabelle? Like your Grandmother do you think she would mind, I love that name" she says, I run over it my mind not convinced.
"What and Bella for short?" I ask "I don't know Adrian" I say sceptically, She shakes her head no.
"No I like Izzy" she says and I smile, I definitely like that.
"That sounds perfect angel. I love you so much, and I love this life we've made" I tell her and kiss her again. I really was just the luckiest son of a bitch that ever lived. Probably not a lot of people could tell you their life was perfect but mine really was.