Chapter 18: The End

AN: Thank you to my reviewers. High fives for all of you. And this is the last chapter—it makes me sad, but this is then end of everyone's story. I hope you all enjoyed reading this—I know I enjoyed writing it.

5 Years Later

(Charlotte is 22, Evan is 23, Gisele and Ryan are3 19, Bryant is 21, Olivia and Emily are 18, David is 17, Maribel is 16.)

BPOV

"Okay, girls, let's go," I said to Olivia and Emily as we made our way into the hair salon. Tonight was Olivia and Emily's senior prom. Next week, they were graduating. Then, in the fall, they were both going away to college. For the first time in 18 years, Edward and I were going to have the house to ourselves.

"I still can't believe you're dating someone who's younger than you!" Olivia exclaimed to Emily as she hopped into the chair in the salon. "I mean, he's younger than you!"

"At least I'm not dating someone who's three years older than me."

Olivia glared at Emily.

"Girls, chill," I reminded them. "We don't need a repeat of the Nordstroms incident." Both girls laughed before telling their stylists what they wanted for their hair.

I took a seat by the window and picked up the magazine on the table—a tabloid with Charlotte and Evan's faces plastered on the cover, announcing their marriage. I sighed and turned to the article, reading about the wedding I had already been to. It was ridiculous—the plane crash had happened more than 20 years ago, yet we were all still followed by the press. Then again, most of us (us being the JAL Ten,) were famous for other reasons, like being football players, actors, and heiresses.

"Mom," Olivia called over to me. I looked up and saw her looking at me. "Can you please talk to Daddy and see if he'll let us go to Paris this summer?"

"I don't see why you two don't just go on a trip across the country instead. If you were staying within the continental United States, I don't think your father would be having such an issue with it."

"But we're going to college in the fall," Emily whined. "And you said we could go on a trip after graduation!"

I sighed and massaged my forehead. "I know. I'll talk to him tonight while you guys are at prom, okay?"

"Yay!" Olivia squealed. She and Emily both knew that they would get what they wanted if I talked to Edward. I was able to persuade my husband to do anything I wanted, and they both knew that.

I looked back down at the article and went to the description of Charlotte. They said she was stunning in an original Alice Whitlock gown. Of course, Alice spent months working on the dress. After all, it was for Rosalie's eldest daughter. Her bridesmaids also wore original gowns designed by Alice. I looked at the picture of Gisele, Charlotte, Olivia, Emily, and Maribel all smiling and tore it out to take home with me.

I flipped through the pages and looked at all the pictures the photographer managed to get of the wedding. Of course, there was a picture of Charlotte and Evan during their first dance. There were photos of everyone dancing, including Edward and I. Then, there was my favorite picture—Leah, Mike, Cynthia, Seth, Alice, Jasper, Edward, and I all standing together. The JAL Ten, with two missing, of course.

It had been 16 years, yet I still missed Emmett and Rosalie. Not a day went by without me thinking about them. It had been so hard watching Edward walk Charlotte down the aisle since Emmett wasn't there to do it himself. I had been the one to take her dress shopping instead of Rosalie. It just wasn't fair that they had been taken from us when they had so much more life to live.

Once Olivia and Emily had their hair done, we left the salon and drove home. When we got to the house, it was empty, just like I expected. Edward was still working, and he would probably get home just in time to see the girls leave for the dance. I swear, he spent all his free time working. Sometimes (though I didn't tell Edward this, of course,) I understood why his ex-wife, Tanya had an affair. It just got so lonely around the house when I was the only one in it. I saw Alice, Leah, and Cynthia, but it wasn't the same as having your husband home with you.

I fixed the girls lunch, then went and took a seat in the den, relaxing on the couch. I loved being a mother, but sometimes it just wore me out. As much as I was going to miss them, I was looking forward to Olivia and Emily leaving for college in the fall. I knew they both would be fine—they were staying in California, after all. Olivia was going to UCSB while Emily went to Stanford. Olivia, the party girl, went to the party school while Emily, the valedictorian, went to one of the top universities in the country.

I heard the door open and was about to get up to see who it was when I heard a scream.

"Charlotte!" Olivia screeched. Well, I guess Charlotte and Evan were home from their honeymoon. I heard footsteps and the unmistakable sound of something being knocked over. Unfortunately for Olivia, she inherited my klutziness. I got up off the couch and walked towards the front hallway to greet my eldest niece.

Charlotte, looking beautiful after spending a week on the beach, smiled when I entered the room. Evan was standing right behind her with their bags in his hands.

"Aunt Bella!" she exclaimed, rushing over to me and pulling me into a hug.

"So, Mrs. Newton," I asked her. Her face lit up when I used her new name. "How was the honeymoon?"

"Amazing," she gushed, walking in and taking a seat at the kitchen table. She picked up a cookie off the plate in the middle of the table and bit it. "We had so much fun. Thanks so much for getting us that for our wedding. We really had a great time."

Evan took a seat next to her and nodded. "Yeah, thanks a lot, Bella."

I smiled. "It was no problem. Edward will be thrilled to hear you guys had a great time."

"Where's Gigi?" Charlotte asked, looking around the kitchen.

"Over at Ryan's place, where else?" I laughed. "Ever since they both got back from college, she's spent every waking moment over there. I'm pretty sure Leah sees her more in one day than I've seen her all week."

"Well what do you expect?" Charlotte asked. "They've spent all year away from each other. Now, they finally have a chance to see each other again." She was right. While Gisele was pre-med at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, Ryan was pre-law at the University of Washington in Seattle. "I don't know why they didn't just go to school together like Evan and I."

"It's because Ryan couldn't get into Vanderbilt," Evan laughed. "His grades sucked, so he had no shot of getting in."

I shook my head. "Of course not. He spent all high school chasing girls before he realized he was in love with Gisele while she spent all of high school studying before she realized she was in love with Ryan."

"Those two crack me up," Charlotte laughed. "Hey, where's Uncle Edward?"

I gave her a look. "Where do you think he is?"

"Hospital?"

I nodded. "I swear, that's his home and he just visits here every once in a while."

"Well, is he coming here tonight?"

"I told him he better be here for when the twins leave for prom or he's sleeping on the couch for the next few months. I hope I got through to him."

Evan laughed before pulling Charlotte closer to him. When I watched them, it made my heart ache a little bit. They were so in love while I had an absent husband. I was sick of Edward spending all his time at the hospital instead of with me. Once the twins left, I would have no one here. I would have to get a dog or something to keep me company.

"So, what's the plan for you two tonight?" Charlotte asked Olivia and Emily.

"Dinner, than prom, than the beach. Our friend, Maggie, has a cabin at the beach, so we're all going there for the weekend."

"Are your boyfriends coming too?" Evan asked.

"Of course."

I looked at Olivia. "I don't know how I feel about my barely legal daughter going and spending the weekend at the beach with her 21-year-old boyfriend without any parents."

"Mom, chill. It's not like you didn't do worse shit when you were in high school."

"Yeah, Mom," Emily said, joining her sister. Great—I was outnumbered.

"Fine. But if I get any phone calls from police or you two while you're drunk, the Paris deal is off."

"Really? Thank you, Mom!"

I shook my head before turning back to Charlotte and Evan. The rest of the afternoon, we talked about their honeymoon and their plans for the future.

"Well, we just got married, so we're not planning on having kids yet. I mean, we're both really young and just out of college, so I don't see the rush," Evan said.

"I agree," Charlotte said. "I mean, Evan's going to be working full time and I'm going to be in school for my masters. We just don't have time right now."

"Yeah. Plus, look at Cynthia and Seth. They didn't have kids until they had been married for a few years."

"Yeah, neither did Alice and Jasper."

I laughed. "I'm not pressuring you to have kids. I think it's better to wait then to have them right away."

"Yeah. You and Edward waited how long, three days, before getting pregnant after you were married?" Charlotte asked. I threw a napkin at her.

"Hey, I'm still your aunt!"

"Hey, don't you two need to get changed before your boyfriends get here?" Evan asked the twins, who were sitting on the couch watching television.

I checked the clock. "Oh my gosh, he's right! Olivia and Emily, go upstairs and get changed. Everyone is going to be here in 20 minutes! Charlotte and Evan, can you help me get all to food out before their friends arrive?"

"Sure thing, Aunt Bella," Charlotte said, getting up.

"Yeah, it's no problem," Evan said, walking over to the fridge and pulling out the vegetables and dip I made the night before. Charlotte pulled out the plates and cups while I pulled out bowls and poured chips, pretzels, and other snacks into them.

I heard the garage door open and a car pull in. I heard the car door slam and someone walk inside. "Where is my beautiful wife and beautiful daughters?" Edward called into the house.

"In here, baby," I shouted.

Edward walked in and stopped dead. "Charlotte and Evan? What are you doing here?"

Charlotte smiled at him. "Uncle Edward, did you really think I'd miss Olivia and Emily's prom, especially when an impromptu family reunion is involved?" She laughed and threw her arms around the only uncle she had ever known. "Besides, I wanted to see everyone."

Edward smiled. "Good." He shook Evan's hand before coming over and giving me a small kiss on the cheek and stealing a handful of chips in the process. He grabbed a beer and turned on the television to watch whatever game was on.

"Edward, get up and get changed out of your scrubs!" I yelled at him. "Olivia and Emily's friends will be here, along with Alice and Jasper, Leah and Mike, and Seth and Cynthia!"

Charlotte's face fell. "Leah's coming over?"

"Of course," I said. "Why?"

"She hates me," Charlotte said.

"Charlotte, she does not hate you," Evan said, rubbing her shoulders.

"Well, she's mad at me. Ever since she came to visit you at school she won't look me in the eye."

"Well, she's mad at me for that too," Evan said, laughing.

"Wait, what happened?" I asked.

Evan laughed. "My mom came out to Boston to visit me last November."

"Yeah, I remember that. She came back and she wasn't happy when I saw her, but she wouldn't tell me what was wrong. Did you guys prank her or something?"

Charlotte shook her head. "No, it was much worse."

"So what happened?"

"So, she got there in the morning and Evan had given her a key to his apartment so if got there while he was sleeping, she could just come up. In case you didn't know, I used to spend the night at Evan's place a lot. When she came in, she found us in a…compromising position."

"Compromising position?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

"I was kind of on top of him in only my bra."

"Oh good lord," I said, dropping my head in my hands. "Did she seriously catch you guys screwing?"

Both Charlotte's and Evan's cheeks turned bright red. "That's not the worst part," Evan said.

"Oh god, there's more?" I asked.

Evan nodded. "After Charlotte managed to get dressed, my mom was yelling at both of us. She was so mad, I couldn't even understand what she was yelling about. Charlotte, then, decides she has to defend herself. She says, 'Mrs. Newton, I'm not a slut! I'm using birth control and I'm not getting pregnant before I'm married!'"

I gasped. "Charlotte, you didn't!"

"I did," she said. "I didn't mean to, it just slipped out. So now she hates me."

I shook my head. Charlotte knew about Leah's accidental pregnancy , but I couldn't believe she brought that up to Leah."I'm sure she doesn't hate you. She's probably still mad, but she'll get over it. I wouldn't worry about it sweetie."

"Okay, we're coming down!" Olivia shouted from the top of the stairs. I heard heels clicking on the hardwood stairs until both of my daughters walked into the kitchen. Olivia was in a gold glittery gown while Emily had a white gown with a pink bow around the middle. She had also put on hot pink fingerless fishnet gloves to go with the dress. "What do you think?" Olivia asked, spinning around.

"You two will be the hottest girls at prom," Charlotte said. "Your dates won't be able to take their eyes off you."

The doorbell rang.

"Speak of the devils," Edward muttered, going to get the door.

"Edward!" I heard the high voice of one of my best friends. Edward walked in with Alice and Jasper, followed by David, their 17-year-old son. David's blonde hair had darkened over the years into a mess of brown curls. He was the spitting image of Jasper, yet he had Alice's bubbly personality.

"Hey," he said, walking up to Emily and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Cradle robber," Olivia muttered under her breath.

"So what if I am?" Emily retorted, wrapping her arm around David's waist. "Your boyfriend's a bigger cradle robber than me!"

"Touché."

Edward was talking to Jasper, but he was shooting daggers into David's back. I walked over to Edward and took his hand.

"Chill," I whispered in his ear. "Your daughter will never speak to you again if you ruin this night by punching out her date. Actually, I don't think your best friend will speak to you either."

Edward sighed before kissing me on the lips.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen?" came a voice from the front. "The Newton's are here!" Leah and Mike walked in, followed by Bryant, Maribel, Ryan, and Gisele.

"Gigi!" Charlotte called when she saw her baby sister.

"Lola! How was the honeymoon?"

"Fantastic," Charlotte said, pulling her sister away from Ryan and onto the couch. The two of them quickly fell into a conversation while Evan talked to his brother, probably about the Cullen sisters they were in love with.

Bryant went to join Olivia, his girlfriend, while 16-year-old Maribel went over to the kitchen table and started eating. I didn't understand that girl—she was thin as a board, but she had food in her mouth every time I saw her. Her shiny black hair always looked perfect, and her light copper skin made every color look good on her. I knew every boy at her school would die if they had the chance to date her. Too bad for them, she was already in love with someone else. Michael Jonas, the son of Nick Jonas, and her had been dating since the past summer. Mike and Leah would be worried, except for the fact that both of them wore purity rings.

"I see my sister is already here," a voice shouted from the front hall. Cynthia and Seth walked in with their two kids, Steven and Amy. Amy was 8 while Steven was 12. They both went immediately to the food table and started eating.

"Do you not feed your kids or something, Cynthia?" Alice asked. "Every time I see them, they act like they haven't eaten in days."

"Ha ha, shut up," Cynthia said.

After all our "family" had arrived, Olivia and Emily's friends started coming. Maggie and her boyfriend, Jack came first, followed by Taylor and her date, Freddy, with Amanda and her date, Sam, bringing up the rear. "You all look amazing," I said as the three couples entered our house. The six teenagers immediately joined Emily, David, Olivia, and Bryant over at the food table, where Steven and Amy were stuffing their faces.

I looked over and saw Leah was consciously ignoring Charlotte. It was time for me to defend my niece. "Edward," I said loudly to make sure Leah heard. "What do you think of second chances?"

Edward sighed. "You know I think everyone deserves a second chance."

I smiled at him. "Exactly. Everyone makes mistakes." I winked at Charlotte before turning to Leah and giving her a "c'mon" look. She gave me an exacerbated look before going over to Charlotte.

"Grandpa Charlie!" Olivia shrieked as my father walked into the kitchen. She jumped into his arms as he gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

"How's my girlfriend doing?"

"I'm great, Grandpa. How were the boys today?"

"Same as usual, princess." Emily, Charlotte, and Gisele all kissed Charlie after that. Even though he lived in the same town as us, they never saw him because he was always at the station. Charlie was in his sixties, yet he still worked Monday thru Friday, then flew up to Forks on the weekend to go fishing with Billy Black. Some habits never changed, no matter where you lived.

Carlisle and Esme walked in next, both smiling. They gave me and Edward a kiss before greeting all their granddaughters.

"Okay, picture time!" Alice called, holding a camera over her head.

"Mom," David moaned, "You promised not to be embarrassing."

"David, we need to get pictures! Now be quiet and go stand with Emily so I can get a good portrait!"

David sighed before taking Emily's hand and pulling her close to him. For the next half an hour, we all took pictures of the ten kids while they moaned and groaned. When we were finally done, they waved goodbye as the climbed in the limo and headed to their prom.

"I can't believe they're actually going to prom," Edward said, taking a seat on the couch.

"I know," I said, snuggling next to him. After the girls had left, we had dinner with everyone. I cooked, of course. After that, everyone left, and Edward and I had the house to ourselves for the first time in 18 years. "Can you believe we actually have time to ourselves?"

"I know," he said.

"Edward, I wanted to talk to you about—"

Beep, beep, beep.

Edward looked at his pager. "Oh, shoot, I have to take this, Bells. Just give me a minute." He jumped off the couch and ran over to the phone while I sighed. Work, work, work, That was all Edward ever thought about. There used to be a time when I could make him drop everything and bend to my will. Like that time on the island…

I ran upstairs and went into Edward's closet, grabbing the few things I needed. I changed out of my clothes and put on the familiar ensemble—I knew Edward couldn't say no when I wore this. I walked downstairs and peeked into the family room. Edward was sitting on the couch, talking in his phone and writing something on one of his charts.

I tousled my hair before I picked up the remote and pressed play.

Let's go girls.

Edward dropped his pen when the familiar music started and I started dancing in front of him, wearing only a suit shirt, a tie, and his favorite hat.

"Uh, I'll have to call you back, Jim," he said before hanging up his phone. I danced around and stripped until I was in Edward's favorite set of blue lingerie. He stood up, lifted me off my feet and carried me upstairs to our bedroom.

********

When I woke up, I was in our bed and my lingerie was on the ground, ripped to shreds. Edward was asleep next to me. I kissed him on the cheek to wake him up. He opened his eyes and looked at me. "We need to talk about Paris," I said.

"Bella, I don't want our two barely-legal daughters spending an entire summer in Paris unsupervised.

I sighed. "Edward, if they're in Paris, we'll have the whole house to ourselves for the summer. Charlotte is off enjoying married life, Gisele will be in Tennessee, taking summer classes, and the girls will be in Europe. Think of all we could do with no one else here.

Edward rolled on top of me, kissing me.

"I take that as a yes?" I asked when his lips finally left mine.

"Well, you always had a way with words," he said, his arm snaking around my waist.

I rested my head on his chest. "I love you," I said suddenly.

"I know. I love you too, and I always will."

I laid in bed, thinking about the island. As much as I hated that place, it was the reason I had the life I did. If we had never crashed there, I would never have met Edward, Alice, or any of my other closest friends. I would have ended up marrying Jacob, and I wouldn't be as happy as I was at this very moment.

"You know what?" I said.

"What?" Edward asked.

"It's funny. If I had never gone with Jacob to Japan, I would never have met you."

"I know. And if Tanya had never cheated on me, I would have never met you."

"Life is full of funny little things like that, isn't it?" I asked.

"Sure is."

It's over! I want to cry! Thank you so so much for reading this. I love all my reviewers and readers. I'm going to have another story coming soon, so feel free to read it. You can check out the pictures of Olivia and Emily's dresses in my profile, along with pictures of what I imagine all the kids looking like.