A/N: Wow! So today's finally the day I'm posting the last part of the main story. I want to thank all of you who were along for the ride. Thanks for all the reviews and your support through this whole journey.

As always, I have to shout out a loud Thank You to my betas evelyn-shaye and EdwardsMate4ever for their great help as well as my pre-readers Vampgirl79 and LaPumuckl for their contunuing support.

Anyway, I don't want to ramble here. Instead, I'll give you a longer A/N in the end.

Disclaimer: Although this story is almost finished, Twilight's still not mine.

******POMH******

Epilogue – Part III

"You look so beautiful." Edward admired me in my wedding gown, glancing from head to toe and back up again, before his lips captured mine.

I grabbed the knot of his tie, loosening it, then tugging it off of him. After that, my hands slid under his jacket, easing it off his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. As soon as that was out of the way, I started unbuttoning his vest.

Edward chuckled against my neck. "Hmmm, someone's eager, huh?"

"I just want to see what's mine now," I answered playfully, stripping him of his vest.

His hands ghosted down my back, taking hold of the zipper, and slowly started to pull it down.

"Then I think turnabout's fair play, don't you agree?" he asked in a sultry voice.

My dress was completely unzipped, and I felt a light breeze on my back. Carefully, Edward took the wide straps on my shoulders and slid them off. At once, my dress fell to the floor, leaving me only in my lingerie. He took a step back to get a better look at me. I stepped out of the fabric that had pooled around my feet, giving him a perfect view of my white lace strapless bra, matching boy shorts and nude-colored stockings with white lace at the top.

"So fucking beautiful!" Edward whispered hoarsely. "And all mine. Forever!" He wrapped his arm around my waist, drawing me close again.

In between languid kisses, I unbuttoned his shirt and stripped off everything but his black boxer briefs. Placing my palms on his chest, I slowly pushed him toward the bed, taking an admiring look at what was mine from now on, and made him sit down on the mattress. Edward smirked up at me as I stood between his legs. He placed his hands lightly on my ass and pulled me close enough to shower the skin around my bellybutton with sweet little kisses. My fingers wove themselves through his hair, my nails tenderly scratching his scalp. The sensation made him moan against my stomach as his kisses turned into licks and little bites. Then I was the one to make noises of pleasure. Slowly, his hands moved up my back to unhook my bra.

"Mine!" Edward growled as he stretched himself to take a nipple into his mouth, flicking it with his tongue.

I concentrated on his teeth nibbling my sensitive nub while his hand pinched its twin. "Ohhh!" I breathed out as I felt a gush of moistness between my legs.

When I was almost ready to come, Edward's mouth changed sides and showered my other breast with the same attention he'd shown the first one. At the same time, his hands moved down my sides and two fingers hooked into the waistband of my panties. Slowly and carefully, he slid the piece of lace down, uncovering the puzzle-heart tattoo that sat just below the top of my hipbone on the right side of my lower abdomen. Just like every time, his lips curled up into a smile when he laid eyes on the symbol of us on my skin. Although it was still hidden inside his boxers, my eyes wandered to the spot where Edward had the missing piece of the puzzle tattooed.

When my panties were out of the way, Edward's fingers began to lovingly trace the outlines of the dark red and black ink. "I love you, baby," he whispered as he looked up, his eyes locking with mine.

"I love you more than anything!" I answered with all the conviction I felt.

Seemingly overwhelmed with emotion, he stood up and kissed me hard, one hand at my neck, the other one at the small of my back, holding me close to him. While our tongues were stroking each other demandingly, Edward turned us around until I felt the mattress at the back of my thighs.

"Lie down on the bed," he instructed me a little breathlessly.

Like always, I followed his instructions and sat down on the bed, then scooted back until I was right in the middle before I lay down. With a devious smirk, Edward crawled onto the mattress until he sat up on his knees between my parted legs. His skillful fingers quickly removed my right stocking. Keeping the nylon piece in his hands, he leaned down to me, kissing my lips. I wasn't sure what was going on until I felt him wrap the stocking around my right wrist, securing it with a knot. Then he pulled my arm up and tied the end of the stocking to the wooden bars of the headboard.

He didn't give me much time to think about what was happening when he kissed a wet line from my neck, down the center of my chest, and over my belly button while stripping me off the other stocking. Just like the first one, he tied it around my other wrist and secured it over my head.

Then he climbed off the bed, searched around the discarded clothes on the floor until he seemed to have found what he was looking for.

"Lift your head," he said huskily when he was back, holding his emerald neck tie.

I bit my lip, unsure of what was to come, but did as I was told. He wound the silk blindfold around my eyes, knotting it at the side.

Goosebumps spread allover my body in anticipation of what Edward would do to me.

"I'll be back," he told me before I heard undefinable noises coming from the living-room part of our suite.

Then the music changed from romantically sweet as we'd listened to the whole evening to more sensual and sexy tunes. Before I could come up with many scenarios of what might happen, Edward was back, putting something beside the bed.

"Relax. Let me make you feel good," he whispered right next to my ear. His warm breath made me shudder with arousal.

It didn't take long before something soft and delicate touched my left wrist. Very slowly, it traveled down the inside of my arm, creating a wonderfully stimulating, tingling sensation. Without thinking about it, I started humming in pleasure.

After whatever it was reached my shoulder, it was moved further down until it started to circle my nipple.

"Hmmm, you seem to like that," Edward purred when my bud pebbled instantly.

Before I knew it, the item was lifted from my skin and it started to brush right over my sensitive little peak. I couldn't hold back the moan that wanted out.

"Yeah, you really love this, huh?" He chuckled lowly.

When I was getting really worked up, the thing left my skin, and a little later, I felt it at my right wrist. Edward repeated the exact same movements he'd made on my left side. Within minutes, I was moaning again when my right nipple was teased deliciously.

Again, just as I was almost going insane, the thing left. Seconds later, I felt it on my forehead, moving down over the ridge of my nose. When it met my nostrils, I smiled, finally recognizing that Edward had caressed me with a rose.

"Its color looks so beautiful against your creamy skin," Edward whispered as he licked up my neck.

I heard a few sloshing noises and winced when, a moment later, drops of cold water hit the valley between my breasts.

"You're so hot, baby, I think I have to cool you down a bit." He chuckled as his hot tongue licked the liquid from my skin.

Then I was stung by something ice-cold touching my nipple, and I moaned loudly as my upper body arched back, trying to get away from the freezing thing.

"I love it when your nipples are hard like that," I heard Edward's sexy voice say while he circled an ice cube around the tip of my left breast. Then I felt his tongue teasing my taut flesh. He sucked my frozen skin into his burning mouth, and I was close to coming undone. He bit and nibbled and sucked relentlessly but just before the coil deep down could actually snap, he was gone — starting to freeze my other nipple.

When he was satisfied with the way he had worked my other side, his lips were on mine again. He lowered himself down onto me and when he rested his hips between my legs, I could feel that his boxer briefs were gone. I gasped feeling his erection touch my needy clit.

His hands went up and undid the ties around my wrists, bringing my hands down again with them. I rested them on his strong shoulders as I felt him position himself at my entrance. Then the blindfold was pulled away. As I opened my eyes, I found Edward's intense green eyes stare into mine with all the love in them flowing over to me.

"I want to look into your eyes when I make you mine, once and for all, Mrs. Cullen." With those words, he slowly slid himself inside my ready center.

Even though the feeling was overwhelming, neither of us looked away. Our eyes were locked with each other when Edward started to move in and out of me in a torturously slow pace.

We'd had sex with each other probably a thousand times by now, but it had never been like this. We always had this incredible connection, even the very first time when we hadn't even known each other. But that night, after promising to love each other forever, it was like we were actually becoming one.

We clung to each other, sharing long deep kisses, while Edward thrust his hips against mine, each time creating an even more delicious sensation than the time before. I felt like I was floating freely, the only thing securing me to the earth was Edward.

We made love like that for a very long time, kissing and caressing, the intensity building with each thrust, until it was too much, and I came violently around him, screaming out his name while my eyes never left his. As soon as I clamped down on his cock, I felt him coming undone. He slammed into me erratically until he shouted my name and spilled his warm seed deep inside me.

Instead of taking the time to catch our breath, Edward kissed my lips tenderly, whispering, "I love you!"

In a rush of emotion, tears spilled from my eyes and I answered, "I love you, too, so much!" in between sobs. But they weren't sad tears. We both smiled at each other, knowing that we'd just strengthened the bond we had formed earlier that night.

****POMH****

"Hmmm," I moaned when I sunk my teeth into the strawberry Edward was feeding me. The sweet juice of the fruit poured into my awaiting mouth. Around us, the jets of the jacuzzi created big banks of bubbles.

"Baby, you know what those noises you make do to me, right? I thought we were in here to take a little time-out." Edward flashed me his lopsided smile, his eyes filled with lust.

It was unbelievable. We'd been married for almost twenty-four hours, and that whole time had been spent between the silk sheets, except for short visits to the bathroom. And sleep had not really been part of our activities. So, a little break was definitely needed.

Edward had prepared us a bubble bath with champagne and strawberries. The room was lit by dozens of candles. Everything, from his proposal to the wedding to the celebration afterward, had been perfect and just us. I loved this time we had alone together. But tomorrow, we would return to Chicago. I was definitely looking forward to seeing Edward's family — no, our family. After all, I was a Cullen now, too, although no one would know any time soon. We would stay at Edward's parents' house, as always, and we would meet little Henry.

I'd promised to be at Alice's beck and call from tomorrow until the wedding. I sighed, knowing that my best friend would probably find a lot for me to do.

"What's up, baby?" Edward asked upon hearing my sigh.

I took my husband's hand and started playing with his fingers. "I'm not ready to share you with the rest of the world again," I explained sadly.

A soft chuckle escaped his throat, and he gripped my other hand with his free one.

"Are we a wee bit possessive, Mrs. Cullen?" he teased with sparkling eyes.

"Maybe a bit, yeah," I admitted, but that wasn't really it. "I'm not ready to leave and be Bella Swan again, even if it's only for a while." I blushed a little when I added, "You know, I like being Mrs. Cullen."

"You don't have to go back to being Bella Swan," he suggested, curling his finger under my chin to lift my face up to look at him. "We can just tell everyone that we got married, and they have to deal with it. It's our life, not theirs." Edward's hand tenderly stroked my cheek.

"I know we can do that. But I think we should stick with the original plan of having a second wedding and keep all this here to ourselves." I smiled and huffed in amusement. "Alice would blow a gasket if we told her we got married before they do. She had to wait eight years for Jasper to propose, and we got married after just one. And I don't want to steal her thunder. If we announced our marriage this week, it would cast a shadow over their wedding. Even if it's a happy one, I want Alice to have the spotlight all to herself."

"Like I said two days ago, we'll do it whichever way you want." Edward's expression turned mischievous and his eyes darkened. "The upside is, we can have more of that wild and dirty unmarried sex for a while."

I laughed at his enthusiasm when he swam over to me and started to kiss me thoroughly. "That's definitely a good thing. Bring it on, baby."

****POMH****

I was standing by the window in our hotel suite. Edward had just tipped the bellboy who'd picked up our luggage before he walked over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling my back against his chest.

"Ready to leave, baby?" he asked with a kiss to my neck.

I'd been staring at the third finger of my left hand, where both Edward's rings were sparkling as the sunlight met them.

"Not really, no," I answered sadly, as I took his left hand with my right one. "We still have to take these off before someone sees them in Chicago." Instead of just pulling them off, I continued looking at our wedding band.

"You sure? You don't seem happy about it," Edward questioned with concern in his voice.

I sighed, blinking away the uninvited tears. "Yeah, I'm sure. It won't be forever." Pulling myself together, I slowly slid the golden band off my finger, turned around to face Edward and held it out to him. "Will you watch it until you put it back where it belongs?" I asked, looking at him with moist eyes.

He smiled at me lovingly and shook his head. "No, you keep it. It's yours, and I want you to be able to wear it whenever you feel like it. We're married. It doesn't matter if we're wearing these rings or not. You're always my wife." He kissed my lips tenderly before he pulled me into a tight embrace.

After a moment, we broke apart and Edward took my left hand, stroking the engagement ring that was still there. "You're keeping this on?" His tone was hopeful.

I smiled happily. "Yeah. We can be engaged. Alice can take that. If not, she just has to suck it up. I'm never going to take that off. And once the other one's back in place, they'll have to take it off my cold dead finger."

"I love you, Mrs. Cullen," Edward stated with a kiss to my lips.

"I love you too, Mr. Cullen," I answered with conviction.

****POMH****

A few hours later, we walked into Emmett and Rosalie's living room where the whole Cullen family plus Alice and Jasper were gathered. I hadn't even completely crossed the threshold when Alice came running toward me, squealing, "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! You got engaged!" She grabbed my hand and admired the ring before she even greeted me.

I didn't know how she did that. She'd been standing at the other end of the room, and the ring was rather small and discreet. But she'd spotted it the minute she laid eyes on me.

"Congratulations, honey. I'm so happy for you." She let go of my hand and hugged me like a madwoman.

Then she let go of me and kind of jumped at Edward to wrap her arms around his neck, repeating her words of felicitation.

All of a sudden, we were surrounded by everyone in the room. One after the other, Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie with baby Henry in her arms hugged us and wished us all the best.

Edward and I just smiled at each other knowingly. Of course, we had to tell the story of the proposal, and we told it just the way it actually happened. We just kept the second part of it to ourselves. Everyone was moved by Edward's choice of location, and the men clapped his shoulder for doing the right thing.

We toasted and had lunch, and I was happy to be with the family again. From the first time I'd met the Cullens, I'd felt like one of them. Now I finally was, even if only Edward and I knew.

After helping Rosalie clean up the kitchen, I walked back into the living room, and found Edward standing by the French doors, holding baby Henry in his arms. I couldn't actually hear what he was saying, but it was clear that he was having quite a conversation with his little nephew. His face was so animated that I couldn't help but smile at the picture.

It was strange, but seeing him with the baby in his arms made me ache for a baby of our own. I hadn't been sure I was ready when we'd had our talk a month ago. I had agreed and I was excited, but still, I had hoped we would have a little more time before we'd actually become parents. Now, with Edward all fatherly in front of me, I knew that, even if by the end of the three-month pill-break I wouldn't be pregnant, I didn't want to go back to using birth control. I wanted a baby.

I felt myself smile at the realization. I wanted to be a mom. I longed to have a child of my own. If it was up to me, then, by this time next year, it would be our baby Edward would be rocking to sleep. A strange feeling of peace washed over me as if everything was right in the world for once.

Just then, Edward turned around and found me gazing dreamily at the two of them. He flashed me a brilliant smile and gestured with his head for me to come over and join them.

****POMH****

The next morning, I woke up to the same feeling I'd had the days before. Every day since we'd gotten married, there had been a strange queasiness in the pit of my stomach. Previously, it had slowly subsided about half an hour after I'd left the bed.

Just like each morning, my bladder was urging me to get up and relieve myself. So, I cautiously freed myself from Edward's embrace, careful not to wake him up. I snuck into the bathroom and did my business, then went to brush my teeth. As soon as I put the toothpaste on my toothbrush, my nausea intensified hundredfold and I dashed for the toilet, retching up the contents of my stomach. It took me about twenty seconds until everything was out and my breathing slowly returned to normal.

I shook my head, hoping Edward hadn't heard me. If it had been the first time I'd vomited this week, I might have considered it normal. But the queasiness every morning for the last three days combined with an enhanced sensitivity of my breasts I had noticed recently, made me think about other reasons for what was going on.

This time, I managed to brush my teeth without throwing up again, although my stomach started to churn dangerously. I took a few deep breaths and joined Edward in bed again.

"Hmmm, you're back. I was about to send a search party into the bathroom." He pulled me close to him and caressed my nose with his. "And you already brushed your teeth."

"Yeah, I thought you'd like that," I offered before he could ask for the reason.

"Nice. We're alone in the house right now. How about a little mornin' lovin'?" He rolled on top of me and, all of a sudden, my nausea was forgotten.

****POMH****

It was the morning of Alice and Jasper's wedding. As was the norm now, I was awakened by my churning stomach. My eyes flew open in panic when I already tasted the first traces of acid in my mouth. I wiggled out of Edward's arms as carefully but at the same time as quickly as I could, then ran for the toilet at maximum speed, closing the door behind me on the way. From day to day, throwing up had taken a bit longer. This time, it was about five minutes before I felt good enough to get up. I brushed my teeth with my new toothpaste that smelled nothing like the old one and my stomach seemed to agree with that.

As I rinsed my mouth, my gaze fell on the little brown bag that I'd put in my toiletry bag last night. The morning before, when Edward had been taking a shower, I had dared to take a look at my calendar and was surprised to find that it had already been four weeks since I'd stopped taking the pill, and I hadn't had my period once. I'd furrowed my brows, puzzled that I hadn't noticed that any sooner, but it was what it was. And with my period being definitely very late, my throwing up and the sensitive breasts, it was high time to take a test. So, last night, on my way back from the hotel the wedding would be held at, I'd stopped at a drug store.

I'd hidden the bag from Edward's curious eyes because I didn't want to get his hopes up in vain. I'd managed to keep my throwing up a secret until then, but I wasn't sure how much longer I had until he noticed. I tiptoed to the door, opened it slowly and noiselessly to check if Edward was still asleep. He was lying in bed, his back turned to me, snoring softly.

Quietly, I closed the door again and locked it. With unsteady fingers, I took the baby blue package out of the brown bag and took it with me to the toilet. I did what the instructions on the pack said. Then I had to wait four minutes.

****POMH****

"Bella, I can't believe I'm getting married in a few minutes," Alice told me as I straightened her veil and draped it correctly down her back. "Eight years and today's the day."

I smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She was looking beautiful in her ivory-colored, lacy mermaid dress. Her veil was attached to the back of her head and fell down to her hips. It had taken her months to find that dress, but it suited her perfectly.

"It'll be all the more special because you had to wait so long," I assured her.

She made a few three-sixty turns to look at herself again before she stopped, facing me.

"And you'll be next! We'll make your wedding so perfect." She jumped up and down with excitement as the door opened and my husband stuck his head in. "Is the bride ready?" he asked, smiling at me.

"Yeah, she is," Alice beamed at him. "Let's get the party started."

Edward nodded, mouthing "See you later" to me, and left again.

"Let's go then and make you Mrs. Whitlock." I handed Alice her bouquet, and we went to wait at the entrance to the grand ballroom.

After all the other bridesmaids had walked inside, it was my time, as the maid of honor, to walk down the aisle. It felt so familiar to make that journey, although it was so different from the day I'd walked toward my husband, wearing a beautiful white gown. We hadn't had a ballroom and we hadn't had the hundreds of guests that were present now, but just like a week ago, all I could see while putting one foot in front of the other was the love of my life standing between his friend and his brother as Jasper's best man. His eyes were twinkling as he watched me in my purple dress. Surely he was thinking about our own wedding just like I was.

As I stepped to the left to take my place, he mouthed "I love you" and I mouthed it back, smiling blissfully.

Then the doors opened again and Alice had her big entrance on her father's arm.

****POMH****

"When do you think we should throw our little shindig? Do you want to pretend a May-wedding or would you prefer to do it next summer?" Edward asked me while caressing the shell of my ear when we were dancing later that evening. The song was neither fast nor slow, and the dance floor was filled with couples swaying to the music.

The bride and groom had left a few minutes earlier to catch their plane to Barbados. And I was glad the party would soon be coming to a close.

"They'll all be expecting us to set a date, soon," Edward continued as his lips kissed down my neck, making goose bumps appear all over my skin.

I bit my lip to hide the smile that was about to spread from ear to ear across my face. "Your suggestions might all be a little too late. I think we'll have to change our plans about that and tell everyone the truth," I murmured, resting my head against Edward's shoulder.

"What, don't you want to do the big wedding thing anymore?" He sounded amused.

I waited a moment until I thought I was able to say the next part without giggling. "Well, that's not really it. It's just that I don't think Chief Swan would react well to his first grandchild being born out of wedlock." I stayed silent after the words were out, waiting for my message to sink in.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, are you saying that …" Edward pulled away just enough to look into my eyes. His brows were raised in question while the corners of his mouth were curled up in happy excitement.

"I'm pregnant." I nodded my head in confirmation, smiling joyfully.

He hugged me tighter and lifted my feet off the ground to whirl me around a few times. I laughed loudly, knowing that Edward was as blissful as I was.

"How long have you known?" he asked as he sat me on my feet again.

"I've suspected it since Wednesday. When I threw up the morning of our wedding, I first thought it was out of nervousness. But I've been nauseous each morning since that. Then, from Wednesday on, I've been throwing up each morning. So, today, I took a test. We're having a baby." Edward clutched me close to him, kissing the top of my head.

"Well, Mrs Cullen, then I think it's a good thing that we're already married." He started to spin us around again until I was dizzy. "So, what's the plan now?" he asked while I was trying to regain my balance.

I looked over to the table where Sue and Charlie were sitting with Esme and Carlisle, and just then, Rose and Emmett joined them.

"Well, apart from Alice and Jasper, all the important people are here." I motioned to the table where the Cullens and Swans were sitting together. "We could seize the opportunity that, for once, they're all in the same room and just tell them."

I bit my lip a little nervously, waiting for Edward's answer.

"Do you have your ring with you?" he asked with a grave expression.

I furrowed my brows, stating, "I always have it with me."

"Then give it to me," he insisted.

I slipped my hand inside my bra and pulled my wedding ring out of its hiding place before I laid it in Edward's open palm.

Ceremoniously, he took my left hand and slid the gold band into the place where it belonged. It felt so good to finally wear it again.

Then he gave me the ring he'd been carrying around in his wallet, and I put it back on his finger.

"From now on, these are going to stay," he told me, smiling while holding my hand.

I only whispered one word in reply: "Always!"

"Always!" he agreed happily.

We shared a loving kiss, took a deep breath, and with joined hands, we made our way to tell our family — to finally let the world know we were husband and wife.

********The End********

A/N: *sniff, sniff* So this is it. I can't believe I finished my first story. This has been such an amazing ride and I'm overwhelmed how many of you jumped on and stayed with me through the angst until Bella and Edward got their very happy end. I want to thank all of you who reviewed, followed and favorited or recommended my story somewhere. I love each and every one of you.

A special thanks goes to Project Team Beta and my wonderful betas EdwardsMate4ever and evelyn-shaye who challenged me constantly and made my writing so much better. I love you ladies and I'm so glad I met you.

There are two other people who were by my side through it all: My dear friend Vampgirl79, without whom I probably wouldn't have started writing POMH, and LaPumuckl who, in the course of the story, turned out to be an invaluable help and great friend. I'm glad I found all of you and hope we won't drift apart now that POMH is coming to an end.

Well, after posting this, I'm finally going to hit complete. There are still one or two possible outtakes I might post later, but the main story is told. So, don't be surprised if you get an alert a few weeks from now.

Due to a family gathering this weekend, it might take some time before I get to answer your reviews. So, don't think I forgot you if you don't get a reply before next week. As usual, I will answer everyone who's logged in and didn't disable PM's.

I have good news, too. I started working on a new story. I can't tell you when it's going to go online yet, but I'm on it and hope I won't have to make you wait for too long. So, put me on author's alert if you're interested.

Until then, I'm going to miss you all very much. Maybe you'll say hello in my group on FB called Payton79's Fanfiction. There I'll keep you up-to-date about the progress the new story makes. There's also a picture of Bella's bridesmaid's dress.

I hope to hear from you all again soon.

Take care!

Silke