[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] *hides nervously behind her laptop*

It's sad but true, this chapter is going to be the last one for WTHN. Everything has to end and although the idea is pretty tempting to drag things out until…well maybe until Lilly has finished High School, I feel like the girls deserve their little happily ever after now.

**Chapter 106**

I cringed slightly when I saw the reflection in the mirror staring back at me.

Like a fucking whale ready to explode, I thought sourly, running my hands over the rounded middle. The baby kicked against my fingers and somehow although I found myself clearly way too big I was still thrilled about the reason why I was looking this way right now.

"Just two more weeks, little nudger," I whispered softly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. My feet although I hadn't seen much of them in the last month were so swollen that every single step on them hurt like crap.

A knock on the bedroom door made me cringe slightly and when Benjamin stuck his head inside I felt like throwing something against his head.

"Are you planning on going to Ali's fashion show like that? Or are you going to get dressed properly?"

"It's impossible to get dressed properly, if you have boobs that could get their own postal code and an ass the size of a small country."

He chuckled and sat down next to on the bed.

"I think that my sister likes your boobs a great deal the way they are now."

"Thanks, now I feel better, but to come back to appropriate clothes for attending the fashion show…,"

"None of the stuff you have inside your closet is going to work. Your taste in clothes is horrible and it's a shame that Ali's great sense of that isn't rubbing off on you one tiny bit."

"I'm going to embarrass her when I show up there looking like crap. Maybe I shouldn't go there at all."

"You're definitely going there. It would break my sister's heart if you didn't show up there. She worked her ass off in the last weeks to get everything going."

"I know," I mumbled, taking a deep breath while I tried to ignore the throbbing pain in my lower back. It would probably go away if I just tried hard enough to ignore it.

"This whole fashion thing means so much to her and on the other hand she's with me…and I don't belong into this world."

"But you belong with her," he stated, loosening the purple colored tie around his neck a bit.

The doorbell rang downstairs and he volunteered to go down and open it for me.

When he returned a few moments later he was holding a huge box in his hands.

"What's that? Did your father order something for the baby again without telling us?"

He smirked and shook his head.

"I'm going to pick up Ela and my dad now. Do me a favor and try to be dressed when I return here."

"It's not that easy getting dressed when you have nothing to wear." I stated, pressing my hand against my spine. Crap, why didn't the pain go away?

He walked out of the room and I closed my eyes for a moment, trying my best to ignore the unpleasant cramps inside of me.

My eyes caught the small cream-colored envelope that was adjusted on top of the box. Quickly I flipped it open to read the note that was written inside of it.

Bella,

The dress inside the box is the best thing I've ever designed and I want no one else to wear it for me than you.

Thank you for believing in me, in us

Always yours,

Ali

XXXX

"Jeez, how many people are here?" Jasmine asked Zafrina who was nibbling on a tiny little piece of cracker with some black crumbly stuff on it that smelled disgustingly of fish.

"About a hundred, I guess. Didyme invited everyone she knows or wants to know and that's quite a handful."

"Hmm,"

I hadn't seen Ali yet, she was still too busy trying to fix the rest of the clothes on the models who were going to present them later on.

"Miss Penthes! Such a pleasure to see you here," A brown-haired, middle aged woman whose wrinkle-less face didn't exactly match her hands greeted her cheerfully.

"The pleasure is on my side. Are you enjoying the show so far?"

"It's lovely. Enjoy the evening." She whispered before she turned around and disappeared in the crowd.

"Who was that?" Jasmine asked her, running her fingertips up and down the exposed skin on her girlfriend's neck.

"Just a client,"

"She seemed to like you."

"Most of all she likes the monthly $ 6000 I made her ex-husband sent to her house for the last twenty years."

I leaned back against a wall behind me, and the cold felt pleasantly smoothing on my aching back. Damn it; why, in heaven's name, didn't that stop?

"Are you okay, Bella?" Zafrina asked me worriedly, when I slowly sat down on the ground, my knees suddenly feeling too weak to remain standing.

"It's okay, just a bit dizzy that's all."

"You've still not learned how to tell a proper lie, Bella." Jasmine stated, kneeling down next to me to check my pulse.

"I could search for Carlisle and let him take a look at you." Zafrina suggested sitting down in front of me with a worried expression on her face.

"No, please, don't do that. I don't want to ruin the evening for Ali. She has worked so hard for this."

"Kay, if that's what you want. Maybe we should just sit here for a while until your dizziness gets better."

"Hmm,"

I took a few deep breaths and after a couple of minutes the painful cramps seemed to disappear almost completely.

"I wouldn't want to divorce you, gorgeous." Jasmine mumbled, twisting a curl of her honey-blonde hair around her fingers.

"That seems like a guaranty to a financial disaster."

"I only make sure my clients get what they deserve and just for the record, Miss Whitlock; you have to get married first before you can get divorced."

"Okay, just in theory, if I asked you to marry me would you say yes to that?"

"In theory…no, definitely not,"

"Why? Don't you love me enough?"

"I said in theory, cowgirl. And what kind of crappy proposal is this supposed to be anyway? Where are the flowers and the tiny turquoise box from Tiffany's?"

Jasmine chuckled and planted a kiss on Zafrina's mouth.

"What are you doing down there?" Angela asked me, when she and Benjamin were standing directly in front of me.

"We're protesting against the exploitation of women in the fashion industry," Jasmine stated, forcing her face to remain a calm mask. It didn't really work and a heartbeat later she burst out into laughter.

Slowly I stood from the ground again and a sharp pain, much stronger than the previous ones went through my entire lower body. Something wet poured down my inner thighs, landing on a small puddle right underneath me.

"Crap," I croaked, trying my best to catch my breath again.

Angela wrapped one arm around my shoulder and helped me to remain standing.

"Benjamin, get Carlisle here as soon as you can." she instructed while Zafrina and Jasmine exchanged a worried look that didn't make me feel one tiny bit better.

"Crap, crap, crap. Why did this have to happen today? Couldn't it wait up until…tomorrow at least?"

"I'm not an expert, but I don't think you can plan those kinds of things exactly." Zafrina stated, making me sit down on the ground again.

"Isn't it better if she keeps standing?" Jasmine asked her, nibbling nervously on her lower lip.

"Isn't it better if people who have zero clues about birthing babies keep their suggestions to themselves?" Angela mumbled, kneeling down next to me on the ground.

"Ali," I whispered so low that my voice was barely audible.

"I need Ali."

Jasmine disappeared through a small door at the other end of the wall and I inhaled sharply through my teeth when a fresh wave of pain rushed through me.

"Bella, are you okay?" Carlisle's voice made me look up and I forced my mouth into the weak attempt of a smile.

"It hurts," I murmured towards the ground.

"I've heard that's normal, so no need to worry. We should bring you to the hospital now unlike you prefer giving birth to the baby right here."

"Home," I stumbled out.

"We want a homebirth. I hate hospitals."

He chuckled and wrapped his hand around my wrist in order to check my pulse.

"In which time-lag are they coming?"

"I don't know. It feels like…the pain is there all the time."

"Hmm,"

Another cramp went through me, making my legs tremble for several moments until it finally subsided a tiny bit.

"Bella! Oh, Bella, honey I'm here now!" Ali called out, wrapping her arms around me tightly that I couldn't breathe for a moment.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered exhausted, while she started planting several kisses all over my knuckles.

"I ruined your event and on top of all I ruined the beautiful dress you made for me when my waters broke."

She shook her head and cupped my face between her dainty hands to nudge her lips against the tip of my nose.

"Don't worry. Didyme says that the clothes are practically going to sell themselves and as for your ruined dress. I promise to make you a new one, lots of new ones, but at first we should probably bring the little nudger into this world."

XXXX

I squeezed the fingers of her hand so tightly that I wondered if I could accidentally break them with that. Damn it, it still hurt like crap and it was getting difficult for me to keep up the cheerful expression on my face. If I screamed now, it would definitely frighten my beautiful wife who was sitting on the edge of my hospital bed.

"Do you want some more ice?" she asked me, wiping my sweaty forehead with a wet towel before she stared kneading the tensed muscles in my shoulders.

"Unless there is some morphine or any kind of other painkiller frozen in those ice cubs, I'm not interested."

"How are we doing?" Dr. O'Hara greeted me cheerfully when she entered the room.

"Can you give her something against the pain? She's trying to keep up a brave face for me but I know that she's hurting."

"Hmm,"

She parted my legs and examined me silently for a few moments before she raised her head again.

"It's too late to give her anything now. The baby would probably be born before it would start to show any kind of effect."

I took a deep breath and tried to hold back tears from rolling down my cheeks.

"Mrs. Swan, if I tell you to start pushing, you'll do it; looks, like the baby is a bit impatiently to be born."

Ali sat down behind me and twisted my damp hair into a messy knot before she planted a kiss on the overheated skin of my neck.

"We're going to have a baby," she whispered, pulling me against her body.

Slowly I turned my head to her and kissed her mouth very lightly.

"I know, isn't that like a little miracle?"

"Better, miracles don't happen in real life but this does and I'm so…so,"

"Now, Mrs. Swan, try to push as hard as you can."

I obeyed instantly but stopped abruptly when a sharp pain rushed through me, stronger than any of the others I had felt during the last hours.

"Again," Dr. O'Hara instructed calmly.

"I can't," I whispered, feeling the tears starting to burn in the corners of my eyes.

"Oh you can, Bella. Everything will soon be over and then we'll finally have our little baby girl here with us."

I nodded my head, unable to bring out any reasonable words now and pushed again. Once, twice, a third time, after that I stopped counting.

How long could this last? Was that normal to take this long or did this mean I was having complications? A short memory of Lilly's emergency caesarian birth came to my mind, sending an instant shiver of fear down my spine.

Someone whimpered and groaned and it took me a few moments to realize that those sounds were coming out of my own mouth.

"One more time, honey, just one more time, I know you can do it."

I closed my eyes, feeling several fresh tears running down my cheekbones and then finally, finally a low scream reached my ear, followed by a second one much louder than the first and my eyes fell open.

The midwife cleaned the screaming newborn a bit before she wrapped the little girl in a fluffy pink blanket in order to hand her to me.

"No," I croaked out, my voice coming out like a hoarsely whisper.

"Give her to Ali first. She's her mother too."

The woman raised one eyebrow but did like I told her and placed the tiny infant in Ali's arms.

She sobbed and rested her cheek against my forehead for a moment before she turned her entire attention to the screaming little girl in front of her.

"Hi little baby, I'm your momma."

The baby stopped screaming and gurgled when Ali gently moved her fingertip over the damp curls on the baby's head.

"She has your hair," she stated happily, planting a kiss on my trembling lips.

"A pretty little girl," Dr. O'Hara murmured when she continued writing down some notes on a tablet.

"Have you already decided how you want to name her?"

I nodded my head and wrapped my arms around Ali's shoulder to pull her and the little one closer to me.

"Yes we have. Her name is going to be Zoe Grace."

"That's a pretty name."

She cleared her throat and checked my pulse for a last time.

"I give the three of you some privacy now."

And with that she was gone and for a long moment none of us spoke. It didn't seem necessary to us to fill the silence with words. Or maybe it was because we didn't have any words to express what we were feeling right now.

Ali planted a kiss on each of the tiny fingertips of our daughter before she handed the baby to me.

"Hi, little Zoe," I whispered, while the little hand closed around my forefinger with way more force than you would expect from such a tiny infant.

"Your momma and I we love you very much."

The tiny mouth opened, making her look a bit like a fish gasping for air.

"Such a hungry little thing, aren't you?" I mumbled when the lips closed around the tips of my breasts, the little forehead crimping because the baby had to concentrate so much on what she was doing.

Ali wrapped her arms around me from behind and caressed the bare skin on my neck with her dainty fingertips until I turned my head and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

"Thank you," she mumbled her voice thick with tears.

"For her…for you…for all the good things that you brought into my life; I love you so much."

I kissed her mouth again, tasting the saltiness of tears on the tip of my tongue without knowing which one of us had started crying.

"Everything," I whispered, feeling myself drowning once again in the beauty of her caramel eyes.

"You are everything to me, Ali. Everything my heart will ever need."

XOXOXOXOXXOXOXO

[A/N] I'll never be able to thank all those of you who never stopped encouraging me to continue with this story. You're honestly the nicest readers a writer could ever wish for.

I'm off now to cry over my finished baby here. It means more to me than I could ever tell.

Hugs and kisses to you,

MyTwiDreams