Edward's POV
After spending Nessie's birthday as a family, we had all been exhausted. Bella and I hadn't slept much the night before, following her nightmare and her experience of freeing herself from the past. After putting Nessie to bed, we had both curled up in my bed, with Bella tucked securely into my arms while we had both drifted quickly into our own sleep.
It was less than an hour later that I heard my phone ringing and I jumped up, not wanting to wake up Bella, I placed the phone to my ear as soon as I saw Jasper's number. I figured that it was going to be the call alerting us that labour had finally started for Alice and that they were on their way to the car.
I was shocked when Jasper told me that Alice had gone into labour, and then quickly – within half an hour, delivered their little boy at home. The paramedics had arrived soon after the birth, followed by their midwife, and then my father and mother to ensure that Alice and the baby were alright. By the time that all was said and done, they had chosen to stay home following the birth instead of lugging everyone into the hospital. Alice was doing amazingly well and I spoke to my sister for a few moments before I woke up Bella to give her the news.
Bella was in awe of Alice and little Henry, and I was only slightly surprised to see the serene expression on her face; no hints of jealousy anywhere. She had spoken to me previously, admitted to wishing that she could have Nessie's newborn days back… but here, speaking to Alice, there wasn't any hint of that.
Later on, after waking up Nessie and allowing her to join in on the excitement, it was apparent that nobody was going to be falling asleep anytime soon. So instead of trying to force sleep to come, we all moved downstairs to the living room, Bella and Nessie creating a nest of blankets and pillows on the floor in front of the television and picking out a movie to watch, while I went to the kitchen to boil the kettle for tea, and make some popcorn.
It was the perfect start to Bella's birthday as we curled up as a family and watched a movie, all of us eventually crashing and sleeping until late the next day.
We spent the next day giving Bella what she asked for, a quiet day of both mourning and joy… she wanted to celebrate her birthday and the anniversary of their freedom… but she wanted to be given the space and the quiet to do so, surrounded by Nessie and I. The only exception to the day being the phone calls from the rest of the family to wish her a happy birthday, and of course our brief visit to Alice and Jasper's house to see the new baby.
As I sat and watched Bella interact with Henry, I was left once again in awe of this woman. She held the newborn with such ease, her face peaceful and relaxed, and I realised that it was me that was experiencing the pangs of jealousy this time, wishing that I had been able to experience Nessie's early days, months, and years with Bella. But as much as I also mourned the loss of that time with my girls, I also knew that our lives together were just beginning, and that I would be there for them now, and going forward for the rest of our lives.
As I saw this side of Bella, her determination to move forward and no longer allow those years trapped in a bunker any control over her present and future self, I found myself ready to accept that same determination, to stop allowing fear and pain into my life. It really was time to let go, and start to truly live my life again.
As the sun set on the thirteenth anniversary of Bella's kidnapping… and the first anniversary of her rescue… I knew that life would be different for us all.
"Thank you Edward." Nessie was sound asleep in her bed, and Bella and I were snuggling in our bed. I had kissed her softly, reminding her that I loved her. The bitter-sweet day had come to a close, and I was looking forward to the weekend coming up… celebrating with friends and family who had supported Bella and Nessie throughout the previous year. But it was more than that. I was looking forward to just living life again, with Bella, Ness, and our family.
"You never have to thank me…" I said as she kissed my neck and I sighed. Her kisses were light and feathery and I would never get enough of them.
"I love you Edward." She said quietly, her kisses continuing up my neck and towards my jawline, travelling across to my right ear I felt her gently lick the edge before she once again returned to kissing it. I couldn't control the shiver that ran down my spine.
"I love you too Bells… always." I whispered as she kissed back towards my mouth, pressing firmer as she reached my lips.
We didn't speak very many words that night, as she led the way and showed me what she wanted. Stopping every so often to allow her mind to catch up with her emotions, I frequently returned to watching her eyes, ensuring that she was alright with everything that we did.
It was our first time… both of us. It was messy and slow and filled with pauses and understanding and intimate fears… but it was perfect.
Afterwards, she clung to me as we piled blankets up and around ourselves. There was no regret, no tears, and no pain. But we both needed time to recognise the step we had just taken.
By the time that Saturday rolled around, Bella and I had both taken time to recognise that we were not the same people that we had been, even just a week before. We both felt such a huge weight lifted, a massive shift in our lives, that as we approached my parent's house and were greeted by our friends and family they all began to comment, or simply look at us differently. It was amazing.
That evening, with everyone in attendance – even Alice, Jasper and little Henry – and with Charlie's support and Nessie beside me, I pulled Bella over to me, kneeling down and revealing the ring that I had purchased months before.
There was no pause before she gave her answer, and her joy – while quiet – was immeasurable as she reached down and pulled me back up, jumping into my arms and kissing me firmly, despite our audience.
Seconds later, the ring was situated on her left hand and she was being whisked into my mother's arms for a hug, while my father came over to embrace me.
It was truly a remarkable week.
The end of a lifetime, and the beginning of another.
From out of the bunker, I hadn't known what life would bring us.
I had never expected to find everything that I had now… a family that I loved with everything inside of me, a future wife, a daughter, and plans to finally live our lives.
Nine months later, I watched in awe once again as Bella came towards me as I stood at the altar, finally confirming my commitment to Bella through marriage. Nessie came down the aisle just after her mother, and when Bella and I sat to sign the registry, Nessie sat as well, watching as I signed not only the registry, but the final set of paperwork that would allow me to officially and legally become Nessie's father.
As life continued to move forward for our family, I soon came to the realisation that life was actually perfect… despite the hard times we had faced.
Of course there continued to be times… days where Bella or even sometimes Nessie would become triggered by a word or an action, usually unexpectedly and short-lived, but occasionally more than that as well. Sometimes even I would find myself pondering those dark days that I experienced during Bella's disappearance, and the year that followed… regretting something that I had missed in their lives, or lamenting the fact that she had been hidden so close to where we were all along. Thankfully we both had a strong support system, and those moments became more rare as time continued to flow forward.
And like life tends to do, it ebbed and flowed with periods of calm combining with chaos and busyness.
Bella had registered for college classes and maintained her job at the bookstore, taking over completely when the old man decided to sell. As she worked towards her dream of becoming a novelist, she continued to spend as much time with Nessie and me, and really with the entire family as she could.
Nessie continued to show interest in the arts, her natural talent only blooming further with the continued support from us, as well as her teachers. As she grew and matured, she also maintained a sweet innocence about her, complete with a sense of wonder that continued to appear whenever she encountered something new. Like Bella and I, she occasionally encountered a reminder or a trigger from her time in captivity… but perhaps it was her age… or the simple innocence that was such a part of her, but she always seemed to let go the quickest, able to use her memories as lessons or reminders of what she had now.
Over the weeks and months following our wedding, our family shifted again, becoming more of a singular family unit as Nessie first called me Dad… a term she had often referred to me as, but never outright called me until that moment. Although it was different now, as my parents adjusted to their empty nest, we still continued to spend a lot of time with them, Nessie especially fond of Mom and Dad. Charlie of course lived so close, that oftentimes he would be sitting at the kitchen table, ready to eat with us following a shift at work, or even on his days off. Bella and Nessie moving from his house had been difficult for him, but he had been graceful about it and we ensured to include him in all of our major milestones and celebrations. A few months after Bella and Ness moved in with me, Charlie surprised us all when he brought a woman to dinner… a friend of his from a long way back who had lost her husband a few years prior. It turned out they had reconnected, and when Bella saw her father's smile when he looked at her, she felt more at ease about him being 'on his own' now.
For myself, I did find it surprising to see how close I had become to both Alice and Emmett again… and of course Rosalie and Jasper as well. After Bella had disappeared from the fair, I had remained close… but I had also built walls up around myself, keeping everyone an arm's length away. After that first year with Bella back though, my walls began to crumble, and the relationships with my siblings only further strengthened as we all took joy in each other's lives. After Alice gave birth to little Henry, it was even more obvious, and as I quickly became the mischievous uncle to her son, a unique bond formed between us again.
It was almost as though I was the one who had come out from the bunker the previous year… even I could recognise the difference in myself.
As Bella and I moved ahead together, we looked forward to eventually adding to our family. It was on Bella's twenty-fifth birthday, three full years after I found her, that we discovered that she was expecting our child. It was a nerve-wracking time for both of us as we waited to share the news with our families, and Bella wanted to adjust to the news herself before telling anyone else. It had taken her some time to conceive, and as a result she had been placed on a fertility treatment to try and stimulate ovulation. We were both nervous and excited at the same time, and her pregnancy had brought up unexpected feelings within both her and I… and also surprisingly Nessie, when we finally broke the news to her.
By the time that we finally made the announcement to the rest of our families at Thanksgiving that year, it was double the excitement when we showed them all her ultrasound photo, complete with not one, but two perfectly healthy babies.
While we celebrated our impending arrivals and life moved forward, I couldn't help but smile almost constantly, life finally normal for our family as we faced the same joys, sadness, fear, and excitement as any other family.
On the day that Bella gave birth to our boys, I was overcome with emotion, tears streaming down my face as I held onto them both and kissed my wife's head; while Ness sat with us in awe, watching her brothers like a hawk, thrilled to get to have the experience of being a big sister.
And Bella and I?
With everything that we had experienced and conquered, we stayed the course together. Things got tough from time to time… but throughout it all, we never let go of each other.
Together we came out of that bunker, and together we built our happily-ever-after.
The End.
A/N: Okay, SO I may have ended this a little on the cheesy side. I knew right from the very first day that I started writing this story that towards the end, the additional POV's would fade out and it would focus on our Big 3 characters (Edward, Bella, Nessie). After twelve years of absolute pain and torture for our three, they deserved a little bit of cheesiness mixed into their happily-ever-after.
I do have some supplemental chapters that were written a long time ago. I need to edit them, and then I will probably add them on to the end of this story (as there are a few things that I addressed in more details in them). However for the time being, this story is now complete.
Again, thank you to everyone who stuck it out until the end. If you are so inclined, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a final review to let me know what you think!