A/N… I know. It's been way too long. I got all the messages and reviews to update, but it just wasn't happening. And I didn't even bother to tease this chapter, because it simply had been too long. Please see me at the bottom about it.

We pick up in the middle of the fight on Oz against the people from LA. I'll get out of your way.

~oOo~

Chapter 30

BELLA

I stared at the radio in my hand. All the feelings were flowing through me – happy that they were coming home, exhausted from fighting, and worry for just…everything. Just the sound of Edward's voice was enough to boost my determination to end this attack, although, I wasn't sure if I could honor his request to keep James and Victoria alive.

I said I'd try, though.

Paul pulled up to the feed barn, and Garrett took our two raiders – Brenda and the guy Paul had caught, Tommy – inside to keep them captive. Eric and Cody had turned an empty stall into a temporary holding cell. It wouldn't last, but it would at least put them all in one place until this shit was over. The hayloft was now filled with even more children, and the adults were standing guard at either end of the barn.

Oz was doing what it did best – fight, protect. We were standing firm in the face of those who wanted to take from us. It was natural, habitual, and amazing to witness.

Brenda and Tommy joined the first raider we'd questioned – Reed. He was still in a lot of pain, but he'd live. Someone had patched him up a little, but he wasn't exactly a priority at the moment. All three raiders were now on the floor, hands and feet bound, and Eric was standing guard with Cody.

I, however, needed Eric. Turning to Cody and a few of the other people in the barn, I asked, "Can someone take Eric's place? And I need a couple more to help retake the market and, possibly, the clinic."

Ronnie, the kid from the first house we'd saved from raiders, stepped forward. He was young but determined. His father, Dwight, stopped him.

"No, son. You're in charge of all of them," he stated, pointing to the loft. "No one leaves that loft, and no one leaves that stall. And if they do, you have every right to stop them. Got it?"

Ronnie looked annoyed at having to watch the women and children, but once he realized how important it was, he seemed to puff up a little.

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Dwight turned to me. "We're with you, Bella. Ronnie's got the barn, along with Cody. Hell, even Sasha's a damn good shot."

I smiled and nodded, turning to Sasha. "Your sister, the baby, and Randall are fine, by the way."

"Thanks, Bella," Sasha said, picking up a shotgun. "Now, you guys get moving. We've got the barn."

Nodding again, I said, "Let's move."

Eric took Dwight and a couple other men to his cart hidden in the trees just outside the barn. Paul, Garrett, and I got back in the one we'd borrowed from Irina.

The two carts raced across the island, heading for the market, restaurant, and clinic area. It was essentially the main street down from the docks. Things had gone eerily quiet as we pulled to a stop on the other side of a rotting gas station.

Vines crawled up the side of the building, along the roof, and across the awning over the old gas pumps. Metal was rusted, rubber was cracked and dry, and glass was shattered. It was a building we hadn't made any plans for just yet.

Stashing the carts on the other side of the station, we started in on foot, even though the rain had picked up a bit.

I pulled out my radio. "Flash, tell me where we're going. Market? Clinic? Things are too still over here."

"Stand by, Bells."

I checked my weapon, glancing up when Flash's drone flew over the gas station. He aimed up the street over each building, pausing occasionally to turn left and then right. He circled over the market, drifting farther toward the clinic.

"Bella, come in." Flash's voice crackled over the radio.

"Go ahead."

"You've got assholes in the market. There's no movement from the clinic, which is concerning. Didn't you leave someone at the door?"

"Fuck," I said through a deep, frustrated sigh, and Garrett gripped my shoulder. "I did. I left Tyler at the doors."

"I don't see anyone through the windows."

I glanced up at Garrett. "I did tell them all to stay away from the windows and doors, so…" I trailed off when he grimaced. I pulled the radio back up to my mouth. "Okay. We'll just…clear the whole fuckin' street."

Paul flashed a grin. "She may kill them all out of sheer frustration," he muttered over his shoulder.

Garrett shrugged. "No harm done, then."

From the gas station, we moved carefully to the next building, which was a resort or hotel. It was where my dad and Sue had chosen to live. Eric and Tyler had rooms there as well. We split up, some of us going behind the hotel while the rest moved along the front. Flash's drone hovered high above us.

There were entrances to the market on both the front and back of the building. The front of the building had glass doors and several windows, and the back had a loading dock, which faced the street behind the market.

Garrett, Paul, and I took the back. Eric led his group to the front, using the drainage ditch for cover since the entire front of the market was glass.

Paul pulled himself up onto the dock, stepping softly to the back door and pressing his ear to it. Anger flashed briefly across his features. He pointed toward the door. And Garrett, whose patience was as thin as mine, simply walked up to the door and kicked it as hard as he could, practically splitting it apart. His kick busted the frame, the knob, and the door itself.

Screams of surprise met our ears, and we rushed in at the same time shots were fired from the front of the market. Raiders fired back before trying to escape, but Eric's team stopped them cold.

"Dammit, there's always one motherfucker who tries to make a stand," Garrett taunted a raider who had Lauren's mother, Denise, in his grip with a gun pressed to her temple.

Paul and I aimed our weapons at the raider. He started to panic, and I just knew the asshole was about to do something stupid. He backed toward the door that led to the front of the market. However, movement from my right caught the raider's attention, and he shifted his gun from the mother to the daughter in the corner. Several shots were fired, and cries of pain and bodies thumping to the floor echoed around me. Lauren's mother dropped to her knees, the raider was slammed back against the wall, slipping down into a heap, and Lauren called out in pain.

"Shit!" I hissed, rushing to the young girl. "You hit?"

"Yeah, B-Bells…" She squeezed her eyes closed, holding her upper arm where blood seeped through her fingers. A rag appeared in front of me, and I took it, wrapping it tightly around her bicep. She peered around me. "Mom?" she asked in a whisper.

"I'm okay, Lauren," Denise replied breathlessly, slowly picking herself up off the floor. "How bad is it?"

"She'll be fine once we get her to the clinic, but we've got to clear it first."

"I can still shoot, Bella," Lauren argued, picking up the weapon she'd taken from a raider I'd shot earlier.

I looked to her mother, who looked as worried and pissed off as the rest of us. However, she walked to the fallen raider and pried his weapon from his hands.

"Let's go," she said, following Paul out the front doors.

Eric met us under the awning of the market, glancing over his shoulder toward the clinic down the street. "How you guys wanna do this?" he asked softly. "Because I have a feeling we've got more raiders between us and the clinic."

Before Garrett or I could answer, the radio crackled on my hip. "Chelsea to Bella. Come in."

"Go ahead," I replied back.

"The ferry, the docks, and the school are under our control again," she advised, but I could tell she was running. "However, there is a problem at the clinic."

"Motherf…" I trailed off, closing my eyes and trying to get myself under control. I put the radio back to my mouth. "The farms, the feed barn, and the market are clear. You take the front of the clinic, and we'll take the back."

"Ten-four. We'll go in on your say, Bella," she answered as I shot a glance to Eric.

He nodded and held up his own radio, rushing his men to the golf cart. Lauren and her mother followed Garrett and Paul to our cart, and we all squeezed into the limited space. The two carts rushed down the back street, coming to a stop at the intersection just before we reached the clinic. We parked behind the old tire shop, continuing the rest of the way on foot. As we silently approached the back door of the clinic, I could hear raised voices inside.

"I'm tellin' you now, you're not touchin' that kid," Tyler warned. "You're not touchin' the kid, and you're not touchin' Tanya. I don't care what you threaten."

"Shit," I hissed softly, readying my weapon as Garrett muttered the same thing.

He gave my shoulder a squeeze before giving Paul a quick nod, and then he tried the door. It was unlocked. Maybe unlocked was the wrong word; maybe still broken from the time before walls and viruses, when people couldn't get the medicines they needed for viruses that were killing everyone. It had been the same way in the old Oz and the Sound – pharmacies, clinics, and old closed-up hospitals had been ransacked way before walls had been built. Doors shattered. Locks busted. People had been desperate back then – even more so than now.

Paul and Garrett pulled the door open as quietly as they could, but I caught sight of a window toward the end of the building. I tugged Lauren's sleeve, pointing to where she and I would go in. Both of us were small enough to fit through.

Garrett nodded, leading us to the window near the end of the building. Peeking in, I recognized this was the office that Mr. Weber had once used. And it had a cabinet of weapons – the same cabinet I'd raided when all this shit started. Had it really only been a few hours?

Garrett slowly pulled the screen off the frame, slipping his knife across the top to unlock the window. Finally, he raised the pane up far enough that Lauren and I could scramble inside.

He pulled his radio to his mouth, whispering, "Chelsea, we're a go," as he walked back to the door to go in with Paul and Denise.

I barely heard her reply before I shut my radio off and rushed to the cabinet, opening it as quietly as I could. I grabbed a clip for my weapon and handed an extra to Lauren, who tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans. I also took a knife, slipping it into my sock, and a .45. I tucked it into the waistband of my jeans at the small of my back. I wasn't taking any chances with these assholes, and no one was going to touch my daughter.

Lauren, who had been listening at the door that led to the back hallway of the clinic, waved me over.

"I think everyone needs to calm down," Carlisle said diplomatically. "I'll help you with the wound, but you've got to put down the weapons."

"I'm not putting anything down," a male voice snapped back. "You'll fix her or everyone in this room dies. If you think I'm fucking kidding, keep stalling."

"Fuck," Lauren barely breathed aloud.

I put a finger to my lips to shush her before reaching for the doorknob. If my guess was correct, then everyone was just down the clinic's hallway and around the corner in one of the examination rooms. Which one, I wasn't certain; only that it was to my left.

Once I opened the door, I peeked both ways, catching sight of Garrett at the end of the hall to my right. He pointed toward the waiting room, and I nodded. The layout of the clinic would allow us to approach the examination room from either direction, because the examination rooms were situated in the hall behind the reception desk. He and I could essentially trap them between us.

Neither of us knew how many raiders James and Victoria had with them. And we didn't know who was hurt, though my guess was Victoria, which meant it was James who was threatening my daughter, Tanya, Tyler, and Carlisle.

Lauren and I were just about to the end of the hall when the silence we'd tried so damn hard to keep was shattered. A scuffle broke out in the waiting room area. Quickly, I slung the rifle over my shoulder and grabbed the .45 from my waistband. It would be easier to use in such tight quarters.

When glass shattered and shots rang out from the front of the building, Emily's cries pierced my heart. Shouts echoed from the waiting room.

"Drop the weapon."

"Go fuck yourself," Garrett snapped back.

"You're outnumbered, asshole."

"You think so, do you?" he snarked, and I shook my head at his bravado, but he was giving me and Lauren time to move.

Lauren peeked around the corner, blindly waving me to her. Two raiders were at the end of the hall, their gazes and weapons locked onto whatever was happening in the waiting room. She and I moved slowly, silently toward the open door of the examination room. Voices were raised once again, only this time, it was to counter the loud cries of my baby girl.

Since the silence was shattered, I decided the two raiders at the end posed the biggest threat, so with quick aim, I pulled the trigger of my weapon twice. The two black-clad men fell into a heap at the same time I rounded the doorjamb of the examination room. I barely gave any attention to Garrett's shots from the waiting room.

The room was full and completely chaotic. Tanya was trying her damnedest to calm Emily down and keep herself and my baby protected. Carlisle was working on a red-haired woman I recognized as Victoria, who was writhing in pain on the examination bed. Tyler was standing between them and a man with a 9mm pointed at Carlisle.

A raider I hadn't seen in the corner shifted, and Lauren didn't even hesitate. She simply ended him before he could raise his weapon.

"Drop the gun, James," I stated. "You're surrounded and outnumbered. Most of your people are dead or captured."

Carlisle stopped tending to Victoria to place himself between James and Tanya. However, he left enough room for Victoria to reach an arm out toward Emily.

Before anyone could blink, I fired my weapon at her, catching her right in the middle of her forehead. All movements ceased. James cried out in anger and denial, and Tyler took his opportunity to hit James with a roundhouse punch, which caused the blond man to fall to his knees and lose the grip on his weapon. I kicked it out into the hallway, pointing my 9mm at his temple.

"Move again, and I'll kill you. Understand?" I asked him, and when he nodded, I told Tyler to tie his hands behind his back. I wasn't sure I gave a shit about keeping these assholes alive, but Edward's request lingered in the back of my mind as Lauren aimed James's way and shoved me toward Emily.

I stowed my weapon and gathered my little girl into my arms. I pressed kisses to her face, fingers, cheek, and neck. Tears ran unchecked down my face as I did my best to calm both her and myself down. Strong arms wrapped around us, and I leaned into Carlisle.

Locking gazes with Tanya, I mouthed, "Thank you."

"No, girl… Thank you. These two came in here with, like, six raiders when that bitch got shot over by the docks."

Smirking at her temper and her language, I glanced up at Carlisle. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart. That's thanks to you and Tyler."

Tyler was apparently taking all his frustrations out on James. He had the man bound, gagged, and was currently tying his feet. Lauren was checking him for weapons.

"Miss Bella, where you want him?" Tyler asked, giving James's leg a swift and harsh kick before looking my way at the same time Chelsea appeared in the doorway.

"The island is secure," she stated. She was sporting a black eye and a scrape across her cheek. "What are we doing with him?"

"For some damn reason, Edward wants him alive, so we'll have to lock him up along with the others we captured," I explained, pressing more kisses to Emily's head. "He and Marcus can make whatever decisions about them they want."

Chelsea smiled evilly. "I have just the place. There's a brig on the ship. Metal doors, bars, and hefty locks. Plenty of bunks, too."

Emily was calmer, and even though I needed to check in with my people in Atlanta, I wasn't going to put her down just yet. She was happily holding on to my shirt and babbling up at her grandfather.

I pulled out my radio, saying, "Oz to Dorothy."

"Go ahead, Oz." My dad's voice sounded worried and stressed.

"The threat has been neutralized," I stated, sniffling a little. "The island is secure."

There was an explosion of cheers over the radio, but the voice I needed to hear most came over the speaker next.

"Bella-love, are you… Is everyone…" He trailed off.

"We're okay, Edward. We lost some people, but your family is safe. I'll know more in a few hours," I told him. "There will be prisoners for Marcus to deal with when you guys get back."

"Copy that, Bella. We're loading up as we speak."

"Good."

~oOo~

EDWARD

The train's continuous rocking motion, while originally calming, was now getting on my damn nerves. I was ready to be home. I was ready to see my girls.

It had taken way longer than I'd expected to load the train for the journey back to Oz. Marcus insisted that we bring Caius and his two raiders with us, so one train car had to be converted into a rolling cage, which had taken a couple of days. However, once we were moving, the trip back west was shorter than the one going east. We didn't have any stops, save for one in Alabama to check on the people with the water tower we'd met on our way to Atlanta.

Harley Woods and his people had been attacked again by some assholes who wanted their shit – water, crops, food stores. They'd gone as far as setting their little community on fire. I'd argued that we could take the dozen or so survivors back to Oz, so they too were on the train.

Glancing down to my hand, I turned the little orca over and over, giving it an occasional squeeze. Once again, the talismans had worked. At least, I felt they'd worked. Bella and I used them when we were kids when missions and raids to the Sound split us up. But this mission was much bigger than smuggling slaves away from Aro. This separation had been all the way across the country. We'd both had fights and close calls while apart, but we were okay.

My girls were safe. My parents were safe. And the people of Oz were safe…for the most part.

I'd spoken to my dad, Flash, and Bella over the radio just before the sun set last night. They sounded good. Everyone assured me Bella, Garrett, and Chelsea had stopped every last bit of the attack that day. The people of Oz had done what they'd always done. They'd fought and protected what we'd worked so hard to build.

We'd lost lives, but we'd come out on top.

I brought the orca to my lips and pressed a kiss to it, finally turning my gaze out the open door of the train car. The sun was slowly coming up on the third day we'd been traveling. I shouldn't bitch, because it had taken well over a week to get to Atlanta to install radio boosters. And we were already in Idaho, which meant we were just a few hours away from home.

Out the open door, I could see ruins of what used to be homes, farms, and towns. They had all been abandoned, leaving everything to rust or rot away. Most places were overrun by weeds, trees, or grasses. Wildlife had taken over some places – deer ran in large herds between tall buildings, bears and their cubs trundled along empty residential streets, and wolf packs hunted in abandoned warehouses. Charlie called them ghost towns, where all that remained were the ghosts of what used to be.

Breaking my gaze away from trees and open fields, I turned it inside the car. My team was still asleep. And we'd grown. Not only had Alice latched onto her sister, Cynthia, but we'd also gained Jade Fowler and Paige Valentine, along with Paige's mother, Rachel. Emmett and Rose were cuddled together in the far corner to my left, with Jasper, Alice, and Cynthia across from them. Jasper had become Cynthia's big protector, because he was all in with Alice now. Charlie was sacked out across from me at the other open door, and Sam and the boys were at the other end of the car to my right, using sacks of cotton as pillows. Fowler and Valentine were across from them with Rachel.

Just before we'd pulled out of Atlanta, Leon's son, Rey, came through from Florida with flying colors. He'd been able to pass on the good news to the farmers that Caius was captured, Atlanta was now back under the U.S. military protection, and we had the opportunity to trade in the future. We left them with flour, fuel, and eggs; they gave us cotton, fruit, and of course, the marijuana that my dad had wanted for his patients. And probably for some residents of Oz – it would be a safer alternative to drinking homemade alcohol.

That shit could peel the paint off a damn wall. Emmett and I sneaked some of that stuff once, and we never tried it again. We'd been around sixteen and were sick for two damn days afterward. Bella and Rose had laughed their asses off at us. Sue told us a harsh lesson had been learned.

I snorted to myself at the memory but returned my gaze back outside the train to watch the empty world go by. I must have fallen asleep again, because the slowing of the train along with someone shaking me caused me to snap awake.

"Easy, son," Charlie soothed. "It's just me. I thought you'd want to be awake when we pulled into Tacoma."

"Yeah…" I rubbed my face and sat up straight. "Yep. I'm up."

"C'mon, Edward. Let's go see our girls, yeah? They've already called for the ferry to come meet us at the dock." I nodded, and he patted the side of my face gently. "I know there are prisoners to threaten and shit that needs to be talked about, but not today. I want to see our girls, and I want a home-cooked meal. And I'm tired of wearing these fucking boots."

Grinning at that last thing, I nodded again. "Yes, sir."

"And…" he continued. "We've got new people to guide into Oz."

"Okay." I stood up, tucking the little orca back into the front pocket of my pants.

The door between cars opened, and I glanced up to see Marcus stepping into ours. His smile was warm, kind, and at ease when he gazed around at all of us.

"I'm going to take Caius and the two other men to the ship. Chelsea's already prepared their cell in the brig. I want you guys to go home. I'm not kidding. We'll deal with all the prisoners from Atlanta and LA another day. Flash radioed a bit ago and said the ferry is waiting for us, and they've got homes for Harley and his people."

"What about us?" Valentine asked softly, glancing between Marcus and me.

"You're with me," I told them.

That seemed to settle the girls down. For some reason, I was the person with which they were most comfortable. Well, me and Charlie. And Charlie, being a "girl dad," according to Rose, simply accepted them as his own – like he'd done with her, Alice, and hell, all of us. He had no problem guiding and protecting Fowler and Valentine.

"I've got you," I added, smirking at Valentine's grin.

"Okay then," Fowler said, relaxing a bit.

I faced Marcus once more. "My vote is to let everyone settle back in, get some rest, and then we'll meet at Flash's in forty-eight hours to discuss…well, a whole bunch of shit," I proposed with a smile and a shrug.

"Perfect, Edward. I like it," he agreed, slapping my shoulder. He gazed slowly around at all of us. "I need to thank you. You didn't have to come with us to Atlanta, but I'm not sure it would've gone as smoothly without you. I'm happy to say that I'm comfortable leaving Pearson in charge of the east, which means I'll probably stay on this side of the country. And I could use all the advice and help I can get."

"We'll do what we can, Chief," Charlie replied, holding out his hand.

Marcus shook his hand as the train finally came to a stop. I moved closer to the open side door to look out. The ferry was at the dock, and some of Chelsea's people were on the train platform waiting for us. They immediately took charge of Caius and his two stubborn minions.

Marcus went with them to a dinghy while the rest of us boarded the ferry. The Alabama people looked nervous, but Sam, Jake, and Seth were chatting with some of them. I found a bench and dropped my pack down on it, stepping to the railing. I gazed north, wondering just what was left in the Sound. If anything, or even anyone, was left there.

"Edward?" I heard behind me, and I turned to see Harley setting his bag down. A little boy maybe seven or eight years old was with him. "Edward, this is my son, Tommy."

"Hi," Tommy said softly, giving a wave. He had big blue eyes and light brown curls, and his dimples reminded me of Emmett when I first met him.

"Hey, Tommy," I said, leaning back against the railing as the ferry prepared to leave Tacoma.

Harley whispered to Tommy to go find his mother, and once the little guy scampered off, he turned to me. "I wanted to thank you."

"Harley… I shot you. I don't need thanks."

He laughed, pulling up the leg of his pants to show his scar. "I'm all right. I'll live." That last thing seemed to sound like the bigger statement. "Seriously. We lost everything, and I know it was you who offered us a place. After you pulled out of Russellville, those assholes hit us hard. We weren't quite sure how we'd make it. So, I just… I wanted to thank you."

Smiling sadly, I nodded. "Yeah, I get it." I glanced around the ferry's deck, thinking back over the years. "I remember what it was like to suddenly have nothing. I remember raiders setting buildings on fire just to take the people inside as slaves. All we wanted… all we ever wanted was safety for ourselves and our families." I wrinkled my nose at that. "I was thirteen when I started fighting. I'm now twenty-nine. I have a brand-new baby girl I haven't seen in over two months and a wife I can't live without."

My patience was wearing thin, and I sighed at how slow this fucking ferry seemed to be taking to get my ass home. Shaking my head and raking a hand through my hair, I added, "I know what it's like to only wish for peace and safety and food on the table. Don't thank me, Harley. We're all working toward the same fucking thing."

He grinned at that. "Fair enough. What should we expect?" he asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

Chuckling, I said, "Oz is… Oz is different. Everyone brings something to the table to help. When I left for Atlanta, they were getting the school set up, building a rather large feed-barn for the animals, and working on some sort of phone system. We have electricity, clean water, and roofs over our heads. And there's plenty of roofs to go around. I have no idea where we stand now. The barn is done. I know that much."

Harley laughed. "I used to be a plumber… My wife was in school for nursing."

"Well, we all need water, and my dad is the doctor, so I think you'll fit in just fine," I told him, glancing up when the dock bell started to ring.

I didn't wait for anyone. I snatched up my pack and walked to the ramp that workers were lowering down to the pier. My eyes raked over the group of people waiting for us. Sue and Flash were there, along with my parents. And standing in front of my dad were the two prettiest girls on the damn planet.

"Jesus Christ, she's grown so much!" I whispered to myself at the sight of Emily. Her hair had gotten longer, and it was pulled back in spiky little pigtails. She was smiling at her mother, and two of the cutest teeth were front and center as she waved Bella's shark in a tiny, chubby fist.

"Yeah, they do that," Charlie teased me, gripping my shoulder. "Savor it, Edward. Because they're grown in an instant, and soon you'll worry about boys."

"Damn it, Charlie! I can't with that shit right now!"

He cracked up. "Fine, I'll bring it up again in a few years."

"Whatever."

He was still laughing at me when I left the ferry at a run. People reached out to pat my shoulder as I passed, but my eyes were only on my girls. Bella pointed my way, pressing kisses to Emily's cheek.

"Look, Em… Daddy!"

Emily's face was full of adorable curiosity, and she looked more like Bella than when I'd left. Big brown eyes gazed up at me the closer I got to them. Her hair color was all me – although maybe a touch darker.

Tears ran down Bella's face, and I immediately wrapped the two of them in my arms. They smelled like home and comfort, and they felt like fucking heaven.

"God, I missed you," Bella mumbled into my chest, and I pressed kisses to the top of her head.

"Me, too, love." I buried my face in her neck, inhaling deeply and pressing kisses to her soft skin. I pulled back, meeting her watery gaze. "Don't cry. I'm never doing that again. I swear."

"Well, good, because we won't let you," Bella stated firmly, and then turned to Emily. "Baby, say hi to Daddy."

"Da!" Emily suddenly said, shoving her shark into my face.

Grinning at that, I reached into my pocket for the orca, and she grabbed it too. "C'mere, my little sweet potato. Let me see you."

Emily's hands were now full of ocean predators, and I scooped her into my arms. She was beautiful and healthy, bouncing a little as she glanced curiously between me and her mother.

I couldn't stop myself. I leaned in and pressed my lips to Bella's. She smiled into the kiss, placing her hands flat on either side of my face.

"I love you. And I swear, we're not leaving the house for two days," I muttered against her mouth, kissing her deeply again.

Bella laughed and pressed rapid kisses to my lips before pulling back. Her hands were still on my face as she said, "I think Emily and I can work with that."

"Good!" I grunted, which made my little one giggle, and holy shit, if that wasn't my new favorite sound. And those new little teeth just made it all the better.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned to see my parents.

"Glad you're home safe, son," Dad said, giving my shoulder a squeeze as my mother wrapped her arms around me.

"Me, too. Thank you. For watching over them," I said, gesturing to Bella and Emily.

My dad laughed outright. "Uh, no. How about the other way around? Bella watched over us."

Bella smirked, and I could tell she was trying not to roll her eyes, but she froze at the sight of Charlie.

"Dad!" she said, rushing into his arms.

Charlie whispered things to her we couldn't hear, and Bella nodded, but she pulled back when Charlie saw Emily.

"There's my fishin' buddy!" he gushed, reaching for her. He scooped her up, planting kisses on her cheek and neck, and she let out another little laugh, probably because his mustache tickled.

We all chuckled with her.

"She's even cuter in person," I heard Valentine mutter behind me.

"Seriously."

Grinning, I turned to face them and wave them forward. "C'mere, meet everyone," I told them. "Jade Fowler, Paige Valentine, please meet my parents…Carlisle and Esme Cullen." As they shook hands, I placed a hand on Bella's shoulder, bringing her forward. "And my wife, Bella."

Valentine lit up. "We watched you. With the LA people. You were amazing!"

Bella laughed. "Thanks." She glanced up at me.

"Charlie and I have adopted these two. They were the biggest help from the second we pulled into Atlanta. I'm not sure we'd be here without them," I explained to Bella. I reached for Emily. "And this little spud is Emily."

"Oh, my God… She looks like you," Fowler teased as Valentine reached up to gently poke Emily's belly, but she paused. "Or maybe you." She pointed to Bella. "Yeah, definitely you."

Bella grinned. And I saw when she caught on as to why these two girls had become important. They were smart, strong, and a little bit of sunshine in a dark world.

My mother stepped forward. "I have a place ready for you… And your mother, is it?"

Valentine nodded with a big smile, turning to Rachel, who was talking with Charlie. "Yeah. We just… um, we appreciate whatever you've found. We… we were ready for a change. Jade lost everyone, and all I have left is my mother. Atlanta doesn't exactly hold good memories for us. We were forced into Caius's security, no one took female soldiers seriously, and then they wouldn't let us be together. These guys offered us a fresh start."

"Yeah, and since we had security experience, Edward said we could do that for Oz. And I'd rather do it for a place worth protecting," Fowler added.

Bella glanced to me, her brow wrinkled in curiosity.

"Yeah, they're together," I answered her silent question in a whisper against the side of her head. "They've been through it, and they fit in like they've always been a part of the team."

Bella faced the two girls and Rachel, saying, "Well then, let's get you settled. We're going to be neighbors. You'll be right down the street from us."

It seemed to take forever to make our way from the docks to our little street. As we walked, Emily curled into me, and I had to take the shark and orca out of her hands so she could hold on. I'd missed the feeling of her falling asleep on me. She'd been tiny when I left, but she'd grown so much. Her head nestled onto my shoulder, and I brushed light kisses to her forehead. We paused in front of the house between my parents' and Emmett and Rose's house. It was yellow with green shutters.

I barely had the patience to give their place any attention. And while I was hugging my mother at their door, I was truly just itching to get home. I just needed my girls in order to settle back into life in Oz.

Things would change, but they would be good changes. We had new people to teach, and we had losses we needed to mourn. And as I finally set foot back into my own home, my whole body shuddered.

The peace and prosperity that I'd wished for on Thanksgiving was now a reality. A true and real thing. No more walls – anywhere. No more Aro or Caius or slaves or raiders. My wife was safe, my baby was healthy, and my people could really start to live.

By the time Bella lifted a completely zonked out Emily out of my arms and tucked her in for a nap, the emotions of it all started to get to me. I reached into my pocket and placed the shark and orca back in their spot on the shelf above the changing table. Bella wrapped her arms around me as I pulled her to me.

"They worked," she said, gazing up at the two rubber toys. "Again."

Smiling, I kissed her briefly. "Yeah, they did."

~oOo~

A/N… This took too long, but there were things that just killed my muse for this story. Real life, work, illness… All sorts of shit. You have my apologies for just poofing out on you with this fic.

I will tell you that the beta to this story is now KJ Hawk, and I'm grateful for her to have stepped up to the plate.

I'm doing my best to finish this story. There should only be one more regular chapter and the epi. I don't think it'll take as long as before, so there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Until next time… Mooches, Deb ;)