Well y'all, this is it. The very last chapter. I am so sad to be posting it, because I've had a blast writing this. But I also feel amazing about it, because in the few short months I've been writing it, I've made some amazing friends and discovered elements of the fandom that I never knew existed. For that, I am immensely grateful.

I do not own Twilight.

One Year Later

Edward POV

I laid in bed, the sky still dark outside. We'd need to get up soon to head to school. It was our last day before the summer, the last day of my first full year of teaching.

I looked over to the love of my very existence, sleeping peacefully on her back, her lips softly opened and her long brown hair a mess across her pillow.

The last year with my Bella had been at times a trying one, but it had also been amazing. Living with her was an adjustment that I wasn't sure either of us would survive in the beginning.

We'd bickered about cleaning, about how we left things lying around, even about whose turn it was to get up early on the weekends to take MoMo out: but, it had also been incredible.

Living with someone brought about an intimacy you don't get with everyone. The closeness of being with someone so often and being forced to quickly let go of your insecurities was an unexpected bonus.

Bella had been uncharacteristically shy the first few times she had to use the bathroom for more than a quick trip. That faded quickly, and now she had no problems sitting in there playing whatever her newest game obsession was on her phone.

We also experienced a lot of new things together. We'd become more adventurous in the kitchen, cooking new recipes we found online. We'd watched several shows together. I happily looked on as she took up crocheting as a hobby. She tight lip grinned in the beginning stages of me learning to play the violin, an instrument I had always wanted to learn.

Perhaps the biggest experience we had shared together was adopting a puppy. We decided that MoMo needed a companion while we were at work during the days. Thus came our second border collie, a slightly smaller black and white girl that Bella affectionately named Babs. She and MoMo had become inseparable, and it made us all happy to see that he wasn't spending his long days alone.

We got through Rose and Emmett's wedding in February, and much to Bella's delight, the drama had been minimal after their falling out and reconciliation last year.

Rose had been stunning as she walked down the aisle to a tearful Emmett. It was in that moment that I was struck with immeasurable gratitude at having these new friends in my life.

The wedding had gone perfectly, with the small exception of meeting Lauren.

Bella and I had been dancing wildly, having fun with the other guests at the reception. Both sweaty and a little drunk, we'd stepped away to grab some water when Lauren approached.

"Bella! So good to see you again!"

"Lauren! Okay!" Bella called loudly, awkwardly going in for Lauren's hug.

"And who might this be?" Lauren purred at me.

"This sex pot is my boyfriend!" Bella said, proudly and adorably leaning into me.

"Well, look how far you've come, Bella. You could have never landed him in college. What was it we called you? 'Ugly Duckling'?" Lauren said with a laugh and a smirk.

"Actually, you were the only one who called me that. It didn't take off like your nickname did. What was it again? Hairy Muff Mallory? Aye ohh!"

"Okay! Time to go!" I said, stopping Bella from saying anything else she'd regret later. Lauren at least had the decency to look embarrassed before turning away.

The next morning, Bella had woken with a killer hangover, the garter I'd caught from Emmett still wrapped around her head like a headband.

When she'd asked about the altercation with Lauren, I had reluctantly repeated what she'd said to her. Bella, of course, felt bad about it and called Lauren that afternoon to apologize. Apparently Lauren laughed it off, told Bella that she understood because Bella "always had been a sloppy drunk," and left Bella grumbling into the phone and feeling significantly less remorseful.

As far as I knew, neither Rose nor Bella had talked to her since then.

The rest of the year had been pretty fantastic with my girl by my side. In March, she'd been invited to the Teacher of the Year conference, where all of the state's recipients were honored and a statewide Teacher of the Year was awarded. Before even going, Bella had told me she didn't really have her heart set on that award.

"It's just, once you win it, you spend your days speaking at conferences and you are basically never back in the classroom. I don't want that. It always strikes me as odd that we are honoring a teacher for being so good at his or her job, and then we are taking that amazing teacher out of the classroom. How counter intuitive," she explained over dinner a few nights before she left.

The conference was in Charleston, so while she'd been gone that weekend, I'd gone home to visit my parents. Because we'd spent the holidays together, it was the first weekend we'd spent apart since moving in together. It was insane how much I'd missed her in just a few days' time.

She'd come home with a big box of pralines from the Charleston Market, a giant smile on her face that she'd not won South Carolina Teacher of the Year. To celebrate, we spent half of the night naked in each other's arms. We were late for school the next day.

This school year came to a close in much the same way as last year's. Bella was busier than before because she was teaching an AP English class now, but otherwise it had been a great year.

We'd spent this past weekend back home with our families for a birthday party. Elijah Brandon Whitlock, affectionately called Eli, was now a one year old. He'd been born just an hour after Alice and Jasper had touched down in California, and a few days later he was on an airplane home with them.

He and Noelle rapidly became the loves of all of our lives. They were everything our family needed, and it had been pretty incredible to watch them grow.

Even Bella's family had come to the party, her dad and stepmom falling as in love with the babies as the rest of us were. While we were there, I'd pulled Charlie aside to remind him of our plans.

"I'm going to make reservations for Friday night at Yesterday's Tavern. We can all meet there to celebrate. If all goes well, that is," I chuckled nervously.

"Of course it will, Edward. I'm proud of you, son," Charlie said, patting me on the shoulder and smiling.

"And you talked to Renee?"

"Yep. She and Phil will be here Friday. And Rosie, too," Charlie laughed, referring to the little red dachshund who'd done nothing but bark at me the entire time we were in Florida over Christmas break.

"What are you two over here talking about?" Bella had asked as she walked up to her father and me.

"I was just testing out some of my new material on Edward, here," Charlie told her.

"Well, let's hear it, then," Bella grinned, putting her dad on the spot.

"I was just telling him about the time I tried to make reservations," Charlie said, and I got instantly nervous that we was about to blow my cover about Friday's dinner.

"Where?" Bella asked, taking the bait.

"The library," he nodded, and at Bella's confusion, he continued. "Yeah, but I couldn't get one. Cause they were all booked!"

We'd spent the rest of the party savoring our time with the people we loved the most. Our family was nearly complete. There was only one thing missing, but I hoped to amend that later today.

At the moment, though, I wanted to wake my sleeping love up in a way I knew she couldn't resist.

It was still dark out, the only light in the room coming from the soft glow of the night light plugged into the bathroom. MoMo and Babs were out in the living room, cuddled together on the couch. Carefully, I slid down under the covers and moved between Bella's legs, as she lay on her back.

She'd taken to sleeping in just a t-shirt and her underwear, as she said her sleep pants tangled around her legs too much. I couldn't say I minded.

Without warning, as she continued to sleep, I placed a soft, gentle kiss over her panties. Her breathing stuttered as I did it again and again.

She was still asleep, though, so I decided to go further. With my finger, I pulled her panties to the side and licked her, softly up and down each of her lips. She wiggled a little and her breathing sped, but still she slept.

With my tongue flat and wide, I took a big, long sweep of her center, gathering her taste on my tongue. She groaned then, and I knew she was waking. I smiled and dove in, using my tongue to twirl and suck and lick and love her.

Her breaths turned to moans and her legs fell opened wider for me.

"Fuck," she whispered, having become more vocal and expressive over the last year of lovemaking.

I continued to lick, up and down as her wetness and my tongue mixed together and brought her over the edge.

When I was done, I reached to slide her panties down her legs and moved up her body. Her sleepy, happy eyes sparkled back at mine as I slid into her, both of us groaning at the connection.

We never broke eye contact as we made love, her feet wrapping around me to pull me in deeper.

Together, we came hard, both of us shuddering and breathing heavy.

"Good morning, baby," I whispered.

"Morning," she mumbled happily.

Bella POV

I honestly couldn't believe another school year had come and gone. It had been a whirlwind year, between Rose and Emmett's wedding and all of the events leading up to it, as well as all the changes Edward and I had encountered.

After a summer of bickering and snapping at each other about silly things, we'd finally adjusted to cohabiting.

We learned each other's ticks and quirks, opened our minds a little, and decided the joy of spending our time together far outweighed any aggravation we felt at the way each other did things. We'd learned what others had told us was true: the key to living together successfully was compromise.

The best part of the past year had hands down been the addition of Babs. MoMo had taken so well to her, and they were inseparable now. Edward and I felt more okay about leaving MoMo while we worked knowing that he had a friend at home.

It was a good thing that both dogs had been spayed and neutered; or we'd have had little, baby border collies running around. That's how much MoMo and Babs enjoyed each other's company.

As it was, having baby Noelle and baby Eli in the family had been such a delight. Edward and I often babysat for his siblings.

The first time we'd kept both babies alone had been a comical challenge, though.

Neither Edward nor I had any experience with little ones being in our complete care.

I'd tried to feed Noelle some of her baby food, which had ended up flying back at me. I'd found sweet potatoes down my bra later that night.

We ended up giving them both bottles. Edward settled into the sofa and had a baby and bottle in each arm, cradling them gently while they ate. He'd passed little Eli to me and he kept Noelle, both of us hoisting the babies to our shoulders for a burp. Noelle gave a happy belch quickly, but Eli took a minute. Perhaps he was building up to the giant puke that slid down my shoulder.

By the time the couples came to retrieve their children around midnight, even the dogs were exhausted. MoMo and Babs had sniffed the babies and been interested, even moping a bit when the tiny humans left, but after six hours of them in the house, our fur babies were ready for the real babies to go home.

It was a tiring but pretty amazing night. If I thought Edward holding one baby was a sight, then Edward holding two babies was enough to make any woman weep.

The year overall had been exciting and bittersweet. Some of my favorite students, including Alex, were graduating tomorrow.

We'd just finished awards day, and I was back in my classroom getting the very last of my grades entered. With my AP class I had taught this year, I'd had more work to get through.

I smiled triumphantly as I entered the last grade. I shut my computer down and began to pack my bag to leave. Edward and I had driven to school together, as was our norm.

Whatever worries I had about how others were view our relationship were demolished. It turns out that ours was not the biggest source of gossip at Midlands High. If it ever had been, it was put to rest when we returned from Spring break to find that Tanya was now and forever more Mrs. Vice Principal Mike Newton. She and Mike had gone to visit her family in Alaska for the break, deciding to stop in Las Vegas for a few days after. Imagine all of our surprise when they came back and announced their nuptials.

I'd been delighted for them, if only a tiny bit jealous.

I knew that when he was ready, Edward would ask me. I was just bad about getting my hopes up for nothing.

On our first anniversary, he wanted to take me to a special dinner to celebrate. He had sent me to get my nails done, to buy a new dress, and even to have my hair styled.

The only rings that had been on the table that night, though, were calamari rings.

A few months later, when the weather warmed up, he decided he wanted to go to the zoo. We spent the day there, seeing the animals and the exhibits. Then, he took me up to the sprawling botanical gardens, where the grounds were covered in beautiful flowers. There was a little wooden swing to the side where he walked me over and sat beside me. He told me how much he loved me and how perfect the day had been.

Then, we went home and my only zoo souvenir was a pressed penny and a couple or stuffed penguin toys for the babies.

I tried not to look too into things now, because I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment. When he wanted to propose, he would. I could be patient until then.

I stood from my desk, making sure the drawers were clear of anything I would need for the summer or anything edible that could become a biohazard when we returned in August.

I cleared everything out and bent to my bottom left drawer to retrieve my yearbook. I'd let the kids sign it again and was looking forward to reading their messages and actually looking through it. We'd just gotten them the day before, so I'd not had a chance to even crack it. And apparently I wouldn't get that chance, because it was suddenly nowhere to be found.

"What the?" I asked to myself, moving around my desk in search of it.

I checked my bags again, looked under desks, checked every drawer, and still it was nowhere.

I sighed in frustration before turning to the door where Edward was suddenly standing.

"Looking for this?" He asked with a smirk, holding my yearbook out in front of him.

"How did you...?" I asked, chuckling and reaching for it as he stepped into the room.

"I swiped it before the assembly. Thought I'd write in it before giving it back," he laughed. I smiled at that. He'd written the sweetest message in mine last year, telling me what the year and meeting me had meant to him. I knew whatever he'd written to me this year would be just as wonderful.

"Sneaky, sneaky," I tisked, sitting back down to lift my heavy bag and finish packing it.

"Why don't you look in it? There's a great picture on page 257," he said.

I looked up at him and saw a mischievous grin. Crap, there must have been some silly picture from spirit week in there.

I flipped open the book and scanned the page for whatever he was talking about when my eyes landed on the top right corner to a picture of Edward and me dancing at last year's prom, smiling happily at each other as he held me close.

I moved my eyes to the pen ink beside it, and gasped as my eyes filled with tears. Beside it, in Edward's elegant handwriting, was a simple message.

"Miss Swan,

You are the love of my life, my reason for being, and the hottest teacher I've ever had. Will you marry me?

Love,

Mr. Cullen"

"Oh my gosh," I breathed, tears trailing down my cheeks.

"If you need help answering, flip to the covers of the yearbook," Edward whispered.

I did and what I found brought a fresh wave of tears and excited laughter. Every single entry, signed by several of my students, Edward's students, and even several teachers and faculty all said the same thing.

"Say yes," read every single entry.

I looked up to Edward, who was now kneeling on one knee in front of me. Gently, he placed a black velvet box on the opened cover of the book I was holding, sliding it to me. It was opened to reveal a delicate pear shaped solitaire diamond set in white gold.

"Edward," I whispered.

"Say yes?" He asked nervously, hopefully.

"Yes."

THE END

To everyone who has made this journey special, I want to thank you.

To Nicffwhisperer, for embracing me and giving my story shoutouts on TLS, I thank you so much!

To everyone at FicSisters for the lovely banner and the very special shoutouts, I am so very grateful.

To the amazing ladies who helped me beta this, EJObsession and Chicsarah, I cannot express how much I appreciate your time, assistance, and encouragement through this.

To sfspeedy, for the reviews, the sweet words, and the constant laughs on Facebook, thank you, doll!

I'm really sorry if I missed anyone—I truly thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and shared this story. It's been a blast.