A/N: Thank you all so much for all your wonderful thoughts!

Hitting the 'Complete' button on this one. It was originally supposed to be 8 chapters, but...well, it grew. Hope you guys enjoyed it. :)

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest of the story is mine.

After Christmas – Chapter 19

Four years later: Kathmandu – The day after Christmas

As I scurried down the first-floor hallway of IT Park's Main Building, I offered a distorted smile to the various faces I passed – some familiar and some unfamiliar. Trailing a few feet behind, Jess's heels resounded off the polished wood floors.

"Bella, wait. Wait!" she hissed.

When I turned the corner, I broke into a full-on sprint, mentally cursing the inventors of heels and narrow skirts, and then cursing myself for loving them. By the time I pushed open the bathroom door, hustled into the first stall, and unclamped my palm from my mouth, vomit spewed forth so swiftly I barely got it in the toilet. Mid-heave, I heard the bathroom door creak open followed by heels click-clacking rapidly over the floor. When the knock on the stall's door was followed by Jess's voice and only Jess's voice, I thanked every deity possible.

"Bella, are you alright?"

"Yes." I could only hope she understood me through the gagging. Finally, when I'd expelled everything physically imaginable, I straightened up, sorted my blouse and skirt, and drew in a deep breath. Opening the stall's door, I was met by Jess's big, black, and anxious eyes.

"What in the world was that?"

"That was nerves." Forcing a smile first, I covered my mouth and traipsed around her to the water cooler, filling a paper cup to its rim. I felt Jess's scrutinizing gaze on me through the mirror while I rinsed my mouth over the sink. When I finished rinsing, I dampened a paper towel with faucet water and allowed my eyes to meet hers.

"It's a monumental week."

"It is," Jess agreed, "but you've been prepared for this for years."

I ran the wet paper towel over my forehead, down my cheeks, and around my mouth. "Yes, but I'm still nervous about it."

Jess snorted. "I always pictured you more excited than nervous for the opening of IT Park Nepal."

Shifting my gaze away from her, I took in my flushed reflection instead. At the same time, my mind wandered to the last full day I spent as a permanent resident of New York City, another monumental day just a little over a year ago…

"So, here we are, at your brother's wedding – a brother whom, from all I've heard, was once the friskier of you two. Yet, somehow, he managed to convince Ally to marry him, and they haven't even been together for as long as have you and my Bella."

I happened to overhear this little piece of passive-aggressive nonsense spew from my dad while I rambled around in the hugely magnificent ivory tent erected on the rooftop of one of Tribeca's loftiest penthouses. Yes, Jasper's m-dub ways may have been far behind him, but his love affair with flash and glitz was obviously still in full effect. Despite it being late fall, he'd insisted on erecting a tent on the building's rooftop instead of holding the reception indoors, because the rooftop showed off the magnificent Manhattan skyline to the better advantage. The tent itself glittered with white lights and sparkling chandeliers, overflowed with expensive champagne and all types of white flowers, and it was made altogether warm and cozy thanks to the portable heaters and the happy throng of guests.

I had to admit, Jasper had been right. It was beautiful, and he and Alice's obvious joy were the icing on the cake.

When I overheard my dad and Edward, they were standing at the bar area inside the tent, both in tuxes, and both with one hand dug deep inside a pocket while gripping their respective drinks in their other hand. Their backs were to me, and naturally, as soon as I heard what I heard, I remained silently still.

Edward chuckled in what I recognized as a deceivingly carefree manner. "Charlie, if I stopped and counted how many times I've asked your daughter to marry me in the past three years, I'd need to count on my toes as well."

Apparently, even top-shelf liquor loosened tongues.

"Hm," Charlie grumbled. His ensuing silence led me to hope he'd dropped the subject, but as soon as I lifted a hand to tap Edward's shoulder – I wanted to dance – Charlie continued, and I pulled back my hand.

"I don't like it, Edward. I'm completely against this move to Nepal, and I've never pretended otherwise. Sure, Renee is all gung-ho, because in her desire to live vicariously through Bella, she's failing to see all the cons."

"Cons such as?" Edward asked.

"Now, don't get me wrong, son. I'm certainly proud of Bella's work over the past few years and of all her efforts at gathering great minds to bridge the technological divide over there. And I'm proud of the work you do, too. But Bella's my little girl, Edward, and it's going to be a different world over there for her."

"She understands that, Charlie; we both do."

"No, listen to me." Charlie pulled his hand out of his pocket and rested it on Edward's shoulder. "Making Nepal your permanent home is way different from traveling back and forth, the way you've both done for the past few years. I mean, take when Renee and I moved to New Jersey after Emmett was born. Even that was a difficult adjustment for Renee."

"Yeah, because it was New Jersey," I muttered under my breath.

"I'd just…I'd feel better about it if at least, she was married, if she had a husband to watch over her."

I rolled my eyes.

"Now, I know it sounds old-fashioned, and I know Bella would likely have a fit if she ever heard me, but if I knew you both had that sort of deep commitment to one another-"

"Moving seventy-five-hundred miles away together doesn't show a deep commitment to one another?"

My head jerked back slightly at that one – even though it was the argument I always gave Edward when he'd jokingly propose.

Nevertheless, Dad continued as if Edward hadn't spoken. "If I knew you could count on one another always, I'd feel somewhat reassured about this entire fiasco."

I couldn't see Edward's expression, but I saw the deep rise and fall of his shoulders, and I heard his profound inhalation and exhalation, which gave me a pretty good idea of his thoughts. For my part, I was preparing to reach up and choke my dad to save Edward the trouble, when Edward spoke with much more composure and…empathy than I would've shown.

"Charlie, I don't mean to take anything away from my brother and Alice, and definitely not today on their wedding day. I'm thrilled for both of them, especially for Jasper because as his brother, I know how much Alice means to him. But I'll tell you right now, marriage certificate or not, there are no two people in this world more committed to one another than are Bella and me."

I grinned softly to myself.

"If what's bothering you is concern that without an official piece of paper, I won't take care of Bella with my life, that I won't be there for her, or that I won't make her my priority above everything, then you can rest easy, because we've been doing all those things for one another for years now, even without that piece of paper. Again, not taking anything away from my brother and Alice, but Bella and I don't need a certificate or a fancy party to know we're one-hundred percent committed to one another."

"Aw, Edward, it's more than that," my dad said.

"Charlie, I can't force her to marry me. I don't think you'd appreciate that either," Edward snorted.

"No, I know you can't. I know. But…what if this is a mistake, Edward? What if she leaves with you in a few days, and within a few weeks or a few months, she realizes she made a mistake?"

"Then, if she made a mistake, we'll work it out together."

"I wouldn't put it past her to be too stubborn to admit her mistake."

"Oh brother," I breathed with another eye roll.

"Even more likely…" Charlie exhaled, "Edward, she wouldn't admit her mistake because she wouldn't want to ruin things for you. She'd stay and try to make it work, but she'd be miserable the entire time, and we wouldn't even know."

Again, I opened my mouth, my hands forming claws now, but Edward beat me to it.

"I would know." The confidence in his tone shot a warm thrill of pride right through me. "Charlie, I don't know how to assure you that Bella and I have already planned for all your concerns, other than to ask you to give it time. Yes, we're leaving on Sunday, and yes, this is it."

My dad's hand fell away from Edward's shoulder.

"We've sent her stuff ahead. With Alice and Jasper married now, the apartment has been emptied and leased. So yes, Charlie, come Sunday, Bella and I are boarding a flight to Nepal. Yes, it's going to be a huge change for her. And yes, she'll more than likely go through rough spots while she becomes accustomed to actually living there. But Charlie, Bella and I," – Edward set down his beer with a thud and leaned in closer to Dad – "we talk. We communicate. If time passes and she's not acclimating to living there or in our new neighborhood or if she simply needs to call Nepal quits for whatever reason, she will tell me. And I'll do whatever is best for her…for us." He pulled back. "That's all I can assure you, sir, other than that I love Bella. I miss her when she's not with me, and she misses me, and through some crazy and insanely-fortunate twist of fate, we share more than a romantic passion, but a passion in what we do. So, yes, we're going to push it to the limit and give it all a go." Edward patted my dad's shoulder sympathetically.

Meanwhile, I wanted to jump up and down and cheer in my couture gown and heels. I wanted to shout out hurrahs and huzzahs and all sorts of standing ovations. I would've done so too, if Esme Cullen hadn't spotted me just at that moment.

"Bella! Bella, darling, come meet a good friend of mine!"

Esme and I had already greeted one another before the ceremony. What's more, it wasn't the first time she and I saw each other since the night of the Great Miami Charity Auction, a few years back.

One day, a few months after my decision to move to Nepal, Esme appeared outside of my office building. Vaguely apologizing for the intrusion, she begged me to have lunch with her. Then, at lunch, she tearfully implored me not to make the move to Nepal so that Edward would be forced to return in a couple of years when his original four-year commitment was over. When I told her I refused to be party to her manipulative schemes, she simply begged me to be good to her son.

By that point, I'd more or less figured out Esme Cullen. She was a gorgeous, disturbingly-young-looking, wealthy, and blue-blooded woman who'd never had to work for anything, and who was accustomed to getting everything through either her looks or her dramatics. And as much as she loved her youngest son, she didn't understand why neither of her tried-and-true methods worked on him.

After that, every couple of months, and at least once whenever Edward was in town, we had lunch together. Sometimes, the things she said left me biting my fist to prevent an outburst of vastly opposing views. Her lifestyle was just so different from most of my life experiences. And even though Edward grew up in that world, the life he now led was in such stark contrast that he'd sometimes stammer or grow red in the face, and occasionally even fist his hair so hard he actually pulled copper strands out in his effort to dismiss her wilder comments. Alice, who had little-to-no-patience for her now-mother-in-law, once asked me why I bothered when Edward and I would soon make our lives on another continent altogether.

Because, despite their differences, Edward loved his mother. It was for him I made the effort.

Unfortunately, none of the reconciliation attempts above applied to Carlisle Cullen. If Edward's acceptance of a temporary, humanitarian position in Nepal widened an already existing rift between father and son, that job's permanence made the breach almost unbridgeable. There had been little communication between Edward and his father over the past few years, with no significant attempt on either side. But weddings were weddings. They brought families together, willingly or unwillingly.

At the sound of his mother's voice, Edward turned and spotted me behind him.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Your mom just wants to introduce me to someone."

He smirked. "If she gets weird, just tell her I'm waiting for you." Then he turned back to my dad, and I, unfortunately, was forced to move away.

About twenty minutes later, after finally extracting myself from Esme and her friend's bejeweled hands and Oscar-worthy gesticulations and conversation, I found myself alone in front of the concrete rooftop railing. Notes from the band's music drifted out of the tent and wafted in the cool breeze. The sun and the outdoor heaters had kept the rooftop rather cozy despite it being late November, but the sun was setting behind the unparalleled Manhattan skyline, casting a dome-shaped, orange glow around steel skyscrapers. It reminded me of the New York City snow-globes I brought back for Jess every time I found myself in Nepal.

"There you are."

I looked over my shoulder and smiled at my mom. "I didn't know I was missing."

"Everyone is looking for you, honey. It's almost time for the toasts."

"Oh, I didn't realize it was getting that late." Shaking my head, I turned back toward the skyline, wrapping my arms around myself against the briskness ushered in by the disappearing sun. For a few moments, my mom stood silently next to me before letting out a deep sigh.

"It certainly is a beautiful view, isn't it?"

"It is."

"It's incomparable."

I didn't reply right away. "I don't know about that. In Nepal, the sun sets behind the Himalayans; although sometimes you can see it through the fog and smog, and sometimes you can't."

She chuckled. "It sounds like New York."

"Yes; sometimes it does remind me of the skyscrapers."

"I can imagine," she said softly. I felt her gaze on me. "I always knew it would take something huge to get you to leave New York. But, you did it, honey. You convinced some of the biggest tech firms to sponsor your project. Construction and prep are well underway, and soon, you'll-"

"Mom, did you ever regret it?"

"No, baby. Not for a second."

Her reply erupted as quickly and instinctually as had my question, as if she was expecting it, as if she knew exactly what I meant, and as if she'd always known I'd ask.

"I don't doubt him." The sun slid behind the glorious Freedom Tower and illuminated it in a heavenly, almost reverent glow. "Never him. But what if…what if I do fail over there, and what if I miss all this too much?"

"Then you and Edward will figure things out."

A faint smile curved shakily around my mouth. "I overheard Dad's concerns."

"Bella…" She wrapped a warm arm around me, and I rested my head on her shoulder. "Your dad loves you so much he forgets what it was like when we were younger and had to make choices for ourselves. Don't take his doubts to heart, my love." Her lips brushed my forehead. "It's your life to lead."

When my mom gently nudged my head off her shoulder and turned me around, I had to look up to meet her blue eyes, despite my heels. She was fairer-skinned than me, yet her hair was closer to black than to my dad's and my brown – a brown which matched our eyes. Tall and graceful in a way I'd never really considered, now I noted how much more of a physical resemblance she shared with Emmett than with me. That evening, she was neither the mother of the groom nor had she ever had any work done, yet the elegant black dress she wore fit her beautifully, and her still-attractive face glowed in the fading light.

"Mom, when was the last time I told you how much I admire you?"

She cupped my cheek. "Bella-"

"Ever since I can remember, I've viewed the choices you made as a warning of what not to do."

"Oh, Bella," she chuckled tenderly, the back of her fingers stroking my cheek, "I know you did."

"The way I saw it, you were so close to having it all once. You graduated at the top of your class in advertising, landed an amazing internship on Madison Avenue, you had it all within your reach…"

She smiled. "Sounded familiar?"

"Yeah, it did," I whispered, "frighteningly so. And somewhere along the way, I decided I wouldn't allow myself the derailments you did."

"It's why I was so glad you didn't push Edward away when you met him. For a while there, I was a bit concerned that in your determination to avoid what you saw as my mistakes, you were pushing away all other possibilities."

"Still," I snorted, "I didn't allow my relationship with Edward to slow me down."

Her fingers lightly brushed back my hair while being careful not to mess with my pricey 'do. "I don't think he would've ever wanted that."

"No, I know he wouldn't have."

"Bella, honey, my life choices were never meant to be a cautionary tale, and I'm sorry if I ever made them sound that way."

"You didn't, Mom. It was all me. In my mind, that's how I saw it, that you'd given up your dream for Dad and for us. But now," my eyes panned away from her and fell on the ivory tent, the lights within causing it to glow in the approaching dusk, "I understand how you felt." I looked back at her and smiled. "The track you were on…it was a wonderful one, and you would've been an amazing marketer; I know you would've. You just wouldn't have felt as fulfilled as with the alternate track you followed."

She nodded slowly, the gentle smile still on her face. "Life is a series of choices, Bella. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how one looks at things, the choices aren't always between a right path and a wrong path. Sometimes, you have two perfectly wonderful choices before you. And sometimes, choosing one wonderful opportunity means closing the door on the other wonderful opportunity. As a realtor, I help families who are just starting out find the right house with the right fit for them. It might not sound like much, but seeing their joy when it all clicks…it means the world to me."

"I never allowed myself to see that. Mom…you and I aren't so different, are we?"

Her smile widened, which enhanced the laugh lines caused by a lifetime of smiling – laugh lines which didn't detract from her beauty.

"Bella, if we're uncommonly lucky, the fulfillment of the opportunity we choose more than makes up for those opportunities we leave behind. I've wondered; of course, I have, but I've never looked back, and I hope you can see the distinction. And…if you're uncommonly lucky, I hope someday you'll be able to say the same."

Just then, Edward emerged from the tent, hands in his pockets and frowning as he cast his emerald gaze searchingly around the darkened rooftop. The instant his eyes found me, the frown evaporated, and instead, a huge grin lit up his handsome face. I could almost see the sparkle in his eyes, and yes, my heart skipped a beat.

"Come on, Jersey Girl," he called out, smiling and jerking his jaw toward the tent. "It's time for the maid of honor and the best man to make their speeches!"

Yes, I'd been uncommonly lucky.

"I think…I think I already can, Mom."

Later that night, Edward and I were alone in my apartment. We'd donated all the big furniture pieces, save for my narrow, twin mattress, on which Edward and I would spend our last night in New York.

Alice and Jasper were spending the night in the Upper East Side apartment. In the morning, they would leave for their honeymoon in Tahiti. My parents, Emmett, Rosalie, little Gracie, and baby Jonas would return to Miami. Edward and I would catch a flight to Dubai, and then on to Nepal. We would all meet at the airport for goodbyes.

Pale moonlight streamed in through the bare windows and made the specks of dust within dance freely in what was now an empty room. The city's lights twinkled like stars. Edward sat on the narrow mattress with his strong legs folded under him and his hips flexing upward while his fingers traced my spine.

And as I rose and fell rhythmically over him, I added our last time making love in this apartment to the sweet memories of us I carried with me from the very first moment we met: his guttural groans in my ear mingling with the constant honking horns; the bright, city lights playing with the copper hair I gripped in my fists; the faint, leftover scent of the room freshener Alice and I always used fused with the scent of Edward's damp neck.

All the while, I kissed his soft mouth and swallowed his heavy breaths, unable to think clearly, yet exhilarated because no matter what, I knew I was on the right path.

"Edward…Edward, marry me," I breathed in the middle of it all, while his hips met with my hips. His hands fell from my back and gripped my waist, stilling me.

Emerald eyes seared right through me. "Why?" His chest heaved, breaths loud and heavy. "I thought…you weren't…just because Alice and Jasper-"

"It has nothing to do with Alice and Jasper," I chuckled. "It has nothing to do with my dad's concerns. Marry me here or when we're back in Nepal." I brushed my lips back and forth against his. "Marry me quietly or marry me loudly." I trailed kisses across his cheeks and down to his jaw. "Marry me with no one or everyone to witness it." I met his eyes, gazing down at him because of our position. "Marry me because I love you and you love me, and we've been so uncommonly-"

"Yes," he breathed, hungrily capturing my mouth. "Yeah." He flipped us over on the narrow mattress and thrust in deep. "I'll marry you, Jersey Girl. I'll marry you."

"Thank you." And for the next, wondrous, ever-remembered moments, we loved under the city lights and sounds, and I thanked him over and over.

Jess's voice broke me out my memories.

"Are you sure it's just nerves?"

Setting down the damp paper towel, I leaned into the mirror to take in my scarlet reflection and sighed.

"There's a lot hinging on this morning's presentation. There are plenty of important people out there."

"Important people who adore you. Bella, the schedule is set. The Complex officially opens next week. The sponsors, the engineers, the students, everyone is ready and excited. This presentation is merely a formality. In the past four years, you've planned this with the utmost care to every detail."

"We've planned this with the utmost care to every detail." I met her gaze through the mirror and lifted an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. We've planned this, and the only way anything could go wrong this morning is if-"

"If I vomit over everyone in the middle of the presentation?"

"That is disgusting," she snickered. "But yes, I suppose that would be a no-no." Then, frowning, she watched me exhale through narrowed lips and place a palm on my chest.

"Bella, are you-"

The bathroom door swung open.

Edward stood under the frame, and despite slight nausea still rolling around in my stomach, the sight of him instinctively calmed me and set my heart racing all over again.

As Director of Habitat for Humanity Nepal and construction engineer by trade, Edward spent most of his days in jeans, tee shirts, and work boots. Every once in a while, however, when he had meetings, the suits would come out. Over the past four years, those meetings became more and more frequent as we worked on a partnership to get IT Park Nepal off the ground. And even though we'd been living together for a little over a year now, every time I saw him in a suit, my pulse accelerated.

Again, my mind wandered.

It was a hectic time, six months earlier. Edward and HFH had just broken ground on another site, and Jess, myself and the rest of us on the IT Park Nepal project were in the middle of those small, last minute prep jobs at the end of years of preparation which are still important and time-consuming.

Nevertheless, one wonderful Friday, Edward, myself, my parents, Alice, Jasper, and a handful of our best friends took the long, rugged trip to Pokhara. There, we rested for the night, and before sunrise the next morning, we took the much shorter drive to neighboring Sarankot. Sarankot was a sleepy, hillside town with an unparalleled view of the white-peaked and majestic Annapurna I range of the Himalayas. We were met by a monk who didn't mind what religion we were or weren't. And as the sun rose over the sleepy hill and cast its net of golds, oranges, and yellows around our endless corner of the world, Edward and I gazed at one another and made those endless promises which had been in our hearts since the very beginning.

Now, in the women's bathroom of IT Park Nepal, Edward's anxious eyes found mine. "Bella, Aro said he saw you rushing down the hall looking a bit green?"

I turned around and leaned against the wide sink, holding his gaze. "Gee, that was a nice thing to say."

"He was worried about you."

I smiled softly, knowing he likely was worried. Over the past few years, Aro had become more than both Edward's and my mentor but somewhat of a surrogate father to us here as well.

"Edward, do you realize you're standing in front of the women's bathroom with the door wide open?"

"Whatever." He waved it off, his gaze taking me in from the tip of my heels to my thankfully still neat and clean skirt and blouse, and to what I could feel was a flaming face. "What's wrong, Bella?"

"I'm nervous."

His brow furrowed, green eyes scrutinizing me dubiously.

I checked my watch and found we had about a half-hour until the presentation. No, it wasn't enough time to discuss everything Edward and I needed to discuss, not with the hectic frenzy of this particular morning. But Edward and I talked, we communicated, and I supposed by then, it was deeply ingrained in me…in us to just get it all out there.

I kept my gaze on Edward even as I spoke to Jess. "Jess, would you mind giving Edward and me a few minutes?"

"What, here in the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"Uhm…sure? I suppose if any of the women present today need the restroom, I'll redirect them to the men's bathroom and call it equality in the workplace."

"Good idea," I said with a wink and a smile.

Chuckling, Jess excused herself, and Edward finally shut the bathroom door. The entire time, his scrutinizing gaze remained on me.

"So, what's going-"

"Edward, I'm pregnant."

What followed was an entire lifetime of silence during which Edward just…stared.

"My birth control is supposed to have less than a point oh five percent rate of failure…or something like that," I waved a frustrated hand, "and you know I've been religious with it."

Still, he said nothing, his expression strangely unreadable. The edge of the porcelain sink suddenly felt cold against my backside.

"When did you find out?" he finally asked.

"Just this morning. I haven't actually taken a test, but I know my body, and all the signs are there. Plus, my period was due-"

"Last week," he finished for me. "Yes, I noticed."

"You did?"

Sighing, he nodded slowly. "I know your body too, Bella, and I saw the signs as well, but I didn't want to worry you by bringing it up until you were ready."

I shook my head. "Of all the times to screw up, right? When we're on the brink of getting this project, which so many of us have worked on for years, finally off the ground."

"Screw up?"

"I never planned this," I said shakily.

Slowly, Edward took a step forward. Then another, and another, almost as if he was scared of spooking me. "You didn't plan on me, either. And I didn't plan on you. I was focused on my work, and you had your ten-year-plan going at the time, remember?"

I snorted. "I remember."

He took another step toward me and smiled softly. "You were eighteen, an innocent, doe-eyed college freshman when you laid out that plan. By the time you were twenty-eight, you would've had New York City spinning on a different axis."

I laughed at his description of my defunct ten-year-plan. "Boy, that plan sure changed. I'm twenty-eight, living in another country, and only now beginning to get this dream off the ground."

When he took another step, it narrowed the gap between us to a tight space, which he closed by taking my hand and weaving our fingers solidly together – so solidly in fact that if I wasn't completely in tune with him, I wouldn't feel his trembling.

"Yes, but in between, you've accomplished so much."

I squeezed his hand. "We've accomplished so much."

"We," he conceded. "We met, and you continued your dreams, and I continued my dreams."

"And somewhere, somehow, our dreams converged."

"Yeah. Yeah, they did." This close, I could hear the quiver in his voice. He lifted our joined hands to his mouth and brushed his lips back and forth over my knuckles, never breaking our gaze.

"Don't you think…they can converge…again?"

I exhaled unevenly through narrowed lips, studying his emerald gaze. It was a gaze which always expressed so much. Right now, it was his self-control which shone through the most. But there was a vulnerability in there too, a vulnerability he'd never hidden from me. And strength, so much strength always in his every word and action.

For a second, I saw it all recreated in a tiny being – his self-control, his vulnerability, his strength…maybe even his green eyes.

"Edward, I'm so scared," I confessed in a strangled whisper. "I don't think I've ever been this scared in my life. Before, I've always had at least some vestige of control, but now…what if we're not ready for this? There are so many things to consider, so many variables and outliers, and there's still so much…"

Shaking my head, I broke our gaze for a moment, too ashamed to voice the rest. But Edward knew me. More than that, he accepted me.

I met his eyes again. "There's still so much I want to do. I know it's selfish of me, but I can't help feeling this way."

For a long while, he remained silent. Then, he sighed.

"I won't lie; it probably won't be easy. In all honesty, it'll probably be the hardest thing either one of us has ever done – especially you because I can't give birth." He chuckled at what must've been my horrified expression. "And yes, Bella, there are a bunch of things to consider. We may have to do some rearranging of our goals; at least, for a little while."

I bit my lip apprehensively, my heart racing yet again.

"But, Bella…" Edward swallowed. Taking our entwined hands, he slipped them under my blouse and rested them on my stomach so that the back of his hand laid flat on my skin. A series of uneven sighs escaped us both, and I wasn't sure if it was my oversensitive hormones or his fevered skin, but the contact between us had never felt so...comforting. "We'll be together, every step of the way. No matter what variables and outliers exist, the days of you in New York without me and of me here without you are over. We're together, Bella, and when we're together, I think you and I can handle absolutely anything and everything. And I think…" his other hand slid around my neck, "I think we'll be okay. What do you say, Jersey Girl Cullen?"

I chuckled at the name he'd taken to calling me since we married.

"Are you ready to tackle a new project?"

"You mean am I ready to set up a new algorithm?"

"I mean are you ready to shape a new life, Bella…together?"

OOOOOOOOOO

Sari Elizabeth Cullen was born eight months later, on the thirteenth of August, exactly one month before my twenty-ninth birthday, and a couple of months after her dad's thirty-fourth birthday.

My apprehension about our unexpected expectancy ended with the first flutter, with her first kick in my stomach, and with the look of reverent awe that crossed Edward's face when he felt it…her…and with his eternal devotion to this little being part him and part me. By the time we visited New Delhi for our first sonogram, and we saw her floating around in there all happy-go-lucky…well, we were goners by then. Edward would've built her a castle, and I would've rearranged the world for her at that point. As it was, Edward did take to building us a house, and with Jess's help, I rearranged schedules and deadlines on what had turned into a successful and fulfilling endeavor.

While Sari slept in her father's arms after her first nursing, I Facetimed a few people. First, Alice and Jasper, who'd been fast asleep on the Upper East Side of New York. Then, I spent some time with Esme, and even with Carlisle, sun-worshipping on their yacht in Florida, both whom suddenly decided maybe Nepal wasn't too underdeveloped to visit after all. Then, I called the rest of my family, who were spending a week at the Jersey Shore of all places.

Yes, we were all thousands and thousands of miles apart, but we lived in a world where we could remain connected, even in spite of occasional, faulty connections.

"He's so in love," I chuckled. "Look at him; he won't even look up."

Edward didn't even glance at the laptop. Instead, he gazed at Sari's sleeping form in open wonder, lovingly stroking the copper fuzz on her soft head and kissing her forehead the way he tended to kiss mine.

"Maybe now, he'll understand why I was such a hard ass with him," my dad muttered.

"Oh, Charlie," my mom said.

"Welcome to the club, bro!" Emmett called out. "Enjoy her while she's tiny."

"Shush, Emmett," Rosalie scolded, "or you'll wake the baby seventy-five hundred miles away!"

I laughed quietly, my heart close to bursting with a joy still hard to comprehend. We hung up, making plans for visits and more calls. When Edward finally looked up, he leaned in and brushed his lips against my forehead, sighing.

"Thank you, again, and I told you she'd be perfect."

I smiled. "You did, and you were right. I'll fully give you that. But guess what?"

Edward chuckled softly. "What?" He placed Sari between us so that we both supported her sweet weight in our entwined arms.

"It turns out I knew exactly what I was doing all those years ago. I actually did plan this."

"All those years ago you planned this?" He smirked dubiously, lifting a teasing eyebrow.

"Yep. All those years ago, at age eighteen, doe-eyed and innocent – as you described me a few months ago," I smirked, "I sat down and laid out a ten-year-plan meant to lead me from success to success and finally…to an amazing achievement. Edward…" I said much more softly, my voice made uneven by my overwhelming happiness.

He adjusted my Jersey Girl necklace. "I should replace this with something better."

"Don't you dare ever try." I cupped his strong jaw. "Edward, I met you on a snowy day after Christmas, within that ten-year-plan."

"True," he smiled.

"And at the tail-end of that ten-year-plan, you and I together…" – our mouths met softly, directly above our child's tiny head – "we created the most amazing creation of all."

The END

A/N: Thoughts?

Thank you so much for following me on another story. I'm so grateful for you guys, you have no idea.

Well, I guess I'll be off for a bit, finishing up UPRISING, which I've honestly missed working on. Hope to 'see' you guys once I resume postings there.

Take care!

Patty

Twitter: PattyRosa817

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