AN: Special thanks to nicnicd, my amazing beta. You're the bestest and idk why you didn't abandon me, but I'm so glad you didn't. Way more thank yous and some notes down below. The song for this chapter is "Thank You for Being a Friend," which is the Golden Girls Theme. Vive la Lesbisons!

Here we go, the final chapter of Somewhere In Between. Honestly, I wasn't sure we'd ever get here. Thank you for reading.

Epilogue: Your Heart is True

Almost Two Years Later

*EPOV*

Where the hell is she?

Pacing from the window to the elevator doors and then back again to the waiting room, I bypassed the television currently playing some over-dramatic soap opera that no one was watching. I briefly glanced out the window and then started all over again.

I swore that I must have been wearing a path by now. Alternating between listening for the sounds of the elevator doors opening and any strange sounds from the direction of the waiting room, I ran my hand through my hair. It was a damn mess at the moment—really, I had little to no patience on a good day, and I'd probably go bald by the time I was forty at the rate I was messing with it today.

"Daddy, you okay?" My daughter's sweet voice interrupted my frantic pacing. Walking quickly to her, I scooped her up and rubbed her nose with mine. "Yes, pumpkin, everything is fine."

She placed her hands on my cheeks, pulling my cheeks into a weird smile with her hands. "Smile, Daddy. She's comin'," she said matter-of-factly. "I can't believe we get a baby today!"

She squealed, wrenching herself out of my grasp and hopping down. Sometimes I couldn't believe she was the same little girl whose language of misspoke 'gwown up words' with dropped endings had instantly wrapped me around her finger. Every day I discovered something to marvel at—she was still a tiny little shrimp but more substantial now than the day I'd first laid eyes on her.

I could hardly believe that I was standing here, on the maternity floor no less, with my six year old daughter.

I grabbed her hand, tugging her giggling little self with me as I started to pace again. She laughed when I started to walk like Shrek, big stooping steps like her current "favwet" movie of the week—okay, so she still had an issue with pronouncing the letter 'r.' I kind of hoped she wouldn't grow out of it any time soon because I was sure I'd miss the way she spoke.

So much had happened since I "came back" two years ago, ups and downs and more great moments than anyone should have a right to.

Therapy, both as a family and individually, had helped us all to deal with everything that had happened. I got over my anger at Tanya, and, though I didn't really care to pursue it any further, had suspected that her confidante in her deviousness was Aro. I was just glad to be done with the craziness and moving forward with my life the way it was supposed to be.

After a few months, when we were finally on an even keel, Bella began to agree with me about James—that even though what he'd done had hurt her, it would hurt Gracie more in the long run to cut him out of our lives forever. We worked out a schedule where she spent the day with him on at least one Saturday a month. Sometimes, it was more, depending on their "schedules."Who knew a six year old would need a schedule?

Though I would never be James' biggest fan, I would always be grateful to him for taking care of both of my girls while I was, for all intents and purposes, gone. Plus, it was hard to hate someone that loved your family so much. Eventually, that friendly camaraderie of our college days had begun to re-stitch itself, though there would always be rips in the fabric. I just wanted for him what I had in Bella. We weren't really surprised when he met Jessica about eight months after our wedding. She was a nice girl, kind and funny and she got along with Gracie incredibly well. It probably had to do with her love of pink...

There was one thing that would never change—Bella was truly meant for me and we would never be apart again. We had our struggles like every other couple, but at the end of the day we loved each other and were always respectful. She was amazing in every sense of the word: as a wife, a mother and as a friend. I was so lucky to have her, and I thanked God every day that we had worked through all of our bullshit. I guess that almost losing the person who means more than your own life gives you perspective, and I couldn't imagine things turning out any other way.

And now our family was just getting bigger.

The ding of the elevators stopped my pacing. Or possibly it was Gracie's shriek of, "she's here!"—they happened simultaneously, so who knew. It was barely visible through the packages, flowers and balloons in her arms, but Bella's smile was wide. I rushed over to my beautiful wife and leaned in for a quick kiss, batting a teddy bear out of my way. "Where've you been?" I asked, exasperated. She rolled her eyes at me as she handed Gracie a huge bear and walked toward the waiting room. "You are entirely too antsy." She started to laugh, stopping abruptly at my grim expression. "Oh, for Pete's sake, Edward. I was only gone for a half an hour." I opened my mouth, ready with a smartass comment that I'd only missed her and was that so wrong, when James burst through the doors.

"It's a boy!" He could barely contain the joy that stretched across his face and he walked toward me, taking my hand and shaking it exaggeratedly. "Thank you for being here, man."

"Of course I'd be here," I said.

Gracie ran over to him and bounded into his arms. "We got the baby?" she asked excitedly.

He nodded and sat down in the closest seat, situating Gracie in his lap and hugging her tightly. He started telling us about his son, who they'd decided to name "Benjamin."

"How's Jess?" Bella asked.

He beamed. "She was amazing. You would've been so proud of her. She's resting now; I've only got a few minutes. I had to come out and talk to my EmmyBear."

Gracie scrunched up her little nose at the nickname. She really was getting too big. I wrapped my arms around Bella, breathing her in and just being thankful that we'd all worked out our issues enough that we could be a part of this.

"Jamie," Gracie whispered, "a looooooong time ago, you told me when we get a baby, it'd be my brother. Is Benjamin my brother then?"

He looked at me, silently communicating that he would explain things to her. She'd asked Bella and me this question at least a thousand times. Apparently, she wanted a response from her Jamie, too.

Bella turned in my arms and stood on her tiptoes, kissing me softly while James and Gracie began to talk about the baby. "Are you sad?" she asked me, nodding toward the nursery window and the tiny bassinets there. "Why would I be sad?"

She walked over to the window and peered in. "Do you wish it was us?" she asked quietly.

Wrapping my arms around her, I held her to me and kissed her. God, I love this woman. "Not at all. I don't need a baby to get my 'happily ever after'. When we're ready, we're ready. Until then, I'm happy with the family I've got."

She nodded and held me closer before turning around and looking at the babies again. "Rose and Em are trying, you know."

"Mmm," I hummed, running my nose along her jaw and down her neck, nipping her soft skin slightly. "Now, that I'm ready for. All the trying."

She giggled and pushed me away for a second, and then immediately pulled me back.

Such a flirt.

A nurse cleared her throat, effectively ending the attempted hospital make-out session with my wife. We walked back over to James, who was kneeling down in front of Gracie and listening to her with rapt attention.

"I miss you every day," he murmured to her.

Gracie laughed, telling him that he was silly and reminded him that he saw her all the time.

I understood what he meant though—I knew I'd go crazy if I wasn't able to see her every day.

She gave him one last hug and walked over to us, taking Bella's hand. "Bye, Jamie," she whispered. "I can't wait to meet Benjamin."

"He can't wait to meet you either, Em." He waved at us as he walked back toward the hallway that would lead him to his wife and new son. Just before pushing the doors open, he turned and said, "Saturday. Gracie, I think he's going to need help with his toys."

She got all excited and started chattering about teddy bears and Barbies. Eh, I was leaving it up to Bella to tell her little boys didn't like pink as much as she did. We watched him walk through the doors before she turned to me. "Daddy, can we please get ice cream?"

"Yeah, ice cream sounds great, princess," I answered, grabbing Bella's other hand and leading them to the elevators.

"When am I gonna get a brother for real?" she whined.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to respond, Bella surprised the shit out of me by saying, "Soon, baby."

"You always say soon." Gracie pouted for a moment before a huge smile lit up her face. "Since I don't get a baby, I know what you can get me to make up for it!" She clapped and then started to jump in time with the elevator, a trick Emmett had taught her.

Ignoring Bella's warning glance, I said, "What's that, Princess?"

She looked at me, huge green eyes pleading. I could never say no to that face and I just knew I was probably about to go drop some cash at the toy store.

"Can we get a puppy?"

So that's it. We're done. There are so many other people that I want to thank, and I already know that I will forget someone. Chest-crushing hugs and big sloppy kisses to TwiSherry, Meg, Kherisma, Hooka, MsKathy, JaimeArkin, GGSophie, Amber, Erin, Dawn, Kaitlyn, Kari, tpea and Elle and everyone else on my thread, xtothey, and my official prereader, Saranic. Thank you HeatherDawn and RoseArcadia for the graphics and the love and the pimpage. Thanks also to the preview team who has been beyond patient. I {puffy heart} ya'll.

There won't be any sequels or anything like that—not that you asked. I'm not planning on any outtakes, either. There are two outtakes for this story, which are linked on my blog: www(dot)kassiah(dot)com. If you're interested, my next story, il Sensale, is a minikindofnovella and will start posting on 4-20. It's AU (yay vamp!sex) and should be kind of fun. Not as emo, for sure. After that, it's back to Forksnumbers. Thanks for your support—you don't know how much it means to me. Thank you, and I hope you've enjoyed Somewhere In Between.