I have been trying to upload this chapter since Friday night, but for some unknown reason the document manager wouldn't let me. So, I am really sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. Now that that is said, this is the final chapter to 'Hold On' and I'm really sad that its the end. I've really enjoyed writing this story and you guys are just awesome. I am working on a new story and should have it up in the coming days, so, put me on your author alert if your interested. Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all like this final chapter. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with the Twilight series.

Chapter 27

Five Years Later

It had been a long day of cleaning up my classroom that rested in the small elementary school on the reservation. I had one more day to store everything away for the summer before we had our last meeting until August when we'd start the year all over again. I was lucky to have gotten a position at the school on the reservation teaching third grade, but I had a feeling that Sue Clearwater (Seth and Leah's mom) had a say in my hiring at the start of the year. I had been blessed with a wonderful class and they took to me rather easily. Even the parents thought I was a good fit for the school.

After grabbing my purse from my desk, I locked it up once more and left the classroom. I made my way out to my car for the drive to the Paul and my house. I waved goodbye to the a few of the other teachers before I climbed into my car and settled my purse on the passenger seat. As I buckled up my seatbelt and started the car, I smiled as I looked at my left hand on the steering wheel before I raised my fingers and rubbed them together, jostling the small sparkling stone that rested on my ring finger.

The ring was simple in its design, but that was what made it beautiful. It was white gold with a beautiful etched swirl design on the band around the small round diamond. When Paul asked me to marry him on my birthday that previous January, I hadn't even noticed the ring until I after I kissed him senseless, but once I did I fell completely in love with it. Paul promised me a better ring, but I didn't want another ring. It was perfect because it was from him and that was all that mattered. I wrapped my fingers back around the steering wheel once more before I was on my way home.

Everyone wondered what had taken him so long to ask me to marry him, but I didn't mind that he waited. I knew he was going to ask me, and the way he had done it was such a surprise. My class was at recess and I was setting up for the craft project that the class was going to do once recess was over when there was a knock at my open classroom door. Standing there with a small bouquet of soft pink roses was Paul and I had been very surprised to see him.

He had looked nervous as he walked into the classroom and over to where I stood in front of the whiteboard before he kneeled down in front of me. I knew then what he had been about to ask, and the seconds the words slipped from his lips I was saying 'yes' over and over before I kissed him. I hadn't wanted him to leave after he asked me, but I had a class to teach and didn't really have a choice. I had finished the day on such a high that I really don't remember exactly what had happened the rest of the day.

We were getting married in a little over a week, and I was looking forward to it because my parents' wedding gift to us was a two week honeymoon in Hawaii. I'd been to Hawaii once on a vacation when I was twelve and Paul had never really been further from La Push than Seattle, so, it was definitely going to be an experience for him. Since the leaders of the pack had slowed down on their patrolling, only going out once or twice a month, Sam had given Paul the okay to leave for two weeks after the wedding.

We were having a small wedding with our friends and immediate families present and it was all planned to take place in my grandparents' large backyard. Since our wedding was taking place in my grandparents' backyard, the reception was going to be held there as well. Emily and Kim were going to cater the wedding as their gift to us and I couldn't thank them enough because that took a great deal off my mind. Plus, I knew I wouldn't be able to find two better cooks than Emily or Kim.

It didn't take me long to get home and the house that had once been Paul's alone was now the home we shared. I hadn't done much to change it on the outside; we had only added a swinging bench like the one in my parents' backyard to the covered porch. However, the inside had changed a bit but I hadn't taken over everything. The house reflected both of us perfectly even though I took up most of the closet space and the cupboard space in the bathroom. I parked my car next to Paul's truck and I was surprised to see he was home. He'd been working overtime on finishing a huge project that he and the guys had been working on since the summer before; so, I hadn't expected him home until much later.

I grabbed my purse and headed towards the house only to see Paul standing in the doorway of the house with his broad shoulders against the frame with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and a smile on his face. Thanks to his continued phasing he hadn't changed much since the day I met him, but his eyes showed his age sometimes. Especially when he was tired, however, at that moment his dark eyes were bright and dancing. He was excited about something, that much I knew, but I still hadn't mastered the code to his expressions. Even after five years some things about him were still a mystery.

"Hey," I said with a smile as I walked up the stairs of the porch and came to a stop in front of him. He pulled his hands out of his pockets while I stood on my toes and placed a kiss on his chin since that was all of his face I could reach when he was standing. "You're home early."

"I've got a surprise for you," he said, the smile bright on his face. That was probably why he was so excited.

"Really? What?" I asked and he laughed as he pulled my purse from my shoulder and took the keys from my hand.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" he asked and I gave him a half smile as he put my things inside and picked something off the small table that rested near the door. "Put this on," he said as he held out a blindfold and I laughed as I looked from it to his face.

"Why?" I asked curiously and he smiled.

"Just put it on, Amanda," he said. "You'll see soon enough." I took the blindfold from him and he gently pushed me back so he could walk out onto the porch. He closed the door and locked it only to look at me expectantly.

"How about I put it on when we get in your truck?" I asked and he laughed.

"All right," he said before he gently grasped my elbow and walked me to his truck. He opened the passenger side door and let go of my elbow while I climbed into the truck. He held open the door and raised an eyebrow, which made me roll my eyes before I slid the blindfold over my eyes.

"Happy?" I asked as I looked in his direction even though I couldn't see anything.

"Very," he said before he placed a kiss on my cheek and closed the truck door. I fidgeted nervously in my seat as he climbed in and started up the truck before he started driving.

"Where are we going?" I asked and I heard him laugh quietly again.

"We've only pulled out of the driveway, Amanda," he said. "We've got about a ten minute drive."

"And I have to wear this the whole time?" I asked as I gestured towards the blindfold on my eyes and he laughed again.

"Yes," he said. I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest but the only response I got out of him was more laughter. "You still have no patience," he said and I could hear the smile in his tone.

"I have patience," I said. "In my job I have to be patient."

"When you're with kids, your patience level is completely different than when you're with me. You go from ten to zero in a second flat," he teased, but he was right.

"Whatever," I said as I uncrossed my arms and he laughed, which made me smile. We rode in silence after that and after he turned down a slightly bumpy path, he brought the truck to a stop.

"We're here, but keep the blindfold on," he said as he turned off the ignition and climbed out of the car. Wherever we were it was quiet, just like the rest of La Push, and as he helped me from the truck there was a faint smell of paint and wood stain in the air. He closed the door to the truck before he took both of my hands and guided me forward. "Okay," he said softly as he let go of my hands and walked behind me. I could feel the heat of his body against my back as he settled himself close to me. "Close your eyes," he said and I smiled.

"Paul, I'm wearing a blindfold," I said.

"I don't want you to see just yet," he said. I sighed quietly as I complied.

"Okay, they're closed," I said. He carefully pulled the blindfold from my eyes and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Open your eyes," he said and I opened my eyes only to gasp at what I saw in front of me. A beautiful small two story house rested not forty feet from where I stood. The outside was a combination of wood and stone, there was a chimney, and covered porch. A garage rested beside the house and it matched the house in its design. It wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small either and the more I looked at the more I realized just what I was looking at. It was the exact house I had described to Paul when he asked me what kind of house I wanted to raise a family in. It was my perfect house. "It's ours, Amanda," he whispered and I turned around quickly in his hands and looked up at him.

"What?" I asked sharply and he smiled as he looked down at me.

"It's ours," he said again and I looked at the house over my shoulder. It was then that I saw Sam and Jared walk out of the house with smiles on their faces. I turned around to look at them as they walked down the stairs and slowly made their way over to us. I was a little overwhelmed, but I was determined to figure out what exactly was going on. "We've been working on this house for the last year, Amanda," Paul said and I shifted slightly so I could see him and the guys.

"You mean, this is that big project you were talking about?" I asked and Paul nodded. "You guys helped him?" I asked as I looked at Sam and Jared and the two men nodded. I looked back at the house and I didn't know what to say, so, I hugged Sam and then Jared before I threw my arms around Paul. "It's our house," I said and he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly to his chest. Tears were filling my eyes as I buried my face in his chest.

"You haven't even seen the inside yet, Amanda," came Jared's voice from behind me and I laughed lightly as I pulled away from Paul, wiped at my eyes, and smiled at Jared.

"I just can't believe this," I said and he winked at me. "What's wrong with the house we have?" I asked as I looked up at Paul and he laughed.

"We're renting it, Amanda," he said. "It's not ours and it's not big enough to raise a family in."

"This is . . . it's . . . it's just perfect," I said softly as I looked back at the house before I looked back at Sam and Jared. "I don't know how to thank you."

"You don't have to thank us," Sam said with a kind smile as he glanced at Paul. "Just invite us over for a dinner once a week for the next year and we'll call it even." I laughed and nodded my head.

"You got a deal," I said and all three laughed.

"We'll let you show her around, Paul," Jared said. "She's got a lot to see." Jared hugged me and then Sam before they walked over to Sam's truck that was parked next to Paul's. I returned my eyes to Paul. He held out his hand to me and smiled as I slipped my hand into his before he led me to the house for the grand tour of our new home.

"You look beautiful, Amanda," Emma said as she pinned my veil into my curled and pinned up hair as we stood in the room that had once been my bedroom in my grandparents' house. I blushed as I looked at her reflection in the mirror behind me and she smiled at me in return.

"Well you're glowing," I said and Emma laughed as she stepped away from me and I turned around to look at her as she put her hands on her round stomach.

"I'm seven months pregnant, Mandy. I look like a beached whale," she said as she smoothed the dark purple fabric of her bridesmaids dress over her stomach. She hadn't gone off to L.A. like she wanted to. She had stayed in Seattle and after cosmetology school she opened up her own salon that had quickly rose to top of the city's best. She and Tyler were doing well and happily married for almost four years. One second we were graduating high school and the next they were getting married. It had been crazy, but it couldn't have been more perfect.

"You're perfect, Emma, and I can't tell you how much it means to me that you were able to come," I said as I held out my hand to her and she gave me a teary smile as she quickly took my hand into hers. "I know it probably wasn't a very comfortable ride."

"Nothing but going into labor would have stopped me from coming," Emma said and I laughed before I hugged her. "Now, no tears," she chided as we pulled apart. "You don't want to ruin my handy work before everyone gets to see it." We shared a laugh that time and I took a deep breath as I looked at myself in the floor length mirror.

Since our wedding wasn't formal, I went with a simple strapless a-line dress that was fitted around the torso with a lace corset like tie in the back that held the dress tight to my upper body. The dress was ivory and flowed from my hips perfectly to the floor. I had lucked out when I found it in the out of the way shop Mom and Emma had brought me to in downtown Seattle. The second I saw it, I knew it was the dress.

"You're Mom, Emily, and Kim will be coming up the second the guys have Paul in the kitchen, which should be any second," she said as she handed me the bouquet of white carnations, purple carnations, and pink roses. The words no more left her mouth when Emily, Kim, and Mom came into the room. Mom gasped and smiled at me before she shook her head and covered her mouth with her hand as tears filled her eyes.

"It's okay, Mom," I said with a small smile and she dabbed at her eyes before she cleared her throat.

"I've known this day was bound to come sooner or later," she said. "I don't know why I'm so emotional."

"You're officially giving her away today," Emily said with a soft smile on her face. She and Kim were serving as my bridesmaids while Emma was my maid of honor. Oddly enough, Emma had to walk down the aisle with Jared since he was the best man while Kim walked down with Derek; but neither minded. "I think it's a written law that mother's of the brides are supposed to be emotional." Mom laughed as she put a gentle hand on Emily's arm before she looked at me.

"Your father's waiting downstairs," she said.

"It's time," Kim said happily and I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up because I was so nervous.

"Let's rock and roll!" Emma said and I laughed along with everyone else before all of us made our way downstairs and into the living room. Dad turned from the window and smiled at me and I smiled back before Emma, Emily, and Kim all hugged me before they quickly scurried off into the kitchen to join the guys and to start walking down the aisle. Mom kissed my cheek and followed them, leaving me alone with Dad.

"You're even more beautiful than I thought you were going to be," he said.

"Thank you, Dad," I said softly.

"Amanda, I know I haven't been the greatest of fathers; but I'm proud of you," he said as he walked over to me. "You're a lot stronger than anyone ever gave you credit for, even me."

"I come from pretty good stock, so, I've always had a fighting chance," I said as I smiled at him and he chuckled before he held out his bent arm to me. I laced my right arm with his left and he slowly led me through the hall and then through the kitchen before we paused at the open patio doors. The music changed and everyone stood from their chairs as I started down the aisle on my father's arm.

Paul stepped into my line of vision at the end of the aisle when we were three quarters of the way to the small arch of flowers that rested where he stood with the others and with the pastor that was overseeing the ceremony. When my eyes met his, my nerves melted away. I realized then that the promises I saw in his eyes as we drew nearer were the same promises I had seen in his eyes the very first night I met him. It was all there. Nothing had changed, but the love that shined in his eyes as Dad placed my hand into his was stronger and deeper than it had been that night. I felt complete as I held his hand and looked up into those beautiful brown eyes of his. He was all I could ever hope for and I had no plans on ever letting go.

The End