SM owns Twilight.

Story title comes from the song Sometimes Salvation by The Black Crowes.

Long A/N in the beginning without one at the end.

I have been an utter failure with this last chapter and many others as well with this story. I apologize again for the delay in getting this last chapter out and in responding to reviews. That is something I have never done and feel very very badly about it and I promise I will respond to any that you grace me with for this final chapter.

Things have been very crazy these past few weeks. I have started a new job working in a bakery (one step closer to my own Dolce Amore hopefully!) and while my first official start date was this past Monday I have been working there for the past two weeks while working out my notice at the job that I was leaving. Needless to say 16 hour days on my feet for two weeks without a day off pretty much wrecked me. The flip side to that is I was doing what I love so it really wasn't that bad at the end of the long day.

A few of you have asked if I will be writing more and the answer is yes. I have a few ideas running around in my head and hope to get them up and running within the next few weeks. If you are interested, please be on the lookout for more.

Thank you to you all for the support and love that you have given this story, especially the lovely readers who have followed me from my other stories. You all mean the world to me.

Much love and gratitude! With sadness and major groveling I give you the last chapter.

Chapter 20

Bella and Edward's new job was to start January 3rd, 2012. They had decided that they wanted to get married before they left.

There had been many discussions about where they would be married. The whole family gave their opinions with Alice's suggestion of the Reflecting pool near the Lincoln Memorial and Emmett's suggestion of the White House Rose Garden (because as Emmett said Carlisle was that powerful a man) being the most outlandish.

In the end it was decided by the couple that they would get married in the garden where they had shared their first date. Esme was of course thrilled with the idea of them getting married at their home. With all of the work that she, Alice and Rose put into the planning of the wedding, Bella and Edward were able to focus on the things they needed to do in order to prepare for their upcoming trip.

Reactions had been mixed about the couple leaving their family for a year's time from excited to sad. With promises of weekly Skype sessions, daily e-mails and Twitter updates the family gave their full support to the young couple's future endeavors.

And so it was on December 17th, Bella and Edward stood in front of a preacher, holding hands, nestled in between outdoor space heaters exchanging their vows.

Bella wore an off-white gown that was elegant in design, simple in lace and moved fluidly with her body. The only jewelry she wore was a small silver heart that hung from a delicate chain that Renee had given to Esme on her wedding day as her something new. It became Bella's something old and something new as Esme knew it should be with Bella from now on.

Edward was handsome in his classical black tux, his auburn hair cut close to his head so he wouldn't have to fight with it on the most important day of his life.

The ceremony was small, their immediate family and a few friends in attendance. After their first kiss as man and wife, the happy couple made their way over to the reception tent that had been put up and enjoyed great food, great conversation and dancing surrounded by the ones they loved.

Esme held Charlie's hand while Carlisle stood behind her, his arms around her waist watching their children leaving at the end of the night. Not a word was spoken between the three of them, no acknowledgment of the silent tears that slowly trailed down each of their faces. The tears were not sad though for each of them knew that none of them was losing a child they were gaining one.

SSES

"Oh my God Bella that was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life." Edward panted.

"I know." Bella added as she tried to slow her own breathing down. "It was so big."

"And it felt different too." Edward said as he pulled his wife closer to him, kissing her nose softly. "Not at all what I had expected."

"In a good way or a bad way?" Bella questioned him.

"Oh definitely in a good way?" Edward answered her with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"So it's safe to say you like Whale Sharks better than Great Whites." Bella laughed as she pulled her dive mask off of her head completely.

"Without a doubt." Edward said with a silly smile. "That big monster didn't want to eat me unlike his distance cousin that we ran into a few weeks ago."

While exploring a wreck site in Australia, they had been able to go cage diving with Great Whites. Bella had thought it was amazing and enjoyed the thrill of the large creature exploring them. Edward, not so much.

"Baby I told you that you were safe in that cage, they could not get any closer than they did." Bella said as she tried to hide her giggles.

"They were too close as it was, all I could think about was that scene in Jaws and thinking we needed a bigger cage." Edward said with a pout.

"My poor baby." Bella said as she kissed her husband gently on the lips, enjoying the taste of salt that lingered there. "Happy First Anniversary baby."

"Happy First Anniversary to you too." He replied, deepening the kiss. "Too damn thick." He grumbled against her lips as he tried to caress her wet suit clad body.

"Come on my horney husband, let's go back to the boat and then make our way back to the house."

Bella and Edward had spent the day exploring the wreck of the Eidsvold in the waters of off Christmas Island, Australia. Edward had watched her for an hour as she explored the site, pointing out various fish, coral and other marina life as she took pictures and video, even being so brave as to linger near the edge of a deep canon that the remaining part of the boat had fallen into.

It was on their way back to the surface that they had encountered the giant Whale Shark. Bella took picture after picture of the majestic, lumbering creature while Edward swam beside it, his hand reaching out to run his fingers down its smooth skin.

SSES

"Edward!" Bella gasped after she opened the door to the small house the couple were staying in while on the island.

"I didn't want you to be without a Christmas tree." Edward said.

"How?" Bella asked as she walked over and touched the artificial tree that had been set up in their living room.

"When we found out we would be here during Christmas I had mom send one down to us. Arianna put it together for me." He said as he walked over to his wife and pulled her into his arms.

"It's decorated with our memories." Bella said as she reached out and touched the little snow globe that they had gotten in Hawaii. The tree was filled with little trinkets that they had picked up in their travels to places such as Bali, Thailand, Scotland, Ireland and Italy.

"Do you like it baby? I know it's not a real tree but at least it's a tree."

"It's perfect Edward." Bella said as she turned in his arms to face him. "Thank you so much for this wonderful gift."

"Anything for you my sweet girl. We will make our own Christmas traditions on Christmas Island" He said as he softly kissed her lips.

The kiss started out soft but quickly deepened as Edward pulled Bella up his body, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Take me to the bedroom Edward." Bella gasped as she pulled breathlessly away from the kiss.

"Anything for you my sweet girl." He said as he began to move them back to their bedroom. "But I swear Bella if another one of those fucking crabs is in our bed, we are eating it for dinner tonight."

Bella could not help but laugh at Edward. They had both enjoyed the sight of red crabs invading the island as they made their way down towards the ocean to find their mate and create future generations. Edward's enjoyment ended abruptly the night before when one of the crabs mistook their bed for a rocky cliff. Edward's left ass cheek was still pink from the pinch the offending intruder had given him.

"Still think I should have cooked that fucker." He grumbled as he moved the hand that was cradling his wife's behind back to his own and rubbed the sensitive spot.

"My poor baby." Bella said through her small chuckles as she kissed his nose. "You cannot cook them Edward, they are just following their instincts to mate and create new life."

"Yeah but only we can mate and create new life in our bed." Edward grumbled again as he pulled the covers back on the bed and double checked to make sure there were no uninvited visitors.

"I hope we do." Bella said with a shy smile.

"Yeah?" Edward asked as he lowered his wife to the bed.

"Yeah."

"I love you Bella, so much." Edward said as he covered her body with his own.

"I love you too Edward."

Edward took his time, exploring Bella's body, laying gentle kisses on the exposed skin after removing her clothing. Once she lay bare before him he explored every crevice and surface of her, just as he had seen her do so many times when she was diving at wreck sites. He used his lips, his tongue and his fingers to dive and map out her body, enjoying the sounds that she made, the way she moved fluidly under him just as she did in the water and the way his heart exploded when she called out his name in passion.

He whispered words of love and devotion to her as he moved inside of her, reveling in the way she felt around him, always appreciating the joy it brought to him both physical and emotionally. Their bodies danced with one another, pushing and pulling in sink to the soundless song that played around them until the both reached euphoria together.

As he lay beside her afterwards, watching the subtle rise and fall of her chest he couldn't help the smile that over took his face as a feeling of warmth spread over his body. His instincts telling him that they had indeed created a new life.

The End!