*****I posted Ch24 (e/b last day in phenoix) and this Epilogue at the same time. Be sure you read the last chapter too!*****

Epilogue

EPOV

The automatic doors slide open as I approach, and I pass from muggy, hot air into the cool air-conditioned lobby. I try to ignore the way my shoes squeak against the shiny marble floor as I walk quickly toward the bank of elevators along the far wall.

"Hey. I'm here." I pant into my phone.

"Fourth floor. Suite four-twenty. Don't worry. There are like… two people ahead of me."

"I'm sorry I'm late, but you know how Dr. Gerandy can just go on and on and - "

"You're not late. You're right on time. Besides, your dad is here keeping me company."

I freeze, my finger hovering in midair, about to press the button to summon the elevator.

"Dad? Why? Is everything…"

"I think he bribed the nurses into giving him my appointment schedule," she says, a slight giggle to her words.

I can hear my father's muffled voice in the background. "You'd be amazed at what a cookie tray will get you in a place like this."

I let out a huge breath and press the button.

"I'll see you in a minute," she says.

"All right. Hey, Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Love you."

She chuckles. "I love you, too. Now hurry up."

You would think, in a facility this size, with all the money pouring in from inflated medical expenses and charitable donations that they could afford faster elevators. I tap my phone anxiously against my leg, my eyes darting back and forth between the door to the stairwell and the digital display counting down the floors as the elevator descends. Finally, the bell dings and the doors slide open. I barely wait for the passengers to disembark before I push my way inside and smash the button for the fourth floor.

OK, so I may have smashed it three or four times, but everyone knows that's how you make these tin boxes move faster.

Leaning against the back wall, I take a few deep breaths in an effort to calm myself down. I know if I rush into that waiting room, all hyped up like I am now, I wouldn't be helping anyone. I know she needs me to be calm, to think positive, but I've been finding that extremely difficult lately.

Especially since the last time we went through something like this.

~o0o~

The day my acceptance letter came from the University of Washington, Bella and I started apartment hunting. It took us three days to find the perfect place: a modest two-bedroom, located between both schools – with a balcony.

In the beginning, we split the rent and utilities equally – her idea, not mine – until it became a huge pain in the ass. I hated having to write each other checks, divvying up each and every bill, figuring who was going to purchase what groceries each month. It was like we weren't living together. It was like we were roommates, no different if I had moved in with Jazz. Not that living with Jazz was ever an option since he enlisted the day after graduation. Finally, after a long, heated argument, we agreed to get a joint checking account. Bella was reluctant at first. She didn't like spending my money – especially since it was my inheritance - but when she saw how much easier it made everything, including our relationship, she came around.

One month after we moved in together, Emmett and Rosalie left for Oklahoma. Emmett got a full football scholarship, and Rose was all too happy to trade in her high school pompoms to cheer on the Sooners.

Of course, no one became a bigger cheerleader for my brother than me. I never missed a game, even if all I could do was watch from the comfort of our apartment in Seattle, buried beneath a mountain of textbooks. But when Oklahoma landed in the championship our senior year, Carlisle flew us all to Texas to be there for the big game. It was the first trip we'd taken as a family in over a decade, and I knew it wouldn't be the last.

Unfortunately, Bella had racked up her fair share of frequent flyer miles in the year before that – ever since Renee was diagnosed. By the time they had found the lump, the cancer had already spread to her bones and liver.

Four months later, she was gone.

Bella was able to be there with Renee those last three weeks. She was able to say all the things I wish I could've said to my parents. She and Renee had time to say goodbye. But that didn't make the loss any easier for Bella, and I hated myself for not being there with her. I was stuck back in Seattle, preparing for my MCAT exam. I had packed my bag and was leaving straight from my test for the airport when she called with the news – I was too late.

That's when things got worse.

Over the years, Bella had been doing great with her recovery. Naturally, she had days when she struggled, but we got through them – together. But when I walked into Renee and Phil's house that evening, I took one look at my Bella and I knew. I couldn't blame her. Her life was spinning out of control, and the only thing she could control was what she ate – or didn't eat, in this case.

It seemed to take Bella longer to recover than the last time we went through this in high school. We ended up spending a couple of nights at my parents' house while Carlisle repeated a similar IV treatment and renourishment processes we had done before. Fortunately, I had a better understanding of refeeding syndrome and the warning signs to look for, so I was more help this time around. Regardless, it took her three months to reach a normal, healthy weight again.

She always struggled when there were major, life-altering changes happening around us. Like when Jake and Sam moved to Chicago, or when Charlie and Sue got married, or when – three years after we were married – we lost the baby.

That was the worst of it. Bella blamed herself, blamed all the damage she had done to her body by not taking care of herself. Even when all the doctors around us assured her it wasn't her fault, that this happened to normal, healthy women all the time, Bella couldn't accept it. She cried for days, and as much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't able to help her this time.

I was grieving too.

I was so thankful to see Jake appear at our doorstep a few days later. He took care of us both, making sure Bella at least supplemented what she wasn't eating with meal replacement shakes. And while my years of therapy and working through the trauma of my parents' death did provide me with some tools to deal with this, I still didn't handle it well. And when I finally pulled myself together, my grief was only compounded when I realized how much my wife needed me, and that I had failed her – again.

In the middle of the night, I crawled into our bed and pulled her to me. I'd been sleeping – or not sleeping, honestly – on the couch for the better part of a week. As soon as my arms were around her, Bella burst into tears. I tried to tell her I was sorry, but she wouldn't let me. Once again, she had forgiven me before I'd even asked her to. I truly didn't deserve her.

Things got better, albeit slowly, after that night. Thanks to Jake, Bella didn't lose as much weight this time around, but it was still another long battle to get from there to where we are today.

Today. I smirk to myself.

Today is going to be another life-altering change - probably the biggest we've had to face yet.

And I was running late.

The elevator dings and the doors slide open slowly. I rush down the corridor, scanning the suite numbers on the doors as I pass.

Four-eighteen, four-nineteen, four-twenty!

I search the waiting room, easily spotting my father's stark blond hair where he and Bella sit along the back row. Neither of them looks up as I approach, laughing and talking excitedly about something.

"Here he is," my father announces. "Dr. Gerandy corner you after rounds again this morning?"

I groan. "Yes. That man doesn't know when to shut the - "

"Mrs. Cullen?" a nurse calls out across the waiting room.

"We're up," Bella says, holding out her hands so I can help her to her feet. Carlisle doesn't move from his seat. I glance at Bella quickly and she nods.

"Dad, you wanna come?"

"Oh, no, no. This is something that…" He waves his hand toward the nurse. "Go ahead. I'll see you guys at dinner tonight."

Bella leans down and kisses his cheek. "Thanks for the pep talk, Dad."

"You'll be fine. Go on now."

I take her hand in mine, and we follow the nurse down a long hallway. She ushers us into a small exam room. The lights are dimmed and the exam table takes up the majority of the space.

"Mrs. Cullen, have a seat right here." She pats the edge of the table, the protective paper crinkling as she slaps it. I help Bella step up the tiny stool and sit as instructed before I take my designated seat next to the exam table.

"Just a few questions before we get started," she says, mashing the keys on the computer. A large monitor mounted to the wall flickers to life, and within another second a breakdown of Bella's personal information fills the screen: full name, address, date of birth, social security number, height, weight, everything is on display.

"Could you please verify everything in our system is correct?"

We both scan the display. Nothing looks out of place to me.

"That's everything," Bella says.

"Great. All right." The nurse mashes a few more keys. "First day of your last menstrual period?"

"June twentieth."

The nurse enters the date into her system. "All right. So you're about twenty-one, twenty-two weeks."

Bella nods as the nurse types away.

"Is this your first ultrasound with this pregnancy?"

"No. I had one around eight weeks to check for a heartbeat."

"And is this your first pregnancy?"

I'd been dreading this question even though I knew it was coming. I'd prepared Bella that this would come up again – a lot – this time around, and each time she seems to handle it better than I do.

"No. I had a miscarriage two years ago."

The nurse enters that information into her system. The most horrific moment of our lives whittled down to nothing more than a few notes in a chart.

"How far along were you?"

Bella swallows hard. "Seventeen weeks."

The nurse pauses and looks over at us. "I'm so sorry," she says softly.

"Thank you," Bella replies robotically.

The nurse smiles sadly and turns her attention back to the computer. "Did they perform a D and C?"

"Yes."

"Any complications from the procedure?"

"No."

As the nurse enters this information into her system, Bella looks over at me. I try to smile, but I'm sure she can see right through me.

"Go ahead and lie back," the nurse instructs. I jump to my feet and try to help make Bella comfortable, but there isn't much I can really do. "I'm going to raise your shirt and drape this towel over you to protect your clothes." The nurse does exactly what she says, repeating the same technique with Bella's pants.

When the nurse turns away to prepare her instruments, I lean down and kiss Bella's round belly, placing my hands on either side of my face. "Cooperate please," I instruct her stomach. A second later I feel a tiny nudge under my left hand. This isn't the first time I've felt our baby kick, but it's still just as amazing. My eyes flash to Bella's and she giggles.

"Somebody talking back already?" the nurse asks sarcastically.

"Any recommendation on good discipline techniques?" I ask with a laugh.

"I'll make you a list," she says. "Has the baby been very active?"

"Yeah, I guess," Bella says. "It really gets worked up when daddy is playing the piano."

"Ah, so we have a music critic on our hands."

"Or another ballerina." I wink at Bella.

The nurse approaches the table with a bottle of conductive gel, shaking it a little. "This shouldn't be too cold." She squirts the gel across Bella's belly and reaches for the ultrasound probe.

"Watch the monitor behind my head," she instructs as she touches the wand to Bella's skin. A flurry of black and white static fills the screen before a shape begins to form.

"What am I looking at?" Bella asks.

"That," the nurse says, slowly adjusting a few knobs on her equipment, "is your baby's belly." She moves the wand slightly. "And that," she says, pointing to the fluttering white oval in the center of the screen, "is your baby's heart."

She holds the wand in place, taking some measurements before flipping a switch on the machine and filling the room with the whooshing sounds of the heartbeat.

Bella grips my hand tighter, and until this moment, I didn't realize she was holding it.

"I'm getting around 148 beats per minute."

"Is that good?" Bella asks.

"It's perfect," I answer.

"All right," the nurse announces again, "let's move on to the fun stuff." She circles the wand, spreading the conductive gel higher across Bella's stomach.

"There's an arm. And a hand right there. And…," she circles the wand a little higher, and a crystal clear image of our baby's profile fills the screen. "There's your baby's face. The nose, obviously, and the mouth right here."

Bella lifts her other hand and covers her eyes, and I tear my eyes from the monitor to look at her. That's when I notice the tears streaming down her cheeks. I lean down and kiss her forehead as a huge sob shakes her chest.

"Would you like to stop for a moment?" the nurse asks.

"No, no," Bella says emphatically. "I'm OK. It's just…" She takes a deep breath and wipes her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"I know," the nurse says. "I bawled like a baby when I was on that table, both times."

Bella looks at the monitor again, and after a long moment, a timid smile spreads across her face. Then she starts to giggle. She has to cover her mouth with her hand as her chuckles turn into laughter.

"We're having a baby," she says, staring at me in awe.

I can't help but laugh with her. "Yes, we are." I stare at her, confused.

"I mean, I guess I was just… I didn't want to get too attached to the idea in case…"

My amused smile fades as her words sink in. She's been holding back from accepting this, keeping herself from becoming emotionally involved in case the unimaginable happened again.

I suddenly felt guilty for all the joy I'd experienced over the past five months. I could barely contain my excitement when Bella told me the news. I thought I would burst when she wanted us to wait until after the first trimester to tell our parents. I guess I'd been so distracted with the little things - watching Bella's belly grow, feeling our baby kick for the first time – that I didn't notice that she was distancing herself from this.

And now – now it's all crashing down on her in this moment. She looks terrified.

I brush her hair back from her forehead and kiss her again. "Love, everything is fine. Everything is going to be fine. We're going to be a family, all three of us."

"Would you like to know the sex?" the nurse asks.

I stare at my beautiful wife for a moment, silently asking her what she wants. Slowly, she smiles and nods her head, her eyes never leaving mine.

The nurse shifts in her seat and adjusts the wand lower on Bella's belly. "Let's see if we can get this little one to cooperate like daddy asked."

"Is that what you meant?" Bella asks.

I shrug, sheepishly, and focus on the monitor on the wall.

"See that, right there?" the nurse asks, pointing to a spot on the screen.

"I don't see anything," Bella says.

"Exactly," I mumble and turn to look at my wife. "It's a girl."

"Really?" she says, a hopefully edge to her voice. She glances at the nurse, and I see her nod her confirmation from the corner of my eye.

"Do you guys have any girl's names picked out?"

"Carlie," Bella blurts out.

"Carlie?" I repeat. "Where did that come from?"

"Just now, in the waiting room, your dad was telling me stories about our parents when they were all in college together. My mom was such a scatter-brain, even back then, and sometimes she'd get confused and call your dad or my dad 'Carlie' back when they were roommates."

I must be staring at her with a confused expression because she goes on to explain. "You know, Carlisle and Charlie? Car-lee," she emphasizes.

"No, I get it."

"You don't like it. That's fine. It just popped into my head and - "

"No!" I call out, a bit too loud for the small space. I clear my throat and start again. "No, I love it. It's - it's perfect actually."

Bella smiles timidly. "Really?"

"Yes. I do. I like it a lot. And I think it would be a great way to honor them both, especially after everything they've done for us. It's perfect."

Bella turns to look back at the monitor. "Carlie," she whispers, as if she's trying it out.

"Well, hello there, Carlie," the nurse says. "Be a good girl and hold still so I can get some good pictures for your mom and dad."

~o0o~

After the ultrasound, Bella and I drive straight to my parents' house. They invited us for dinner, knowing we had this appointment today, and are chomping at the bit for all the details. As soon as we give the full report, Bella disappears upstairs to grab a quick nap before dinner. She still claims that she sleeps better in my old bed than anywhere else, even on the top-of-the-line memory foam mattress I purchased after the first night she claimed she couldn't get comfortable because of her growing belly.

Grabbing a magnet, I secure the picture of Carlie's profile to the front of my parents' refrigerator. I have to slide a few old photos to the side to ensure my daughter's first picture has the most predominate spot. Taking a step back, my eyes scan the rest of the collage: Emmett, Rosalie, Bella and me at prom, me and Emmett looking like total dorks in our caps and gowns, several shots of Bella in her many performance costumes over the years, Bella and I at the Seattle sculpture garden, me and Carlisle grinning like idiots at my med school graduation.

Over the years, the front of my parents' refrigerator has become a scrapbook of our family's special moments. I love to look back over our happy memories, but I can't help to feel a little guilty that we weren't able to start this collection earlier. It's fitting that the majority of the pictures are of Bella. If she'd never come into my life, I'm not sure how much of this compilation would exist today.

"Did you reach Charlie?" Carlisle asks, interrupting my thoughts.

I can't seem to take my eyes away from my daughter's picture. "Yeah. I called him right after Bella went upstairs."

Carlisle walks up behind me, patting my shoulder. "And what does he think about having a granddaughter?"

"Oh, I didn't tell him that part, or her name. I thought Bella would want to be there for that. I just told him that everything went fine, that Bella is resting now, and that we'd call him together tonight. I did send him that picture," I nod toward the fridge, "with my phone."

"Emily does get the best shots."

"Emily?"

"Nurse Emily, your ultrasound tech today. She gets the clearest pictures of anyone in that department."

"Ah, so you did mess with Bella's appointment."

Carlisle shrugs sheepishly. "Only the best for my daughter... and my granddaughter."

We are both quite for a long moment, staring at the new black and white photo in the center of the fridge. Carlisle's hand is still on my shoulder, and he squeezes it gently.

"I'm really touched… by the name, I mean. Thank you."

"Bella suggested it. But I think it's perfect," I turn my head to the side to look at my father, "after everything you and Charlie have done for us. She wouldn't be possible if it weren't for you."

He squeezes my shoulder again and turns back to look at the fridge. "A girl," he repeats in amazement. "What do you do with a girl?" he chuckles.

"You feed it."

We both turn to see a very sleepy Bella standing in the doorway. "Carlie's hungry. Is dinner almost ready?"

I walk over to her, placing both hands on her belly and kiss her forehead. "Yes. The steaks just came off the grill, and the table is already set. I was just about to come wake my girls up."

"Great. I'm starving," she mumbles around a yawn.

"Let me go get Esme," Carlisle announces as he walks past us toward his office. "She's probably still on the phone with your brother or Rose giving them the news."

I don't take my eyes off my wife, running my fingers through her thick, tangled hair. "I hope she has your hair," I mumble when Carlisle is out of earshot.

"I hope she has your eyes," she counters.

"I hope she loves to dance."

Bella rolls her eyes. "I hope she loves to play music."

"I hope she's nothing like me when she's a teenager."

"Oh, I'm not doing that," she says determinately. "I signed up to have a baby, not a teenager."

I laugh. "I hope she has your sense of humor."

Bella wraps her arms around my waist and leans against my chest as I continue to stroke her hair. "I hope we're good parents," she whispers.

"I think we'll be all right. We've got some good examples to follow."

I pull back slightly and Bella releases her hold on my waist. Taking her hand, I lead her to the table. My parents join us a moment later, and everyone begins chattering excitedly about the events of the day.

I lean back in my chair, simply watching my family. We'd sure come a long way over the last ten or so years. We'd survived so many storms, and though some left us tattered and bruised, we always emerged, standing solidly on the other side. I'm sure there will be more trials to come in our future, but that knowledge doesn't worry me. My family has a strong foundation, and more importantly, whatever life decides to throw at us, we will face it – together.

Author's Note:

To my Betas: What can I say. You guys are A-MAZE-ZING! This story would have flopped long ago without your dedication. I cannot say thank you enough for your help, how you selflessly gave your time to muddle through my comma flops and past/present tense mess. I've said it before, but it's true – the two of you have taught me more grammar and writing skills than all my years in High School and College combined. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

To my Readers: WOW. To say I was blown away by the responses I got from you guys is a HUGE understatement. Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, tweeted, and followed along with my little story. I hope you loved reading as much as I loved writing it.

This story is dedicated to my "sista-wife-in-rob" who introduced me to the world of Fan Fiction and encouraged me to put my story out there. You know who you are - - now it's your turn babe!

www. twitter. com /Viridian6