Chapter 40: Epilogue: Life Goes On

Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns Twilight

A/N: To Ticklemytweet: I'm so sorry, but this is the last chapter. It had to end sometime.

Eighteen months later:

Jacob's POV:

I pulled into the driveway. What the hell? The house was dark. All the lights were out. Jeez, I hoped I had a good fuse left in the junk drawer. Oh well, it would just make things more romantic if we needed the candles. Nothing could ruin my good mood. Work was great, and now I was home to my sweetheart and my little boy. I whistled all the way up through the front entrance.

When I walked into the living room, it was empty. That was weird. Michael and Bella usually pounced on me the moment my feet hit the living room rug. Then I saw my angel gliding toward me, pulling me into the candlelit kitchen. Damn, she was wearing that velvet dress that wowed me on the day of our wedding. My jaw must've hit the floor, and even though the aroma from the kitchen was teasing my taste buds, that dress was teasing another part of my anatomy, if you get my drift. Then I noticed Michel was missing. Bella explained that she sent him to Sue's for a little while.

Hooh boy, the little Mrs. had all the big guns out tonight.

I asked the obvious, "Mrs. Black, are you trying to seduce me?"

Bella cocked her head to one side, and let her playful little tongue peek out from between her teeth. Then, she practically purred, "Are you saying you'd like to be seduced?"

That was a no-brainer. "Hell, yeah. I'm all yours." Do you even havta ask? I'm a glutton for seduction.

The words had just left my mouth when she grabbed me by the collar, and yanked me closer, leading me to the table. Jeez, I began to worry when I saw all the best dishes and glasses set out. What was the occasion? Uh-oh, did I forget some important date?

I kept staring at her, waiting to see what she had up her sleeve—not that I could have looked away from her for a minute. But what the hell was she up to?

Bella finally said the words that made me the happiest man in La Push. "Remember that day at First Beach when we talked about adding to our family?"

I bolted out of my seat so fast, I nearly overturned the chair. "Bells," I stammered. "Do you mean you're—"

Her answer exploded from her lips. "Yes!"

My fork left my hand, landing with a clank on my plate. Whaaaat? Oh my god, did she just say what I thought she said?

In the next instant, I had her adhered to my chest as I danced her around the room. "You're havin' my baby!" I sang deliriously.

It was a joy watching our child grow inside of her, knowing that I helped put my baby in there. I loved kissin' that beautiful pregnant belly.

As Bella got bigger around the middle, she complained about not bein' my beautiful anymore. But there was no way she could ever be anything else to me.

Michael was old enough now to notice somethin' was goin' on, and so he and I would have man-to-man talks about the new baby. We'd go hiking, during the day when I wasn't working and camped out occasionally—in the back yard at night, discussing important guy-stuff. We were best buds. The little squirt looked up to me, so I tried to be a good example.

When the day arrived, I was at work. Mac winked at me as he handed me the phone. I cut the conversation short when I got the gist of Bella's message, and rushed home to take her to the hospital. Since I was there when the baby got put inside her, I figured I should be there when the baby got out, right? What a thought—gave me goosebumps!

Nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming emotions that swept over me when they handed me my daughter, Sarah Renee. She was beautiful just like her mother. It was love at first sight, and in this case I believed it was true. I kissed her tiny head and placed her in Bella's arms, then planted a kiss on my wife's cheek.

"I'm in love with her already, Bells," I confessed.

Years later we added two more to our clan, Liam Jacob and Carlie Star—who true to my prediction, was an accident. It was no accident though that we loved her like the rest of our children. Hooh boy, I loved being a family man. I couldn't imagine living without my Bells and the children born of our love for each other. Aah ... this was the life that poets dreamt of ... the life of me ... Jacob Black, the brash, yet irresistible CAP Cadet from LaPush, and my Bella ... the beautiful, brown eyed girl I met that day in the Bx.

Bella's POV:

I spotted Jacob as he waltzed in the door whistling and then stopped, confused. The lights were all out except for some candles I had lit in the in the kitchen. Michel and I usually greeted him as soon as he stepped foot over the threshold, so he knew something weird was going on. I walked toward him, and taking his hands, guided him toward the candlelit table. His mouth dropped open as he saw me wearing the same midnight blue dress I wore on our wedding night.

"Jeez, Bells. What's all this? By the way, you're killin' me with that dress, and do we have to eat first,' cuz you're making me hungry for somethin' else?"

He looked around the room, suddenly realizing that there was part of the family missing. "Wait a minute ... where's Mikey?"

"I sent him to Sue's for a couple of hours."

He looked adorably innocent, as his brows raised in surprise. "Mrs. Black, are you trying to seduce me?"

Cocking my head to one side, I let my tongue protrude from between my teeth provocatively, then purred, "Are you saying you'd like to be seduced?"

"Hell, yeah. I'm all yours."

I drew him forward, grabbing him by the collar. "You got it, Mister, but first let's eat."

The table was set with good china and silverware. The aroma of Jacob's favorite, lasagna, filled the small room. We sat down and dug into a salad. Jacob kept gazing at me expectantly. I got up to refill our fluted glasses and served the squares of hot pasta.

Halfway through the main dish, I coyly remarked, "Remember that day at First Beach when we talked about adding to our family?" I'm sure he caught the twinkle in my eyes, and I noticed the imaginary light bulb quickly flicker to life inside his head.

The chair he was seated on nearly hit the floor, he stood so suddenly.

"Bells..." he gasped. "Do you mean you're—"

"Yes!" I'd been dying to break it to him all week. All at once, his fork struck the plate with a resounding clink, and I was being crushed to his chest, as he swung me in the air in a dance of joy. "You're havin' my baby—you're havin' my baby!" he shouted.

As the pregnancy progressed, he loved seeing me with my belly full of his love. Just thinking of me carrying around his child within my womb seemed to make him crazy with happiness. He couldn't wait to hold that baby in his arms. And me ...? I was thrilled that I was the cause of his happiness.

With a year of hospital experience behind me, I was ready to pursue a part time position at the La Push clinic. I was glad to be closer to home, especially now that I was three and a half months along. It was a miracle that they even hired me in a pregnant condition, but after all, I did have some pretty impressive connections.

Michel was four years old now. As promised, Jacob adopted him before our first year as a couple was up. We both agreed to have his name changed to Michael Ephraim Black. It was funny that a lot of outsiders commented on how much Michael resembled his dad.

He and Jacob would go hiking together. Jacob taught him so much about nature and survival in the forest. Michael loved it, and Jacob was his hero.

The day finally arrived. I started having contractions. Calling the helo station, I spoke to Mac. "Hi, Mac, is Jacob around?"

"Well, helooo, Bella. Yeah, he's out on the airstrip. I'll radio him. You want to hang on?"

"Sure, I'll hold."

Jacob came to the phone five minutes later. He almost dropped it when I said, "Hey, Daddy; it's time."

"I'm on my way, honey," he replied, and hung up without even saying goodbye to me.

When they handed the pink bundle to the new father I thought his buttons would pop off his shirt. He looked at his daughter, Sarah Renee, with adoration in his eyes. She was our little miracle. He leaned over her and kissed the top of her head with its mass of black hair, and handed her to me. He brushed away a sweaty mat of hair from my forehead, and kissed my cheek. With tears in his eyes, he told me, "I'm in love with her already, Bells. You did great. Can I keep her?"

The Black Diamond Cabins got a yearly visit from us, and always a day before they closed shop, so Jacob and I could be sure to get in our water aerobics. Embry married his nurse, and remained close to his best friend. Quil held out a few years but finally settled down too—believe it or not—and had a baby on the way. He and Embry helped out at the training center that Jacob had started, and business was booming. Life was good.

In the years to come, two more children were born to us, another son, Liam Jacob, and a second daughter, Carlie Star. As predicted, Jacob was an exemplary father, and loved every minute he spent with his family.

After all this time, I thought back to the declaration I made to Jacob on the day that changed my life. From then on, I never wanted him to let me go. He made me feel alive after being emotionally dead for those miserable three years.

I could still bring to mind the way he kissed me on that Saturday; it was a kiss that held a world of promise for me. But ... to be perfectly sure of my feelings, Jacob broke away from it, and with his voice cracking with emotion, said, "If you still want me, I'm yours. Tell me now, because if not, I'm going back to La Push."

His words had forever been branded into the back of my mind. "I don't care what happened in the past. I've never stopped loving you, Bells—and I don't think I ever will. Can you say that you feel the same way about me ... I mean—like the way I feel about you—that you want to be with me?"

"Yes," I remembered whispering.

He was there yet in my mind's eye as he demanded, "Then say it out loud." He cupped his hand around his ear, "I can't hear you. Please . . . I need to hear you say it!" He closed his eyes then and waited breathlessly.

"I love you, Jacob Black," I replied.

His eyes opened and he sighed loudly. "I waited three long, worthless years to hear those words come from your lips. Let's not waste anymore time. Let's make the next years really count from now on. We can't make up for what we've lost, but I'm telling you right now—I am never losing you again."

And he never did.

The End

A/N:Thanks to all my readers whether or not you left me a review. It's gratifying to know you enjoyed this story. And to think, I almost didn't post it! FYI, I will be posting a new story next week titled, "Jacob, Don't!" It's the story starting in Twilight about the young Jacob's fight to get Bella to develop some feelings for him, and don't worry-it's an HEA. Jacob deserves it, right?