Epilogue

EPOV

When we arrived home late the next night from the Berkshires, there was a letter waiting for Jacob from his job at the collection agency. He opened it while I ferried the sleeping children to their respective beds. When I came back into the room, Jacob's face was etched with the all too familiar furrowed brow and deep frown, his eyes unfocused, lost in thought.

"What's wrong," I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.

He snapped out of it, struggling to rearrange his features but failing miserably. His shoulders sagged and he just shook his head. I held my hand out to him and he gave me the letter before slumping down onto the sofa. A quick read through told me he'd been fired. My heart sank. I was sure that all the progress we'd made would be erased with this news.

"I'm sorry, Jake."

He shrugged and tried to look unaffected. "I guess I got so caught up with fixing the bike and getting you and the kids back, I forgot to call in sick. I didn't even think about it. And now we're fucked."

Jacob sat quietly, looking down at his hands in his lap. This was all my fault. If I had just stayed and talked to him, if I hadn't overreacted and run away like I so often did in the face of adversity, he would still have a job. Despite that, I wasn't worried about our future. Truly, we were better off without him working there. We would be okay, and I would make sure he believed that.

Determined not to let this new obstacle derail the promises he'd made to me, I climbed behind him and pulled him back between my open legs, massaging his lower back.

He melted into me and sighed heavily. "This sucks, babe, but I'm not going to let it get to me. I swear."

"No, you won't," I said, resting my hands on his hips. "Think positive, love. This happened for a reason." I slid my hands to the front of his pants and unzipped them. "That job was no good for you," I whispered, licking the shell of his ear and pulled out his half-hard cock, making him gasp as I rubbed the tip with my thumb before setting a steady pace. "Now, we'll both look for jobs, and whoever gets the better one will be the one who works. Sound good?"

"Yeah," he whispered, his gaze fixed on my hand in his lap.

"And we're going to take a loan from Carlisle. No arguments." I squeezed his dick on the down stroke a little tighter than was comfortable.

He bit his lip and tilted his head to look at me, meeting my gaze. "Okay," he said, with a nod.

Satisfied with that, I kissed him and did my damnedest to give him the best hand job ever. Judging by the strength of his orgasm minutes later, it was probably pretty close.

~SOD~

It ended up being me who found work outside the house, and fairly quickly at that. Carlisle's loan gave us the opportunity to hold out for jobs we would enjoy. I had begun teaching a master class in classical music at New England Conservatory when the fall semester started. I was thrilled to have the chance to play again with regularity, and Jacob was more than happy to take a break from the working world and focus on the kids. Jacob had a natural protective, nurturing streak, so being the house daddy suited him well. He was happier, and so were the kids. They were thrilled with the extra time they got to spend with their papa. I was happier too, excited for the chance to get out of the house after staying at home for so long with the children. Once the paychecks started accumulating, I was going to buy Jacob an old clunker to tinker with when Billy napped and Sarah was at school.

Jacob was seeing Dr. Marcia on a regular basis and learning to control his anger and sadness, which had diminished greatly since he no longer had his terrible job. There were lingering feelings of loss over his father's death and the distancing friendships within the pack, but Dr. Marcia was helping him compartmentalize those issues and deal with them in a healthy way. He didn't really tell me how she was helping him cope, but I didn't care what her methods were. I only cared that it was working.

He was still in touch with Marcy, even though he'd left the collection agency. We had her over for dinner sometimes, and I came to like her. She was fun and amusing, straightforward and a good friend to Jacob, which he needed. Some nights, he went out on the town with her, but I felt no jealousy. It was obvious to me after spending time with her that she wasn't interested in stealing him away from me. She even babysat for us for free several times a month so we could go out on date nights and reconnect with each other. Our sex life had picked up too, when time allowed. We found ways to be with each other, whether it was in the car after one of our dates, or a quickie in the bathroom while the kids were otherwise occupied. Life was good, getting back to the way we used to be. Our relationship was normalizing, and we were all happier for it.

~SOD~

Jacob had just beaten the pants off me at Monopoly and was doing a ridiculous end zone victory dance. "What amazing self-expression, baby," I teased.

He happened to be facing away from me, and he pulled down his shorts, exposing his perfectly curved, caramel globes for me. My cock jerked. "How's that for an expression?" he teased, giving his ass a shake for good measure, before securing the waistband of his boxer briefs again.

"Oh, God!" I barked through my laughter.

He sauntered out to the kitchen for some snacks, I assumed. But a few minutes later, he came back empty handed. He strode over to the couch, his big frame towering over where I was sitting.

"Edward, I have something I've been meaning to ask you."

I suppressed a shiver. He sounded so serious. "Fire away."

He knelt down on the floor in front of me with an intense look in his eye.

"Edward Cullen, will you be my husband?

What? "I am, baby…"

"No, I mean officially. Will you marry me?"

"Jacob." I paused trying to buy time to organize my thoughts. "I love you, but I don't want to get married again. I'm sorry if you don't understand why, but I can't explain it better than I have before."

"Not a wedding, baby. I don't want that either. Let's just go sign the papers. Justice of the Peace and all that."

"Hmmm…"

"Come on, baby. I'm trying to do better. Aren't I doing better? "

"You are, Jake. So much better," I assured him.

"Let's make a fresh start together then. Tell me, Edward, will you be my husband? Officially?"

He looked so hopeful and adoring in that moment and I found myself saying the words.

"I will."

He grinned so wide I thought his face might crack in half. I returned his smile and he rose from the floor, gripping my thighs with his hands and kissing me soundly.

When we broke apart, I gave him a coy smile. "So...where's my engagement ring?"

He smiled slyly and stood up, turning and dropping his shorts, exposing his ass to me. Then he bent over and his cheeks spread a little giving me a glimpse of his entrance. He had already opened himself, probably when he had left the room earlier. He had planned this. Again, I found myself thanking a higher power for taking away my ability to hear thoughts, because this was a hot little surprise.

He chuckled and wiggled his ass at me. "How's that for a ring?"

My cock was hard almost instantly, but I managed to laugh. "Oh, Jacob, it's beautiful," I replied half joking, half serious.

"Shall we see if it fits?"

I could only nod, my mouth going dry at his naughtiness.

He climbed onto my lap, straddling me and kissing me with everything he had. When he came up for air, he freed me from the confines of my pants and I sighed in relief as the cool air touched my overheated cock. He lifted himself off my lap and I raised my ass off the couch so he could push my pants and shorts down to pool at my ankles before he sat back down. I watched through half-closed eyes as he held himself up on his knees, one hand stroking my cock as the fingers of his other hand dove inside his body, stretching himself open for me.

When he was ready, he leaned in to kiss me again as he sank slowly down on my cock until his cheeks rested on my thighs. We both broke from the kiss and cried out when I was fully inside, my eyes rolling back in my head with the overwhelming pleasure of his silky, constrictive body wrapped around my straining cock.

Jacob gasped and threw his head back, circling his arms around my shoulders. "Argh, fits perfect," he said with a groan.

I grunted. "Oh, God, you feel amazing."

Jacob grinned and worked himself up to a steady rhythm. My movements were restricted by my pants around my ankles, but Jacob was in control of this. He fucked himself with my hard cock and all I could do was buck up into him, meeting him halfway. My hands traveled along his back, his thighs, his chest. One hand found its way down his crack and my fingers probed his stretched out ring, feeling my cock as it entered him, while the other found his nipple and twisted the raised nub.

"Fuck, Edward!" he cried. "Oh, please touch me."

"I am touching you."

He growled impatiently and ground his ass down on my lap, then leaned forward to try to rub his cock against my stomach for the friction he needed. Licking my palm, I grasped his thick cock, which jutted obscenely from between his legs, teasing me as it bounced around with his harsh movements. I held it tight and stroked him firmly, the smooth flesh hot and heavy in my hand. He cried out with my firm strokes and precum streamed from his slit as he got closer. He changed his angle so my cock would brush his sweet spot and banged down over me even faster, calling out incoherently as his prostate was massaged hard. Knowing his orgasm was imminent, I took my chance to gaze at his sexy body, feeling myself harden inside him to an impossible girth. I bit my lip and sucked in a sharp breath to try to stave off my release as I watched him use my body for his pleasure.

Watching him fuck himself on me, bouncing on my lap—it was impossible to look away. He was so beautiful; every muscle sculpted, covered in the smooth, almost hairless expanse of caramel skin. The sounds and expressions he made that were only for me—it was too much, too much emotion coursing through me too fast to identify. The sight of him astride me and the tight, silky friction around my cock made me lose the last shred of my control. I exploded inside him, and his back arched as he felt my hot release fill his body. He followed me closely, his cum painting my chest in thick streams.

Jacob collapsed against me, our chests heaving as we struggled to catch our breath after such an intense round of lovemaking. Soon, my softened cock slipped out of him and he sighed, turning his face into my neck and whispered promises against my skin, punctuating each one with soft kisses.

"I love you. I need you. Nothing can break us. You're mine and I'm yours. Forever."

This time, I truly believed him.

Acknowledgments: Thank you to 4mejasper for her wonderful friendship and for beta'ing this story for me. Thank you to JulieToo for lending a second set of eyes and edits to the last few pivotal chapters of this story. And last, but certainly not least, thank you to all of my faithful readers, those who favorited, followed, reviewed and just read along silently. Thank you for taking this journey with me. I hope you enjoyed the ride. I hope to write a new story soon.