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Epilogue

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(June)

Bella sighed and watched two of her kids and a few of their friends lounging on the back deck of her two story cabin. The twins were both 17 now and had just graduated with honors from La Push High School. Savannah had a full scholarship to Seattle University to earn a degree in teaching- just like her mom. Tristan and one of his best friends, Wyatt, had gotten full scholarships to the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Oregon. She smiled and shook her head, thinking of all the memories she had gained over the years.

She and Jared had moved back to the reservation when her twins had turned three to be closer to family. Bella fell ill with what she guessed to be a stomach virus picked up from her class just before the move. They found out she'd gotten pregnant again battled with severe complications throughout the pregnancy. From the beginning, her iron was way too low and her blood pressure was way too high.

Jared, Paul and Sam talked and decided a second shop would be opened in Forks. Paul and Jared would run it during the week while Sam ran their shop in Port Angeles with the help of the new artist- Amberlie. Emily had taken one look at the girl and fallen in love with her. She fitted herself into their small group with ease and even started bringing her girlfriend to the shop with her on slow days. It shocked them at first because, where Amberlie was loud and perky, her girlfriend could be called shy and sometimes sensitive.

When Bella learned from Carlisle through an email that Edward had been released early for good behavior, she'd a small panic attack. Jared, Paul and Sam had come home after work to find her passed out cold on the kitchen floor with the twins in tears beside her. After only two more scares, she got placed on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy.

When the time came for her to deliver- a month and a half early- the doctor had to threaten to give her an emergency C section. She'd become tired too quick and nearly lost the strength to deliver. A nurse walking into the delivery room had the gall to ask her how she felt. It angered her enough to push a final time and then her baby- her son- was born but not ok. In all the commotion of delivery, his umbilical cord had tightened around his neck. While Jared tried to soothe a fearful Bella, the doctor and nurses worked to save the newborn. After two dreadful minutes, Landon Michael Cameron took his first breath.

Bella made the choice then and there to have her tubes tied to prevent another pregnancy. Somehow she knew if she was to become pregnant again, something would happen to make her lose the baby. She didn't want to risk the heartache. Jared supported her and spent every waking moment not at the shop helping her raise the kids. He showed her his commitment yet again and had her falling in love with him that much more.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist breaking her from her thoughts. She smiled when she felt a soft pair of lips kissing a light trail from her shoulder to her neck. She tilted her head to the side and placed her hands over his, leaning back into his embrace.

"Hi baby." She purred. "Dinner will be ready soon."

Jared hummed and nipped at her neck- the sensitive spot just below her ear- and grinned when he heard the unmistakable sound of his oldest child groan while his friends laughed at his expense. "Your son's home." He whispered.

"I know." Bella grinned and pulled his lips to hers in a kiss, pretending as though she hadn't heard Tristan and his friends come into the kitchen.

"Mom! Please! Do you have to do that here?!" Tristan whined. His two best friends, Levi Uley and Wyatt Young stood behind him, biting their lips to keep from laughing.

"Hello boys." She grinned when Jared rolled his eyes.

"Hi Mrs. C!" They chimed in unison.

"Do your parents know you're here, Levi?" Jared asked with a raised eyebrow.

Levi smirked. "I told dad I would be either here or with Wyatt. But I'm here with Wyatt now!"

Bella threw a dish towel in Levi's face. "Smart mouth. Go on before I tell your mother just who I caught you kissing the other day in the hallways."

Levi's eyes widened. "Yes ma'am!" He shouted before running out the back door.

Bella snickered and shook her head. "Some things will never change."

"You teaching high school did though." Jared pouted. "I recall you once saying 'teenagers are too obnoxious. Whatever happened to that huh?"

Bella grinned. "The high school offered me more money, and they needed an English teacher. Besides, look at it this way… no one has dared to mess with Savannah."

"Ok, so those are all good points. But now I have more competition." He whined.

Bella giggled. "Not at all. You still have my undivided attention. 'Os meum es aeternum', remember?"

Jared grinned and pressed his lips to hers again. "Of course I do." He whispered in between kisses causing her to giggle.

"Moooom! Do you have to do that?!" Tristan huffed when he saw them.

Jared winked at her. "Keep it up boy. I'll ground you until you leave for college in the fall." He warned while trying to hold back his laughter.

Bella rolled her eyes. "You'll do no such thing. Now, Tristan, go outside with your friends. You, oh love of my life, need to get cleaned up before you eat." She said while pointing a finger in his face.

He smirked and pretended to bite her finger causing her to shake her head and giggle. With one last soft kiss to her lips, he made his way up the stairs to their room. "Love you!" He called over his shoulder.

"Love you more!"

"Ugh! Parents." Tristan huffed and walked back out to his friends with his arms full of sodas.

Within the space of two hours, the living room had filled with pre teen and teenage bodies. It had been this way one weekend a month since the kids were small. Sam and Emily had sent their twins, Levi and Brianna in order to have some down time to themselves. Paul had dropped his kids off and run. Bella didn't blame him; Danielle and Makenzii were a handful, but with Aaron in the middle of the mischief- or at the front of it and blaming his big sisters- things were bound to be chaotic.

Her eyes moved to Aiden and Sara. Jacobs kids looked just like him. Bella grinned at that. She only gave him an 'I told you so' look after his daughter was born. She had her dad's assertive attitude and her mom's quick wit- a dangerous combination as Jake made sure to whine about it every chance he got. While Aiden looked like a mirror image of him, he was his mother's son through and through in temper. It was only Bella that he never had the guts to yell at- and Leah of course.

Cheyenne and Hope were another story all together. Out of all the twins in the room, it was those two who were the most devious and crafty. Embry had definitely been cursed for all the pranks he'd played on her when they were younger. His son Carson was even known to pull a prank or two on his sisters and thus start a prank war that Embry would have to end- with a prank of his own on all of them. She had to chuckle at how innocent they looked in sleep.

Bella leaned over the back of the couch where Gracen slept. Quil's wife had given him his father's name, but he went by his middle name so as not to confuse anyone. Add insult to that injury, he took after his mother most of the time. Their daughter Ashleigh looked just like Quil, and had become just as cocky. Quil and Claire joked all the time that the spirits got mixed up when they decided to clone them, but they'd still been blessed.

Ashleigh was now curled up beside her best friend- Aiden. They reminded everyone of Jacob and Bella and it was joked about on the reservation that Quil and Jacob would end up as family when they were old enough to marry. They lay nearly close enough to touch- if one of them shifted just an inch more, they'd be shoulder to shoulder.

Jared's snickers caught her attention. She turned and arched an eyebrow at him, noticing him staring at Ashleigh and Aiden as well. "Jake and Quil would kill each other if they ever became in-laws… somehow I can see it happening though."

"Hush! You'll wake the kids." She teased hitting him on the chest.

He caught her hand and pulled her up the stairs, down the hallway and into their bedroom. He watched her change before dragging her to him on the mattress. A grin spread itself onto his lips when he caught her fingers tracing over the tattoo on his neck. Her name had been branded into his skin by Paul a week after they had gotten married. His neck sported Bella's name, but his chest- the places closest to his heart not yet covered- were for his children.

"I love you Jay." She said before kissing his neck right over her name.

Jared grinned. "I was hooked on you from the day we first met. I fell in love with you the day we had our first heart to heart in your apartment after the whole Kim fiasco, and I've seen no one else but you since you became my woman."

"Aww! Baby!" She smiled and moved to kiss him. "You're too good to me."

Jared smiled at her and moved a strand of her graying hair from her face. "It's you who is too good to me baby." Bella smiled and laid her cheek over his heart.

She and Jared were woken up from their sleep in the morning by loud squeals of laughter and groans from the kids downstairs. They smiled and laid in bed just listening to the chaos in their house. Jared chuckled and pulled her closer to him.

"They'll be in here before you know it." Bella mused.

Jared grinned. "I know how to get them out though."

"Care to share the secret or do I have to tickle it out of you?" Bella teased moving her fingers down his bare sides.

She laughed when he pinned her hands to the bed. "Nope. No tickling. I'll share everything with you that you ask of me." He promised.

A knock on their door had Jared grinning. Just as the door opened he leaned down and kissed Bella's parted lips. They broke apart minutes later when they heard twin groans from their boys. Savannah must have sent the boys to wake them.

"Mom! Dad… Savannah said breakfast is ready. Can you please stop sucking face now?!" Tristan huffed.

Jared smirked. "I don't know. Would you rather us do it in the kitchen?"

"NO! Please, no!" Landon whined. Anything else he wanted to say got interrupted by the doorbell.

Bella shook her head. "Go let everyone in boys. We'll be down after we get dressed."

"Yes ma'am." They both muttered. Bella laughed when she heard them explaining just what they caught their mom and dad doing.

"We could you know." Jared said wiggling his eyebrows.

Bella smacked his arm. "Not a chance Casanova. Not with a houseful of people!" She huffed.

"Alright. Alright. I'll give you that." He teased.

"Oh go on and go say hi!" She huffed before shoving him off of her in order to get up and get dressed.

She pulled the shirt from her body and turned to see Jared standing in the doorway staring at her. It still made her blush when she saw that look of hunger dancing in his eyes. Her body had stretch marks and scars, and she wasn't as toned as she'd been when they met, but over all, she'd not changed too much.

With a flirtatious wink, Jared sauntered out of the door, a grin on his lips. She shook her head and giggled in amusement when she heard him start barking orders at the kids in the house. She took another five minutes before she joined her friends in the living room. Looking at them all now, she couldn't help thank that she'd been blessed.

She grinned when she saw Amberlie sitting on the arm of the chair near Savannah. She had missed the twins graduation and had asked Bella to give them a kiss and a hug for her. On the opposite side of her was Amberlie's wife, Tiffany.

"Hey you two! Jared didn't say you'd be here today." Bella said kissing each of them on the cheek.

"We called him last night. The shops are both closed today so we asked if we could come tell the twins congrats." Tiffany grinned.

"Well, I'm sure they're happy." Bella said looking to her smiling daughter.

Amberlie laughed. "Oh yeah. I had to promise to look at Savannah's graduation speech later. I still can't get over how much time has flown. They were just 3 years old yesterday!" She said wiping a fake tear from her eyes.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "We grew up, aunt Amberlie."

"But you're still my baby!" Bella grinned causing his friends to snicker.

"Daaaaaaaad! Please?!" Tristan whined looking to Jared for help.

Jared shook his head and held his hands up, the same as Paul and Sam. "Nuh uh. You're on your own, boy. We all know better. Mom's and sons don't get interference. Same way no one will mess with 'Vannah."

It was Savannah's turn to blush and hide her face. "Thanks daddy." She muttered.

Jared grinned and winked at a now smirking Tristan. They all laughed when Bella poked his still ticklish ribs, causing him to jump. A shiver raced over his spine and he danced away from her prodding fingers, opting to move closer to Sam and Paul to hide.

It was Bella's turn to smirk. "That's what I thought." She said with a nod.

"Well then. We know who wears that pants in that relationship." Sam mused. He stopped laughing when Emily crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrow.

Paul bit his lip, trying not to laugh. He knew the women in his life would band together to protect one another. It didn't matter if it was family or not. If one got harassed, all five of them got harassed. He'd brushed off the authority that Amberlie and Tiffany held in his life until he'd gotten a lecture about respecting the two from Leah. He learned quick after that, that Leah, Bella and Emily had adopted them as 'sisters' and they were not to be messed with at all.

Bella merely sighed. "At least Leah has her man trained." She teased.

Paul glared and rolled his eyes at his sister. "I just know better than to mess with one of you while the others can hear it. At least one on one it takes a while to be reprimanded. But together, you girls are like a pack of wolves." He said with a shudder.

"You'll survive." Leah said with a shrug.

"I have so far." Paul said with a grin.

"We all have." Bella smiled.

Jared couldn't agree more. He was grateful that he took his grandmother's advice. He'd waited, he'd listened and now the woman of his dreams was finally his to call his own until their last breath was drawn.