Epilogue

I took the hand that Derek offered me, feeling comfort in his rough, but gentle touch. Winter had come upon us finally, and we watched as Mother Nature quietly dusted the forest with snow. It settled on the bare limbs of the trees, covering dark emerald grass and washing away with the trickling water of the stream.

A true winter wonderland.

I didn't think I'd ever seen anything so beautiful.

California itself was just beautiful, and I'd never been more glad than then that I had convinced Derek to move us to his old hometown of Beacon Hills.

I wasn't sure though, why the white blanket brought tears to my eyes, and then I remembered my first nights at the mansion so long ago. It felt like forever, but in reality, it had only been years.

Across the stream, Farren laid her head on Spencer's shoulder, and he smiled lightly to himself, gripping her hand. He'd been needing her assurance a lot lately, as he'd just become a vampire five months previously. In an extra touch of comfort, he splayed his hand across her risen belly. This was number three for them, another boy. Before baby Matthew, was his ten year old brother, Crispin, and five year old sister, Briar.

They came running from the house in the background, excited over the first snow of the year. Little Briar held out her little hands, letting the snow coat her small fingers. "Briar, honey," Farren said, carefully kneeling down to wipe off her daughter's hands, "don't let your hands get too cold. Your human genes will betray you." Briar, not one to talk a lot, gave a small smile and wrapped her arms around her mother. Farren smiled, closing her eyes as the wind picked up and blew her daughter's long wavy hair into her face.

"Where do you suppose ours are?" I asked, smiling lovingly. Derek smiled and shrugged before whistling loudly. It didn't take but seconds before he got a response.

Galen shot out of the house, leapt across the stream, and ran straight into Derek, knocking them both over. "Gotcha, Dad!" He yelled victoriously before Derek tossed him to the side and put him in a playful choke hold. "Got YOU, son," Derek laughed. Galen snickered, then elbowed Derek in the stomach and crawled on top of Derek's chest, yelling "tap out".

"I give, I give," Derek groaned, a smile playing on his lips as he sheepishly looked to me. "You just got taken down by our eleven year old, that's pretty wimpy." I winked at him before smiling at our growing boy.

"Mom?"

I turned, watching my beautiful eight year old daughter, Noelia, approach quietly from the house. "Hello my darling," I said, smiling warmly before taking her hand. "Is he moving anymore?" She asked, her little hand reaching out and resting on the crest of my belly. "Not right now, sweetie, I think he's sleeping." "C'mon Daron," she cooed softly to my belly, "I wanna feel you move."

"Lia, come on, don't worry about him, he'll be here soon. Let's wrestle!" Galen whined. Noelia rolled her purple eyes in such a grown up way that it startled me. She sighed before giving in and leaping on Galen. They wrestled playfully in the slowly piling up snow. "No claws, and I mean that Galen Spencer," I warned sternly, "that goes for you too little Miss Hale, no teeth."

"Yeah, Mom," Noelia dismissively said, before putting her brother in a headlock that he almost immediately got out of.

I looked over to see our little seven year old silent lurker stalking out from behind a tree. Beckham was a bit of a loner, just like his father, but whip smart. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he quietly reached out and caught a snowflake, studying its shape. He was the splitting image of his father at that age, but Beck was different in the fact that he wasn't as outgoing a child as Derek had been, or at least from what I'd been told by Cora.

"Mama!"

I turned once more to the name I loved hearing so much. From the doorway of the big white house, our four year old daughter, Catie, clung to her grandmother's neck. My mom, a werewolf of about three years now, held her on her hip, waving at us. I waved back, and smiled as my mother placed her on the ground. Catie ran from the porch and around to the smaller end of the stream to leap over. When she'd regained her footing, she ran to me, her cheeks rosy from the cold, her gray eyes flashing, and her chocolate brown curls frosted with snow.

"Hello my sweet girl," I said, picking her up and cuddling her, despite the fact that my belly was in the way. "Mommy, Granny's making chocolate chip cookies!" "Is she now, Catalaya?" I said, smoothing out the wetness in her hair. "Yes!" She said, her eyes lighting up impossibly bright, "She says they'll keep us warm."

Derek walked over then, giving me a disapproving look before taking her into his arms. She cuddled into the curve of his neck and he laid his head on top of hers. "Aaden, you're six months pregnant, you don't need to be lifting our four year old."

But his chastising was light, his voice coated with love for the tiny little girl he held. I merely smiled, watching her making my mind drift to Vlad and Jessica's brand new baby daughter.

They'd sent us a picture just two days ago, with Jessica's pale, tired face smiling and Vlad widely beaming over a tiny pink blanketed baby. He had suggested Carmen, but in the end, they'd named her Naomi Jessica. Although Naomi would never replace Carmen, and Vlad would never be Tyler, it was oh so obvious that Jessica had been healed. And for that, I was thankful.

It hadn't been but just three years ago that Jared and Amy had welcomed their own little boy, a whopping ten pound bundle they had named Colin. He was honey haired, but was otherwise Jared all over again.

Yes, there were still nights that were hard to get through, for all of us. Nights that I woke up screaming for everyone to run, nights that Farren stalked the floors upstairs in a meltdown, nights that Derek sat up, rubbing his tired eyes and rocking a baby to keep from losing it.

But we'd grown since that time. This was the world we'd fought for, so that we could raise our children in a safe place. They'd never know the danger that had once been a common thing. For them, their worlds only revolved around their family, and small things, like Catie's love for cookies. Simplicity was there, because we'd won it for them. But in the end it was all worth it.

Because, for this, we were living.

~The End~

**It's the end! What a fun story this was to write, I enjoyed so much being able to provide it for you all. Thanks for your support! Now, as promised, for those interested, below is a sneak peak of my new, upcoming fanfic, Spellbound. I hope you all have a wonderful day!**

Spellbound

~Chapter 1~

*Six years before*

I brushed the hair back from my face again, lost in the pages once more. Why couldn't this world be real? Why couldn't I have been born of paper and ink, and the imagination of a creative author? Seemed that it would be so much simpler. I wouldn't lose people, I wouldn't lose my grasp on reality, or wonder what my part in life was. It would be spelled out perfectly.

The rain on the window pane was fitting for the atmosphere. I brushed my fingers again over the worn pages, yellowed with age, shriveled with history. The rustle of the old pages brought fresh tears to my eyes.

"Azura, you can't stay in there forever. You're fifteen, you need to be in school."

Please Father, don't make me go back. I no longer fit in, as if I did at all before. Please, make the pain go away, please be my daddy again.

But he never would.

*Present Time*

I twisted my nose ring for the fifteenth time. I was frustrated yet again. It seemed all I ever felt was frustration anymore. "Zur, could you please stop twitching?"

I flickered my eyes over to my best friend and roommate, Belinda Horrace. Her dyed black hair lay in razor sharp cuts around her eyes. Her black contacted eyes glared at me, but there was care there too. "I'm sorry, Bel. Lost in my thoughts again."

"You're always lost in your thoughts." "Well, there's a lot of them to be lost in." "I know." She wiped her nose with her sleeve, cuddling into her boyfriend's side. His arm went around her automatically, and he looked over at me. "What is it this time, Zur?"

"Nothing that matters." I replied nonchalantly. I glanced at the clock then, remembering that I needed to be at work in a half hour. "Shit, I'm going to be late again!"

"I'll drive you." Belinda stood, swiping her keys from the bar in the kitchen. "I can walk, really." She scoffed, "Don't argue with me, and go get dressed."

I sighed, turning to my little room in the apartment. I didn't own much. I never had, and that was okay with me. I didn't need money. The only thing I owned with any value to me personally was my copy of Spellbound. It was my absolute favorite book; the first one I'd gotten lost in after my mother died.