Yes. I know. Sniffle. The story is now over. This is the epilogue. Sad times. This story was probably my favorite to write so far. I had a request to add Lauren's future in this. And I thought it was an excellent idea. Thanks to pen2paper93. Let's read on, shall we?
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EPOV:
"Bella! Let's go. We're going to be late!" I yelled upstairs of our new home. Bella's books have been going strong and she's doing better than ever. I had opened up my own computer and video game software company and was now one of the richest men in America.
It's hard to believe that 10 years ago I almost lost the best thing in my life because I was an idiot. Bella and I had married about a year after I confessed my undying love to her. It was a fairly small affair. We went back to Forks and it was intimate. Only our close family and friends were invited.
A year afterward, we found out she was pregnant, and I couldn't have been happier. When she had our twin boys, I was over the moon. It also helps that they think I possibly have the coolest job on the planet. Chase and Ason both have my green eyes and Bella's brown hair. At 9, they're already little heart breakers. Bella freaks out every time a little girl calls the house for one of them, claiming she's going to have to lock her little boys away to keep them safe.
Now, my baby, is my little girl of 5 years. Sophia has every single one of Bella's features, except for my smile. If it's half as deadly as Bella claims it is, I'm in for a world of hurt when it comes time for her to date, which won't be until I die. So far, I've managed to trick her into thinking that's a good idea. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
"Have you seen Chase's shoes?" She yelled from upstairs. I looked around the coat closet where we kept our shoes, and pulled them out.
"Got 'em. Let's go. We're going to miss our flight!" I was growing impatient. Today we were leaving to spend the week in Forks on vacation. Yeah, I know. Who wants to go to the rainiest place on earth? We do. Since we still live in New York, we don't get to see our family as often as we'd like. Bella says she'd like to live closer to them, and what she doesn't know, is that I have a huge surprise for her when we get there. Hopefully she won't chop my balls off.
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Our flight to Seattle was mostly uneasy. Try taking three small kids with you on a flight who keep screaming at each other that the other touched them or even looked at them wrong. Don't get me wrong here, my kids are pretty good for the most part, but they like their space.
Once we secured our rental, we drove the four hours to Forks. My days of driving like a mad man were numbered, now that I had my family.
"Mommy." Sophia mumbled from her seat. Bella turned around and smiled. To this day, her smile does crazy things to my heart.
"I'm hungry." She whined. Bella looked at me and I nodded. We were in Port Angeles by this time, so I decided to stop at a McDonald's.
"You guys want to go in or go through the drive-thru?" I asked. I already knew the answer, but I loved how enthusiastic they were about everything McDonald's.
"Duh, dad. Go in." Ason laughed. I nodded and pulled into a parking space. The boys put their Nintendo Ds back in storage and we unbuckled the kids and walked in. I'm pretty sure a Big Mac was calling my name.
I walked up to the counter to be met by some high school kid with bad acne. "Welcome to McDonald's. What can we make for you today?"
"Yeah, I need three nugget happy meals, one for a girl. Then I need a 10 pc. Nugget meal, medium with a Coke, and a Big Mac value meal with a Coke, make that large. Also, I need Hi-C with the kids meals."
The kid told me my total and put everything on the table but the nuggets. "The nuggets are still down, so we'll have somebody bring them out for you as soon as they're up." I nodded my thanks and took the trays over to our table.
"Daddy. I only got fwies." Sophia pouted. I wanted to kiss her face off, she's so cute.
"I know baby, they're still cooking. Maybe we made them run out of all the chicken nuggets, and they had to use magic and cook some more." I joked.
She squealed with laughter. "You're a dork." She giggled. Bella busted out laughing when I cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Oh, you think this is funny? My little angel calls me a dork, and you laugh at my misery? It hurts. Hurts me right here." I mocked pain, putting my hand over my heart and patting it. Bella threw a fry at me and I kissed her nose.
"Okay, here you go. Be careful, these are going to be hot." I knew that voice. This is just too good.
"Lauren?" I asked, trying not to die of laughter. Her face paled and Bella was silently laughing.
"Uh. Oh. Hey, Edward. Bella. Wow, I didn't know you guys had kids." She looked at my prides and joy.
"Yep. So, what the hell are you doing working at McDonald's?" Bella bluntly asked.
She cleared her throat. "Uh. Y-yeah. I needed some money. They were hiring. Turns out the fashion world doesn't want models who used to have a bad drug habit and got arrested for prostitution. In my defense, I didn't know the guy was a prostitute." She shrugged.
"Dad? What's a prostitute?" Chase asked.
"Oh. Shit. I'm sorry." Lauren tried to apologize.
"Aw. Daddy, she said a bad wowd." Sophia pointed out.
Bella looked ready to kill someone. "So, how have you guys been? I have a little one of my own." She smiled and pulled a picture out of her back pocket. It was a little girl with blond curls and ocean blue eyes. She was quite pretty.
"We've been good. Doing very well for ourselves. You're daughter is a cutie pie." Bella smiled up at her. Bella may hate Lauren, but she loves kids.
"Thank you. She's all I have since James left." She shrugged. I snapped my head back to her.
"James? As in my cousin James?" She smiled sadly.
"The very same. Once you guys left, he started pursuing me. About 9 years ago, I found out I was pregnant. I was totally thrilled, because I thought he loved me, but when I told him, he bailed on me. He said there was no way it was his. I mean, look at her." A tear slipped down her face, and I felt kind of bad for the girl. The girl looked a lot like James, right down to that Cullen crooked smile.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Bella said, patting her hand. "James is a douche."
"Mom!" Ason scolded. "Knock it off." Ason was always on Bella about her cursing.
"Sorry. Well, I hope everything works out for you." I told her.
She nodded and walked back behind her counter and continued working.
"Dude. I can't believe that. That's crazy." Bella shook her head. I had to smile at her. She didn't change at all. "I'm telling you. I don't necessarily like her, but she's got a great looking kid. Nobody deserves that. If I see your cousin while I'm here, I'm cutting his you know what off, and sending it to her via UPS."
I cringed. She'd do it, too.
We all ate our meals and headed the rest of the drive to Forks. I just hoped that Bella would love my surprise.
Once we pulled up to my parents' house, the kids piled up and ran full speed ahead to the porch. My dad opened the door and grinned widely, opening his arms to the misfits that are my children.
"My little trouble makers!" He yelled. They all laughed. He picked Sophia up and kissed her on the cheek.
"Hi there, gwanpa!" She smiled.
"Hey sweet pea! How's school?" He asked.
"Oh! I love it! My teachew, Miss Hawwison, She's really nice. She let's us have cookies!" She grinned.
"Speaking of cookies, where's grammy?" Chase patted his stomach. You know he's definitely related to Emmett.
As soon as I sat our bags down I was nearly knocked off of my feet by the pixie. "OhmygodBellandEdwardI'" She screamed right into my fucking ear.
Jasper came trailing behind. "Hey little brother. Where's the rugrats?" He asked.
"In the kitchen with mom. Sophia mentioned cookies, and Chase's mind when into food mode. The kid just ate." I shook my head.
"Yeah, well, Bryson has been waiting for the boys to get here. He's got a new computer that he thinks is just the best thing ever. Some hot shot video game guru made this really cool software that he can't get enough of." He smirked. I blushed. Even if I'm ridiculously well off, people complimenting me always made me blush like crazy. It's weird.
I looked over to Alice and Bella talking. Bella's face was lit up and she was even more beautiful now than she was all those years ago.
Emmett and Rose stopped by with their daughter, Ryann and son Shepard, and the kids ran off to play in the back yard. It felt good to be home.
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After we ate and talked for awhile. I asked my parents to watch the kids for us. Of course, my dad was more than happy. He's a sucker for his grand kids. I just couldn't wait to take them to see Charlie tomorrow. He's been waiting for this for half a year.
"Where are we going?" Bella asked, as I backed out of the driveway.
"It's a surprise." I winked. She huffed and I laughed. I took her hand and kissed her knuckles. I saw her smile before she turned her head and looked out the window.
Finally, we pulled up to our surprise. "Edward? Why are we stopping at this strange house?" She asked.
"It's not all that strange, love." I told her. She quirked an eyebrow. "Remember? You told me you loved this house?" I asked.
She grinned. "Yeah. I've always wanted to live here. It's my dream house. Too bad that old couple lives here." She joked.
"Hey. We're not old." I told her. She snapped her head up, and I thought I might laugh at the size of her eyes.
"W-what are you talking about Edward?"
"I bought this for us. Well, for you, but yeah, for us. You said you wanted to live closer to home. I just can't stand the idea of the kids not getting to be around our parents, or their cousins." I shrugged, hoping she was okay with this.
She must've been, because she launched herself over the console and kissed me. Hard. "Do you already have the keys?" She asked, excitedly. I nodded and she did a squeal that gave Alice a run for her money.
After the ringing died down in my ears, we opened up the door and turned the lights on.
"Edward?" She asked. I looked up at her and smiled. "There's furniture in here." I nodded. "It's fully decorated." I nodded again.
"We can actually stay here while our personal things are being moved. Well, when we decide to move them, that is. I figure, you can work from anywhere. I wanted to open up a different branch for my company, so why not Seattle?" I shrugged.
I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes. "I-I have a surprise for you, too." I smiled.
"Oh yeah? Wait, it's a good one, right?" I asked, suddenly afraid she was going to leave me or something.
She nodded and went into her purse and pulled out an envelope. I took it and opened it up, tears springing into my eyes. "Is this? Is this what I think it is?" I asked shakily.
Tears fell down her cheeks. "Yeah. It is. I didn't want to tell you for sure, until I was positive. But, I am about two months now." Her voice broke. We had tried to have another baby after Sophia was born, but she had miscarried a couple of times. "The doctors say that this baby seems perfectly healthy. Same as me." She smiled.
I wrapped her up in my arms and hugged her fiercely. My Bella, my best friend was having another one of my babies. I couldn't be happier.
(9 years later)
"Chase! Ason! Come on! You're going to miss you're own graduation!" I yelled up the stairs. It's crazy that 18 years ago, my boys were being born, and now I'm watching them graduate. I couldn't have been prouder of the two. Hell, of all of my kids.
Chase was captain of the football team. Oddly, he was the size of Emmett. And, he played as well as his mother. That was fun trying to explain to his football buddies where he actually got his talent. It also helped that Emmett was the head coach. He'd been dating a brown haired beauty named Maria since his freshman year, and I think he has plans to marry her after college. They're best friends. I told him he better hang on to her.
Ason was the smart guy. Sure, he excelled in sports, but he was all about his academics. The ladies absolutely loved him. Apparently, being a good looking guy and super smart is a huge turn on. It isn't anything unusual to see him dating a different girl every week. We only stress that we're not ready to be grandparents.
Sophia is now 14, and absolutely breathtaking. I'm still holding my breath on the not dating til I'm dead thing. But, she's been talking on the phone to her best friend, Jaxon Cheney, Angela and Ben's boy. Yeah. That kid is supposedly this quiet brooding type. Not cool with me. She looks so much like Bella that it's scary, but she has that Cullen charm and is able to persuade people to do just about anything that she wants.
And 9 years ago, we welcomed twins. A boy and a girl. Lydia and Noah. Lydia, or Lydie, as the boys started calling her, has blond hair like my dad and bright blue eyes. Needless to say, my dad eats that shit up. He calls her mini me. Noah looks identical to me. He has the bronze messy hair and the jade green eyes. Splitting image. Bella said the only one of her kids that even resembles her is Sophia. She wonders if she had anything to do with the other four.
Life has had it's ups and downs. My boys are going to college for business and then going to work for me at Cullen Graphics, Inc. They know most of the basics, and can't wait to get started.
Chase's girlfriend, Maria, says that she is going to study Law. Apparently, the girl has a knack for arguing and getting her way. I've seen it in action. You can't look away. She's fierce.
Alice and Jasper had a set of twins, Gavin and Brady. All boys. Alice was a little bummed, to say the least. She had nobody to dress in pink. Well, except for Sophia and Lydia and Emmett's daughter Ryann.
Rose and Emmett tried to have more kids, but Rose found out she had cysts on her ovaries, and they had to do a complete hysterectomy. She was sad, but they ended up adopting a little boy named Avery. He'd come from an abusive home, and couldn't be any more loved than he is with them.
Charlie loves his grandkids to pieces. He is constantly taking them fishing. Chase and Ason said that it's really fucking boring, but it makes their grandpa happy, so they suck it up and do it.
I couldn't be happier. Honestly. Ason is this year's valedictorian, and I'm literally excited to hear his speech. He said he's doing a shout out to his mother and I.
"Seniors, parents, esteemed members of the faculty. This class has been through many things. We've been through tragedy," a kid was found dead of an OD in the boys bathroom last year. "we've been through life, both new and everyday," they had a girl get pregnant this year and couldn't make it to the graduation. "and we've been through death." He was very solemn when he said this. James' daughter, the one he'd had with Lauren, was in a car accident on her way to school. She had hit a patch of ice and she and her friends careened into a steep ditch. Lauren's daughter was in ICU for a few weeks, but one of the passengers didn't make it. "I want to thank my parents. Well, more than anybody else. They encouraged my brothers and sister to be individuals, and not be scared to go for what you want. 'Take a chance.' they'd always say to us. Life is about taking chances. That's something we'll find out through our lives. Don't be afraid of the outcome. You might just be happy with the end result."
I looked over at my wife and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. Yeah. Taking a chance was definitely worth the end result.
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Sniffle... I loved this story. Again. I repeat. It was kind of my baby. Good times. Make sure you check out my other ideas for stories. It's posted in my story list on my profile.
I want to thank all of you who've taken this journey with me. I love all of you. You guys fucking rock! Just because this one is over, doesn't mean that a new story won't begin! So, get to steppin' over to my profile and let me know what you want to see next!
Love!
Kristen