A/n

Hi. I'm very sorry this took so long, but I had to get my next fic up and running, and to be honest...I was kind of putting it off. I didn't really want it to end. I'll see you at the bottom.

EPOV (Five Years Later)

Bella appeared in the doorway at the end of the aisle, and it was all I could do to not run to meet her, throwing decorum out the window.

I just had to stand here, patiently, while she made her way—slowly—down the white runner.

Charlie had what appeared to be a vice-grip on her hand, clearly not entirely ready to give her away. He had known for a long time what my intentions were, and I was well aware that if I ever hurt her, he'd have my nuts in a glass case on the mantle. He used those words, no joke. Point taken.

Step.

Since my mind was moving a million miles per second, incredibly anxious for her to cross those last fifty feet, I let it wander a bit.

My graduation. Bella's face as she proudly sat next to my parents, barely containing her excitement.

Step.

Bella's graduation--which I wouldn't have missed for the world. It meant that she would be free to come join me at college. We'd already had an apartment picked out just off campus, and were counting the minutes until we could spend the night together and not have one of us sneak out early in the morning.

I won't lie and say it was a breeze to be away from Bella for that first year at college, because it wasn't. We spoke on the phone every day, texted constantly, and I went home to see her most weekends, or else she came out to see me. We made it work.

Step.

The day I asked permission to marry her. We had been at school for about six months, and I didn't want to wait any longer. I told Bella that I had to take a short trip for a class one day, but I was really driving back to Forks to see her father. He was the only one that could possibly have an answer to what I needed to know.

Lucky for me, Charlie must have had a good weekend fishing, because he was in an incredibly giving mood. He not only gave me permission to ask Bella to be my wife, he told me he was glad that I made a fool of myself back on that cold day in his front yard.

I expressed my gratitude to him, and showed him the ring I had picked up from my mother's house. It had been my grandmother's, and was passed down to me to be put on the finger of the woman with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

For good measure, I also called Renee to ask her permission, and judging by the squealing and ear-splitting shrieking, she was all for it.

Step.

I'd had it all planned out. I was going to wait until our two year anniversary, take her to a nice restaurant, buy her flowers, and do the whole 'down on bended knee' thing…but even the best laid plans go awry. What actually happened was that as soon as I returned home and saw her beautiful face lying against the pillow while she slept, I couldn't wait.

I didn't want to wait.

I kneeled next to the bed and gently shook her shoulder, trying to rouse her. You'd have thought waking her would have been the easy part, but Bella could sleep through a freight train.

"Bella, love, wake up."

"Wha…?" She squinted at me, opening one eye half-way, and scrunching up her face. Glancing at the clock, she said, "Edward, it's late. What the hell?"

I tried to choke back my laugh, but it slipped out, eliciting a glare from her.

"Can you wake up for a minute, hon? Just sit up for me." I tried to help her sit up, hearing grumbling the entire time.

"What's going on? Why do I need to sit up? Can't this wait until morning?" She rubbed her eyes sleepily, and I felt bad for a fraction of a second.

"Absolutely not." I fumbled with the box in my pocket and grasped her hand in mine.

She was a bit more alert by then, and when she realized I was still on my knees, holding her hand, I heard a small intake of breath. "Edward, tell me what is going on. Now." So impatient.

"Bella. I had this whole thing planned out, I was going to wait for the perfect moment…but then I realized it didn't matter how I did it. The only thing that matters is what your answer is, and I can get that right now."

Our eyes had adjusted to the dark with a little help from the moonlight shining through the window, and I met her gaze, held up the small, velvet box, and asked, "Would you please do me the honor of being my wife?"

Her eyes widened and she gasped, "Shut up. Are you kidding me right now? Are you serious?"

I laughed again and assured her I was. I held up the box, opening it, and she scrambled across the bed to turn on the lamp.

I pulled the ring out of its snug pillow and slipped it onto her finger. She simply stared at it for a minute, letting it sink in.

"So, is that a 'yes'?" I gave her a hopeful half-smile, and she nodded her head slowly, raising her eyes to meet mine once again. Smiling, she whispered, "Yes".

"I love you, Isabella Swan. I'm such a lucky bastard." Laughing, I wrapped her up in a hug, and then kissed her neck lightly, moving up over her jaw to her mouth. She received my kisses with sighs and near-purrs, and returned them with escalating force.

I leaned us back onto the bed, and spent the next hour making love to the woman that I was going to marry. Engaged sex seemed to be even better than dating sex. Maybe it was the knowledge that I would get to do this for the rest of my life. Maybe it was the happiness radiating out of both of us. I couldn't say with certainty what the cause was, but Goddamn did it feel fantastic.

Step.

Alice and Jasper's wedding, where their first dance was to Made to Love You by Gerald Levert; only, instead of the original, Jasper had asked me to do a recording on the piano, accompanied by my own singing. I was flattered that he'd ask me, and made sure to make it perfect. I wasn't going to school for Music Composition for nothing. It was my forte.

Imagine Alice's surprise when my voice came streaming out of the speakers as they started to sway.

I recall when we first met, a long time ago

How could I forget, the way I felt when I first laid eyes on you?

I remember saying to my friends, "There is my future wife," and then

I took the steps to meet someone who would change my life.

Alice's eyes searched me out at the head table, silently mouthing 'thank you', before returning to Jasper as they blissfully danced.

Step.

Jasper's request wasn't the last time I did something of that nature. Emmett decided that it was something he wanted to do for Rosalie at their wedding, which happened the following year. They weren't usually a sentimental couple, but he thought that perhaps a nice gesture at their wedding would be acceptable.

He asked me to put my own spin on Have a Little Faith in Me. It was his secret signal to Rose that she could count on him for anything, no matter what façade they displayed for the rest of the world. Rosalie had been a hard nut to crack, and it took Emmett a lot of time to convince her to trust him. They learned the hard way that fantastic monkey sex (his words, not mine) was not the most important thing in a relationship. I'm sure we could all partake in that nugget of wisdom.

Step.

I thought about the past four years, and how that first year with the cakes started a tradition. I've surprised her every year with the amount of cakes equal to her age. She still acts surprised, even after she knows it is coming, and I love her for that.

In fact, the whole 'I don't like surprises' deal has pretty much gone right out the window, once she realized how great they could be if they involved the right people (her and I, naturally). That was why I had no doubt that she would like the surprise I had in store for her at the reception.

I couldn't possibly allow Jasper and Emmett to show me up with their dances, so of course I had to record my own cover.

I chose Ben Folds Five's The Luckiest. The song completely described how I felt about Bella, and it eerily echoed our relationship. With lyrics like 'I don't get many things right the first time, In fact, I am told that a lot. Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls brought me here' starting the song off, how could I pass it up?

Talk about not getting things right the first time…hell, I didn't get them right the second time! But really, I wouldn't change a single thing that happened. Every second of our past helped to shape our present, and continues framing our future. I really could be deep when I put my mind to it.

Step.

Bella took her final step to stand beside me, and Charlie grudgingly let go of her hand, passing her off to me.

"Son, don't forget what I told you," he said giving me a gruff reminder before he hugged me.

"Sir, there's no way I could ever forget that. It's branded in my mind." Charlie smiled and stepped back, finding his seat in the front pew.

"Hi."

"Hi." Bella couldn't possibly be any more beautiful than she was at that moment.

"You ready?" She nodded, and I smiled.

I grinned back, "Then let's go."

*****

BPOV

Maybe it took us five years, but we got there eventually. I mean, it never was in our style to do things the easy way, right?

THERE WERE TIMES I RAN TO HIDE

AFRAID TO SHOW THE OTHER SIDE

ALONE IN THE NIGHT, WITHOUT YOU

I took Edward's hand as Charlie released me, and practically floated up to stand in front of the officiant. My eyes never left Edward's.

BUT NOW I KNOW JUST WHO YOU ARE

AND I KNOW YOU HOLD MY HEART,

FINALLY, THIS IS WHERE I BELONG

IT IS YOU I HAVE LOVED, ALL ALONG

My smile grew into a grin as my soundtrack spoke up one more time. Though it didn't happen as often, I still played the jukebox of my life in my mind. Sometimes I shared the song with Edward, sometimes I kept it for myself, and it drove him crazy. I loved it.

Edward glanced at me with a questioning smile, and I just minutely shook my head. He narrowed his eyes briefly and smirked, knowing full well what was going on in my head.

I have no real recollection of the words we parroted. They didn't matter that much. What did matter was that we'd made it. Through all the rules, the songs, the confusion--we made it.

I couldn't wait to see what else we would make it through.

The End.

Final soundtrack song is It Is You (I Have Loved) by Dana Glover.

I dedicate that chapter to my husband, who actually did that proposal. And yes, I acted like Bella did.

I know it was short. I know. But, I feel that epilogues don't really need to have a ton of detail, as long as they tell you what the characters have been up to, and give you some glimpse into their future. I hope I did that well.

Thank you. Thank you to Tosh and Red, who have held my hand through this thing. Thank you to venis_envy, who helped me out the last few chapters, and Emma as well. Thank you to anyone who ever recced me to a friend. Thank you to anyone that ever reviewed. Thank you to anyone that flat out just *read*.

Now, those of you that had me on author alert already know that my new fic, The Heiress, has 3 chapters posted. If you haven't started reading it, please check my profile ;). It's a fun one.

Don't forget that I will do a couple outtakes---one will be Jasper's POV from the final chapter, when Edward sleeps on him all night. Tell me what you want the other to be. These will be listed under their own story.