HUZZAH. Here is the epiligue! :D I know I said I wanted 50 reviews before I put it out, but SADLY, the mark was no where near reached. Y'all were a little more than 1/5 of the way there. I had decided to just post this after a month if you guys hadn't reached the goal I'd set.
Soooooo, even though I cried buckets of tears from lack of reviews (that is sarcasm ladies and gents), I am posting up this LOVERLY epilogue for your reading enjoyment. :)
So...for the last time in this story (SOB)...Disclaimer: I do NOT own the characters from the Twilight story, just this Twilight spin off plot.
Epilogue
This morning wasn't really different from any other morning I'd woken up to in the last five months…except that my stomach felt bigger today. I looked down at my stomach and just thought about how my life had changed since I'd found out there was another human being inside of me, and a miniature one at that.
I sat up slowly, so as not to wake Edward, and proceeded to lift up my shirt and run my fingers over my stretched skin. I couldn't believe how hard my stomach felt; that was the one thing that I found most surprising besides the time when I realized my baby had first started kicking. It was more annoying than surprising, but the little kid liked to push its feet up against my chest so I had to lean back to breathe normally.
Edward was practically unconscious beside me; he'd come home late last night from a trip to Germany. I'd gone to the airport to pick him up and when he finally found me, he immediately ran to me and asked how 'our' health was. My poor Edward, he'd tried as hard as he could not to travel while I was pregnant, but it was unavoidable. He'd been gone for about two months together since we'd gotten the news and he was always worried something would happen while he was away. I knew he stayed up late to worry about me because he'd call me late at night claiming to think it was earlier. Every time I talked to him I assured him I was fine and that his parents were doing a perfectly good job of taking care of me.
I was working from home now, so at least it took the worry from him of me getting into some kind of wreck and injuring either one of us.
We never found out what gender the baby was because we wanted to be surprised. Sure it made decorating harder but it gave us something to look forward to.
While sitting up in my bed, I realized I was nearly ravenous. My stomach was growling so I slowly got up and walked even slower into the kitchen. I wondered how my stomach could get any bigger at this point, honestly.
I popped some plain waffles into our toaster and waited for them to pop up. As I sat on the stool waiting, my cell phone rang beside me.
"Hey Margot!" I greeted cheerfully.
"How is the mom-to-be?" She laughed happily.
"Doing perfectly well. Edward got back late last night and he still hasn't woken up." We both had a good laugh at that.
"So how is he dealing with all of this?" She asked curiously.
"He's being a normal first-time dad: he's freaking out." We laughed again.
"Poor guy. I bet all of his traveling is killing him." She commented sympathetically.
"Yeah…I feel bad for him. I don't want him to worry, I mean really, I have the best OB/GYN in London taking care of me and his parents come by every day to make sure I'm being taken care of properly." I sighed.
"Wow, you got it good over there." She joked. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"By the way, you sound a little more British than the last time I spoke to you." She teased.
I groaned and rubbed my forehead, "Yeah, for some reason I'm losing my American accent and turning into a Brit since I got pregnant. I don't know what's going on with me!"
We talked for another twenty minutes before she exclaimed, "Oh! I completely forgot to tell you the point of me calling! Steve finally proposed!"
I had an urge to let out a really high-pitched girly squeal but I suppressed it and just laughed happily, "Oh my god Margot, finally! How long have you two had a child together now?"
"Oh shut up you! It didn't take you too long to get knocked up after you got married!" She retorted.
"It was at least a year Margot!" I scoffed jokingly.
"Still, that's not too much time after you got married!" She laughed.
"Would you have preferred I wait a few more years?" I grinned.
I could hear Edward groaning as he woke up and rolled around in the bed. "Oh, Margot, I think I woke Edward up!" I cringed as I heard the bathroom door shut.
"Crap, I'm sorry! Do you need to go then?" She apologized.
"Yes, probably. I'll call you later okay? Love you girl, bye!"
"Bye Bella!"
I heard the water faucet turn on in the bathroom so I put in some more waffles as I realized I was still quite hungry.
He came in looking half-awake with his hair looking disheveled but incredibly sexy, "Hey beautiful, how are you today?"
I smiled affectionately at him and ran my hands lightly over his face, "I'm perfectly fine as always. I'm more worried about you; I feel like I'm living with a zombie!"
He laughed and stretched his arms out to the sides, "Hopefully I'll catch up on my sleep then. My publisher has promised I won't have to leave for another two months but when I do leave it'll only be for two or three weeks at a time."
I hugged him as best as I could and rested my head on his shoulder, "Good. I'm so depressed when you're not here!" I'd said it jokingly but he took me seriously.
"No, please don't be depressed! You know if you're depressed then I will be too. You know I don't want to leave you for any reason!" He hugged me tightly and jumped back when the baby kicked my stomach right against where his stomach was.
His eyes locked onto my stomach and it took him a minute to look back up at me, "Did…did the baby just move?" I nodded, realizing he didn't know the baby was starting to kick. He laughed loudly once and his face broke out into an ecstatic grin; I'd never seen him so jubilant and it made me want to cry because he looked so beautiful.
"My god, when did this start happening?" He put his hands on the sides of my stomach right as the baby kicked again.
We both laughed and I could feel the tears streaming down my face, stupid hormones, "I guess it started moving a few days after you left…I think it finally realized it was you stroking my stomach all the time and when you left…it missed you."
His eyes started to water right as he pulled me into a warm, firm hug. "Bella this has got to be one of the happiest days of my life! My god, I feel like all of this is a dream!"
My hormones kicked into a slight overdrive and I started crying against his chest, "I know! I'm just…so happy I have you here with me!" He hugged me a little bit tighter, but not as tight as I would have liked; he was probably concerned about hurting the baby if he hugged me too hard.
"Bella," He laughed lightly, "I'm so unused to seeing you cry like this. I know you're happy so these aren't bad tears, but I don't know what I should do!" I smiled and wiped my tears off my face with my shirt collar.
The waffles finally popped up so I jumped in surprise and realized I had to go to the bathroom; there really wasn't too much room for a bladder when there was a baby growing in your stomach.
"Did you put those in for me?" He smiled lovingly.
I blushed and smiled, "No, actually, I'm just really hungry so I made those for me. You can have them if you want them though; I need to go to the bathroom!" I laughed and walked over to the bathroom.
A few days went by and I started to think about having the baby in London; would I want my baby to be born where only Edward's parents would really be able to come? After I first found out I was pregnant, I'd always imagined having my baby where my parents and my friends could come to support me…but now they were six thousand miles away and getting over here would take nearly a day. I'd also thought about whether or not I wanted my child to be born in the States to be an American citizen or if I'd want to have it over here to be a European citizen. I'd also wondered if Edward had thought of these things so I waited until he'd gotten out of the shower and got dressed to ask him.
"Edward, I've been thinking…living here in London…only your parents would be able to come see the baby being born…and I know my parents would probably like to be around when it happens but with them living so far away it would take a long time for them to get here. And as for my friends, I'm pretty sure they'd like to be able to be there to support me." I gave him a slightly pathetic look to show my concern on the issue.
He nodded and ran his fingers through his hair, "I've been thinking about that too actually…and as to whether or not we would have the baby here or back in the States."
"Exactly!" I laughed, relieved that we were on the same wavelength.
He walked me out into the living room to sit down and talk more about this, "Honestly, I think you should have the final say in this. You're the one having the baby and all. I'm just going to be freaking out the whole time really."
He laughed but I just smiled, "You're the father though. You have an equal say in this decision. I just don't know where I want the baby to be born."
He nodded again, "Well…we still have a few months, but I imagine if we want to make any big changes in plans we ought to make them as soon as possible."
"You know, I don't really know that I care where the baby is born so much as I care that my parents get to be here for it." I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"Do you think maybe we should talk to our parents about it? If that's the big issue here then let's ask them." He suggested.
"You're so smart!" I laughed and kissed him. He grinned at me when I leaned my head back from his.
"Oh please don't tell me that look means what I think it does!" I groaned jokingly.
"Come on! The doctor said it was fine and I can't stand having these month long abstinences! They get longer every time I'm gone!" He pleaded. I laughed and leaned over to kiss him again but the baby intervened and pushed its feet against my diaphragm again.
I grunted and arched my back off of the couch to breathe. Edward freaked out and started asking me what was wrong very loudly. I grabbed his shoulder and then put my hand over his mouth. He shut up until I sat back against the couch, "What's wrong? Does something hurt?"
I shook my head and panted a little bit, "Baby likes to push up against my chest sometimes…it makes it harder to breathe so I have to lean back."
"Is that normal?" He still looked frantic.
I nodded, "I did the same thing with my mother apparently. I just like to think I was tired of sitting inside there and wanted to get out and see the world."
We sat on the couch for a while beside each other. He had his arm around my shoulders and his other hand was caressing my stomach, "The fact that you can make a child inside of you absolutely blows my mind."
I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, why can't men do that?"
He laughed loudly at that and kissed me when he stopped, "Isabella, you are so incredibly funny sometimes. I hope you know that." I shrugged jokingly and placed my hands on top of my stomach.
Two months later we found ourselves in the same position, only this time my stomach was substantially larger and we were on a plane heading towards the States. My doctor in London had told me that I shouldn't have any problems with flying since I was healthy; Edward of course, needed much more reassuring than I did, but he finally became convinced after talking with my doctor for half an hour.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Edward asked for the millionth time even though we'd only been in the air for several hours.
I nodded and closed my eyes, "I'm fine Edward. If I become un-fine, I will let you know." He smiled and squeezed my hand.
About an hour before we had to land, Edward got a strange look on his face like he was thinking hard about something.
"Your face will stay that way if you do that too long," I joked.
His face smoothed out as he looked at me and smiled, "I was just trying to remember if we'd ever talked about names."
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped a little, "We haven't! Edward how have we never talked about this before?" I slapped my hand over my mouth and wondered how on earth I could have gone eight months without realizing this.
"We still have a week. That gives us time to think about it." He took my hand away from my mouth and kissed the back of it.
We spent the next hour going over names for boys and girls but we couldn't find one that we really liked for either gender. "There's always the option of naming it Edward if it's a boy." He grinned.
"No! You already have the same name as your dad." I groaned, earning another laugh from him.
"I do like your mother's name though…Esme." I suggested.
(A/N: Don't worry, there will be no name smushing here)
"No, I don't really like it. I mean, I like it for my mother, but not for my daughter." He shrugged.
"All right," I had a sudden brainwave, "I'm getting on the internet when we get there and I'm searching names."
He nodded his head, "Good idea."
We arrived at the airport half an hour early so I went to a computer and got on the internet; my parents wouldn't expect us for a little while so I had some time to search. Edward sat next to me, pointing out names he liked. I found myself looking at girls' names for the time being, I think I wanted my baby to be a girl.
"What do you think of the name Sakura?" I stopped scrolling on the page when I saw it. It was a Japanese name that meant 'cherry blossoms' but I thought it was a beautiful name. Edward was giving me a look that said, 'Are you serious?' I smirked sadly and continued scrolling.
"Wait," his hand pulled my hand away from the mouse and he pointed to a name, "What about that one?"
"How are you even supposed to say it?" I scoffed.
He pulled up another page and googled the name, "Ah, here we go! Suh-lo-me. Salome."
I let the name mull around in my head for a minute, "Maybe it can be a middle name."
"Oh please! First name pleeeeease?" He laughed and put on a sad face.
"Maybe. Let's just keep looking."
"What about Scarlett?" Edward pointed the name out on the screen.
"Ever heard of 'Gone With the Wind'?" I smirked.
"So? It's a pretty name and I've never met anyone with that name." He shrugged.
I kept looking even though Scarlett was growing on me.
We switched to boys' names when we had fifteen minutes left. "Okay, I know this might be a little out there…but I really like the name Sawyer," I looked at Edward sideways.
"I vote that to be a middle name consideration."
I nodded and kept looking. "How about Alfonso?" I suggested sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and motioned for me to keep looking.
We had to leave before we could find any other boys' names we liked. I hoped the baby would turn out to be a girl so I wouldn't have to keep looking.
My parents and my three best girl friends were waiting for us when we walked out of the terminal. They all gushed over how beautiful I looked and how big my stomach was. "Are you sure there's only one in there?" Margot joked.
I gave her a small glare and nudged her arm, "Come on now, don't make fun of the pregnant lady!"
Edward and I had rented a hotel room for about a month because we didn't really know how long it would take. He'd brought his laptop with him to continue writing whilst here, and I didn't really have anything to do since I was on maternity leave.
It was a lovely spring afternoon in Los Angeles, May 1st to be exact, and I was soaking in some sun next to the open window while Edward typed away in the kitchen area. I was drawing random patterns on my stomach when I realized I really needed to go to the bathroom. After managing to push myself up out of the chair, I took a breath and started to waddle on over to the bathroom. I had to pee so badly I thought I wouldn't make it, but thankfully I did. I was glad I'd had a dress on, it made it easier and faster to go to the bathroom. I washed my hands and reached for the door when my stomach suddenly felt like it was being squeezed hard. I'd wondered if maybe I'd gotten up too fast from the chair earlier but wouldn't that have been my back? I didn't scream, but the pain only subsided slightly. I leaned back thinking the baby was pushing against my chest, but it didn't help.
I was gripping the door handle so hard that my knuckles were white and the bones were jutting up against my skin. When I'd stood there for a few more minutes waiting for the pain to go away completely, it came back stronger than it had before.
"Oh god…" I huffed and tried to remember from my OB/GYN if this was a sign I was going into labor. Suddenly, I felt something dripping down my leg so I lifted up the hem of my dress to see a clear fluid going down my leg. "Oh my-Edward!" I yelled and opened the door.
His chair must have hit the floor from the sound I heard right before he slid in front of the bathroom, "What's wrong?"
"I'm having contractions!" I grunted as another one came on.
"Oh my god!" He ran to the phone and called my doctor.
He grabbed my bag I'd prepared for this day and got me down into my old car I'd left here with Yvette (who gave it back to me while I was here). Every time I groaned in pain his foot hit the accelerator harder.
Once we got into the ER, I was put into a wheelchair and rushed back into a room where my doctor came in. "Hello Mrs. Cullen, how are we?" The woman asked as she put her stethoscope against my stomach. "In pain," I huffed sarcastically.
"How far along are you?" She asked as her eyebrows pulled down closer to her eyes.
"About thirty three weeks," Edward answered for me.
She put my legs up into those holster things and lifted up my dress, "Your baby is definitely coming today. Don't worry though," she saw Edward's terrified face and tried to reassure him, "babies come early sometimes. My own son came about four weeks early and he turned out just fine." Edward's face smoothed just slightly.
An hour later I was in another room with sweat covering my face and I'm pretty sure I was crushing Edward's hand. "Come on Bella, you need to keep pushing!" The doctor called out to me.
"I can't, oh god I can't!" I cried as tears streamed down my face. Edward pushed my hair out of my eyes and made me look into his eyes, "Yes you can. And anyway, you have to even if you don't think you can!" He grinned wildly at me and I gave him a short laugh before giving one last effort and finally hearing the doctor call for a blanket.
I laughed happily and looked up at Edward who was looking over in the corner of the room. He was not smiling and his eyes looked terrified again.
"Edward, what's wrong?" I pulled his head down.
"She's not crying Bella." He pulled his head back up and looked back over in the corner.
I had a baby girl? Wait, was her not crying a bad thing?
My senses started calming down enough to where I suddenly realized what was going on and heard the doctor saying something about 'lungs aren't fully developed'. "Oh god Edward," I pulled on his scrub sleeve and started crying right as he hugged me against his chest. My voice sounded absolutely terrible as I sobbed against him. His arms were so tight around me like I wished they had been a few months ago, but now they weren't tight enough. "Cry! D*mmit cry!" I shouted into the room.
The seconds ticked by and kept going. "Edward," I sobbed quietly.
I heard a shrill cry in the room and when I realized it wasn't me, my head came away from Edward and I leaned around him. My baby was crying loudly.
Edward and I looked at each other in the same moment and we kissed heavily until the doctor brought our baby over, minutes later, wrapped in a pink blanket. I laughed joyfully when my baby girl was placed in my arms, "Oh my god…I have a daughter!" Edward sat down beside my legs and marveled over her exactly as I was.
"Do you have a name picked out?" The doctor grinned as she pulled off her gloves and surgical mask. I looked up at Robert who just smiled at me.
"Salome." I nodded. His smile got wider if at all possible.
One of the nurses came over and asked, "What did you name her?"
"Salome," I grinned and touch my little girl's nose.
"I thought you did. That's my name too." She laughed.
(A/N: Salome is a Jewish name and I think it's really beautiful! And yes, I do actually know someone named Salome.)
Edward and I looked at each other in slight surprise but we smiled.
Later as we signed our daughter's birth certificate, we still hadn't picked out a middle name.
"It needs to flow when you say her name." Edward commented as we stared at the paper. "Salome Cullen…what goes in between?"
I thought through different letters and I suddenly said, "Nora."
"Nora?" He sounded surprised, "Salome Nora Cullen. Huh…I actually like that."
Salome, the nurse, smiled and made a note to have it filled in.
Edward laid down beside me on the hospital bed and wrapped me up in his arms, "Are there any words I can possibly use to say exactly how incredibly happy and amazed I am right now?"
I laughed, "You could use those." He kissed me lightly at first but the second kiss felt too familiar.
"There is no possible way to have sex right now. I hope you know that." I pulled my lips away from his.
"Believe me, I know." He laughed, "When they took you away to get cleaned up and everything I asked your doctor about it. It seems it's going to take about six weeks until that can happen."
My eyes widened, "What?"
Ahahahahahaha. Just try to picture Bella making a kind of 'O_O' face. XD So funny, hahaha.
Well...there you have it. The story is nice and tidy and finished. *depressing sigh*
I hope you all enjoyed reading my crazy little story! I don't know if/when I'll be posting anything else. I know that I have like...4 other stories on here that are unfinished but I don't know if those will ever be completed, haha. Being in college consumes a lot of time. Also, my Microsoft Office trial ran out so I can't use that anymore. MEHHHH. And I don't have a job right now so I'm not going to go and spend like...$200 to get MS Office. XD
So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersen, good bye! I hate to go and leave this pretty sight! Goodbyyyyyyeeeee!
But for real, THANK YOUUUUU to every single one of you who read and reviewed my story. I appreciate all of you! I may not post anything for a while, but I will be doing Beta work. I'm doing some of that for a fellow authoress and I love it! Editing and helping out friends is awesome! I also get to read something and not know what happens, hahahaha.
So, until next time...*ShiningStarr*