Hey Guys, I know I haven't updated in a while. School got out a few days ago and frankly, I've spent all my free time watching Criminal Minds and sleeping. I finally decided that I should update in order to prevent you all form killing me because I do not wish to do. I'm putting the link to Masen's picture on my profile. Please give me your thoughts on it, I much appreciate the criticism. Also on the update I've started a new story but I'm quite frightened as to how it will be received. I know that you will either love it or hate it. I don't believe that there will be an in between. As I said, watching waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much Criminal Minds so it's going to be out there. Give it a chance before you shoot up my house.

-IFW

Epilogue

BPOV

I hummed dreamily while waiting for Masen to arrive. He was such a busy young man, it had almost hurt to see him leave the nest…almost. There were those times when I missed the sarcasm, the little jabs that we fired back and forth in order to keep each other entertained. He had a job, he was making his own food, and yet he still managed to criticize my cooking.

"You're humming again." I stopped stirring the pot on the stove to turn and look at Edward. Time hadn't hurt him at all, it had only enhanced his appeal. His vibrant green eyes still held the same amount of mischief as they always had.

"I like to hum, it keeps me calm. By the way why are you in here?" I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You always seem so happy when you're in here and I like to see you happy. It only seemed fitting that I come to watch." He explained as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"I'll never understand a single one of your thought processes." I tried my hardest to cover the smile that twitched at my lips.

"Do you know what time Masen's getting in?" he inquired quietly.

"No. He'll show up when he feels like it. Some things never change." I shrugged at him and went back to stirring my gravy. I had given up on trying to make it from scratch after so many failed attempts. They would just have to deal with gravy from a store brand mix. I was done trying. Edward actually had the gall to laughed in my face.

Believe it or not, Masen did actually show at a reasonable hour. Maybe punctuality was becoming one of his things. I almost squealed when I saw him come through the door.

"Miss me mother dearest?" He said in that same sarcastic drawl. Suddenly, it was as if he never left.

"Strangely enough, I did. I'm glad you're home though." I embraced him, running my hands along his back to make sure that he was really with me. He hugged me back gently before moving away.

"Aren't the holidays like meant for family or something?" he sat down on the couch with a thud, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"You look beat, are they working you that hard in that nice apartment of yours?" I teased.

"Oh ha ha. For your information, I'm a critical ally of both the FBI and the CIA. And my apartment isn't all the nice." He snorted suddenly indignant.

"Right, encrypting files, running programs, upgrading firewalls, blacking out systems of terrorist, yada yada yada. None of that makes sense to me honey." I winked at him.

"God I'm tired. My brain is fried from staring at computer screens all day long." Masen groaned. He leaned his head back further onto the couch.

"Get some sleep Mase, dinner's tomorrow afternoon." Edward smiled at him. It was a lost cause however, seeing as Masen had already fallen asleep.

"Out like a light." I said in awe.

"He is working hard. I guess it's to be expected now that he's back on his home turf." Edward shrugged. Masen's reappearance had reminded me of a question I wanted to ask.

"Did your mom call?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, she asked if we wee coming home for Christmas this year. I told her to go to hell." I'd be lying if I said the family had healed from the day Edward and Tanya almost got married. Sometimes I thought the rift would never close between them. Edward certainly wasn't about to give anything over to his mother.

"You could talk to her." I touched his shoulder lightly. Even with my coercing, he wouldn't speak to his mother. I didn't want to be the one that had torn them apart.

"I could do a lot of things. I just don't want to deal with any of her crap anymore."

"She's your mother."

"When's the last time you talked to you mother, Bella?"

"Touché." I grinned at him.

"What about Carlisle?"

"He said he's coming by to see Masen a little later in the day." Edward yawned loudly. "C'mon Bella, you've been at it for hours. Get some sleep before people actually start showing up."

"I have to finish cooking, then maybe I'll be able to get some sleep." I was tired. I just wasn't going to cook on Christmas day, that was my break and once I was done, I was done. If anything was missing, the others would just have to make it themselves. It had happened on more than one occasion. "Go on to bed Edward. I should be there in a few hours. Don't strain yourself."

"I'm not straining myself. I want to be here with you." he smiled demurely at me.

I blushed a bright red. "Fine, but you aren't just going to sit there and do nothing, you get to help me cook." Edward jumped up to join me at the counter.

"I thought you'd never ask."

"I like it when the family is all together." I commented while passing Masen the cranberry sauce. Our family consisted of myself, Masen, Edward, Jasper, and Alice. Yes, Alice was included in that. We got along a lot better considering that Esme had practically disowned her. She was miserable for the longest time, unable to understand hen her mother had left her. Jasper had been right there with a refreshing cup of 'I told you so' and a shoulder to cry on. There was a polite affection between the two of them. Who saw that coming?

"Please don't go all mushy on me. I don't think I could take it." Masen winked at me.

"When are you getting married?" I asked coyly, that shut him up quickly.

"Don't challenge your mom Masen, you always lose." Jasper laughed.

"You'd think I would have learned that by now." Masen laughed with him.

"When's Carlisle getting in, I want to make sure there's a plate left for him." I asked Edward.

"He should be getting soon. He has to get away from Esme first." he responded shortly.

"How is the wicked witch of the west? I haven't heard much about her in the last couple of years."

"Don't know, don't care." Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"Wow, never thought id hear those words come out of your mouth. So it is true, mommy dear wasn't able to hold on to her kids. How ironic." Masen voice didn't hold the same edge. "It's a shame, she's lost two kids for a stupid reason. I'm glad you aren't like that mom."

"Lost two kids and still a bitch." Jasper took a swig of his wine.

"Didn't you two have a shouting match on your porch?" I laughed.

"How could I forget? She just showed up and started screaming about how I was corrupting her daughter. It's was so stupid. I wasn't just going to stand there and be insulted though."

"Understandable. It's not your fault she attacked you. God, that woman is crazy." I topped of Edward's glass.

"Can't we talk about something happy for once? I really don't want to discuss my mother when we could be having such a lovely conversation." Alice muttered.

"True. I think Esme's amusing. She thinks she's better than everyone and yet she seems to be suffering the most out of all of us. It's quite the conundrum." Masen said thoughtfully. A knock interrupted his thoughts.

"That's got to be Carlisle, I'll go let him in." I stood up and walked to the door. Carlisle was waiting for me but he wasn't alone. Esme was with him. I stared at her in shock.

"Hello Bella." she greeted me stiffly.

"Um, hi? I'll go let the others know that you're here. Come on in." I was still staring at Esme as if she had two heads. She hadn't stepped foot in my house in years.

"I'm not staying, I'm just here to talk to you, Bella." she rubbed her forehead lightly. "I've been trying to work up the courage to do this for months."

"It's alright Esme. I'm not really very intimidating, just say what you need to say." I was antsy, talking to her by myself had always been a fear.

"You've done a good job with Masen, better than I could have ever done. He adores you. Edward adores you. I knew that but I could never understand why, why he felt so much for you, such an insignificant little girl." I tried not to take offense. "He practically worshiped you, was determined to make you his, I knew I had to put a stop to it, I had to stop it. Edward was mine, he had always been mine."

"You weren't ready to let go." I confirmed.

"I guess you could say that. He'd become my life, I couldn't let someone steal that away from me. Then Jasper snapped Alice up and next thing I know, I have nothing."

"You have Carlisle. He loves you no matter what."

"I don't deserve it. I don't deserve any of them."

"You aren't at fault for loving your son Esme, you just needed to learned to let him go." I touched her shoulder. "I had to so the same thing."

"I still don't like you."

"I don't expect you to."

"Mom?" we both looked towards the doorway. Edward appeared confused.

"Hello honey. No need to worry. I'm already on my way out the door." She waved feebly at him and left.

"What did she want?" he asked.

"Maybe I'll tell you one day. For now, let's just say we've come to a consensus."

Edward looked to Carlisle for help.

"You get used to it. It's a woman thing." Carlisle shrugged.

"I hope I do." He smiled. "I'm glad that you're okay." He kissed my forehead gently.

"Alright, crisis averted. I get first slice of pie. Agreed? Agreed." Masen ran out of the room, the rest of us on his heels.

"If any of you touch that pie, I'm going to cut your hands off." I shouted. Yeah, we were going to be just fine.