Merry Christmas, or whatever it is you celebrate, we hope this finds you happy, healthy and enjoying your family and friends to the fullest.

Nikky and Kasi~

SQ Epilogue

Four years later.

"Edward," I hear Charlie say and I turn and smile as he walks up the driveway. "Renee said she's on her way home with Bella and Morgan. Where in the world did you ever find a ribbon big enough to go around this house?"

"It was much more difficult than I care to explain," I chuckle. "I have everything fully stocked and everything is working tip top. I have everything all set up to surprise them with the showing tomorrow morning, before the festivities start. I'm done here, so we can head for home ... well, your home."

"Son, it'll always be your home, too."

I smile and we share a one-armed man hug, before heading for our vehicles.

When I had arrived back home with Bella that New Year's day four years ago, I asked her to be my girlfriend. Of course she accepted, and we've been together ever since. Things weren't always so easy for us, as we were living in the same house. Especially since the house we shared together also housed her parents and Morgan. We only had a limited amount of private time, but we fully made use of it, when it was available.

Things did become easier when Bella and I both moved into the basement about two months after New Years. It's well-designed and big enough for us to have a small sitting area, a bedroom room to sleep in and our own bathroom. The best part is that it's soundproof and private. It's allowed us the ability to talk openly without anyone else putting in their two cents.

Since my mom signed away all of her legal rights to Morgan, we had to remove Ed's rights. When Ed willingly said Morgan was not his and DNA proved that fact, we had to petition the court to do DNA on my father. Of course, my suspicions were correct and Morgan and I share the exact same parents.

Because our birth father is still in jail and needs to serve another eight years, his rights were removed. With the support of Bella and the guidance of Charlie and Renee, it took me eight months to prove to the court that I could care for Morgan. I was granted permanent guardianship of Morgan just three years ago.

Morgan was already calling Charlie and Renee Ma and Pa. Because Ed had no binding ties to Morgan, the court also granted me the right to change her name. No longer is she named after a bottle of booze, she is now Morgan Lynn Swan. I had a reason for this choice and when I told Charlie my reasoning, he had tears in his eyes.

I had asked him for permission to ask Bella to marry me, and when I asked I told him of my plans. When Bella and I marry, I intend for all accounts and purposes to take the last name of Swan. Charlie, of course, hugged me close and told me he was proud to be my father. Since that day, Charlie and I have been even closer than we were before.

On our first anniversary I asked Bella to marry me, which she happily accepted. Then that year, I started to work for Aro as his architect and slowly the money started getting better. The next year Bella and I started volunteering for the big brother – big sister programs for young teens in care. I find this was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. The foster care system is still not the best, but it can only change with having good people working for it. Teenagers in the system really need people they can trust and talk to.

When Bella went back to college that fall, she decided to go into Social Work. She also started working at a Build-A-Bear Workshop. I remember going to get her one day, so we could have lunch together. I stood at the door of the shop and just watched her happy face as she talked to a small girl as she filled her bear. I couldn't help but smile when Bella had her kiss the heart and make a wish before poking it inside the bear. I knew then that she'd be a great social worker, because she truly has a heart of gold.

One of our hard times came about two and half years ago, when James was finally tried for his crimes. There was a delay after delay in his hearings, and finally the day in court arrived. At the court hearing for James, his lawyer used the fact Bella was dating me to throw doubt on both our testimony. But after three weeks of evidence, testifying, and trial arguments, the jury took only two days to come back with a guilty verdict on all counts. James was sentenced with two counts of kidnapping, two counts of attempted murder, extortion, first degree murder and a grand total of seventy-five counts of grand theft auto. He was sentenced to three counts of life in prison, and he will never see the light of day outside of a prison wall.

Jacob turned State's evidence against James and Mrs. Cope. At least he was not stupid enough to plead not guilty. He had been sentenced the year before James' trial, and he was also never to see freedom. Jacob died in prison before James' trial, and Mrs. Cope is charged with his murder. Apparently, she somehow paid an inmate to murder Jacob. Mrs. Cope's trial was a doozy, but at least only I had to testify there. Jacob's testimony during the grand jury indictment was used at her hearing. With her paying to have him murdered, in the end she will spend the rest of her life in prison.

Life after the trials all fell into a routine, with all four of us adults working together to bring Morgan up in a happy, well-adjusted household.

Just the beginning of this year, I bought this nice chunk of land that's only a ten-minute walk from Renee and Charlie's home. I have spent nine months building Bella's, Morgan, and my dream home. While I didn't get it done before I turned thirty, it's done so once we are married, we can move into it. The hardest job has been keeping Bella and Morgan away from the property. I wanted our new home to be my gift to them both when we become a legal family.

Arriving to the only true home I've ever known, I park next to Charlie's backed-in cruiser. We both get out and Charlie smiles at me.

"You really have done a great job, son, they're both going to love it."

"You really think so, Dad?"

I started calling him Dad and Renee Mom two years ago. They are, after all the only parents I've ever known.

"I do, now come on; you will need your rest for tomorrow."

~SQ~

Bella and I planned our wedding a little backwards. We are having a big get together with all our friends and family. We are gathering for dinner first, then we will have a big party with dancing and toasts. The party will stop at eleven o'clock, so that Bella and I can change into our wedding clothes. The wedding will start about half past eleven and we have it timed out to share our first kiss, as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's. After our kiss we will share one last dance, before I will take Bella to our new home for our wedding night.

~SQ~

The morning dawns with a smile on my face. I brush Bella's hair from her cheek and kiss her until she wakes up.

"Good morning, husband-to-be," Bella says with her sleep-filled morning voice.

"Good morning, wife-to-be," I say before kissing her fully. "I need you to get up and dressed. Wear something warm, we're going for a short walk with Morgan."

"Okay," Bella says inquisitively.

"You'll see soon enough, now hurry up."

I get up and throw on my jeans and a hoodie. "I'm going to make sure Morgan is ready, meet me in the kitchen."

With one more peck on her lips I am up the steps and grinning as I see Morgan all ready to go eating cereal.

"Edward, where are we going? Ma said I had to be ready to go in ten minutes."

"We're going for a short walk, so I can show you something really special."

"Okay," she says cheerfully.

Once we all have our coats on, we go for a walk to our new home. When we are about a block away, I start the speech I planned.

"Well girls, you know that I love you both tremendously, right?" I ask as we continue to walk.

"Yeah," they both say together.

"Morgan, remember how we talked about Bella and I will be adopting you once we are married?"

"Yes," Morgan says.

"Well, sweetheart, I am bringing you and Bella—our family—to see where we will be living."

Bella gasps and Morgan cheers.

I stop and look into Bella's eyes, and give her a smile.

"I built our dream home, and we will start living here tonight. When we return from our honeymoon, Morgan will be joining us."

I turn them both to face the house. "Welcome home," I say with a smile.

Charlie and Renee are standing beside Renee's car. Renee is videotaping us. Bella and Morgan are holding hands and jumping around like crazy, while cheering.

Charlie hands Bella the scissors and taking my hand with hers and Morgan's hand over ours, we cut the ribbon together.

We all tour the new house together, and Morgan loves her full-sized canopy bed. She also has two big built-in bookshelves on either side of her bay window with a bench seat. The only thing that will need to be moved into our home is our clothing, and personal things. Renee and Charlie are planning to do most of Morgan's things while Bella and I are in Hawaii.

After looking around for over an hour, Bella, Morgan and Renee drop Charlie and I off at home and head to get their hair and nails done. Charlie and I both get our showers and head over to the community center, where our dinner, dance and wedding will be held.

The food is all ready to go, and my beautiful soon-to-be wife has arrived. Soon our guests will be arriving and we finally get a chance to relax and enjoy our day.

Before I know it we've greeted all our guests and our dinner is being served. Everyone is having a great time and the food is delicious. Charlie and Aro both take turns giving wonderful speeches. We cut the cake and have fun doing all the normal things backwards.

When we dance, everyone joins us. When Bella dances with Charlie, Renee and Morgan dance with me. The dancing and having fun continues right up to eleven. While the wedding party gets changed, Aro takes charge of setting the room up for the ceremony.

At twenty after, I'm standing off to the side talking with Reverend Berty. Aro has everyone settled into chairs and the DJ has started playing the music that tells me it's time to take my place with Reverend Berty.

After we are at the front, the song changes and Renee walks down the aisle carrying a small bunch of colorful daisies. Next down the aisle is Morgan, who is throwing handfuls of petals as she comes to the front. The music again changes and becomes slightly louder, everyone stands and turns to face the back of the room.

First I see Charlie, but on his arm is who I feel I've waited my whole life for. Bella is breathtaking. The long, white dress flows like silk over her skin. Her hair is pulled back and her smile is bright. I'm lost in her eyes and before I know it, Charlie is placing her hand in mine.

"Son, just love her as you have all this time."

"I will, forever," I say as he hugs me.

I watch him kiss Bella's cheek and I see her eyes are glassy with tears.

As Reverend Berty speaks, I still feel lost in her eyes. Before I know it, I hear the words I've wanted to hear for years. "It's my great honor to pronounce you husband and wife. Happy New Year, everyone, Edward, you may kiss your bride."

I pull her closer to me, and pivot, dipping her slightly and kiss her as the sounds of fireworks boom outside the building. The drapes open behind Reverend Berty and the fireworks are visible over the water.

Everyone cheers and hugs and kisses their spouses, family and friends. By the end of the fireworks, Charlie, Renee, Bella, Morgan and I are huddled together by the window just embracing the New Year together as our own family unit.

Once we have our first dance as husband and wife, I take Bella to our new home. The walkway is lit by the solar-charged lights.

"Edward, this is amazing and beautiful. This is the best design you've done – ever," Bella says with a happy sob.

I pick her up and carry her through the door; I turn and push the door shut with my knee. Bella leans down and flicks the lock, before wrapping her arm back around my neck.

"Shall we head straight to the bedroom?" I ask still holding her in my arms.

"Yes, husband, to our room," she says as she kisses my neck.

I carry her up the stairs and into our master bedroom. I place her softly on the bed. I slowly remove her shoes first, and work my way to the back of her dress. I kiss each bit of skin that is revealed as I unbutton her dress. Several little buttons and kisses later, my sweet wife is panting. I help her stand and remove her dress.

I place the dress on the bench at the foot of our bed. When I turn, Bella starts to unbutton my shirt, as I shrug off my jacket. Once we both have removed our dress clothes, we move back to the bed together.

This is not the first time we've made love, but this will be the first time I will make love to my wife. We both know what makes the other tick, and we hunger for each other. While looking in her eyes, I enter her tightness and we both let out a moan of pleasure. With each push and pull I can feel my love only get stronger. With each moan and kiss, I know this is exactly where I've always been destined to be.

"I love you," she whispers kissing my neck and chest.

"I love you, too, my wife," I say falling over the edge of ecstasy following my wife.

As I drift off to sleep that night, with my wife in my arms, I think about my life. It took losing my heart and soul to hear what they were screaming at me all along. I know now to always listen to what my heart and soul tells me, they've never steered me wrong.

A/N: We hope that you have enjoyed this Christmas and holiday spirited story. Please let us know what you thought of the story.

We have two more stories posting yet before years end. We will be posting one of the two just as soon as the banner is done. There will also be another short novella posting before the end of the year, called: Swan's Toys, Trees and Reindeer - this will be 9 chapters when completed and I am currently working on chapter 8. Nikky has already sent me her part, I just have to finish both and get them to the beta.