Hi! If you've gotten an update, I'm sorry to say it's just me revising the last chapter. I'd sort of posted it in a hurry, so I was looking through it the other day and decided it was sort of important to check a few mistakes. I also wanted to make something clear, which came to my attention through the reviews. I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I'm misogynistic, or that my Bella was. I don't think that girls are backstabbers or vicious as a rule, as I might've come across in the first chapter. I apologize if you were turned off by that, which is my fault for not being clear enough. It was just part of the plot; it's like when you have a bad experience with, say, cheese because you choked once and now you refuse to eat it in case you choke again. I don't know if my analogy made it clear or not, but that's how it is. I don't want to make too big a deal out of this, so I'll just finish by saying this: everyone has different experiences. Everyone meets different people. My best friends are girls, and I love them so much, but that's not to say I haven't had bad friendships. It happens, and that's independent of gender, race, or age. It's about people's personalities; I chose to not blame the whole gender for those few bad friendships, but it wouldn't be farfetched to say some people out there do do that. It was just part of the plot that this Bella did -if you feel identified, perfect. If you feel offended, I'm sorry, I really am. Ok, long rant over #SorryNotSorry

DISCLAIMER: WELL, SAME AS ALWAYS.

Life has a way of taking the strangest twists and turns; some you're comfortable with, some you despise. I used to wonder, quite often, what would've become of me if May Anderson hadn't alienated me from the girls in class. If I hadn't projected my hate for her for all girls my age. If I hadn't had Edward by my side, or if my mother had stepped up and owned up to her responsibility instead of shying away from it, or if my father had stuck around. As I grew up and learned to accept my circumstances, I realized that everything that had made me what I was had been necessary, even if it felt unfair at the time. I cannot say that there was anything positive in having a drunkard for a mother, or a coward for a father, or in working three part time jobs in order to survive. But it made me who I am; a strong, confident, independent woman who knows what she wants and goes for it, even if she's swimming against a strong current. Furthermore, everything that involved the circumstances of my birth and life brought me Edward Anthony Cullen; the love of my life, the father of my children, my best friend.

I wish I could say that life after that winter took an abrupt turn for the better. It didn't; I still had to work two part time jobs, I had to finish high school with my scholarship intact and my mother had a long road of recovery. But I had Edward, and I had my friends. I had the Cullens, and on good days, I had my mother. Life took a lot away from me, but it also gave me a lot.

Edward and I broke up twice before getting married. The first time it was because I got into an Ivy League school on a scholarship about three hours away from home; Edward didn't get into the same one as me, but he managed to get into a great one on the other coast. We thought that we didn't want to do the long-distance thing; after two months being miserable without each other, we reconciled, and we started saving money so we could visit each other frequently. It worked.

The second time we broke up it was because, when I graduated from undergrad, Edward wanted us to get married; I wanted to get my masters before settling down, and that put a huge strain in our relationship. Finally, we decided to call of our relationship; we tried moving onto different people.

One day, though, after I came home from a miserable date, I found Edward moving all of his things into my apartment. He told me he'd managed to get into my university to do his masters, and that he was fine with waiting for me to want to get married, so long as he could spend every night with me.

"I've started eating healthy, I've gone on countless dates, and I got promoted in my job. I hate it. All of it. Especially the eating healthy part."

With a declaration like that, there was only one thing I could reply.

"Fine. I'll marry your miserable ass, but you better not get me pregnant before I have my masters."

Thankfully, for once, he listened.

It turns out that while Edward had been right about his career choice, it had only taken a few weeks for me to realize I would be miserable in my first career choice. So I switched; my new ambition became to shape minds, much like Mr. Banner did. Despite all our bickering, he'll forever be my favorite teacher. And I realized that I wanted that to be my legacy; I wanted to be a badass teacher who students loved, feared and remembered. I'd let Edward bring in the big bucks (which he would, although I hadn't been totally sure of it in the beginning).

Unsurprisingly, the first one of the gang to get married was Romeo. Surprisingly, though, it wasn't to Bree, who'd shown great interest in him, and whom he'd dated for three months. In a move that shocked all of us, he found love with a girl in college whose name was —get this— Juliet. Obviously, Romeo says it was meant to be. When they had their first child, and they made me the godmother (Romeo claims that I'm the woman he loves most, after Juliet, his mother, his sisters and future daughters), I had the honor of naming his firstborn child. I named their child Romeo Elias Marks (or Rem, as in Rapid Eye Movement, as I liked calling him much to his parents' fury since their son was practically narcoleptic), and after that I wasn't allowed to name any child but my own.

Edward and I had triplets, surprisingly and infuriatingly enough. I only contemplated poking one of their eyes out once a week or so their first ten years of life. Much in the same fashion as our mothers had, I named our little monsters after books. Robin Rylan (from A Midsummer Night's Dream), Riley Zachariah (I sorta owed Romeo after his firstborn), and Ariel Evelyn (Ariel after the mermaid, Edward's favorite princess, and Evelyn after Evey from V for Vendetta, my favorite comic) were born two and fifteen minutes apart. Because of the large time span between the birth of my little Riley and Ariel, the boys were born on February 27th and Ariel on February 28th. Mom always complains that if I'd just waited one more day, my child would've been born February 29th.

I stopped reminding my mother it wasn't a leap year after a while.

I loved my little demons, but I made Edward get a vasectomy as soon as we found out I was going to pop out three creatures at the same time.

Sadly enough (I guess), my father didn't make it to my children's birth, or my wedding, even. Turns out, after that fiasco in the car dealership, his wife found out all about his cheating ass. She dumped him, and in his despair, he got run over by a truck. I can't say I was heartbroken about his death, but I did make an appearance at his funeral out of (undeserved) respect. Strangely enough, Helen wanted to get to know me, her half sister. I did, too, which was even stranger. Natasha, Helen's mother, though, always refused to see me. Helen said it was because she felt ashamed; she'd been the other woman, and she hadn't known. Despite it all, I didn't blame Helen or Natasha for my father's actions; I knew we were all victims of my father's selfishness.

In a hilarious turn of events, when we were in second year of college Tanya suddenly came home one day holding hands with Irina Denali. They'd met each other doing volunteer work one day, and they'd found love amidst crying children and wheezing elders. Aunt Esme had the hardest time adjusting to the development; she continuously moaned to Tan that she wanted grandchildren, and when Tan and Irina said they'd be adopting, she started moaning that she wanted biological grandchildren. Then I popped out three grandchildren for her, and she forgot all about it. When little Jonathan Denali-Cullen was brought before Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle, the two of them went batshit crazy buying presents for the little ball of sunshine. They loved Jon as much as they loved the triplets, and when Tanya and Irina adopted seven-year-old Jane (I still think that name was a terrible idea), they went triple batshit crazy. They had two grandchildren too many, in my opinion. Kidding; Riley and Robbie are wonderful, too.

Although I could really do without Robbie's obsession with arachnids.

Other things that happened: Edward became CEO, as he'd always wanted, when he was only twenty-nine (needless to say, they were a few rough years of Edward being more zombie than man). We celebrated by dumping the four-year-old triplets on their all too willing grandparents and spending a weekend in Hawaii. Emmett and Rose got married, and had twins plus two other children a few years later. Ben and Angela decided they didn't want any children a few years into their marriage (I think ours spooked them off), and Jazz and Alice made do with one (which I thought was wise). Jamie and Victoria broke up after high school graduation, and he's been living the bachelor life ever since –personally, I think he and Victoria are still each other's booty call, but who am I to judge? Mom married and divorced Phil three times before finally being done playing with the poor guy's feelings. Phil was such a fantastic man, once I got to know him, that when he asked me to call him dad, I did. I've never regretted it. Even when they were divorced, I did my best to visit him whenever I could; he loved the triplets as much as mom, so he was thrilled whenever I could bring them over.

"Mrs. Cullen!" A voice brings me out of my inner musings.

Blinking, I turn towards the teenaged brats I call my students.

"Yes, Mr. Banner?"

In another hilarious turn of events, I ended up being my old teacher's son's English teacher.

"You look really nice today," he says, all innocence and cuteness.

I don't buy it for a second.

"You are not getting out of today's homework, young man."

"But Mrs. C!" He wails, and the rest of the class backs him up. "Tomorrow's Valentine's Day! We've got romancing to plan!"

I raise an eyebrow.

"You know, I remember wailing that to my math teacher once. You know what he said?"

It was well known that Tom Banner's dad had once been my teacher.

"What?" He asks wearily, knowing nothing good ever came out of me citing his father.

"No," I say cheerfully. "Although I am willing to barter. How about instead of two chapters, you only read one? But next week you've got to read three instead of two." I warn, and I can see the inner struggle within them. Some shout out 'Deal!'. Others wail a no.

"Discuss among yourselves."

Alissa and Max Marks also happen to be in my class; the duo, trying to take advantage of the fact that they've know me since they were seven, attempt to coerce me on behalf of their class.

"But Bella!" Ali wails, coming up to my desk.

"Don't you have a hot date with Edward tomorrow? Do you actually want to spend Valentine's grading papers?" Max continues. Interestingly enough, it took a few years for the twins to let go of the idea of their brother and I being a couple. Until Romeo met Juliet and made it clear he would never let go, Max and Ali had held onto the hope that their brother and I would be an item. In the time that they held onto the delusion, they'd despised Edward and had played more than one mean prank on him.

I roll my eyes.

"I don't, which is why I won't. I'll grade them during the weekend," I say smugly. "Besides, what are the two of you complaining about? You two are my kids' babysitters. Tomorrow is just business as usual."

Suddenly they look at each other like they had a brilliant idea.

Having known these kids for so long, I know their ideas are always a far cry from brilliant.

"We'll do it for free!" They shout at the same time.

The class quiets; they know this is the best chance of getting out of homework.

I snort though.

"Try again. I could just leave them with Edward's parents if you're so set on doing something tomorrow."

The twins backtrack quickly.

Good; Esme and Carlisle (as I took to calling them once they became my in-laws) are having a Valentine's date. They weren't available, which is why Edward and I are hiring the Marks siblings.

"No, that's fine. Pay us. As you said, we don't have any plans."

I will seriously tease Romeo when I see him about his younger siblings; the two were seniors in desperate need of some money.

"So, have you all reached a verdict?" I ask the class, shooing the twins back to their seat.

"One chapter today," they grumble in unison. Nodding, we agree on the terms and conditions.

The bell rings, and my students file out one by one. Alissa and Tom make their way out, bickering; they met in third grade when they ended up in the same class, and from then on it was history. Max is the last one out, and he swings by my desk.

"Hey, Bella."

I turn with a smile to him; he still has a very special place in my heart, being the brother of my closest friend (after Edward, of course).

"Max. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you could help me out with something." He mumbles, and then corrects himself. "Someone."

Sometimes it's freaky how similar Max is to Romeo.

"Ok. What's up?"

"It's about Sasha."

Ah, Sasha. Of course. Because the world isn't small enough, I also ended up teaching Sasha Cohen, Siobhan's younger sister. Siobhan, otherwise known as Alec Müller's wife. True to his word, he and I kept in touch (we even attended each other's wedding), and I was one of the first people to congratulate him and Siobhan on the birth of their child, McKenzie, who was a few months younger than my triplets. Also, much to Edward's fury, Mackie and Robbie seemed to have a special bond from the few times we'd brought them together to play.

"I'll seriously blow a gasket if my son ends up marrying your ex-boyfriend's daughter." He'd said from the first time our kids had crossed paths.

Thankfully for my husband's sanity, Alec and Siobhan live about five hours away. However, and I was keeping the surprise for as long as I could, Alec told me that he was planning to move nearby.

Clearing my thoughts, I return my attention to Max.

"What about Sasha, honey?"

What can I say? Having three children brings out the maternal in you.

"I want to ask her out for Valentine's Day —you know, to spend it with us watching your children," he says quickly, noticing my glare. "But I don't know how."

I sigh.

"Well, first of all, I don't think you want to ask her out for the first time to watch three noisy brats."

I'm such a good mother.

"Second of all, you've just gotta be yourself. Steel yourself, catch her when she's alone, and tell her up front: 'Sasha, would you like to go on a date with me?' Girls like boys who are upfront. Upfront confident, not upfront creepy, though." I quickly amend.

He purses his lips. I sigh.

"Look, if you want, I don't mind your sister switching you out for Tom. That's only if your date must absolutely be on Valentine's. However, it's up to you to convince your sister to behave herself with her boyfriend in my house. Remember: I have cameras everywhere."

My children are messy and need constant surveillance, to say the least.

His eyes brighten up.

"You mean that?"

I nod.

"Of course," I ruffle his hair playfully, sighing wistfully. "You're so much like your brother, it makes me feel a little nostalgic. When we first met, one of the first conversations we had was him asking my help getting some chick."

His eyebrows raise.

"Really? Riley's never told me that."

I snort.

"Of course he wouldn't. He forgot women existed before his precious Juliet. Her name was May, though; I tell you in case you ever want to blackmail him with the information."

His eyes twinkle.

"What happened with her?"

Good question.

"She married some jock from our high school. He quickly fell into debts and dragged her with him, though. Romeo sure dodged a bullet with that woman; rumor has it she's balding," I whisper evilly. "Now hurry to your next class. You're late as is and I'm not giving you a tardy slip."

-.-.-.-

"Honey I'm home!" I hear a testing voice sing later that evening. Smiling wide, I rush out to the foyer to welcome my husband.

"Tony! Welcome home, honey!" I say happily. Grinning like fools, he drops his suitcase and catches me just as I launch myself at him. Instead of twirling me around, though, I cling onto him like a monkey.

"My back, Belle! My back!" He jokes, catching me by the ass.

"Oh, shut up. You're only twenty-eight." I slap his back, tucking my nose into the crook of his neck, happily breathing him in. He always smells so good.

In the midst of my smell-induced trance, Edward starts walking us to the kitchen, where our food is already done.

Sadly, after a bad health scare two years ago, Edward and I started eating healthy. Our meals were nutritious, and we limited ourselves to two junk foods per week. Typically, one day we had a dessert, and other day we had just about anything else.

"And the little monsters?" My husband asks, setting me down on my chair.

I brush back a stray piece of hair.

"Asleep."

"But it's only six."

I shrug.

"I may or may not have made them listen to classical music and withdrawn all sugar since early today."

My children are weak without sugar and against Mozart.

In my defense, a parent has to make good use of their children's weaknesses.

"We're gonna suffer tomorrow morning."

"No," I correct, watching him sit down next to me. "Alissa and Tom are going to suffer tomorrow. I'm gonna make them earn that money."

He frowns.

"Alissa and Tom? I thought it was going to be Ali and Max." He stuffs some chicken in his mouth, groaning at the great taste. I've learnt a thing or two in the kitchen in recent years, if I may say so myself.

"It was," I answer, sipping some Diet Coke. To this day, I still refuse to drink, my mother's previous alcoholism too present in my mind. Edward, though, enjoys the occasional glass of wine. "But then Max made it clear he wants to go on a date with Sasha tomorrow, so I gave him a way out."

He hums in acknowledgement to what I said.

"So how was work today?"

And so we continue. Our friendship ever-present in our lives, our love still beating. He talks of his job and I talk of my teenaged brats. He tells me the office gossip and I supply high school drama. We're a well-oiled machine; friends and lovers, partners and parents.

We finish eating; we put away the plates in the dishwasher. Edward takes my hand, as he does every Wednesday night after dinner, and guides me to the living room. He presses play on the iPod that's docked by the dining table, takes me to the middle and brings me close, beginning our dance. I sing along to the opening lines of Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender, our wedding song. I shorten the distance until my head is lying on his chest, and I feel him laugh merrily, as he always has and he always will, at my off-pitch singing.

Love me tender,

Love me sweet,

Never let me go.

You have made my life complete,

And I love you so.

The end.

So, it's finally over. I can't believe it. It took me almost three years to finish this story, and it took finally publishing to motivate my lazy ass into finishing it. First of all, thank you for your kind words regarding my story. It's precious to me, as I hope it is to you. I know the epilogue's much shorter than the usual chapters, but I wanted to tie as many loose ends as quickly as possible; I didn't want to bore you, either, with a super long ending. If you ever want to read the original story (of Akira and Puck, as they originally were), PM me, and I will happily send it to you. :) (Although it has a lot more errors and it's pretty similar, seeing as I didn't proofread on that document, only on this one) What else? I don't know when I'll write something new. This is the only story I was comfortable with publishing, and though I have many ideas, I don't know when I'll make myself finally write them down. I hope you liked the ending, and I hope I did a clean, coherent wrap. Finally, send me some love!

Leah.

P.S. I just published a oneshot! Check it out; it's called Golden Bindings.

It's romance, of course, but it also brushes the subject of self-image and self-love.

Summary: "Not enough people love themselves; we tear each other down in hopes of making ourselves feel better, and when we're done destroying each other externally, we aim for the inside. We think perfection is the rule and flaws are the exception when it comes to others. When it's about us, we're flawed, and we can't let the world tear us down -so we must tear the others down first." E/B