Note: You don't have to read or re-read The Hard Way to Learn a Lesson to understand this story. I will put a brief summary of what happened in THWTLAL below.

Author's note to readers old and new:

Hi! I know I said I would never do a sequel to THWATLAL seven (!) years ago but… well, never say never. I have been thinking about that fic a lot recently and now that I'm old, cynical and married myself, I'm not so sure that THWTLAL would have been the end of the line for these guys. No one has a baby at 17/18 without there being more to the story afterwards. So, since I'm having awful writer's block with my original writing, I thought I'd have a dabble and I found that THWTLAL Bella and Edward still have a lot to say and an intriguing story to tell.

I'm not sure if anyone's still reading Twilight fanfics but way back when I wrote these stories at the tender age of 15/16, writing was my life. I want to get back in that mind frame and fall in love with writing again so I'm posting it here, hoping to get that spark back.

I hope that you like it and if there's anyone still out there in the Twific void, please say hi. I really hope life's treating you all well after all this time and I'd love to hear from you.

Also, I promise this will be the only long A/N. Nothing embarrasses me more than reading back my old A/Ns!

-Steph xo

EDIT 16/01/17 - Sorry to break my promise already about the A/Ns but I need to add a quick note of reassurance. I only write happily ever afters! I cannot stress this enough. If it's not your cup of tea, that's fine but please know that there is, as usual, more to the story than meets the eye.

Summary of The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson and subsequent outtakes:

In their penultimate year of high school (Junior year), good girl Bella and bad boy Edward were paired in a Psychology project. During this project they had to pretend to be married by living together and enduring life as a 'married' couple. In these few weeks, Bella and Edward overcame their mutual hatred for each other and eventually fell in love. Shortly after the project ended, Bella fell pregnant with Edward's child. They decided to keep the baby and the original story ended with Bella going into labour aged 18.

In outtakes set after the story, we discover that Bella gave birth to a boy, Ethan. Another outtake set 3 years after Ethan's birth showed that Bella and Edward had gotten married and Edward had joined Forks police force with Charlie after graduation to provide for his family while Bella studied a college degree from home. This is when Bella fell pregnant with their second child (although it turns out they are expecting twins) and they lived happily ever after – until now.

This story is set 9 years after The Hard Way to Learn a Lesson and 6 years after the most recent outtake.

Enjoy! XO

Chapter 1

Edward POV

When I reach our front door, I pause and take a deep breath. I'm exhausted, having worked a double shift today, including the drawn-out process of cordoning off the scene of a gruesome road traffic accident. But I don't want the kids to see the fatigue written all over my face so I take a moment to force a smile that seems somewhat genuine before putting in my key and unlocking the door.

As soon as I close the door behind me and hang up my hat and jacket, I can hear the pitter patter of frantic feet running through the kitchen to meet me.

"Daddy, Daddy!" Sophie's excitable shriek reaches me before she does but it's only seconds later that her little body comes careering round the corner and crashing into me. She hugs my legs tightly as she talks at a million miles a minute. "We're trying on clothes to wear tomorrow, do you like this one, Daddy, do you? It's such a pretty t-shirt and it's pink and it sparkles! Gosh, Daddy, I love glitter!"

I grin despite myself. "Slow down, Soph, let me look at you."

She proudly steps back and shows off her outfit. She's wearing jeans and a pink top emblazoned with Frozen characters and covered in pink glitter. This would be fine were it not for the equally glittery tutu she wears over the top, the jewelled tiara on her head and the fairy wand glowing in her hand.

"I think," I say, kicking my shoes off, "that maybe the outfit would look better without the tutu?"

She scowls at me, her pale green eyes screwing up in fury as she sticks her chin out. "No, I like the tutu."

"It's lovely, darling, but maybe a bit much for your very first day of kindergarten. Why don't we save the tutu for your birthday party?"

Sophie ponders my suggestion before nodding slowly. "Yes, maybe. I do have to look the prettiest at my party because I'll be the birthday girl." At that, she turns to head back to the living room.

"It's Freddie's party too!" I call after her but my whirlwind of a daughter has already disappeared in a cloud of glitter.

Her dark hair, beautiful smile and cute button nose may prove that she's Bella's daughter but, by God, the two are nothing alike. I sigh as this thought assaults me and causes my heart to pang painfully in my chest. I push my wife's image out of my mind and venture through to the living room after Sophie.

The living room looks as though Sophie's entire wardrobe has exploded in it and I groan internally.

Alice sees me first, tearing her attention from Sophie's monologue about whether she prefers the pink Frozen top or the blue Frozen top. Freddie is perched on her lap sucking his thumb and looking like he's going to fall asleep at any second. It doesn't surprise me as he's always been the more docile twin. Alice smiles but doesn't speak and nudges Freddie on her knee.

When Freddie looks up and sees me his dark, chocolate brown eyes light up and he reaches out to me with both arms. I go over and gather him up in my arms, taking a seat on the couch beside Alice.

"You look exhausted," Alice murmurs.

"I'm fine," I assure her. "Thank you so much."

"For what?" she replies, surprised. "It's really no trouble, Edward. You know I love helping out."

"I know, I know, but it was such late notice and I know you have your own kid to think about and I didn't mean to still be at the station that late and…"

"Edward."

I look up into my sister's pale blue eyes and feel myself instantly relax. "Yes, Alice?"

"It's really fine. That's what aunts are for." She turns back to Sophie, reassuring her that all of her clothes are utterly gorgeous.

"What are you wearing tomorrow, Fred?" I ask my youngest as he snuggles into my chest. "Maybe the pink tutu?"

"Daddy!" he proclaims in disgust. "No way! I'm wearing my p'liceman t-shirt."

"Okay." I had expected as much. A hand-me-down from Ethan, the policeman t-shirt was a child's cotton replica of my own uniform and it was the only item of clothing aside from pyjamas that Freddie would wear without a fight. Unfortunately, we only had the one policeman t-shirt so my littlest child often appeared mucky and smelly until we could sneak the t-shirt away for washing.

"Time to tidy up, Soph," I tell my daughter. She looks as though she's about to start whining so I add, "It's already past your bedtime and you don't want to look tired on your first day of big school, do you?"

She sighs heavily, ever the drama queen, and begins bundling her clothes together. I know I will be folding them properly later.

"Will we have time for a story?" Freddie asks hopefully.

I smile. "I think we'll have time for a quick one."

Once I've herded the twins upstairs and their teeth have been cleaned, their faces scrubbed and their pyjamas donned, they bounce into their twin beds. Well, Sophie bounces and Freddie falls.

"Daddy," Sophie says sweetly, "can we please have the princess story?"

"Again?"

"Yes, it's my favourite."

"Well… okay but Freddie chooses tomorrow then." I go to the bookshelf and pull out the book that's different to all the others. The princess story was a project I gave myself shortly before the twins were born. It was a gift for Bella to show her how grateful I was to her for giving me the best family in the world and it told a child-friendly version of a story we knew only too well.

"Once upon a time," I started reading from the self-published book, "there lived a princess named Isabella. She was the most beautiful princess in all the land and the most kind and patient princess who ever lived. She lived a happy life but a lonely one as she dreamed of the day she would meet her prince."

Sophie sighed contentedly and snuggled down further into her bed. Freddie's eyes were already drooping and I wasn't sure if he'd even make it to the end of the story.

Nonetheless, I continued reading. I told the story of Princess Isabella's testing time when she had to save the fairy kingdom from an evil troll. But of course when she met and grew to know the troll better she realised that he wasn't evil at all. The beautiful princess fell in love with the troll although everyone told her he was evil but when she finally professed her love and kissed the troll he turned into a handsome prince. Princess Isabella showed everyone that the troll was a good person and they were allowed to marry. And they lived happily ever after.

When I turned the last page, the note at the back struck a chord inside me, bringing a lump to my throat. I closed the book without reading it out loud but I'd already seen it. And, besides, I knew it was there because I had written it.

Thank you, Bella, for finding the prince hidden inside of the troll and giving me my happily ever after. I love you forever and always. With love from your troll, your Edward.

She had smiled when she'd read it, holding a tiny Sophie in her arms, just hours old. "You silly bean," she'd said fondly. "You've always been a prince to me."

I shake the memories from my head and look over at Sophie, tucked up in her bed. How have she and Freddie grown so fast from the tiny babies we once held to these proper little people?

Sophie yawns and her eyes flutter closed. "I do like that story, Dad," she whispers.

"I know you do, honey," I whisper back. I get up from the end of her bed and go to place a kiss on her forehead. I cross the room to Freddie's bed and, as I expected, he's already fast asleep. I pull the duvet up around his shoulders and kiss him softly as well before going to the door and flicking the light off. "Night, night, my little kindergarteners."

I pick up their dirty pyjamas from the floor from the night before and carry them down the stairs, dropping them by the washing machine in the hall ready to go in with the next day's load. Then, I head back to the living room where Alice is sitting on the floor, folding up Sophie's ton of clothes.

"Thanks, Alice. I can take it from here." I sit beside her and start folding, too.

Alice nods but keeps folding silently, her jaw tight. I know what she's thinking but I hope she won't say it. There's a companionable silence for a short while but Alice, being Alice, just can't keep her thoughts to herself.

"I heard your story," she says in a polite voice. The kind of voice you use when you give your name for a doctor's appointment.

"Mmm-hmm." I focus on the pair of leggings I'm folding. I know what she's going to say and I don't want to look at her. I can't look at her.

She sighs but it's more of a huff. "The princess story again. Sophie's request, I assume."

I don't answer because I don't need to.

"When are you going to stop referring to her as a princess?" Alice asks, venom in her tone. "I mean, the story would work just as well if 'Princess Isabella' was the stinky troll instead. Or a spineless, immature piece of shit."

"I'm not sure you can swear in children's stories, Alice."

"You know that's not what I…"

"Who's been swearing, Dad?"

Alice and I both turn away from the folding to look over at the doorway where Ethan has just appeared down from his bedroom. He leans against the doorframe on his elbow, looking more grown up than any nine-year-old should legally be allowed to. His (my) reddish hair desperately needs a cut and hangs down into his eyes and his pale skin looks luminous in the bright yellow light.

"Hey, buddy," I greet him with a grin, holding my curled fist out for him to bump. He doesn't hug anymore.

"Hey, Dad." Ethan reluctantly bumps my hand and then hops up to sit on the dining table in the corner of the room. I raise an eyebrow at him questioningly and he rolls his eyes but gets down all the same. "So are you guys fighting?"

"No, of course not…" I start.

"He's my brother." Alice grins at Ethan. "Gotta tease him a bit sometimes, don't I?"

Ethan grins back. He adores Alice; in his eyes, she can do no wrong. "I guess."

"How was your day, bud?" I ask him. Today was his first day back at school after the summer although the twins don't start kindergarten until tomorrow.

Ethan shrugs. "Alright, I s'pose."

Alice regards her nephew with concern and I wonder if there's something my son isn't telling me. But I'm too tired to properly try to coerce the information out of him now so instead I reach out to him with an offer I know he won't refuse. "I haven't had any dinner yet. I'm thinking of ordering a pizza and catching a movie on Netflix. Do you want some, Ethan?"

Ethan looks up, his lips quirking into a half-smile that I know he's trying to suppress. "Serious, Dad?"

"Sure." I grin at him, feeling my heart ache for my eldest. The one I haven't been able to protect as much as I'd have liked to.

Alice clears her throat. "Edward, I'm not completely useless. I did feed the boy."

Ethan rolls his eyes again but laughs.

"Well…" I say, "this can be a midnight snack." I check the clock. "A 9 o'clock snack."

Alice sighs and stands. "Whatever, I'll leave you to it."

I reach into my pocket and get my wallet. I toss it to Ethan. "I'm gonna show Aunt Alice out. You can order the pizza – only one pizza mind. You're not having many slices at this time."

"Okay," Ethan agrees.

Alice and I leave him to it and head toward the front door. I sit on the stairs and watch as she puts on her boots and zips them up.

"Is he alright?" I ask Alice.

"Who?"

"Ethan. He seems… off," I say, twisting my wedding ring round on my finger anxiously.

Alice thinks for a moment and then says, "I think he's fine. He seems a bit down but then he did only just go back to school. I'd be miserable about that, too."

"I suppose so."

"If you're worried, talk to him." Alice steps closer to me. She's booted now and wrapped in her coat. She reaches over and grasps my hand in hers, stopping my nervous fidgeting.

I sigh and stand up beside her. "Yeah, maybe I will."

"Edward…" I know that tone. She's looking at my hand, my wedding ring, with disapproval.

"Alice, don't. Please don't. I don't know why suddenly you want to talk about it but I don't, okay?"

"I just…" Alice at least has the decency to look ashamed but then her face sets into determination. "You work so hard to give those children everything. But they're still missing the most important thing and she… she took it away! Aren't you angry?"

"Of course I'm angry, Alice!" I hiss, worried that Ethan might hear. "Of course I'm fucking angry. Sometimes I hate her, I hate her so much for what she's done to those kids. But she's coming back, she's not gone forever. It has to be this way for now. It's just for a little while."

Alice looks at me sadly, her eyes full of despair. "It's been years, Edward. You haven't seen her in three years."

I push down the feelings swelling inside my chest. "She will come back. She still writes."

"And you still love her."

I don't deny it. I can't deny it. I love that goddamn woman as much as I did the day I married her. I open the front door and hold it open. "Goodbye, Alice."

She sighs. "Bye, Edward." She pauses in the doorway. "Let me know how the twins get on tomorrow and call me if you need anything; anything at all."

I look at her for a long moment. I don't want to accept her help anymore but I know that I need it. So I nod. "Sure."

When she's gone, I close the door and rest my forehead against it. It's hard at this time of year because it brings back memories of when she first left, three years ago today. It was so hard to let her go but I knew that taking the scholarship was the right thing for her; for all of us. We were working hard to provide for the children but also to show them a good example, show them what they could become. How could I deny my amazing wife the chance to better herself?

But then, a small voice inside me whispers, how could you let her go?

"Dad?"

I jump with a start and turn to find Ethan behind me in the hallway.

He smiles a little. "I ordered the pizza. Is pepperoni okay?"

"That's great. Thanks, son." I drop my arm around his shoulders and lead him back to the living room. "What movie do you want to watch?"

He shrugs. "I don't mind."

We eventually settle on the latest Avengers movie even though I'm well aware that the run time will take us well past Ethan's bedtime. I allow it, though, to be able to spend a little bit of quality time with my mini-me.

When the movie's over and the pizza's all polished off, it's past eleven o'clock. I flick off the TV and say, "Come on then, let's head to bed."

Ethan doesn't move. I look at him. "Come on."

"Dad?" he says quietly.

"What? I ask, feeling a bit disgruntled that he wants to talk now when he's supposed to be in bed and I'm dead on my feet.

"Is… is Mom coming home?"

I sigh. "What's brought this on?"

"I heard you tell Aunt Alice that she's coming home." He pauses, playing with the cuff of his sweater. "So… is she?"

"Not right now," I say honestly. I can't lie to the boy. "But one day she will. When she can."

Ethan is quiet for a moment and then he simply says, "Good." He rises from the couch and starts out of the room, looking back over his shoulder to add, "Night, Dad."

I clean up downstairs and then head up to bed myself. I wash and dress in my pyjamas and settle into bed, sticking to my side although I haven't shared the bed in such a long time.

I turn off the light but I can't sleep. This day has been heavy with reminders of her. Three years to the day that she went. We dropped her at the airport. I held her and kissed her, hard; she cried into Freddie's hair. When she walked off, I waved Sophie's hand. "See you at Christmas!" she'd called over her shoulder.

I sigh and turn the light back on, reaching into my bedside table and searching through it with my hand. When my fingers touch paper, I pull it out and carefully unfold the letter that had come in the post on Christmas Eve that same year. I let the tears flow freely as I read her neat, familiar handwriting.

My dearest Edward,

First let me start by saying I'm sorry. So sorry. I cannot tell you how sorry I am but I won't be able to make it home for Christmas. I have so much work to do and it would be too difficult for me to come back.

I miss you all so much it hurts. I hate it here but I will persist; I have to. I can't believe Ethan lost his first tooth! Please tell him I love him. Tell Sophie and Freddie I love them. Give them the presents we picked out and tell them I will be thinking of them constantly.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry I can't do more, say more, apologise more.

I love you so much, I cannot adequately put it into words. Edward, you are the best husband I could have asked for and no one will ever love anyone the way I love you. Please take care of them, enjoy your Christmas and know that I send my love, always.

Bella xxx

The letter is preserved exactly as it was when I hid it in my drawer two and a half years ago. The crumpled lines from where I screwed it up when it first arrived, yelling down the phone at her. The tear stains that had marked the paper when I had finally accepted that we would have to have Christmas without her. The coffee stain from when Ethan knocked my drink over the letter where it had been sitting on the dining table for months. I hit him then. Hard. It was the only time I'd ever raised a hand to any of my children.

I read and re-read the letter, her words of love and comfort washing over me. Eventually, I am sleepy enough that I turn off the light. I hold the paper to my chest as I begin to drift off.

When I am on the very brink of sleep, a horrible thought comes to me.

"Good," Ethan had said. I had taken it to mean he was looking forward to his mother's future return. But what if he had been responding to the other part of my sentence? What if he was pleased that Bella wasn't coming home?

But then sleep captures me and the thought is gone as quickly as it arrived.

I'm sorry. It'll get happier, I swear.

Steph xo