A/N:

We have reached the end, folks! I know some of you are disappointed and you wanted to read about them rebuilding their relationship, but the truth is that would have required for a whole story of its own because these two have so much in-between them, it's impossible to squeeze in all of that in a few chapters.

I don't think I will revisit these two for another story. Not with the way I feel about this right now. I am happy with it, and diving into that angst again will hurt too much.

I hope you can at least be happy they get their happy ending!

Title: The Perfect Partner Program

Author: MarieCarro

Beta: EdwardsFirstKiss

Pre-reader: brwneyedgrl01

Genre: Angst/Hurt&Comfort/Romance

Rating: NC-17

Summary: The summer of 2005 was the summer that changed Bella Swan's life forever. Sent to Ohio by her mother to attend a school for debutante girls not quite up to par, she meets Edward Masen, an apprentice. But is that really all he is? AH

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Word Count: 2, 322

CHAPTER 31 EPILOGUE

I groaned in frustration as I straightened up from my crouch and set out after the toddler who tried to outrun me and get to the toys even though I'd just explained to him that he had plenty of toys at home. He didn't need anymore, and especially not another action figure that would only be tossed on the floor for me to step on.

"Alec, don't run away from me," I chastised, and maybe a bit too loud since the others milling around in the aisles of the supermarket turned their heads to stare at me. I could see judgment in their eyes, how they thought I should control my child better, but they had no idea how uncontrollable Alec had become lately.

It had pretty much started the week after his third birthday when he suddenly realized that he hadn't received the toys he'd wanted.

I caught up with him and took a gentle, but firm, hold of his small arm to keep him with me, and he immediately began screeching and crying at the top of his lungs. Then, he lie down, face first on the floor, hitting it with his fists and feet.

I picked him up by his waist and set him on his feet before crouching down to his level. "Alec James Masen, stop this behavior right this moment or we will walk out of here and I'll drop you off with your father," I told him sternly.

He quieted down and looked at me with a huge pout and red, puffy eyes. It melted my heart, and while I wanted to hug him to me, I knew I needed to refrain so that he would learn that his behavior was unacceptable and wouldn't be rewarded with hugs and kisses.

"You have more toys than you can count at home," I reminded him. "Why exactly do you want that particular doll?"

"It's from the movie Daddy and I watched," he said softly and looked down at his feet.

I sighed. "Honey, you can't get a toy from every movie you watch with Daddy. And what would Iron Man say if you came home with a new toy? Wouldn't he get sad?"

Alec sniffled and nodded.

I wiped the tears from his swollen cheeks. "Okay, then what do you say for behaving like you just did?"

He sniffled again. "I'm sorry for being bad, Mommy," he mumbled, but I felt it was acceptable enough, so I opened up my arms for him, and he immediately threw his arms around my neck before giving me a sloppy kiss.

When the ordeal was over, I stood back up and we quickly finished the rest of our shopping. I wanted to get out of the store and away from the looks that were continuously being thrown my way. The only one who appeared to sympathize with me was another mother with a little girl sitting in her cart.

When we finally got home, I was exhausted, but Alec didn't put up a fight while we ate. I was so grateful I told him we could bake cookies because he'd been such a good boy and eaten his carrots.

His entire face lit up with a huge smile that stretched out, and as always when I saw my son happy, my heart clenched with the love I felt for him.

Alec and I were completely covered in flour when Edward came home, still wearing a crisp, gray suit; his staple wardrobe for when he was at the bureau.

Through his old job, which he'd still not told me exactly what it had been; he'd gotten a position in the FBI's Seattle division as a profiler. They'd been so impressed with his skill to read people so thoroughly, that he'd been hired almost on the spot.

Edward was extremely pleased with this because he told me that working doing the only thing he'd ever known, and still being able to come home to me and Alec every night was his dream come true.

"Will you ever tell me what you used to do for work?" I had asked then, but he had just laughed softly before giving me a kiss.

"Baby, you know why I can't; it's a state secret. If you want to know, I'm afraid you'll have to get a job in the oval office."

As time passed, I'd just accepted that I would never know, and while my curiosity hated me for letting it go, I also knew I wouldn't gain anything from badgering Edward about it.

"Well, isn't that a sight for sore eyes," he said when he spotted us and laughed. "Where is my little monster? I don't see him anywhere."

"I'm right here, Daddy!" Alec exclaimed from his spot on the counter and reached out his arms to be lifted. Edward didn't care at all that he got flour all over his suit as he happily lifted our son into the air.

Even though Alec wasn't biologically his, you would never believe it when you saw the two of them together. Although it was apparent that the older Alec became, he would probably resemble his biological father more than me, because apart from my dark hair and eyes and Dad's nose, he didn't look much like a Swan.

We planned on telling Alec that he was conceived by artificial insemination when he was old enough to understand, and we also wanted to wait until we could explain to him that despite not sharing DNA with him, he was Edward's son.

Edward situated Alec on his hip and then leaned in to give me a kiss. It caused Alec to giggle, and Edward blew a raspberry into his neck.

"And how is my beautiful wife this evening? And our baby girl?" he asked and snaked his free arm around my waist to let his hand rest on my small, yet distinctive, baby bump.

Edward and I had gotten married six months earlier when it became apparent that we were both in it for the long haul. It had been a bumpy road with a few potholes here and there, but we'd stuck together through it all, and I was infinitely glad that we had in moments such as these.

Only three months after our wedding, my period was late, and at the sixteen-week checkup that I'd had just two days prior, it had been revealed that we were having a girl. Both of us had been excited about that, but I don't think anyone had been as excited over another baby as Dad. As he got older, he'd become rather grandbaby-crazy.

It had taken a couple of months for him to warm up to Edward, and Becca was the same since they were the only ones who'd been around when the whole debacle at the Academy had taken place. However, when they, like me, understood that Edward had changed for the better, it didn't take long for them to realize that he and I were strangely perfect for each other.

He was calm where I was emotional; he was nervous where I was confident. We simply complimented each other, and it worked.

Another thing that had worried Dad was Edward's past addiction to drugs, and it wasn't until Edward assured him he hadn't touched any substances since his second time at rehab that he calmed down. The biggest reassurance he had, though, was when Edward signed up to become a mentor for other addicts, and he passed the tests with flying colors.

"We're very well, thank you," I told him and put my hand over his on my stomach. "How was work?"

He shrugged. "Same old, same old. Bad guys who need to be found and put away."

"Daddy!" Alec said to regain his attention. "When I grow up, I want to be like you and Mommy!" he exclaimed proudly. "I want to put bad guys away, too!"

I kissed his small little cheek, and he giggled. "If that's what you want, baby, that's what you'll do," I told him encouragingly. It just went without saying in our house that we always encouraged Alec to go after his dreams. Neither of us could ever dream of inhibiting him because both of us had experienced the consequences that such actions could have.

Edward and I locked eyes again and shared another kiss before we parted so that he could put Alec down. Our little whirlwind immediately ran out of the room, the cookie dough momentarily forgotten in the excitement of Daddy's homecoming.

All of Edward's attention was instantly on me and he rained kisses all over my face and neck while he continued to reverently stroke my stomach. I knew he loved Alec as much as he would have had they been flesh and blood, but it was also understandable that the baby I was now carrying felt just a tiny bit more special to him.

He had come back into my life while I was pregnant with Alec, but he'd had no bonds with him then, and that pregnancy had scared him because everything around us had been so very uncertain. This baby, though, had been conceived by the both of us, and he had been with me every step of the way. From the first movement to every ultrasound check and I instinctively knew that the birth of our daughter would be very emotional for him.

Later that evening, when Alec was put to bed, Edward and I stayed up to watch a movie. Normally, we'd have a glass of wine, but I remembered that he'd told me on our very first date, he wasn't going to drink if I couldn't. So instead, we were both drinking tea, although Edward occasionally grimaced at the herbal taste of it. He was wonderfully supportive, though, despite me telling him over and over again that he didn't have to drink the same thing as I did.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to," he always replied.

I snuggled further into his side and he happily slung his arm around me. That was when I suddenly recognized the movie that was playing. "Hey, I know this movie," I said, and Edward chuckled.

"I would hope so. It's only the best non-zombie apocalyptic movie ever made."

"No, I mean, I remember you showing it to me … way back when we first met," I explained, and he frowned for a moment before he also remembered.

"Right. Our rule-breaking movie night in your room."

Over the years, we'd talked about our time at the Academy, and we had both realized that if all the sour circumstances around our meeting were stripped away, the truth was that both of us had enjoyed each other's company even back then. Neither of us would ever deny the past or pretend our start was a good one, but we decided to see the experiences we'd shared together as something worth remembering.

"I was so nervous that night, I think I saw maybe five seconds of the movie," I admitted.

"Believe me, it was noticeable," he told me with an amused smile.

"I was that obvious, huh?"

He shrugged and popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth from the bowl on the table. "Let's just say your glances weren't very subtle."

I giggled and scooted up until I was more level with him, and when he turned his head in my direction, our faces were only inches apart. "What was I supposed to do, then? It was the first time I had shared a bed with a guy. A guy, mind you, I'd been thinking about just before he asked to be let inside my room."

His smile transformed from an amused to a more carnal one, and his eyes shifted from my eyes to my lips and back up again. "Yeah? What kind of thoughts were you having about me?"

I leaned forward and lightly nibbled on his bottom lip. "That depends on how innocent you want to believe I was."

A groan left him, and he shifted me until I straddled him, but somehow he still didn't think that was close enough. "That memory is now forever changed for me," he said and pulled my hips forward until I could easily feel his growing erection against my center.

"That's only because you're a pervert," I teased. "Remember that I was sixteen."

"Oh, I remember," he said and loosened his hold on my hips momentarily before once again pulling me forward. A small whimper escaped me, and he made me lean forward until we shared breaths. "I also remember that night to be the first time I experienced a hard-on from just a simple kiss," he snarled against my lips.

I gasped when it became clear to me why his departure that night had been so sudden. "Oh, did I give you blue-balls?" I asked with amusement.

"On the regular."

I traced my hands down until I reached the button of his pants. "I should make up for that now, shouldn't I?"

He moaned when I wrapped my hand around him. "Oh, baby, please."

"Yes?"

"Just a little bit harder."

I did as he told, and he crashed his mouth against mine. It didn't take long for him to finish, and being the attentive lover that he was, he made sure to give back equally to me.

Both of us satisfied and spent, we snuggled back into the couch to watch the rest of the movie, even though we'd missed most of it.

"I love you, Bella," he whispered into my hair and kissed my ear. "So much."

I smiled and grabbed his hand to entwine our fingers and place it on my bump. "I love you, too, Edward."

A/N:

There are so many of you that I want to thank individually, but as always at the end of a story, I find myself lost for words. I don't know what it is. Maybe I've run out of them for the moment.

I am beyond amazed and grateful toward all the support that have been shown to this story, both the previous one and this new version. While I know there are those that don't agree with the changes, there's nothing that can be done with that. I love this story the way it is now, and I have no plans on changing it again.

However, keep this on alert because I might pop in with an outtake (eventually) from Edward's perspective (no solid decision on my part yet.) I guess we'll see once I've finished my other stories!

Thank you again to all of you wonderful peeps, and as always

Until Next Time

Stay Awesome!

PS.

And Happy 117th birthday Edward Anothony Masen Cullen