Author's Note: Well friends, the cast of Phoenix decided that this was the end. I hope you enjoyed Emmett and Bella's journey. Thanks for reading and hopefully they will start talking again soon. Happy Reading!

Epilogue

"It's okay, sweetheart. It will all be over soon. Just squeeze my hand," Emmett said as he sat beside the hospital bed. "You're almost done. A few more good pushes and he'll be out."

All that could be heard aside from his voice was the panting and screaming as another contraction hit.

Emmett imitated the Lamaze breathing we'd learned in class. "That's it. You're doing great."

"No, I can't do it! I just can't."

I ran a cool cloth over her head as she leaned back on the bed between contractions. "Yes you can, Nora. I know it's hard, but it's almost over. You can do this, honey."

She shot me a pleading look as the next contraction hit. I supported her back and helped her lean forward as she screamed, squeezing Emmett's hand so hard it was turning white.

When we first heard about Nora's situation at church, we weren't sure if it was a good idea. We'd had the conversation several more times about starting over with a baby so late in life. It was confirmed by my gynecologist that my giving birth again did not have very good odds. We kicked around surrogacy or adoption, but at my age, with kids who were already pre teens, it just seemed too late. Then we heard about Nora, a teen at church who was pregnant, and while she didn't feel she could bear to have an abortion, she knew she was not ready for a baby either. She began searching for adoptive parents for her child, beginning within our church family. As soon as I heard, my heart leapt in my chest. I was the one with the greater reservations, and yet, when I heard, I just KNEW this was what was supposed to be. This was going to be another blessing for our family.

Nora immediately agreed when we approached her and we began the long process of helping her through her pregnancy. We didn't miss a single doctor appointment or Lamaze class and when that call came that labor had begun, we actually beat Nora and her boyfriend to the hospital. Her parents were out of town but were rushing back to be with her. It didn't look like they were going to make it on time.

Nora screamed and sobbed. "Mom! I want my Mom!"

"I know sweetheart," I crooned and pushed her sweaty hair back from her face. "I know. Hopefully they will come soon."

"Not soon enough, I'm afraid," The doctor said from the end of the table. "The baby is crowning. Just a few more pushes and it'll be over, Nora."

Three more excruciating contractions later, a beautiful cry filled the room. Nora collapsed on the bed, panting and crying. I leaned down and caressed her hair, running the cool cloth over her head again as the doctor worked a moment. Emmett was offered to cut the cord and soon the baby was laid upon Nora's chest. My heart surged as I watched Nora raise a shaky hand to the baby's back and rested it there before slowly leaning up to glance at him. She smiled a wavering smile.

"Oh he is beautiful. Good." She tipped up and kissed the top of his still messy head and sighed. "I love you so much, honey, so much that I'm going to let you go with wonderful people who can give you the life I can't." Her voice cracked. "But I want you to know that I will always love you. Always. And they said that they will let me be a part of your life, so I'm always going to be nearby."

She kissed him one more time before looking up at me through weary eyes filled with tears.

"Are…are you sure, Nora? He's your baby. You don't have to do this…but please, please, don't let me make him my son if you're going to change your mind."

She smiled a broken smile. "And that is why this is definitely the right choice. You are going to put him first, just like you do EJ and Ellie. He's going to be a very happy little brother surrounded by people who are going to raise him to be a good, honest man. As much as I love and want him, he's supposed to be with you. Here Bella, meet your new son."

I looked up at Emmett who stared at me with tears in his eyes. I smiled and shook my head. "Let's let his father meet him first."

Emmett looked more timid than I had ever seen him as he reached for the baby and then stopped. I giggled and moved around the head of the bed to stand next to him. I reached down and scooped up the baby along with the blanket the nurse had placed over him to keep him warm. I swaddled his little body as he began to wail again and placed him in Emmett's waiting arms. Emmett immediately melted as he cuddled the tiny bundle close to his chest and began to sway and croon at the baby.

"Hey little guy. It's okay. You don't have to cry. You're here and safe now and your Mom and I are going to keep you that way." The baby stopped crying and stared up at Emmett through surprisingly alert eyes for a newborn.

"Hi sweetheart," I whispered before a cry from behind me had me spinning around. Nora's eyes were pinched with pain as she panted.

"Doctor, I think something is wrong."

I looked down at his frowning face. He reached up and palpated Nora's stomach while doing something under the drape over her knees a moment before he looked up in surprise.

"How many ultrasounds did we do on you, Nora?"

"Two, I think," She gasped as her face pinched again and her whole body went tense. My eyes went wide as I looked back down at the doctor.

"This is highly irregular."

"What's wrong?" Emmett blurted behind me, standing up to move by Nora's head. A nurse came around and took the baby whispering that she needed to clean him up and check him over and she would return soon. Emmett handed him over and put his full attention on the doctor.

"She's ramping up with more contractions. We're about to deliver a second baby."

Emmett's mouth dropped and Nora cried out in despair, not ready to endure more pain. I rushed back to the other side of the bed to cradle her shoulders. This time it didn't take nearly as long for the beautiful second baby to be born. It was much smaller than it's brother, but it's strong, angry cry let us know it's lungs were fully developed at least. The doctor placed the slimey pink baby on Nora's stomach.

"It's a girl," he commented before sitting back down to make sure there were no more surprises lurking in Nora's uterus.

Nora kissed the baby and caressed her as she did her son. She blinked up at us through tears of concern.

"You only agreed to take one baby."

Emmett and I both smiled. "If you want us to adopt both babies, we will gratefully do so. It's an amazing blessing." I crooned, pushing the sweaty hair off the girl's forehead and kissing her temple. She cried and thanked us before insisting that I take the new little girl. I looked up to Emmett who nodded toward me. With careful movements, I scooped up the still-angry baby and wrapped her up tight, cuddling her to my chest as I rocked and hummed. Soon the screaming stopped as two bright blue eyes blinked open and stared up at me. I smiled.

"Hi sweet girl. We weren't expecting you, but we are very glad to meet you."

She too was quickly swept away to be cleaned up and examined more thoroughly. Emmett went to watch over the babies while I stayed behind with Nora. About five minutes later, her mother rushed in looking panicked. I greeted her and then slipped out to give them a private moment and go find Emmett and our new little ones. I soon found him standing in the hall outside the nursery with EJ and Ellie.

"Mom!" EJ yelled when he saw me coming toward them. He ran up and hugged me before tugging me down the hall. Ellie slammed into me a minute later talking nonstop about how excited she was that there were two babies. I really didn't know how we were going to make it all work. I barely kept up with one baby at a time when I was in my twenties, much less two infants, simultaneously, in my forties, but I knew Emmett would be by my side the entire time. I was not in this alone.

The four of us were mesmerized as we watched the nurses bathe and prepare the babies. After a while I sighed and turned to my family. "We have to figure out some names for these two. Do we all still like Elijah?"

Both kids smiled and nodded. "Okay, so what do we name your sister then? Do we still want to keep going with the E names?"

The frowned her direction then looked back at me. "If we can think of a good one." Ellie said.

I nodded. "Okay, let's brainstorm. Toss out some options."

We all looked at the baby as the nurse tried to clean her. She was feisty and spunky, screaming with red face, arms flailing tirelessly.

"Erica?" Emmett asked.

"Elsa?" chimed in Ellie.

"Eva?" asked EJ.

I smiled at the movie references from the kids. At least they were relevant.

"What about Eden?" I finally asked.

Emmett snorted. "From the temperament she's showing right this minute, that seems a wee bit sarcastic."

I laughed. "Give her time. She was ignored for nine months. She's just making up for lost time." I hoped.

"I kind of think I like Eden." Said Ellie. "What about Eden Lilliana?" She asked looking up at Emmett. "For Lily."

His eyes misted up as he knelt down and swept Ellie in a big hug. "That's so sweet, honey.
Thank you for the thought, but that's up to Mom."

I wiped at a tear in my eye. "No, I think Eden Lilliana McCarty is perfect. Let's vote…all in favor?"

Four voices said "Aye" in unison.

"I guess that's that then. Elijah Michael in honor of Nora's grandpa as she asked and Eden Lilliana. Emmett, you might want to call Jenks real quick. I'm assuming we have a ton more paperwork to get taken care of for Eden."

He pointed at me and smiled. "That's my baby, always thinking." He winked and started walking down the hall as he pulled is cell phone out of his pocket. Ellie and EJ stepped on either side of me with their arms around my waist and kept watching their new brother and sister. My heart was so full I thought it might burst. Life couldn't get much better. I knew we had a long, difficult road ahead, but now I knew beyond all doubt, our family was complete.

Thirty hours later, Emmett and I were wresting with the new car seats, trying to get everything ready to bring the babies home. It had been a whirlwind of last minute preparations. Thank goodness we had built a new house in the country over a year before and had enough bedrooms to satisfy all of the rules prior to adoption. With the help of my mother and church members, Eden had a fully furnished and decorated room of her own with a supply of baby girl clothes and necessities to last us the first three to six months at the very least. Each kid had their own room, and everything else met the rigid guidelines for a household adopting not just one, but two new babies. The kids were home waiting with their Grandma to welcome their new brother and sister home.

Emmett pulled up the drive and sighed as the car was placed in park. He smiled over at me before leaning in to capture my face between his hands and kiss me softly. "Thank you for this beautiful life." He sighed then the piercing scream of our newest daughter broke up the sweet romantic moment. He chuckled and shook his head before giving me one more quick peck on the cheek.

"You ready to do this, Mama?"

I took a deep breath. "Ready as I'll ever be!"

With that we each stepped out and grabbed a car seat from the back of the car and walked with an infant seat over one arm and our hands clasps between us up the front steps and into our new reality.