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Chapter 23: Epilogue

BELLA

I never thought I'd see the day Edward would be more into church than I was. That day had come and passed long ago. Our twins, Adam and Bethany, were eighteen now and had graduated in the spring. Caleb was in middle school, and Danielle was in the fifth grade. She had been the only child of ours who had been planned. After Caleb's smooth birth, Edward had been willing to try for one more child.

We were packed and ready to head for Forks. We were all going for the annual bible camp. Caleb and Danielle would be attending, Adam and Bethany would be counselors, and Edward had somehow ended up as the director this year. I was his assistant. He was nervous and excited for camp to begin. I had gone so many times as a counselor, but never as an assistant director. Last year, Rev. Webber had asked Edward to be the assistant director. I think he had planned on making him the director all along. We had been coming to camp every summer since we had gotten married. It had become a family affair. I guess after nearly two decades of attending, he thought Edward could handle running the camp.

Edward did have a way with kids. When Adam joined Cub Scouts, Edward became a leader. We were so proud when Adam was awarded his Eagle. Caleb was only twelve, but he was determined to get it as well. I didn't doubt he would with Edward as his scout leader.

My devoted family man called the campers to attention and gave his welcome speech. Then he led them in a couple of his favorite camp songs and sent them off with their counselors.

Edward's little sister, Tanya, came a little late to the camp with her own carload of children. None of them were hers biologically, but she considered them hers, since she was their social worker.

She had stuck with her convictions of going into social work, after what had happened with Tamera and her son, Toby. Toby ended up being adopted by a really sweet couple, but Tanya had kept tabs on him from a distance. She sent them several notices about our bible camp and even a free gift certificate, so he could attend for free. He became a regular while he was growing up and was now running the camp kitchen with my best friend, Angela. He was going to school to be a chef and had a lot of natural talent. We were lucky to have him.

After he'd turned eighteen, he'd learned what his mother's name was. He'd found out she was in a mental hospital, and he decided not to contact her. We never did tell him we knew his mother or the mess she had made in our lives. We didn't want to upset him or make him feel awkward around us. He was a good kid and deserved to be loved, so that was what we did.

I noticed my husband glaring off into the trees. I realized it was at our daughter and one of the other counselors. The boy was holding her hand and looked to be about to lean in and kiss her.

Edward blew his whistle before the boy's lips could touch hers, causing them to jump apart.

He waved them over, and when they got closer, I could see it was her boyfriend, Kevin. Edward knew she'd gone on a couple of dates with him, but didn't know how serious they were. They were going to attend the same college in the fall. They had planned it that way. He was following her. The boy was completely lovesick and had it bad for our girl. He was a good kid, though, so I approved.

Bethany and Kevin had met here at camp back when they were just little first-year campers. They'd been friends ever since. Edward should've been happy. Kevin was very respectful of his daughter. They had both signed chastity pledges and planned to wait until they were married to have sex. That in itself should have thrilled Edward. Of course, he didn't know any of that yet. He was a tad protective of his little girls. Actually, that was an understatement. He was insanely protective of his little girls, and I doubted he'd think anyone would ever be good enough for them. As I'd said before, he was a good father and loved his kids. We were lucky to have him. I just hoped Bethany still thought that after her father was through with Kevin.

Over the next week, I watched Edward stop what he was doing and pull out his bullhorn, so he could startle Kevin and Bethany apart several times. Not to mention the random swinging of his clipboard that would cut between them, so they couldn't hold hand. I think the last straw was when, for the fifth time, he personally busted in between them, knocking their hands apart and wedged himself there to separate them.

My oldest daughter was currently glaring at her father, who had his arms slung over her and Kevin's shoulders. "We're having fun here, aren't we?" he asked them, squeezing Kevin a little tighter than what would be comfortable.

"Yes, Mr. C, I've always loved coming to camp," the poor boy squeaked out.

"You've been attending since you were five years old, haven't you, Kevin?" I asked.

He nodded yes.

"You were always a great kid. It's so neat to see how our little campers have grown into adults," I said, emphasizing the last word, hoping Edward would ease up on them. "What are you studying in the fall?" I asked, being careful not to mention the school he was going to.

"Law, but contract law. I won't be one of those slimy lawyers who get criminals off the hook," he explained.

"That's a wonderful goal, isn't it, Edward?" I said, taking his arm off my daughter's shoulder and wrapping it around myself. I might have given her a little shove towards Kevin. It was obvious by my actions that I approved of him being in our daughter's life.

"It takes a long time to get that degree, doesn't it? A lot can happen while you're at college. That's where I met my wife. I was working on my Master's then," he said with a glare at Kevin.

"How long have you and Beth known each other?" I asked Kevin.

"Almost fourteen years," Kevin answered, his eyes darting between Edward and I. I think he could tell we were having a bit of a dispute.

"Fourteen, that's a long time. How long did you know me before we were married?" I asked Edward.

"Weren't you in the Master's program then, too?" he snapped.

"Yes, Edward, we were both getting our Master's at the time."

"You see, we were much older than you are now, more mature and responsible. Living on your own really changes you as a person," he nearly growled down at Kevin then glared at me.

I let out a sigh and looked at my daughter, who wore a pleading expression to not give up.

"When did you start dating, honey?" I asked my husband.

"I'm a guy!" he shouted, like the point was irrelevant. Our non-fight was slowly working to the surface.

"Yes, and I'm a girl. I did date a bit in high school. You remember Jacob."

"Uncle Jake?" Bethany exclaimed with her nose scrunched, and I laughed.

"Yes, for a short time. He and your father were sharing an apartment when I met your dad. Uncle Jake strongly disapproved of your father at first."

"With good reason," Edward huffed.

"Why would he disapprove of you?" Bethany asked innocently.

I raised a brow at Edward, waiting for his answer.

"For exactly the same reasons you shouldn't date until you graduate college...and are married."

"Married? You don't want me to date until I'm married?" she asked him confused.

I smirked at him. He'd backed himself into a corner with that one.

"Dating is overrated, you're young, and marriage is way, way, way off. Isn't that right, Bella?" he asked me, looking for backup.

"You should definitely do a summer wedding if you get married while you're still in college. You don't want the stress of midterms or finals looming over you while you plan it. You know me and your grandmothers could whip you up something beautiful in no time."

"That'd be nice," Kevin said and made the mistake of drawing Edward's attention to him.

"Nice? You think marrying my daughter is NICE? What the-"

I cut Edward off by putting my hand over his mouth and prying him off of poor Kevin. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a cracked rib. I was sure they were bruised by now.

"There are children listening," I hissed in Edward's ear, before I uncovered his mouth.

"Not the right children," he said, glaring at Beth and Kevin.

"There's nothing wrong with thinking it'd be nice to marry our daughter, Edward. Kevin's a sweet boy."

"Correction, he's a boy who can pull the wool over your eyes and make you think he's sweet. That's every boy's goal in life. Charm the parents and steal the girl's virtue!" he said, jabbing a finger in the air for emphasis.

"Edward, he's a good guy and in love with your daughter. He didn't even flinch when I mentioned marriage. I doubt you could've said that about yourself."

"I was okay with marrying you," he said with a shrug.

"Yes, but I was pregnant," I hissed.

"She's not pregnant, is she?" he asked shocked.

"Honey," I started, but I didn't know what to say. I just shook my head no. "Just leave them be, please."

"She is!" he shouted.

"No, for heaven's sake, she's not, and they aren't doing that," I whispered, eyeing the crowd who was pretending not to listen. "He's a good boy, one who loves your daughter. We knew it'd happen eventually. We're lucky she picked such a nice boy. Adam even likes him, and he doesn't like anyone."

"Adam likes him?" Edward asked skeptically.

I loved my oldest son, but he could be a bit of a grump. He didn't like people and was very focused on his academics. He'd earned a full-ride scholarship because of it. He thought most guys his age were immature and obnoxious. He did like Kevin, though. Kevin never pushed Adam to go out or put off his schoolwork, and they had studied together on a few occasions. Kevin was academically driven. Maybe not as much as Adam, but enough to make a positive impression on my son. "Do you really think Beth would date someone Adam didn't approve of?" I asked.

Edward pouted. "I need to have a talk with him."

"He's on a nature walk with a group right now. You'll have to wait." I hoped I'd have enough time to warn Adam before Edward got to him.

Adam was able to calm Edward down a little, until he let it slip that Kevin was going to the same college as Beth. I didn't know why that bothered him so much. I just did my best to run interference.

It must have really been upsetting him, because he hadn't woken me up at all in the middle of the night.

The strange phenomenon that had begun our relationship in the first place came to light, much to our embarrassment, when we started to refrain from sex while we were at camp. They ended up giving us a cabin of our own on the far side of camp. It used to be the detention cabin to put campers in time out, but now it was known as the Cullen Cabin. They put us in there, because of our inability to refrain from sex while sleeping. Some old habits died hard, thank god.

Rev. Webber had pulled us aside and lectured us on the importance of discretion. Edward, much to my chagrin, explained how I couldn't help myself and would attack him in my sleep. I pointed out that his hands and body weren't innocent, either. Rev. Webber realized talking to us wouldn't change our behavior, so he put us in the detention cabin. To this day, I was still not sure if it was meant to be a punishment on his part, but it didn't end up that way.

Edward had to be stressed, though, because every time I woke up, he was on the far side of the bed with a pout, and he hadn't disturbed me at all for sex the whole time we'd been there. I really wished there was something I could do to put his mind at ease.

We were making our way to the dining hall for breakfast, when we overheard an altercation erupt. We couldn't see what was going on, but I could hear Kevin threating someone.

"Listen, you little punk, if you lay a hand on her again, I'll break it. She's not a piece of meat and deserves your respect."

"Geeze, man, lay off, she's not even your kid sister."

"Close enough," Kevin said defiantly.

"I was just giving her a compliment, you uptight-"

We stepped around the corner, and Jacob's son, Jeremey, shut his trap, I was sure trying to avoid getting in trouble for talking back to a counselor.

"If you want to compliment a girl, you pick something respectful, like her smile or her mind, and you don't ever use crude language to do it," Kevin snapped, glaring down at him.

"What's going on here?" Edward asked.

"Nothing!" Jeremey squealed and took off.

"Is everything alright, Kevin?" I asked.

"Yeah, he just needed a little reminder of what it means to be a good Christian boy," Kevin said and tried to slip away.

"Who was the girl that dirty little snot was talking about?" Edward asked.

There was no love lost between Jeremey and Edward. Jeremey had a crush on Danielle, but she was two years younger than him, which might as well have been a decade at this age. He was a little cruder than our children had been raised to be.

Jake had ended up marrying a stripper he had met at his bachelor party. Yes, you heard me right. He'd nearly married Leah, but one of the bridesmaids posted a few pictures of Leah doing something bad. Jake never told me what it was and had had the pictures pulled down, before anyone could find out what had happened. He had been a crying mess in the middle of the strip club, and Diamond had taken it upon herself to comfort him emotionally. She really was a sweetheart, though. I couldn't blame Jake for falling for her.

Diamond continued stripping until their second child was born. The pair of them had a much more adventurous sex life than we'd ever had, and their kids were now old enough to understand all the innuendos they had been using all these years. Being teenage boys, they liked to use them for the shock value. JJ, Jake's older son who was fourteen, used them with a little more discretion, Jeremy was still learning.

"It was Danielle," Angela answered, since Kevin didn't look like he was going to rat out the boy. "I saw the whole thing from the window," she said, pointing to the dining hall. "I was in the kitchen helping Toby. It was getting hot, so I opened the window, just in time to see Jeremy grab Danielle's butt and say something about cushion for the pushin'."

"He WHAT?" Edward shouted, his eyes darting around, I was sure ready to kill Jeremy.

"Don't worry, Ed, I'm sure Kevin put the fear of God into him, when he yanked him away from her and slammed him against the wall."

This was just what I needed to bring Edward around.

"You physically assaulted a camper?" I asked Kevin.

Kevin looked like he was going to be sick, but nodded yes.

"And why did you assault this camper?" I pushed.

"Why? You want to know why he snatched that dirty little rat away from our daughter? What's wrong with you, Bella?"

I smirked at Edward. "I guess he did it, because he's a good guy, and he was just looking out for your daughter."

When those words left my mouth, Edward's face scrunched up, and he let out a huff. He glared over at Kevin, who still looked nervous. "Fine, he's a good guy and can date Beth, but if she comes home pregnant, I'm taking him for a walk in the woods, and only one of us is coming back!" he threatened Kevin, but it did nothing to quell Kevin's smile. I was sure in another year or two, Edward would love him.

Five years later, Edward willingly walked Beth down the aisle to Kevin. He was glad to have Kevin in the family to help watch over Danielle, too, though Caleb was pretty good about ruining her chances of ever dating. I had to admit, it was nice to have an older brother looming and glaring at everyone on her behalf.

I knew for a fact Danielle was trying to find a girlfriend for Caleb, in hopes of distracting him from his protective brother duties. So far, no one had caught his eye.

Adam was getting his doctorate and was still focused on schoolwork. Beth had tried to set him up with a girl a couple of times, but Adam thought they were just too much of a distraction.

Beth did let me know there was a girl at the coffee shop around the corner from his apartment who seemed to keep his attention. She was sure he'd ask her out with time.

We found out later Adam and Jenna had been dating for three months, but Adam was nervous about introducing Jenna to the family, because she was an atheist. I told him he was a nut and said as long as she didn't mind Grandma Renee praying for her soul, she'd be fine.

Thankfully, she was a respectful atheist and didn't actively spout antireligious stuff at us, and we stopped Renee from plotting her surprise baptism. I loved my mother, but sometimes you just had to leave people alone. Jenna made Adam happy, and that was all that mattered to me. Once they realized that, they were happy to regularly attend family functions together.

Jenna was sweet enough to stay at the house with Caleb and Danielle for the weekend, so Edward and I could celebrate our anniversary.

Edward had come home from work early, so we could get on the road. We were going to the little bed and breakfast he'd taken me to when we'd first started dating so long ago.

I was giving the kids last minute instructions before we left, but I was having trouble focusing. Edward was across the room smirking. He had those two tempting fingers out he kept curling at me, like he was beckoning my pussy. He had no idea how strongly that affected me, or maybe he did.

Unfortunately, the drive was long, and we were exhausted when we arrived. We ended up going straight to sleep when we got there. Of course, sleeping had never stopped us before. I woke up to myself riding him, and I knew he'd want to be awake to participate. I leaned down and kissed him. I'd found over the years that the interruption of oxygen when kissing usually would wake him up. His eyes fluttered opened, and he smiled.

"Happy anniversary to me," he said with a grin.

"Very happy," I whispered and got back to riding him.

He grabbed my hips, slowing me. "Promise me we'll do this the rest of our lives."

"I don't think I could stop if I wanted."

"Maybe when we're old and napping on the couch, you'll…"

I giggled. "We can have awake sex on the couch now. We just have to make sure the kids are out of the house."

"Yeah, but it's not as fun," he teased.

"Don't worry, babe, I'm sure I'll be waking up to having sex with you, even when I'm old and senile. You're impossible to resist."

"You're impossible to resist, too. I love you, Bella. I always will, even in my sleep."

"Me too, babe, me too."

No matter what else life would throw at us, I knew Edward would always be there for me, even in my sleep.

A/N Thanks for reading and hope you all have great nights...in your sleep.