EPILOGUE: TELLING STORIES

"Good evening, Mrs. Masen," the mailman, Ned, greeted. I smiled amiably at him as he handed me a few envelopes and a thick fashion magazine. Alice must have signed me up for another subscription. Her unsubtle attempts to get me to change my style were futile as I chucked the magazine into the trash.

As I went through the mail, I noticed something interesting. It was addressed to Edward and me from Jessica Stanley. That was odd; Jessica had moved to Seattle for college with Mike, and I hadn't heard from her for years. I saw her once in Port Angeles with a little boy, who I assumed was her son, but that had to be six years ago.

Inside was a long letter about how much she missed me and how she wished we could be friends. She asked how Edward was doing (of course she would beg for the details of our dirty laundry), and wondered if Forks was still the same. Which, it basically was, just with a new generation. Then, there was a less personalized short letter about a 10 year reunion for our class. I gasped when I saw it. Had it really been ten years?

I felt so… old. I couldn't believe how long it had been since I had been with my classmates. A few of them still lived in town, and some moved about the state, some even leaving the country. I had just stayed with Edward, not complaining. He wanted to live in the house he grew up in when his parents moved to Florida when they retired.

I laughed at my foolishness. I was not old—I wasn't even 30 yet! I looked at my reflection off the shiny kitchen table. I looked exactly the same as when I graduated high school, just more mature and womanly.

I decided it was time to go pick up Tony from Esme's house. It was only a short walk, and I arrived there quickly to find Esme feeding the little tykes.

"You're early today!" she announced, and all the little kids turned to look at me with bright youthful eyes as they shouted my name. Esme quieted them down and told them to use their indoor voices. I looked at the group of youngsters, and I smiled.

"It was a half day for the high school."

First, the oldest was Chloe Marie Cullen at age eight, and she was Emmett and Rosalie's first. They had her when they were twenty, two years after getting married. Rosalie and Emmett had gotten married right out of high school, and no one seemed surprised. Rosalie wanted to have a big family, and she didn't want to have them when she was old. So, she had Chloe. Chloe inherited her golden hair with Emmett's curls. She had her mother's insane beauty and her father's humor. She was a bit of a goof, and extremely protective of her little brothers, something Mitchell, shared with her.

Mitchell could have been Emmett's exact miniature replica except he wasn't as muscular and was shier. He was seven, and he was the second oldest of the bunch. He had Rosalie's temper, though, and he loved playing with toy trucks. He wanted to be a mechanic like his mom when he grew up.

Next, there was Alice's daughter Penelope. Penelope had long black hair that was pulled into two pigtails with a pink ribbon holding them together. She was six, almost seven, and had the feisty and fun personality of Alice. Except, she had a harder time making friends, because she was more reserved, but once she started talking, she never stopped. Penelope had developed a small crush on Mitchell, but she had only ever told me and Alice. I found it funny since they were so young.

Penelope was followed, age wise, by Joey. Joey was the incredibly delightful five year old with the cutest dimples ever. He had a face that could make even the strictest parents give in. No one could resist his little impish charm that came from Emmett. He was adorable, and he knew it, and he used it in his favor frequently to stay out of punishment. He, like Rosalie, was proud of his looks and pointed it out often. He was asked me, "How can you say no to this face?"

His junior by one year was Jasmine. She had honey blonde hair that was shoulder length and framed her face nicely. She was calm and indifferent to those around her. She was four, but she was very mature for her years. She wasn't into clothes or fashion or looks (much to Alice's disappointment), but she liked to read. I believed it was my fault since whenever she would visit I would read to her. She was never without her stories, and she was reading one now as she waved at me.

Then came my little Anthony, or Tony. Edward and I had named him after our destructive failure of senior year. In a way, it was a reminder of how Edward and I were brought together to realize our true feelings. Tony had Edward's bronze messy hair, but my milk chocolate eyes. He was giggly and playful, but we didn't know much about his personality so far. He was only three, but he liked Edward's music, and wanted to learn how to play. He idolized Edward and wanted to be a doctor just like him.

Anthony's best friend, also his age just a few months younger, was Ryan. Emmett had picked his name out after some research he had done. Apparently, Ryan meant little king, and that's exactly what he was. He was the youngest, thus the most spoiled. He was a brunette but had his mother's soft waves. He was silly, and he was easily the favorite of his older sister, Chloe. The older kids loved to play with Tony and Ryan.

"Mommy!" Tony yelled, eagerly latching himself to my leg. I grinned and picked him up. His brown eyes sparkled with excitement, and the way he wiggled in my arms told me that he had something he wanted to tell me.

"I found a box! I show you," he said, trying to get out of my embrace. I let him go, and he ran off. I smiled at Esme, amused. At least Anthony hadn't got my balance problems. Esme was about to laugh, and I wondered what Tony had found. If it was some kind of bug, I would not be happy.

"Where did he find it?" I asked Esme.

"He was digging in the backyard with Ryan," she answered.

"Esme, I'm so sorry, they must have destroyed your yard," I apologized, feeling terrible. Esme brushed it off, but I still felt guilty. They had a lovely lawn, and I'm sure she didn't appreciate Tony tearing it up. I would have to talk to him about that later.

"Here you go. Look inside. Esme told me it was you and Daddy's," he said, handing me the dirty shoebox. I stared at it in disgust as he pushed it closer to my face. I sighed and opened it, waiting for a dead pet. Instead, I found bits of debris and wires.

"Holy crow!" I laughed as I stared into the box. Esme laughed along with me as the kids just stared. Jasmine was engrossed in her book. "I completely forgot it was still buried there."

"What is it, Aunt Bella?" Chloe asked eagerly. She and Penelope were both raging with curiosity. Penelope nodded vigorously. Even Mitchell and Joey seemed interested.

"It's a long story," I said, debating if I should tell them or not. Chloe didn't seem to mind at all.

"That's okay, we can keep up," she promised, and the kids spoke in agreement. We all gathered in a circle in the living room. Anthony was curled up in my lap.

"Well," I started, "when I was about Chloe's age, here, I had one best friend in the whole wide world. His name was Edward Masen."

"Daddy!" Tony shouted, making the connection. I laughed and pulled him tighter on my lap.

"That's right. Well, Daddy and me got into a fight. And it was a really bad fight, and we ended up not liking each other anymore. We argued constantly, and I hated his guts, and he hated mine."

"That can't be right. Mommy tells me you were meant to be," Penelope spoke up. Mitchell nodded.

"You're both so… lovey dovey," he added, making a slight face at the word. I smiled tenderly at all of them. Of course they would never understand. Even I could hardly believe at one point I disliked Edward. He was just so perfect and amazing in every way. If only I had discovered sooner.

"It's true. I can't even imagine not loving him now. But, anyway, we got into lots of fights. Well, at school, we had to do a project where we were parents to a fake plastic baby. It would cry and we would have to stick keys in the back to make it stop."

"I love babies!" Chloe exclaimed, pulling Ryan closer to her. He snuggled in her lap. Joey rolled his eyes.

"Continue," Penelope urged as I paused.

"I was partnered with no other than Edward. We were not happy, and we tried to not be partners. Our teacher wouldn't let us, and we were stuck with a fake baby. We named in Anthony—"

"That's me," Tony said, throwing his tiny arms in the air.

"It is you," I replied touching the tip of his nose. He giggled. "Our baby liked to cry. A lot. But, as Edward and I got to know each other, we started to like each other. We got along very well, to my surprise."

"Eww, girls have cooties," Joey said, puckering his lip. Jasmine nudged him lightly. "Whoops, sorry to interrupt, Aunt Bellaboo." He had adopted Emmett's nickname for me and used it as well. The little munchkin then pulled out his big puppy dog eyes that made me melt.

"It's alright, Joey. Eventually, Edward and I both liked each other, but we were both afraid to admit our feelings. I didn't think Edward could like someone as plain as me. I still can't believe it."

"But, Auntie, you're pretty!" Jasmine objected, speaking louder than usual. I grinned at her and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, sweetie. So, Edward and I went to a dance together as friends. I never danced with him the whole night, because I was too busy dancing with Rosalie and Alice. Well, finally, we were outside looking at the stars. I was hiding from your mommies, and he leaned in to kiss me."

"How romantic!" Penelope said in a dreamy voice. Penelope was the first one of the kids to develop any type of feelings toward boys. Chloe still thought of them as toys and liked to tease them."How romantic," Joey mimicked, making his voice higher than necessary. Mitchell pushed his brother.

"I think it's nice," he defended Penelope. Her eyes brightened as he looked her way, and he blushed and looked down. How adorable! My internal woman squealed.

"It was very romantic. But a certain mommy named Alice stopped me before our lips met," I said, sighing wistfully. Chloe seemed to be copying me. Penelope frowned.

"I'm gonna have to have a talk with her," she announced, and I laughed.

"Don't worry about it. She couldn't tell we were going to kiss. Anyway, I returned to the dance and Edward asked me to dance. You all know how clumsy your Aunt Bella is, so I was a little scared to dance. What if I stepped on his feet or broke his arm?" I asked, feigning a voice of alarm. They all giggled at my poor theatrics.

"He let me stand on his feet, which was quite a sacrifice. I was wearing heels." Mitchell gasped.

"You wore heels?" They all looked incredulous, with good reason. I never wore anything but my trusty sneakers.

"Yes, and it was awful. He spun me around, and by the end of the dance, he kissed me." Some of the kids made disgusted noises while the others made cooed at the mushiness.

"So, where does the shoebox come in?" Mitchell asked. Oops, I had forgotten about that.

"See, the day of the dance, Emmett stole Anthony from Edward." Tony gasped, and he shook his head no. "Emmett told Edward, 'If you don't ask Bella to the dance, I will drop the baby off this two story balcony'." I attempted to make my voice deep like Emmett's, but it was to no avail. The kids ended up laughing at me.

"But, Edward did ask you to the dance," Jasmine said.

"He did. And, Emmett got caught up in the excitement, and forgot Anthony was in his hands. He dropped him off the side of the house and he landed on a sharp rock and exploded into this." I gestured towards the box, and they all curiously looked inside.

"Wow."

"But, you know what I did when I found out?"

"What?" they all demanded eagerly.

"I beat Emmett up with a purse," I declared proudly. Joey snickered at me.

"You couldn't beat up Daddy if you tried," he said surely.

"It depends on the type of purse she had," Penelope corrected. "Coach bags usually are lighter along with Dooney & Burkes. But a Chanel or Kathy bag could really do some damage." Of course only Penelope would know this. Her third word, after Mama and Dada, was Chanel.

"That's a great story, Mommy," Tony said. "But I don't think you can beat Emmett." I laughed and tickled him.

"What happened after that?" Penelope urged.

"Well, Edward and I got married while we were in college; he was going to be a doctor, and I was going to be an English teacher. As soon as we were got out, we decided to have Tony. That's all folks," I said, imitating that pig who stuttered on their cartoons.

Tony got ready to leave, grabbing the box of his "older brother" he claimed, and I waved goodbye to Esme. We went home, and I started fixing dinner while Tony tried to play Mary Had A Little Lamb on the piano. He was actually very good, only messing up every once and a while. He got bored after an hour and started helping me cook.

I heard the door open, and Tony and I both eagerly looked to see Edward enter the house. We launched ourselves at him.

After eight years of marriage, he hadn't aged. Or, if he had, it was gradual. He still looked as attractive and perfect as he had since I met him. His eyes were aged, matured. He had a hint of stubble on his chin. I could feel it on my cheek as I kissed him. After eight years of marriage, the spark hadn't left. I was still deeply and madly in love with my husband. He, for some inexplicable reason, loved me back. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Guess what Tony found today while digging in Esme's backyard?" I asked him. Edward sent a reproachful look towards Tony who was oblivious. He just wanted to tell his story.

"I found my older brother!" he announced, running off to go find him. Edward raised his eyebrow at me, and I smiled vaguely. When Tony returned with the box, I saw Edward's eyes widened. He had obviously recognized it before I had. I began laughing, and his chuckled mixed with mine.

"We have the same name," Tony said to Edward. He nodded opening the box.

"Wow. I never thought I would see him again," he said, and I agreed. "And to think, we wouldn't be together without him."

I shuddered at the possibility. "Alice told me that you were meant to be. That means, even if there was no older brother, you would have somehow ended up Mommy and Daddy. It's fate," Anthony explained. Edward and I stared at our son for a long moment.

"I think you've been spending too much time with Alice," I finally spoke, realizing he used one of her favorite words: fate.

"She told me she wants to name her son Armani," Edward said, and I rolled my eyes. Only Alice would name her boy after a designer. Jasper had named Jasmine, and Alice claimed it was her turn now. She was very pregnant, 7 months, and basically a monster.

"I will not call my nephew Armani," I argued, and Edward chuckled, kissing my neck. I leaned into his lips.

"Jasper will talk it out of her, love," he assured me, and I relaxed slightly.

"I only hope. Oh, and that reminds me!" I exclaimed, walking to the kitchen. Edward followed closely behind.

"We have a ten year class reunion coming up," I explained, holding up the letter. Edward read it quickly then raised his eyebrows.

"Has it really been ten years? It feels like less," he asked, and I nodded.

"I understand what you mean. It seems like only yesterday you were proclaiming your undying love for me at graduation, of all places."

"I've loved you for a whole decade, and it still grows every year. You still seem to amaze and surprise me, and I can never get enough of you."

How could Edward always find the right words that made my heart swell with such love that I felt like I was going to overflow with it? He made me complete, whole, and when he was gone, my eyes dulled. I could never live without him.

"Ditto," I agreed breathlessly. He leaned in, and we kissed.

THE END

Would it be pathetic if I admit that I am getting all teary and depressed now that this is over?? Well, I am. Just to clear things up: NO SEQUEL. Sorry, I just feel like Edward and Bella finally deserve some rest. So, please don't ask for you so much to all of those who reviewed every chapter! I know there were quite a few of you, and you know who you are, so I won't name you. You were the ones that kept me writing and thinking of ideas. They meant so much. Well, one last review for old times sake??(: