Seattle General - Chapter 25 (Epilogue)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but I'm grateful to Stephenie Meyer for her dream.

Shout-outs: To my friend, Becky, for being a sounding board throughout this storyline – thanks bb!

10 years later

Sweetpea POV

I navigated my Volkswagen Bug into the driveway of the house we'd lived in since I'd been 5 years old. I loved this house! I had just ended a cell phone call with my dad. He was being totally unreasonable. I told him that Seth Clearwater had asked me to the freshman/sophomore prom in a month's time. He told me I couldn't go and didn't really give me a very good reason for it either. Geez!

I came through the front door and called out, "Mom!" She answered from her craft room. I had a feeling she'd be in there. She'd made so many beautiful scrapbooks for Emmett and me over the years. She also made several family scrapbooks and lots of home décor objects. She truly made our house a home.

As I entered the craft room and kissed Bella, my mom, on the cheek and gave her a hug, she said, "Hey, Sweetpea, what's up?"

Bella had been my mother since I'd been five years old. My birth mother, Jessica, was nothing more than a fuzzy memory to me – someone who really only existed through photos in my earlier scrapbooks. Bella had been there for me through thick and thin – my comforter, my disciplinarian when I needed it, my teacher, my guide, everything a mother should be.

"Oh," I sighed dramatically (it's a teenager thing), "Dad won't let me go to the freshman/sophomore prom with Seth."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He won't give me a reason," I continued. "Will you talk to him for me?"

"Of course," she said. And I knew she would. If anyone could talk my dad into something, it was Mom. Not that she had to do that a lot for me, but she had done it occasionally over the years and it had always worked. She seemed to have some sort of magic power over my dad. I knew when I grew up and finally got married (if ever!), I wanted a relationship just like theirs. Some of my friends at school came from broken homes and that always hurt my heart. My parents were incredibly mushy with each other at times, and there was no doubt they loved each other with a passion. There also was no doubt they loved me and Emmett and would do whatever they could for us. That's not to say they didn't argue occasionally, but whenever they did, it was normally over by nightfall.

Our family life was very full – we had grandparents who lived in Forks – Charlie and Sue Swan. They came down to visit when they could. Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Sue were my favorites – probably due to proximity, I don't know. I even got to be the flower girl in their wedding! We also had grandparents who lived in Florida – Phil and Renee Dwyer. We'd seen them a couple of times when we went on vacation to Disneyworld in Orlando, and they'd come to visit us a few times as well.

Dad and Mom tried to take us on at least two vacations away from home every year. We'd been to Disneyworld (as I said before), Disneyland, the Grand Canyon, Canada, Mexico, Niagara Falls, New York, we'd even gone to England once to see where Dad was born and raised. Sometimes my dad would want to take these weird trips to see the biggest ball of yarn or something. Mom would just roll her eyes, but we'd pile in the car and go. We usually always had fun – even if things turned into a misadventure. In fact, I think it was more fun if it was a misadventure! Sometimes Mom and I would get the giggles at Dad, looking frustrated and dragging his fingers through his hair. We'd try to stop and then he'd come out with an innocent-sounding, "What?" and then even Em would join in with our side-splitting laughter until we were all holding our sides.

We've also been on two Disney cruises with Uncle Jasper, Aunt Alice, and Rosie. They aren't really our uncle and aunt – but they are my parents' best friends, so they definitely feel as close as that.

In case you were wondering – even though I'm now 16, yes, I still adore my baby brother and I'm so glad my parents had him! I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. He annoys me at times, but I'd still protect him to the death if I had to.

Emmett POV

One thing about football practice, it made me so hungry, I felt like I could eat a bear – seriously! I loved working hard at something I liked so much, but man, it made me hungry. I don't know if it made Mom very happy, but she took it with good humor. She usually just ruffled my hair and told me I was her growing boy or some shit like that. Oops – I'd better watch my language. My parents try not to swear too much around Sweetpea and me and they don't encourage us to do so either – darn friends of mine.

I'm only 10 years old, so most girls have cooties, you know – except for Rosie. Do you know Rosie? She's my neighbor across the street and also one of Sweetpea's best friends. We've been back and forth to her house all our lives and she's been to ours just as much. At first I thought she was just a nuisance, but then I started slyly watching her out of the corner of my eye while I was playing my video games. Yeah, I'm slick like that.

Rosie has beautiful long blonde hair and almost blue-violet eyes. Maybe when I get a bit older, I'll run my fingers through it. I notice my dad do that to my mom. I thought it was too mushy, but Mom seems to like it for whatever reason. And not too far in the near future, I may lay a kiss on her and see how that goes over.

EPOV

Bella and I no longer had to have any discussions about Tanya. After a few years, she got tired of working evenings and nights and moved on to another hospital. Yes, I had everything to do with that. As soon as I found out she was back at my hospital, I met with the Chief Nurse and made sure Tanya would never be assigned to days. I needed her to get the message – loud and clear – that I would never be interested in her again.

Carlisle had recently come to my office to ask me if I'd want to apply for his job. He was considering retiring. I had no clue what the hospital would even be like after he retired – it would be different – he was an institution to this place. I told him I'd definitely need to discuss that with Bella. He understood completely.

Our son is quickly growing into a football and baseball star. Good thing he was lighter on his feet than his father. I was only coordinated when it came to doctoring. He is a handsome kid, too – takes after his father, of course. Insert proud smile here. No, it must've been the combination of my genes with Bella's. I never could've made that handsome kid on my own without her beautiful input.

Now our daughter is trying to put me in an early grave. She wanted to know if she could go to the prom with Seth. It wasn't like we hadn't met Seth – he'd been to our house several times with a group of kids from school. But the prom? I knew exactly what hormonal teenage boys were like. I was one once! Hell, I'm still one almost! I couldn't give Sweetpea an exact reason – I just told her "no." I know she's going to go home and talk to her mother. And her mother is going to use every feminine wile in her arsenal to get me to say "yes." Damn if I'm just not putty in Bella's ever-capable hands. I'll have to remain firm in my resolve.

Sweetpea alluded to some arguments between her parents. Let me give you an example of a doozy. One night after work, I stopped by a place to have my hair cut. Before I knew what was happening, the girl practically scalped me. I must have been totally in my own head – thinking about crap going on at work. She had shaved the sides down pretty much to almost nothing – I was starting to look like I was going in the Marines. Thank God I snapped out of it before she got to the top. She couldn't leave it as it was, though. She had to trim it down quite a lot or it would've looked totally off with the rest of my head, but at least my entire head wasn't shaved. I started to wonder if I could just not come home for the next three months or so until my hair started to grow out. Bella was going to kill me. She loved my "sex hair" almost as much as I loved her sex shoes. Holy hell…

I parked my car in the driveway and mentally steeled myself. Bella was going to freak out – I just knew it. I had to be prepared for the worst. I'd already stopped to pick up a bouquet of flowers, but I knew that wasn't going to help. I stepped in the front door and saw the kids watching TV – Sweetpea was about 10 at this time and Em was about 5. They were engrossed and didn't really notice anything was off. I figured Bella was probably in the kitchen, so I cautiously made my way in there.

She had her back to me, preparing something at the counter, so I came up behind her and put my arms around her with the flowers in front of her. "Hi baby," I said in her ear and kissed her neck.

She smiled at the flowers and said, "Thank you, handsome! These are beautiful! Dinner won't be ready for about another half hour. What do I owe the pleasure?" Then she turned and looked at me. "Edward, what happened?"

"Well," I rubbed the back of my neck with one of my hands, "I was distracted at the place I went to get a haircut. She basically scalped me before I knew what happened."

"Oh…" Bella choked back a sob before she turned and left the kitchen, almost at a run. I heard our bedroom door shut a moment later.

I assessed the kitchen and saw there was something in the oven and the timer was ticking away. I asked Sweetpea to keep an eye on it and she promised she would. I followed my wife into the bedroom. I was glad to see the door wasn't locked.

Bella was sitting on the far side of the bed, her hands covering her eyes and her shoulders were shaking. Was she…crying? Over my hair? I went and sat beside her. "Baby…" I started. Her tears were coming in earnest now.

I slid down to my knees, faced her in between her legs and wrapped my arms around her waist. "It's just hair, love. It will grow back," I tried to say quietly and encouragingly.

She tried to wipe some of her tears with the back of her hand. She said haltingly, "Don't you…understand…how important…your hair…is to me?" I shook my head that I didn't. She tried to recover somewhat, gave me a little smile and said, "When you make love to me, don't you notice that I pull…on your hair? I was hoping that gave you pleasure as well."

Now that I thought of it, she was damn right. She did pull on my hair every time we made love. And it turned me on – a lot. She did it especially when I licked her sweet, wet folds after I unwrapped them from whatever lingerie she was teasing me with. Dammit – that girl stole that from me for the next couple of months.

"Baby, I'm sorry. I should've been paying more attention. I never want to bring you any kind of hurt. And yes, that does turn me on – a lot." I smiled up at her a bit with my crooked smile and said, "Maybe if you pull on the bit I have left, it will grow faster!"

She smiled again tentatively and put her arms around me. I loved this woman – more than life itself – and I would never love another. Since she'd had Em, she had filled out a bit and got a more womanly figure that I'd heard her complain about on more than one occasion, but I never saw anything wrong with the way she looked. She was always perfect to me.

I noticed then she was wearing some sort of thin blue sun dress that seemed to skim above her knees. I brought my hands from around her waist to massage her thighs. "Edward," she whispered, "the kids are just out in the living room!"

"Yes, baby," I answered with another – almost evil – smile, "and they're watching television. So you're just going to have to be a little quieter than normal while I lick your sweet, wet pussy and you start pulling my hair to make it grow back faster."

I captured her mouth with mine and slid my tongue inside. She allowed me perfect entrance. "Lay back, baby," I told her and she complied. I pushed her sun dress up so it was bunched up around her hips.

She was wearing some Victoria's Secret cotton "I love pink" bikini panties. She would look sexy, no matter what she was wearing – I wouldn't care. I slid those aside with my fingers as the fingers from my other hand stroked her entrance, getting her wet. As I slid two fingers inside her, she moaned as quietly as she could. My mouth took up residence on her clit as I expertly sucked and flicked it with my mouth. She was squirming and thrashing around, but her hands never left my head. And hell if she didn't pull on the shorter hair that was now on the top of my head – harder than normal, I think. Giving Bella an orgasm was a huge turn-on for me, but knowing that my hair was a big turn-on for her made me excited as well – but this was about her.

In case you were wondering about dinner that night, Bella and I made it back out to the kitchen with five minutes to spare, thank you very much. I'm efficient – plus I knew I had all night when there weren't going to be little ears so close by and possibly listening.

It's not that she still didn't make me pay for the haircut from hell – she's stubborn as you may know. She didn't wear her sex shoes for me until my hair grew back out to its normal length. That was a long damn time to make me wait. Don't think I've ever had my mind on anything else whenever I go to get a hair trim!

BPOV

Yes, Sweetpea was going to the prom. Alice and I were taking her to get a dress – most likely this weekend. Are you kidding me – how could she not go? She was far more coordinated than I ever was in high school. Seth was a great kid. Why not go to a dance with someone who has had a crush on her since they were in grade school together? I would sway Edward to my way of thinking. Besides, Sweetpea and I had the "birds and bees" talk a while back. That was not territory she wanted to get into quite yet. She wouldn't mind a sweet and innocent kiss from Seth at the end of the night, but that was it. Her father's imagination did get the better of him sometimes.

I kept busy at home, going to my children's games or events, and I also work a couple of 4-hour shifts a couple of times a month at a scrapbook store in town. That gave me a chance to connect with other like-minded women.

I also go out to lunch with Esme Cullen frequently now that both kids are in school. I was surprised when she told me Carlisle was thinking about retiring. I couldn't even imagine it! He always seemed so young to me. Esme just laughed and told me he was young at heart.

Our relationship with Jasper and Alice is never stronger. We'd even gone on a few vacations with them. Edward and I had asked them to be godparents to our children if something ever happened to us – God forbid, of course. They agreed without hesitation. They had asked the same of us for Rosie.

Once Rosie was in school, Alice worked with me at the scrapbook store on my couple of shifts a month. She also volunteers some of her time as a teacher's helper at the school as they seemed to be woefully understaffed. I could never do that – but Alice was always so upbeat and positive, I imagine she gave the kids a run for their money.

Our children are fantastic! That's not to say they didn't get into their share of trouble along the way – but nothing too serious – they weren't breaking the law – just minor children scuffles. After Em was born, we decided not to have any more children, so I just stayed on birth control pills.

After I had Em, my body didn't bounce back into the shape I had before. I grumbled about that a few times. Edward didn't seem to mind, though. Every time we make love, he tells me how much he loves the new fullness of my breasts and my hips. You have to love a husband who tells you things like that. I can never detect a hint of falseness in his words or tone, so he must be telling me the truth. He's never lied to me before – why would he start now?

We haven't steered our children toward any possible career choices. We would rather they make their own decisions about those things. I know they will be great at whatever they decide to do.

Our friend, Jacob Black, and his girlfriend/my old roommate, Nessa, did finally get married. We all went to their wedding in La Push and joined in the celebration. About a year later, they were blessed with twin girls! They have since had a boy and another girl. I wouldn't know what to do with four children – I would be frantic! It's a good thing Jake's mechanic shop keeps him busy and he's hired a couple of guys to help him out there.

And then…there's Edward. Have I mentioned he is the best thing in my entire world? Before I met him, I thought I was so self-assured and didn't really need anyone in my life. I could take care of myself. Once he finally convinced me to go out with him and I fell in love with him, everything in my life changed for the better. Sure, my life was okay before, but now it is so much better than I could ever have imagined. That doesn't mean there aren't days that absolutely frustrate me to no end. Every day isn't sunshine and roses – but I do feel there is that "epic" kind of love I have with Edward – the kind that will last long after we're gone – like Romeo and Juliet.

Edward and I had gone away for a long weekend – just the two of us together. Alice and Jasper were watching Sweetpea and Em for us. Edward had booked our honeymoon suite back on Orcas Island for us. He was such a romantic – I loved him so much and could never get enough of this wonderful man.

Once we'd had our fill of an afternoon lovemaking session, we ate a leisurely early dinner while looking out at the water. Edward suggested a stroll on the beach afterward. I kissed him fully on the mouth – which he returned enthusiastically – as he took my hand in his.

And then we continued blissfully into this small but perfect piece of our forever.

The End