The Greatest Gift - Epilogue

~~~~OOO~~~~OOO~~~~

Epilogue

"Seth, my friend," Gideon chuckled and then had to clear his throat to keep his composure. 

It wasn't often that angels were flustered, but Gideon was perilously close to losing it, and getting closer by the second.
Coughing once more, he tried again. "Seth, what in the world are you doing?"

For the past few days, or days in the human sense at any rate, Seth had been, for lack of a better word, on a tear. If he didn't have some inkling of what was bothering his young charge, Gideon might have been tempted to be worried, but seeing as he knew Seth better than anyone, he had a fairly good idea of the problem.

"None of these prospects are good enough," Seth told him without even turning in his direction.

"Seth," Gideon admonished though he couldn't help but laugh just a bit, too.

Yep, it was just as he thought.

He wasn't one of the head angels for nothing.

"What?" Seth questioned with a perfectly straight face. "You've seen them! Whoever gets this assignment has to be perfect...nothing else will do!"

"Aren't you being a tad bit...premature" Gideon asked carefully.

Seth having a meltdown was not something he wanted to see...no, sir.

When Seth turned and finally looked at him, his ice blue eyes were as troubled as Gideon had ever seen them and considering who his current charge was, that was saying something. A whole lot of something.

Gideon floated to where Seth was furiously going through the list of new angels as he tried to pick out the perfect one. "Seth, come now," he said in a soft but steady tone of voice. The pages of The Book ruffled due to the deep sigh that followed. "You've already seen that the twins' birth is completely successful. Isabella has had an easy a time with this pregnancy as she had with your namesake's. If anything, you should be sharpening your skills...Edward is going to need them before all is said and done. Poor man has worked himself into quite the tizzy over the prospect of having daughters." 

This time Seth's ice blue eyes twinkled gleefully. "Isn't that the truth? Twins?" he chuckled loudly. "Serves him right for all the trouble he's caused me."
Gideon could only roll his eyes at that statement. As far as he was concerned, it was a complete toss up as to who drove the other crazier at any given point in time.

Seth had been quite busy as of late; especially since little Cameron Seth made his appearance to the world a little more than three years ago. He had other assignments of course, mostly because Edward just didn't need him as much as he used to, but Gideon and the others were all well aware of the fact that Edward had never been just an assignment to Seth and no one expected him to treat him as such. That went double when Isabella was added to the mix not to mention once little Cameron came along.

But, Seth was an angel and he had a job to do, so Edward, Isabella, and Cameron couldn't be his only responsibility. When Isabella became pregnant with the twins, Gideon had wasted no time in telling Seth that part of his duties would be to pick out the angel that would watch over the little girls...Ava and Chloe if what he'd seen of the future held true. Angels could do many things, but even they couldn't be in two places at one time, so it was up to Seth to appoint the little girls' guardian angel.

It went without saying that these weren't just any ordinary little girls either. That was not to say that they were more important than anyone else, because they weren't, but because they were Edward and Isabella's they meant a lot to everyone. Gideon didn't expect any less.

He had a feeling Seth was getting close to making a decision though, and it wouldn't come a moment too soon. Isabella's pregnancy had gone exceptionally well thus far, but there was no telling when biology would trump fate and allow the twins to make their entrance to the world early.

As children of Edward Cullen, there really was no telling which way things would go.

Seth's ice blue eyes quickly scanned the many, many pages of potential guardians for the newest members of the Cullen family and when they alighted on one specifically, a huge smile broke out over his young friend's face and Gideon knew the die had been cast. In his not so humble opinion, there wasn't a better choice Seth could have made.

"She'll be perfect, Seth," Gideon praised and didn't try to hide his distinct pleasure at the potential choice to watch over Ava and Chloe.

A look of intense relief and supreme satisfaction washed over Seth and his white wings unfurled to their impressive maximum. He floated in the air and he let out a laugh that rumbled as far as the ear could go.

"I'm going to go tell her now. There isn't any time to waste," he said excitedly and before Gideon could even give him any advice on what to tell the newest member of Team Cullen, he was gone.

Gideon chuckled and shook his head saying a quick prayer that his exuberant and quite impetuous young friend remembered what he needed to tell her.

A few minutes later, or minutes in the human sense, Seth found himself approaching a group of the others and when he stopped he was practically shaking he was so excited.

As angels there was nothing greater than getting your assignment. It was what they were meant for: to love, guide, and protect their charges. Even though, as he well knew, there were times their humans made them want to pull their hair out and scream and yes, even cry, ultimately, their joy came from watching as they became the people they were destined to become.

Seth knew that better than anyone. Edward had been, and still was, the most difficult assignment he'd ever had or would have, but every heartache, every time he felt like he'd failed, every anguished talk he'd had with Gideon had been worth it to watch Edward now live and love and be happy. There would never be another like Edward, and for that he couldn't help but say a prayer of thanks.

Like he'd said time and again, he was an angel...he wasn't a saint after all.

Miriam looked up and noticed Seth and felt a tingle of excitement race through her body. Everyone knew Seth was one of the favored angels as well as what he was in the process of doing. Like all of the others, she'd watched Edward and Isabella's love story and felt pain when they hurt and felt joy when they were happy. She'd watched as little Cameron Seth came into the world and she knew that the twins were on the way, which meant that they were in need of someone. Someone like her if she had her wish.

"Miriam, can I have a word with you please?" she heard Seth ask and she felt her smile spread across her face.

Seth chuckled at her because he knew she knew what he was about to offer her and the look on her face told him everything he needed to know. She would indeed be perfect to watch over Ava and Chloe...Lord help her. Those two girls were going to keep her busy for many, many...many years. It was a good thing angels didn't age or anything like that because the twins...they were going to give her a run for her money.

Gleefully, he admitted silently, he couldn't wait to watch someone else be driven as crazy by a Cullen as he had been...and continued to be daily.

"Yes?" she practically squealed when she was in front of him.

"Do I even need to ask?" Seth grinned at the fact she was already nodding her head.

"No! I want it! I'll do it!!" she told him with a loud clap of her hands.

He wanted to tease her about her enthusiasm, but he couldn't really do it seeing as how he acted the same way, most especially when it concerned Edward...or more accurately Isabella and Cameron Seth.

"You do realize what this means, yes?" he tried to ask with a straight face. "I hope you know that being on Team Cullen is no easy task. With those two, especially Ava Grace, who I will swear is Edward's punishment for being such a pain in my ass, they are quite likely to make you question your sanity on more than one occasion...trust me."

Miriam wouldn't be deterred and she knew that even though Seth liked to talk a big game, there wasn't anyone, perhaps not even the lovely Isabella, that loved Edward as much as he did.

"I do know and I want it. I promise I do," she told him with as much feeling as her otherworldly body possessed.

"Okay, then, welcome to Team Cullen," Seth said with a smirk.

He went over a few things with her, not that all angels didn't know how to perform their duties to begin with. It was a good thing he picked her when he did, because as he expected, Isabella wound up being rushed to the hospital a good two weeks ahead of schedule.

As the angels watched with bated breath, little Ava Grace made her entrance into the world loudly, demanding attention right from the get-go while her sister, Chloe Abigail, merely looked around and tried to figure out what all the fuss was about.

Edward handled the delivery even better than Seth expected and when he, Isabella, and Cameron held the two little bundles between them on the bed, Seth and Miriam looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

Another chapter in the life of Edward and Isabella Cullen had begun.

~~~~OOO~~~~OOO~~~~

5 years later

"Dad," Cameron called for Edward as he ran toward the field with his glove in his hand. "Hurry up! We're already late," he hollered as he looked back over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at his dad.

Edward closed the back of the SUV and pulled the equipment bag up on his shoulder. He may have let out a grunt as his body protested just a bit, but he'd never admit it.

He squinted his eyes and noticed that as his son said, they were indeed late, but it wasn't anything new. Between Ava and Chloe it was a wonder they ever made it out of the house at all.

"Hey, Ed, have trouble finding your way out of the house?" Emmett taunted as he got closer.

"You know, Emmett, you've been a father a hell of a lot longer than I have so cut me a break why don't you?" Edward grunted as he dropped the bag of bats onto the ground with a thump. "Besides," he smirked at his brother, "Isabella and I are done and you...aren't." Like the smartass he was, he pulled his sunglasses off his baseball cap and put them on and then slapped his brother good-naturedly on the back. It seemed to snap Emmett out of the stupor he was suddenly in at the mention of their impending fourth kid.

It was a good thing Rose and Emmett were the epitome of the perfect parents because the thought of another baby, at his age and after having made it past the terrible twos and the terrifying threes only to now be firmly ensconced in the frenzied fives, made him positively quake in his tennis shoes. Not that Edward didn't wake up every morning thinking he was the luckiest man on the face of the planet, because he most certainly did, but he couldn't imagine having any fuller of a life than he had right now.

"Daddy!" came the sweet high-pitched squeal from his mini-me, Ava Grace.

Long brownish-red hair that had highlights of gold streaked throughout, eyes as green as the baseball field Cameron was currently standing in and the trademark Cullen smirk were the dead giveaway as to which parent she took after. Her sister, Chloe Abigail, looked exactly like her mother, though her hair was styled in an adorable pixie cut and her eyes weren't quite as brown as Isabella's were. She had the same gentle demeanor, the same loving, tender heart and in turn the same fiery temper as well. The two girls couldn't be any more different and Edward couldn't love them any more if he tried.

His kids were his pride and joy and there wasn't a minute that went by that he didn't realize how lucky he was; especially when at the end of the day, there was his wife waiting for him in their bed.

Speaking of...

"Hey, Beautiful," he smiled at her when she walked up.

He wasted no time wrapping his arms around her and diving in for a quick but always necessary kiss. Letting his tongue swirl with hers for just a moment he pulled her even closer to him. Ever mindful of their audience he kept it short, but like it did every time, it only made him want to keep on kissing her.

He kissed her quickly one more time on the lips and then stepped backward and gave her her smile. Even after giving birth to three kids, she'd only gotten more beautiful.

"Next time I'm taking Cam and you can take the TwinTerrors," she told him with a huff but then couldn't help but grin at him when his eyes got so big his eyebrows disappeared beneath his hat.

"Doodlebug, you didn't give your mommy any trouble did you?" he asked Ava with an exaggerated look of surprise on his face as he swung her up in his arms, thinking he really was getting too old to be doing such a thing or his daughter was getting too big.

Neither thought was particularly welcome.

Ava shook her head, her pigtails whipping around her face, and looked from her daddy to her mommy and said in a most serious tone of voice, "Noooo, Daddy. Promise."

Edward, who knew better than anyone what that tone, coupled with that word meant, tried to scowl at his daughter, but as per usual, wound up just smiling at her while ignoring the scoff of his wife and his other daughter rolled her big brown eyes and looked like the spitting image of her mother.

Asking Ava that question was like asking someone if the sun was going to rise in the morning. The answer was always yes.

The twins didn't misbehave per se, but Lord were they ever a rambunctious duo; Ava way more than her less rowdy sister. Put Ava, her cousin, Gavin, and Jasper's six-year-old son, Logan, together, and Edward, Emmett, and Jasper were ducking for cover for sure. Gavin might be a little older than the other three, but the younger ones had no trouble whatsoever keeping up with him...and finding enough mischief to get into. Throw in Alec's son, Ethan, who was the same age as Logan into the mix, and it was a disaster just waiting to happen.

Thankfully for the grownups, parents and grandparents alike, the rest of the kids were not as apt to find trouble around every corner. Max and Sophie's four-year-old daughter, Evie, and Alec and Alessandra's daughter, Riley, who was also four, along with Chloe were like three peas in a pod and spent as much time together as they could. Blessedly, most of that time was spent quietly playing or talking amongst themselves, though as kids were apt to do...they had their moments of naughtiness as well.

The older kids, Jack, who was now fourteen, Emma who was eleven, Cameron, and Jasper and Alice's daughter, Amelia, who was the same age as Cam, hung out without the younger ones underfoot and whenever Jack decided he wasn't too cool to be seen with the others. That left poor Noah, Max and Sophie's two-year-old as the odd man out, but with Rose expecting, he'd have his own playmate before too long.

The Cullens and their extended family certainly kept Seth and the others plenty busy, no doubt about it. As Seth had told Edward on more than one occasion, they were all a part of the same package, however, when Seth told him that the package wasn't quite as large as it was now!

Today, everywhere you looked, there was a Cullen or a pseudo-Cullen because Gavin and Cameron had a baseball game. It was the last game of the season and afterward there was going to be a team picnic. Edward and Emmett were the coaches and neither Papa Charlie nor Grandpa Carlisle ever missed a game. Grandmas Esme and Renée were always on hand to keep an eye on the younger children, though between all the other adults who never missed a chance to get together, there were plenty of people to keep the ratio of adult to kid to a manageable level. The same held true whenever Jasper and Edward coached the soccer team Ava, Logan, and Ethan played on or when Chloe, Evie, and Riley had a ballet recital. No one missed one of Jack's baseball games either, or even Amelia's tennis matches, though no one was particularly fond of tennis truth be told. The hardest was when Emma had a golf match because keeping that many people quiet was difficult, especially Emmett, but they did the best they could, much to Emma's mortification most of the time.

Emma still thought her Uncle Edward was the most awesome thing ever and one of Edward's favorite things to do was to take his pretty girl out for the day so they could play golf and talk. It was a relationship they both treasured and nurtured and one that had only deepened as Emma got older. Emmett did the same with Cameron and Gavin and Isabella and Jack could be found more often than not huddled in a corner and discussing the latest bestseller or some autobiography that Jack stumbled upon. If Rose wasn't busy with her own family, it was assured that you could find her with Ava and Chloe at Renée's art studio.

Their lives were so full of family and love and happiness that it was hard to imagine what things might have been like without the appearance of a very annoying but very happy angel.

"Dad, come on, it's time to warm-up," Cameron yelled out and waved at his mother and sisters before putting his game face on.

"I've been paged. Wish us luck," Edward smirked at Isabella and then bent down to kiss Ava on the forehead. "Keep score, Doodlebug, okay? Papa Charlie always messes up and you know Cam likes to look at all the stats when he's done playing."

"Kay, Daddy," she answered him sweetly and giggled when she thought about her Papa Charlie, because he really did mess up every time.

Edward stood up and was going to get one more kiss from his other daughter but found Chloe pulling Alec by the hand toward the concession stand. He could only shake his head at that because if it was possible, and he wasn't sure how she'd managed it, little Chloe had her "Uncle" Alec even more wrapped around her finger than her mother did and Alec ate it up every chance he could.

With one last kiss and wave, Edward made his way to the dugout, grabbed his glove, then went to go help his son warm-up before the game.

"Papa, you're doing it wrong," Ava scolded Charlie a short time later when they were sitting in the bleachers watching the game.

Charlie snorted and erased the box Ava was pointing at and made sure to put the correct symbol there. "Ava Grace, you know it's not nice to make fun of your elders," he told her when she giggled at him and shook her head.

Ava bestowed him with a brilliant smile and kiss to boot, mostly because her Papa was the only one that ever called her Ava Grace, even though it was because, as he told her time and time again, it was only through the grace of God she didn't wind up in the emergency room on a daily basis.

"You are not old, Papa," she told him sternly and then patted him on the head.

"Good to know, squirt. Besides, who could afford to be old with all you hooligans running around all the time?" he asked with a smirk.

She huffed at him and gave him a look that was very much like her mother's when she got annoyed with him or Edward and crossed her arms across her chest. "I am not a hooligan," she told him in as haughty a voice as she could muster especially because she wasn't quite sure what it meant but the way her Papa laughed at her, she had a feeling she knew.

"Of course not," he chuckled at her and then handed her some money to go get a hot dog.

Charlie watched her scamper off, dragging Chloe, Logan, and Evie along the way. It amazed him every single day how blessed and rich his life was and he never, ever, for a moment took it for granted. He'd spent years hoping and wishing to be in the position he was now, surrounded by family and grandchildren and though only three of them were his flesh and blood, he loved all of them as much as if they were his own. He hadn't missed a baseball game of Jack's in over eight years, had been to every one of Emma's programs at school, and he'd endured every one of Amelia's tennis matches with a smile on his face.

He spent less time working and more time living and loving and enjoying his family and judging from the enthusiastic reception he got every day when he got home from his gorgeous wife, not to mention the fact that she seemed every bit as happy as he did with the way their life was, he couldn't imagine there was a man alive that was as lucky as he was.

Well, except for his amazing son-in-law he supposed.

The crack of the bat caught his attention and he whooped and hollered when Cameron hit the ball to the outfield. When he sat down again, his daughter was beside him.

"Hi, Dad," she told him when he grinned at her.

"Bambola," he said as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "That was some hit, huh?" he asked proudly.

She nodded at him and no one could ever doubt how much his daughter loved her children...or her husband. Charlie had watched over the years as the love between his son-in-law and daughter grew, blossomed, and strengthened.

The entire family, Swans, Cullens, and the rest that were loved as much as if they had the same blood, only got stronger the more time that passed. Charlie had watched, with awe and pride as Edward, Carlisle, and Esme put all the ghosts of their past behind them and was put on display for all the world to see when they had been named Cameron's godparents along with Emmett and Rose. The boy didn't need two sets of godparents, but the symbolism of having them all be wasn't lost on anyone.

He looked to his left and saw Renée, Nonna, Carlisle and Esme smiling and laughing at something little Noah did while Sophie held him and he felt his heart fill even more.

Charlie knew he was a very, very lucky and blessed man.

A loud shriek of excitement came from the direction of the playground and when Charlie turned to look, Alec, Max, Marcus, and Jasper were playing tag with all the kids and he heard his daughter groan beside him.

"What's the matter, Bella?" he asked her as he threw an arm around her.

She sighed, somewhat dramatically he thought, and said, "I don't know why I even bother getting Ava dressed in anything but shorts and a t-shirt. You'd think I would know better by now."

"Well, look at it this way, Bambola," Charlie said as he kissed the top of her head. "At least you have Chloe to even it out a bit. Not only that," he said in a conspiratorial whisper, "imagine what it would have been like if the girls had been...boys."

Isabella shuddered and then giggled at her dad. "You don't fool me for a minute, Papa, those girls have you so totally wrapped around their little fingers it's a wonder Mama ever lets you out of the house without taking your debit card first."

Charlie merely shrugged because there was no way he could argue with that very true statement.

Isabella stood up and kissed her dad before making her way to the playground to check on the kids and help set up for the picnic. She watched as Edward congratulated Cameron on his hit and then gestured with his hands how far the ball went. It was so incredible to watch Edward and Cameron bond over the game that had caused him so much grief and heartache when he was a young boy and it made her love her husband even more if it was possible.

A feat she thought was surely unlikely.

"Bella, stop staring at your man and come play with me," Alec called to her and waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

Yes, some things never changed.

She rolled her eyes at him and giggled at his obnoxious but still totally harmless flirting and made her way over to him, anticipating being swept up in a huge hug, which she was.

Once she was back on the ground again, she slapped him playfully on the arm. "Alec, one of these days you'll remember that I'm a forty-year-old woman and not a teenager...not that you even knew me when I was a teenager," she teased him.

"Bella, you wound me," he cried and placed his hand over his heart...a move that caused everyone in the immediate vicinity to laugh at his antics. "You, my dear, don't look a day over...thirty-nine," he tried to say with a straight face only to burst out laughing when she scowled at him, or tried to anyway.

After all the years they'd been friends, she still couldn't give him a dirty look if her life depended on it.

"You are such a butt-head," she told him and then laughed when he sputtered at her with wide eyes.