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Epilogue

»» EDWARD POV ««

Life , for sure is a challenge that keeps on progressing second by second . And we learn to face them without any fear second by second .

My life till thirteen was very much happy because I thought I had the perfect family but those thoughts were just thoughts . As I said life becomes more challenging with each second , I learnt that when my mom was gone ..

With Aunt Nancy by my side , I found those challenges thrown at me was nothing . With her love , care and mischievousness she raised me into a successful man . But still I was incomplete until I met her .

That girl who was happy in front of everyone but by looking at her eyes you can feel deep sorrow and longing for something .

Confessing to her was a bit easy than making her confess back . Knowing about her disease was one among the horrible news I have heard . But I had no plan on leaving her . She had already infected my brain .

Everything happened so fast between us that I took a while to know whether it was a dream or not .

I still remember the day when I proposed to her and she made me promise to move on from her after her death .

But what can you expect from her ?

She would never want me to be alone but that was her thought not mine . I had already made my mind on keeping her by my side .

When I learnt about her pregnancy , I had to slap myself to know its dream or not . But I wanted her to be with me by my side and we would together raise our baby .

I've had taken her to as many doctors as possible but they gave up on her saying its at last stage and only a miracle could give her life .

" DADDY ! "

" DADDY "

I turned around placing the plates in dishwasher and knelt down to come face to face with my two 6 year old twin daughters standing behind me smiling .

" Yes princess ? " I said and looked at Ella, the Blonde one with blue orbs like mine but a bit lighter .

" Me and Jemima picked these from our lawn for Mommy . " she said smiling and looking at her brunette twin with hazel orbs . Both pretty and chirpy like their Mommy .

"  She'll surely love this . So you both ready to see mommy ? " I asked and they nodded eagerly .

" Go put on your shoes . Daddy will come in a minute okay ? " I said and they turned back smiling .

" But ..who is gonna give daddy a kiss ? " I said and they ran back to me giggling and gave a peck on my cheeks .

Suddenly the door bell rang and they both ran to open it .

" Ooh Ooh I'll open it Jemmi ! " said Ella and ran ahead of Jemmima .

" No I'll open it Ellie ! " Jemima said running faster .

Laughing , I followed them to the main door .

They both reached there and started quarreling again .

Walking upto them I bent down and took them both on both of my arms. 

" Daddy will open it okay ? " I said smiling and the nodded giggling. 

Opening the door , both of their smiles became wider .

They started squealing and wiggled in my arms to get down . Putting them down , they ran towards the person .

" Aunt Linnie ! " said Ella and hugged her one leg and Jemima the other . She knelt down to give them both a kiss on their cheeks .

" How are my JenEd princesses ? " she said and they started giggling .

" You never leave that name do you ? " I said shaking my head and she started laughing .

" I will never do that Ed . " she said hugging me and I hugged her back . 

" GOTCHA !! "

Nick lifted the girls from behind and Ella started giggling whereas Jemmi screamed , making us shut our ears .

" Nickie ! " Girls shouted and hugged Nick .

Laughing he hugged them back and gave a peck on both of their cheeks .

" How are my Girls ? Missed Nickie ? " he asked and they started giggling .

" Ooh ! Nickie ..Where's baby Tessie ? " Ella asked smiling ,once she was standing in front of Nick .

" Oh . She's with Aunt Lin's Mom . " Nick said smiling and ruffled their hair which in return he received a smack on hand from both of them .

Just like Jen .

" Oh ! Can we see her next week ? " Jemmi asked and Nick nodded .

" Jemmi , Ellie go wear your shoes girls . " I said and they ran inside giggling .

They giggle a lot like their Mommy , when she becomes naughty .

I turned to face them both and they smiled warmly . Giving Nick a hug we went inside .

" You guys are coming right ? " I asked them once we were inside the house .

Smiling they nodded . 

***

»» ADALIN POV ««

Life sometimes doesn't play fair with some people and one among them would be Ed. 

Its like that proverb ' No pain no gain . '

Hah.  Maybe to gain his daughters he had to go through the pain of losing love of his life .

I still remember the day when me and Jen went for her check up and received the most shocking news .

But as stubborn as Jen is ,she denied the happiness that she could have got .

The doctor told us that there was a way to save her but that too it was not 100% sure . He said if she wants that cure , the babies can't be saved but Jen declined it and swore not to tell Ed.

She wanted her babies so badly for him .

Still when I look at him , I feel the guilt that develops in me . I could have saved his love if I had tried my best to persuade her to take the risk . It was a secret between me and Jen . But when I look at him with his daughters I feel happy that her decision was right , he maybe alone but with those two princesses he would never be sad .

Though god gave them the happiness they wished for but that was snatched away from Ed .

But with his willingness to live for his girls are sure one payback to god ..i hope god doesn't take his girls away from him .. that would destroy that man.....completely.

Now when I look at him standing behind his girls , who are talking to their mother's grave and him looking somewhere distant , I remember the day she left us and he didn't even shed a single tear in front of us . On her funeral , he stood there in front of her grave lifeless . Then from that day on wards he visits here every morning with Ella and Jemmi . Even those two girls never show sadness in their face but keeps on talking to her grave like Jen is listening . I know she is .

They got less time to spend their life with each other , just 13 months , she ..died 3 months after her delivery but I know she was happy to be able to see her daughters with her husband .

  The One and ..Only gift she wanted to give him .  

Happiness stayed in their life for just sometime .. though she was 100% cured she had to face her death. I still cant forget that scene in front of me .. Ed's scream .

Though her death was unbearable for Ed but he survived ..for his girls .

She knew giving him Ellie and Jemmi would be the best option than she being with him .

Her funeral was the day I can never erase from my memories .

I had never seen Nick cry this much in my whole life with him. He was not at all prepared for this situation whereas Jen prepared Ed for this day , she made him strong to face this . 

Her death....

I can still remember his pale face that was void of any emotions , looking at her grave .

But when next day I went to take care of Ella and Jemmi , the scene that I saw is still fresh in my mind like it happened yesterday .

The loud crash sound was the one that got my attention when I entered their house . At that instant I knew it was from Ed's room .

I slowly peeked in and saw a vase shattered on the floor and Ed sat beside it with a photo frame in his hand . What made me sad was when I saw tears rolling down his cheeks and he was looking at that pic . From where he was sitting I could see the picture and it was a picture that Jen gave him , it was collage of the pic at hospital where Jen gave him peck on his cheeks , their wedding pic and their recent pic with their babies .

I decided it was better to leave him alone .

But next day he was the same Ed that I used to know . Loving , happy and cheerful .

I knew , he wanted to break down for sometime to let all his emotions flow out . And that did make him better .

I was snapped back to reality when Nick called my name .

" Lin ? What are you thinking ? " he asked and I shook my head smiling . He gave a peck on forehead and went to Ed .

Thinking about Nick, he took about one year to recover and that year brought us together.

We had Tessa three years after her death and i consider her as jen , who came back to me as my daughter .

* FLASHBACK *

" Hey Ed ! " I called him as he was moving through the gifts section like a speed of lightning .

It was their wedding anniversary tomorrow and me , nick along with the girls were in mall down the street . We told Jen we were going to buy some toys for the girls and we didn't allow her to come with us . She agreed after a long hour of argument .

She was cured now , just because of Ed's stubbornness . It was miracle though . He never gave up on her and now as she was cured from her tumor we all were more excited for the future .

" Ed ! Slow down man ! " Nick called from beside me who was handling Jemmi in his hands .

" Guys ! I know what I want to buy ! " Ed shouted and came back to us .

" So what were you searching for all this time you ..idiot ! " I said giving him a glare .

" I was just going through the things . But now I know .. I saw this necklace . " he said and showed us a necklace which had a lock as a pendant .

" I'll give the key from this necklace to her and I'll put the lock . She is the key to my happiness . What say guys ? " he said looking at us with a wide smile.

" Aww ..sure get it ! " I said and he went to the billing counter .

I turned my head to look at Ella who was in my hand sleeping . Giving a kiss on her forehead I glanced at the glass doors and saw reflection of Nick and a smile crept onto my lips when I saw him looking at me with a small smile . I turned to look at him and he turned around to look at the items beside him .

Shaking my head I went near Nick and patted on his shoulder .

He turned back smiling .

" Come on...lets go ? " I said smiling .

" Umm ...yea...hmm." he said and I turned back to meet Ed who was looking at us with his arms crossed over his chest and tapping his foot .

" Come on Nick . Stop checking her out ! "Ed shouted and I fake gasped , turning back to look at Nick who was glaring at Ed .

" I was not ! " Nick yelled and I rolled my eyes .

" Yea.yea ..keep saying that bro ! ". Ed said walking back to the exit and I followed him with Nick trailing behind me cursing some swears at Ed.

Suddenly my phone rang and I answered it with my other hand that was not holding Ella .

" Hello ? " I asked and I heard hard breathing and screams from the other line .

That made my heart to pound and my palms became sweaty. 

" Jen ? ...what happened ? " I asked and heard some screams and loud crashing sound. 

" Adalin ! ..... My...Unc- "

Then the line went dead .

" JEN ?! Oh my god Jen ?! Are you there ? " I asked and got beeps in response .

" what's wrong ? " Ed asked and I found it hard to speak .

" Jen ...screams ..crash ...screams ..i dont know ! she said .. something like MY UNC .. I.. dont k-know ! !  ". I managed to choke out some words and Ed's eyes grew wide. 

" s**t . " he cursed and ran to his car with us following behind .

* FLASHBACK END *

" Lin ? " Someone called my name shaking my shoulders and I was snapped back to reality .

Nick was looking at me with concern .

" Nothing . " I said and looked at Ed who was kneeling beside his girls .

" I know you're thinking about something . What's wrong baby ? " he asked and I sighed.

" That day ..about Jen . " I said  slowly and he sucked in a breath. 

"Oh ...Come on ..Its okay ... " he said and pulled me to a hug.

And i found it hard to control myself . Its been years and it still pains when i recall that dreadful day .It was like our world just came crashing down in a moment .But at some point you have to realize that some people can stay in your heart but not in your life . One way or the other Jen had to be parted from us and more from her love , Edward. 

It was a painful truth for us to cope with .

~ EDWARD POV ~

Time goes by a lot slower when you miss the one you love but in my life even though no one can fill Jen's place , my daughters have done it . Being with them brings back the good times i spent with Jen , their giggles reminds me of Jen's when she finds it funny when am being serious .Their eyes filled with adoration for their mother when they both talk to her grave as if she is listening to them and i know she is . At some point , i felt like my world ended when i saw her blood soaked figure lying numb on the cold , tiled floor .

* FLASHBACK *

That call from Jen to Adalin made my whole body go pale and weak . She just survived from her death and now i feel something really bad was going to happen .

As we pulled onto our house's driveway my heart had already accelerated and now my palms became sweaty.

I ran to the entrance ,with Lin and Nick following me with the babies .Opening it , I froze on what i saw in front of me . I found it hard to breathe and all my nerves went numb. There lay Jen on the floor soaked in her blood and her body numb without any movement . I felt like my legs were paralyzed . 

From beside me Nick dashed to her and knelt beside her limp body . A loud cry from Ella brought me out of my shock and i dashed towards her body . But as i reached near her body and saw Nick holding her wrist with a shock plastered onto his face . As i scooped her in my arms and turned to run to my car , Nick's voice made me freeze on that spot .

" Ed ! .. There's  nothing we can do .... she's ..dead. " 

" SHUT THE F**K UP NICK ! " I said and ran to my car with her body hanging limp in my arms , tears rolled down my cheeks as I recalled ,what Nick said .

" She 's not dead . She promised me that she wont leave me alone . " I said and reassured myself that nothing could happen to her .

But i didn't know that was just my assumption because the truth was painful to swallow down .

She really left me . 

* FLASHBACK ENDS *

" Daddy ? " 

I was snapped back to reality when Jemmi's sweet voice ringed in my ears .Smiling ,i looked at her but she was looking at me with a frown on her face .

" Why are you crying Daddy ? " Ellie asked with a frown on her face as well and that 's when i realized a tear had accidentally rolled down my cheeks and i quickly wiped it off .

" Daddy was not crying princess . It was just some extra water in my eyes that overflowed . " i said and they giggled in response . 

" Shall we go now ? Mommy needs rest . " I asked and they nodded smiling . 

Holding their hands i walked back to see Nick hugging Lin and that did pain my heart thinking i wont be able to hold her in my arms anymore .

Soon the girls ran to Nick and lin , pulling me along with them and hugging them both . Laughing they pulled apart and Nick scooped Ellie in his arms and ran with her to the entrance followed by me with Jemmi . Their laughter soothed me out and relieved all the pain . 

" Kids have a hole in their soul in the shape of their dad .And if a father is unwilling or unable to fill that hole it can leave a wound that is not easily healed . "

- Roland Warren