Epilogue: October

(Song: Evanescence - Taking Over Me)

Jacob Black pulled his car to a stop in front of the gated fence that surrounded his home. Upon recognizing him, the guard waved in acknowledgement before pressing the button that would open the gate, allowing Jacob to enter. Ever since that fatal day nearly ten years ago, he had immediately installed the security fence that now surrounded the property along with a manned gate, vowing that no one in his family would ever be put in danger again.

As he drove his car down the long driveway towards the garage, he thought back to that horrendous day.

Jacob parked his car near the front door, but it wasn’t until he walked closer to the door that he heard the muffled voices coming from inside. As he reached for the handle, he frowned when he realized it sounded like someone was shouting inside the house.

Something told him to try to be quiet when he entered the house. His stealth paid off because just as he was about to reach the entrance to the living room, he heard a voice screech right before the sound of what he believed to be a muffled gunshot went off. Fear seized him when he hurried to the doorway and looked into the living room, only to see Vanessa lowering the gun she held. However, the sight of Bella lying face down near the kitchen door with a quickly spreading bloodstain on the left side of her back had him roaring with anguish.

Instinct took over, making him tackle Vanessa from behind. As they both went down, he immediately knew she wasn’t giving up so easily. Her body flailed beneath his, so much so that he spent a few precious moments wrestling with her on the floor trying to get the gun away from her. She put up a good fight, managing to land a few good blows to his face and ribs, with both her claws, fists and the gun. When they rolled yet again so that she was under him, he quickly straddled her body, grabbed her wrists to keep her from hitting him, then proceeded to slam the hand that held the gun against the floor trying to knock it out of her grip.

It only took two attempts before she let out a cry of pain as the gun slipped from her injured hand. He tried to scramble for the gun, but despite her pain, she continued to struggle with him, trying to keep him from reaching the weapon before she could get it back. He managed to kick the gun further away from them, then turned back to deal with Vanessa knowing that he had to put her out of commission somehow before he could check on Bella.

The more he struggled with her, the more he felt like he was wasting too much time. Time he knew Bella didn’t have, if the sight of the growing pool of blood beneath her prone body was any indication. Finally, his opportunity came when they rolled yet again and he felt the cool metal of the gun brush against his knuckle. Grabbing it, he slammed it into the side of Vanessa’s face. Yet when she went limp, he repeated it once more for good measure, wanting to make sure she would be out cold for a while.

Scrambling to Bella’s side, he tucked the gun into the back of his pants before trying to assess her wound. The amount of blood worried him, so he whipped his cell out and called 911 while he shrugged his suit jacket off, using it to try to staunch the blood that seemed to be pouring out of Bella’s shoulder.

After that, things seemed to blur together as he continued to apply pressure to her wound while waiting for the ambulance to get there. All the while, tears clouded his vision as he murmured to the love of his life, begging her to stay with him. He barely remembered calling out to the emergency techs when they burst into the house, nor could he remember them packing her onto the stretcher and loading her into the back of the ambulance. Even the ride to the hospital was a blur in his mind, as was the long wait until Bella got out of surgery.

As Jacob waited for the garage door to open before driving his car into his space, he thought about the weeks that had followed Bella’s shooting. Things had seemed to be a bit dismal for a while, but he had refused to lose hope for the future.

Even though Bella had survived the shooting with the bullet entering between her left shoulder blade and her spine then exiting out of her chest, she had lost a lot of blood and entered into a coma. She had been lucky that there was no spinal damage, but there had been some tissue damage along with the huge blood loss. The doctor had told them if and when Bella came out of the coma, there would be a long road to recovery involving more surgery and rehabilitation.

During that time, the police had arrested a still unconscious Vanessa from the house and taken her to jail. With Jacob’s recounting of what had happened as well as the information given by her parents and Riley, Vanessa had been pronounced certifiably insane and was supposed to be sent to a mental institution when she was released from the hospital.

Meanwhile Riley would be given custody of Vanessa’s daughter since he was her biological father and he had wanted her all along. The court had decreed that if Vanessa ever got out of the institution, she then had to face life in jail for one count of attempted murder against Bella, as well as one count of murder for the death of the security guard.

However, once Vanessa had regained consciousness, she had been unhappy with the verdict and the fact that Bella had survived her attack. She bided her time, never letting on that she still had a hidden agenda. Then, two days after Bella herself had come out of her coma, Vanessa had escaped the confines of her room to try to finish the job she’d started. Even though she had taken her room guard by surprise, he had managed to alert hospital security.

In the end, she had been chased through the hospital only to be shot down by an armed security guard just when she reached the wing that housed Bella’s room. While Jacob and Bella didn’t see the actual shooting, they were aware of it because the moment Vanessa had escaped, guards came to protect them. They heard the shots, but weren’t allowed out of the room until Vanessa was pronounced dead at the scene. Even after the body was taken away and all the evidence had been cleared, Jacob had refused to leave Bella’s side until she had been released from the hospital.

(Song: Evanescence - October) (Theme song for My Only)

"My only hope,
My only peace,
My only joy,
My only strength,
My only power,
My only life,
My only love."

Once Jacob turned off the ignition, he grabbed his briefcase from the backseat then headed to the door that would lead to the kitchen. Before he could reach it, the door flew open and his two-year-old son launched himself into his arms.

“Daddy! You home!”

Jacob chuckled as he held his son close to his body with one arm and tickled his side with the fingers of his other hand, even while still holding his briefcase.

“Yes I am, sport! What have you been up to?” he asked as he walked into the kitchen with his son.

Jacob had only taken a few steps when the boy scrambled out of his hold to show him the mess he’d made on the kitchen floor, of crayons and sheets of paper. “Making pick chairs!”

Jacob grinned at his son’s exuberance and the fact that he still couldn’t pronounce the word ‘pictures’ right, until he heard the soft laugh that always made his heart beat faster. Turning towards the stove, his gaze drank its fill of the one thing that mattered most to him in the world.

Bella was wiping her hands as she approached him with a smile. A smile that had all but disappeared for almost a year after that near fatal day ten years ago. It had been a year that had been physically and emotionally trying for the both of them, with lots of heartache mixed in.

After nearly a week of worrying that she wouldn’t wake up, he then worried that she’d never be the same again. He had even worried that the two of them would never be able to move on with a life together since Vanessa’s attack had interrupted their talk to resolve their differences.

Starting in the hospital, then continuing after she had been released, Bella had endured so much physical therapy plus psychiatric therapy to get her body and love of life back. Luckily, she had been a trooper and a strong woman despite the challenges thrown her way.

She had even surprised Jacob not long after she had woken up. Waiting until they were alone in her room, she had taken his hand in hers and told her about what had gone through her mind as she lay there, dying from the gunshot wound. She told him of the regrets she would have had if she had died and the dreams she would never get to fulfill. Then she told him how her life had flashed before her eyes, but all the scenes had been times that had meant so much to her. Times that showed how protective, amusing, loving and thoughtful he was towards her.

She then told him that she was sorry for jumping to conclusions. That she should have known better than to ever doubt his love for her after everything that they had shared throughout their lives. She would love him forever, she told him. He would always be her best friend and the love of her life.

After Bella had come clean with him, Jacob had done the same. He once again apologized for the words he had said. Explaining what had gone through his mind when those hurtful words had flown out of his mouth. He explained how he was so worried about protecting her from Vanessa, plus he had never wanted to interrupt the happiness he had seen in her when they had moved into the house together.

Bella had understood why he had acted that way, saying it was those flashbacks that had reminded her that he would always put her first even when her own subconscious tried to plant doubts in her head. She promised she would try to stop over thinking things, following her heart instead. He promised to try to think first before blurting out things, as well as talking to her no matter how hard he thought it would be for her to hear.

Thankfully, their lives had seemed to start getting back on track two years after the shooting when they had finally gotten married. By then, both of them were fully in charge of and working hard at their fathers’ company. When the doctor had given Bella her first clean bill of health, both Billy and Charlie had decided to retire in order to let their kids run the company. By that time, Jacob had been perfectly happy to have Bella alive and healthy as his wife while they ran the business together.

Of course, he had been even happier five years after that when Bella sat him down and told him she was ready to start a family. She had claimed that the working drive was now out of her system, so that all she wanted was nothing more than to be a mother to their children. Then the day she told him she was finally pregnant was the next happiest day of his life.

After finding out she was pregnant, she had begun to lessen her workload little by little until the doctor told her it was time for her to take maternity leave. Upon giving birth to their son, everyone thought it wouldn’t be long before she would be back at the office, but Bella had announced that she never wanted her kids to be raised by strangers so she would become a full-time mother at home.

Granted, she still went into the office from time to time, when she couldn’t work from home, but Jacob was still the one who carried most of the load. However, they had worked it out so that they both had hired assistants who could take over for a day or two if need be. That way, even Jacob would have time to spend with his family. Both of them had agreed that family would always come first, just like their fathers had before them.

So now here they were, nearly ten years later, still happily married with an energetic two-year-old boy to boot. Jacob set his briefcase down before wrapping his arms around his wife’s waist, thinking life couldn’t get better.

He leaned down and whispered, “I missed you,” right before he kissed her.

When they came up for air, she smiled at him as she responded, “I missed you too.”

Then she winked at him before sliding out of his arms to go pick up something from the bar in the breakfast area. He glanced at his son who was now engrossed in his latest crayon picture before looking back at Bella. Her smile widened as she held out something towards him. He gave her a puzzled look before taking the little square piece of paper from her.

As he looked down at it, she wrapped her arms around his waist then rested her cheek against his bicep.

“Congratulations daddy,” she whispered.

He perked up as her words sank in, helping him to recognize that it was a sonogram he was looking at. Turning wide eyes towards her happy gaze, he asked, “Did the doctor say…”

Her smile twinkled in her eyes as she answered, “We’re gonna be the proud parents of a little girl.”

The smile she had always loved to see on him bloomed over his face right before he wrapped her in his arms and swung her around.

He was wrong. Life could still get better.

THE END