EPILOGUE PT 2

"Hey, ump, you freakin' blind? What the hell was that?" Rosalie yelled.

I bit back a laugh, and only moments later, Edward emerged from the dugout to glare at his sister.

"Go." He called to her, pointing to the parking lot.

She looked at him incredulously. "What?"

"This is little league, Ro. Either act right or go."

Rosalie turned to me, mouth agape. "Can you control your husband?"

I laughed. "I don't have a handle on him when he's in coach mode, babe."

J.R. laughed lowly from beside me.

This had all started when he was first old enough to play t-ball. Edward had done a complete switch up from his typical competitive tendencies to encouraging, level-headed dad and coach, which I greatly appreciated. However, I did not take into account that I still had Rosalie to deal with at our boys' games. J.R. had just made it into high school ball, and Masen was still a few years behind him in little league. Edward and Rosalie made it a point to come to every game, and every game ended in Rosalie nearly or actually getting told to leave. She had never and would never change.

She huffed and turned back to Edward. "Fine. Whatever." She said, waving him off, unceremoniously plopping back down on the bleacher, and then dramatically resting her elbow on her knees and her chin in her hand.

Edward nodded once and went back into the dugout.

One of the dads sitting behind us leaned forward. "That was a bad fucking call."

Rosalie turned to him. "Okay, thank you!" She looked at me. "I'm not crazy."

"I never said you were." It had been a bad call.

"You need to make your husband an appointment for the eye doctor."

"He's just the coach, Ro. He doesn't control what the umpire sees."

"That was clearly a bad call, though. He should've fought it." She argued.

"It's little league. He's trying to teach them sportsmanlike conduct."

She scoffed. "I've seen him throw many a baseball bats. Sportsmanlike my ass."

I giggled.

Just then is when Laney walked up into the stands, still wearing her clothes from her shift at Emmett's store, and sat down on a bleacher in front of me, Rosalie, and J.R.

"Sorry, I'm late. We had a customer that didn't want to leave. What'd I miss?" She asked, opening a pack of sour gummies from the concession stand.

"Da almost kicked out Aunt Rose again." J.R. replied.

"What?!" Laney laughed. "What happened?"

I replied before Rosalie could. "She was two seconds short of cussing out the umpire in front of twenty two eight to nine year olds."

Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Nanny, it's little league. It's not that serious." Laney said, her amber eyes twinkling.

"You hush, Cash. Face forward." Rosalie snapped.

Laney laughed and turned around to watch the game.

By the third inning, both J.R. and Laney were in agreement with Rosalie that the umpire didn't know what he was doing. Fortunately, J.R. had inherited his father's mild-mannered temperament. Laney, however, had not.

"I mean… come on'h. What the hell?" Laney groaned when Masen got called out on third base. "Walk it off, Mase. Ump's useless." She called.

Her little brother gave her an okay sign as he walked back into the dugout. Edward clapped his shoulder and then shot a glare at Laney.

"What?" She asked.

He shook his head at her and went back to focusing on the game. I hid a smile. That girl was the reason for every gray hair he'd gotten on his head thus far, and she full well took pride in it.

When the game was over, Laney took J.R. home while I waited for Edward and Masen. I waited by the car, and as they approached, it was a bit uncanny to see the resemblance between them. Every day, it got just a bit more bizarre.

Masen was all Cullen, from his features and demeanor, right down to his voice and the way walked and carried himself. J.R. had been the mix of us, with my eyes and hair, and Edward's build. Laney was still a carbon copy of Rosalie, aside from her dark brown hair and bright amber eyes. I was a bit too smug when her hair darkened as she got older, but I knew that proved my theory about Tanya right.

"Good game, bud." I said when the guys got up to the car.

"Thanks, Ma."

Edward gave me a kiss. "You're supposed to control my sister at these things." He said.

I laughed. "And I'm gonna tell her the same thing I told her."

"And what's that, Ju?"

"I don't have a handle on her when she's in coach mode, babe."

He groaned. "And your daughter?"

"Same rule applies." I giggled.

"Well, fuck." He muttered and opened my car door.

I got in and turned to look at Masen. "What's for dinner?"

He shrugged as Edward got in the driver's seat. "I think Laney said she wanted to try to cook."

I looked over at Edward, who made a face. "We should probably pick somethin' up." He said.

"You definitely should." Masen agreed. "But fast. Before we don't have a house anymore."

I bit back a laugh to fuss them. "You two better get it out of your system now, and you better act like you like whatever she's making. You know she's soft hearted."

"Then why's she so dang mean?" Masen asked.

Edward scrubbed his face with his hand, trying to hide his laugh from Masen. "That's just how sisters are, bud. They never grow out of it."

Masen huffed.

"Shit, baby. I forgot. Call Lane. Wolf's supposed to be goin' to the house to pick something up. We might not make it there before he gets there."

"Wolf?" I questioned.

"Yeah, that new kid we just hired at the garage a couple weeks ago. You met him."

"Seth?" I asked.

Edward nodded.

"And who gave him that nickname?"

"Judge. I mean… long hair, big beard. He does kinda look like a wolf."

I rolled my eyes as I started to call Laney. "That poor baby. He doesn't know what he's gotten himself into out there."

Edward chuckled.

Laney answered on the third ring. "Hey, Momma. Do we happen to have quinoa?"

I laughed before I could even control it. "Honey, your daddy would divorce me if I brought home quinoa."

Edward looked over at me in surprise. "Give me that phone." I gave him the phone, and he brought it up to his ear. "Laney Charlotte, why the hell would you even ask a question you already know the answer to?... Can you put gravy on it?... Then son of bitch, Lane, ya can't call it a rice substitute if you can't do with it the one thing we use rice for in our house. That don't make no sense, my girl." He listened for a bit and then laughed. "Baby doll, that's not gonna wo– ya know what, what the hell? Try it. Go for it… Look, a guy from the garage is comin' over in a little bit to pick a part up that got delivered to the house. I wanted to let you know in case we aren't back before then. It's in my office… Alright, thanks… Love you, too. Bye." He ended the call and then looked at Masen through the rearview. "Cane's or burgers, bud?"

"Cane's." Masen replied.

I shook my head. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves."

Edward shrugged. "I love her, Ju. With all my heart. You know I do. But she's my sister incarnate."

I sighed. "She does have a few Rosalie-like tendencies, yes."

"How long have you known my sister?"

"About twenty years."

"And in those twenty years, has her cooking improved at all?"

"No." I mumbled.

"So Cane's?" He asked me, smirking.

"Get something for J.R., too." I said begrudgingly.

When we got to the house, there was an unfamiliar truck in the driveway, so I assumed that Wolf must have been there to pick up whatever part it was that had gotten delivered to the house. We walked into the house and I had no idea what Laney was attempting to cook, but the smell of it was actually quite appetizing.

Masen went upstairs to clean up, and Edward and I went into the kitchen where we heard Laney's and Wolf's voices. As we entered the kitchen, I took in Laney's body language as they talked and hid a smile. There was definitely a crush there.

Edward greeted Wolf, and they made small talk for a minute before Wolf started to mention leaving.

"Oh, well, why don't you stay for dinner?" I asked.

Laney looked secretly excited at my request, but Edward looked at me with panic in his eyes.

"I don't wanna impose on y'all." Wolf said politely.

"You wouldn't be." I promised.

He agreed, casting a glance Laney's way, and I fought to keep my smile at a normal level. "Great." I said.

"I'll just go put this in my truck." Wolf said before ducking out of the kitchen with the delivery box under his arm.

Edward looked at me in panic again and then back to Laney. "This is gonna be edible, right?" He asked.

Laney looked offended. "Well, yeah. It's actually really good. You should come try it."

He stared at the pot on the counter apprehensively for a moment.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll try it, Lane." I said and walked over to try whatever she had made. It was pasta in some type of sauce, and I took a hesitant bite. "It needs salt, but it's actually pretty good." I commented.

Edward eyed me warily.

"Come try it." I told him.

He took the fork from me and took a bite. "Salt and garlic. But yeah, it is good."

I looked over at Laney and rolled my eyes. "Do whatever Emeril says, Lanes. I'm going to set the table." I told her.

"Justin Wilson." Edward corrected.

"You can't pull off the suspenders, Cash." I teased before swiftly exiting the room.

A few minutes later, Edward followed me into the dining room. "That was a bold move you just pulled there, Cotton."

"Honey, if you wanna walk around in red suspenders, go for it, but I just really don't think that's your look." I advised, continuing to set the table.

"I'm not talking about your little side comment, which you are in trouble for by the way." He said, and I giggled. "I'm talking about asking Wolf to stay for dinner. What was gonna happen if that food was inedible?"

I shrugged. "We would've crossed that bridge had we needed to, but we didn't need to. But–" I looked into the kitchen. "I'm really glad it was good because I think this is the start of something quite adorable."

He looked at me in confusion before his jaw dropped. "Woman, you are not playing matchmaker right now." He whispered angrily.

"You're too late, Cash. I already did."

"And you didn't think you should consult me on how I felt about our daughter potentially dating one of my employees?"

"I think they'd be very cute together, and that's all that matters really. Besides, Laney's twenty years old, E. She can date whoever she wants."

Edward sighed. "If that boy gets food poisoning, you're taking his place at the shop tomorrow, Ju."

"Okay." I replied happily.

Laney announced that dinner was ready, and I called the boys down for dinner. All through dinner, I kept sneaking glances over at Laney and Wolf and hiding a smile when I saw that they seemed to be hitting it off. When dinner finished, I told the boys to clear the table, Edward walked with Wolf outside to go over a few things about work, and Laney left the house to go to the old garage apartment, which was currently where she was staying until she had enough money saved to get her own place.

I went up to the bedroom to start getting ready for bed, and by the time Edward made it upstairs, I was just getting out of the shower. He walked into the bathroom as I wrapped a big towel around myself, and he waggled his eyebrows at me.

"I thought I was in trouble." I teased.

"Maybe we could call a truce." He said, walking up to me and resting his hands on my hips.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and got up on my tiptoes to kiss him. "I love you." I said.

"I love you, too." He said and kissed me again, walking me backwards and back towards the shower.

I giggled into his kiss. "I already showered."

"Hmm. It was hot at the park today. And it's been so dusty lately. Surely another one couldn't hurt." He chuckled and kissed me again as he lifted me up over the edge of the shower.

"You're feeling cocky after that win, aren't you, coach?"

"That ump was pissin' me off, yeah."

I giggled and pulled him down for another kiss. "Just another day in paradise, huh?"

He smirked and reached around me to turn the shower on.. "Can't complain, Ju."

I smiled sweetly and pushed his hair from his pretty green eyes–the same green eyes I'd been looking into for over seventeen years now and the same ones I'd never get tired of waking up to. "No, you never do."

A/N Did I leave this open ended for a sequel? I don't know. Maybe. Until next time, bebs.