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"It's pretty scary to know

how quickly time flies"

- James Wan

Chapter 28-

Three years later –

The strange thing about time is that it flies when you are happy and goes as slow as a snail when you wish it would hurry. When you are happy days become weeks, weeks become months and before you know it years have passed and the same holds true for my life. It feels like yesterday when I was still an eighteen year old attending high school and focusing on supernatural problems that no normal teenager goes through except here in La Push where the definition of normal is completely unlike the norm but in reality time had done its work and here I was twenty one year old Bella who could not have asked for a better life and better people to spend it with.

"The Bride is asking for you" said a worried Sue coming and standing where I had been overlooking the flower arrangements, completely lost in my reverie.

I nodded my head as I took a look at her. Sue's eyes had a faraway glaze in them as she wiped the rare one or two tears falling from her eyes though I knew that this was just the beginning and by the time the ceremony began she would be full out crying the tears though would be of happiness.

Sue soon left to assist Charlie in straightening his monkey suit as he had termed it a few months back annoyed refusing to wear it today though one angry look by Sue and he had begrudgingly accepted it while I made my way towards the room which was reserved for the bride in vampire haven where the ceremony was being held.

Vampire haven was the name fondly given by us to the mansion, more like estate owned collectively by our vampire friends who though had left La Push three years back to find their own footing, had left a three storey mansion behind here in Forks for them to come back to whenever they missed their 'extended family' as they had termed us and today was a special occasion indeed where all of them had returned here again to be with us.

I slowly opened the huge timber door to a familiar sight and entered it with a smile on my face. A heavily pregnant Rachel smiled at me from where she was curling the bride's hair and putting it in an updo while Rose did the makeup to perfection much to the bride's annoyance who was constantly telling Rose to tone it down and hurry up.

I rolled my eyes at her impatience as I walked up to my namesake as she sat huddled close to her mother and aunt who by the looks of it had just arrived in Forks.

"Hey sweetie" I said as she looked up at me from underneath her long eyelashes, pale skin tone and green eyes, a smile lighting up her face at my sight.

"Aunt Bella I missed you" she said excitedly as she got up from the couch to give me a hug I gladly returned. Isabella Grace was my goddaughter and the equation we shared was unlike any other. Just like the name she shared with me, she shared my love for reading and cooking too and also the optimism and responsibility factor. Being as young as she was she was extremely mature and responsible for her age and her intelligent conversations often trumped the rest of us confusing us on who was the kid and who was the adult between her and us though her preciousness was not that much of her boon for her parents who were often stumped by her intelligence.

"I missed you too" "You were this small when I last saw you" I said laughing and making the action using my hands as she blushed profusely.

"You know I grow fast" she said shyly like the twelve year old she looked like instead of the two years and seven months old she actually was. Isabella Grace or Izzy as we called her was a miracle in itself that no one had expected and the first child to be born in our extended family. Her parents Garrett and Maysun had not even told anyone about her till a week after the battle when Maysun had first started spotting a small belly. With the fast paced nature of her pregnancy Garrett and Maysun had been too afraid to wander far as it would be a high risk they were not willing to take and also Sue was the closest they could get to medical attention though Carlisle had offered to fly in for the delivery during the last few days of her pregnancy, the pack making an exception for once. Garrett and Maysun had spent the remaining four months and three weeks of her unusual fast paced pregnancy in La Push staying at Sam's house while the other vampires had continued staying in Forks in the same house I had grown up in, not wanting to leave their friends behind during such a period. During that period Maysun and I had formed a sisterly bond unlike any other as I had been one of her main caretakers and by the end of her pregnancy Garrett and Maysun had decided to name me and Sam as their unborn child's godparents. Isabella Grace was born in Sam and by that time even my house at the end of five months looking more like a month old baby than a newborn though what had confused us most was her green eyes as both her parents shared the feature of light golden eyes from feeding on animals. Garrett though had later remembered that he had had green eyes when he was still human and that had been passed down to Izzy.

The vampire and hybrid clan had stayed in Forks for another Six months after Izzy's birth by the end of which Izzy looked and behaved more like a five year old while they built this mansion of a house after which they had gone their own way promising to return soon though this was the first time they had actually returned since they left. Garrett, Maysun, Jennifer, Jasper and Izzy had left for Pennsylvania opting to stay in one of the smaller cities while Izzy who we knew was immortal, grew up whereas Peter and Charlotte had left for Houston, Texas where they owned a ranch and Emmett and Rosalie had left for Alaska from where they were going to start their travelling adventures living life as a nomad.

"Bella" said Jennifer as she gave me a warm hug. Jennifer too had come a long way from the nervous girl who was afraid to even see in another's eyes and by the constant video calls that I had with her I knew that she was studying to be a lawyer now and was on the road to be a confident smart woman. Jasper's support and patience had come a long way in helping her come out of her shell and though they both were not yet officially together, Jasper was just content with being her friend for now and as he put it he had all of eternity to spend with her so what were a few years of wait.

I spoke to Maysun and Jennifer for a while as they told me of their life back in Pennsylvania while Jennifer studied, Maysun looked after the house and helped in homeschooling Izzy who would be growing rapidly for another five years whereas Jasper was now a History professor in high school and Garrett owned his own garage working as a mechanic. They were content as of now though they knew that they would have to leave soon as people were starting to get suspicious of their ages but that was the downside of being immortal, they could never stay anywhere for long.

Kim and Emily too joined us in our conversation as they helped the others get ready, reminding me of the days prior to the battle when we spent time together talking about just anything and everything to calm ourselves from the tense environment around. It seemed like nothing had changed yet I knew in reality a lot had changed between those days and today.

"And you are ready" said a cheerful Rosalie from where she was standing opposite the bride carefully putting her makeup back in place so as to not lose it or spoil it in any way. Rosalie was by far the prettiest woman I knew of even with the three angry scars that marred her face on one side and she definitely did not need makeup to add onto but it was more like a matter of liking in her case and so she owned a very impressive collection of cosmetics consisting of various shades of items I had never even heard of all belonging to the likes of MAC, Chanel, Elizabeth Arden and Anastasia Beverly Hills.

"Finally" said the most important person in this room, the bride sighing giving the rest of us a frustrated look as she got up from her seat opposite the huge mirror in the room. She started nervously pacing the room as anxiety took over her features as she mumbled to herself incoherently.

"We will give you some time to talk" said Emily giving me a look as I nodded my head in agreement. Being the matron of honor calming down the bride was one of my main duties though and I knew the pre wedding nervousness she was going through well as I had been through them too. The rest of them soon left the both of us alone in the room to talk.

"Look at you" I said in a teasing manner looking at her in her white strapless simple gown which was floor length and a simple veil accompanying it that was left flowing. Her nearly waist length hair had been curled and put into an updo and she was spotting light makeup that brought out her native features even more. Adding to it the high heels that she was wearing and she looked like a bride out of Seattle Bride "He will not know what hit him when he sees you. You look absolutely breathtaking"

She rolled her eyes as she sat down on the bed "I am terrified. What if something goes wrong? What if he realizes that this is a mistake and…"

"Leah will you calm down" I interrupted her sighing "He loves you and you love him and you know that. Nothing like that is going to happen. You have been together for three years now engaged for six months out of those"

"Yeah but" she whispered

"No buts Leah. You are just anxious. It is all going to work out trust me" I said sitting down next to her

"Is it too late to elope? Imagine standing up in front of all those people…" she asked chuckling and widening her eyes

I gave her an amused look with a slight laugh "Dad will shoot you and me both if you elope for putting the idea in your head"

She mimicked my laugh "Damn you got out lucky"

"Yeah perks of getting married first" I said as I thought about my own marriage day more than two years ago. Sam and I had been engaged for almost eight months by then and being the first couple planning to get hitched out of the group were exhausted with all the planning and suggestions by the others no matter how sweet and helpful they were. The lot of them could just not decide on the same thing be it catering, decoration, venue or music and an impromptu vacation to Vegas had led us to come back as Mr. and Mrs. Sam Uley. I have never seen Charlie as livid as then as he looked at us with his vein popping out and I almost thought he was going to take out his gun to shoot Sam but he had just settled with grunting and giving Sam a scary look who had squirmed in his seat in discomfort. So no I definitely did not want a repeat of that day for Leah and Paul.

Leah sighed as she laid down her forehead on my shoulder reminding me of the time when we were eleven and twelve year olds still naïve and innocent kids who lived in the same house and spent the days together sitting in the tree house Charlie had built us daydreaming about today.

"We grew up so fast didn't we?" she whispered as I nodded my head wiping a stray tear from my eyes. I was married and by the end of today even Leah would be Leah Lahote instead of Leah Clearwater. Time had flied and had brought us to today a long way from two sisters who had shared every dream and every childish wish of theirs growing up. The journey had seen a few bumps on the way but it had finally reached its destination, a happy destination.

I took a look at her something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue as we joked about the pleasant memories of our childhood and how Leah and I used to make Seth wear our dresses and apply makeup on him and how Rachel and Rebecca did the same with Jake. The poor younger brothers went through hell having two older sisters of the same age and how the four of us Rachel, Rebecca, Leah and I had had sleepovers as kids already choosing our maid of honors and our something olds even before we knew who we were going to marry.

A knock at the door brought us out of our laughter as Sue entered followed by Charlie.

"It is time" said Sue taking a look at Leah who was now smiling having forgotten her anxiety and the earlier thoughts of worrying.

"I should get back to Sam. He will be wondering where I am" I said as I left the room to give Charlie and Sue some alone time with Leah and made my way towards the backyard where the ceremony was being held.

I walked to where Sam was standing talking to Peter and Charlotte as they told him about their recent trip to Antarctica and how having no other choice they had to survive on penguins which tasted disgusting according to them both. Peter and Charlotte were the only ones out of whom we knew who still stuck to the normal human blood diet though they often relied on the blood from blood banks instead of killing anyone. Sensing that I was nearby Sam put his hand out for me to take and I put my hand in his standing next to him. Even though Sam had not phased in nearly three years now his sense of smell and hearing was still higher than a normal human's though he had lost the body warmth and immortality that had come with being a shape shifter.

We spoke to Peter and Charlotte for some more time before they made their way to where Jared and Kim were to talk to them and Sam wrapped an arm around me pulling me close to him and making me face him.

"You okay?" he asked me in a serious tone "No…"

"Sam I am fine" I interrupted him softly afraid that someone would overhear us amidst a group of supernaturals as he kissed me on the forehead lightly. As he let go of my face I took a look at him properly in his tuxedo making him look even more handsome than usual, my hands involuntarily ran through the battle scar he had just above his eyebrow. I could still remember that day when I closed my eyes. We imprints and elders had been waiting at Sam's house for what seemed like hours when Alex had finally howled the two howls signifying that they were safe and were coming back and we had rushed outside without waiting for anything else. One by one all the pack boys and vampires had returned and the imprints and hybrids had run to them to greet them back. Sam had been the last to come out of the woods as he had carried Quil back who was not in the condition to walk yet and Emily had ran to them worried about Quil. Sam had made Quil lie down on the couch in the living room as Sue had immediately started working on him while Emily stood by her side helping her and calming Quil who was shouting in pain. Sam had just come to where I was, wrapping his arms around me pulling me close to him, breathing in my scent and we had stood there for minutes. At that time I had traced this scar over his eyebrow that had been left by a vampire's nail though luckily there had been no venom in the nail or it could have been fatal to Sam as venom was extremely dangerous and life threatening for shape shifters. A few minutes later the commotion had settled and Maysun had screamed loudly that Nahuel was not there and we had realized that neither was Jason. Jake and Jasper had made everyone sit down before they narrated everything that had happened on the battlefield back to us and Jennifer and Maysun had cried in Jasper and Garrett's arms listening to their brother's demise. None of our eyes were without tears when Sarah had taken the phone to call Jason's parents asking them to come back as soon as possible. The next few days had been heavy on us as we all lived through pain and loss and funerals were organized but birth and death is a part of life and you cannot really escape it in life though when I looked at Claire even today I knew that she often thought of Jason. Claire was now fifteen and had recently been told about Seth imprinting on her which she had taken in stride. They had just started dating a month back though owing to their young age the entire pack had made it a point to keep a watch on them just like Jason would have.

"Come on" Sam said as we saw Rosalie sit on the piano to play the processional music for the wedding. I could see Paul standing by Billy at the altar who was officiating with a huge grin on his face as he waited for Leah to arrive. It was still hard to believe that Paul the ex womanizer and Leah the girl who swore against love at one point of time were the second to marry in the pack. It was completely unexpected and a few had even betted that Leah would say no to Paul when he proposed not because she didn't love him but because she was not really pro marriage but she had said yes and six months later here they were.

Seth and Claire were the first to walk down the aisle locking arms with one another, followed by Embry and Rachel who were engaged too but were waiting for their son to be born before tying the knot. Jared and Kim walked out next who were still happy just dating but Sam had told me how Jared was going to soon pop out the question. Quil and Emily had followed after them who were also engaged but had no plans of getting married as of yet. Quil was the only one who was still facing the repercussions of the newborn battle as he had a permanent limp that came when he walked. One of his legs had been badly twisted and stamped on three years ago and even after the accelerated healing he had been unable to completely recover though it had done nothing to hamper his goofy playful mood. He was the same old Quil Ateara we had all known.

Sam and I were the next to walk down the aisle as he took my hand in his, kissing me on the cheek at the end of the aisle as we took our positions as the best man and matron of honor. Being the second to marry in the pack and the first ones to actually have a ceremony Paul and Leah had decided to have several bridesmaids and groomsmen to accommodate all of us in the wedding. Eight year old Hazel was the last to walk out as the flower girl with Izzy being the ring bearer.

Finally Leah walked out with Charlie on her right side as she walked down the aisle to where Paul was standing waiting for her, with a shy smile on her face. Her face was radiating with happiness as she blushed and I had never seen her this happy before.

Charlie kissed her cheek as she went on to stand opposite Paul. The ceremony was short and sweet and their happiness was visible on their face as they said their vows and said I do promising to be with one another and to love one another till death. I have never seen Leah as happy as the moment when Billy pronounced they man and wife and introduced the new Mr. and Mrs. Lahote with Paul kissing Leah like his life depended on it. Looking at them I knew that their happily ever after had finally arrived.

The reception followed being conducted in the massive hall inside Vampire Haven and Sam wrapped his arms around my waist as we stood watching Paul and Leah taking their first dance together as a married couple as they whispered in one another's ears blissfully in love.

"I can't wait to tell everyone" said Sam in my ear as he touched my still flat stomach lovingly.

"I know me too" I said thinking of the baby that will be in my arms in just a few more months. We had found out that I was pregnant just yesterday after taking a pregnancy test after my continuously puking and realizing that I had missed my period but had decided till after the wedding to tell everyone of this. Today was Leah and Paul's day and no matter how happy they would be to hear of this I wanted it to be just their day.

"Come on let's dance" said Sam pulling me towards the dance floor where all the couples were now joining in and Leah was dancing with Charlie while Paul danced with Amy. Jared and Kim were dancing in one corner while Jasper and Jennifer softly moved to the tunes in the other corner. Even Garrett and Maysun joined in and so did Rosalie Emmett, Peter Charlotte and Seth and Claire. Embry danced with Rebecca who had specially flown down from Hawaii for Leah's wedding while Jake danced with Emily. Jake, Seth, Brady, Collin, Ben and Alex were still phasing whereas the others had all quit by now owing to the fact that there had been no vampire sightings in three years and patrols were no longer needed. Out of all of them only Seth had imprinted as of now though but the rest of them were in no hurry and were enjoying being single.

"Bells" said Charlie coming to where I was standing and putting his hand out forward "You took this chance away from me two years back"

I nodded my head as I gave him a smile as he took me onto the dance floor for a father-daughter dance. We moved to the soft tunes in rhythm, playing by the band Leah and Paul had hired for today.

"I am so happy for you and Sam and even Leah and Paul that you finally reached where you were supposed to be and even Seth and Claire. Life has just begun for you all and I am a lucky man that I got to see all four of my children to be this happy in life" said Charlie with a quivering heavy voice

"Dad" I said as my voice became heavy too with all the emotions swirling within me "You know that you and mom will always have us right? No matter where we go we will always be there for you both and each other"

He nodded his head "Yeah I know"

We danced till the song ended before making our way back to where everyone was sitting and talking and making jokes after which the funny toasts that were meant to embarrass Paul started with Sam and Jared talking about his childhood and his awkward teenage years and as I looked around me at the happy laughing crowd I knew that life was finally looking up at us.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Eight months later –

"Come on Bella Push" Leah's booming voice came as I groaned in unimaginable pain

"What do you think I am doing right now if I am not pushing?" I snapped back annoyed. My temper had been skyrocketing these last few months with the hormones, the baby kicking and using my bladder as a Squeeze toy and I had even quoted the famous dialogue from 'Friends' No uterus no opinion a few many times by now on Sam and the other pack boys and especially when I had the Braxton Hicks contractions also known as false labor.

"Ouch" said Sam wincing in pain as I held onto his hand tightly and I knew that luckily some of supernatural strength had stayed back with him or he would have definitely ended up with a few broken bones by now.

"One final push Mrs. Uley" said the doctor "The baby is almost out"

I screamed in pain as Sue wiped the sweat off my forehead.

"Why must girls bear all this pain?" I asked Sue half shouting in pain and half crying

"Because boys cannot bear pain" she said softly still running her hands through my matted hair

"Yeah" said Leah chuckling "Paul snubbed his toe accidently yesterday at the edge of the bed and cried out like a little girl for an hour straight wincing about how much it hurt"

"Leah" Paul's loud voice came from the corridor outside indicating that he had heard what Leah said while Leah just shrugged in return "He should not behaved like that if he did not want me to joke about it later"

Sam gave Leah an annoyed look before looking at me "come on Bella one more push and it is over"

"You are never touching me again Sam Uley" I said glaring at him as he looked everywhere but at me. I know it was not technically his fault that the condom tore and it was the one day when I had missed taking my birth control pill but still here I was now.

"All women says that in here" said the doctor chuckling before I started pushing again with all I had within me and finally I took a sigh in relief and fell onto the bed when I heard the cry of my baby as the doctor took the baby in his arms cutting the cord.

"You did it" said Sam kissing me on the forehead

"We created a baby" I said in a tearful voice looking at Sam whose face was a visage of expressions ranging from surprise to happiness to pride.

"Congratulations it's a girl" said the doctor giving us our baby girl after cleaning her up as Sue and Leah went outside to tell the others of her birth. The minute I took my baby for the first time in my arms I instantly knew that I would do everything in my power to protect her and keep her safe. Sue had once told me that you never truly understand a mother's love till you become a mother yourself and I now knew the truthfulness in that statement as I had not known this amount of selfless love before holding Nora Susan Uley my daughter in my arms.

X-X-X-X-X-X

25 years later –

"Yeah yeah I know you are waltzing around in Hawaii soaking in the sun scarring young couples away with your decade's old romance and PDA that seriously nobody should see but guess what, Paul is still alive even after I almost planned to murder him several times over the years for his apparent stupidity and to celebrate this fact and the fact that I am still married to this idiot we both are throwing a twenty fifth anniversary party next month. I know you will claim that you are busy doing absolutely nothing except chilling around but you have to come back. All of us will be meeting again after so long and honestly I miss my sister" Leah's voice came from the audio message she had sent us over the phone.

I looked at my husband of over twenty seven years as he sat on the love seat in our hotel room sketching on a piece of paper completely lost in his own world. I rolled my eyes at the sight, some things were never meant to change and even today Sam sketched in his free time ignoring everything and everyone around him for that small while.

"So what do you say?" I asked him referring to the audio message

He gave me a confused look as he looked up and I sighed and played the message again.

He shrugged at the end of it "It is your choice. We have been here for three weeks now"

I nodded my head sadly "let's go back. I want to meet everyone. It has been so long"

He opened his arms for me to come closer and I walked to the love seat sitting next to him as he wrapped his familiar arms around me and I breathed in relief.

"Nora will be coming from Seattle. You know how close she is to Leah and Paul" said Sam as I nodded my head in agreement.

Our daughter Nora was now twenty five years old and was working as a journalist based in Seattle and was exceptionally close to Leah and Paul and their only son Daniel who still lived in La Push. She was happy and successful in her life and Sam always got a look of pride on his face when he spoke about her.

Our younger son and my baby boy Tyler Charles Uley was born twenty three years back and had recently graduated from SAIC, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was as artistic and aesthetically inclined as his father and as of now still lived in Chicago.

And as for us, Sam had kept the promise he had made to me nearly twenty eight years back of travelling the world one fine day after he retired as the chief and the day after Tyler had left for SAIC even we both had packed our bags and had left La Push giving our house to Brady and his wife Jenna to stay who were looking for a larger place.

In the past five years we had seen New York and London which was on the list of our dream destinations which we had discussed even before we started dating. We had seen the Colosseum in Rome and had been to Bali in Indonesia. We had travelled to Sydney, Australia and had seen the Pyramids of Egypt and now finally three weeks back we had arrived in Hawaii.

"We really need to thank Peter and Charlotte" I told Sam as he nodded his head knowing what I was talking about. Twenty eight years back before Peter and Charlotte had left for their ranch in Houston they had told us all how they had acquired all this wealth or how the Cullens had become so rich. While Peter, Charlotte, Garrett and Jasper relied on Peter's ability of clairvoyance to predict which stock will rise and which will not the Cullens relied on Alice and her visions and Peter had taken a small token of money from all of us before he left which had been invested with his money and over the years had turned out to be fruitful as all ex pack members now owned quite a fortune that Peter still regularly deposited in our accounts. This money that had multiplied had given us enough to send our children to college, in my and Sam's case travel the world or for the ones who stayed back in La Push give them a luxurious life and save some for our next generations who would live a much better life than most of us had. Though most of us had still worked there had not been much pressure on us as whatever we earned was added to that account. Charlie had called it a payback from destiny to all the wolves who sacrificed their childhood and teenage years to protect another's life.

"So should I book the tickets?" asked Sam as I looked at him nodding my head. His hair had a few gray streaks in them and he still kept it cropped like all those years back. He was forty seven now and wore glasses but still had the body builder physique he owned when he was nineteen and I always told him that he had aged like fine wine.

"We are going home" I said with a grin as he pecked me on the lips pulling me closer to him. Ah some things never change.

X-X-X-X-X-X

La Push was the still the same small little town though it now had more restaurants, shops and recently renovated houses. Sam drove the rental car we had taken from Seattle as I stared outside the window in wonder thinking about the memories I had shared with this place from Charlie marrying Sue and me moving to the reservation to being saved by Paul when I was about to be bullied, growing up with Leah and Seth to looking after the baby of our family, Hazel and meeting Sam and him imprinting on me to becoming a part of the pack. The ups and downs of our life as we faced everything that came in front of us, it being the council or a member of the pack randomly phasing. The stress of the newborn army to finding ways to connect their wolves to the pack before Jake phased. This place, these woods had seen so much and even today refreshed so many memories for me. The later memories also filtered through my mind from our marriage to our children's birth to their birthdays and graduations to finally them leaving for college. It felt like an entire era had passed in these past forty six years of my life.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Sam

I shrugged as we passed the cliffs near Second beach "Sam, you remember how you all used to go cliff diving from the upper level cliffs"

He gave out a small laugh as he nodded his head "Have to thank the shape shifter genes for that. I can't dream of jumping of that monstrosity of a cliff now"

"You better not you old man" I said teasingly

He raised his eyebrows looking at me as a smirk appeared on his face "I remember you saying something completely different last night"

"Sam" I chided him as a blush overtook my face and his laugh filled the car. We had two grown up children but my husband still refused to grow up.

"It feels so good to be back" I said as he took my hand in his lightly squeezing it.

"Yeah it is" he said in agreement

We drove to the house Paul and Leah had created for themselves at the edge of La Push and parked the car in the driveway overflowing with cars. It seemed like we were the last to arrive. We got out of the car and walked to the open door of the house from where we could hear the sounds of laughter and loud music coming from inside.

As soon as we entered and saw the familiar faces a huge smile overtook my face. Time had changed but the people here had not changed so much and Leah had been correct when she had said that everyone would be here, no matter where who stayed they were here today for this party.

We were welcomed with warm hugs by the others as we spoke to Leah, Paul, Jared, Kim, Rachel, Embry, Quil, Emily, Jake and his wife Peyton, Seth and Claire, Brady, Jenna, Collin and his wife Lisa, Ben and Maggie and Alex whose imprint Sheila was not in town as we reminisced about the old days laughing to our heart's content.

I was talking to Rachel and Emily when I heard a very familiar voice that I had only heard four times in my life yet without the use of technology.

"Aunt Bella"

I looked up to see now fully mature Isabella Grace standing in front of me. She had reached her physical maturity at the age of seven and now looked like an eighteen year old that she would look like till eternity. She gave me a smile before coming over and hugging me. The last time I had seen her was ten years back when Sam and I had taken the kids with us on a vacation to Florida and she had been living there. She had lived with Maysun and Garrett till she was biologically eleven after which she had taken off on her own to see the world and meet others like her.

"This is Riley" she said introducing me to a vampire with golden eyes and blonde hair "My mate"

I gave her a huge smile as I spoke to Riley and congratulated them both. Surprisingly I had known Riley as a child as he too had lived in Forks before he was changed by a sadistic vampire in Seattle on a rainy day when he was eighteen. Luckily he had escaped and had travelled south where he had finally met Izzy after waiting for so long.

I saw Garrett, Maysun, Jennifer, Peter, Charlotte, Emmett, Rosalie and their son Ethan standing right behind her and went to talk to them while Jasper had directly gone to where Sam was standing talking to Jared and Embry no doubt to catch up with his old friends.

A few years after Maysun had given birth to Izzy, Rosalie and Emmett had gone to her to ask her if she would be willing to be the surrogate mother for their child as they now knew that male vampires could procreate. She had instantly agreed and with the help of Carlisle, Ethan McCarty had been born fulfilling Rosalie's wish of having a child nearly a hundred years after she became a part of this world. I have never seen anyone look as happy as Rosalie the day she had video called me as she held the baby Ethan in her arms. It was as if all her wishes had come true at once and she now had a reason to live, apart from Emmett.

Jasper and Jennifer on the other hand were officially the slowest couple to exist as they had just start dating two years back after knowing one another for twenty eight years and I had a feeling they would finally be married by the time I became a great grandmother.

I spoke to all of them for some more time before making my way towards where Billy was sat with Charlie watching baseball and drinking beer as always. They four Billy, Charlie, Sue and Sarah were now in their seventies and were still as close as before and still Billy and Charlie went fishing every other day while Sarah and Sue made Harry Clearwater's famous fish fry with the fish they brought home with them. I sometimes wished that we all would be as close as them at their age.

After dinner and many more conversations everyone finally sat in the backyard where a fire had been lit and stories were shared of the time passed by. As Nora sat on one side of mine and Hazel on the other with Tyler sitting next to Sam I knew that I was truly blessed.

"So Sam, Bella where is your next vacation?" asked Jared looking at us

"We are going to India to see the Taj Mahal" said Sam winking at me talking about the monument that was a symbol of love as I blushed profusely.

Imprinting may be a mystery but I would not have it any other way and our adventures had just begun.

A/N: Thank you so much everyone who read, followed, favorited or reviewed this story, the support means a lot.

-Hmz0975