Because I adore everybody who has taken the time to read, review and rec this little two-shot
I decided to write a short outtake, just to fill in any blanks you might have had :) As I said at the bottom
of Part 2, the reaction to this has been astounding, and I'll be incredibly grateful to anyone who gets in
contact after reading this, too.

I'll see you on the other side!

All The Little Lights

Outtake

Lake Tahoe is still, silent and cool as the sun rises on a balmy summer day, a gentle breeze creating pretty ripples across the surface. A lone gull landing sloppily dissipates the illusion of perfection, her loud caws attracting the attention of several more loud birds as they fly through the sky with messy, just-mastered wings. On the shoreline a small army of people hustle and bustle with arms full of ribbons, flowers, table settings and other various decorative paraphernalia, the most harried of all a petite, gray haired woman with startlingly green eyes.

"No, no, no! Not there, Elizabeth!" The red-headed teenager, Elizabeth, flushes under the older woman's chastisement, however gently it was intended. "The calla lilies go on the posts."

"Yes, Mrs Cullen." The teenager scurries off with the large bouquet clutched tightly, but not too tightly, in the cradle of her arms. She saw the way one of the other girls got sent away when she crushed a bouquet a short while ago, so Elizabeth is determined not to make the same mistake.

"Dear, are you harassing the poor girls again?" An amused, wry voice comes from behind her. "Esme, my love, Edward will go spare if he comes down here and there's nobody left to set up."

Esme huffs, reaching up to adjust her hair, a habit she hates to admit to having picked up from her husband and sons over the years. "But, Carlisle-"

"No buts, dear," Carlisle tuts reproachfully. His smile is teasing, small lines crinkling around his eyes as he loops an arm around his wife's shoulders. "Come inside for a little while. Let the wedding planner do her job." Esme sighs long and low but acquiesces to her husband's suggestion and allows him to lead her up the wooden staircase into the large wooden cabin. Luckily for Carlisle, she misses both the wink he shot Heidi Stevens, the wedding planner, and the grateful grin she shoots back in reply. Heaven knows how the headstrong matriarch of the Cullen family would react to that little jab.

As it turns out, inside is almost as hectic as outside. Demands are being called from every-which-way. The strong scent of calla lilies, roses and various other plants intertwine to create an assault on the senses that isn't at all unpleasant, just unexpected inside a cabin made primarily from wood. The sound system in the corner of the great room is expelling an almost rough symphony of percussion, wind and strings. Over the back of the sofa lays a black garment bag, the well-known Armani label standing out proudly on the black material covering the tuxedo inside. As Esme's court shoes tap a beat of their own on the floor Carlisle drops back, spotting a pair of Chuck clad feet poking out from the back of the sofa in the far corner. His gray-blue eyes crinkle at the edges as he crouches at the end of the leather couch, a smile pulling his lips upwards. "Who are you hiding from, sport?"

The gray-blue eyed, sunny-blond haired little boy grimaces without looking away from the screen of his DS, looking every bit his father's son. If it weren't for the shade of his eyes -inherited from his mom- he'd be his dad's doppelganger in every way. "Gramma. She wants me to wear a monkey suit, Gramps!"

Carlisle chuckles at his five year old grandson's disgust, feeling much the same about his own suit which currently adorns his weathered, but still looked after, body. "You know she'll only sniff you out if you hide for much longer." He casts his eyes about a little, returning them to the little boy when he doesn't spot what he's looking for. "Where's Angie, Tyler?"

Tyler realizes that Carlisle isn't going to leave him alone to play his game like he wants and closes it up, staring at his Gramps with baleful eyes. "Probably letting Nana do her hair. He explains that his two-years-younger sister has been following their Nana round all morning while he's been doing the exact opposite, very aware that where Nana is, Gramma is likely to be close by. Amused but just as aware that his beloved wife will be hell to deal with if this wedding doesn't go off without a hitch, Carlisle scoops Tyler up and carries him through to the bedroom his Nana and Pops have set aside for him, Angie and their two cousins for when they stay. It's there that they bump into Angie and her Nana.

"Ah, there you are, Mister."

Tyler smiles ruefully at his dad's mom as she takes him from Carlisle, sitting him beside his sister on the bed nearest to them. Three year old Angie beams happily, offering Carlisle a wave as he chuckles and hovers in the doorway. "Do you need any help, Isabella?"

Isabella's deep, dark chocolate eyes twinkle as she gazes between her father-in-law and two eldest grandchildren. "No, thank you, Carlisle. I think I can manage with these two little hooligans." She pauses, a flicker of fear gracing her features. "Is everything going ok out there?"

"Everything is going brilliantly," Carlisle winks, a trait his sons and grandsons have inherited. "Esme's around here somewhere, and I think she wants you and the children all in your room for pictures."

Isabella agrees that she'll be there as soon as Tyler and Angie are ready, laughing heartily at her grandson's scowl when she finally wrestles him into his dove gray suit. His easily-flared temper is dissuaded from making an appearance by his mom's appearance in the doorway. "Oh, look at you..." she sniffles, one hand cradling her seven-months-pregnant bump while the other dashes tears from her rosy cheeks. Isabella grins widely, lifting Angie in her sparkly baby blue flower-girl dress off the bed before leading Tyler out of the room by the hand. "Thank you for all your help, Isabella. I'm hopeless at...well, at all of this."

Isabella laughs lightly at her soon-to-be daughter-in-law's harried expression, sitting her granddaughter and grandson on her queen-sized bed before helping their mom sit on the chair at the foot of it. "Oh Christy, honey, you know I love helping. Now," her soft, motherly persona falls away to make room for the one that's been managing the children for the past week while the entire family has been living under her room in preparation for this wedding.

It's been over twenty-six years since her own, though it was held in the exact same spot at today's will be, a tribute that has her fighting back tears as she helps Christy into her floor-length off-white wedding gown a few minutes later, her sisters-in-law Rosalie and Alice both equally as tearful as they tended to her hair and make-up in the same way they had Isabella's all those years ago. "Oh, Christy..." Isabella turns to smile at the young woman in the doorway, baby Alexander on her hip, four year old Jamie dive-bombing the bed and her stomach rounded with their third son, whom she and her husband Alec have already named Joseph. As she watches her daughter and her soon-to-be daughter embrace around their ever-expanding bellies, Isabella can't help but feel blessed that she has such a wonderful, amazing family.

Her two children are both parents - Riley with Tyler, Angie and the unborn baby in Christy's womb, Charlotte with Alexander, Jamie and Joseph. Though they have struggled and battled to conceive, Jasper and Alice's son and daughter-in-law Charlie and Mia now have a three week old daughter named Rebecca. On Edward's side of the family there are babies galore, with his nieces May and April having both gone on to give birth to twins themselves within a year of each other -May's girls Hanna and Elisa are the flower-girls today along with Angie, while April's sons Philip and Shawn are ushers-, as well as children after that. In fact, April's youngest son Olivier turns two tomorrow, May's youngest daughter officially six months old a few short days afterwards.

"Good job I bought tissues with me, huh." A velvety voice grabs Isabella's attention then and drags it away from Christy and Charlotte. In the doorway stands her husband, resplendent in his black top hat and tails and still very able to turn her legs to jelly despite their passing years. Nearly thirty years of marriage, two children and six grandchildren later the pair are as strong in their love for one another as ever, Edward's jade eyes capable of reducing Isabella's brown ones to pools of molten chocolate with just a flash. Now into his sixties with streaks of gray in his copper locks, laughter lines mixed with a few wrinkles, Edward has never been more handsome in his wife's eyes, and vice versa.

"Here's your buttonhole, Edward. Is everybody ready?" Esme bustles into the room like a hummingbird, handing her son his white calla lily buttonhole as she whirls through in a blur of pale blue silk. A chorus of affirmations ring out, she happily hands the veil that she and Bella wore on their wedding days to Isabella so she can do the honors, then she, Rosalie, Alice and Isabella leave the wedding party to take their seats outside where family and friends gather in great anticipation of the big event. As soon as she steps outside there isn't a single person she can see except the tall, sunny blond haired man at the make-shift alter. When he spots her it's already too late, her arms around his waist and her little body tucked into his tall, lean one.

"Mom, are you ok? What's wrong?" Riley worries effusively, his grassy-green eyes wide and panicked.

"N-nothing. My li-little boy is all gro-grown up!" She cries into his black blazer, leaning back briefly to gaze up at him through tear-filled eyes.

He relaxes, rolling his eyes only to wince when he earns a slap on the arm. "Hey! What was that for?" Riley grumbles boyishly to the sniggers of the gathered crowd.

"For back-chatting and for rolling your eyes. Don't be rude, Mister." He may be closer to forty than thirty now, a father and about to be married, but the sight of his mom so clearly upset still slays Riley. He tugs her into his chest, his head resting against her crown now that he's inherited his father's six-two frame. There was a while there in his teenage years he wondered if he'd ever surpass his five-four mom.

A few long minutes later Isabella gets herself together enough to step back, adjust her hair and smile bashfully up at the boy who stole her heart all that time ago, now a man with a boy and girl of his own to cherish. It's hard for her to reconcile that little boy with the man standing before her. "Hey, it's ok. It's not like we live far, is it? You'll see us so much you'll be sick of us."

Eyes twinkling with the reminder of Riley's wedding gift to his soon-to-be wife, Isabella beams. When Riley called to ask if any of the houses nearby were for sale she thought she'd burst with joy. To say that she was happy when Old Man Rich sold up a few months ago is an understatement. Edward practically had to restrain her from baking the unknowing old man cakes as a reward. Just as Isabella opens her mouth to speak the soft strains of a lullaby she's all too familiar with begin to play. It's the song Isabella wrote for Tyler when he was born, the song Christy adores so much she asked Isabella's permission to walk down the aisle to it. Riley kisses her cheek before walking her to her seat in the front row between an already sobbing Esme and the empty seat his dad will take shortly. Just as he takes the alter the flower-girls appear, dancing down the aisle amidst the showers of petals they're launching into the anticipation-filled, calla lily and rose scented air. Angie, Hanna and Elisa take their seats on the opposite side of the aisle to Isabella, waving when they spot her. Next up is Charlotte, who is Christy's best friend and only bridesmaid.

Everyone takes a collective breath then, all eyes on Edward as he strolls smugly down the aisle with his beautiful almost-daughter-in-law on his arm. Unfortunately Christy's own parents are both long-dead, so when she asked Edward to escort her a few months ago Isabella had to stifle tears while trying not to laugh at his valiant attempt to look nonchalant as he accepted in a choked-up voice. Now, seeing him all dressed up with a brilliant, lop-sided grin on his face identical to the one on their son's face, she's overwhelmed with everything that has happened since she had her heart broken all that time ago. It seems like another lifetime, though she will never forget her first love Michael and their baby son Andrew, whose lives was snuffed out cruelly and well before his time. Not to mention Bella and Jasper's parents, Charles and Renée who would have adored their grandchildren and great-grandchildren had circumstances allowed them to meet them.

"Reminds me of our wedding day," Edward suddenly says close to Isabella's ear. He grins softly, tenderly, and kisses her cheek, the congregation sitting collectively as Isabella whispers 'I love you' to her cherished husband as they clasp their hands and watch their son marry his childhood sweetheart, the sun setting as the guests watch Riley first serenade his new wife at the reception and then lead his little family a short ways down the road to the large cabin that is now theirs.

As she listens to Riley give a final speech before the crowd disperses Isabella is sucked back into a memory of his speech at her wedding to Edward. He'd been eleven years old, wrapping up his touching, tear-jerking speech with a tribute to Pup who he confessed was probably one of the things that brought them to where they were. The entire congregation had raised their glasses to the long-dead mutt Isabella could never have imagined would bring her a family when he showed up, bedraggled and tiny, on her doorstep. They never did get another dog. No pedigree of the highest breeding could have replaced the waggy-tailed, sandy colored Pup Isabella missed so badly, though several large donations have been made anonymously to that little hospital over the years.

Isabella and Edward go to bed late that night, long after all of the guests have gone home, Riley and Christy headed off on a two week honeymoon. After checking in on Tyler and Angie in their room down the hall Isabella crawls into bed with Edward, tucking herself into her husband's side just as she has pretty much every night since they married nearly three decades ago. As they murmur their 'I love you's and fall into relaxed slumbers, both of them are certain -and correct- in their beliefs that they still have many more years of happy marriage and family life to go before they are reunited with their beloved Pup, though they both await the day that they can properly thank the little mutt they consider the most loyal of friends.

As her family sleeps peacefully under the stars beside Lake Tahoe, sleep just seconds away, Isabella swears that she hears the happy little yaps of her scruffy friend. Lips pulled upwards into a sleepy grin, she whispers 'goodnight', at peace with herself and in love with life.