"Happily ever after" is a relative term. It's truer for my kind than one might imagine. Was I grateful for what I had? Yes, oh, yes. I knew what I deserved, and I'd gotten so much more than I ever should have expected.

But as we stood on our doorstep, motionless with the morning sun shining on our backs and mist rising from the grass around us, our family finally all together and safe, I realized I wanted every bit of happiness I could hoard. I didn't want to read the note that was slipped halfway under our door, because that could mean the beginning of the end of our time here in Forks. Now that I'd tasted it, this little bit of normality couldn't be snatched from me. Here I was, being greedy as always, but I couldn't help myself.

Alaska was always an option – we'd lived there before – and Bella and I would attend college there soon; but I wanted a place with longevity, a place to call home, for another few years, at least. Forks was as much a home as I'd ever had in my immortal life, and now it was bursting with memories of me and Bella and our heady, tumultuous romance. We'd fallen in love here. We'd battled for our lives here. We'd married here.

I couldn't leave this place, never to return. My past would seem unmoored if I had to abandon all my memories in this town.

I wanted to be here in Forks at Christmas time with my wife and pretend things in our family were ordinary. I looked forward to watching snow pile up on the roads while people we knew went about their business after they'd shoveled off their cars and trucks. I longed to hear the familiar clipped, hard r's of the locals' speech as they shopped for holiday gifts in town. I needed to smell the nostalgic concoction of apple cider and cinnamon and cloves cooking on our stove, even if we wouldn't drink it. There had to be a real Fraser fir in the living room, brightly decorated, a burst of colored lights, while Bing Crosby and Burl Ives crooned through our sound system. I would shower my bride with frivolous presents, wrapped in shiny foil paper under the tree. Most of all, Bella would feel like her new family was as good as her old one, the one she'd never get to see again.

I even had a silly, fleeting vision of Bella, after a hunt, leaving her father some nice venison on his front lawn and making him wonder if there really was a Santa Claus. But that was too dangerous. We couldn't chance him seeing her now, or at Christmas, or ever.

Perhaps we should leave town after all; wouldn't that be easier for Bella? I sighed. Things would never be simple for us.

Next to me on the doorstep, Bella – following a quick but crucial hunt after we'd arrived back in the States – seemed steady once more; but her eyes were riveted to the note under our front door. A single word glared up at us – Cullens –scrawled across the front of the envelope in heavy pen. Bella glanced around our group, sensing the tension and wondering why no one was touching the letter.

"What's that?" she asked.

Everyone looked at me.

I cleared my throat and swallowed, searching for the right words. "When you were gone I … behaved rashly."

"That makes two of us," said Bella. She narrowed her eyes. "What'd you do?"

"I went to La Push, looking for you. I told them I changed you."

Bella looked again at the letter, recognizing it now for what it was: a time bomb. "Oh," she said. She glanced behind us as if she expected the pack to leap onto the porch and devour us in one piece, Big Bad Wolf style.

Carlisle reached down and picked up the letter. "Let's go inside," he said briskly.

Esme had barely shut the door behind us when Carlisle slid his finger across the seal and withdrew a sheet of plain, white paper. He scanned it quickly. His left hand pinched his lower lip, as it always did when he was thinking hard.

The rest of us remained quiet while Alice fidgeted. She didn't like not knowing what the wolves had decided, but there was nothing she could do about that blank spot in her sight. I saw the note in Carlisle's mind as he read it, and could hardly believe what my senses told me.

"Well?" prodded Esme.

Carlisle blinked, seeming to come out of a trance, and looked at all of us, his gaze lingering on Esme last. He looked down at the note again.

"'Welcome home,'" he read aloud. "'Our elders have agreed to meet with Carlisle Cullen to begin talks of possible renegotiation of the terms of our treaty. Your continued presence here may be mutually beneficial. We ask that Bella Cullen attend this meeting.'" Carlisle glanced at Bella before scanning the rest of the note. "They're asking me to contact Sam to schedule a time and place."

"Ah!" said Alice, laughing. "Yes! We get to stay!"

Carlisle raised his eyebrows and half-nodded; that was the impression the note had given him, too. Jasper felt the tension drain from the bodies around him, and his thoughts quieted. Esme clasped her hands together in front of her, her shining eyes locked on her husband's. Finally, with an exhale of relief, Carlisle returned her smile.

Jasper draped his arm over Alice's shoulder. "Bella, Bella," he drawled, sounding, as he sometimes did, like he was still living in another era. "Who knew you'd turn out to be our lucky charm?"

Alice poked him gently in the stomach and ran to Bella, embracing her. "You're the best thing that ever happened to us," she whispered in her ear.

"I'm – I'm pretty sure I'm not," Bella stammered over Alice's shoulder.

"Okay, you've gotta learn how to take some credit," said Emmett, pointing his finger at her.

Bella rolled her eyes, but grinned back at him.

"Why don't we all unpack?" suggested Esme.

Rosalie was already halfway up the stairs with her bag, grateful and silent, for once. Perhaps, as I saw it more often, I could learn to appreciate this side of my sister. Our family separated, each couple going back to its room to get settled back in.

We were home.

Bella and I had just entered our bedroom when we reached for each other. Suddenly the emotion of the past couple of days came bearing down on me, and I had to have her. Bella cleaved to me as she wrapped her arms around my neck and threaded her fingers through my hair. I pressed against her and crushed my mouth to hers, tasting deer's blood from our hasty hunt on her tongue as I kicked the door closed behind me. Her fingers trailed over my jaw, down the front of my chest to my hipbones. We wrestled our way to the bed, my hand already up her shirt and hers reaching for the button on my jeans. She smelled like the hunt, and suddenly I realized it was more tantalizing than she'd ever smelled in her human life.

I couldn't get her clothes off fast enough.

But suddenly Bella stiffened. She sniffed twice and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What's that smell?"

"What smell?" I kept kissing her lips, her neck, while I straddled her narrow pelvis to unbutton her shirt.

She already had my jeans open, but now she half-rose and cocked her head, her upper lip curled and brow furrowed. She sniffed again. "Ugh! What is that? Smells like – " She stood up and opened the bedroom door, buttoning her shirt as she went back downstairs.

I sighed, my hands resting on my thighs, head hanging. I'd have to get used to Bella's ability to sense things more quickly and accurately than the rest of us. Reluctantly, I buttoned up and tried to compose myself, following her.

A few seconds later I sensed a mind whirling, as ever, in a cyclone of emotion. Shortly thereafter I caught the scent of dog, and there was a knock on the door.

"Bella! Wait!" I caught her hand as she was about to turn the doorknob. I mouthed, It's Jacob.

Her eyes grew round as she realized that her friend was the source of the stench. She hesitated, probably unsure if I was comfortable with her seeing him. She started to speak, but stopped herself. Another rapping at the door, this time more insistent.

"He needs to see me. To see this," she whispered, gesturing at her new self.

My old anxiety began to wail inside me, but I knew she was right. She'd have to do this sooner or later. She'd just fed, and she was strong. She'd be fine. I nodded and stood away from the door, trying not to imagine Jacob attacking her. Of course, I'd be there in a split second if she needed me …

With that, I realized I was more worried for her safety than I was about her feelings for Jacob. Somehow, at some point, without my noticing it, something inside me had lifted, and I felt lighter than I had in months.

I gestured for her to go.

Again Bella hesitated. Was she making sure I wasn't upset about this? Was she scared?

He's alone, I said silently. You're safe.

Bella tilted her head and smiled at me, an odd twinkle in her eyes. I chuckled. I couldn't believe that I, of all people, had just said that to her, either.

I waved her on with a stiff smile. I wasn't elated he was here, but I wasn't about to stand in the way. And I wouldn't let Bella know how much Jacob still irritated me. What husband could ever be happy about his wife seeing an old flame, even if he trusted her? I had to trust her. Otherwise, what sort of marriage could we ever hope to have? In truth, it was Jacob I didn't trust. As far as I was concerned, Jacob was and always would be a dog sniffing after Bella.

She kissed my cheek and opened the door. A fresh breeze wafted into the living room, caressing our skin. It was one of those rare days in Forks when the sun had come out late in the morning and would shine all afternoon. Light streamed into the entryway around her, and her halo blazed into my eyes just before she shut the door.

I was nearly flattened by the screaming of Jacob's mind when he saw her. I leaned against the inside of the door and tried to take in what he was seeing. He'd backtracked down the porch steps to the lawn, to put some distance between himself and the vampire who used to be his love … but it wasn't far enough.

Through his eyes I saw Bella, the monster.

She stood at the top of the porch steps, shimmering marble, perfect and cold, no longer soft and accident-prone – this was Bella, fearless and powerful all by herself. She could kill him, and he knew it. She descended the steps gracefully and he took a halting step backward – afraid, but too proud and angry to show it. He was thinking that he knew her but didn't know her, didn't want to know this new being. He regretted coming here. He was stunned that Bella was beautiful to him even now, in that unearthly way of the undead. She enticed him. She terrified him. He longed to run, but he wouldn't. This had to happen. And yet it was the last thing he'd ever wanted.

Jasper, feeling what was happening, came to join me. Together we sat on the floor, forearms resting on knees, our backs against the front door. He shook his head, frowning, and I nodded in agreement. This was bad. I was grateful for his company. And he would help me, if Jacob became violent. Alice now crept into the room and sat on the piano bench. She knew she couldn't predict Jacob's behavior, but she wanted to be here anyhow, just in case.

Back on the lawn, Jacob couldn't look Bella in the eyes; she was too much for him. He wanted to yell. He wanted to weep. A hundred questions clamored in his mind. Attacks, half-planned, swirled and kicked through his head, confusing him. He was ferocious and horrified and still in love, and it made him immobile. His breathing was fast and deep, almost panting, like a frightened puppy's.

He stared at the ring on her finger, then the bracelet on her wrist, and the first thing he said was, "Where's the wolf?"

She raised her hand and I noticed for the first time that the carved wooden charm was gone. My heart contracted. She must have removed it before she went to Italy.

"I'm married now, Jake," Bella said quietly.

"That's not all that's changed." Bitterness and accusation dripped from Jacob's words.

"Yeah, well …" Bella shrugged. She dropped her hand, and the diamond on the bracelet shimmered in the sunlight. So did her hand.

"We were friends," muttered Jacob.

"The wolf's in my jewelry box," said Bella. "Doesn't change anything. You still saved my life."

Jacob scoffed. For what? he thought.

"You were my best friend," Bella went on. "We can still be friends."

They were silent for a long while, with Jacob now watching Bella's feet.

"No, we can't," said Jacob.

Bella didn't speak.

"You made your choice," he said.

Bella nodded. "Finally."

Through Jacob, I saw the two of them in his room, their last goodbyes thundering through his mind, trampling all hope. I saw the ghosts of affection that Jacob had clung to in the time before our wedding, and all the real and imagined demonstrations of love Bella had shown him. I saw how he'd envisioned the future with her, and my heart broke for him.

It could have been me who'd been left behind.

Jacob half turned from Bella and looked off into the woods, but he couldn't leave. He wanted to ask her what it was like, to be what she was. Then he decided he didn't want to know.

The air was heavy with all the things they weren't saying to each other.

"I'm so sorry, Jake," whispered Bella.

Jacob's head dropped and he watched his bare toes gripping the ground for a while. His skin looked dark and dull next to her luminescence.

"Bella …" He shook his head, and kept shaking it. All the things he'd wanted to say to her, to shout at her, were somehow meaningless, now that he'd seen her splendor, her remoteness, seen the ring on her finger.

At last he raised his head and looked into Bella's clear crimson eyes. She regarded him with affection and familiarity. With her arms hanging loosely by her sides, she seemed confident and sad all at once. Jacob's breath hitched. This was his Bella, but more beautiful than ever, now never-changing, out of reach like something heavenly. He wanted to hate her. He would try to hate her.

He turned quickly and walked, walked, to the edge of the forest. Then, under the cover of trees, the pine needles stabbing his bare feet, he began to run.

Bella stayed outside for another few minutes. When she came in, she gave a wan smile to Jasper and Alice, who quietly stood and went back upstairs. Then she looked at me.

I wanted to say that I was sorry, that goodbyes always hurt, that I understood what it was like to leave people behind. But before I could open my mouth, she ran to me and embraced me. I held her close and just whispered that I loved her, because, really, that was the only thing I could say, after all.

Later, up in our meadow, we had spread out Bella's quilt, and now we lay there side by side, hands clasped, looking up at the gathering clouds. It was dusk, and would be dark soon. The waning light filtered through the cloud cover and sat still on our skin, giving the illusion that we were just another young man and woman lying here, simply happy to be alone in each other's company. I thought of our wedding night and how we should have been here, together, learning each other's bodies without the threat of death hanging over our heads.

But death was all around us, and always would be. I had no illusions about the Volturi leaving us alone. They'd grow their ranks again, re-think their strategies, find a way to confront us again. Jane would seek out Bella and try to kill her; I had no doubt about that. We could never let our guard down. Even if our negotiations with the Quileute tribe went well, we might have to leave Forks after all.

But for now, we had as much peace as we were likely ever to have again.

We lay there in silence, each of us thinking our own thoughts. I was beginning to realize that sometimes I relished the quiet I could enjoy in Bella's company, without her mind intruding into mine as everyone else's did. I used to think knowing her thoughts would help me to understand her, to trust her. But she told me everything I needed to know, in words and in actions, and it was up to me to have faith in her. Right now she was probably thinking about losing Jacob's friendship, and that was only right.

I settled back into my dark thoughts about the Volturi, and about the narrow escape we'd managed in Italy. Things could have gone horribly wrong. I could have lost Bella, and my whole family. For that matter, I could have gotten myself killed when I went to La Push, if Jacob had been angry enough to shift into his wolf form and if his pack had followed suit instead of helping me. I squeezed Bella's hand and thanked God for allowing two such reckless beings to survive another day. Then I smiled, thinking of what Carlisle would say if he knew I was talking to God again.

Bella sat up on an elbow, nestling her knees into my side and resting her other hand on my chest. Her hair tickled my cheek. "I'm sorry," she said.

I tucked an arm behind my head and said, "For what?" But I knew. We hadn't been able to talk about anything on the flight home. Somehow neither of us had wanted to have this intimate conversation near the unnaturally keen hearing of our family.

"For running off to Italy like that," she said. "I thought I'd be quick enough. That I could talk to them before you'd even gotten on an airplane. But I could have gotten myself captured. Or killed." She looked into my eyes. "I could have gotten you killed."

"Bella – "

"I wasn't thinking. As usual." She blinked rapidly, and I could tell she was trying not to cry. "I thought I was saving everyone. But I could have ruined everything."

I clasped the hand that lay on my chest. "Yes."

We looked at each other for a moment as the weight of my affirmation sunk in.

"But," I admitted, "I probably would have done the same thing in your shoes. If I thought I could save you by sacrificing myself, I would do it."

Bella's voice was adamant. "I wouldn't want you to do that."

"And I didn't want you to do it, either."

Her brow knit and she was silent.

"But then again," I said, "I endangered my own life by going and blabbing to the pack that I'd changed you. So I can't throw stones."

"Why'd you do that?"

"I thought – " I didn't want to say this, but I had to. "I thought you'd gotten cold feet. That you had run back to Jacob."

Her face grew even more serious. "Edward."

"I know. I can be a real idiot." I sat up and faced her, still holding her hand. "Once I was there and knew you hadn't gone to him, I had to have a reason for being there. And I figured they'd find out sooner or later about your transformation."

"But you told them about my ability."

I nodded.

"And because of that, we get to stay in Forks." She scooted closer to me and sat cross-legged so that our knees were touching. "It worked out."

"Kind of. We're here," I said, stroking her hair, "but you don't get to see your dad."

"True. I don't." She lowered her eyes and was lost in her own thoughts again.

I let her be for a moment, then I said slowly, "I'm not quite sure what the point is. Of our staying here now."

For me, Forks was filled with mostly good memories – of falling in love with Bella. But I wondered if this place was full of painful memories for her. She'd lost her school friends, her best friend, and her family. Perhaps I'd ask her if we should leave permanently. Maybe we should go to college and just stay in Alaska. It would be sad to leave the city where we'd met; but wasn't nurturing our love the most important thing now? And we could do that anywhere.

"We can protect him," Bella said suddenly. "My dad. And everyone else here."

When I saw the light in her eyes, I knew she was right. By staying here, her newfound power would keep her father safe from other vampires, even if he never saw her again. "Yes. We can do that."

Bella smiled at me, but her eyes remained cheerless. I pulled her to me and held her. We stayed like that for a while, until she pulled away, trying to brighten her smile a little more.

"Do you want to talk about maybe delaying university for a while?" I whispered. "So we can stay here?"

"Let's talk about it later," said Bella.

I leaned in to kiss her, but Bella put a finger on my lips.

"One more thing," Bella said.

I couldn't resist: I licked her finger and wrapped my lips around it.

"No, Edward, I have to say this." She pulled her finger from my mouth and I sat back to listen. "From now on, I promise I won't do anything rash without talking with you first. You're my husband. We're a team. I need to get used to that."

These were indeed words that needed to be said. "Me, too," I agreed. "I promise. No more trips to La Push, or anywhere else where I might get ripped to shreds."

"Good."

"Good."

Bella kissed me and murmured, "No more solo superhero escapades."

I raised an eyebrow. "But will you still wear a cape for me?"

"Only if you wear the tights."

We laughed as we kissed, our hums and sighs mingling in each other's mouths, and the darkness descended in a purple hush. Birds in the trees muttered softly to themselves as they settled into their nests for the night. The air smelled clean and new, and a breeze lifted the hairs on the back of my neck as Bella and I worshipped one another's bodies in the cool night air. Finally, our wedding night was here, as it should have been. We took our time, because time was ours to squander now. It felt like the beginning of something good, something permanent, something altogether ours. It felt like the beginning of "happily ever after."

Author's Note: Well, folks, that's the end of this story. Thank you again for accompanying me on this journey. It's been a wild ride, gratifying in all the nicest ways. I'm so pleased you liked my Edward and Bella enough to follow them all the way to the end. You're the best. :)