Epilogue, Together Forever

Edward

I heard the laughter coming from the kitchen, and walked in to find Bella and Edward laughing together. Bella's eyes were still red, even though it had been six months since her changing. Though I had to admit, an amber hue was starting to come through, making them lean closer to an orange than red. A few more feedings and I was pretty sure they would become a solid gold color.

I folded my arms and laughed to myself, realizing that this moment marked the final vision Alice had seen coming true. Can't that girl ever be wrong once? "What's so funny?" I asked them both.

Bella looked up at me, her eyes bright. "Hi sweetheart," she cooed. "Emmett was just being Emmett." She rolled her eyes. "You know him."

"I was just trying to educate Bella on the art of the good hunting," Emmett said with a shrug.

"With rather comical demonstrations," Bella added with a stifled laugh.

"Do you mind if I steal Bella for a moment?" I asked.

"Not at all," Emmett said with a grin.

Bella got up and floated towards me easily. I couldn't get over just how beautiful she looked, not to mention how easily she had adapted to the transformation. She told me that she had hardly experienced any pain, and once her transformation was complete, she didn't go into the usual newborn rage that most vampires experienced. In fact, we were able to return to Forks only a month after changing, which pleased the rest of the family. Bella wasn't even tempted by the smell of human blood – she possessed the same control as Carlisle did. It annoyed Jasper somewhat at first to see Bella have so much initial control, but Alice was quick to remind Jasper that what he went through, and what Bella's change entailed were two widely different scenarios.

I loved that Bella had retained most of her features, the only major change being that most of her best ones were heightened – the shape of her mouth, a luscious darker shade to her chestnut hair, the svelte shape of her body. As she came towards me, I met her halfway and pulled her into my arms, holding her as tightly as I wanted to – now that I was able to do so.

"What's up Edward?" she asked me.

"Nothing," I admitted. "I guess I just wanted to hold you."

Emmett let out a loud groan. "Come on, you two need to come out of this honeymoon stage. Really. It's making everyone sick."

"You're just mad because we're so much louder than you and Rosalie," Bella said teasingly.

"Hey, I draw the line at that!" Emmett said defiantly. "I could make Rosalie much louder than you Bella. Don't test me."

We both started to laugh. "Relax Emmett. Bella is obviously trying to push your buttons," I reminded him playfully.

Emmett chuckled but kept up a mock angry expression. "Just wait till she comes out of this newborn power stage. I'm going to challenge the pants off of you Bella Cullen."

"What about Bella losing her pants?" Rosalie said, coming around the corner. She sized up the situation quickly, then frowned at Emmett. "Are you checking Bella out again? Why don't you cut that out!" she added in a hiss, before turning away.

"Rose, baby, I am not checking Bella out!" Emmett said quickly, chasing after her.

Bella and I laughed again, before she pulled me closer to her. "Let's go upstairs," she whispered sexily.

"You and your sexual appetite," I teased.

"Well why don't you feed it, baby?" She said, pressing herself closer to me, her breasts soft against my chest.

"You're going to wear me out," I said as she took the lead and went towards the staircase.

"You like it," she said, glancing over her shoulder and throwing me a provocative grin.

"Yeah, you're right," I admitted. "But still–"

"Enough talk," she commanded as we came to our bedroom door. "There are other things that need to be taken care of."

"Like your sexual appetite," I said with a suggestive smile.

"Exactly," she said, pulling me into our room.

*

Bella left me lying on our broken bed, saying she was thirsty. I was used to the pattern – the need to get off, followed by the need to feed. It was cute, the way she was so all over the place: that part was reminiscent of a usual newborn. I got off our broken down bed and decided maybe I should just tossed the bed frame for now until Bella had some control over her strength.

I smiled to myself, remembering Bella on top. Her fit felt even more perfect than before, and when she thrust down on me, it was with more power that I could imagine. She left us both shaking for more, but her immeasurable strength made it impossible for her to tire out. I knew most of the time she stopped because she knew that I was the one in need of a breather. That and her constant switch of moods.

I, too, couldn't wait until the burst of newborn strength would wear off. I couldn't wait to sexually possess Bella the right way all over again.

When she came back, I was pleased to find her eyes completely golden. "Take a look in the mirror," I told her with a smile.

She went to our dresser – also broken from a spur-of-the-moment sexual endeavor, though thankfully the mirror managed to survive – and took a look. I saw her face light up at her reflection. "My eyes!"

"Congratulations, you no longer look like a freak," I said playfully.

Bella rolled her new honeyed eyes at me. I was teasing her for when she had first taken a look at herself following her transformation, when she called herself a freak when she saw her blood red eyes. Albeit, a beautiful freak.

"You forgot to say beautiful, I'm no longer a beautiful freak." She said, correcting me on my mis-quote.

"Well you're still beautiful," I said with a smile.

"You spoil me," Bella said, looking over her shoulder and returning my smile. Then she looked back in the mirror, her expression somewhat mesmerized. "I guess it's because I just took down that huge bear. Maybe I took just enough blood to make the change."

"That would have to be it," I concluded. "Though, like I said, the way you wanted to feed every second of every day, the change wouldn't be so long as it normally is."

"Everything about my transformation is just so abnormal huh," she said as she turned around to face me completely.

"Yeah, but we all liked it that way," I said, still smiling at her.

She sauntered over towards me, slipping her arms around my waist easily. I rose my eyebrow at her. "You're not trying to get in my pants again are you?"

She giggled. "Not yet," she answered. "I was wondering actually, if you'd think it was too soon to go see Charlie."

"Charlie, huh?" I echoed quietly.

"Well, now that my eyes are no longer freakishly red, and you know I don't get all heady over human blood, I thought it would be nice to go and see him. We've been writing back and forth all the time, you know this, and he asks about when we're finally go to come pay him a visit."

"Are you sure that you'll be able to handle it?"

"I'm sure," Bella said with a smile. "I'm ready to see him. And I really want to."

"Well then, who I am to deny you?"

She smiled brightly and tightened her embrace on me. It was almost too much to bear, her extra strength, but she let me go before I could say anything. "You're the best!" she cheered, giving me a quick kiss. "Let's go now, while I'm not hungry. Think you could be ready in twenty minutes."

"So long as you don't try to take advantage of my body again."

Her eyes rolled up and down my body slowly, and I saw the desire appearing in her eyes again. "Well, I might have to do that one more time before we go," she said in a whisper, before easing me backwards onto our bed.

Bella

I was nervous. I was pretty sure that Charlie wasn't going to notice the difference in my eyes, and I was already prepared to blame it on contacts if it came down to that. And still, I was nervous. I hadn't seen my father in six months, and I had been looking forward to this meeting since I realized that I wasn't like other newborns who lost control at the scent of human blood. I had actually come to enjoy animal blood easily, and wasn't even tempted into straying off into anything else. I had just been waiting anxiously for my eyes to change, maybe even drinking more than I needed to in order to speed up the change.

But now that the day had finally come, I couldn't stop the nerves.

"What if I've become too different, and he doesn't even recognize me?" I asked Edward, who stood behind me with a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"I've told you countless times, Bella," Edward whispered to me. "You look exactly like you always have. Heightened beauty, but still the same Bella. He'll recognize you, I promise."

"Am I allowed to tear you apart if he doesn't?" I said, not really meaning it, but wanting him to understand just how nervous I was.

"Feel free love," he said, his voice still confident. "Though I assure you, he's going to recognize you right off the back."

"Okay," I murmured. I raised my hand and knocked tentatively.

I could hear shuffling going on inside – Charlie had probably just returned from fishing, and was putting his things away before he came to the door. When I finally saw the knob turning, I held my breath.

Charlie sputtered when he saw me. His eyes were wide, and he sputtered. My eyes burned slightly, and I knew that if I could, I would have started crying. "Hi Charlie," I whispered. "I came to see you."

"Bella!" He exploded with emotion finally. His arms went around me, and though I returned the embrace, I remembered not to squeeze too tight. "I can't believe you're here. I'm so glad that you're here. Finally, my baby girl, you're back!"

"Just visiting, Dad," I told him. I didn't think I should get Charlie too comfortable with the idea of me being here all the time.

"Whatever, doesn't matter," he said excitedly. "I'm just so glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you too, Dad," I whispered.

He finally pulled away from me and turned to Edward. "Edward," he said, stretching out his hand. "Good to see you too, son,"

Edward shook his hand, and I couldn't wait until I could get some control on my strength to make physical contact without worrying about hurting people. "Good to see you too, Dad," Edward said with a grin.

"How long are you guys in town?" Charlie asked.

"Just for a little," I said quickly, not sure of what Edward was going to say. "We're only staying a night actually, before we go back to Europe." I had told Charlie that I was thinking of continuing my education in Europe in the letters I had sent him. "I'm trying to narrow down my choices for the new fall semester."

"Sounds good Bells," Charlie said, running a hand over his head "So everything has been going well then?"

"Just perfect, Dad," I told him.

"Great, great," Charlie replied. He looked me up and down. "You look good Bells."

"Thanks, Dad. You look good too."

"Ah," Charlie waved me off. "I'm getting old."

I laughed to myself at how I certainly was not. "Well you look good for an old guy," I told him.

"Oh Bells," Charlie's eyes lit up for a moment. "Hey! You should go see Jacob! He asks for you from time to time, whenever I'm over the Blacks' place."

I glanced back at Edward, gauging his reaction. He didn't seem upset by the idea, so I turned to Charlie and said, "Yeah, that is a good idea. I would love to pop in and see Jacob."

"Okay Bells." He came forward and gave me another tight squeeze. "I'm so glad you came by. Stop by again before you leave for Europe, okay?"

"Sure thing, Dad."

When we left my old home, Edward drove us towards La Push. He paused at the city limits from being so used to doing so. I took his hand and gave him a light squeeze. "We can go, remember? Jacob said."

"Yeah I know," he murmured. "And I do have my super-powered, sexy wife by my side just in case things go wrong," he added in a teasing voice.

"Nothing is going to go wrong," I told him.

He started the car again and ploughed forward. I directed him to Jacob's house, and as we pulled up, I saw Jacob rushing out of his front door. I waited for Edward to come to a complete stop before I came out of the vehicle and rushed towards him.

"The rest of my pack saw you two coming over!" he said excitedly as the gap between us closed. "I can't believe you're here!"

Again, I had to restrain myself in the hug, but it was harder this time. I certainly didn't expect to see Jacob this happy to see me. Somehow I thought some of the malice from long ago would carry over when he finally saw me as a full vampire. But the look in Jacob's eyes reflected nothing but sheer happiness.

"You look good, Bells," Jacob said slowly, taking a couple of steps back. "Really good."

I played with him: "Are you trying to hit on a vampire?"

He frowned instinctively. "Not that good."

I laughed at him. "Right, I'm sure."

"You know, I always knew you were here," Jacob admitted. "You know my pack has complete surveillance on this entire place. I was just wondering when you'd finally come around to see me."

"When she stopped looking like a freak," Edward said jokingly.

I rolled my eyes at Edward, but then turned back to Jacob. "It's so nice to see you Jacob," I told him.

"It's nice to see you too, Bells," Jacob replied.

"I'm not staying long," I told him. "I just went to see Charlie, and he suggested I come and see you, so–" I shrugged. "–here I am."

"Well I'm glad you came," Jacob said.

We had a long silent exchange, before I finally stepped forward and gave Jacob another hug. "You need to keep in touch with me better, Bells," Jacob whispered. "I would appreciate it a lot."

"Okay," I whispered back. "I can do that."

"Good," he said, patting me on the back.

We let go of each other, slowly, and I turned back to Edward. He was waiting patiently by the car. I noticed him and Jacob have a silent exchange similar to the one I had just shared with him, before Edward climbed back into the car. I got into the passenger side, closing the door behind me.

"You okay, sweetheart?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah I am."

"You did really well Bella," Edward told me. "I think you could assimilate back into your old life sooner than you think, even with having all that extra strength."

I smiled brightly. "Think so?" The idea alone was enough to warm my whole body with glee.

"Yeah, I do," Edward said with a nod.

I leaned over and gave him a soft kiss. "You always know what to say."

"Is that why you love me?"

"That and so much more," I replied.

He took my hand and placed a light kiss atop my knuckles. Then, he started the car, pulled away from Jacob's house and drove us back home.

*

Alice: I wanted my brother to be happy, and now he finally is. And I got a new best friend in the process! What's better than that? Together forever is perfect, and I bet they never imagined it to be like this in a million years.

Good thing I knew better.