HI EVERYONE!

It's done, it's finally finished. The last chapter of this story has finally reached its ending.

The final period was so great and sad, at the same time. The same thing happened to me last year when I was writing it in Spanish, unconsciously I didn't want to finish, so I got a bit slower and wasn't finishing, then it was a conscious thing, until it reached the ending, happened once again. Though now I only had to write, not think about it, not listen to what Edward and Bella's final words wanted to be.

I guess I'll be missing this Edward, the one and the only. But there are others that we love just the same, those ones - I'm sure - will still be with me for a long time after this. They already are.

I should be thanking a lot of people, those who read this story from the very beginning and were patient enough to wait when I decided to keep this on hiatus or hold while I finished it first in Spanish. THANK YOU. To those who were kind enough to leave a review. THANK YOU. To those who loved it or hated it, but read it, anyway. THANK YOU. To those who supported me. THANK YOU. To those who encourage me to keep going and not give up. THANK YOU. To those who went from being just readers to friends. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. It's never going to be enough.

Thank you to those who made me believe in myself, I never thought I'd be doing this kind of stuff, but here I am.

DISCLAIMER: SADLY BUT TRULY, THE AMAZING STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS TWILIGHT, I ONLY PLAYED WITH HER STORY AND CHARACTERS.

Enjoy it, see you down there.

CHAPTER 39. The Happily Ever After

I could have stayed that same way forever. Bella in my arms, her lips against mine…

But after a few seconds, the silence in my mind evaporated to give entrance to all the thoughts around us. The atmosphere was one of celebration, and happiness when seeing that everything had turned out well. Perhaps, not the exact way we had planned, but well, at last.

Without needing to turn around to see absolutely no one, I could see the celebrations of each one.

The wolves were still howling out of joy once and a while, also looking at the scene in front of them. So many gathered vampires, showing love amongst them. I could tell, maybe not from everyone, but they were thinking differently already of our kind. Not those soulless, incapable of loving monsters, they had once considered us like. But now they included in such description, to more than just the Cullens. It was impossible not to.

Tanya, Kate and Garrett were together, at this moment, in a hug. Their happiness was incomplete because of their sister's death, Irina. Carmen and Eleazar were also in a hug and inwardly crying for the same reason that the sisters.

This should've been differently, Tanya was thinking, remembering such terrible memory for their family.

I couldn't help not feeling bad about Tanya and the others, who were almost of our family, too. But deeply, I felt the illogical impulse of saying "She deserved it for having put my family in danger" but I kept quiet.

Benjamin and Tia were hugging too, enjoying of the idea of being saved. Their thoughts were focused, once and a while, in Amun and Kebi.

We will have to find them and tell them how this all ended, Benjamin was thinking mockingly, maybe we'll find them in the Sahara.

Rosalie and Emmett were still busy, in each other's arms. Their thoughts were incoherent.

While I still held Bella in my arms, the two, or rather the three of us, because Nessie also saw it, we saw Jacob walking out of the meadow towards the wood to phase back to human.

"Jake?" Renesmee asked, a bit anxious when she saw him getting away.

I'll be right back; tell her, Edward, he asked me while he was out of our sights.

"Don't worry, Nessie, he'll be right back," I assured her, taking her for a moment in my arms without releasing Bella, too.

Said and done, before a minute had passed, Jacob was already back. His arms outstretched towards Renesmee, so he'd take her in his arms. He was so happy of seeing her smiling easily, that I didn't have to read his mind to know that he also wanted to be with her.

As soon as he took her in his arms, certain thoughts that weren't familiar to me, caught my attention.

Mmm… Nahuel.

Bella's image in my arms, and Renesmee in her mother's, were spinning around in his mind like a tornado. At the same time he was remembering his father, and the little he knew about her mother. How he didn't have the family, that according to him, we did.

Huilen followed his eyes, and saw the same thing that Nahuel was seeing.

I am a monster, for real? I listened, a little bit surprised, to Nahuel wondering to himself that. I could see, too, that it wasn't the first time. Only that this time, there was a tone of incredulity, of doubt, as if now he was doubting that that was what he was. I didn't thing he were. His eyes were fixated, for moments, on Bella's smiling face, on Renesmee's, on mine. Even Jacob's, and the way he looked at Renesmee while he held her in his arms.

"We're saved, guys!" Jacob exclaimed, almost a yell of pure joy. Kissing both Renesmee's cheeks.

"I know," Bella said, her voice happy again.

We will be forever together! Nessie was excited about thinking of that.

We were all celebrating this triumph.

I was listening to everyone, and there was more happiness in this day that what I would've expected. Only Tanya's family wasn't as happy as everyone else of having won this difficult encounter. And it was too obvious why they weren't. Their mother's death was still not overcome, much less now their sister's Irina's.

It was the only thing that stained the happiness that was felt in the atmosphere.

"Mommy, mommy," Renesmee called out to Bella's already attention on her.

Bella smiled at her, and at the same time I listened to someone else putting their attention more intently on us. Even more.

Her mom? How… is? How is it possible? No…

Nahuel was too shocked after hearing Renesmee calling her mommy.

And now, better than a moment ago, I could see the reason. I understood well now why he had been doubting of his status as a monster a few moments ago. He, like I myself had been fearing while Bella was pregnant, had left his mother dead when he was born.

Huilen, his aunt, hadn't been able to do anything to save her after the so terrible and painful death she had suffered when Nahuel was born. Even Huilen when he saw who had caught Nahuel's attention while Carlisle was still with them, thanking them for having come, risking their lives, too, to help us, was shocked when she heard us and saw us. her mind was filled with so many memories and desires that were now part of her past, of a time in which she had wished badly that her sisters was saved…

The images were too explicit for me, more so when I thought that Bella could've been in that situation.

"I'm glad, that despite the danger, you had decided to help my children Alice and Jasper, us by coming here," I was listening to Carlisle speaking with Huieln. His voice had a tone strong and clearly grateful towards both South Americans.

Huilen shook her head, a little shyly, while she smiled slight to Carlisle in answer o his words. "Alice explained to us the situation, and it was the least we could do."

Then she remembered how fiercely her sister had implored to her before dying for her to take care of Nahuel.

"We couldn't allow that an innocent was killed," her words sounded pretty sincere.

"Still, Huilen, I thank you once again," Carlisle repeated again his gratefulness.

I knew that Bella and I should be the first ones in that row to thank the South Americans for their help; after all, it was our daughter who they had saved. To Alice and Jasper, too, we owed an apology, not only our gratefulness. I more than anyone else, for having thought and believed that Alice had really abandoned us, that she had never loved us or not enough as to stay by our side when the time to face the Volturi came.

Of course, as soon as I thought about it, Alice turned to see me from between Esme's hug. A big grin forming on her face.

Yes, you owe me a big apology… Thinking we had abandoned you! Impossible, but it was part of the plan, Edward, you had to believe so.

I didn't say anything, there would be time for that later.

Bella had again, by her own request, Renesmee on her arms. Once again, without being able to help it, now more than never, I wrapped my arms around them both. It was impossible to keep our faces non-smiling.

The pack, little after the Volturi had disappeared completely, had said goodbye to our family so they'd leave and go give the good news to their own families.

Jacob was the only one who had stayed behind. He would go later, he'd told them. Of course, the advantage was that Billy knew why he couldn't get away from our side at these moments, Renesmee was sound and save; there was no way for him to leave her now.

At that moment, Jacob, who had take off of Renesmee the small bag that she was carrying on her back, had taken out the documents that I already knew were inside.

What else could they have been? When Bella's goal had been for Renesmee to make it away from this place with Jacob.

"Jacob Wolfe? Vanessa Wolfe?" he suddenly asked when he read the names on the papers he had in his hands. Two birthday certificates, two passports and one driving license, for what I saw in his mind.

"I thought you'd like it," Bella answered him, smiling.

"You pulled off an A+, Bells," was everything Jacob said in answer.

Wolfe, huh?

The family came closer to us, then; and it was until that moment that I focused a little bit more on the minds that were still on the meadow.

The Romanians weren't very happy when they left, Emmett commented while mockingly punching me on the shoulder.

"Oh, don't you worry about the Romanians," I assured them, remembering the little I had read in their minds before they left. They had been the first ones. "even though they were extremely disappointed for how things ended up, they enjoyed of the Volturi's cowardice almost enough to compensate for their frustration."

"Well, that doesn't matter now," Carlisle inserted. "They knew from the beginning that our goal was not a fight against the Volturi."

Fortunately everything ended up well, he thought silently to himself.

Renesmee almost jumped out of Bella's arms, when her grandfather finished speaking, into Alice. She had missed her aunt Alice as much as anyone of us had.

"Aun Alice, I missed you," Renesmee exclaimed while hugging her fiercely.

"Oh, Nessie, I missed you too," Alice answered smiling. "But don't worry, that it's the last time I left," she told her, kissing one of her cheeks.

Bella turned to see me, then, her eyes full of significance. Then they turned towards Nahuel and Huilen, and I understood what she meant.

"Now we will all be together, fearless, eh," Alice commented, before Bella and I could say something to the South Americans, that were looking at us sadly and at the same time happily. "You will be forever with us, with your parents, Nessie."

Renesmee smiled the only way she could, dazzling us all.

How I missed that smile, Alice was thinking while we all saw her with the same feeling.

Even Jasper, I could see, had missed our family. Even though when he had always been by Alice's side, and she was the only thing he cared about, he had missed being with us. And like Alice, he was happy to be back home.

Now more than ever, he knew this his home, too.

I could barely believe, that until now, he understood he was part of our family…

Carlisle and Esme would be happy to be able to hear what he was thinking.

Bella and I, this time we did, turn around to look straight to Nahuel and Huilen, while the others members of our family, including the Denalis, were around Renesmee and Jacob. Rosalie was hugging and kissing full of happiness to Renesmee.

With my arm wrapped around Bella's waist, and she wrapping hers around mine, we walked towards Nahuel and Huilen, their eyes quickly turning to us.

"Nahuel, Huilen…" I whispered. "I cannot express how grateful we are," I included Bella, obviously knowing that also felt that way. "that you have saved us this evening. Especially our daughter, Renesmee."

Our daughter? Is he the father of the half-human, half-vampire child?

Bella nodded, then. "That's right. If it weren't for you, who know what would have happened with her," she took a deep breath, as if she didn't want to think about that.

"Really, thank you so much."

This little child does have her parents. I wish my sister had been able to live like this young vampire.

Huilen was the one who spoke first. "There's nothing to thank for. Like we already told Carlisle, Alice explained to us why you needed us so urgently, and how could we refuse?"

We both nodded this time. "Still, thank you again."

Huilen smiled.

"Is she a daughter of yours, then?"

"She is. She's our only daughter," I answered.

"She's so beautiful," Huilen commented while she looked at Renesmee.

"Thanks."

Nahuel hadn't said a word at all, out loud. His thoughts were kind of strong, while he saw the way we spoke of Renesmee, of our gratefulness towards them, how our eyes shined when we saw our daughter…

His mind seemed to think the same thing as Huilen up until certain point, but another part of it, was only looking at Renesmee, who was someone like him, she had and he didn't.

Parents, alive.

We all gathered around once again in the middle of the meadow after a moment, and we took off back to the house.

It looked different when we got there. It wasn't visible the shadow of tension, anxiety or sadness around the house when we walked into the back lawn anymore. We were welcomed in our home again. As if it were any regular day, and we were only having the visit of good friends.

Benjamin and Tia didn't even got in the house again, they said goodbye to Carlisle and the whole family warmly and sadly, up until one point, they had grown fond of us and felt love for the whole family, and they hoped, for what I saw in their minds, that we would see all again soon, some day in the near future.

"Well, Carlisle, I think it's time for us to leave," Benjamin announced before anyone put a foot inside the house. "thought we wish we could stay a little while longer."

"Thank you so much for everything, Benjamin," Carlisle thanked him while placing one of his hands on his shoulder.

"We'll reach Amun and Kebi soon, I hope, they'll want to know how all this ended up," his lips formed a smile, hugging Kebi, he said goodbye to everyone. "We will see you again."

"Take care of the little one," was everything Kebi said when saying goodbye.

"We will," Bella and I promised.

Mary and Randall were the next ones to leave, but after having been a few minutes inside of the house. They weren't hurried, but at the same time they wished they were back in their own lives. For a reason they were nomads…

Renesmee spent most of her time sitting on my lap, Bella was by our side on the couch. Carlisle was the only member of the family, who once and a while had Esme's companion, chatting with the South Americans. He was very interested in learning everything possible about the life they held in the Amazons, too. But above all, for being half-human, half-vampire, just like Renesmee.

Like me, he also remembered the day in which Bella had drunk human blood while she was pregnant, and how she had believed that it would be animal blood we would be giving her, given we had believed that it would be better if it was human…

"So… your sister Pire drank animal blood while she was pregnant?" Carlisle asked Huilen, of course.

"That's right. I hunted for her, when she lost all strength to do it herself," Huilen had answered him, quietly. "She wasn't going, or couldn't have, kill humans."

"Of course," Carlisle answered, interested in what Huilen was saying.

Renesmee in my arms, was laughing over and over again with the few friends that were still left before they left. And though I knew that Carlisle had entertained the South Americans, I could listen and see my family, Bella, Nessie and in myself in Nahuel's mind. But mostly Bella, after a while.

"Everything turned out better than we thought, right?" Zafrina was commenting excitedly.

"Yes," Kachiri said. "all because Alice didn't give in."

Oh, please, Alice was thinking while she heard the Amazons comments.

Esme was sitting at the edge, with Jasper and Alice by her side. The three were flooding joy in their minds, just like everyone else.

"Daddy and mommy helped," Renesmee commented, an even bigger smile on her face.

"They all helped," I corrected Nessie sweetly, while I caressed her cheek.

Nahuel, of course, noticed the gesture.

How did she survive? He was wondering while looking at Bella.

But his thoughts, at first, couldn't be kept much longer in just one of the members of my family.

Looking at the way I held Renesmee in my lap, how I caressed her cheeks every time her eyes met my eyes, how I smiled at her in response to her dazzling smiles, how I hugger her and her mother…

That's the way it should've been my father… being with my mother, take care of her, love her. Not abandoning her while she was pregnant, without minding about what happened to her. Nahuel was thinking almost furiously towards his father, coming back when I had already murdered her… Why?

I frowned slightly when I heard him.

I could almost hear Bella telling me, that's the problem. You're too good. You're beyond too good.

I wasn't perfect, I hadn't even been able, not now not then, to believe that that could be true.

But, at least, I knew that I was a better father than some others. I hadn't abandoned my Bella, much less Renesmee when she had been born, even when I had wanted to hate her before she was born, I had never actually felt that feeling. That had been proved to me when I realized how quickly the love for my daughter flooded inside of me when I heard her for the first time, when I saw her being born…

"But we were lucky," Zafrina reminded us. "If Bella hadn't had that gift, because without her shield, none of this would've happened. We would've had so little time before the Volturi destroyed us. Alice would've have made it in time."

Some of us shuddered at the mere possibility of considering that thought.

"But we're fine," Renesmee whispered, her voice joyous. She remembered, though it hadn't actually been because of that we were all fine, when she'd asked Aro not to hurt her family.

"Of course I have no desire to harm your loved ones, precious Renesmee."

Ha! How badly in that moment, I felt like doing something about it, even when I was only listening to it in myself now.

To lie to my daughter…

I held back the madness and rage at this moment. That was already part of the past and there it had to be left, locked away in the farthest away part in my mind. This day, now, corresponded to the happy days of our existence, everyone's.

Even the wolves'.

I heard Jacob, and again, he was only happy, like everyone else, for having come out of this so nasty encounter alive. Because Renesmee had come out alive.

He wasn't thinking about anything else but Renesmee's happiness and healthy future.

I had to admit it, even to only myself, I was impressed.

Because even if I'd known, that I had seen in the wolves' minds, how this imprinting thing worked, the most I was sure that I understood it, it was different to see that it was real what they said. That while the object of imprinting were barely a child, like Renesmee, like Claire, the wolves only loved them like a sister, their only goal in mind, to see them grow up… only happy, without actually seeing them grow up.

The entire family was gathered, when Mary and Randall announced finally their leaving.

"We're going to miss you all," Mary assured while they were on the door saying goodbye. "but it's time for us to leave. We hope we'll see you again."

"Of course you will," Carlisle whispered.

Mary and Randall, as they had come, left. Their paths would be different.

Renesmee told waved them goodbye until she could no longer see them through the huge glass wall in front of us. Jacob by her side.

Carlisle returned next to the South Americans and their interesting talk.

Esme, Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett stood together by our side almost the entire time. Tanya and Kate, were perhaps, the ones farthest away from us, but not completely. Carmen and Eleazar tried to stay close to them the most possible; just like Garrett, by Kate's side.

Peter and Charlotte stopped the talk amongst our circle, to, just like Mary and Randall, announce their leaving.

Jasper stood up with them, to say goodbye.

Their conversation was short. The farewells between the sometime-brother of Jasper and his mate, were never too long. But this time it was a little bit longer than usual. After all, they hadn't seen him for more than a few minutes since they had come to Forks a month ago. Jasper was thanking them, profusely, for them to have come, and accepted staying and helping our family.

We could all listen, even Renesmee, who was almost ignoring them. Yes, we were all grateful, and it was enough with only Jasper to make it known.

And Alice, through whiles, apologized, lightly, for having abandoned us.

But now I understood why she had done it that way. It had to be that way, because I couldn't know absolutely anything at all about the plan Alice had left for Bella to follow through. I had to admit, that they had done it better than what I would've hoped for.

I really hadn't had any idea of what Bella was plotting.

Yes, it had been a very good plan.

Renesmee was now with Bella, and my mind again, focused on the thoughts swirling around endlessly in Nahuel's head.

If she lives perhaps is because we aren't really monsters, Nahuel was trying to find a reason for why Bella, rather, Renesmee did have her mom with her, her birth, he thought, couldn't have been much more different than his. But it had been. Perhaps I am not evil by nature. Aunt Huilen always has told me so… but Joham… No, I'm sure that my aunt is more right than my… father, Nahuel wasn't happy about thinking of Joham as his father, thought he was.

In just a few moments, all his life, his existence was changing for good.

I could see, now, that he didn't hate more himself, by seeing us three.

This is the life my mother should've had, he was thinking while he remembered the words from Huilen when she told her part of the story to Aro. How his mother had searched for Joham, her dark angel, without finding him, and died when she gave birth to Nahuel.

I understood why he felt that way, but I was glad to see, that he was finally starting to be a bit happy to see our life.

Even when this wasn't his life.

Alice was joyously talking, for the last few minutes, according to what I saw, with the Amazons. They were getting, with each second passing, more anxious to get back home immediately. They'd never been away from their home so long before. I smiled lightly when I heard their thoughts, because though they were anxious to get back, they didn't want to leave, either. They'd miss, honestly, Renesmee when they left.

And I knew, too, that Renesmee would miss them.

Should we leave now? Zafrina was wondering while she heard Alice.

Senna, as it was usual, was also thinking about whether it was or not the right moment to leave, or if they should stay a little while longer.

Probably, according to everything I could see in her mind, Kachiri was the one thinking less about leaving, after all, she had barely arrived to Forks. All this time they'd been too close to her home, in the same Amazons, looking for the key witnesses.

I was immensely grateful because people like Renesmee did exist.

Even when those lives, because those ones were more lives than ours, their hearts beat every moment of the day and night, were in danger with the Volturi knowing about their existence, and with one of them, upset about the creation of such lives. Joham had to watch out from the Volturi; from Caius, especially. He wasn't going to rest until getting rid of him.

I wondered, idly, if Joham knew about the Volturi's existence.

Was he aware that someday they would come to him, and could end up exterminated because of his experiments on humans?

For wanting to create, like Nahuel said, a new super-race?

I only wished, actually, that Aro fulfilled his word of not hurting Nahuel's sisters. What fault did they bare about what their father did?

They weren't venomous.

And Nahuel was.

Would it really be by genre, that was why Renesmee wasn't venomous, either?

It didn't matter, really. But that had saved her from Caius using another argument to insist on my daughter's destruction.

Luckily.

Thinking about this, I stayed quiet for a few short seconds, that no one noticed. Everyone was too happy as to get distracted by a silence so meaningless as this one.

After a while, however, Zafrina announced it was time to leave.

"We wouldn't want to," she said while getting up. Senna and Kachiri followed her immediately. "but the truth is, we miss our home."

Senna, that had oddly been the occasion in which we heard a syllable uttered by her, said, "Still, we hope to see you again."

"Of course you will," Esme was the one who answered.

Peter and Charlotte had already said goodbye to Jasper a while ago, and gone.

Bella stood up, with me by her side, and Renesmee in her arms to say goodbye to the Amazons. Perhaps, they had been the coven that we'd grown more fond of. Renesmee was sand, up to certain point, to see them leaving.

Being close enough to Zafrina to place her small hand onto her cheek, she showed her one of the many images Zafrina had entertained her with weeks ago.

It was the Amazon jungle. Renesmee wanted to know it, and Zafrina understood what she wanted.

The kid will love the jungle…

"Promise me, young one."

Oh, it would be wonderful to have her in our home, Kachiri was thinking, given the fact I couldn't met her myself.

Senna agreed with both, in which would be nice to see Renesmee again.

Renesmee turned to see Bella, then, to beg Bella to give her a positive answer. And if, which was impossible, Bella refused, she already had in mind her beg to me.

Please, mommy! I was hearing her thinking.

"Of course, Zafrina," Bella had accepted. No surprise there.

Yes! Renesmee was almost celebrating her mom's answer. As if she really had doubted that was what she was going to get!

How to refuse anything she asked us for? We couldn't, and she knew it.

At the same time, Jacob was also thinking about knowing that place. Because it was obvious he was included on such trip. As he would be for the rest of what? Eternity? Very likely he would. Now it didn't bother me to think so.

"We shall be great friends, my Nessie," Zafrina had assured her while they said goodbye to us, to leave to their land with her sisters.

One thing made it better leaving, they were leaving together, at last.

Everyone so far, including the Amazons, had left, begging to us to take care of Nessie.

And to everyone we had promised we would. Though there was no need for them to ask. That, too, they knew.

I knew, without the need of reading minds, that the Irish coven would be the next one to leave. Because even though Tanya and her family couldn't completely stand the joyous and celebratory atmosphere that was over us, so much it was almost tangible, they would be here until the end. They were our family, they kept thinking so, and they wanted to leave after everyone else had said their goodbyes.

It bothered none of us. But I was worried about listening to how much pain I could see in their minds, I wouldn't want to know how much pain there was in their hearts.

And to imagine that it could've been us suffering if it'd been Renesmee!

I banished that thought instantaneously. It hadn't happened, and there was no point worrying about that.

So when the time came to say goodbye to our next friends, I wasn't surprised at all about who they were. Siobhan, Liam and Maggie weren't, as everyone else, very anxious to leave us, but they were of getting back home.

That too I understood too well, just like everyone.

Carlisle was the one who regretted most Siobhan's leaving to be so soon. This stay had been so long, it almost seemed permanent, instead of temporary.

In change, I knew, it would take a short – I hoped – time for us to get used to. But I was sure, that while that change included peace and joy, it wouldn't be very hard to get back to enjoy of only the presence of our family. Everyone else, friends, someday we would see them again, and everyone, especially, Carlisle, were hoping for it to be soon. But for peaceful reasons, and not of emergency or danger as these ones had been. Perhaps next time, they wouldn't recognize Renesmee anymore. She had, probably, three more years to enjoy of her childhood…

"I guess we should go now," Siobhan decided in a not so willing way.

"Now?" Carlisle asked, anxious for his friends to take more time before leaving.

Oh, we wish we could stay longer, but…

"Yes, Carlisle, my friend, now," Siobhan agreed with him. "There's no other way."

Maggie and Liam also got on their feet. A small smile on Maggie's face while she heard the truth in Siobhan's words.

Yes, she didn't want to leave, but it was necessary. According to her.

"I hope we can see each other very soon again," Carlisle whispered.

The three Irish nodded to the idea.

Carlisle, while we walked towards the door, kept thinking that this had been doing, or had had Siobhan's help and her gift. It seemed, we would never know whether it was her gift or not, actually.

"Well done, Siobhan," Carlisle commented, saying goodbye.

This turned out well because of you, my dear Siobhan. Then amended his thought. Y because of Alice, of course.

The merit, I could say, it was almost completely Alice's and the South Americans'. I didn't want to think on what would've happened, if they hadn't come in the nick of time. Just before Aro gave his vote, without a good excuse to refuse to attack.

"Ah," Siobhan exclaimed. I'm sure that it wasn't for such reason, but Carlisle insists. "the power of wishful thinking," she rolled her eyes while she said it.

I was sure it would be almost impossible to convince her she did have a gift.

Though she says it sarcastically, Carlisle was thinking, I know it works.

"Of course," Siobhan continued, and though I didn't like at all what she was about to say, I also knew she was right. "this isn't over. The Volturi won't forgive what happened here."

Be sure of that, Liam and Maggie were thinking.

Carlisle on the contrary, I really hope that won't happen. I wouldn't want to see my family in danger again.

I will know when that happens, nothing to worry about, Alice was assuring in her mind.

"They've been seriously shaken; their confidence is shattered," I said, remembering the way I had seen in Aro's mind, especially, while they were waiting for Alec or Jane to incapacitate us to do their job, and when that never happened. Even Caius and Marcus had been tense when they saw nothing worked against us. "But, yes, I'm sure they'll recover from the blow someday. And then . . ." I felt my eyes tightening to such image in my mind, like it was already happening. "I imagine they'll try to pick us off separately."

That would be terrible, Esme didn't even want to consider such option.

Tanya and Kate, we hope that day anxiously.

And there will be fight, what can we lose?

Carmen and Eleazar were also listening, and Eleazar seemed to completely agree with what Siobhan and I were saying.

"Alice will warn us when they intend to strike," Siobhan whispered, her voice full of confidence that it would be so. Because truly, it would. "And we'll gather again."

If it's necessary, we will.

"Perhaps," Siobhan continued. "the time will come when our world is ready to be free of the Volturi altogether."

"That time may come," Carlisle answered to her words. "If it does, we'll stand together."

"Yes, my friend, we will," was the answer Siobhan gave to Carlisle.

Whether I'm right or not, what will we lose trying?

"And how can we fail, when I will it otherwise?" Siobhan accepted that there could be a minimal possibility of making it thanks to wishful thinking. A smile spread across her face, and laughter resounded in the room.

Carlisle smiled. "Exactly,"

When Siobhan answered, Carlisle remembered someone else that could still be hiding until the next century if he didn't hear of how all of this had ended up.

And remembering what I had told them, that he had left because he cared too much about Carlisle as to join the Volturi, something that he saw as inevitable, he thought harder about him.

Hugging shortly Siobhan, he then directed to Liam, shaking his hand.

How we're going to miss you! Siobhan was thinking.

Maggie was only smiling while she listened to the short interchange of words before leaving.

Everyone else, Rose and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, Esme and Renesmee, were thinking about how much they would miss the Irish.

All the friends, of course.

Getting back to normalcy, would be odd, but welcomed happily.

It was the thing we wanted the most, I could see it in their minds while we waited for Siobhan, Liam and Maggie to part to their own home.

"Try to find Alistair," Carlisle asked Liam. "and tell him what happened. I'd hate to think of him hiding under a rock for the next decade."

Siobhan answered with laughter again.

Yes, I can imagine it so easily, she was thinking amused about the image in her head. Because truly, it was easy to imagine such image of Alistair hidden under a rock. For some reason Carlisle had said it that way.

"We'll miss you," it was the last thing Maggie said, hugging Renesmee and Bella.

After that, the three of them were gone.

A mixture of emotions and feelings I was listening to while they got farther away, until their thought were too far away for me to keep listening.

They didn't make it too far, my mind was too focused solely on my Bella, and my Renesmee.

I smiled for no apparent reason to myself. I had them with me, and that was reason enough to smile at the world.

That's what we had been fighting for in the last months, and finally I could say, fearless of it not that being that way, that something evil was creeping towards us to snatch away our happiness and our company, I had them with me FOREVER! What was better than that? Nothing, absolutely nothing at all. My family was intact, and stronger and more united than ever before. It would be like that for the rest of eternity, now with the security of knowing it truly would. No fears, no uncertainties, nothing, only happiness. Could it be real all this happiness? I felt as if I needed to be pinched, if I would've felt such pain, to make sure this wasn't a dream or a fantasy.

But I knew it wasn't. Nothing more real and substantial than my angels.

I didn't know what to compare the happiness flooding inside of me now with. Because I had never felt this happiness for two people before, for the health and security of two people in my world. My daughter, and my wife. It was the only thing I cared about now, and it made me happy to know them by my side, under my protection. To know that after these weeks of worry and anxiety, they could finally smile and just enjoy of the company of each other.

I would only have to make sure it continued this way. I knew that Bella would be happy as long as she was with me, and I with her; even in death. But Renesmee, I couldn't conceive the idea of her leaving this world even if we did. She would have someone to be with. I knew that Jacob would never abandon her, ever.

I was worrying, though very lightly, because the joy of knowing her sound and save now, and in the future, made it hard for me to worry unnecessarily. So I calmed down, and stopped thinking about that for now.

Renesmee was on Bella's lap now, but her face turned to see me pretty often. In her mind I was seeing, as if she were afraid that anyone of us might disappear at any moment.

"I'm never leaving you, Nessie," I told her one of the many times I saw that thought in her mind. "Neither will I, nor will your mom."

Renesmee had only answered with a huge grin on her face, that made the rest of the family smile.

I heard Nahuel again.

That's what my father should've said, it was clear, though he'd already said it, that he didn't like at all the father he had been given. I was glad, at least, that my Renesmee did like the father I was to her.

After a few short five minutes, Tanya and Kate decided it was time to leave, too. They didn't want to, they enjoyed of the companionship of our family, but the celebration and happiness that was there in everyone was impossible to retain, and that was too much for them, even for Carmen and Eleazar, though they bore it a bit more. It was different the relation between them and Irina.

It was unfortunate that everything had to end up like this with Irina, though it was her fault all of this, and she would've earned it, if it could be said, her punishment, it'd been unfair. Because if she had known that Renesmee wasn't an immortal child, she would never have accused us of such a lie. She had died for nothing. Everyone, including unknown, knew it.

I sighed, there was nothing to do to be able to save her, it wasn't as if there had been something at the moment.

Tanya knew that something like that'd happen, but that didn't stop her from hurting her to have lost her sister. Just like Kate.

"It's just… I'm afraid they'd punish her for her mistake."

I was listening to the words of that conversation, and of other times in which Tanya had worried about the same thing, while they started to want to say goodbye.

We should've known, but even though we would've been prepared for such thing, we would've suffered just the same, Kate was regretting.

Carmen and Eleazar also felt the loss of Irina.

"It all ends here, right?" Tanya asked when we were on the porch.

Carlisle was the one who answered, no one better than him to give words of encouragement. He had certain way to make everyone else feel better.

"Tanya, Kate, this doesn't end here. Irina's death is so unfortunate, but we must go on. You know you can count on us, always," he said while he hugged each of the sisters.

Esme rushed to affirm what Carlisle had said. "That's right, Tanya. You can count on us," she smiled. "You know."

It was hard to smile, but they all did it the best they could. "Thank you, Esme," Tanya murmured.

But it's not enough, Kate was thinking. I wish it was, but it's not.

Garrett was Kate's side, where he would be for the rest of eternity. I was glad because of that, that at least Kate had someone else she could lean on when she needed to. The love of a family was strong, but this kind of love was very different.

It was sad, that they suffered so much while we were so happy.

Irina's death had been unjustified, everything to cause a reaction of hatred towards Caius or the Volturi together, and that to cause an attack from our side. That had been Caius' goal when he did so, not to punish her mistake, but the perfect excuse to attack; to attack. The attack would've turned out into a confrontation, just what Caius had wanted at the moment, to have a new excuse to have destroyed us. There was no more immortal child.

I didn't completely understand, that dangerous and evil desire of Caius to finish off with everyone else. I had seen it in him when Irina was being reduced to ashes in front of him.

"I'm so sorry things had turned that way," I whispered to Tanya and Kate.

We knew it would be that way, thought we didn't want to think so. Tanya reminded me of the conversation we'd had.

"We know, Edward," Kate whispered back.

Carmen and Eleazar kept silent.

This is so sad, Esme was thinking while looking at the sisters.

"Yes, but we have to leave," Tanya continued.

This is too much.

"We're sorry we can't stay any longer," Eleazar said after Tanya. "But you have to understand why it's time to leave."

Carlisle and I nodded.

"We'll see each other again," Carlisle promised.

"I hope so," Kate said, Carmen nodded by her side.

"Yes," Carmen whispered. "I hope you'll take Nessie to Alaska soon. She'll love it, I'm sure."

"As soon as we can," Bella was who answered to Carmen's request.

The four of them said goodbye, Carmen hugged and kissed Renesmee's forehead before saying goodbye to her, murmuring in Spanish. To surprise of everyone, even mine, my daughter answered back in Spanish to Carmen. Tanya and Kate shared a hug with everyone, Eleazar shook hands with us, just the same with Garrett, who was hoping like the Denalis, to see us soon.

The only ones who stayed back last, were Nahuel and Huilen, who had decided to stay after the Amazons had left.

It seemed like Nahuel couldn't leave, nor apart his eyes from our small family.

I wondered if Bella noticed it. It would be hard to not feel Nahuel's eyes nailed on her face while I told them the story.

"Go on," Emmett asked excitedly, when we returned to the living room after saying goodbye to the Denalis. Only Carlisle and the South Americans weren't as anxious as the rest of the family to hear what I had to say, to hear what had been going on at the other side. The conversation had Carlisle marveled, while he was told about how their life style was, especially Nahuel's, who was like Renesmee. Huilen was like us.

The night was falling while I kept telling the story, and Renesmee had fallen asleep as soon as the Denali coven had left. I was glad to see how her dreams were full of colors of happiness, any stain of darkness or sadness was invading her rest in her mother's arms.

"So it was a combination of things there at the end, but what it really boiled down to was… Bella," I concluded at last, remembering everything in my head while I told it.

Still, my mind was also intent on the conversation that Carlisle was keeping with Huilen. Nahuel kept silent the whole time, his eyes never taking off of Bella for not even a second, that made me wonder if it didn't make Bella uncomfortable. She wasn't a fan of the attention, much less when that attention was on her.

We know, Bella was the one who saved everyone. If it weren't for her shield, I'm still surprised, Edward, Alice was telling me, a shield!

But it hadn't exclusively been Bella who saved us all. "Alice gave Aro the excuse he needed to get out of the fight. If he hadn't been so terrified of Bella, he probably would have gone ahead with their original plan."

Alice quickly introduced something in my mind, I got here in the nick of time…

I smiled slightly and nodded.

Terrified? Of Bella? Ha! I heard Jacob, to him she would always be the Bella human.

Emmett on the other hand, Ooooh, little brother, you've got a Volturi-scarer, he joked with me. I obviously ignored him. It was so normal in him to joke about everything. Even about serious and dangerous stuff. That I had learned during the last sixty years by his side.

Rosalie and Esme were considering the option of Aro having being terrified of Bella, and they knew it was something logical.

"Terrified?" I heard Bella asking me. And I knew that I shouldn't be surprised by hearing her tone. But, how was it possible that she didn't understand her potential? For some reason Aro refused to continue Caius' procedure. To cause a fight. He wasn't prepared to lose his power and reputation just to acquire two or three new powers in his lines of battle. "Of me?"

I told you, Alice told me, but left it there.

She's right, Emmett thought, who would be afraid of my little sister?

I smiled at my Bella's face, then looking into her eyes, there was certain confusion in the depths of her eyes. Because thought the melted chocolate had gone, the depth of her look had stayed intact. I could still read in her eyes each emotion that crossed her mind.

I couldn't believe that she still doubted of what she could do. More now that she was a vampire. But after she had feared them so much, I understood she doubted it was now reverse.

My sweet Bella.

But, how to have fear or respect, when nothing could do against her mind?

"You don't see yourself very clearly, you know," I remembered that day in the cafeteria, of course that blindness wasn't the same one as the one I was now thinking of.

"I told you — you don't see yourself clearly at all. You're not like anyone I've ever known. You fascinate me."

And once again, I would have another line in her memory alike to the so many there already was. Still smiling, and a bit exasperated when I saw that she still didn't believe what so many times I'd already told her and tried to make her believe my words, I told her, "When will you ever see yourself clearly?"

Ahm, Alice thought. As if the question had been meant for her! I don't think that'll happen.

Yes, I also doubted it. But I had eternity to make her see herself as she really was. Yes, I had eternity, and I was even happier than before.

The excitement of that thought, made me speak louder than normal. But no one noticed the change actually, it seemed like I was just simply speaking in a louder voice to make clear I was talking to everyone now.

"The Volturi haven't fought a fair fight in about twenty-five hundred years," I kept telling them, remembering all of this seen from the Volturi's minds. "And they've never, never fought one where they were at a disadvantage. Especially since they gained Jane and Alec, they've only been involved with unopposed slaughterings."

Luckily it wasn't that way, Esme was thinking, half-scared by the simple option of her family having been destroyed.

Carlisle even now was listening a little bit more intent of what I was saying.

I continued. "You should have seen how we looked to them! Usually, Alec cuts off all sense and feeling from their victims while they go through the charade of a counsel. That way, no one can run when the verdict is given. But there we stood, ready, waiting, outnumbering them, with gifts of our own while their gifts were rendered useless by Bella. Aro knew that with Zafrina on our side, they would be the blind ones when the battle commenced. I'm sure our numbers would have been pretty severely decimated, but they were sure that theirs would be, too. There was even a good possibility that they would lose. They've never dealt with that possibility before. They didn't deal with it well today."

Of course not, Emmett thought while his mind was remembering the moment in which the Volturi had stopped their advance as soon as the wolves had come out into the light.

He was right, because that had been another reason for their fear. The wolves.

The werewolves as everyone think they were. Caius had been more terrified of the sixteen wolves behind us, than of Bella's shield, like Aro. Even more so when he saw them so organized and calmed beside another group of vampires. United, not fighting.

How had it been possible? It was the only question that had been spinning around in Caius' mind.

"Hard to feel confident when you're surrounded by horse-sized wolves," Emmett put his thoughts into words. Describing what it had happened as if he'd been the one reading it through their minds when they saw the wolves. It'd happened exactly that way.

Emmett laughed when he said it, while he mockingly punched Jacob's arm.

They're not the first one fearing them, he said remembering the fight in the meadow a few months ago with the newborns.

I was shocked for a second when I heard no comment at all followed after Emmett of despair or something alike, coming from Rosalie, of course. It seemed like every feeling of despair or hatred in her had disappeared, not completely, we were still natural enemies, but it seemed like she could stand him more easily after everything that had happened today.

Another thing to make this day better. It would reign the peace completely in our family from here ahead.

Jacob smiled at Emmett, he knew something like this would happen, didn't he? He asked me.

Vampires, not only the ones of our family, now knew that the wolves weren't afraid of the Volturi, and that they were capable and were willing to fight for a good reason. Everyone had remembered Jacob's words as they had seen the pack behind them.

"It was the wolves that stopped them in the first place," Bella murmured, trying to take away the attention from her, clearly.

It didn't surprise me.

But again, she was right, like Emmett.

Because they had been the wolves who had made them stop. Whether it was out of surprise at the beginning or fear after, but it had been that way. I owed them again my gratitude. They too had given our group advantage over the Volturi.

"Sure was," Jacob said, agreeing with Bella.

"Absolutely," I agreed with them, too. It was impossible not to.

We're lucky to have had as allies, Carlisle was thankful.

Esme was too.

Alice and Jasper, just the same. Even though Alice had whined hundreds of times about having them involved in this, and that prevented her from being able to see a lot of stuff clearly of the future. Being sure of which would be the outcome of this confrontation. But she was happy that they had been part of our allies, because the blindness of her visions had been worthy.

"That was another sight they've never seen. The true Children of the Moon," I said while I prepared to explain the doubts that would follow my words. "rarely move in packs, and they are never much in control of themselves. Sixteen enormous regimented wolves was a surprise they weren't prepared for. Caius is actually terrified of werewolves. He almost lost a fight with one a few thousand years ago and never got over it."

None of the members of my family was surprised when they heard what I was saying, but I could feel a tensing on Bella while I explained. Carlisle and I had already talked about this, from the moment in which Bella had told me, that our presence here in Forks had unleashed the fever, as they called it, amongst the Quileutes.

"The werewolves came back because the vampires did," I heard my Bella's voice again.

"Jacob told me that your family being here set things in motion."

We had already considered that their shapes were something more than normal in werewolves. We had seen them in the full day light… but Bella's words had simply turned it into a fact.

They were not werewolves.

Jacob was so confused as the time in the meadow, when Aro and I had repeated that Jacob and his pack weren't werewolves, not like the ones he believed they were.

"So there are real werewolves?" I asked. "With the full moon and silver bullets and all that?"

Emmett joked about that in his mind, I ignored.

What would she think of us? Jasper thought, while he listened to Bella saying really, considering that us either fit in with what was known or read about vampires. He should've listened to the questions she had made to me that night in which she'd confessed me that she knew our secret, that she knew what we were.

"Don't laugh — but how can you come out during the daytime?"

I'd laughed despite her request. "Myth."

"Burned by the sun?"

"Myth."

"Sleeping in coffins?"

"Myth. I can't sleep."

Carlisle, on the other hand, took very seriously the ignorance in which Jacob himself seemed to be at about his specie.

Now I understand his skepticism about the magic of his kind and people, Carlisle was thinking while he remembered the time in which he'd commented such thing to Jacob, and his upset when hearing it. But it was, it was almost magic.

Jacob, between jokingly, and little, very little upset, snorted. "Real. Does that make me imaginary?"

"You know what I mean," was the answer.

"Full moon, yes," I answered them, extending my description of both werewolves. "Silver bullets, no—that was just another one of those myths to make humans feel like they had a sporting chance. There aren't very many of them left. Caius has had them hunted into near extinction."

This will be interesting information to share, Jacob was considering, knowing that the wolves would be waiting for an explanation of what I'd said in the meadow.

Or something alike.

Doubt and expectation showed up in Bella's eyes, the little V between her eyes. "And you never mentioned this because…?"

Yes, why? Jacob asked, too.

"It never came up."

Bella didn't say anything, just rolled her eyes to my comment. It was true, anyway.

Never came up? Huh?

Alice laughed by my side when she heard me, everyone else simply laughed.

I felt, with my arm above Alice's shoulders, how she leaned forward toward Bella when she laughed, and winked at her.

It feels so good to be back home again, she was thinking joyfully. But I knew, somehow, what was coming. Because it had nothing to do with Renesmee, and it was in a future too close. Alice knew it, and thanked for being able to see it before and that it didn't take her by surprise.

I deserve it, she thought, I know, I know.

Some of bother started to reflect on Bella's eyes when she looked at Alice, and I imagined why. Jasper, too, felt the change in her emotions.

I guess Bella wasn't very happy about what Alice made her go through, eh, Edward? Jasper joked.

And she was right to be upset. Barely now, it was when I could imagine the better everything Bella went through, alone. Because she couldn't take it all out with absolutely anyone at all about what she knew, what she believed to be sure, everything she had to do, and kept it secret from me. Because it would've been just as hard for me to be in her position.

If I could, I would also be upset with Alice. But I had already seen all the pain Alice had felt when she took the decision of leaving and not leaving behind with her any hope of salvation, so Aro would truly believe she had abandoned us when he saw my thoughts.

Thank you for understanding, Alice thought.

Alice sighed, knowing it was better for Bella to say it already. "Just get it off your chest, Bella."

"How could you do that to me, Alice?" the tone of her voice wasn't loud, but almost by very little, hysterical.

Attention centered at this little moment on Alice and Bella.

Rosalie was on both their sides, understanding how hard, firstly, should've been for Bella to believe we were condemned to die in a sure way, that that's why Alice had abandoned us, to have believed that there was no other option for our family; but, she also understood for what Alice had gone through.

Esme only wanted this to get fixed now.

She was too happy to have her family together again, as to worry about details, that now, were insignificant.

"It was necessary," Alice explained.

"Necessary!" now Bella's voice was of a louder volume. "You had me totally convinced that we were all going to die! I've been a wreck for weeks."

Doesn't she understand why I did it still? Why I had to do it? As if I'd been very happy about it! Alice was starting to get upset about Bella's attitude, but she tried to keep herself calm when she had to say something back.

"It might have gone that way," Alice reminded her. Because surely Bella understood, according to her, that she'd done to because of that unknown possibility to her. "In which case you needed to be prepared to save Nessie."

I felt Bella tightening her arms around Nessie when Alice said that, even Jacob and everyone else, included myself, shuddered when we thought that that had been a possibility. That it could've been true. But it wasn't, I reminded myself, so I could calm myself. Nessie was calm and peacefully asleep in the arms of Bella, by my side, I had nothing to worry about. Not anymore.

Her plan formed before she went out of the house? Rosalie was wondering, or did she think of it while they were leaving?

The plan had formed so quickly in Alice's mind, as if it had already been destined to be like that, that's why the first vision that she hadn't allowed me to see in her mind, had been that of the Amazon jungle. Since they had named Zafrina and her coven, Alice had remembered, now I saw, the woman I had talked them about when we'd gotten back from Isle Esme, of her knowledge of that demon called Libishomen, and the thing that was growing inside of Bella…

She had been fast, so much that I was now impressed.

"But you knew there were other ways, too," Bella murmured, her tone accusing. And everyone understood the reason why. "You knew there was hope. Did it ever occur to you that you could have told me everything? I know Edward had to think we were at a dead end for Aro's sake, but you could have told me."

I felt a little bit guilty, though I knew I didn't have to. But if it hadn't been because of my gift, and because Aro would know everything that I'd heard during the last few months, Alice wouldn't have needed to lie to us, Bella wouldn't have to go through all of this.

No, I knew that even without my gift, Alice would have had to do it the same way. So I banished that thought and the feeling of guilt. There was no reason for that.

Tell her? Alice was musing while she saw Bella. I know she sucks at lying, and that doesn't make her a good actress by consequence…

That I already knew, from the beginning I'd known how bad of an actress she could be. When I thought about it…

"Breakfast time," I'd said, to prove that I remembered Bella's needs as a human, that first morning we had spent together in her room.

I clearly saw in my mind how her hand had gone up to her throat, and the shock I'd felt when I saw her reaction.

"Kidding!" Bella had said between chuckles. "And you said I couldn't act!"

Frowning because of her joke, I had murmured. "That wasn't funny."

So I understood why Alice had decided to not be completely honest with Bella, but she could've given her a few details. Now I saw seeing in her mind what it was exactly that she'd told her and what she hadn't. She hadn't even told her what she was going to do with J. Jenks.

How was Bella supposed to know that he was forger of documents?

She had done it harder than necessary.

"I don't think so," Alice finally responded. "You're just not that good an actress."

"This was about my acting skills?" Bella asked, her voice a little bit exasperated.

A little bit more understanding she could be, Rosalie thought.

Esme understood both of them, as always, and regretted that the two of them had went through a bad time.

And I knew what was coming. Alice hadn't had a great moment of fun away from the family, so her speech left us all stunned into silence. Because no one had heard yet about what she'd done in a more exact way while she was away from home.

Well, now they'd know with a little bit more details.

Jasper sighed so slightly that anyone noticed it, because he felt the upset growing inside of Alice.

"Oh, take it down an octave, Bella," Alice started, demanding in a way. "Do you have any idea how complicated this was to set up? I couldn't even be sure that someone like Nahuel existed—all I knew was that I would be looking for something I couldn't see! Try to imagine searching for a blind spot—not the easiest thing I've ever done. Plus we had to send back the key witnesses, like we weren't in enough of a hurry. And then keeping my eyes open all the time" – unconsciously, I knew, Alice opened a little bit more her eyes as to show how she'd been – "in case you decided to throw me any more instructions."

A new image appeared in her mind.

It was in Alice's empty bedroom, Bella had in her hands a blank piece of paper, and then she wrote with deliberate slowness, RIO DE JANEIRO, then the memory disappeared.

"At some point you're going to have to tell me what exactly is in Rio. Before any of that,"

I smiled to myself.

How did Alice not understand why Bella had chosen Rio de Janeiro?

Even I myself understood it. The last new we'd had from Alice and Jasper had come from the Amazons, Alice had asked Kachiri her help, so we all had deduced that they were in Brazil. If Renesmee survived, the best place for Jacob to take her, was to a completely faraway place. We had never been able to investigate about Renesmee's accelerated growth, that was what we were going to do before Alice's vision, so it was obvious that Bella had wanted to send them to that place. Jacob would investigate, and by doing so, Alice would see what she was planning to happen with Nessie and Jacob, wanted them to find them, to protect them too. Bella had been very thorough too.

"I had to try to see every trick the Volturi," Alice continued, complaining, there was no other description to what she was doing. "might come in with and give you what few clues I could so you would be ready for their strategy, and I only had just a few hours to trace out all the possibilities. Most of all, I had to make sure you'd all believe that I was ditching out on you, because Aro had to be positive that you had nothing left up your sleeves or he never would have committed to an out the way he did. And if you think I didn't feel like a schmuck—"

Everyone got shocked just the same as stunned with Alice's description, even our last two guests.

But Bella interrupted her before she could go on. "Okay, okay! Sorry! I know it was rough for you, too. It's just that… well, I missed you like crazy, Alice. Don't do that to me again."

Alice laughed, her typical Alice's laughter, she could only smile that way, and just listening to her again amongst us, made us all smile. We were all so much happier than we would've been if things had only turned out well, because Alice and Jasper were back, the family was together once again. What else could we ask for?

I missed her so much, too! Rosalie was thinking.

Esme, she was a missing piece. But my children are back.

"I missed you, too, Bella" Alice whispered. "So forgive me, and try to be satisfied with being the superhero of the day."

Bella's reaction to Alice's words and our laughter didn't surprise me.

I knew that if she could've, her face would've been now red. The embarrassment crossed her eyes so clearly that everyone else recognized her aversion to attention.

Would she ever get over it? Alice joked.

Bella, then, hid her face in Renesmee's hair.

The only one who stayed the same way, was Jacob. There was no reaction in him, like in everyone else, when they saw Bella. He simply, too, recognized that she didn't like the attention spinning around her in these moments. After all, to him, she was still the same Bella human from a few months ago.

But it was more than seeing her different. Because she was different.

Not only because of her power, for having saved us, for having done that the Volturi ran out of here scared about the possibility of what her shield could do, it was more than that.

Now I saw, how Bella seemed to have been made to this life. As if this had been the goal she'd come to this world for, for why maybe I had also come to this existence. Because Alice had seen that Bella would be one of us before even I myself knew that I loved her, this had been written before we were even born, probably. We had been made the one for the other.

That truth made me happier than before.

My mind was divided in two while I was talking and answering to the question that the members of my family still had about what had happened. Jasper and Emmett were the ones who wanted the most to hear about what had gone through the minds of the Volturi before leaving.

They regretted, up to a point, that it hadn't gotten to a fight. But there were happier about the way it had turned out.

"So it was Caius the coward?" Emmett asked, in a mocking tone. "But if it was him who showed desires of a fight."

In his mind he remembered the moment when he tried to tempt us, with Irina's death.

"He wanted it, but he had no idea that Bella had a shield that made that neither Jane nor Alec could attack us. Or Chelsea to separate us," I told him.

"We were lucky, still," Jasper whispered. "I'm sure that Caius would've preferred to die before letting us go as if nothing at all. Like Aro wanted and did."

"You're right," I agreed with Jasper. "But he was so scared, that he didn't even think of all the strategies that they had planned after his speech or insistence on protecting our secret failed on the side of his witnesses. Nobody really believed that Renesmee was as dangerous as they argued."

While minutes passed, I felt more and more anxious to get back to our cottage with Renesmee. This was no longer my house, it was my family's.

The questions for me were finished after a while, and I was thankful.

Bella turned to see me after a few seconds, her eyes were telling me everything. She wanted to go home as much as I wanted.

"Should we take Nessie…"

"That's probably a good idea," I whispered immediately, knowing what she meant. She also wanted our small daughter to be in her crib again, safe and sound inside the four walls of her own room. And then I remembered why it might be good for her to be once again in her own bedroom. "I'm sure she didn't sleep soundly last night, what with all the snoring."

Then I grinned hugely to Jacob, to make it clear what I meant. Though it was without me having to see him. Because he quickly knew what I was talking about.

Yes well, she snores, too, he said jokingly.

But he rolled his eyes, and being so tired as any other normal human would be after all the physical and emotional stress from the last few weeks, and the long day we had today, he said, "It's been a while since I slept in a bed. I bet my dad would get a kick out of having me under his roof again."

Bella touched Jacob's cheek, who was sitting in front of her and Nessie. "Thank you, Jacob."

"Anytime, Bella," Jacob answered, and then he assured her. "But you already know that."

After that, he stood up to say goodbye, leaned down towards Renesmee to place a kiss on her forehead, and then on Bella's. And to say goodbye to me, he dedicated me a jokingly punch on the shoulder.

"See you guys tomorrow," Jacob said. Again, Rosalie didn't complain when he heard him. "I guess things are going to be kind of boring now, aren't they?"

"I fervently hope so," I whispered in response.

The only one of the vampires inside the house, that now wished, that we didn't leave when he heard us decide to go to our home, was the half-human too, of Nahuel. I could see that if he could've, he would follow us once we left the house. He wanted to see how it was our life, how our family was, how different we were from what his had been.

It was a little bit frustrating to not be able to ask Carlisle to stop asking pretty often, how Nahuel's birth had happened, to see the images of his mother, Pire, dying while she gave birth… it was like remembering that our Bella could've ended up that way.

I thanked like never before, that it hadn't been that way.

Bella waited until Jacob had left so we stood up and finally leave ourselves to our home. It was a strange sensation that was running through me, we weren't under any deadline behind us anymore, that was rushing us to live more quickly and without enjoying of ourselves, of our family, so it almost felt like relief to get up and know that destination was our home. At last, as I always had wished for, would be the place where we would raise Renesmee, quietly and without hurry for at least a few more years. I was in ecstasy.

While we were getting up, I felt Bella accommodating Renesmee, surely so she wouldn't move her some way that bother her, or made her uncomfortable. She was soundly asleep.

Jasper was now by Esme's and Alice's side, who had moved besides them immediately.

Still between my mother and my sister, forming part of the family more than was his usual, he was happy to feel himself between them. Just as I had seen it before in his mind, there was still the sentiment of excitement about being back. Just like Alice.

I felt Bella stopping when she turned towards the door, and then she spoke to Jasper. "Oh, Jasper?"

"Yes, Bella?" Jasper answered.

What would it be? He was wondering, because it radiated from Bella a big curiosity. The same one I was feeling about knowing what Bella wanted from Jasper.

Alice didn't say anything, but it seemed like she had a slight idea of the following question.

"I'm curious—why is J. Jenks scared stiff by just the sound of your name?"

Oh! Jasper thought, that.

Alice only smiled, trying to imagine the reaction of J to Bella when he met her.

Hmm…

"It's just been my experience" Jasper whispered between chuckles. "that some kinds of working relationships are better motivated by fear than by monetary gain."

Jasper, like Alice, could imagine J's reaction to her, too. And knowing Bella, how kind she should've been with him. I was almost sure that our forger of documents would have invited Bella to be her who looking him out in case he was needed again.

Well, it wouldn't be necessary.

Bella only frowned in response.

Esme and Alice stood up, Carlisle excused himself for a moment to the South Americans, and Rose and Emmett also reached us at the door to say goodbye for tonight. It was hard to say goodbye, after so much tension, but it was even easier than before, because we knew, we have the confidence that tomorrow would come, for everyone. The fight had finished.

"We'll see you tomorrow, kids," Carlisle said goodbye.

Esme hugged us and kissed the three of us, while she returned to Carlisle's side with the South Americans.

Do they have to leave? Nahuel was thinking while he saw them saying goodbye to us. His eyes didn't leave Bella's face.

"Sleep sweetly," Rosalie whispered while she kissed Renesmee's forehead.

Emmett simply said good night in a sarcastic way.

But the atmosphere was so pleasurable, so quiet after all this time, that not even Bella could get upset about the tone Emmett was using.

I just took Bella's hand after we crossed the river, our speed never faster than that of a human. I knew that Bella didn't want any more rushes in our life, more worries about our time.

We wouldn't. We had eternity.

But while we walked, and I was listening to the thoughts inside of the house, I heard Nahuel, thinking now on Nessie lightly…

And that reminded me, "I have to say," I whispered to Bella. "I'm thoroughly impressed with Jacob right now."

But Bella misunderstood my comment. "The wolves make quite an impact, don't they?"

"That's not what I mean," I corrected her. "Not once today did he think about the fact that, according to Nahuel, Nessie will be fully matured in just six and a half years."

It was truly impressive. I had to accept it.

Bella didn't say anything, thinking on what I'd told her, for a minute. My mind and mi curiosity were flaming inside my head, wanting to listen even if it only was a whisper of her hidden thoughts of me. But again, I knew that would never happen.

They were forbidden to me for eternity, it seemed.

"He doesn't see her that way. He's not in a hurry for her to grow up. He just wants her to be happy."

I already knew that. But it didn't take the merit to the way it worked this of the imprinting thing. They really were fortunate, to be able to find, in a way, their soul mates, even when they couldn't still treat them as such.

What I wouldn't give to know Bella in her years of childhood! Even it only was in her thoughts.

"I know," I agreed with her. "Like I said, impressive. It goes against the grain to say so, but she could do worse."

Bella frowned when I was finished, and then said. "I'm not going to think about that for approximately six and a half more years."

I laughed about her words, she was right.

Why think of the future while we could enjoy our present? It was already perfect.

I stopped and sighed. I didn't like to even think of Jacob as mate of Renesmee when she reached those years in such a short time, much less that there another one of her kind that was willing to meet her when she was grown-up enough to think of him.

"Of course," I still commented. "it looks like he'll have some competition to worry about when the time comes."

I knew that Bella wouldn't like my comment, and when the frown on her forehead got more prominent, which didn't surprise me. Any parent wanted to think about that when their daughter was still barely four-moths old…

"I noticed," Bella told me. "I'm grateful to Nahuel for today, but all the staring was a little weird. I don't care if she is the only half-vampire he's not related to."

Ah, my Bella, again misunderstanding the looks. Some of reason there was in the other thing. Not completely.

"Oh, he wasn't staring at her—he was staring at you."

"Why would he do that?" Bella asked, her tone confused. She didn't understand.

And no one else who couldn't read his mind.

"Because you're alive," my voice came out in barely a whisper. His story was sad, and I couldn't get out of my head, that it could've been the same ending of our story.

"You lost me."

Of course I did.

"All his life —and he's fifty years older than I am—" I was about to continue, when Bella interrupted me.

"Decrepit."

But I didn't understand why, so I ignored her comment, and continued explaining what she seemed to not understand. "He's always thought of himself as an evil creation, a murderer by nature. His sisters all killed their mothers as well, but they thought nothing of it. Joham raised them to think of the humans as animals, while they were gods. But Nahuel was taught by Huilen, and Huilen loved her sister more than anyone else. It shaped his whole perspective. And, in some ways, he truly hated himself."

Bella's expression changed immediately when she heard the last thing. Her eyes turned softer and gentler, the corners of her mouth twitched into a little grimace of sadness.

"That's so sad."

"And then he saw the three of us—and realized for the first time that just because he is half immortal, it doesn't mean he is inherently evil. He looks at me and sees… what his father should have been."

Again, I expected her answer. "You are fairly ideal in every way."

I expected it, but I still couldn't help snorting at the way she still saw me. "He looks at you," I said, now serious. "and sees the life his mother should have had."

"Poor Nahuel," Bella murmured, followed by a sigh.

But, now, there was no reason for anyone to feel bad about him.

"Don't be sad for him. He's happy now. Today, he's finally begun to forgive himself."

Bella didn't answer anything back, I just looked at her from the corner of my eye smiling when she heard me. And I smiled by seeing her smiling, it was simply impossible for me to not react to such smile. Full of happiness, and free of fears or tension. I knew, because of her look, that not only thinking of what I had told her, was what filled her of joy at this moment. And I understood why.

We continued walking towards our home, always hand-in-hand. There was nothing, now, that could separate us. Eternity was getting bigger in front of us, and Renesmee would be there.

When we reached the cottage, we walked in quietly, straight to Renesmee's room.

After leaving her completely and peacefully asleep, smiling while we get her comfortable into the silky, pink sheets, how it made us happy. Bella took the necklace that Aro had sent to her as a wedding gift months ago, and threw it softly into one of the corners of her room. We then walked out of her room, our hands joined once again. There was nothing else that I'd want, than to be with her, and again, we had eternity assured…

Was there something else I could wish for? No, there wasn't. I was sure of that.

While we walked, unhurriedly, towards our bedroom, our hands hanging together between us, a current of excitement ran through me.

"A night for celebrations," I offered Bella gently, while I placed my hand under her chin, to then pull her lips to mine.

Then she did something I never expected her to. "Wait," she said, pulling away from me.

What? What I'd done?

She didn't want to…?

"I want to try something," Bella whispered, as an explanation when she saw my expression and the confusion emanating from my face. A small smile was on her face while she told me so.

Then she placed both her hands on each side of my face, her eyes closing.

What was she trying?

A few seconds of silence passed by, that seemed like an eternity, while Bella kept her eyes closed, her hands on each side of my face. I didn't understand what she was wanted to try, as she'd told me before.

I kept still, my eyes on her closed eyelids.

Only once voice was flooding my mind at this moment, Renesmee's and her dreams, and then, another voice filled my mind, suddenly, from out of nowhere…

It still wasn't anywhere near as easy as shielding other people along with myself.

Wait! What? Was… was that… Bella?

A moment of skepticism left me frozen when I heard her voice in my mind, my eyes were still on her face, and they hadn't opened, neither her lips.

Could it be her mind I was listening to?

"Bella!" I whispered, almost scared about what was happening, my voice full of shock and impression.

But I didn't get an answer, on the contrary, I heard once again her voice in my head.

I knew it was working then…

How was it possible that…? But I couldn't concentrate on my questions at that moment, because now images were flooding my mind. It wasn't only her voice.

I simply couldn't believe that I was seeing my face from Bella's mind.

It was there, I heard her, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them… The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair… It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful — maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy…

"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?"

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." I wondered when he'd turned her down.

I was having a difficult time trying to understand what was happening, even when I could see the images that I myself had lived through two years ago. The first time she'd seen me, the first time I'd seen her with my own eyes.

I had been her chosen one from the first moment.

And then another memory was filling my memory. I couldn't force my eyes to close and to only see what she was showing me. It had to be her. My eyes kept looking to her closed eyes in front of me.

His beauty stunned my mind — it was too much, an excess I couldn't grow accustomed to…

"I was thinking, while I was running…" I heard myself once again. The way my voice sounded to her, for the first time.

"About not hitting the trees, I hope."

"Silly, Bella," I heard my laugh. "Running is second nature to me, it's not something I have to think about."

"Show-off."

My smile through her eyes…

"No, I was thinking there was something I wanted to try," then I had her face in my hands, in my mind the two memories were filling my memory. I tried to push my own away and focus on what Bella was showing me. I felt as if any moment the miracle would be over.

I couldn't breathe… but in her mind I saw the reason why.

And then our lips were joined. The force of my excitement filled my mind for a second, and then I saw what had passed through her mind.

Blood boiled under my skin, burned in my lips…

"Oops," Bella had whispered as other many times.

"That's an understatement."

Now that I read her reaction straight from her mind, it was much better the sensation of that first time, when I could only have known that she liked having my lips on hers when I felt her hands tangling through my hair, pulling me towards her with enthusiasm, her lips opening up to…

"Are you still faint from the run? Or was it my kissing expertise?" How lighthearted, how human he seemed as he laughed now, his seraphic face untroubled. He was a different Edward than the one I had known. And I felt all the more besotted by him…

"I can't be sure, I'm still woozy. I think it's some of both, though."

I didn't know well why this memory was the next one to fill my mind, but I didn't reject it.

How many times had I dreamed about being able to have even the slightest glimpse into her mind? I was having more than what I once had imagined.

As I drifted, I dreamed… Where I floated, under the dark water, I heard the happiest sound my mind could conjure up — as beautiful, as uplifting… And then I knew I was dead… Because, through the heavy water, I heard the sound of an angel calling my name, calling me to the only heaven I wanted…

Was that what she'd been thinking of? Had she believed me an angel?

"Oh no, Bella, no!" the angel's voice cried in horror.

The angel shouldn't weep, it was wrong…

"Bella, you're going to be fine. Can you hear me, Bella? I love you."

"Thank you, Edward."

"I love you."

"I know."

My smile was sounding in her mind, again. I heard my favorite sound in the world: Edward's quiet laugh, weak with relief…

While the memory changed, I kept thinking on the way she looked at me.

I had always thought that Bella didn't have an angel to take care of her, that it was an injustice for someone so pure and good as her to be able to be without cares of an angel, that the only thing she had was a guardian vampire while I took care of her dreams, and she always had seen me as her angel.

The memory that was filling my memory now, was more recent, one of satisfactory happiness.

As soon as my feet were past the treacherous stairs, I was looking for him… until I found him at last, standing before an arch overflowing with more flowers, more gossamer… All I really saw was Edward's face; it filled my vision and overwhelmed my mind… Suddenly, it was only the pressure of Charlie's hand on mine that kept me from sprinting headlong down the aisle… And then, at last, at last, I was there… I touched the cool miracle of his skin, and I was home…

My mind was so overwhelmed, the way she'd been thinking, for what I saw, that I could barely believe it was true I was listening to her thoughts.

They were nothing like what I'd once thought I'd find in her.

How many times had I wished to be able to hear to even one whisper of her mind? Just barely a few seconds ago I had been thinking the same thing, and now I was listening to her voice, seeing the same images, the same memories that filled my memory, seen through her eyes, heard through her human ears, everything that I was seeing was human, all her essence…

I was dazzled by her memories.

For some reason I felt the need to make sure everything was real… I heard for the first time what I had so much wished to that night, on our honeymoon, when I had heard her walking towards the bed on our bedroom.

And then I was behind her, everything in her memory, how she'd felt my cold finger running along and wiping the drop of sweat on the nape of her neck…

"It's a little hot here. I thought… that would be best"

"Thorough."

"I tried to think of everything that would make this… easier."

Had there ever been a honeymoon like this before? I knew the answer to that. No. There had not.

"I'm sure you'd like a human minute or two.… It was a long journey."

"Don't take too long, Mrs. Cullen."

Then the feeling that she'd felt when she had my lips running along her neck up to her shoulder. "I'll wait for you in the water."

Did my skin burst into flames? I had to look down to check. Nope, nothing was burning. At least, not visibly.

"Don't be afraid. We belong together," my angel's voice was telling me.

"Forever."

I almost crumble to the ground at that moment when I remembered by her side that night… but the curiosity that had tormented me for so long, had me paralyzed, frozen in front of her, while the images kept filling my mind completely. There was no other sound, no other voice, that could make me unfocused.

I would have been happy to lie here forever, to never disturb this moment, but my body had other ideas…

Through my mind passed more and more images of every day we spent in Isle Esme, I was surprised to see that even when she hadn't said not even a word sometimes about sex, it had always been present in her mind. Every time that she'd chosen a piece of clothing to get to sleep, it'd been with the purpose of making me fall for her, until she made it… I could see how she'd loved to be in Isle Esme during our honeymoon, almost every minute we spent there had run through my mind…

I smiled very slightly when the night of her seduction finally had positive results passed through my mind, at any moment I'd heard, not even at the bottom of her mind, the sound of the wood being ripped away from its place… she'd really been engrossed…

"A few weeks," I agreed. And then, because there never seemed to be enough time, I added, "So I was thinking—you know what I was saying about practice before?"

My laugh sounded in my mind. "Can you hold on to that thought? I hear a boat. The cleaning crew must be here."

He wanted me to hold on to that thought. So did that mean he was not going to give me any more trouble about practicing? A smile spread across her face, but I was seeing it in my mind.

It was like completing a small puzzle…

And now, after a long time, I had all the pieces in my head finally.

Barely a few short seconds had passed, and the images kept filling mi vision. The shock had me in a state of stillness in front of Bella.

And then I saw seeing my face again, it was another face, different from the one I'd seen in the mind of my family, somehow, I had looked even worse in Bella's mind during those weeks of her pregnancy. I had never fooled her, and how to?

"Like what? Edward, what's happening?" Bella's confused voice was filling my mind.

Bella's eyes moved from my face to my hands, that had risen in her direction, a second of fear ran through her, thinking on our baby, and then, when she saw once again my expression, such emotion banished. A new one running through her bit by bit while I got closer to her stomach. I hadn't been able to concentrate, then, on what Bella could have been feeling, and now I saw it clearly, I knew it from herself.

Happiness like I'd never felt before, because it was different to everything had had ever caused her happiness before, had filled her.

I was in shock by seeing how much love and glee was in that memory…

Suddenly, without warning, the memory changed, and not just that. The colors, the sounds weren't the same anymore, they were memories of the moment in which she'd opened her eyes to this life, my face in her.

The greater part of my senses and my mind were still focused on Edward's face… I had never seen it before this second… How many times had I stared at Edward and marveled over his beauty? How many hours—days, weeks —of my life had I spent dreaming about what I then deemed to be perfection?... I may as well have been blind…

For the first time, with the dimming shadows and limiting weakness of humanity taken off my eyes, I saw his face…

Then, followed by that image, I was there, getting closer to her, slowly, and then my hand was touching her soft face.

Wait, Bella had been thinking, at the time that I read how she'd felt my touch. Wasn't I supposed to lose this? Wasn't giving up this feeling a part of the bargain?

"I love you," her words sounded in my mind, my face and eyes on my mind…

And then I saw once again my smile, His answering smile dazzled me more than it ever had when I was human; I could really see it now…

"As I love you."

The next thing, again, almost made me melt down in front of her so I could taste her lips again like in this memory.

It was like he'd never kissed me—like this was our first kiss. And, in truth, he'd never kissed me this way before… It almost made me feel guilty. Surely I was in breach of the contract. I couldn't be allowed to have this, too… How different this kissing was!

This second honeymoon wasn't like our first… I should have guessed, after a day like today, that it would be better… I could really appreciate him now—could properly see every beautiful line of his perfect face, of his long, flawless body with my strong new eyes, every angle and every plane of him. I could taste his pure, vivid scent on my tongue and feel the unbelievable silkiness of his marble skin under my sensitive fingertips… My skin was so sensitive under his hands, too… He was all new… No caution, no restraint. No fear—especially not that… We could love together—both active participants now. Finally equals…. but I couldn't believe how much I'd been missing…

Me, either, I wanted to say, but new images of that night filled my mind, and it was too much to me. I couldn't stop myself, nor my curiosity could stop the desire that I suddenly felt forcing me to forget about her mind for a moment, the only thing that I wanted was to have her lips against mine again, having her like in this memory I had her in my mind…

Her lips touched mine, and then a gasp broke the little bit of silence that there was amongst us. The memories disappearing from my mind, leaving behind them only mine.

"Oops, lost it!" Bella whispered between our lips.

"I heard you," I assured her, while my mind was still dizzy because of the unlikeness of that I had really heard her in my mind. But I had; though, I didn't understand. "How? How did you do that?"

"Zafrina's idea," Bella explained to me. "We practice with it a few times."

Zafrina, huh? She had hidden it very well. Both.

But I was thankful she'd thought about this. Now we had another reason to go pay a visit to the Amazons.

But I still couldn't believe I had seen inside of my Bella's mind.

The memories, the images, the sounds that were filling my mind again while I remembered what she'd shown me a few seconds before. I blinked twice, trying to keep my eyes on how tangible was Bella in front of me, and then I shook my head, as if I was dizzy…

"Now you know," Bella whispered then, her tone calm. She shrugged and said. "No one's ever loved anyone as much as I love you."

"You're almost right," I told her, half-serious and half-joking. A smile on my face when I told her the next thing. "I know of just one exception."

"Liar."

Again, I joined my lips to hers. I just wanted to feel them on mine at this moment, wishing I saved another unique moment between us in my memory. Another moment that she could share with me if she wanted for the rest of eternity…

And that reminded me, and made stop all of a sudden.

It was never going to seem enough, even if she showed me every thought that had passed through her mind since I knew her.

"Can you do it again?"

Bella answered with a grimace, and then said. "It's very difficult."

I could imagine why. As soon as I had kissed her a few seconds ago, the memories had stopped seeping into my mind, so I figured that she had to be concentrated to do it. I could keep this desire controlled for a few second at least, as long as I could have another glimpse into her mind again.

So I didn't say anything, I just waited, anxious to see what else she had to show me.

What else she had, that I wanted to see.

"I can't keep it up if I'm even the slightest bit distracted," she murmured, warning me what I had already noticed.

"I'll be good."

Bella pursed her lips, considering. Her eyes narrowing while she saw my expression, and a smile showed up on her face.

Her hands raised to my face again, and a wave of expectation almost drowned me.

At this moment I wasn't sure what it was I wanted most, but it was definitely a tide at the moment.

It made it more difficult to know when the images once again came back to my mind, flooding my head with the images where Bella had been interrupted by my kiss. Our first night together… every second of that first time, every little detail, every small sensation that had ran through her, every kiss, every look, every touch, every feeling…

It was simply hard to keep myself seeing her memories, while I had my own in my mind at the same time, making them better.

And there I had my answer. What I wanted most. For now.

My lips joined hers, almost desperate to taste them right now. The laughed of Bella sounded while I kissed her.

I changed my lips to the lower part of her chin. "Damn it."

It was a tie, yes, but I couldn't suppress my desire for her. Her thoughts had been hidden from me always before this moment, not her body.

"We have plenty of time to work on it," Bella whispered, her eyes shining, too.

"Forever and forever and forever."

"That sounds exactly right to me," Bella agreed.

And to me…

Because this was barely the beginning of our forever.

Angels lived for eternity, and my Bella was an angel to me, I was to her.

And though our wings had been broken when we got immortality in exchange, I didn't need them to fly to any other heaven that wasn't the one waiting for me by my Bella's side.

Of the only angel that could give me heaven.

This was the end of Breaking Dawn: the other side of the story.

I bet Edward has a lot more to say, but his time here has come to an end, I'm sure he'll keep whispering in my ear and nagging inside my mind to be allowed to come out and keep telling me stories to write down about him, and I will continue to write them and let them be known, but for now, this is over.

Thank you so much once again for jumping into this ride with me, and all the support I got from you. I'll miss it, but better times will come :)

NOTE: I'll be sending you a thank you gift to those of you who leave a review the next weeks, if you want a little bit more of Breaking Dawn: the other side of the story. And please, DO NOT think it's an epilogue.

I'll miss you!