Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Meyer does. I own only my characters and ideas, and that's it.

Epilogue: Swift Immortality

I stared up at my ceiling as music boomed through my headphones, smiling at the rhythm of the two heartbeats I could still hear—and feel—close by. Alice lay next to me, snuggling close to my body, while Ebony was at my other side with her eyes closed, looking relaxed when I glanced at her. She was awake still, I knew that much.

Everyone was at peace.

Edward was dead. Gone. A distant memory. With him no longer in the picture and my family whole again, things had calmed down and become pretty lax. It had been three months since Edward's death, in fact, and not once had there been a problem. No vampires, no angry shifters, no falling explosives, nothing. Just the family growing closer after being apart for far too long, which included Ebony's gradual integration.

Three months. It hit me that, under normal circumstances, that would have been a long time. But it didn't feel like it. To me, those three months felt like one continuous month filled with awkwardness, a bit of tension, but more than anything, a lot of bonding. We went out all the time, to the movies, to the arcade, the beach—during the night.

We did family things together, and it had been amazing. I was finally having a relationship with my daughter and seeing her grow closer to my family thrilled me to no end. And of course, having Alice by my side and spending time with Alice was equally amazing. The only that thing topped it was seeing Alice and Ebony together, treating one another as friends. In fact, Ebony seemed to look at Alice like a second mother. I was touched.

There was only one thing that was missing—well, several things—but the one that came to mind the most was Alice herself. She wanted to be turned. She wanted me to be the one to do it, in fact, something I'd been training myself for. Yet Alice didn't say when she wanted to be a vampire. I figured she was soaking it in because of how big a decision it was to make.

"Bella?" Alice said, drawing me out of my thoughts.

I turned to her and saw her blue eyes staring back at me. "Yeah?"

"How's it going?" she asked.

"Good."

She smirked. "I've been thinking."

I chuckled. "That's never a good thing. What about?"

"Shut up." She stuck her tongue out at me, then brushed her lips to mine. "I've decided I want you to turn me tonight, if that's fine with everyone." That caught me by surprise and she continued. "I know I've been putting it off, but I wanted time to think about it. The day never mattered, really. I just wanted to be sure I was mentally prepared for everything. Now, I am."

I stared into her eyes and saw the resolve burning in them. "Alright," I said. "I'll tell Carlisle and Esme, and then, tonight, I'll turn you." I smiled. "It's weird. Before, I was afraid of turning you because of my self-control, but after everything that's happened… I'm not scared anymore."

"I have faith in you," Alice said. She tapped her temple. "Besides, I've seen the result. It'll work just fine. So there's nothing to worry about."

"Oh?" I narrowed my eyes. "Are you sure? You are quite tasty, you know." I removed my earbuds and tossed my iPod aside, then ran my fingers down her body. "I may give in to the temptation…" Alice merely smirked. "Not. I would never."

A cough prevented Alice from responding. "Can you two please not do that?" Ebony asked.

"Aw, is poor Ebony being disturbed?" Alice asked, giggling. She jumped up and pounced on my daughter. "Tough." She smirked while Ebony's eyes opened and she stared at Alice. "You know, I've been wondering something. You're half vampire, half human. So… does that mean you're half ticklish?"

Ebony's eyes bulged. "No." Alice and I shared a look. We both grinned at Ebony. "Oh crap."

A few hours of hearing Ebony squeal and laugh—which was even more adorable than Alice's laughter, although I ended up turning on Alice and tickling both girls, much to Alice's dismay. It was extremely fun and I loved listening to them laugh—we left my room together. Alice and Ebony ended up going downstairs while I stayed upstairs, deciding to go see Esme.

Carlisle was at work, but Esme wasn't. I didn't have any reason for the visit, I just wanted to talk to my mother since we hadn't sat down together in private for a while. So, I headed to her room, knocked once, then entered. She was putting flowers in a vase by her bed when I walked in.

"Hello, Bella," she said, turning to me seconds later and smiling.

"Hey, Esme," I said. "Could you look any more domestic?"

Esme chuckled. "Ha ha, very funny." She came over and pulled me into a hug. "To be flat out honest, I was bored and felt the room could use some touching up. Carlisle normally does the touching up, I'll have you know, but he's at work, so he can't." She poked me in the belly. "What brings my stinker daughter into my humble room, hmm? Other than insulting me, that is."

"I came to visit," I said, poking her back. "And make fun of you."

"Figures." Esme rolled her eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"Alice wants me to turn her tonight," I said.

Esme lifted an eyebrow. "Really now? So soon?"

I chuckled at the playful sarcasm. "Yeah. She told me, like, a few hours ago."

"That's wonderful news," Esme said. She planted a kiss on my cheek. "I'll inform Carlisle so he's aware ahead of time. We'll figure something out for the next few days so that you two are alone once she wakes up. That will give her time to adjust to being a vampire. I think after she's adjusted enough, we'll move up to Alaska. It'll be easier for us there until Alice is able to control her blood lust. Then we can pick a new place to move to."

"Cool," I said. I had to admit I was a little worried about Alice's changing, however. It was going to be a pain dealing with her as a newborn since she was going to be super strong and have the same problems I did. But I would help her deal with that hurdle when it came up.

"I should probably mention that I've taken the liberty of building a house for you to change her in," Esme said.

I gaped. "What?"

"I did indeed," Esme said, nodding. "I built it a month ago, in fact. I'm surprised Alice didn't see it, or if she did, tell you. Of course, I'm quite good at keeping things under wraps, and I'm guessing you kept her 'preoccupied' the whole time." She snickered again. "Point is, I'll lead you to it tonight. It's quite far from humans, in an area where there's no game or hiking trails, so you shouldn't have any humans popping up uninvited.

"Not that we won't keep an eye out, because we will. We'll have to." She frowned then. "You will keep in contact with us, won't you? Carlisle and I can be there to oversee you turn her if you wish, just to make sure there are no issues. Not that there would be, but…"

"I know," I said. "I'd like that, thank you. And yes, I'll keep in touch with you. But, Esme, you didn't have to build a whole new house for us."

"Bah." Esme waved it off. "It was no problem. I needed something to do in my spare time, anyways." She paused for a moment. "Tell me, how is Ebony doing?"

"She seems to be doing really well," I said. "She's warmed up to Alice and everyone else a lot quicker than I thought, which I'm really happy for."

"As am I," Esme said. "After everything the poor girl's been through, it's nice to see her relaxing and being happy. The others have certainly warmed up to her, too. In fact, we all see her as family now, not that we never did. These past few months have been splendid, though. It's nice to see this family spending so much time together."

"Yeah, and without anyone complaining," I said. "I doubt that'll last much longer."

"Probably not," Esme said, laughing. "It was nice while it lasted."

"Thanks, Esme," I said, throwing my arms around her. We hugged and then I broke away and headed downstairs, joining Alice and Ebony in the family room with the others.

"So you're finally gonna become immortal, huh?" Emmett asked. "Wicked. We were taking bets on when you'd choose."

"A bet that I won," Cynthia said. She smirked. "See, I told you guys I knew my sister."

"Yeah, yeah," Leah said. She grumbled and handed Cynthia a five dollar bill while Rosalie, Jane and Riley each gave Cynthia a twenty. "That wasn't fucking fair, Cynth. Alice probably told you beforehand or planned it for this day so you would win." Cynthia and Alice laughed. "Damn it."

"Oh, stop whining," Jasper said. "Be happy, why don't you?"

"Easy for you to say," Rosalie said. "You didn't lose any money." She scowled, then gave Alice a peck on the cheek. "At any rate, good on you for deciding at last. It'll be nice to have you as a vampire finally. We've been waiting for too long as it is, although I doubt it's been as long as Bella."

"Yeah, yeah," I said.

Alice scoffed. "I had to make it the perfect day, guys. A girl needs everything to be perfect."

"Liar," Leah said. "You just wanted Cynthia to win to make us look bad."

"That doesn't take much difficult when it comes to some of us," Riley said. "Not that I'm naming any names."

"Emmett, Rosalie, Victoria, Jasper," Jane said, smirking. "There. Named 'em all."

"Hey, I resent that!" Emmett shouted.

Ebony giggled. "I think you resemble it, Uncle Em."

"Why thank y-waaaait a minute!" Emmett huffed. "Not cool!"

While everyone continued to bicker, I turned my attention to Alec, who sat beside Jane, watching on with amusement. "You're looking well, Alec," I said, and he turned to glance at me with dark gold eyes. "Gold eyes suit you."

Alec smiled and nodded. "Well, thank you."

Alec was the newest addition to our growing family-which was so big now, moving was pretty much our only choice-and he had embraced the vegetarian diet. During the past three months, his eyes had changed colors and he had sworn off ever killing a human for the rest of his immortal life. Jane was thrilled and Alec had, like Ebony and Leah before him, gradually melded with the family to become a Cullen. He was still in the process of it, but I saw him as a brother without question. I was happy to have him. We all were.

"Enough of the sappy shit," Jane said. "Let's have some fun to celebrate Alice's last day as a human! Drinks all around!"

"We don't HAVE any drinks," Victoria said.

"Oh. Right." Jane pouted. "Okay, fine. Let's play some games then!"

Another few hours passed by of nothing but everyone bonding. We played board games, video games, watched Underworld—for the twentieth time—and then some. Then, however, Alice cleared her throat and stood up.

"I think it's time," Alice said. She shared a brief look with Cynthia, then walked over to me. "Esme built us a cottage, I heard? That was really nice of her." She smiled. "I saw her and Carlisle leading us to it. It's beautiful."

"Cheater," I said.

"Guilty."

Carlisle and Esme blurred into the room at that moment. "Did I hear right?" Esme asked.

"I don't see why you wouldn't," Carlisle said. "You have excellent hearing, dear." Esme rolled her eyes while Carlisle nodded to us. "You're prepared, Alice?"

"Yes."

"Then follow us," Carlisle said.

The others all gave Alice hugs and cheek kisses, along with words of encouragement about her transformation. Emmett pulled her into a bear hug, Victoria teased her and Cynthia held her for a good minute or so, whispering into her ear. Leah gave her a fist bump, and then we went outside. Alice jumped onto my back and I began following my parents.

Carlisle and Esme sped through the forest while I was on their heels with Alice on my back. It didn't take long for us to reach the small house Esme had built, which was gorgeous, just as Alice had said. I was amazed at the amount of work Esme had put into it and touched all the same since she'd built it especially for us.

"Esme…" I said, unable to finish my sentence.

She waved her hand. "Don't worry. It's good work, I'm fully aware."

"Humility, Esme," Carlisle said, chuckling. He led us inside and turned to smile at Alice and me. "The moment has finally come, it would seem. Esme and I will be here the entire time for the both of you until after Bella's bitten you, Alice."

"Thank you," Alice said.

"Of course," Carlisle replied. "There's a bed in here." He motioned for us to follow again and we entered a room with a single bed in the center, pillows and blankets all around.

It didn't take long for Alice to get comfortable on the bed. Esme and Carlisle talked to her for a few minutes, reminding her of everything to expect, then left the room to give us some privacy. I walked up to Alice and gazed down at her as my mind raced.

"Are you ready?" I asked. I could hear her heart fluttering in her chest as she looked into my eyes. I reached out to take her hand. She squeezed mine before I could squeeze hers, but I smiled and moved closer to her, ducking down to kiss her. "I love you, Ali."

"Love you too, Belly-Button," Alice said. "More than the world. And to answer your question, no… and yes."

"That tells me a lot," I said.

She snickered. "I'm ready, Bella. I've been ready for a while now, I was just too chicken to admit it. I want this. So let's not hesitate or beat around the bush." Her eyes smoldered. "Bite me."

We held each other's gazes for a moment longer. Then, I kissed her. Several times, in fact, before I broke away. I closed my eyes and moved my head down to her chest, lowering it until it was resting against the fabric of her shirt. I stood there, listening to her heart. I wanted to commit it to memory, the wonderful sound of it beating, since it was going to be gone soon.

This is it, I told myself. This… this is what I've been waiting for. For years, I've wanted a mate, someone to love and be with the way my other family members did. Now, I have her, and I'm about to make her immortal, just like me. Alice Brandon, my mate, my everything, for all eternity. No more waiting or yearning.

I felt resolve burning inside of me and lifted my head. Alice was watching me, love and warmth shimmering in her eyes. She smiled a little, and I smiled back.

I bit her. Soon, Alice would be my immortal bride. And nothing would ever take away from her for me.

END

A/N: And that, folks, is the end. Short, yes, but I didn't feel like I needed to write it long since this was a much more fitting way to close it. I know there may be some things left unanswered, but I may do another epilogue or two like I did with Blood Solstice when I'm in the mood for it. Right this minute, however, I'm finished with this story. And, for the most part, I'm happy with it.

*heaves a sigh of relief* Finally. I wasn't sure I would ever get this story done. xD

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. I'm aware it isn't perfect, and for that, I am truly sorry. It started off strong, I'd like to think, but after everything that went on in my life, my enthusiasm ended up dying after a certain point. That's not because I hated the story or writing it, it's just something that ended up happening. I've seen it with other writers. It's life, ya know? Still, I know this story isn't the best. But it, like Blood Solstice, is still special to me and all of you have made it all the more special. So thanks for putting up with me, my lateness and any moodiness I displayed during my writing of this story. It was fun while it lasted, and I am happy to have had all of you with me. Again, thank you.

I'm not going to be doing a sequel to this story any time soon. I'm going to move on to new projects. But that doesn't mean I won't eventually write one, so don't worry about that. Either way, for now, I bid you all adieu. The next big story I write, I'm not going to be writing it alone. Suffice to say, I think this next one is gonna be awesome. Until then.

Peace, Hollowgo.