A/N: Hey guys! It's Butterflywhisperer and I'm happy to announce that this is the fourth and final story of the Sunrise Saga: Eternal Dawn! To those of you tuning in for the first time, this is the last story of four. If you proceed to read this without reading the others, that's fine! I don't judge! I just highly recommend you read Sunrise, Noon Sun, and Sunset before this because you'll probably be really confused. I can almost guarantee that. And to everyone who's tuning into this after reading the other three stories, thanks for keeping up with me and I hope you enjoy! To just give you all a bit of background information before we start, this takes place about six months after the last!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga. Just my original ideas/characters. Anything from the Twilight Saga belongs to S.M.
Chapter One
*Renesmee's POV*
I groaned as I swung my feet off the bed. I looked at the time to see the red letters of the digital alarm clock were blaring at me. 7:00 AM. Why on earth did Aunt Alice want to do dress fittings now will forever wrack my brain. I've only been home for two days and this whole wedding thing has been driving me crazy.
I then quietly tried to maneuver my way off the bed so I wasn't waking up my soon to be husband, Jacob Black. He was snoring away peacefully, his eyelids shut tightly. His warm arm had slung across me in almost a protective stance. He had a nightmare last night and I didn't blame him for being quite embracive. I do the same.
After placing Jacob's arm gently to the side, I proceeded to lazily get up from the bed. I could immediately feel the cool air sting my body as I stood up. All warm from the overheated covers Jacob and I created left my body and I found myself wishing to go back into the safety of my bed. I was fairly exhausted being that I spent the last three weeks prior to this finishing up my college experience at UCLA, last minute assignments, finals, and of course, graduating.
It's been over six months since we got Lizzy, Abby, Lucas, and Dru back from the Volturi and it would be in about six months until we'd face the Volturi for one final battle. It was something we were all fully aware of. Our homes in Forks suddenly turning into an epicenter for supernatural creatures alike against the Volturi. Not only did we have our friends, but there were more people. Ten fold. Besides the Denali, Irish, Egyptian, Amazon, Romanian covens, we also had at least fifteen nomads, twenty children of the moon from Jo Valentino and Caleb Mulder's pack, the Quilette Wolves, and even some witches and warlocks.
I know we were working on getting more. Masen and Grace had gone forth with Elaine and Ava to Italy to try to recruit members of the Sanders and Russo clans there. All distant relatives but all unified for one cause. Besides that many members of our family were trying to recruit others from across the world to unify against the evil vampire coven.
Almost three years ago when my brother, Masen, and his now wife, Grace, had their son, Tyler, we were attacked by the Volturi. They took my sister, cousin, and our friends and kept them in their castle for two years. It took us awhile, two years to be exact, but we were finally able to rescue them. In the process, we also saved Wesley, Caius's hybrid son, Stefano and Bo, Aro's Lux Lamia children, Iris Valentino, the daughter of Serena and Lorenzo, and Meredith, the world's most powerful witch. All have come to Forks and now live with us as we tried to figure this all out.
Meredith is the creator of the Lux Lamia, or the creatures that my brother, Masen, and my little sister, Lizzy, are. She's the daughter of the original witch and an angel. Having her on our side is essential, but in the last six month's we've noted how she grew weaker from her resurrection, which the Volturi completed almost four years ago now when I was just a teenager. She, along with her children, Daniel; her adopted original Lux Lamia twins, Hazel and Violet; and her husband, Jamie, have come to live here as well with us. As of now though, Meredith was in China alongside her husband in search of two of her other children and the originals.
According to Grandpa Carlisle and Meredith there are three originals. The witch, Stephenie, the vampire, Jeremiah, and Noah, the werewolf. No one's seen from them in centuries, but Meredith believes she knows where they are hidden. We can only hope though.
I sighed as I fixed the photograph I have on my dresser. It was of Lizzy, Masen, Lily, Aidan, Abby, and I on the Isles de Cullen. This January, when I was on winter break, we had a wedding ceremony for Dru and Iris. The two girls were married on the beach and we threw a small party after. They didn't seem to want much since they were happy to just be together.
I smiled, looking at our happy faces. I hoped for a nice family photograph at my wedding to Jacob, which would be happening in a few weeks. It would take place on June 16th on the first beach in La Push, the same place I grew up with Jacob. It was rather symbolic, if you ask me.
I then headed to the closet to grab a t-shirt and some shorts. Everything was a bit disorganized right now, being that we have a ton of guests in our home. Since we needed to house more people and needed some more space, we moved all of our stuff out of my dad's old room and moved it to my parents cottage. As of now, my mother and father were living there with Lizzy. That room became Bo, Stefano, and Wesley's room while Lily's old room became Abby's new bedroom. Lily and Ethan moved in Masen and Grace's attic, Aidan and Jen still live at the house with my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Cordelia and Robert, Grace's brother and sister in-law, had a home not too far away from here where Elaine, Tyler Martin Sr, Dru, Iris, Lucia, Jo, and Caleb all lived. I know it was driving the young couple a little crazy, but I know it was needed. Thankfully Meredith and Jamie got a home only an hour from here where many of the warlocks, witches, and packs are staying alongside Daniel, Hazel, Violet, and Daniel's boyfriend, George.
So…Where did this leave Jacob and me? Well, since both his sisters were out of the house and his father seems to be occupied at Tiffany Call's for the most part, we moved into his old childhood home. In the last year Jacob's sister, Rachel, and Paul moved to Hawaii to be with Rebecca and Solemn where Rachel proceeded to give birth to Jacob's nephew, Xavier Lahote. However, due to recent events, Paul and Rachel had to rent a house up here because of this impending war. I could tell my future sister in-law wasn't too happy being back in Washington and Paul was itching to leave as well being that he really loved living in Hawaii. However, I couldn't complain. Jacob's lived with my family for most of my life and now we were living with his. I loved getting to know Billy better and even Rachel. After all, they were going to officially be my family in less than a month.
I ran a hand through my hair thinking about Rachel, Paul, and Xavier. I wish this war wasn't even happening. We've already lost so much with this, it's unfair that we're all waiting with bated breath for some sort of impending death.
Jacob muttered something in his sleep, bringing me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at him. I chuckled as I slowly walked over to place a kiss on his forehead.
"Hmmm? Ness?" He murmured, trying to open his eyes for me.
"Go back to sleep, babe. It's too early," I whispered, running a hand through his hair. "I'll see you after I get my dress."
"M'kay," he told me, his eyes shut tight. "I love you."
"I love you too," I replied, chuckling as I wandered back through the house. I was as quiet as I possibly could be, trying not to wake Billy up in the process as well. Once I had gotten everything together, I ran through the woods until I got the main house. The moment I got there I could see Kate and Garrett chilling on our porch with Tanya, Randall, and Mary. I waved at them before entering the house, where I was greeted by none other than Aunt Alice.
"Ready for your fitting, Nessie girl?" Aunt Alice chirped, prancing around me like a woodland pixie.
"As I'll ever be," I said, chuckling as I rubbed my eyes. "Are the bridesmaids here yet?"
"Unfortunately!" Lily yawned from the nearby couch. It was there I saw her, Grace, Lizzy, Abby, Jen, Aunt Rose, and my mother.
"Don't worry about Rachel and Rebecca, I know you and Jacob said not to bring them here so I'll bring it to Rachel's when I get the chance while a tailor in Hawaii should be helping with Rebecca's dress," Aunt Alice explained as she wrapped an arm around me.
"Okay. Thanks, Aunt Alice," I said as she gave me a side hug.
"Anything for my little niece!" she exclaimed before heading towards her room.
"Hey wedding girl, getting excited?" Grace asked. Grace has been my best friend since we were teenagers. She was also a witch and my sister in-law.
"Definitely," I said, chuckling. "How was Italy? Did you get any more people?"
"Yes and no," Grace said, shrugging. "But we'll discuss that later. This morning is supposed to be happy. Tension free!"
"Alright," I replied, biting my lip.
"Hey baby," my mother greeted me with a side hug. "How ya holding up this morning?"
"Tired," I explained, causing her to chuckle.
"I know, your aunt's crazy. You should've seen how she was for my wedding," my mother teased. "But you're in absolutely good hands. Alice knows how to throw a good anything."
"Yeah she does," I agreed, chuckling. I then saw my little sister standing besides Jen. She had dark circles under her eyes and she seemed to be talking quite softly to Jen.
"She hasn't been getting much sleep," my mother whispered to me. "Your father and I worry about her."
"As do I," I added, biting my lip. I gave a small smile to my mother before approaching my younger sister.
"Hey there, Liz," I said, nudging her gently. "How's my maid of honor doing today?"
"Fairly well," Lizzy replied with a soft smile. She then looked up at me, "What about you? It's your dress that's going to be fitted today."
"Oh right," I said, causing my younger sister to chuckle.
"Come on, let's go before Aunt Alice has a conniption," Lizzy said, dragging my hand.
"Before that, do you maybe want to talk about something else, Lizzy?" I asked my sister via my power as I tried to see if I could get more from her.
"I know you're worried, Ness, but not right now," Lizzy said to me. She swallowed hard before grabbing my hand in hers, never wanting to let go. "Let's go, I really want to see your dress."
"Okay," I agreed half heartily. As excited as I was for the wedding, I couldn't help but also fill myself up with dread.
*Masen's POV*
"Daddy!" Ella squealed as I placed her in her high chair. "Daddy! More cheerios please!"
"Alright, my little monster," I teased my youngest child, pouring some of the cereal she loves onto her high chair.
"Dad!" Tyler called to me from the kitchen table. "Can you help me with this homework? Gumpa made math extra difficult this week."
"Sure, buddy," I said, fastening Ella in before taking a seat besides my son. Life for me in the last three years has been pretty domestic. I was now married to my high school sweetheart and we had two beautiful kids.
Tyler Edward Cullen, our eldest, was born about three years ago. His birth had been traumatic. My wife was killed by the Volturi that day, making me believe I was going to be a widower with my son. Fortunately my wife was brought back to life less than forty-eight hours later. Unfortunately, this also resulted in the death of her grandmother, Carolyn. Tyler now looked around the physical age of ten, maybe even eleven or twelve soon. He was growing at the same rate Renesmee and the other hybrids grew. He looked the most like his mother with her blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, but he had my messy mop of hair.
Two years after Tyler, we had the much more peaceful birth of our daughter, Ella Renesmee Carolyn Cullen. She's named after our mothers, my sister who brought us together, and the woman who gave her life up so my wife could have one. Ella had brown hair, like me, but it was lighter, and her brown eyes were similar to mine as well. She also had the Swan curls, something she got from Grandpa Charlie. Ella was also physically around one or two now.
"Gumpa's trying to explain science to us recently," Tyler explained, referring to Grandpa Carlisle. When Tyler was little, he got confused because he called my father, Grandpa, so he started calling Carlisle Gumpa. It's stuck ever since I don't think Carlisle has the heart to correct him. I think he adores it if you ask me. Just like how Grandma Esme loves it that all the great grandchildren call her GG.
"Gram and Grandpa!" Ella exclaimed from her high chair.
"Don't worry, El. We're gonna see them today," I told my daughter with a chuckle.
"Morning," Grace sung, walking into the house. She had dark circles under her eyes, probably from the lack of sleep we both got last night, and her hair was down in wild waves.
"Momma!" Ella and Tyler exclaimed. Grace laughed as she swooped Ella up into her arms and took a seat next to Tyler.
"So, what's happening on this lovely morning?" Grace asked our children.
"I'm finishing up my math homework and El was screaming about cheerios," Tyler explained, motioning to his little sister.
"Sounds good," Grace replied with a grin. "And once your finished with that you need to hurry up and get ready because lessons with Gumpa and GG start soon."
"Will do, Momma," Tyler answered with a toothy smile.
"And how's my little Ella Bean," Grace cooed to our youngest child. I noticed Tyler in all of this interaction though. His eyes fixated on Ella in his mother's arms before rushing upstairs.
"What was that about?" Grace muttered to me once he was gone.
"Someone's developing a little bit of sibling rivalry," I said, motioning to Ella who giggled happily.
"Really?" Grace said in surprise. "Is Tyler jealous?"
"Yes," I confirmed my son's thoughts. "I think someone isn't used to the idea of having to share Mommy and Daddy."
"Oh jeez," Grace muttered as Ella curled into her side for a quick nap. "But they seem to get along just fine…"
"They do, it's just our son isn't quite thrilled with his little sister," I explained, chuckling. "We'll deal with it somehow."
"I never had sibling rivalry with Robert, I don't think," Grace noted thoughtfully. "Maybe, but Rob and I were always close. Ever since I could remember…I mean we fought, but it was healthy fighting. We usually made up and there was such a large age gap. By the time I was ten he was taking care of me. He was more of a parent if anything."
"I don't know either. My siblings and I were always close too," I said, thinking about me, Renesmee, and Lizzy. "Besides Aidan and Lily, we never had anyone else to play with so we played with each other. And if I got tired of their games, I'd usually go to Ethan. He adopted me like a little brother and that's how the two of us grew close."
"I don't know how to handle this," Grace confessed, shaking her head. "Maybe I'll ask my mom….But she and Ava were so far apart by the time Ava was ten, my mom was doing the same thing Robert did because their father died."
"My parents probably aren't the best to ask. They were both only children," I added.
"Why hasn't Tyler ever said anything before to us?" Grace asked, biting her lip.
"I think someone doesn't want to upset his parents," I explained. "Don't worry, we'll fix this. It's no big deal, love."
"I hope not," Grace murmured, pressing a kiss to our daughter's head.
"What are you thinking?" I asked her softly, reaching out for her hand across the table. I've never been able to read my wife's mind due to a shield charm her mother placed over her head. I've never asked them to take it off or even tried to break it. I know I probably could, but I just haven't. I don't mind the silence with Grace and the curiosity of what she's got to say.
"What's going to happen if we have to…" Grace said softly and then mouthed, "Leave them."
"That's not going to happen," I stated firmly.
"Masen, you don't know that," Grace retorted. "We….We need to be prepared."
"We'll talk about this later," I told my wife because moments later Tyler came barreling in.
"Let's go see your grandparents," Grace declared, grabbing Tyler's hand in hers. I then took Ella into my arms so my wife could bond with our son.
Ella's head lulled against my chest. Ironically, with everything going on, we learned our little girl also has a power. She's a shield, no doubt being us Cullen's seem to produce those like rabbits. She's just like my mom, expect we believe there may be more to her shield as a whole. Ella's been able to shield herself physically in some accepts as well, so there's a lot more to think about with this.
"We should probably tell the others about Italy," Grace mentioned quietly to me.
"We probably should," I agreed, sighing slightly.
"What happened in Italy, Momma?" Tyler asked innocently.
"Nothing to worry about, baby," Grace told our son. "Just talked with some of momma's family members, that's all."
"Oh," replied Tyler, his little mouth making the shape as well before mindlessly chatting to his mother.
I smiled at my son and daughter. I was so happy to have the two of them with me and Grace. They made our lives so much better, but I couldn't help but worry about the future. About what was to come and only hope for their well being.
*Lily's POV*
I tiredly climbed back into bed. I was too exhausted for anything right now. I completed my two years of college, but as of now I guess you can say I was a drop out. I had more important things to worry about like impending doom and my family. Anyway, if we survived this I'd have all of forever to go to college and create some sort of life for myself.
"Mo ghràidh," Ethan muttered tiredly as I curled up next to him. He immediately turned around to bring me closer into his arms, "You're back."
"That I am," I confirmed, shutting my eyes tightly. I just wanted to be in my room and never come out. Stay here with Ethan all day if I had to.
Since we've had an influx in guests, we had to move spaces. I was now living in Grace and Masen's attic. It wasn't very big, but it was big enough for the two of us.
I moved all my stuff in here along with Ethan's. We had a bed in the middle with my two dressers on the side. I was able to basically fit all the old furniture in here, but we had a lot of boxes floating around the room since we weren't entirely unpacked yet. I made a mental note to do that before my mother visited.
It's not that I wanted to leave the main house. I do miss my old room at times because it had more storage and it's where I grew up as a little girl. However, this beats being away from a house filled to the brim with guests almost 24/7. When Grace and Masen offered us to come live in their attic, I didn't hesitate saying no. I had no privacy in the main house so I was ready to take anything offered to me. The plus is it now allows me to be close to my best friend again alongside my niece and nephew.
"How was it?" Ethan asked me in a sleepy mumble.
"It was insane," I told him, thinking about how my aunt ran around at full speed, checking our dresses and making sure everything was perfect. "I love Aunt Alice but all this outfit stuff was driving me crazy."
"I thought you liked fashion?" Ethan quipped, causing me to shrug.
"I do, but it's not like everything to me. Not as much as it used to be," I confessed. "I still like it and I love shopping with the girls. I just don't like trying on a bridesmaid dress and discussing wedding details before ten in the morning."
"At least it's not your wedding," Ethan teased. "I'm sure this is driving Ness and Jake crazy."
"Oh it is," I confirmed. "Ness has been running around getting everything done with Aunt Alice and not to mention all the people she's thinking about inviting."
"Well, whenever we get married I'm sure it'll be fine," Ethan said, shrugging.
"Yeah…" I agreed hesitantly.
I bit my lip. That's been a thing recently. I know I said I wanted to be with Ethan forever, and I still do. Always will…But even if you say you want to be together forever you gotta remember, there's that certain thing that seems to hang over every couple's head. Marriage. I want to make anything I have with Ethan permanent….I just wonder. Wonder wether I'll even be able to marry him or about the fact how he casually keeps bringing it up. It's not like any one of us proposed…
"You okay?" He asked, running a hand through my hair. "You seem tense."
"I'm always tense," I replied lamely.
"Not always," Ethan said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
"Don't worry, it's nothing. Just everything happening, that's all," I explained, turning to my side so I could look at him.
"It is pretty overwhelming," Ethan agreed. "I've been thinking about it a lot…It's pretty daunting."
"It is," I added softly, closing my eyes tightly again. I took in everything about him. His scent and the way his arms enclosed around me. My hands gripping to the soft fabric of his t-shirt. "I never want to leave this position, ever. Just sleep here for a million years."
"You and me both," Ethan chuckled, resting his head against my hair. I then let the waves of calm Ethan emitted take over my body and let me relax against him. As I drifted into sleep, I tried to ignore everything going on in all of our lives.