Author's Note: I know that it's a few days late, but I thought I'd put a oneshot up in honor of the New Year. It takes place a year after the Volturi come to Forks, and there's a small reference to midnight sun somewhere in the beginning. ;) I really hope you enjoy it.. Over half was deleted while I was attempting to write it and I had to write it all over, so I worked really hard. Hah. Please review!

*If you get a chance, check out Edward'sArwen. She's an amazing writer!

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or anything thereof.

In the end of last year, with the pleasant visit that the Volturi awarded us- trying to steal some of my family and destroying the rest- ringing in the new year hardly seemed like an occasion. Everyone assured me this year would be astonishingly different. Emmett and I were at a fireworks tent in the next town over. He almost cleaned out two places before this one.

"Aside from Christmas, New Year's Eve is my favorite holiday."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep." He replied smugly.

"Obviously Christmas is because of the presents, but-"

"BELLA!" He stopped in the middle of the tent and stared at me, disgusted and offended. I was completely taken aback. "How could you say such a thing? Do honestly believe that I am that shallow that I care nothing of the other joys of Christmas? You think I don't love giving more than recieving? You think I don't care about giving others the happiness they deserve?" We stared at each other for a second, my eyebrow raised at him, and then we both burst into laughter. I shook my head as we started walking again.

"Idiot."

"Alright, I do like to give and all that crap, but getting is definitely better."

"That's what I thought. Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, why New Year's Eve? The fireworks?"

"No..." He thought for a minute, then spoke, this time seeming completely serious. "See, everyone else in the family isn't as fond of the New Year as I am- apart from Alice- but she just likes the parties. Bella, all we are, all that we can be, are statues in time. We don't move forward, we don't change, we don't age. To them, New Years represents just how long we've been sitting on the shelf of time, and that we'll never be moved from that spot. Forever is a long time, Bella."

"So what makes you think different?"

"I don't really know, to be honest. Maybe it's just my glass-half-full outlook. I mean, I feel a little the way they do, but I love being alive. Or dead. Or dead-alive. Or whatever we are. To me, the New Year represents another year that we were able to give from the enormous fortune that we've been given, or to make little differences in people's lives for the better, whether we're supposed to lay low or not. Did you know that Edward and I got Ben and Angela together?"

I was surprised by that, I didn't expect them to come up in this conversation. "Uhm, no, I suppose I didn't."

"See, it's little things like that that make this life, or whatever you want to call it, so good. Edward and Alice's gifts don't only protect us, they benefit those around us."

"Wow, Emmett. That's really insightful. I admit I really didn't expect you to say something like that-"

"Yeah... But you were right." He interrupted. "It's mostly the fireworks." I let out another fresh round of laughter and punched my moronic brother in the arm.

"You never cease to amaze me, Emmett."

"I know, right?"

"Ah, how full of yourself you are." He laughed. By this point, he had grabbed the majority of the fireworks in the tent and was now at the check out, making everyone else attempting to shop peeved. I recognized some of them from previous places that we had shopped. Apparently they were hoping to have better luck here. I chuckled to myself.

"Okay," The cashier said, "two thousand, one hundred twenty-seven dollars and thirty-two cents."
"Eh, petty cash." He said, and handed him twenty-five hundred dollars even and told him to keep the change. I rolled my eyes at him as we walked out.

"Yeah, Emmett. That's a great way to lay low. You're such a show-off." He just shrugged and laughed it off.

"Are you ready for some kick ass fireworks, sister?"

I laughed. "I don't know, Emmett. You seem pretty intense about this. Am I going to get an arm burned off or something?"

"You really think Edward would let you that close?"

"Well, either way."

"You're going to love it Bella. And if you don't, you're going to suck it up and pretend that you do."

"It's a deal." He looked at me, wide eyed and half joking.

"Wait, you want to bet on it? What exactly? Maybe Edward letting you shoot one off? Or Jasper almost getting a limb blown off? That happened once, you know."

"Shut the hell up, Emmett. That's not what I meant. Save the gambling for your brothers."

"Man." He kicked at the dirt as we were walking and sighed. Soon we were at his jeep and he opened the door for me, then went to his side. I jumped in.

"Oh, such the gentleman, Emmett." I said, sarcastically.

"Yeah, I try." He said, laughing, and sped home.

When we arrived, Alice, Rosalie and Jasper weren't there, and I assumed they were setting up for the party. We had rented out an entire park in Seattle to show off our fireworks display, and Alice had invited pretty much the entire town of Forks, and told them to spread the word. No doubt if the park wasn't full, some people in Seattle would show up and do the job.

"Are you ready to leave, Bella?" Edward asked, walking into the room with Renesmee in his arms. Her head was resting on his shoulder. I figured she was taking a quick nap so she could stay up until midnight tonight.

"Sure, if everyone else is. Should we take a pillow and small blanket for her, just in case?"

"That would probably be a good idea. I've already packed a bag for her. Just try and shove it in." I laughed when he handed the enormous bag to me. He walked outside to buckle her in the Volvo. Edward was always over prepared.

Emmett rode with Edward, Renesmee and I, and Carlisle and Esme took their Mercedes.

"Just kill me now." Emmett complained. Edward played a classical CD in the car because the soothing sounds always helped Renesmee sleep; not to mention it was his favorite. Emmett didn't mind classical, but like Alice, he preferred whatever was new.

"Don't tempt me." Edward said back, not taking his eyes off of the road. I just laughed.

When we arrived, my mouth fell open in shock. I thought I knew what to expect, what with Alice's crazy party decorating tendencies, but this was way over the top; beyond astonishing or incredible or any other way they could have described it to me. There were lights strung everywhere, lining the sidewalks and standing out of the ground. The regular street lamps around the park were turned off. There was glitter everywhere to illuminate the fireworks and silver and gold tinsel hanging from the trees. There was a huge replica of the Times Square Ball in the middle, and circling it were long tables filled with exquisite finger foods like caviar and at least a hundred bottles of champagne. The tables were covered in silver silk and there were miniature Christmas trees in between each one decorated with silver and gold tinsel and ornaments. In various spots of the park, silver hot air balloons were tethered to the ground so that they could float, but they wouldn't travel. There was DJ getting everything ready, testing out songs and equipment.
Emmett and I stepped out of the car and Edward went around to get Renesmee. Alice danced over to me, squealing.

"Bella, Bella, BELLA! Do you love it, or do you LOVE IT?!"

"It looks really amazing, Alice. I can't believe this is a park." I said, mouth still agape. She squealed again and threw her arms around my neck. She gave me a quick squeeze.

"Thanks! You have to help me finish setting up."

"Finish? There's more?"

"Of course there's more, silly goose! There's always more." She grabbed my hand and dragged me to where Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie would be setting off the fireworks.

"By the way, that's a terrible outfit for this evening, but alas, Alice saves the day again! I have a few extras in my car. You can change when you're finished helping me." I grunted and rolled my eyes, but complied. This was more Alice's evening than anyone else's, and I wanted her to be happy.

"I'll agree if you'll stop talking about yourself in third person." She laughed and began directing me.

"These need to be lined up in the order that they're going to be lit. We're going to start fireworks at ten and have the finale right at midnight when we drop the ball. You and Emmett work on how you think they'd look best. Rose and I are going to put on finishing touches on everything else."

"What will you be doing tonight, Alice?" I asked, curiously. There was no way that she wouldn't have a job for herself, and if I knew her well enough, it would be the most difficult task.

"I'm going to be managing everything, of course! We can't allow anything to go wrong. Now get to work!" She shoved Emmett next to me and then pulled Rosalie with her to the other side of the park. I mostly let Emmett decide the order of the fireworks, he knew what he was doing more than I did. He organized by size, and then color.

After we were finished, I headed for the next, more excruciating task of wearing Alice's clothes. I picked something out that looked half decent, and noticed that I almost matched with her, Rosalie and Esme. I knew better than to think she didn't plan it that way. We were all in silver and black dresses and shoes with tasteful sequins, diamond jewelry and heels, all designer. I had to admit, I didn't look bad. Alice didn't think so either. She squealed again when she saw me, and gave me a black headband with a bow on the side to match.

Soon people started to arrive. The food went quickly, but no one noticed because of the speed that Alice replaced it at. There was an abundance of champagne and everyone took advantage.
Renesmee had incredible self control considering the amount of sweaty bodies there were dancing. I figured some of it came from the blood alcohol level in them; it repulsed me so it probably did the same for her.

Around ten o'clock, Emmett started the fireworks, a few at a time. Rosalie watched Renesmee so that Edward and I could help him. Around eleven Rosalie and Jasper switched places with us so we could spend the last hour with Renesmee. I walked over to Alice while Edward watched the fireworks with her.

"Are you having fun?!" Alice asked between bounces. She still hadn't calmed down, and I noticed a few times she had to stop herself from running around too fast.

"Yes, Alice. I'm having a great time. You ought to stop catering to everyone and enjoy it yourself!"

"Nonsense, Bella. I'm having a great time doing what I'm doing. Anyway, go to Edward. He wants to watch the fireworks with you." I looked behind me and he was staring at me. When our eyes met, he smiled. I smiled back and then turned back to Alice.

"I-" I started, but she had disappeared while my head was turned. Right when I was about to walk away, Angela was coming toward me towing Ben in one hand and holding sparkling cider in the other. It didn't surprise me that Angela didn't drink.

"Bella!" She waved from a few feet away. "Bella, how are you?"

"Angela, it's so good to see you. I'm doing great!" I replied enthusiastically. "What about yourself?"

"I'm doing great too. Look!" She held up her left hand. "Ben just proposed!" She half whispered.

"Oh, Angela! Ben! That's terrific!" Jessica walked up as I was speaking.

"Bella! You look so pretty!" She said, and I detected a note of jealousy in her voice.

"Thanks, Jess. So do you." I replied sweetly. Renesmee ran to my side from Edward.

"Mommy! Aunt Alice got a petting zoo! Please, can we go?" She tugged on my hand. At first I was smiling to myself at the fact that Alice got a petting zoo, probably just for Renesmee to enjoy, and then I thought about the fact that she called me mommy in front of them, and how weird that would look. I peeked from the corner of my eye to see their reactions. Jessica had one eyebrow raised and Angela and Ben looked like they couldn't care less. Everyone knew the story that we had adopted a relative's child, but it still may seem strange that she would call me mommy.

"She calls you.. Mommy?" Jessica said with a disgusted look on her face. "So young. How sad." The way she said it made me want to rip the bouncy curls right out of her skull.

"Well, Jessica, Bella and I did adopt her over a year ago, and Renesmee is young. It would only be natural for it to evolve that way, wouldn't it?" Edward appeared at my side, saving the day. Jessica rolled her eyes and downed her champagne, walking away. Edward scooped Renesmee into his arms and her hand went to his face. Lower than any one else could hear, I heard him whisper to her.

"No, no, sweetie. Mommy isn't mad. Just be quiet for a minute, okay?"

"Oh, she's beautiful." Angela said sincerely, staring at her.

"Thank you, Angela." I replied.

"Renesmee," Edward asked her, "Would you like to meet miss Angela and mister Ben?" She nodded, hiding in her massive amount of hair.

"Angela, Ben, this is Renesmee." Edward said to them formally.

"Hi, Renesmee." Angela said, and leaned into her a little more.

"Hi." She replied, and peeked out from under her hair.

"That's a mouthful." Ben said, and we laughed with him.

"It is. We call her Nessie or Ness for short." I replied.

"Well, then, it's nice to meet you, pretty Nessie."

"Thank you." She replied, and flashed a wide grin at them. They both looked at each other, eyes wide and smiling, then looked back to Renesmee. I knew that they instantly fell in love with her.

"Well," I said after a few seconds of silence, "I know that Renesmee wants to see the petting zoo before midnight. We should probably go. But Angela, if I don't see you again tonight, I'd really like to see you before you leave to go back to school."

"Of course, Bella. I would love to get together. It was so good to see you."

"Good to see you guys again." Ben said, towing her away. He kissed her cheek and she giggled. I sighed, smiling at them. Edward snaked his arm around me and his lips were at my ear.

"Renesmee is really anxious to see the goats." I laughed. He took my hand set Renesmee down, getting in between us and grabbing each of our hands. We lifted her every few feet and swung her back and forth on the way to the petting zoo. Afterward, Carlisle met us at the gate and she replayed pictures of us all petting the animals to him, then Edward and then me.

"Are you having fun?" Carlisle asked me as we all started walking.

"Yes, actually. Parties aren't usually my thing, but this one is pretty amazing." We stopped when we were near a hot air balloon.

"I think I can get you three in a hot air balloon for countdown." Carlisle replied, gesturing to balloon beside us.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I know the girl that threw it. She owes me a favor." He said jokingly, and we all laughed.

"I think I'll take you up on that." We paused for a second, admiring our atmosphere. "Alice really outdid herself on this party, didn't she?"

"She did indeed." Carlisle replied. Edward was to the side, tickling Renesmee and letting her show him what I was sure was still the petting zoo. Emmett ran up to us in the middle of our conversation. Carlisle spotted Esme and went toward her.

"Rose and Jasper gave me a quick break, and I wanted to see what was up with you guys. Did Renesmee see the buffet Alice got for her?"

"Well hello to you too, Emmett." I laughed. "and she did see the petting zoo. You better not eat any of those animals. I think she fell in love with a few of them."

"Well you know me. I can't guarantee anything."

"I'm sure that would be the highlight of the evening; everyone running and screaming because one of the Cullen boys is sucking the blood from the petting zoo goats." He laughed and took Renesmee from Edward.

"Would you care if Uncle Emmett ate a goat, Ness?" Her eyes got wide and sad. He laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He kissed her cheek and put her down. "I better get back to the fireworks. Alice didn't know they gave me a break and she might-"

"EMMETT!" I heard Alice's little voice, suddenly huge yelling at Emmett and charging toward us.

"Whoops! Too late." He ran the opposite way.

"Having fun?" She asked, passing us and chasing Emmett.

"Ye-"

"Kay!" She interrupted, not stopping.

"Well alright then." I turned back to Edward.

"It's twenty to twelve, love. What would you like to do?" He asked me.

"We can go ahead and get in the balloon, if you want." He grabbed my hand and we headed toward it. Edward apparently had been in a hot air balloon before, because he automatically knew how to operate it. I was scared for the other people that were in hot air balloons drinking. I knew Alice or someone would be watching, and catch them if they fell out, but it still frightened me. As we rose toward the sky, Edward counted down from three with Renesmee and they both yelled, 'liftoff!'. I giggled, the sight was precious. She raised her little arms in the air and laughed uncontrollably.
We decided that we'd countdown to midnight in French since we'd been teaching Renesmee some. At twenty seconds to twelve, Edward picked her up. The fireworks were huge, one after another and an array of colors. The ball started to drop and we counted together.

"Dix! Neuf! Huit! Sept! Six! Cinq! Quatre! Trois! Deux! Un! Happy New Year!" When the ball hit the bottom, there were two dozen fireworks set off at once. Renesmee squealed with delight and I overlooked the picture underneath me. I saw a montage of kissing and hugs; dancing and shouting. I wanted a kiss of my own and leaned toward Edward. He knew what I wanted and put his hand on the back of my neck and pulled my face toward his fiercely. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and his other arm still enclosed Renesmee. She wasn't paying attention, though. She was too busy watching the fireworks. Her hand was on my cheek subconsciously and she was replaying what she saw. Edward kissed me passionately and then backed away a little, placing one last peck on my lips. Renesmee turned toward us and we both kissed her on either cheek at the same time.

"This will be a good year." She said, and flashed a radiant smile at us. We hugged her tightly.

All the way home she replayed the fireworks over and over for me until she fell asleep, and her thoughts became exotic colors that likened them. I sat in the backseat with her in my lap.

"She was right." Edward said to me, a few minutes after she had drifted off.

"About what?"

"This will be a great year." He smiled at me in the rear view mirror and I smiled back.

"Happy New Year, Edward."