Chapter 1

Bella stood looking out at a rising dawn, its warm and vivid beams streaming through tree branches and sparse but luminescent green leaves and felt the crisp greeting of yet another Alaskan morning on every inch of her glorious, glowing (and very much exposed) skin.

This had to be the thousandth sunrise that she had witnessed, in this exact state of mind and body, completely and utterly bare. Though not exactly at peace.

Should someone happen upon this little cabin of theirs, hers and Edward's, they would have mistaken her as a somewhat out of place, modern take on the goddess Persephone, mourning her lost lover in the light of yet another spring.

This would have been an incorrect assumption of course for mainly two reasons: one, she was no goddess (though some of her kind like to believe otherwise) she was, in fact, vampire. And two, her lover was not lost. Isabella Marie Cullen had her lover, her husband, her begetter, standing very discreetly no more than a foot away from behind her. And as she watched the sun rise, he watched her, only with much more reverence, and sadness.

Edward had caught Bella like this more and more often since their last visit to Forks (the destination they now found themselves packing for once again) less than a couple of months ago. Carlisle had, inevitably, had to move away from Forks to continue his life's calling of helping the ailing and dying back to health. Most of the Cullen coven had packed and moved away from the damp and rainy Forks almost 10 years ago, save Edward and Bella who had stayed so that Bella could have a little while longer with Renesmee (who just married and moved in with her 'soulmate' Jacob Black) but more importantly, to be with Charlie and her Quileute friends. Her mortal family.

Nineteen years ago, the Volturi had come in all their terrible might attempting to rip their family apart. Instead however, the Cullen family was virtually tripled in size thanks to this seeing as how it was the alliances they had had to forge with the Quileute werewolves and their strengthened friendships with Carlisle's friends (their 'witnesses'). The Quileutes most especially though, being that they were now literally the Cullens' in-laws! And if that weren't enough, Charlie had also soon begun a serious relationship with Sue Clearwater, cementing the connection between the Cullens and Quileutes further.

Certainly, many things had changed for the Cullens for the better. However, a few years following the event of the Volturi a good number of negative changes had occurred to upset the Cullen clan. One of those being the fact that Charlie Swan's health began to decline only a few short years after the Volturi came.

This is why they were now making what had to be their fourth trip back to Forks since the year before when Charlie had been rushed to hospital after suffering stroke. Edward and Bella had had to rush themselves to Forks seconds after getting off of the phone with a carefully composed but still clearly distraught Sue. And disregarding the very present risk that one of their old schoolmates would see them after almost two decades since graduating from Forks High, yet miraculously still looking not a day over 20 years old themselves…there'd certainly only be a few raised eyebrows from the rest of the town who'd hear about such an encounter. A handful of their old schoolmates returned to live in Forks after finishing their college degrees and starting their lives and new careers and some were now pushing 40, with children of their own. Meanwhile, Bella and Edward, stuck together in perpetual adolescence and conscious, always, of playing strictly by the 'rules' of the vampire world, tried to exist as inconspicuously and lawfully as was possible for a vampire. Not unlike a man on parole, immortally of-course.

This was not how it was supposed to have happened.

Edward was still standing behind Bella, having contemplated all the while his silent wife. And he was starting to feel a little intrusive. This was usually his queue to come forward and say something to his wife, like how lovely she looked in the soft yellow light of the early dawn or, if he dared, venture to ask what it was she was thinking.

Edward now remembered how after the almost-battle against the Volturi, there was a brief peace that followed, enshrouding everyone, and Bella had taken to life as a vampire with an infectious and euphoric vigour. The first couple of years, she had simply enjoyed our little miracle, Renesmee, and newly-wed life with Edward. She had continued practising and soon perfecting her shielding abilities. Initially. However, a couple years more, when Nessie had already matured to junior age and was physically as old as Edward and was mentally wise well beyond her apparent youth, it had dealt an unexpectedly profound blow to Bella. Edward had been able to tell, she had not expected motherhood to be over so soon.

This had also been the first of few more hits on her and Nessie's relationship.

Bella had found it difficult to let go so soon and figuratively stumbled her way through it. While Renesmee, trying to be generous to Bella, had slowly grown more and more impatient with her mother's constant "mollycoddling". It had taken both the Cullen's input (and Jacob's where Nessie was concerned) to diffuse the situation.

Regrettably though, not very long after Nessie's sixth birthday, when we had all been anticipating news from her about her new relationship with Jacob, she had come home, stormed into our cottage and furiously demanded the truth about who Jacob was to Bella as all eight of vampires silently looked around at each other uncomfortably. The Cullens had all been caught off guard of course (Alice's blindspots to wolves were a major inconvenience) and whilst everyone had hurried to try to reassure her that it had been nothing and nothing to be concerned about now, Emmett had tactlessly let it slip that Bella and Jacob had shared 'just the one kiss'. Nessie had not known this little piece of detail. She had quite literally dragged her mother by the hand deep into the woods for a private conversation that, upon their return, appeared to have exhausted the both of them but at least, it had seemed, the issue had been resolved.

Neither Bella nor Edward for that matter would ever declare Nessie to spoiled in any way; in fact, to everyone who ever asked they took to only ever acknowledging how sweet and loving she was and how she had often a very generous nature (this meaning that she didn't often hold grudges as well as that she literally enjoyed sharing things with people, other than just her thoughts).

But the truth of the matter was that one of Renesmee Black's distinct vices was that she was rather spoiled. She had always been lavished with affection and pretty things, never allowed more than a moment's pain or unease. She had been so closely and carefully taken care that she did not even know that life worked any other way than how she willed it. And that was all she had ever known.

So, fatefully, that day became the day that Nessie's bubble of her long-held, childish self-absoption became spoiled in itself. The revelation had been the second and biggest blight upon Bella and Renesmee's relationship. Nessie had let it go then but she was still not entirely over the fact that her husband had once loved another woman so deeply, and that the woman had been her own mother. Bella would from then on feel a great deal of guilt for the way Nessie had found out about her past relationship with Jacob and the lingering hurt and doubt the knowledge of it causes her daughter to have with her Jacob. Edward had since tried convincing both women that the past is set and they both need not let it poison the present; nevertheless, they both always insist that it's behind them.

Now, Edward was reaching his wife's side to join her in observing the woodlands beyond their quaint little cabin come alive. The cabin was not at all dissimilar to the cottage Esme had built for them back in Forks. Light warm colours that catch and reflect the light, tall windows with wide window seats to sit on. Esme always felt that, for their kind especially, it was a good for the 'soul' to be among nature, so it had become something of a signature of hers to fit large and tall windows in place of brick walls for all her projects.

"Bella love?" Edward prodded gently,

But she remained statuesque. Blankly staring onward, coldly indifferent. But Edward knew better.

"Bella," a kiss on the shoulder, "It's going to be ok. Charlie's been doing a lot better and Carlisle's optimistic there's not going to be any serious issues in the near future. Even Alice…"

She had sighed softly.

"Edward…I love you." She had stated this simply, with a slight resignation. Bella had taken to insisting on nearly monthly visits to see Charlie and despite the fact that she had not actually said so Edward knew her well enough now to know that it was because she was so afraid for Charlie. That because of Charlie living in La Push with Sue now, and the added frequency at which he is surrounded by wolves, they might miss the next incident. And she was terrified that the next, might be the last.

Turning to face her husband for the first time that morning Bella's face relaxed ever so slightly and, touching his unadorned, strong forearm, she said,

"How bout we go and see our baby." She stated with an uneasy smile.

"Just remember not to call her that to her face." Edward said, assuming his crooked smile, hoping to make her smile a bit more in earnest.

Bella let out a faintly amused little huff, before leaning her face forward to kiss Edward gently on the chest and touching his arm once more, she left him to go put some clothes on, ready for the flight back home.