A/N: This story is my first piece of fanfic, and yet is also a sequel. So how does that happen? Well, for anyone who has read the wonderful and heartbreaking story by Raine Delmont titled "Healing Her Wounds" you may have been hoping that there would be a sequel. It is a wonderful story and inspired me to write this one. Please note: Raine Delmont provided the inspiration for this story, I just took in the direction my mind happened to wander. A big thank you to Raine for the encouragement to take this on!
Also, thanks so much to my new fanfic buddy FinsXI for her encouragement and willingness to listen to the whinings of a fanfic newbie. Elise, you rock! For those of you who haven't read "Stay Close, Don't Go," I can't recommend it highly enough.
OK, enough of my blabbering. Enjoy!
BPOV
I looked down at the beautiful engagement ring on my finger that once belonged to Elizabeth Masen, and I couldn't believe that my former life had finally come to an end. Now, the sense of belonging to my new family filled my heart and made me want to exist again. I knew in my heart that I had endured great physical and emotional pain in order to get here, yet I was unable to keep the smile from my lips. I had finally found happiness in the very same place where I once lost it. I knew in my heart that Edward would never again allow himself to separate from me in the interest of safety, that was certain. I was immortal now, and that meant that the dangers of being a fragile human hanging around potentially bloodthirsty vampires would no longer be a concern for him.
I was more graceful, faster, coordinated, and could hold my own in an arm wrestling match against Emmett. Nobody in the Cullen family seemed to tire of witnessing little Bella best Emmet in any physical competition. Of course, that would only last through my newborn stage, but for now it was quite entertaining. I can't say that Emmett shared that viewpoint, but he had fun betting against his brothers as to the extent of my strength.
I couldn't help but look forward to the future, especially since my past was lost. This was a good thing, and I had my new vampire ability to thank for it. I could recall very little of the time between Edward's disappearance from my life to the time of his return to Forks. I knew only what little information was provided to me by others, and Edward made it very clear to everyone that less was better. He did not want me to remember anything about Mike, or what he had done to take my precious daughter Allie from this world. My ability would allow me to search his memories and discover the terrors my mind had covered up about my former husband, but I knew in my heart that Edward was protecting me, and I would never disappoint him like that. Plus, I had to admit that I was scared of what I would discover about those missing links in my memory.
My power could be as evasive as it was subtle. I could extract any memory I wanted from anyone, human or vampire. I could implant or completely erase any memory I chose as well. The ability to cause everyone in the area to forget that the Cullen family ever existed was an amazing benefit, and could help us wherever we decided to live. And with the help of the extremely talented J. Jenks, an acquaintance of Jasper's, it was possible to create a paper trail that would support my ability to make everyone believe that we had lived in any given town for years.
The power did not seem like much to me at first, but soon after my change I had discovered how truly powerful it was. Some vampires discover their talents by mistakenly using it on others. Leave it to me to be my own first victim. According to Carlisle, if I concentrated hard enough on forgetting a memory I could forget it completely, never to get it back again unless I pulled it from some other source that carried the same recollection. I had been so distraught over the events that took place before Edward agreed to change me that I had basically begged myself to forget. Well, wish granted.
As I stared out of the glass wall of our bedroom, I could feel Edward walk up behind me before I heard him. Even with my new amazing vampire hearing he still managed to sneak up on me. "What are you thinking?" he asked, slipping his arm around my waist and pulling me close to his chest. "Just thinking of what a beautiful sunrise it was, and how lucky I am to be here with you," I lied. Truly, I was thinking about how I wanted to not look like a newborn anymore. How I wanted golden eyes to match Edward's and the rest of the family. To look like a true Cullen.
"Hmmm, you're right about the sunrise. Maybe we should go hunting and take advantage of the morning before Alice gets a hold of you for more wedding plans?" Ugh. If there was anything that could get me to run away at full vampire speed, it was my own personal wedding planner. As deeply as I loved my future sister, controlling her plans for my upcoming wedding was probably one of my biggest battles. And I knew it was a lost battle before it even began. It was mere moments after Edward proposed that I got the first phone call from her.
"Oh my God, Bella – I can't believe he was able to get this by me!! We have so much to do, so much to plan. Your dress! Oh, thank goodness Jasper and I are in Paris. The new styles are just coming out, but I think something custom made would be better. Don't you? And the flowers, we need to decide which ones will be in season, and to coordinate with the wedding party colors. So why haven't you two decided on a date? I can't see what the weather will be yet and that will be crucial to the location and most of the details. So what do you think?" "Alice," I said, "we've only been engaged for five minutes. Do you think I can adjust to that before I start thinking about what flowers are in season?" She reluctantly agreed to hold off any further conversations about the wedding until she and Jasper were back from their vacation, and I reluctantly agreed to give her the title of official wedding planner. God help anyone who crossed her now. And so began my happily ever after.