All copyrights to Stephanie Meyer. I am just playing with her characters and imagining what might have happened after the Volturi disappeared into the mist at the end of Breaking Dawn. I am writing because I love the characters, but I really wanted a confrontation with the Volturi at the end of BD. As long as I imagine it for myself, I thought I might as well share. I started out pretty slow because I had to get a couple of lemons out of my system (see ch. 2 and 3), but after chapter 4 I'll get down to business.
Chapters 4 and 5 are up now. Please read & review, tell me if I should keep going!
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As I stared into the golden eyes of my husband, shivering once again as I contemplated the shocking truth that he had chosen to spend an eternity with me of all people, I wondered how I could ever have imagined a world without him. Only a fortnight ago, I had been facing off against the small but gifted Volturi army, convinced that my golden Edward and I were about to die. But of course that was silly: looking into his eyes now, I knew that there could be no world in which he did not exist.
Edward interrupted my daydreaming with a laugh, and for a fraction of a second I was sure he could read the ridiculous infatuation in my thoughts, and then was immediately grateful that mine was the only mind exempt from Edward's gift of mindreading. But he caught the brief spasm of hurt that danced across my face before I could suppress it. In an instant, his arms were around me and his lips pressed lightly to my forehead. "I'm sorry... what's wrong? What did I do?"
"It doesn't always have to be your fault, Edward," I chided lightly, the minor hurt already evaporated and replaced with a tinge of annoyance that I could not have a particle of negativity around me without Edward immediately taking blame on himself. And of course now he would be blaming himself for my annoyance. So to distract him before the negative spiral could begin, I asked, "what was funny?"
"Just Emmett and Rosalie. In light of their near-death experience, they are... rediscovering each other. If Carlisle and Esme don't send them off on a fourth honeymoon soon, an intervention may become necessary."
I joined in Edward's laughter then. Of course, I knew that we were not much better. If we didn't have our daughter Renesmee to care for, we might have stayed locked in our house for a year or two without emerging except to hunt. As it was, I was grateful that I no longer needed to sleep or there would not have been enough hours in the day for our love-making. The thought of Renesmee brought me back to our original conversation.
"You know that we can't enroll Renesmee in any kind of school. She grows too fast. All of the humans would notice," I worried.
"What need does she have of formal schooling? Carlisle and I know more than most college professors. We can tutor her," Edward soothed me.
"I would get a kick out of seeing her pretend to learn how to read and write and fingerpaint, though," Jacob interjected as he entered the room with Renesmee riding on his shoulders.
"Oh, Momma, I don't want to leave you and Daddy and Jacob!" Renesmee cried out in panic. She was still nervous after she had thought only two weeks ago that she would be losing us forever, running with Jacob from an army of vampires bent on destroying her. That thought brought me up short and suddenly I desperately wanted my daughter in my arms. Fortunately that was what she wanted too, because when I held my arms out to her she immediately vaulted off of Jacob's shoulders, using his head as a springboard, and landed gracefully in my embrace. I felt Edward's arms encircle both of us and we held out heads together, one happy family. Even Jacob could not help but be drawn into the warm glow of our happiness -- anything that made Renesmee happy by default made him happy as well thanks to the imprint bond.
After a few minutes, during which time Jacob shifted his bulky form awkwardly from foot to foot, I heard car tires hit the gravel driveway: Carlisle must be returning from work. Edward suddenly pulled away from our embrace with a quiet hiss.
"The nurses at the hospital are beginning to wonder about Carlisle's age. With his looks, it's hard not to watch him, and Carlisle overheard some gossip today. The going theory is plastic surgery, but it won't be long before someone begins to suspect the truth. Subconsciously people usually realize that there is something not quite human about us."
"Daddy, will we have to go away now?" Renesmee questioned.
"Don't even worry about it, baby. We'll talk about it tonight when everyone is home," I assured her.
"Can Jacob and Grampa Charlie come with us?"
"You know I can't leave you, Nessie. You don't even have to ask." Jacob had tactfully left out the fact that Grampa Charlie certainly could not pick up and follow us across the country. I would hate to leave him behind even more, possibly. I realized then that I had already accepted that we would be leaving, and soon. I always knew that as long as I was with Edward I would be ready to face anything, but I had not realized how completely my ties to everything else I once knew had been severed. Maybe not severed -- just retied to Edward. Forks had little meaning to me now except as a place where I could be with Edward. Any other place would have been fine, too. I would certainly miss Charlie, but that dull ache of sadness would be nothing compared to the desolation of life without Edward.
As I thought through this realization, we drifted downstairs to convene with the rest of the Cullen family. Jacob was a part of the family in all but name and so it seemed perfectly natural when he joined us in a circle around the dining room table. The others had all heard Edward's pronouncement of Carlisle's thoughts and looked resigned to the conclusion that this family meeting must ultimately come to.
Carlisle opened the discussion as the head of the family: "As Edward has no doubt already told you, there are the beginnings of some suspicions at the hospital about my unchanging appearance. So far, there is nothing serious, but we should be prepared to leave soon. Even if no one would begin to suspect exactly what we are, we do not want to give anyone a reason to take an interest in our family."
As he looked around the table, everyone simply nodded.
"But where will we go?" Esme already looked excited about the prospect of building and decorating a new home for the Cullen family.
"Can't we go somewhere in the middle of nowhere this time? I hate this constant moving and all of the secrecy. And I most definitely do not want to go back to high school again! I just finished a year ago," Rosalie complained.
"But how will I ever go shopping if we live in a barren wasteland?" Alice protested. When even Jasper looked at her askance at this statement, she tacked on, "and how will Carlisle be able to work in a hospital?"
"We could always build a hospital in our wasteland," Emmett joked to ease Rosalie's bitterness.
"What about Dartmouth?" Jasper interjected suddenly. I often overlooked his presence at these family gatherings because he held himself on the outside, rarely speaking but always watching.
"What an excellent idea, Jazz! You're brilliant," Alice beamed at him.
"We already have the house and Bella's enrollment has been deferred for a year," Edward supplied. I wondered when he'd had time to take care of that in the craziness of the past several months, and how much money had changed hands to smooth over the process.
"It should be a simple matter to enroll Edward, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and Jacob," Carlisle added.
"Now wait just one minute --" Jacob exclaimed.
"Of course we should have asked whether you wanted to come with us... We didn't mean to assume..." Esme stammered apologies.
"Let the dog stay behind if he wants! Good riddance!" Rosalie was still bitter.
"There will be no question of course that we would pay, Jacob, so no need to worry --" Carlisle began.
Edward saw the growing panic in Renesmee's face that her Jacob might be left behind and jumped in before any further damage could be done. "He's not worried about whether to go or who's paying. It's only that he doesn't have a high school diploma yet. And he doesn't want to leave Nessie long enough to go to classes. But really, I think he's just lazy."
We all chuckled a bit, relieved to have a plan now, especially one that would keep the whole family together.
"When will we leave?" I asked, wondering how long I would have to say goodbye to Charlie.
Carlisle seemed to sense my unease. "There's no need to be hasty. The danger is not so great yet that we have to leave immediately. We can take the time to get the house set up properly and make arrangements for your enrollment and my new employment before we go."
"There's no need for us to go at all, Bella. You and I could stay here with Nessie and Jacob in the cottage, or move into the house if you prefer. I'm sure Jacob would be more comfortable anyway staying near his pack." Of course Edward was ready to bend over backwards with concessions to spare me the least bit of pain.
"No, no! I want to go to Dartmouth. I look like an ignoramus next to all of you geniuses. If I ever want to catch up, I had better start educating myself now," I hurried to assure him.
"That's settled, then. We'll leave for New Hampshire this summer. That should give us enough time to prepare our way there and to tie up any loose ends here before fall term begins," Carlisle concluded the meeting.
I felt another pang of sadness as I realized how soon I would be leaving Charlie. I knew we would still be able to visit on the holidays, but things would never be the same and I wondered how much time I really had left to spend with him before he was lost to me forever. Still, I had signed up for this knowing exactly what I would be leaving behind. And I would not ruin the coming evening with Edward by betraying any of my misgivings in my face.
Thoughts of the evening immediately banished any lingering sadness, and I turned to my husband with what I hoped was a lustful glance. I rebalanced Nessie to one arm and held the other out to Edward. "Renesmee must be getting tired. Would you like to help me tuck her in for the night?"
Emmett guffawed obnoxiously before Edward could answer. "Is that what they're calling it nowadays? You'd better keep it down or the neighbors ten miles away will hear you and we'll be leaving town a whole lot sooner."
"Look who's talking, Em," I shot back with a smirk.
Edward only growled at his hulking brother before quickly twining his arm around my waist and towing me from the house. The light pressure of his hand on my hip aroused tingling sensations under my skin and I was glad to have Renesmee in my arms or I would have been tempted to jump on Edward and tear all of his clothes off right there in front of the rest of our family. I didn't need Alice's visions to know that this would be a very pleasant evening.
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Like I said, slow start. But I thought they needed a chance at bliss before I pull the rug out from under them... Please tell me what you think. I hope some people will enjoy and keep reading :)