Chapter One Change is Coming (Based on Stephanie Meyer's creation)
Bella lay next to Edward, basking in the sunlight and greatly enjoying it's warmth on her skin. She reached over to clasp hands with her husband, marveling at the changes the past year had wrought in all their lives.
With what more or less amounted to their defeat of the Volturie, everyone realized how much they had taken each other for granted. It took coming close to losing everything they cherished, but nobody in the family arrogantly assumed that they would live forever anymore. Perpetual youth, super strength, and relative invulnerability no longer truly amounted to immortality to the Cullens (for even a vampire could die), and it was mutually agreed that whether they all lived another century, or until the sun went out, they would live every moment to the fullest.
In nobody was this more apparent than Rosalie- or as she now preferred to be called, Rose. The close brush with absolute destruction of the family profoundly affected her. In fact, during the crisis, when she realized just how serious the situation was, she had put herself directly in orbit around Emmet, and Nessie- determined to sacrifice everything, even her very existence if need be, to save her two greatest loves. The result of this experience had opened her eyes to the fact that she was the most shallow, selfish, and self-absorbed person she knew, and filled her with shame. Was this the example she really wanted to set for her beloved niece? The very idea of Nessie following such an example was one Rose found revolting.
Upon returning home from the near war, Rose locked herself in her room for the rest of the day. She refused to talk to anyone and would not unlock the door even for Emmet(who knew better than to annoy his wife when she did not want to be bothered.
The next morning she came out of their room, practically buried under an enormous load of black garbage bags filled to capacity. All that was visible were her legs and bare feet.
"Emmet!" she bellowed, "go grab Bella's pick-up and bring it around front. Hurry!"
Emmet jumped up from the couch, dropping the video game control he had been using to battle against Jasper in the newest game he had purchased, and dashed out the door.
Bella looked up from where she sat, next to Edward, holding Nessie. " You still have my truck?" she asked Rose, surprised.
"Yes. Jacob could not stand to see it just sitting there, not running, and well, I figured that if he and Nessie were going to stay close, it would probably be a good idea to find common ground and try to stop fighting so much. So we fixed the truck together."
Bella looked at Rose in astonishment.
"What?" Rose said, defensively "I won't risk alienating Nessie. Besides," her voice, muffled by the load she was carrying "he is quite gifted in automotive repair."
Emmet roared up to the front of the house in the truck.
"I wont be gone long." she called, going out the door.
"Where are you going?" Bella asked after her.
"Just making a trip to the Goodwill."
As the truck drove off, Alice came tearing in through the back door. "Stop her!" she screeched, looking panicked, and disheveled. She and Esme had gone off to feed right after they got home from the standoff.
"Alice, whats wrong?" Esme asked worriedly.
"She has gone mad!" Alice sputtered.
"Alice, calm down." said Bella, soothingly.
"Oh my," Edward said, chuckling "I would never have seen that coming."
Alice put her face in her hands, "The world has gone crazy" she said mournfully.
"Edward, what..." Bella looked at her husband in confusion.
"You will just have to wait and see, dear." he said wonderingly. "If I had not seen Alice's mind just now, I would not have thought it possible."
Twenty minutes later, Rose walked through the door, looking satisfied with herself.
Bella looked up, and did a double-take. Rose was flawlessly beautiful, as always. But there was something different about her. She was wearing jeans! And a flannel Shirt! And no shoes! Bella could not believe her eyes. As far as she knew, Rose didn't Own a pair of jeans, let alone a flannel shirt.
Emmet walked through the door, carrying several bags, and looking thoroughly dazed. "I can't believe it," he murmured, "I just cant believe it. The world must be ending."
"Emmet, where have you been? What is wrong?" Bella asked.
"Wrong?" Rose asked. "Nothing is wrong. Ask what is right."
Looking at his wife, than at Bella, Emmet said "She just dumped her entire wardrobe off at Goodwill, then made me stop at your old friend Mike's family store, where she bought jeans, boots, and flannel shirts!"
"Rose!!" Alice wailed "what have you done with all your beautiful clothes?"
"I'm done with all that Alice. I am done with being nothing more than a selfish, vain little peacock. We almost lost everything, Alice! Our whole family. Nessie. All of the IMPORTANT things. From here on out, I am going to live for our family, not my own selfish vanity."
Alice looked at Rose as if she had never seen her before.
"Get use to it Sis, the Bitch has left the building, and I will not let her back in." Rose finished, fiercely.
Rose had been true too her word. She refused to wear anything that was not functional, and made in the U.S. She would not wear any make-up either. But the biggest difference was in her attitude towards Jacob. She treated him like a favorite nephew, never calling him "Dog" or "Mutt". He in turn, was never rude to her. In fact, he wouldn't even tell blond jokes until Rose started telling them to him, trying to make him laugh.
The end result was that a bond had developed between them that was unbreakable. Jacob was still Jacob Black, but now he was also a Cullen.
One of the results of Rose and Jacob's new relationship, was that they had taken it upon themselves to enhance and even customize everybody's car.
It was when he and Rose had been repairing a dent in Charlie's cruiser (as well as adding some serious modifications under the hood. Boy, was Charlie ever surprised at the exponential increase in power and speed!), that Jacob looked up thoughtfully at Rose while spraying a coat of toasted beige on the right rear quarter panel.
"Hey, Rose?" he asked.
"Hmmm?" she looked down at him, just in time to catch a face full of paint.
"Jacob! What the hell?"
"Rose, just look." He spun her around to look at her reflection in the cruisers side view mirror.
"What..." Her eyes widened as she took in her reflection. Then, before Jacob had a chance to respond, she stripped to the skin in a flash.
Pulling her hair up, closing her eyes, and raising her arms above her head, ordered "Spray the rest of me. Now!"
Jacob, eyes bugging out of his head, complied- wondering how he was going to avoid certain death at the hands of a jealous Emmet.
The end result was that, even though the color wasn't exactly flesh-toned, she was no longer stark white. In fact, aside from the stunning beauty, she looked like any other mortal.
Looking down at herself, she laughed delightedly. "C'mon Jake, now for the final test." and grabbing his arm in a vice-like grip, drug him out of the garage and into the sunlight.
The result was amazing. There was not a single sparkle whatsoever. "Rose, you look absolutely human." Then looking up when he heard an enraged roar, seeing Emmet charging him, he did a gulp. "And I look absolutely dead. Thanks a lot Rose." Before Emmet took another step, Rose was at his side in a blur, and slapping the back of his head with the sound of boulders colliding, snapped "Knock it off!"
Emmet stopped in mid-stride "But you, he, I..." he raged.
"Oh, get over yourself, Butch. Nothing happened. If you can't be naked in front of your family, who can you be naked in front of?"
"Oh, I dunno. HOW ABOUT YOUR HUSBAND AND THE MIRROR ONLY!?" he roared.
Rose shook her head. "Honey, look at me, notice anything different?"
Emmet stared at her with a puzzled frown on his face. Than it dawned on him."you aren't sparkling. You are in the sunlight, and you aren't sparkling."
"Thats right. It was Jacob's idea. Do you realize what this means?"
Emmet was no fool(though he was often mistaken for one) "We can go anywhere, anytime, and blend in!!" he crowed exultantly. "CarlisleEsmeAliceJasperEdwardBella, get out here!"
The whole family was on the porch in a flash.
"Rosalie Hale!" Esme exclaimed, "where are your clothes young lady!"
"Darling, look at her skin." Carlisle murmured, "in the sun." he added emphatically.
"Oh my..."
Needless to say, the whole family was very enthusiastic about the whole idea, and being as Edward, Carlisle, and Esme had all gotten a masters degree in chemistry at one point or another during the course of their studies, they applied their brilliant vampire minds and enormous resources to the idea. Within a month, they had developed a polymer blend that would bind to their skin like paint, but when it dried, it formed into a flexible coating that was both pliable and tough, able to withstand up to thirty minutes of intense wrestling between Jasper and Emmet, before it would start to slough off. It would remain that strong for up to two weeks before reapplication was needed.
The reapplication was done by a modified machine used in tanning salons. It sprayed the polymer on in a pattern that was could only be described as a microscopic mesh, allowing for the passage of air, and sunlight.
Everybody chose their own skin shade, so as to have a bit more variety in the family. The freedom this allowed meant multiple family vacations to places like Maui, the Bahamas, and Cancun. It turns out that vampires love the sunlight, but out of the interest of secrecy, had to stay out of it.
Currently, the whole family were anchored of the coast of Australia, at the Great Barrier Reef.
The Cullen's were on an extended holiday, spending the winter in Australia. They were going to be joined the next day by Charlie and Renee. Bella shook her head.
First Rose turns her nose up at her own vanity, seeking to eliminate selfishness from her nature, than Jacob had the idea that made everybody able to live even more seamlessly like humans. Now Charlie and Renee...
Bella had to admit, she would never have seen this coming in a million years.