Well, here is another one of my stories. I started posting it on another site about a year ago, but recently there was a problem and all the fanfics posted on there got deleted. So rather than repost there, I figured I'd just bring it over here. I have 12 chapters done so far, but I'll probably be posting once a week, maybe more depending on its popularity. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!! I have so many alerts for Permanently Yours, but only like 4 or 5 people have reviewed the last two chapters. Reviews make me happy so please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: All characters and anything that happened in any of the four Twilight Saga books belong to Stephenie Meyer. Only this original story is mine.


Ok, so this takes place after Breaking Dawn. It begins at the one year mark of Bella's transformation, which is also Renesmee's 1st birthday even though she looks years older by now. Things couldn't possibly get any better… seriously. Because no sooner than the moment that true happiness is discovered, it all goes straight to hell. Find out what happens when the Cullens realize that being vampires doesn't make them any less of what they are first and foremost--men and women. Be there as lots of drama forces itself on our beloved characters. So get ready and brace yourself for the unexpected as someone leaves, someone shows up, tears are shed (literally and figuratively), time becomes irrelevant, relationships are threatened, secrets are revealed and lives, or should I say existences, are changed forever.

P R E F A C E

Every morning, the sun rises to start a new day. The stars fade away. The sky turns from black to blue. The birds awaken and sing their songs. It's been like that since the dawn of time.

Time. Time means little to someone who continuously witnesses the changeover from night to day. To someone whose life is a never-ending existence, time barely exists. But when such an existence is in jeopardy, change is pretty much inevitable.

I thought I'd faced all the horrors the world had to offer. I'd fought many battles and ultimately won the war. Who could possibly know that just when everything became perfect, it would all come crashing down?

Certainly not me.

What would you do if you got everything you always wanted? What if happiness was all you could feel, peace was all you could see? What if you believed with all your heart that nothing could ever take that kind of joy, that kind of love, away from you?

Would you believe it when life proved you wrong? And more importantly, would you let it take away your love?

1 . P E R F E C T I O N

Things just don't get any better than this, I thought to myself.

I was laying in the big white bed in the middle of my bedroom. The sun was starting to shine through the glass doors that led to the little garden outside. My long brown hair fell loosely around my face and the white sheets were pulled up to my chest. My pearly white arms were wrapped around my gorgeous husband, as were his around me.

I loved moments like this. I was most content when we were snuggled in each other's arms so securely. It made me feel safe, like nothing could touch me here.

Edward pressed his lips to the top of my head and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked him. I looked up towards his face but all I could see was the silky smooth skin of his neck.

"It seems like these moments never last long enough," he replied, his voice as soft as velvet. It was my turn to chuckle at the fact that our minds were on the exact same page. He continued, "Nessie's thoughts are becoming more coherent. She'll probably be waking up in a few minutes. She's too excited to sleep any longer."

I shifted so that I could prop myself up on my elbow. I looked into his golden eyes. I saw the reflection of my own eyes in his. Mine were the color of butterscotch. I'd been so happy when the crimson color they'd been for my first few months as a vampire started to noticeably fade away.

"Well, she's got every right to be excited. Today's her first birthday," I said. I sighed heavily. "Although, I wish she actually looked like she was turning one today. Just thinking about how off-balanced it is makes me feel like I've somehow missed out on years of her life."

It still unsettled me quite a bit that my daughter, my precious Renesmee, grew and developed so rapidly. She started speaking just a week after she was born, only to be walking a couple of weeks later. Now, I had to cope with the fact that she was the size of a six or seven-year-old only a year after she'd come into this world. And in only six more year's time, she'd be fully grown. The thought sent a slight shiver down my spine.

Edward moved one of his hands to my face and stroked my cheek. He exhaled sharply blowing his sweet breath, which was honey and lilac scented just like his skin, into my face. I smiled slightly as he spoke.

"I know," he said soothingly. "But at least we know that she's going to be all right and that we've got forever with her." He smiled my favorite crooked smile at me.

"True," I agreed. It was hard not to agree with him when he was dazzling me which I noticed seemed to happen a little bit more frequently than when I was human, probably because I could see him really vividly now through my stronger eyes.

Then he leaned his head forward so that our foreheads were touching. His smile grew wider as he spoke.

"And aren't you the least bit excited about today? After all, you're celebrating something too."

I pretended like I didn't know what he was talking about. "Not sure what you mean," I shrugged.

"C'mon, Bella. It's okay to be happy. You had an extraordinary year. You took to being a vampire so effortlessly. Your first year down is a big accomplishment. You didn't lose your temper, or control of your strength. You didn't--"

"Kill anyone?" I cut in.

"Well, yeah! Seriously, not many vampires can say that. You were around humans from the very beginning and never had a problem. It's something to be quite proud of actually, considering the way we choose to live. You didn't slip, not even once. It's very impressive, love. I'm proud of you," he said, kissing the tip of my nose.

I giggled, "Well, thank you. But in all seriousness, I'm not so sure that I am happy to have this year behind me."

"Why not?"

"Honestly, Edward. You know as well as I do that this means we're closer to leaving Forks. We can't stay here much longer."

"Things are really good right now. You're right, we won't be able to stay too much longer, but I see no reason why we can't stay at least through next May. That's another eight months. We can have one more fall, winter and spring here. And to make up for last year, we can make them good ones," he said, smiling again.

"I suppose you're right. But this past spring wasn't bad. Why do we need another spring here?" I asked, confused.

Then I realized, before he could answer me, what would make him want to stay till the spring.

"Our meadow," we both said together.

"It's most beautiful in the spring," he said. "And it's our special place, just yours and mine. I want one more spring here with you."

"But it's not like we can't ever come back just to visit it and spend a little time there, right?"

"Why are you so ready to just up and leave Forks?" he demanded, lifting his head up a few inches. "Don't you want a little more time here? With Charlie?"

"Of course I do. It's just that…" I trailed off.

"Just that what?"

I sighed. I didn't want to speak it, just in case I jinxed it. I pushed my shield aside and let him into my mind. This was almost too easy to do now because I'd spent so much time practicing it with him. I thought my response, knowing he could hear me.

It's just that, I don't want anything to mess this up. Everything's been so perfect the last several months and I'm afraid that staying here longer could end up ruining that. I was getting worried just thinking about it. We've had enough problems to last us a dozen lifetimes. I don't think I could handle it if anything else happened.

He held me tighter and looked deeply into my eyes.

"Bella, you don't have to worry. Nothing's going to happen if we spend a few more months here. All of our troubles are behind us."

You don't know that for sure I thought.

"Okay, let me rephrase that: I'm not going to let anything happen. You're safe, Nessie's safe, we're happy, and that's how it's going to stay. I promise."

I reached my hand up to pull his face back to mine. I kissed him with so much passion that it should have been illegal to do so. He held me even tighter as I kissed him down his jaw line and throat. Eventually, I rested my head back down on his chest and sighed, feeling content yet again.

I love you I thought.

He let out a low chuckle.

"I love you, too" he said, kissing my hair. "Forever."

And ever I added.

Then he asked, "Is that the only reason you're upset that your first year as a vampire is over?"

He knew me too well.

There may be one other reason why I'm sad to see it come to an end I thought. I put my shield back in its place, shutting him out.

"Which is?" he pressed.

"Well, I kind of enjoyed the strength that came with being a newborn" I spoke out loud. "Now that my first year's up, all that raw power is gone."

"It's not all gone that quickly. Is it? I mean, I know things were sort of different for you. Like I said, I've never seen a newborn take so well to this life. But is all of your strength really gone already?"

"Kind of. I mean, for the last month I would say, I've felt it sort of slipping away. There are still times when I get, let's call them power surges, and I'm just as strong as I was when I was changed. But most of the time, I feel very weak. Almost like what was normal for me as a human. And when I do get those power surges, they're very random. I have no control over them at all. Plus, they only last a few seconds at the most. It's just kind of discouraging to have it all fade away so fast."

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this? How come you didn't tell me?" he asked, pulling my chin up to look at him.

"It's not like there's anything you can do about it. It's going to happen. I just have to deal with it."

"Well, you'll be able to build your strength up again. As time goes on, you'll get a bit stronger. In the meantime, don't fret. I'm more than strong enough for the both of us."

He flexed a little bit, showing off. I couldn't help but laugh.

"How is it that Nessie and I somehow got lucky enough to deserve you?" I asked him, smiling.

"You've got that backwards, love. I'm still not sure that I deserve either of you." He pressed his finger to my lips to prevent me from objecting to his statement. He continued, "And speaking of Nessie, she's awake now. She's going to be running in here probably within the next sixty seconds, so we'd better get dressed."

We got up out of bed and darted to our severely oversized closet. I put on a pair of fitted black jeans and a royal blue tank top. I was getting better at dressing stylishly. Alice had repeatedly given me hell for not putting the massive amounts of clothes she had stuffed my closet with to good use. So I let her show me what was "acceptable" a few times. Now I knew how to dress comfortably to please myself but fashionable enough to please her as well. Edward pulled on a pair of khakis and a white t-shirt. We stood side by side in the full-length mirror for half a second. Honestly, we would've looked stunning if we were simply wearing burlap sacks. It still amazed me a little bit that I had gone from looking like an ordinary and rather frumpy human girl to this jaw-dropping beauty.

The amount of time that had passed since we jumped out of bed was barely even eight seconds. I pulled Edward by the hand back to the enormous white bed and plopped down on it. He joined me and pulled me close as his lips found mine. It took everything we had to remember to keep it G-Rated. But when we heard the soft footsteps running towards our room, we somehow managed to break apart.

"Momma! Daddy! I'm up," Nessie shouted as she ran into the room and jumped onto the bed with us.

Edward and I laughed.

"We can see that," he said, smiling an adoring smile at our beautiful daughter.

Nessie shouted again, "It's September ninth!"

"Yes, it is," I said to her.

"Well? Isn't there anything else you'd like to say to me?" she demanded. She was so cute when she got frustrated.

I threw my arms around her and pulled her close to my chest. Edward wrapped his arms around both of us as I spoke.

"Happy Birthday, Renesmee Carlie Cullen! I love you, my beautiful little girl," I exclaimed as I showered her with kisses.

She giggled, her high-pitched voice ringing like bells. She hugged Edward and I as tight as she could.

"I love you both, too."

I pulled away from her slightly to look at her. She really was beautiful. Her bronze-colored curls hung freely around her face and down past her shoulders. Her rosy pink cheeks were plumped up because of her huge smile. Her milk chocolate brown eyes looked at me, then shifted to Edward, and back to me again. I realized Edward had been looking at her intensely, too.

"Why are you both staring at me?" Nessie asked, a little taken aback.

Edward chuckled, "We're not staring at you, sweetheart. We're just… admiring you."

"Why?"

"Because you're so beautiful and so precious and--"

"You're completely ours," I interjected. Thinking back to the whole "who doesn't deserve whom" conversation I'd just had with Edward, I realized that neither of us deserved a child as remarkable as our little Renesmee. "Honestly Nessie, Daddy and I are trying to figure out how we ever got lucky enough to have you for a daughter. You're our amazing little miracle."

"And although we're completely baffled by how extraordinary you are, we couldn't be happier that you're ours and that we get to love and cherish you forever," Edward finished.

Renesmee blushed a vibrant red. She hated when we talked about her like that, like she was the most sacred thing in the world. But it was true. She was a million times more sacred to her father and I then she would ever know.

"C'mon, stop it," she pleaded. "Can't you guys ever just tell me you love me without getting so overly-emotional about it?"

It still dumbfounded me a little bit at how perfectly she spoke, too. Cognitively, she was fully developed; intellectually, she was just as smart as Edward or I was. Again, it was a bit frightening. But I was learning to be okay with it.

"Hmm, nope. Sorry," I replied.

"Humph! Well, can you at least promise not to do it in front of the whole family today? I know I'll probably hear it from them too, but you guys always lay it on so thick! You've already said it today. I'm special, I know. You love me very much, more than I'll ever be able to comprehend. Okay, got it. So can that just be it for today? Please?"

"It sounds to me like someone's a little embarrassed."

"Well, yeah! All anyone ever does is talk about how wonderful I am! Like I'm the most important thing in the world."

"Well, in our world, you are."

"But Momma, I don't like being treated that way. I'm not any more special than you or Daddy or Jacob or Grandpa Charlie or anybody. I'm just me. And quite frankly, it's a little annoying. I hate having everyone fawn over me so much. I don't like being the center of attention at all."

Edward laughed, "Renesmee, you are exactly like your mother in so many ways. You're like a little clone of her."

I scowled at Edward and said, "She's just like you too, you know. She may have my personality and persistence, but she's got your resistant mindset as well as your attitude. It's a tie with the stubbornness though, she definitely gets that from both of us."

He laughed again and I couldn't help but laugh, too. Nessie became very impatient during the fifteen seconds it took for us to say that.

"Hello?! Are either of you even going to acknowledge what I said? Or are you simply just going to keep on doing what I asked you not to?" she all but shrieked at us.

Edward crushed her to his chest and kissed the top of her head.

"Nessie," he said, "we're sorry that we love you so much it's hard for us to contain it. You're right though. We do seem to fawn over you a bit too much. So your mother and I promise that we'll try to keep it under control. Okay?"

"Okay," she murmured.

She pressed her small hand to his cheek and he chuckled.

"Hmm, that sounds like fun. But do you think we'll get away with it?"

"Only one way to find out," she grinned widely.

It was very frustrating for me to watch them have these mostly silent conversations. I wanted to be in on their discussions.

"What are you two plotting?" I demanded.

They both turned to face me with devilish grins. A playful growl rumbled deep in Edward's chest and Nessie giggled uncontrollably. Then they pounced forward and landed on top of me, forcing me to lay flat. I laughed as Nessie tickled me and in turn Edward tickled her. After a few seconds, Nessie snuggled to my chest.

"I love you, Momma," she said.

"I love you too, baby."

"I love you, Daddy."

Edward pulled both of us into his arms. "And I love you," he stated. "Both my girls." He let out a heavy sigh. "And now that we've established that we all love each other, we should get moving." He turned his head towards the front of the cottage and said, probably a little louder than necessary, "Okay, Alice. Calm down. We're coming. Go back to the house; we'll be there in two minutes." He turned back to us. "C'mon. They're getting antsy waiting for us."

Frowning, Nessie and I followed when he got up and walked towards the door. We walked through the small living room and out the front door. Edward picked Nessie up and swung her onto his back. He held out his hand for mine and I took it. With that, we started running.

There were no words to describe how I felt about running. It was so, I don't know, exhilarating. I loved zipping around at a speed that even my Ferrari couldn't match. And despite how fast I could run, I was still able to see and smell everything as clearly as I could if I were standing still. That part I really loved; it was like I didn't have to miss anything. I was still getting used to my unbelievably spacey mind because now there was too much room. It was like I had ninety-five percent of my brain space still available. It was just wonderful.

We made it up to the house in a matter of two minutes. I could already tell that Alice had gone overboard yet again with celebration plans. I could see the damage as soon as we made the jump across the river. Nessie jumped off Edward's back and took in the scene, too. There were streamers and twinkle lights (despite the fact that it was eight-thirty in the morning) hanging from the trees surrounding the yard. Confetti was all over the ground in front of us, a thick trail leading straight to the back door. I looked at Edward for any kind of sign that this wasn't going to be as bad as I imagined it would. All he did was give me a small smile. I sighed and started forward, pulling him with me as Nessie just ran on ahead.

We walked into the house and found everyone waiting for us. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme were all standing there with huge smiles on their faces and party hats on their heads. Of course Jacob was there too, as were the members of his pack: Quil, Embry, Seth and even Leah. I guess Jake had told her she had to come just for a little bit to celebrate Nessie's birthday. She still didn't like to be around us so much, but she was getting better at being civil.

There was a giant banner hanging up on the wall that said "Happy 1st Birthdays Renesmee and Bella!" I laughed a little when I saw it. Off to the side was a small table with a stack of presents wrapped in metallic pink paper on it. Nessie was just beaming with a bright smile on her little face as everyone joined in a chorus of "Happy Birthday." After a couple of minutes, things calmed down to the point where we could have a normal conversation.

"Wow, Alice. You really outdid yourself," I said to her.

"Did you really expect anything less from me?" she retorted with a smile.

Edward laughed, "Yes, go ahead Alice. Nessie's just as anxious as you are."

I looked at him curiously for a second and then realized what he was talking about when both Alice and Renesmee darted towards the gifts. Everyone laughed at them as Alice took Nessie in her lap and handed her the first present.

"Okay, Nessie. This one is from me and Aunt Rose," she explained.

Nessie tore the shiny paper off the small, flat box and found nothing but a piece of paper inside of it. Nessie looked confused, as did the rest of us, so Rose told her to read what it said.

"A shopping spree fit for a princess," Nessie read. "This is a promise that Renesmee Carlie Cullen will be treated to an extra long shopping date with Auntie Alice and Auntie Rose. It is also a promise that during said shopping date, the birthday girl will have the right to choose five outfits on her own which is something that is normally not allowed due to the fact that she inherited her mother's sense of style."

Everyone burst out into a fit of hysteria as I playfully growled at Alice. I knew how much Nessie liked being Alice and Rosalie's personal Barbie doll, so I was glad to know that she'd enjoy her gift. Next up was Emmett's gift. It was a four foot tall teddy bear.

He leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Just a little something to remind you of your Uncle Em Bear, kid."

Nessie chuckled. She loved the nickname she had given Emmett, whom she said reminded her of a teddy bear because he was big like a bear but gave the softest hugs despite his massive strength.

Jasper gave her an art set. Nessie loved to draw pictures and of course, she was brilliant at it. She was becoming so artistic that crayons were no longer sufficient enough for her. Jasper's gift included crayons, markers, watercolors, paints, oils, professional brushes and paper, an easel and a paint palette. She was so happy. Now she could really create masterpieces.

"Wow, Uncle Jazzy! I love it!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with pleasure.

Jasper chuckled, "I'm glad, Nessie. Put it to good use. We could use some new works of art around here."

Carlisle and Esme's gift to her was that Esme was going to renovate and redecorate her bedroom. They were going to make it a bit bigger and Esme was going to use one of Nessie's favorite flower pictures that she drew to create a floral theme for the walls. Nessie was very excited about it.

Now it was Jake's turn. He gave Nessie a bracelet very similar to the one he had given me just last summer at my high school graduation, a whole lifetime ago. He had carved three little charms for it- a wolf to represent himself, a little girl to represent Nessie, and a heart with "BFF" carved into it.

Jake said, "Best friends forever, Ness. Love you."

Renesmee giggled, "Love you too, Jakey."

Seth spoke up and said, "The rest of the pack has a small gift for you too, Nessie. My mom is baking you a big birthday cake that she'll bring later when she comes with Charlie. It's not much, but my mom does make the best cakes."

Nessie had grown to like some human food. Of course, when she ate any kind of meat, she liked it as rare as possible. But she really enjoyed sweets. Candy, cookies and cakes were becoming her favorite thing to munch on between hunting trips.

Nessie said, "Thank you Seth, Leah, Quil and Embry. I can't wait! Thank you everybody! I love everything and I love all of you."

Edward said, "Hold on, Nessie. You're not done yet. You've got one more present from me and your mother. Bella?"

Up until now, I had been watching my daughter very closely, practically feeling all of her joy right along with her. She was so incredibly happy and I was just as happy to know it. It took me an extra second to respond to Edward and one look at him told me that he knew exactly what had distracted me; I could tell that he'd been watching her, too.

I cleared my throat and walked over to stand next to Edward in front of our daughter.

"Nessie, your father and I know how much you enjoyed making friends with Zafrina last winter and how much you've wanted to visit her since she left." I said.

"And we've been wanting to take you to Grandma Esme's island, too because it's such a magical place and you would definitely love it there." Edward said. "So as our gift to you, we're going to do both. The three of us are going to spend two weeks at Isle Esme and then another two weeks with Zafrina and the other Amazons."

Nessie's face lit up even more as she exclaimed, "Really? You mean it? We're going?"

I laughed, "You bet. But not right away. We're not going until after the new year."

"How come?" she asked.

"Because I have two weeks off from school around that time and I'm coming to join you when you go meet the Amazons," Jacob replied.

Jake had finally gone back to school just last week when the new school year started. Things were finally under control enough for him to focus on his education. Edward and I knew that he'd never be able to stay away from Nessie for a month so we compromised: the three of us would spend the first two weeks as a family on Isle Esme and Jake would join us when we met up with Zafrina. Jake seemed okay with it and Edward assured me that he really was.

"Wow, this is going to be awesome! We're going to have so much fun! Thank you, Momma and Daddy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

She was so unbelievably excited and I couldn't have been happier. Nessie hugged me and Edward for a long moment.

"Okay then," I said. "Now that presents are done, let's clean this up and--"

"Not so fast, love," Edward cut in. "We haven't given you your present yet."

I was still against any kind of present giving but I knew everyone would be itching to get me something. So I'd made another compromise. They were only allowed to give me one present. That was it. Just one from all of them. Of course, Edward and I would have our time together later, just like always. But as far as actual presents, one was the limit. I was rather surprised when they all agreed to this.

"Okay," Edward said. "As discussed, we only got you one present from all of us. So, here."

He handed me a small box. It wasn't wrapped and it didn't have a bow. Edward knew I didn't like a fuss. It was just a plain black satin jewelry box. I opened it carefully and gasped when I saw what was inside.

Hanging on the end of a braided white gold chain was the most beautiful charm I'd ever seen. It was the shape of a shooting star--and was encrusted with diamonds all over the surface of it. It was absolutely gorgeous. It only took me a moment to figure out that Edward had picked the charm. He always said that his life was like a moonless night before I came along. He once compared me to a meteor that lit up his sky, but I guess a shooting star made for a prettier charm.

When I made no move to touch it (because I was so stunned by its beauty), Edward reached for it to show me something. I was surprised to see that it was a locket, and on the right-hand side inside of it was a picture of the entire family. It was engraved on the left side with three dates. I looked to Edward for their meaning but it was Esme who answered my unasked question first.

"The first is the date you and Edward met--the day you changed our family forever," she said, smiling.

Alice said, "The second is the date of your magnificent wedding--the day you officially became part of our family."

"And the third is today's date last year," Edward replied. "The day our family finally became whole." He smiled towards our daughter.

I was completely in awe of all of them. Every single one of them was smiling at me with so much love clearly presented on their faces. I didn't think it was at all possible to be even happier than I already was. This gift was truly astonishing. It was so personal, so meaningful. If I could've cried, I would have been bawling my eyes out. As it was, I was very choked up, just minus the tears. It took me a second before I could force myself to speak.

"Thank you all… so much. It's beautiful… I love it. Thank you," I choked out.

Edward took the necklace out of the box and placed it around my neck. I turned to face him, smiling.

"Thank you," I whispered. I kissed him very passionately but quickly enough so that no one, namely Emmett, had time to say anything.

I thought that the new song Edward had composed for me for our one year wedding anniversary had been the best present I'd ever gotten. And it was--until now. I'd never loved a present more than this locket. Just like my loving, caring, generous family, it made everything even more perfect.