I cleared my throat, which had suddenly become unnaturally dry. "Forks?" I echoed, in a higher than normal pitch.

"Forks," Edward confirmed, looking at me with concern. "Are you alright Bella?"

I didn't know what to say. I was truly speechless. Jasper, sensing my emotions, hurried to calm me down.

Carlisle was also looking anxious. "We don't have to go to Forks, Bella. But it is time we moved on from Alaska, and we all thought you might enjoy being back in your home town."

Alaska was our current residence, not too far from Tanya's family. Edward and I both attended the University of Alaska, as we had planned to all those years ago, before I became a vampire.

I took a deep, unnecessary breath and opened my mouth to speak. As Alice surely knew already, I had made my decision. "I would love to go back to Forks."

Alice winked at me from behind Jasper, and I realised I had full control of my emotions again. I smiled gratefully at Jasper, and turned back to Carlisle.

"When would we be leaving?" I asked him, somewhat apprehensive.

Carlisle hesitated for a moment before he replied. "The day after tomorrow. The hospital wants me to start as soon as possible, and you six are registered to start school on Monday."

I blanched- well, as much as was physically possible, with my already impossibly pale skin. "What are these then, if I'm already registered?" I asked, gesturing to the application forms in front of me.

Edward smiled softly. "You know I have a tendency to be a little dramatic Bella…what was the fun in just telling you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, very clever Edward. And what do you mean, six of us? What about Ness and Jacob?"

Carlisle gestured for Jacob to answer. "Bells…don't be mad, but Nessie and I aren't going to be living with you for awhile."

"WHAT?!" I shrieked, seeing crimson in my vision.

Jasper quickly tried to calm me, but no avail. It was Renesmee standing up and taking Jacob's hand that stopped me launching myself across the table and brawling with him on the spot.

"Relax, Bella! We'll still be close. It's just; Ness and me haven't really had a chance to live on our own as a married couple yet. And I want her to have an understanding of where I came from. So we're moving back into my old house in La Push." Jacob explained patiently, and unfortunately, his logic made sense.

I balled my hands into fists. "But she's my daughter!"

"Yes, but she's my wife. I think you agreed to that when you and Edward gave her away at our wedding," Jacob replied apologetically.

"It's alright Mom, we'll come to visit you all the time! You can come to La Push too, it'll be great!" my daughter's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, and my shoulders slumped. How could I deny her what would make her happy?

"Fine," I grumbled, my eyes itching. "But I'm going to miss the two of you!"

I picked them both up in a group hug, cracking their heads together, and Jacob chuckled.

"You're acting like we're moving to Antarctica!" he chortled. "We'll only be a few minutes run away."

I put them back on solid ground. "I know. But it'll be so strange not having you both around all the time…though I suppose a reprieve from the snoring will be a relief," I teased, glad to see my mood had settled. As much as I would miss having Renesmee and Jacob around constantly, I knew my daughter needed a chance to spend some time truly independent from us with her soul mate, and I admitted to myself I was pleased she would get to know La Push. It held an important place in my heart, as well as in Jacob's. Of course, the boundary line was now non-existent. Our two tribes were so deeply intertwined we were all like family, and with Jacob around it was unlikely our re-appearance would result in any more werewolves appearing amongst the Quileute population. My brief stream of thought was interrupted by an impatient, and not particularly gentle, nudge from Alice.

"Open my present next!" her eyes shone with excitement.

I shook my head, sighed, and with a newfound joy, re immersed myself into the celebration with my family.

-0-0-0-0-

Two days later, we stood in front of the now empty house that had been our home for the past nine years. Tanya, Eleazar, Carmen, Kate and Garrett were our farewell party, hugging us all goodbye and promising to come visit us in Forks soon.

We turned to wave from our procession of expensive cars- updated in accordance with the latest and most exclusive sports cars. I, however, drove my ancient Ferrari, the first and only car I'd had as a vampire. The others were constantly offering to get me a new set of wheels, but just as I'd loved my prehistoric Chevy truck when I was human, I now was attached to my Ferrari that barely ran. It was going to take me an extra couple of hours to reach Forks, but I didn't mind the drive on my own.

The others sped off instantly, and I crawled along behind them. It was a miracle the car even ran still, but Jacob truly was a genius mechanic, and kept patching it up for me whenever it looked set to fail. As I predicted, I was hours behind the others. I stopped a lot along the way, once to hunt when I passed an irresistible forest, and many times just because I could, to admire the scenery and relish my homecoming. At some places I sat for hours, enjoying the lack of rush that sometimes fuelled my family- mainly when they got behind the wheel of a fast car. I drove through the night, slightly startled when Edward's voice echoed through the car from the small speakers wired overhead.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Where are you? You should have arrived by now."

"Relax, Edward. I've just been stopping a lot. I'll be home this morning."

"Alright. I'm missing you, Bella."

I smiled. "I miss you too, so much. I love you."

"I love you too, Mrs Cullen."

I shook my head. He never got sick of saying that. "See you soon."

The speakers disconnected, and I kept driving until I was driving down a familiar street.

I'd passed through Port Angeles and was now driving through Forks, overwhelmed by nostalgia.

It was a typically cloudy day. I drove past my old house, not interested in looking at it now that Charlie was gone. I parked my car and got out on a sudden impulse, walking down one of the main streets in the tiny town.

Ignoring the people gasping quietly at my admittedly supermodel-esque looks, I examined the street, attempting to determine the degree of change. Surprisingly, not much was different. Shops had opened and closed, restaurants appeared and disappeared, but Forks has retained the quaintness it had possessed when I'd first moved here, eighty-two years previously. I turned to cross the road, looking from side to side in human pretence.

It was then I heard another gasp, followed by an exclamation in a voice wavering with shock and age: "Bella Swan?"

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It's really encouraging to read such positive responses! I have no idea how long a drive from Alaska to Washington would take, so my apologies if that isn't accurate. Also I'm not going to bother too much with Aldous Huxley/George Orwell style predictions of what the world will be like 80 years into the future (no hover cars and stuff like that) so things will be similar to the present. Hope you liked this chapter, and please remember to review!