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This story takes place in an alternate universe and begins between Twilight and New Moon. Like Stephenie's New Moon outtake, in this story, Jacob didn't come to help Bella guess what happened to him. She learned that he was a werewolf another way. Bella never jumped. Alice had no vision. Edward didn't return to Forks. Would Bella live the normal, happy human life Edward wanted for her?

A Light in the Darkness

Summer, 2026

by silly bella

I'd never seen her again after I left her in the woods that day. The first year was unbearable. Actually, every year since then, every day since then had been unbearable, unending darkness. But Bella deserved a normal, happy, human life. A life I could never give her.

Still, I returned each year when the peonies bloomed. I saw Charlie, although he never saw me. But Charlie wouldn't be here this time. I'd read over the local newspapers and noted that Charlie had died just after New Year's. I wasn't sure whether or not Bella had sold the house. I wondered what I would find when I reached the edge of the forest.

The wind blew the scent of the peonies toward the house, but I could still smell them. I knew they were still there. Then, in the darkness, I could see the white blooms. They didn't glow in the dark like the legends, but they reflected even the tiniest sliver of light from the moon. I had no trouble finding them. But I wasn't prepared to see her.

She sat on a wrought iron glider, staring into the dark sky. Still beautiful, she looked more fragile than ever. She'd cut her hair as short as Alice's, but I liked it. I watched her, rocking back and forth in the still quiet morning. As the sun rose in the sky, its rays shimmering around her. She looked like an angel.

I saw a light flash on upstairs. I listened carefully as someone walked downstairs and into the kitchen. In a few moments, he opened the back door and came out with two mugs.

"There you are. I wondered where you were when I didn't see you in the bed." She looks okay. I shouldn't worry so much. He settled down beside her in the glider. "I brought you some coffee."

His voice was familiar, somehow, but I couldn't quite place it.

Bella laughed. I smiled at the sound. She reached for the mug and took a sip. "When did you have time to make coffee?"

"I put it on a timer." He laughed, too. Then he ran his fingers through her hair. "I can't get used to this." I heard something stirring in the house. He seemed to hear it, too. They're awake. He sat the mug on a table beside the glider, and said, almost apologetically, "I'll be right back."

Sure enough, he returned with amazing speed, for a human. He seemed to have something stuffed under each arm like a football. "Which one do you want?" he asked.

Bella reached up. "It doesn't matter."

"Why don't you take them both? I'll warm the bottles." He settled both bundles in her arms.

I felt the jealousy burning in my throat. She's married. She has children. But this was what I wanted for her. Something I could never have given her.

He returned with a bottle for each baby, sat them both on the table beside his mug and took one of the children from her arms. Then he passed her a bottle, and finally, took one himself and began to feed the baby he held.

"Now why don't you tell me why you were out here so early this morning?" he laughed, but it hid worry. Did she sleep any at all? Has she been sick this morning?

She sighed. "I wanted to watch the sun rise. It's not something you get to see that often in Washington."

They sat for a moment, comfortably quiet. It seemed so intimate. I clenched my hands into fists, snapping a twig in one of them. His head snapped in my direction, and his eyes narrowed as he scanned the woods. How could he have heard that? He relaxed and returned his attention to the baby.

Bella shivered. He noticed. "Cold?" He raised his eyebrows and waited for her to answer.

"Just a chill." She laughed as he placed his arm around her shoulders. "Someone walking over my grave, I guess."

"That's not funny, Bella." His face was grim.

"It is, and you know it, Jacob Black." She smiled weakly, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Jacob Black? She married Jacob Black? I stared. No wonder he seemed familiar. He'd been just a child when I left, but he stood taller than me now, more like Emmett. I had to face the fact that he was a man. More specifically, he was her man. What had I expected? How could I want something so much for her and be so angry about it at the same time?

She spoke softly this time, "Jacob, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that laughter makes it hurt less."

Makes what hurt less? What is she talking about? Why does she hurt?

"How can you laugh about dying, Bella?"

Dying? What is he talking about? She's too young to die!

"I've come to terms with it," she paused. "Really, I have."

"Well, I haven't." I can't.

Coming to terms with what?

They sat in silence again. It was Bella who finally spoke. "When does Ellen get home?"

"This afternoon. She's working a double shift at the hospital."

Who is Ellen? Do they have a child old enough to work?

"It's really good of you both to do this, Jacob. I knew I could count on you, but I wasn't sure how Ellen would feel about it."

He smiled and ran his hand through her hair again. "She loves you too, Bella. She knows that you're family. We aren't going to make you go through this alone." You've been through enough. You will not go through this alone or in some cold hospital bed. Not as long as I'm alive.

What is he talking about? Go through what alone?

"She's good for you."

He ducked his head and laughed. "I know," he said sheepishly. I saw an image of a woman pass through his mind. She must be Ellen.

A woman, not a child. Not a daughter, then. A wife? So Bella isn't married to Jacob?

"I probably won't get to see the new baby," she whispered. Tears spilled from her eyes. His arm wrapped around her shoulders again, this time for reassurance. She leaned into him. "You've always been there for me, Jacob."

"And I always will be, Bella." His forehead touched hers. "And Ellen will be, too." I will do everything I possibly can to take care of you. And Ellen is a nurse. She knows what we're in for.

"Thank you."

He lifted the baby in his arms to his shoulder and began to pat the child's back as he talked. "So. Want to tell me why you're really out here?" He scowled. As if I didn't know.

"You can still read me like a book. How do you do that?"

"I pay attention, Bella. It's all in your face." He looked into the woods, hesitating before he spoke again. "It's him, isn't it? You're thinking about him."

Who is he? Her husband? Why isn't he here? Bella frowned and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and looked up into the woods, directly at me. She can't possibly see me.

She turned back to Jacob. "I don't believe I ever stopped thinking about him."

"You still love him, after all this time." He wasn't asking. She merely nodded in response.

Who did she love? Who took my place? And why wasn't he here?

"He left you."

She swallowed, but didn't speak. She placed the bottle on the table beside her and raised the baby, rocking gently. "You don't just stop loving people, Jacob. Not if you really loved them to begin with. Love can change and become a different type of love," she smiled at him, "but it doesn't just stop."

"I'll never understand the way you talk about him. He isn't a person. None of them are." He hurt you. How can you can you still love him?

"You don't have to be human to be a person, Jacob." She held his gaze. "You should know that. And you don't have to be a human to deserve to be loved."

I shook my head. NO. She can't mean…

She laughed. The sound was harsh, brittle. "I planted those peonies when I thought he loved me, too. I wanted him to change me so I could be with him forever. But he wouldn't. I planted the peonies because they live so long. So he could remember me when I was gone." She closed her eyes, blinking away tears. "Do you see the irony? I planted them so he could remember me when they bloomed. Instead, I'm remembering him."

He stared at her. She wanted to BE one of THEM? How could she want that? And he wouldn't do it?

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was supposed to forget me. To move on.

"I didn't just lose him. I lost all of them. I never had a chance to even tell them goodbye." The tears began to spill again.

He frowned and seemed to be holding tightly to some hidden emotion. He took a deep breath. It hasn't been this hard to hold back the anger in years. He struggled to speak. "If you want, I'll take you out to the house. I know it's not like they'll be there, but it might offer some type of closure, if that's what you're looking for." I can't believe I said that.

The shock registered in her face. "You would do that?"

I hope I don't regret this. He nodded, silently.

What was I missing? Obviously, Billy had finally convinced his son that my family really was a group of vampires. But there was something more.

"I'm going to take Isabella and Emily for a walk. But I'm going to take you upstairs to rest before I leave. Just let me put them in the stroller." Again, he cradled a baby in each arm and took them into the house.

Bella stared at the peonies, crying, until he came back outside. Carefully, he picked her up. "Tired?" he asked quietly. She nodded and leaned her head against his chest as he carried her away.