13/09/2018 (Five Years After I Published this story and five years since I've been on this account)
Hello! Hello! SoI wrote this in around 2011, published it in 2013 just so evidence of the story existed. Now, I've lost the rest of the story so I decided to write the ending I intended...or at least, I think I did. I don't remember much about the planned ending but maybe this gives you some idea of where I was going with this story. NEW CHARACTERS appear and plotlines. WARNING: BELOVED CHARACTER HAS PASSED ON. Don't get angry with me about it. Please enjoy it.

So here's my attempt at writing an ending. I wrote in an about half an hour and finished it a few minutes ago so excuse the terrible writing. I felt like I owed you guys an ending.

Sending love and light to you all! x

Those who are unfamiliar with the Olympic Penninsula can never understand the power of the eternal frost, the way that it freezes the land and catches onto your clothes no matter how hard you try to brush it off. When you're accustomed to such things, you simply overlook them, your eyes settle upon them and see them as simple everyday things that hold no significance whatsoever.

The same cannot be said for newcomers. Either they're captivated by the frost or they fear it, they'll rush out into the grass and fall into the icy grass, giggling as they do or keep themselves locked inside, clinging to the naive belief that it will soon melt away. My two children are not the sort of people to hide from ice and snow. Their bodies have grown used to the warmer climates of other American states and cities but being in the place they've heard about in their mother's stories, the place where Nan and Gramps fell in love and had Mommy, makes them smile, makes them excited. Jake flicks his blonde hair off his face and rushes downstairs after my father, who is carrying my peaky eyed daughter, and Jake asks me to come along too. He smiles as he does.

"Are you coming Mommy?" he calls and looks over to my mother, who is pawing her way through a copy of Emma, smiling as she flips the page over. Jasper sits to her immediate right, studying one of the new art pieces Esme has placed on the wall. He watches it intently, his eyes lingering on all the bright colours and fine details. Alice only giggles as she enters the room and kisses him on the cheek. "Are you going outside, Jake?" she asks. My boy nods.
"Can you come play too Aunty Alice?"
"I think I need to check on Uncle Jasper but maybe Rose..."
Rosalie doesn't need to be told twice. In seconds, I hear her out in the garden, calling to my two children. Amber perks up in my father's arms and squirms free, rushing out into the front yard screaming for her. My Mom smiles.

"It's going to snow.' she says. "Do they need jackets?"
"They're fine," I say and listen as they roll about in the frost and giggle loudly, Jake shoving little bits of frost onto Amber's face. Mom smiles as she watches Dad playing with his grandchildren, a smile lighting up his face. When Jake and Amber both turn back to the house to call me out one last time, both Mom and I see the little smiles they have, the smiles that look so much like their father's did. Their father, now lost to all of us, who remains on my mind every day. Their father, who I loved more than any other. Their father, who died in my arms so long ago that I'm surprised I even remember it. Their father, who gave me such beautiful children, who gave me a reason to carry on when my life was bleak and living seemed to be almost impossible.

There are tears in my eyes as I run over to my mother, throwing myself into her arms and she holds me tightly, pressing her lips to my forehead. Jasper and Alice excuse themselves and Mom hushes me as I weep, wiping away my tears and telling me that he would be proud of me and the kids, that I should never cry when he would want me to remember him fondly and only think of the good times we had. I know I should, but every time I think of him, I am troubled by all the thoughts of what could have been, the future that could have been ours.

Now, whenever I leave this house and venture out into the world with my children, I think of how it would have been if he was by my side. I wonder what he would have said when I eat terrible food at a crappy restaurant in the backstreets of a little town, I wonder what he would think of me when I make a terrible purchase or a stupid decision. He is there, always, forever in my mind and heart.

"It's not fair.' I tell my Mom.

"I know, love. I know." she croons, her voice is a lulling mantra. "But those kids, they love you and they will always love their Dad. And we know how much he loved them. You just have to keep that memory alive."

"But how?" I ask tearfully. Mom wipes away some more. "How do I do that, Mom?"

Mom sighs.

"Be honest with them." she says. "Tell them all about him, who he was, what his story is. I could help you and so could your father. He meant a lot to us too."

"I suppose so." I smile and see a hint of sadness in her eyes too. "You miss him too, don't you Mom?"

"He was my best friend." she says. "For so long. Maybe he always will be."

"It was meant to be always." I say solemnly. "We were meant to have forever. What do I do now?"

"Live." Mom says. "Live like he would have wanted you to, darling. Live, laugh, be happy."

And, as much as I don't want to do any of these things, as much as I want to turn my back on her and tell her I'll never be happy again, I can only smile. I know she is right. As much as I have wanted to give up in the past, there is too much here for me for me to give up. My children, my parents, my family, by my side forever. That fact alone will never change and it is for this reason that I laugh. It is a very sad laugh, pathetic even, but it brings a smile to my face and makes Mom chuckle too.

"Jake always liked laughing," she says and bites her lip. As we sit there and look over the mountains, we see the first flashes of distant lightning overhead, dark, foreboding clouds that loom over the valley where my children play. Usually, I would leap from my seat and scream for the children to come inside, but now, I only grab my mother's hand and pull her down the stairs out into the now sheeting rain. Thunder rocks the ground beneath us and I cheer as I run to my children, scooping them up into my arms. As lightning blinds us, I'm reminded momentarily of the stormy days of my teenage life where Jacob and I would run around screaming like banshees. We'd always end up right here in this valley and he would always tell me:

"We have to appreciate the good and the bad things. You can't enjoy a good summer's day and run away from a thunderstorm."

I think he had a point there.

It's great fun playing in the rain, watching as it melts the frost away. Dad, Mom and Rose play games with my kids, playing ring-a-round-the-rosie in the clearing as I spin about gleefully. I spin until I'm dizzy until I'm falling over my own feet and Dad has to come to my assistance. I laugh all the while, catching sight of Uncle Jasper on the edge of the clearing and yanking him over to spin with me, though I only get a smile out of him. We're all enjoying the rain and thunder until a gasp finally moves through the group, silencing us all. We all turn cautiously to Amber, who pulls at one of her red pigtails with one hand and sticks her finger out to point to the north, shivering all over. Her brown eyes are shimmering.

"Mommy." she says.

"Amber?"

"Daddy." Is all she says and we all turn to where she is pointing to see a beautiful wolf with auburn fur. He is much smaller than Jacob ever was in this form, but the longing stare in his eyes in impossible to ignore and catches all of our attention. My heart stops as I pick up both of my children and take a cautious step towards the animal, ignoring my father going completely rigid to my right.

"Hi." I whisper but the beast is startled by my approach. It immediately backs away and rushes to the safety of the faraway trees, disappearing in seconds. There is a stony silence in the clearing as my family tries to process what creature just approached us but I feel nothing in my heart but a sweet warm, a serene calm that relaxes my bones and brings a smile to my face as my children titter. One of them, Amber I think, touches my face.

"It was Daddy, Mommy." she says. "He was saying hello."

"And goodbye too." Jake agrees with his sister. "Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye."

I think they might be right.