I turned in the direction of the front door as the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, many of them, became audible from outside. Soon after, a distinctive scent could be perceived. "There they are!" Alice said, jumping up and hurrying to the door.

The Denali family came in as a group, and for some time the room was a jumble of mingled greetings and conversations. Nessie was admired and passed from person to person, her growth exclaimed over and her beauty and cleverness praised. She never seemed to become vain or self-conscious from this kind of adulation. My impression was that her confidence was too well established to be shaken by either flattery or disapproval. Jacob, although withdrawn to a far corner of the room and completely ignored by the visitors, still beamed at the way Nessie was generally admired.

Eventually the talk became more leisurely. Carlisle and Eleazar began a scientific discussion I wasn't quite able to follow; Rosalie, Kate, Edward, and Kate's new mate, Garrett, talked cars; and the rest discussed the upcoming move. Tanya's family, almost ready for a move themselves, were planning to relocate further east mostly in order to be closer to us. Esme and Carmen began going over possible locations. That left me with Tanya, now the Denali's fifth wheel.

Even now that I was as indestructible as Tanya, and arguably as beautiful, I found her just a little intimidating. She was leader of her coven, but unlike Carlisle, she seemed to carry an air of authority.

"Have you had another visit from your Chilean friends?" Tanya asked. She seemed deliberately casual. "Huilen and her nephew?"

"About six weeks ago," I said. "But I think you know about that visit. Didn't they go up to Alaska and drop in on you at the same time?" It had made Carlisle hope they were seriously considering the 'vegetarian' lifestyle. Nahuel, in particular, had shown a lot of interest. He'd begun to think of refraining from hunting humans as a tribute to his deceased mother.

"Oh, yes. I was just wondering if they've been back." I saw Jasper glance in Tanya's direction. His eyes widened slightly before he regained an impassive expression.

I shook my head. "No, not since then. Huilen doesn't like leaving home too often."

"No, I understand." Tanya pursed her lips thoughtfully. "It would be nice to see them again, though."

I noticed Edward's eyes dart from Jasper to Tanya. Jasper gave Edward a questioning look, and Edward responded with the barest nod of his head, pressing his lips together as though trying not to laugh. Nobody else seemed to have noticed their brief interaction. They both returned to their own conversations.

Tanya dropped the subject of Nahuel and Huilen, and we made polite small talk, both of us looking for an interest in common. Her eyes fell on my left hand. "I never did get a good look at your engagement ring," she said. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all." I held my hand out. Maybe jewelry was something we could talk about.

"It's lovely. Is it an antique?"

"Yes. It was Edward's mother's engagement ring."

Kate looked over at us. "Oh, that's so sweet! I didn't realize."

"And a wedding band to match," Tanya observed. "Was that hers as well?"

"No, Edward bought that. His mother was buried with her wedding ring." I'd chosen an old fashioned, narrow, gold band which looked appropriate beside the engagement ring.

Tanya smiled. "Is that engraving on the inside? What does it say?"

" 'Incipit Vita Nova'." Here begins a new life. Edward had had it engraved before the wedding, with our names and the date.

"Dante," Tanya noted. "Very romantic. Typical of Edward."

It was romantic, as a matter of fact. It was part of a longer quote, the first sentence from the love story of Dante and Beatrice:
In that book which is my memory,
 On the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you,
 Appear the words, 'Here begins a new life'.

"And what did you have engraved on his ring?" Tanya asked me.

" 'Omnia Vincit Amor'." Love conquers all.

"There's never been a couple for whom that quote was more appropriate," Carlisle added. The others smiled.

"No, I suppose not," Tanya said thoughtfully.

"Mine says 'Resistance Is Futile'," Emmett offered, and we all laughed.

"And the charm bracelet, is that a gift from Edward as well?" The odd way Tanya said it suggested she knew more about the bracelet than she was saying, but I let it go.

"No. Well, one of the charms is." I touched the heart shaped diamond, now one of five charms attached to the links.

Tanya examined the bracelet. "These charms, unless I'm mistaken, are supposed to represent important events, or important aspects of your life, is that right?"

"Well, yes. At least, they represent those things in my mind. I don't know if the symbols would make sense to anybody else." I felt a little awkward. I assumed she found my charm bracelet tacky and juvenile.

"I see. And what do the charms symbolize for you?"

I pointed to them, one by one. "My human life, my...vampire life, Edward, Nessie, and my family."

"Interesting. By your family, I assume you mean this family - Carlisle's."

"Yes."

"The 'family' charm seems to be a crest or banner of some kind, correct?"

"That's right," Carlisle answered for me. "It's the coat of arms of the old town of Carlisle, near the Scottish border. I was named for it, as my mother's family came from there." Tanya examined the colourful image: two dragons supporting a crowned shield, which was decorated with a cross and four red roses. The inscription beneath was Be Just and Fear Not. It was not the ideal symbol for the Cullens, but I had never found one that really expressed how I felt about my family, not so far.

Tanya nodded and moved on to another charm. "Edward is represented by the diamond heart, naturally?"

"Yes. He gave it to me just before we got engaged." It was some time before I had figured out it was a genuine diamond, and by then it was a little late to freak out. Besides which, I had become better at accepting gifts by then. Anyway, if I was willing to accept the prototype heart, why balk at a mere five carat replica?

"And the one that stands for Nessie. A snowflake?" Tanya touched the little charm.

"She made it herself. Last Christmas, Esme taught her to crochet, and she made these snowflakes for the Christmas tree." Everyone smiled at the memory of Nessie hanging the ornaments on the tree and dashing around it to examine it from all angles. "She made this very tiny one specifically for me to hang on my bracelet. Edward had it encased in acrylic." I held up the tiny clear disc, edged with gold, which held Nessie's snowflake. "It also makes me think of her because...after our argument with the Volturi, Nessie went outside and started playing, jumping up to catch snowflakes in her hand. It was so wonderful to see her, happy and carefree, after the close call we'd had...well, seeing this snowflake reminds me of how precious she is to me." My eyes wandered to where Nessie lay peacefully asleep in Jacob's arms.

I looked up to see everyone watching me and listening. I ducked my head, embarrassed at my emotional ramblings. Edward took my hand and pressed a kiss against my hair.

Carmen now moved closer to join us. "And this little image - I think you said it symbolizes your human life? How does a wolf stand for that, in your mind?"

"It's a little hard to explain," I said. "The main thing is, it was a graduation present. Graduation was supposed to be the cutoff point for my being changed. It was also immediately followed by my getting engaged to Edward, and a lot of other...significant changes in my life. I guess that's why it stands for my life as a human." I shrugged.

"I understand. It is a very personal thing." Carmen touched the fifth and last charm. "And this one. It represents your life as a vampire, you said." She examined it more closely. It was a tiny square of pale blue ceramic, with black lettering on it. "What is the writing? Is it Hebrew?"

"Yes. It's..." I started to feel bashful, especially with all eyes on me. The charm suddenly seemed pretentious and a bit weird.

Edward put in, "It's the Hebrew word for 'compassion'."

Tanya looked at me in surprise. "And that's what characterizes the vampire life to you? Compassion?"

"An unusual perspective," Eleazar remarked.

Esme smiled at me. "Bella found it in a little store when she, Alice and I were out shopping one day, and she immediately thought it was the perfect symbol. She said it stood for her new life, because compassion is the law which a vampire needs to observe more than anyone else."

"Why is that?" Eleazar asked, looking at me. He seemed merely curious rather than challenging.

I grimaced, hating to get into deeper issues with people who were centuries older and more experienced than myself. "It's just that humans, most of them anyway, have built in limitations that keep them from being as cruel or selfish as they might like to be. Their human weakness teaches it to them. Vampires don't have any weakness to speak of. Humans can't hurt vampires, can't kill them, can't even find them if they don't want to be found. They have no pragmatic reason to be anything but cruel and self serving. So they need to be compassionate. Without that, they would...we would lose ourselves, lose our souls, you might say. We'd turn into monsters for real." There was no response. "I don't suppose it makes much sense..."

"You're mistaken, my dear," Eleazar answered. "It makes the most perfect sense."

I was relieved when the attention turned away from me, and I sat and happily listened to the diverse conversations taking place simultaneously.

After half an hour, Edward's hand gently pressed my shoulder. "It's very late," he said. "Maybe we should get Nessie to bed."

I nodded and crossed the room to take Nessie from Jacob. He transferred her carefully from his arms to mine and gently kissed her forehead. "I'm going to phase and run home for the night. What's left of the night, that is. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. 'Night, Jacob."

He said good night to the Cullens, received a passing farewell from the visitors who felt obliged to acknowledge his presence at last, and trotted out the door, disappearing into the pitch black night. I wished everyone good night, as did Edward, and we walked down the familiar path to our stone cottage.

"I'm going to miss this place," he remarked.

"The cottage? Yes, so will I." It was the first home we shared after my change, after Edward and I became real equals. It was filled practically to bursting with nothing but happy memories, all the furniture except Nessie's bed having already been removed. I carried Nessie carefully to the pretty little canopy bed that had replaced her crib, lay her down and covered her with the hand-stitched pink and green quilt Esme had found in an antique shop. Edward stooped to give her a kiss and lay his hand gently on her head for a moment, then we moved on to our own empty bedroom.

"What was going on between you and Jasper?" I asked him. He looked at me enquiringly. "When she mentioned Nahuel and Huilen."

"It's a little personal," he said, reluctant as usual to tell someone else's secrets. "But I'm sure you'll keep it to yourself."

"Of course."

"It seems Tanya's developed something of an infatuation with Nahuel. Perhaps something deeper than an infatuation."

"She has?" That came as a complete surprise. "Does he feel the same about her?"

"She's not sure herself, so I don't know. He's visited Alaska more often than any of us had realized, and they've spent a lot of time together, but she's still uncertain about his feelings. She's been thinking about visiting him in Chile. It's all very unresolved at this point."

"Tanya and Nahuel. That would be interesting."

"It would. In many ways, he's perfect for her. She likes some of the qualities of human men, and Nahuel has those, but without the traits that would make them too unequal. Or that would allow her to completely control the relationship. It would be a learning experience for her," he chuckled.

"How so?"

"Never mind. I've already said too much," he said, looking uncomfortable. I let it go.

"You realize this would clear the field for Jacob." Nahuel had been the only other likely contender for Nessie's future husband.

"That did occur to me." He smiled. "We'll just have to wait and see."

The next five years would be interesting, to say the least.

"I meant to ask you," he said, "about wanting to move the other bed to our new house."

"What about it?"

"I thought you found the thing too extravagant. I had no idea you liked it at all."

"I loved the gesture, and it's very pretty. I just had trouble with gifts like that at the time."

"Thank goodness those days are gone." He moved closer, looping his arms around my waist.

I smiled. "But there was a particular reason I wanted to keep the bed."

"Oh?" He pressed soft kisses against my temple, my cheekbone, along my jawline. His hands roamed.

"Yes." It was a bit of an effort to stay focused. "That bed was the scene of a great deal of frustration. If you remember."

His mouth quirked in amusement. "I remember very well."

"I was hoping we could take the poor thing with us and, you might say, exorcise it of all that negative energy." I had more specific plans in mind, including a re-enactment of certain key scenes from our pre-wedding days, or rather nights, with alternate endings as needed, but I thought I'd let those come as a surprise.

"And replace it with positive energy?" I nodded. "I think we might be able to manage that." His lips moved down the side of my neck.

"I'm very sure we will."

"But we can talk about that another time. Right now, in case it had escaped your notice, we have less than four hours before sunrise."

Four hours. To a couple for whom every night was still their wedding night, four hours was barely sufficient. I gladly set everything else aside until morning.