Yeah, the ending to the last one was rough. You guys sure have a lot of questions. They're coming, I promise. I can't be giving away all my secrets this early in the game, can I?

Thank you so much for the truly overwhelming response to this story so far.

Nothing is mine and big thanks to dowlingnana for betaing.


"What the fuck happened?" Emmett demands.

"I don't know, Emmett," Alice snaps. "I already told you. All I saw was him looming over her like he was about to rip her head off and then him jumping out the window. She's very obviously alive."

She's skipping over the part of the vision where I was half naked and for this I'm glad. My siblings already look furious and terrified.

"Physically she's fine," Carlisle confirms. I watch out of the corner of my eye as he reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear, but don't really feel anything. When my whole family rushed home about an hour ago they picked me up off the floor and put me in this bed, but I seem to have lost control over my body. I've total shut down.

"Emotionally, that's another story," says Jasper. I can hear the wince in his voice. My shield is firmly in place as I need all the protection I can get, but some of my intense distress is reaching my brother anyway.

"What did he do to her?" Rosalie now. She's absolutely livid. I want to tell her she's wrong, that I'm the one that did something to him, but I can't find the energy to move my lips. Even in my state I know that it's all mental, that physically my lips move fine. That knowledge does nothing to make me move.

"I'm not sure he did anything," Carlisle says. Poor guy. He knows what's wrong but feels like he can't do anything to tell the family because of me.

I know that Esme is sitting next to me, stroking my hair and staring worriedly at my vacant, unmoving expression, but I can't feel her either.

I can't feel anything.

"What?" Emmett booms. "Something is obviously very wrong! What if he has some sort of freaking ability besides the mind reading thing that turns vamps into vegetables? I say we track him down and pull off all his limbs, one by one, until he tells us how to fix her."

I twitch at the image, not liking that at all. It gets me right in the heart. Stupid, dead heart.

"Even with the rain it hasn't been that long," Jasper muses, already in military operation mode. "We could probably find him without too much difficulty."

"I'm not sure that this is the wisest course of action," Carlisle says. He's ignored.

"Alright, who's in?" Emmett asks.

All my siblings volunteer.

"Four to one," Jasper says. "That should be fine, even though we don't know what he can do. But we don't want to leave Bella by herself."

My sibling's words slowly penetrate my consciousness, totally ruining this glorious state of numbness that I've been residing in since Edward left me (again) who knows how long ago. All this talk of him burning has me remembering exactly what it felt like the last time he died. The pain of everything – losing him the first time, lying to him, not knowing what to do, almost getting him back only to fuck it up – seems to rips through my chest.

I bolt upright, startling everyone in the room with the speed and suddenness of my movement.

"No," I say with a hiss. I feel dangerous. I will do anything to protect him, even if that means taking on my whole family.

There is a lot of shouting at me, all at once. Emmett is thrilled I'm not a potato. Rosalie still wants to kill Edward, making me growl at her. Jasper has to leave the room because the full force of my pain combined with the emotion of the rest of the family is too much for him. Esme hugs me a lot. Carlisle looks relieved. Alice has that far off look, indicating she's seeing something that has yet to happen. I wonder if she sees Edward.

I yell the loudest, threatening to dismember anyone who even thinks about hurting Edward. This really pisses Rosalie off and for a minute there is looks like she wants to throttle me for causing all this unnecessary drama. Emmett actually holds her back as I jump up to stand by the bed, ready to fight. Esme cries for us to please, please, please get along.

"Enough!" Carlisle's voice isn't even that loud, but it's so full of authority everyone immediately freezes. "I will not have any of you behaving this way. We are family. Let's start acting like it."

"Don't touch Edward," I snap, scowling at Rose and Emmett. The former is offended by my tone, the later is offended that I'm protecting an outsider, but I don't care. "If we're family now and want to keep it that way you will not hurt him."

"Bella, did he hurt you? What's going on? Please, we just need some answers. You have us really worried here," Emmett says. His plea is shockingly reasonable. Esme and Alice echo his request. I look at Carlisle, trying to see if there is any possible way to get out of this.

Edward already knows I'm a liar. Telling the rest of them shouldn't feel like the end of the world, but it does.

"It's time, Bella," Carlisle says.

"Time for what? What do you know, Carlisle?" Esme demands. I wince, realizing that Carlisle is going to have hell to pay for keeping my secrets. For so long his guilt ensured that he's kept my secrets.

All of them.

I remember the look on Edward's face as he left. I see all that pain and distrust and confusion written clear even in his body language. It cripples me and I have to crawl back into bed again.

"Oh, no you don't," says Alice. She leaps forward and slaps me across the face.

Hard.

It causes my head to snap to the side, and I blink at her in shock as I rub my stinging cheek.

"Alice!' Esme yells, horrified.

"Slap her again," suggests Rose.

"Don't leave again, Bella," Carlisle says. "It's time."

Three deep breaths, that's how long it takes me to accept that he's right.

Jasper gets called back. Everyone gathers either around my bed or lays down on it, making this feel like a morbid story time. They sit quietly, not rushing me or demanding anything from me. It's a little amazing really. They'll have time to be pissed at me later, but for now they just want to know.

"Once, I had a husband," I start. This is practice, really, for if I ever get the chance to tell Edward. "You all know that. You know how I can't bear to talk about him, even after all this time. I know it always pissed you off, Alice, but I just couldn't talk about him. It just hurt too much. Even with Ness, it just hurt to much."

"At least she got the abridged version," Alice mutters. "All I know is apparently the guy was a total babe."

"No interrupting," Carlisle scolds.

"Anyway, he died in the war. I thought he died in the war," I correct, focusing on a small dark stain on my carpet to keep it together. "He doesn't remember. It hurts that he doesn't remember, and I couldn't figure out how to tell him."

"What the hell is she talking about?" Rosalie demands, turning to Emmett.

"Oh my God," Esme gasps, a hand flying to cover her mouth. She's obviously put together my odd behavior and meeting Edward at the Denali's.

"But part of him remembers," I continue, once again in my own little world. I don't have the energy to deal with this. I've been keeping my human life to myself, buried deep, for so long it feels uncomfortable to talk about it now. "He stopped even though it felt so good." All the male members of my family and Esme wince. "He saw. He knew."

I'm well aware that my mouth is making no sense what so ever. Everyone but Alice looks at me like I've totally lost it. The smallest member of my family comes closer to where I lay curled on the bed, her eyes on the necklace.

"It's open," she murmurs, gently touching the outside of the locket. "I've never seen you open this. You've never let any of us see."

She looks at me, pleading for permission to finally look. Of all my family members Alice is the most offended and the most persistent about the mysteries of my past. I give her an almost imperceptible nod, remove the necklace from my neck, and hand it over.

She looks and her mouth falls open with an audible pop. Silently she passes it to Esme. It goes all the way around the room to ever member of my family before it gets handed to Carlisle who doesn't even look at the pictures as he hands the necklace back to me. I snap it shut and pull the chain over my head.

"I didn't know," I say as the enormity of everything that's happened jn the last few days really begins to sink in. "I thought he died. For almost a hundred years I thought my soul mate, my other half, died in the Great fucking War. Until I walked into the Denali's house."

Everyone looks appropriately shocked. Except Carlisle, who looks not shocked at all.

"You knew," Esme says, hissing at Carlisle. She's almost madder than I've ever seen her. "You knew Bella when she was human. You knew her husband. You knew Edward and you didn't say a word."

"I didn't know what to do. I had to figure out how to tell Edward and I couldn't tell you before I told him for a lot of reasons, including that mind reading thing he does which really freaks me out, by the way," I explain, attempting to get my father off the hook.

"I am so sorry, my darling," Carlisle says, pleading with Esme to understand.

"It's not his fault. I asked him to keep my secret."

"How did this happen?" Alice insists.

"I can't… go into details. I have to talk to Edward first. And Ness. Holy fuck, Vanessa," I say, losing what little composure I'd managed during the first part of this conversation. "How am I going to explain Vanessa? How am I going to explain to Vanessa?"

There's not a lot they can say. Esme attempts to offer some comfort, but in reality she's too distressed that Carlisle kept all this from her once we found Edward in Alaska. Alice sits close and rubs my back, but I can tell she's unhappy too. They're all unhappy.

The stories of the human lives of my family members have become like folk tales. I know every detail of their stories. Esme with her abusive husband and endless miscarriages that had her throwing herself over a cliff. Rosalie as a little rich girl who picked the wrong man. Emmett and his large family of immigrant settlers living in a bear infested woods. Jasper and his military training that he carried over into the first part of his un-life. Alice plagued by visions that forced her to spend most of her human life locked up in the very worst kind of place.

Their stories are highly personal and painful. The fact that I kept so much from them seems like betrayal.

I just couldn't talk about it. I could barely even think about it without slipping away, succumbing to the pain and loss. And I had to be strong for my daughter.

Years ago Nessie had questions. How could she not have questions? She's almost totally unique on this planet and naturally curious. As soon as she learned to talk she had questions about where she came from.

Ness knows about her father. I've showed her my locket and the mementos locked away in our Chicago apartment, but she's a smart girl and saw how much her questions and her desire to talk about him hurt me. It's been years since she's mentioned him to me, and as heartbreaking as that is, I didn't have the strength to bring it up.

"You can stop hovering," I murmur after hours of them watching me and scowling at me pass. "He's gone. I've lost him again. Let's just get on with our un-lives."

They all file out with varying degrees of concern and anger. Carlisle lingers, placing a hand on my shoulder. I look up at him, making eye contact for the first time since they all disturbed my vamp-coma.

"You haven't lost him, Bella," he murmurs, being so gentle. Carlisle is so heartbroken for me. "It may have taken a hundred years, but there are powerful forces at work here. Something that compelled both me and Victoria to change you both within months of each other. It will work out, no matter what you do to screw it up."

I crack a small smile. Even this hurts.

"Plus, there is a lot of the man you married left in this vampire," Carlisle continues. "He'll be back."


A whole week passes and I go through the motions. I badger Alice almost hourly, inquiring if she's seen even a glimpse of him. It annoys her and she tells me over and over that he's in a forest somewhere, but I can't stop myself.

The family fills me in on what I missed when I left Alaska early. James was very unhappy when I stole away with his little protégé. He left with his mate not long after Edward and I. My family decided to stay in Alaska in case the pair returned. Alice stayed a tuned to Edward and his former counterparts, making sure we were safe. They rushed home with Alice's vision of our horrible altercation in my bed.

Slowly my siblings begin to forgive me. I think they take pity on me when they see the pathetic zombie-vamp I've become in the days since his departure. Apparently I am so depressing to them it inspires Rose and Alice stage an intervention. They both suggest shopping trips as the cure for heartbreak. Alice wants to go to the mall. Rose wants to get me in the latest, fastest vehicle.

I decide to go on a little trip instead.


It doesn't take me very long to run to Oregon.

For the last couple years Nessie has begged me to let her go to summer camp in the mountains, snowboarding of all things, which apparently you can do even in the warm months. It was a firm no from me for a good long while being as I am the very definition of an insanely overprotective parent, but she wore me down. I know she's safe. Not only is she under the protection of the guard, my lingering distrust in Aro led me to pay my old friend Garrett an insane amount of money to watch over her this summer.

Plus, she's with Jake.

Even though I know she's safe and I know I'm doing the right thing by letting her live her life, my worry is constant. Our daily phone calls do little to appease my fears.

I arrive just before the sun goes down, but manage to sneak into a hotel near where Nessie is staying without sparkling in front of any humans. It gives me a chance to wash up. As a vampire I don't perspire or anything, but my hair is a tangled, leaf filled mess from my long run.

The prospect of seeing my daughter so soon calms me for the first time since he left me. Again. This week has felt longer all the years of my existence combined.

By the time I brush and dry my hair, pull on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and slip the present I got Ness the last time I was in Italy into my pocket, the sun has set. I trek out of town, up to the base of Mt. Hood where Nessie and the rest of the campers are staying for the summer.

Loitering by the entrance is a familiar hulking form of Jacob Black. We met him seventy-six years ago, the first time we were in Forks. His uncomfortable infatuation with me culminated in an ill-advised declaration of love that I did not return and ended when my family's presence in his territory triggered an ancient gene that turned him and all his friends into werewolves. It almost came to blows when their heighten senses revealed us for what we are, their mortal enemies, until Jacob imprinted on my daughter.

Imprinting. What a fucked up supernatural phenomenon that is. Sometimes I still get furious when I think about it. Goddamn destiny. I hate that it seems like my daughter doesn't have a choice. She's connected to a werewolf, and even if his love hasn't turned romantic yet, they are bound together by forces neither can control.

She sure seems to like him a lot, even if she doesn't really get why the whole imprinting thing is creepy and weird yet. Eventually, she's going to become interested in boys and thought makes my stomach turn.

It took Jake over fifteen years to earn the trust of my family. I was the last to hold out, but he wouldn't stop following us around. Plus he's basically a big teddy bear. It's extremely difficult to stay mad at him.

"Are you smoking?" I shriek, extremely mad at him. "What the fuck, Jacob Black?"

"Hot damn," he replies, grinning. "Isabella Cullen. In the flesh. Did you let me know you were coming? You didn't let me know you were coming."

"You are smoking. If you let my daughter see you with a cigarette I will rip off your hands. Let's see you smoke with your little numbs," I continue. He's a terrible chaperone. If I weren't positive he'd lay down his life to protect Ness I would have done away with him long ago.

"I missed you, Bells," he says, giving me a big bear hug that reminds me of Emmett and leaves me smelling like a wet dog. I gag and struggle half-heartedly until he finally puts me down.

"She'll smell the smoke on you," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest and clinging to my anger.

"I'll eat a mouthful of mints," he says dismissively.

"I haven't seen you smoke since the 60s."

"I was bored."

"She has a heightened sense of smell. It's the vampire in her."

"Bella, don't get all psycho mom on me now. Will quitting make you calm down? It's a big sacrifice, but I'll do it for you," he assures me.

"When did you even start?"

He shrugs. I sigh.

Taking in a lungful of air I catch of whiff of Garrett's sent. Good. I'm paying him to stay close and close he is.

"They should just be finishing up dinner," Jake says, glancing at his watch. "All the kids have a couple free hours before lights out."

"Excellent," I say, stalking passed him towards the entrance. "And you best quit smoking if you've gotten used to living with hands!"


I lean against a wall in the back of the dining hall, watching my daughter smile and laugh with her new friends. She's happy and safe and loved. She's the best thing I've ever done. Giving her a good life is my whole un-life. Looking at her now I feel like I've managed to do this one thing right.

Ness is absolutely radiant, even with her hair in a messy pair of French braids. She shares so many of Edward's traits sometimes it hurts to look at her. His full lips, high cheekbones, and messy bronze hair are reflected in miniature on her heart shaped face. Her dark brown eyes are all me. Or all me as a human, anyway.

Despite her slow aging rate I feel like she's grown up so fast. Both body and mind are that of a thirteen year old, even with her ninety-five years on the planet. Her lack of growth in the first months of life gave Carlisle and I quite the scare, and had us following myth and rumor to Brazil where we found children like Nessie. Vampire human hybrids aging seven times slower than a human. According to the groups we met there, Nessie will stop aging when her body is approximately seventeen. Still, it will be another twenty-five years before that happens.

For very selfish reason I'm just thankful she's been blessed with immortality.

There's nothing I've enjoyed more than being a mother, even if she started introducing me as her big sister when we moved to Forks. I spend so much time passing as a teenager it hardly makes sense for me to go around claiming to have a thirteen year old kid.

One of the adolescent boys sitting at Vanessa's table sees me and whispers something lewd to his companion. Both boys snicker and I roll my eyes at their lack of imagination. Sensing the commotion, Nessie turns in her seat, her eyes finding me.

Her whole face lights up and she lets out a delighted squeak before leaping out of her seat so fast her chair tips backward and sprinting across the dining hall. She hits me with such force I worry she'll hurt herself against my hard body, but she appears fine. Although she doesn't have vampire strength she's much more durable than a squishy human.

"Hey, baby girl," I whisper, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and one around her head. She clings to my waist as I hold her tight to my chest.

She slips her little hand under my t-shirt, against my skin at my lower back. I close my eyes, reveling in what Ness shows me. Memories of our last goodbye and how it made her feel sad and excited at the same time play in my head. Next she shows me a memory of her fourth night here, when she was so home sick she couldn't sleep. I stayed on the phone with her until she finally dozed off. I hear myself sing a lullaby and feel how it made her feel. Loved.

If I had the physical capability to cry I most definitely would.

"Mom!" she says, pulling back slightly so she can get a good look at my face when she's done projecting images in my head with her unique gift. "What are you doing here? I've missed you! Why didn't you tell me you were coming? It's not that you don't think I'm old enough to handle this. I'm ninety-five. I can totally handle this."

I let out a laugh. Ness either claims to be nearly a century old or a pre-teen, depending on what is convenient.

"You're thirteenish," I correct, running a hand down one braid. "And either way I wasn't worried about you handling being away from home for a few months. I was the one who couldn't handle not seeing you for so long."

"Really?" she says with typical Nessie enthusiasm. It's nearly impossible to be miserable around Ness. She just radiates life and joy. Still, the thought of telling her about Edward and how much she looks like Edward makes my stomach knot.

"Really."

"Come on," she says, pulling away and grabbing my hand. "I want you to meet all my friends."


"This is so against the rules," Nessie whispers, quite unnecessarily.

"Breaking the rules is fun," Jake says.

"Jacob!" I shout, snacking him in the back of the head. I'm as gentle as I can manage but he still rubs the spot and pouts at me. "Try and be a role model, will you?"

"Hitting is against the rules too, Mom," Nessie informs me.

I sigh as Jake and Ness both laugh at my facial expression.

"Breaking the rules is only okay when I say so," I inform them. In recent years they've been ganging up on me more often. Yet another sign that my little girl is growing up.

"That just doesn't seem right," Nessie says, sounding unbelievably prim. "I could get in a whole lot of trouble if I get caught out of bed after curfew. And long past ten, when the pool closes."

"Just who do you think we are?" Jake asks, sounding irritated. "We don't get caught."

"If all the rule breaking makes you nervous, Vanessa, you can go back to bed," I suggest.

Nessie doesn't answer, she just does a cannonball right into the deep end, soaking Jake and I in the process.

"Lovely," I mutter, whipping my face. "Now it smells like wetter dog."

Jacob pushes me into the pool for that one.

For the next hour we horse around, splashing each other and racing back and forth. When I win Jake claims my vampire strength counts as cheating, making absolutely no sense. Jake throws Ness in the air over and over. I sit on the edge of the pool with my feet in the water, leaning back on my hands and looking at the stars.

Edward is seeing what I'm seeing. I wonder where he is on this night.

Eventually Ness yawns one too many times and I have to get all mom-like, declaring it bedtime.

"You'll watch me tomorrow?" she whispers as I walk her to her room. She leans heavily on me and I feel like a bad mom because she's definitely not getting enough sleep tonight.

"Yup," I reply when we get to her door. "I'm going to camp out in a clump of trees with Garrett tomorrow and spy."

"Can you really see from there?" she demands.

"Vampire, baby? Remember?" She lets out a giggle. "It's not we could get any closer. Not all of us just glow pleasantly in the sun. Some of us blind people."

Nessie rolls her eyes.

"I might not be very good because I'm sleepy, but I did a jump yesterday. I'm going to try to do it so you can see tomorrow but if I can't I blame you entirely," she says.

"That's seems fair," I reply, hugging her. She reaches up to touch my face, letting me see how much she loves me, how happy she is I'm here, and how much she likes snowboarding.

Again, I'm over come. I'm in awe of her gift. I've always been in awe of her gift, but her ability makes so much more sense now given what I now know about her father's mind reading. I want to blurt it all out. Everything I've learned and been through in the last few weeks. I want to share the burden of knowing that he's out there.

But that would be so horribly unfair because he left. Again.

"Night, baby," I say. "I love you."

"Night, Mom," she replies, giving me one more hug. "Love you, too."


"You best not be like this when I'm not around," I say, watching Garrett use a pair of branches like uneven bars out of the corner of my eye. "You're totally fired."

"And trust your only daughters safety to the mongrel? I think not," Garrett replies.

I watch Nessie from my perch near the top a tall pine. She's so athletic and graceful, even running low on sleep. Sometimes she moves so fast it terrifies me, and I have to remind myself that's she not a weak mortal. She's sturdy and in control.

"She's wonderful," I say, beaming as she takes her turn going over a jump. "How can you not be watching how wonderful my daughter is?"

"I've been here, alone and hungry, for a month, my dear," Garrett says, continuing to swing. "Watching a bunch of bite-sized morsels slide down a mountain can only entertain one for so long."

"If you eat one of Nessie's camp friends I'm going to stake you," I tell him.

"Do you think this is a episode of Buffy? What the hell kind of vampire are you?" Garrett asks. "It takes slightly more than a piece of wood to kill me."

"Who said I want to kill you?" I ask, never taking my eyes off my kid. "A stake in the heart might not turn you to dust, but it sure would hurt."

His laugh makes me smile. It's good to be here with him. I've known Garrett almost as long as I've been a vampire and therefore he's known Ness since she was the most adorable baby to ever exist. There are very few I'd trust to keep my daughter safe. After my family and the Denali's, no one loves Nessie like Garrett.

It's a definite plus that Garrett loathes the Volturi. Turned during the American Revolution, he never quite lost that rebellious spirit and the desire to endlessly challenge authority. Despite all I do for the Volturi to ensure Vanessa's safety, I do not trust them at all. Garrett is one of the few vampires I know willing to stand up to the guard to protect my daughter.

Even if he's managed to weasel an exorbitant amount of money out of me.

I'm suddenly overcome with affection for my old friend. Usually I'm not this sentimental. Something about seeing Edward again must be putting me more in touch some component of humanity long forgotten. I'm not used to feeling this fragile.

Being with Ness has made it better. Being with Ness always makes it better, but coming here has somehow made me really believe Carlisle's words.

Edward and I aren't done. It's only a matter of time.

"Thanks you," I murmur, feeling mushy and uncomfortable.

"Thank you?" Garrett says, turning his dark red eyes on me. "Why, Isabella. Are you being nice?"

"I'm offended that you sound so surprised," I reply. "I happen to be a very nice vampire. I don't even eat people."

Garrett lets out a snort. "That doesn't make you nice. That makes you loony."

That makes me smile.

"Have you ever been in love?" I ask abruptly surprising us both.

"Are you hitting on me?" He asks so seriously I look away from Ness for the first time since climbing this tree.

"That is not a serious question," I reply, somewhat horrified. Until this moment I forgot about our brief affair during the 50s. I was so lost back then and searching for something, a way to get over Edward. I felt so pathetic for being incapable of moving on and I tried so hard to force myself to get over it.

Maybe something always new we weren't done.

"It's happened before," Garrett reminds me.

"I… No! What? No! Absolutely not!" I sound like a sputtering idiot. Guilt and nausea churn in my stomach.

Garrett didn't help me get over Edward. And nothing will help me get over the fact that I cheated on my husband, either.

"Bella, relax," Garrett says. "It's too easy to mess with you. I know you're not hitting on me. But seriously, Ms. Cullen," he asks when I calm down. "What's going on?"

"I loved Nessie's father," I murmur, going back to watching my daughter glide around. "Still do. We were so close I still don't feel whole without him."

"You remember feeling so close to him?" Garrett inquires. "That's incredibly rare. Human memories so strong… it's a gift and a curse."

I nod, understanding completely.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asks.

I shake my head.

"I'm going to find out eventually, aren't I?"

"Probably," I reply.

"You're one weird vamp," Garrett comments. "Even for a veg head."

"I prefer the term special."


Three days after arriving in Oregon my phone rings as I return from hunting to my hotel. My family has been remarkably good about giving me my space while visiting my daughter, but Alice can only be expected to contain herself for so long so I answer.

"He's coming back," Alice says in a rush before I can even say hello.

Her words make my heart stop. Metaphorically, of course.

"When?" I say, resisting the urge to sit down. My legs are not weak. Only in my mind do my legs feel week.

"It's murky," Alice replies, sounding apologetic. "Several days. Maybe a week. He's in Canada somewhere."

I let out a breath of relief. It feels like I was holding it since the moment he left.

"Okay," I say, still unsteady. "Alright. Okay. I'll come home. What's going to happen? What else did you see?"

"There are several possible futures." Alice's reply is careful. "You'll talk. You might go somewhere together. He might run off again."

I let out a whimper.

"But I think I know how to prevent that from happening," she replies quickly. "We need to leave."

"We? Leave? But I have to see him," I squeak, totally horrified by her suggestion.

"No, I mean the rest of the family. Carlisle and Esme are going back to Alaska. The rest of us are going to stay in the Seattle penthouse. We want to be close in case something goes wrong," Alice says.

"What could go wrong?"

"Edward's nasty companions could show up again. They have no plans to do so, but they are erratic and spontaneous. You could piss him off again, he leaves, and you end up catatonic again," she suggests.

"Okay, yeah. I get it. Why do you need to leave?" I ask. Normally I'm quite good at quickly understanding most things. I've just not been thinking clearly since the return of my husband.

Back from the dead.

Sort of.

"He knows what we're thinking, Bella. If he finds out about Ness too soon, which he will do if he's near any of us, he'll lose it. You have to understand what it's like for him. You've been living with his memory and his daughter for all these years. He's been alone and living this brutal life. Plus hybrids like Ness aren't exactly common knowledge in the vampire world. I doubt he even knows someone like her could exist. This is all brand new for him. Just have some patience. Ease him into it."

"Easing," I repeat. "Easing sounds good. I can ease."

"It's going to work out, Bella," Alice says with such confidence it actually makes me feel fractionally more confident.

Just fractionally. Her words do nothing to cure my delusions of nausea.


More Edward next time. That's a promise.

So what did we think of Nessie and Jacob?

Reviews make me so happy. I'm just sayin'.