Starts as Bella is in the Meadow during Chapter 10 of "New Moon"

The entire family was waiting for me in the family room when I walked into the house. Carlisle was the first to welcome me.

"Bella," he started, smiling more than I had ever seen him smile before, "Thank you for this. Our family has been incomplete since we left Forks ten years ago. I hope you know that you were always considered one of our family."

Esme was upon me then, hugging me and re-affirming the words of her husband. I felt the arms of the entire family join in the embrace from Esme and I couldn't help but fear that I would let them down. That Edward would not want me and would once again leave his family.

"I would like it to be just Bella and I here in the house when he arrives," Esme stated, as we all pulled away from the embrace. "I will greet him, and inform him of a guest that he needs to speak with, and then leave so that you and Edward can speak in privacy." I nodded, feeling worried.

I found myself growing more nervous with each passing second. What would I say to him? I started to doubt my decision to have him come home. The family was getting ready to depart, and so I knew that the time for Edward to arrive was close. Each member of the family hugged me as they left, even Rosalie, who seemed to be over her aversion to me and had apparently warmed to the idea of having me around.

The last to hug me was Jasper, who quietly whispered so only I could hear, "He loves you. He always has and always will. The fact that you're a vampire will not change the way he feels for you." I made sure to hug him extra tightly, and I could see him hiding a smile as he pulled away.

They all bid farewell and ran off to either hunt or just spend time together outside the house. My nerves were getting the better of me, so I started walking through the bottom level of the house. Esme allowed me to explore, probably knowing that I was nervous, and probably nervous herself. When I came to the parlor located at the back of the house, I noticed for the first time his grand piano.

"Do you take this with you everywhere?" I asked Esme, as I walked up to the beautiful instrument, taking a seat at the bench. This was a place of comfort for me, though I knew very little about playing.

"I cannot bear to live without it's presence," she answered calmly. "This instrument means much to Edward, and to our entire family. We have not heard it played since we left Forks." I could hear the sadness in her voice as she mentioned the loss of Edward's music.

I found myself glued to the seat here at Edward's piano, unable to move. I felt strangely calm at this spot where he had set many times. Where he had written his music.

I felt Esme tense and suddenly heard the footsteps approaching the house. She walked to the front of the house as the door opened.

I froze when I heard his voice, the voice that I had waited ten years to hear, as it called out, "Esme?"

"I'm here, Edward," I could hear the entire conversation, and suddenly realized I wasn't breathing. I heard the two embrace and separate.

"Esme, what was so important that I had to come home? You know how much it pains me to be here."

"I know, Edward, but this is incredibly important. Do you not sense a change?" She questioned.

"I sense other presences have been here. There are other vampires in the area." This seemed to be a statement rather than a question. "Both scents are familiar. One I know I've smelled before, but the other… it feels strangely familiar, but I have never sensed this particular scent before. Who has been here, mother?"

"We recently ran into a couple of old friends, Edward. One of which wishes to join our family," she started, then seeming to grow some courage. "She is actually in the parlor right now."

"Impossible," he stated, "I can't hear anything back there. If someone were here I'd be able to hear her thoughts, why can't I hear her……." He cut off, as apparently, realization had sunk in.

Before I realized it, my right hand was moving to the keys of the piano. I seemingly had no control over them as they quietly started taping the ivory keys to the melody of the one song that had haunted my dreams for the past ten years. How I knew the correct notes, I'll never know, but something in my brain knew it and I heard the notes of my lullaby quietly fill the room.

I heard him gasp from the front of the house.

"Esme?" he whispered, barely audible, but I could still hear him.

"I think you should go and meet our newest addition, Edward," she said, as I heard her pat his shoulder. "She's got one amazing story to tell." And with that I heard the door open, and within moments knew that we were alone.

He stayed where he was for a few minutes, and I continued to play that melody over and over again, as though I couldn't control the actions of my fingers. Finally I heard him slowly, almost cautiously, walk through the family room into the parlor, though in my current position, my back was to him.

"Bella?" he whispered, and finally my fingers gave me back control. I stopped mid-melody, almost too frightened to speak. I took a deep breath, turned and faced the person who broke my heart and saw his awed expression.

"Hello, Edward," I whispered back, feeling as though speaking in a normal volume would break him into a thousand pieces.

"Bella?" he asked again, appearing to be in shock. He didn't move, he just stared at me.

I didn't want to be the first one to really speak, but I knew that he needed an explanation. So I slowly began to tell him my tale. I did not edit anything. I told him everything that I had happened to me since the moment he left. I told him how Sam Uley had found me in the woods after he left me there in tears, the pain I felt for those last human months, my search for our meadow, and my time after Laurent had changed me. I watched his face for reactions, but saw only shock in his face still. I knew he was listening, but he showed no emotion on his face or in his eyes other than pure shock.

When my story was finished, we stared at each other in silence. He had still not changed his expression of shock and had not moved a single inch since he had entered the room.

"Edward, please say something," I begged, unable to take his silence anymore. "Please tell me what you're thinking. Just say something." I heard my voice crack on that, and felt a sob wrack my body.

Hearing my sob seemed to finally break him from his shock.

"Bella," he started, taking a tentative step toward me, "I'm so sorry. I never wanted this life for you, that's why I left. I wanted you to have a normal, human life. I'm so sorry that you had to become one of us."

With his words, I felt myself grow angry.

"I'm not sorry, Edward!" I exploded. "I have a good life! I am happier as a vampire than I was as a human after you left. The only thing that has kept me from true happiness as a vampire is that I didn't have you! I never stopped loving you, Edward, even after you broke my heart." I stopped for a moment, to take a deep breath, but kept speaking before he had the chance to say anything.

"You hurt me, Edward. You broke my heart. I knew that someday I would have to face you, but I didn't think it would be this soon. I've spent the past ten years thinking that you stopped loving me. When I ran into your family, I begged them all not to tell you I was here. I was convinced you wanted nothing to do with me. Then Esme gave me your letters." I saw a look of surprise cross his face. "I read your letters, and reading them finally gave me an understanding of why you left me. I understand what you wanted for me, and I also understand that you still love me. I still love you, Edward. I always have and I always will. The only thing I want to know is can you love me as a vampire?"

There. I had laid my heart out there on the line, and all that was left for him to answer my question. Unable to watch him anymore, I turned back to the piano, but kept my hands on my lap. His silence was causing me to panic. Maybe he really didn't want me as a vampire.

I was so lost in my panic-ridden thoughts that I didn't hear him come up behind me. I didn't notice he had moved until he sat next to me on the bench of his silent piano. He didn't say anything, and I felt my heart start to break again. I was pondering the fastest way to escape when he lightly touched the keys with his hands. I stared in shock as he started gently playing the entirety of my lullaby, a song I had only heard in my mind since he took the CD from my room.

"I hear this song everyday," he quietly spoke as he played. "It runs constantly in my brain along with my thoughts of you. I left you thinking that you would be able to live a human life. Get married, have children, live a fulfilling life. When I told you I didn't love you, it was the only way I could leave you. Walking away from you that day was the hardest thing I'd ever done and it haunts me every moment." He stopped talking and listened to the music as he played, then continued.

"I never wanted this life for you, but I can't help but be happy that you are here. I guess that's the selfish part of me. And I need you to know something before you say anything else." He stopped playing and turned and looked me in the eye. "I have loved you since the moment we met, Bella. But however much I loved you while you were human, I love you more than I could possibly have thought possible now."

I felt a smile break out across my face, and saw him return my smile, and it was mere seconds before I was in his arms. Back where I belonged. I had never forgotten what it was like to kiss him, but kissing him as a vampire was different. No more hot to cold skin, no more delicate touches. Our kiss was fierce and filled with a passion that had been building for ten years. I knew that I was home.