A/N: Sorry for the long break! I kind of ran out of steam on this story, my beta had surgery, and I had to work overtimes; but I'm back on track now Enjoy & please read the second author's note at the end. It's important! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews as always! You rock! Thanks Jacqulyn for being a wonderful beta

Carlisle

The battle was over, my first son was dead, Charlie's change was complete, and finally my wife and I could enjoy some alone time together to grieve. I adore and love each of my children and am so grateful that they choose to stay with us, but Edward was my first companion. It was going to take a long time for me to come to terms with his death. I would forever be grateful to my wonderful daughter Rosalie for making his death as quick as she could. I heard her thoughts under Bella's shield as she killed him and knew she wanted him to pay for everything he had done to us since he turned into the dark monster he used to fight against. The instant she thought of me and Esme, I was relieved. I knew then that she would get it over with as quickly as she could for us.

I sighed as I heard the rest of my family enjoying their alone time with their mates. My Esme snuggled closer to me and rested her head on my chest, "They will grieve in their own time, Carlisle" she told me. "You know once they release all their anger about him and what he has done, they will feel it. We are all sad about what happened to Edward, but he wasn't the same person that we knew before".

I smiled at her as I wrapped my arms around her, "I know Esme, but it doesn't make it any easier or lessen any of my guilt. I should have done differently by him, I should have tried harder to stop him when he became so enraged about Bella and Jasper".

Esme lifted her head to look me in the eyes, "Edward made his own choices Carlisle. He claimed to only keep Bella around as a pet of sorts, he tried to kill me, he sent vampires here to rape and kill our daughters, he brought hundreds of vampires here to kill us all, and he left Charlie to die so Bella would feel guilty for eternity. He wasn't upset about Jasper loving Bella, he was upset because he thought Bella belonged to him. You did the best you could".

I kissed my wife and realized she was right. I was angry when I thought of all the bad things Edward had done to us. I would grieve for the son I had lost months ago, not the one who died today. That wasn't my son in that field, it was a stranger with his face. I was grateful to have such a loving wife and family and I would enjoy them forever.

"I guess I have to have two more crests made for Kate and Charlie" I smiled. I was so happy that Kate had finally found her mate and happy that it was Charlie. He deserved happiness too and even though I hated that he had to become one of us to have it, I was relieved that we wouldn't have to say goodbye to him someday. It would be too hard on all of us, especially Bella and Emmett.

Esme's laughter filled the room, "Yes, I guess you will. I wonder how long Peter and Charlotte plan to stay, maybe you should have two made for them as well. Even if they don't stay with us all the time, they truly are members of this family".

"I suppose you are right, as always my dear. I'll call tomorrow and have them made right away".

"Carlisle, what did Jasper want with you earlier?" Esme asked curiously. I knew my wife and knew it must have been bugging her all day not to know. I would let Jasper make this announcement to the rest of the family when he was ready, so I told her in our mate way.

She smiled hugely That's a wonderful idea and I love that you are willing to do that.

I'm just honored that he asked that of me and can't wait to tell everyone else I answered her excitedly.

Esme smiled at me and I put my grieving for Edward aside so I could focus on my wife and spend the rest of the night reconnecting with her. The past few days had taken a toll on us, but our relationship was stronger than ever. It was time to enjoy each other and worry about what would come in the future tomorrow.

Alice

I couldn't quite put my finger on what was bothering me about Aro's decisions. He was so indecisive and I felt like it was to purposely keep me out of them. He would be wondering by now why Edward hadn't returned to Italy and it was only a matter of time before he came looking for answers. I could see him questioning Carlisle about it, but never any more details. I had no idea when they would come or what the outcome of that visit would be. Even under Bella's shield, I couldn't see. That frustrated me greatly. When it was Edward I was looking for, once I was under her shield, everything came clear as day to me. Well, everything except the whole mating with Maria thing. Did Aro have a mate? Was he making all his plans in their mate conversations so that I couldn't see them? That unnerved me to no end, I needed to see what would happen. My family was depending on it, I was depending on it. I sighed as I gave up thinking about it for the rest of the night and just enjoyed being in Garrett's arms.

We had made our way to our suite hours ago and I relished our alone time together. In just a few short months we would be married and able to take an extended honeymoon somewhere alone. As much as I loved my family, it would be so nice to just be alone with each other for a few months. We never had been alone for an extended period of time. After we returned to Forks, we were always with the family.

"What are you thinking about my love?" Garrett quietly asked me.

I raised my head to smile at him, "How great our honeymoon will be" I answered as I waggled my eyebrows in a very Emmett-like fashion. Garrett laughed and hugged me closer to him.

"It definitely will be nice to enjoy some alone time with you. I will be very happy to not have any drama for a long time as well".

I laughed mischievously, "Are you sure you don't want any drama? I think I am quite able to stir some up with these wedding plans?"

Garrett broke into a fit of laughter and it was several minutes before he was able to control himself again. Finally he was able to ask, "Are you sure you want to mess with the Majorette that way? I have a feeling she might just pull off a limb or something if you did anything too outlandish". Emmett's nickname for Bella looked like it was going to be sticking around.

"Hmm, I suppose you are right about that. I would hate to be the one on the receiving end of a butt kicking by her" I conceded. We spent the rest of the night just talking and making love. It was absolutely perfect. I would worry about the Volturi tomorrow and just enjoy tonight.

Peter

I was in no hurry to go home. I knew Charlotte wasn't either. We both always enjoyed the Cullen's company, but this time it was different. We had fought side by side with them and I felt like that made us closer somehow. It had changed the dynamic of our relationships and I hoped we could stay for a little while longer. I wanted to be here until at least through the weddings. I had no indication of when the Volturi would show up and didn't want to leave the family to deal with them alone. Who knew how pissed off Aro would be when he found out Edward was dead? Aro liked to collect vampires with powers and letting Edward come back here was a huge risk on his part. Edward must have bargained something big for Aro to agree to that and Alice saw Edward's decision to return to Italy. It was what he was planning, and I just knew Aro had to know that too. I hoped we could avoid their visit until after the weddings, but I kind of doubted that. I just wished my gift would come through and give us any indication of when they were coming.

"What's wrong?" my beautiful wife asked me.

I smiled at her, "Nothing, love. I just don't like not knowing what may or may not happen with the Volturi. I feel vulnerable and you know how I don't like that".

Charlotte laughed, "Yes, I do think you have mentioned that once or twice before. Maybe even a few hundred times".

I laughed with her at that. She was very right about me saying that hundreds of times since I met her.

She smiled her most suggestive smile at me, "I bet I can think of a few ways to make you forget about the Volturi tonight".

"Oh yea, what ways would that be?" She launched herself on top of me and I decided to forget all about our troubles with the Volturi for tonight and just enjoy my wife. We could worry about them tomorrow.

Rosalie

Since Emmett and my suite were the closest to Jasper and Bella's we always got to experience their emotions almost as strongly as they did. Jasper was very good at controlling his emotions most of the time, but it seemed like whenever they were intimate, his lust was projected full force into the house. Bella's shield was up for the most part tonight, but every once in awhile she would lose control of it and the lust would hit our room with a renewed passion. Emmett and I were enjoying our time together. We were making plans for what we would do after the weddings and the happy couples went on their honeymoons. Usually after one of our weddings, all the couples in the family took a vacation to be alone together. I figured Esme and Carlisle would definitely be doing that this time, so Emmett and I decided we should too. We were right in the middle of purchasing our airline tickets when Bella's shield went down and the lust hit us full force. Needless to say, airline tickets were forgotten for a long time.

"How's your leg?" I asked my wonderful husband.

He grinned, "All healed up Rosie". He stopped to think for a second, "Wait, I really mean, it hurts still a little bit. I think you need to take care of me" he stuck out his lower lip and pouted.

I laughed, "Em, you know pouting doesn't work on me. Maybe you should re-think your tactics".

"Very true" he pondered for a minute. "Well then my lovely, beautiful wife, I think it was total bad ass how you handled yourself on the battle field that day babe".

It was my turn to grin at him, "Way to stroke my ego Emmett. You know that always works on me", I giggled as he began to kiss my neck again. That is how we spent the remainder of the night. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

Charlie

Kate and I were spending a wonderful first night together. I tuned out all the other sounds in the house, I really didn't want to have to think about some of those sounds being my daughter and her future husband. Maybe instead of having Esme add on to the house, Kate and I could buy our own house near here or have one built on the property. The property was huge and I had a feeling Esme would understand my feelings on that.

I asked Kate what she thought. She smiled her wonderfully, beautiful smile that seemed to only be reserved for me, "I think that is a great idea. We could be close to the family and not have to worry about you and Bella always being embarrassed around each other". I chuckled at how right she was about that.

"That's very true, Jasper probably won't be able to handle all that embarrassment floating around" I told her.

Kate laughed, "Yes, that is very true. Charlie, I have to admit, I am so proud of the way you have taken to our life. You seem to be such a natural at it. Just like Bella, from what I've heard about her change".

I nodded seriously and frowned, "Thanks Katie".

Kate traced my frown with her finger, "What's wrong Charlie?"

"I don't want you to think I regret my decision, but do you think there was any way I would have been able to save Bella from this life?"

"I think this is a conversation you should be having with Bella, but in my opinion no. You wouldn't have been able to save her from this. It is a life she chose, she wanted this. Bella's known the truth about this family since practically the beginning from what I've heard and it something she has never been scared of".

"I guess that makes sense. Bella's always stuck with any decision she's ever made. I will talk to her about very soon though. I would love to hear her own prospective on this. I guess I didn't get everything I wanted to know out of her story about her change today". I kissed Kate deeply and decided that would be the end of our conversation about this tonight. The rest could wait until tomorrow.

Bella

Jasper and I had spent an amazing night together. It was the first time we were alone since before the battle and we each relished every moment. Now I held his hand as we sat down in our library with Jacob. He wanted to talk to us both and so here we sat looking at each other.

"I'm sorry Bella. I never should have given you that dumb ultimatum and made you choose between us. I can see that Jasper makes you very happy and that's all I've ever wanted for you. It was selfish of me to ask you to pick one of us".

I smiled at him, "I understand why you did it Jake. I wish we could have been friends this whole time, but at least now we can be".

Jake flashed his grin at me, "Yes, we sure as hell can be. I'm also sorry that we came here with the intent on killing you and your family. Well, killing your family actually. Edward had us convinced you were dead because of them. He really was quite persuasive. After I heard that you died from Charlie, I always wondered if you joined the Cullen's and I should have held onto that thought when Edward showed up".

"Jake, it's not your fault. Edward was very talented and manipulative when he needed or wanted to be. The important thing is that you know the truth now and hopefully our families can agree to keep the treaty still".

"I've already talked it over with Sam and the treaty is intact. We don't see your being turned as a violation of it. Clearly the Cullen's did it to save you from Edward and the treaty has not been broken in our eyes".

I felt Jasper relax at my side. We all had been fearing that they would still consider my change a treaty violation and to hear Jake say it wasn't, was a huge relief. We wouldn't need to worry about the wolves coming after us.

"And Charlie's change?" I asked.

Jake rolled his eyes, "Well, I thought it would be obvious to you, but I guess not. When does Bella ever get the obvious?" he joked.

I laughed at that and Jasper chuckled, "Yes, the blatantly obvious always seems to miss her".

I scowled at him, "Thanks Jake, it means a lot to the whole family that there's not going to be a war between our families. We appreciate everything you did for us in the fight the other day too".

"Don't mention it, we're just glad we could help get rid of that jerk and all his minions. Anytime you need anything Bella, you just have to call. That offer is extended to your entire family, just call".

I smiled at him, "That's generous of you all. Please tell Sam thank you as well".

"I will, I guess I better get going. We need to head back to La Push. It makes us anxious to be away for so long". I stood up to hug my former best friend good bye and then walked him out. He said goodbye to the rest of the family and then joined his pack and they were gone. I knew I would invite them to the wedding and that made me smile. I was happy that Jake was finally back in my life and I hoped he would stay there for a long time.

A few hours later, my dad asked me if I wanted to go hunting with him. I said yes and after saying goodbye to Jasper, we were off. After cooking so many dinners for Charlie when I was still human, this felt oddly familiar. Of course we never had live game involved in any of our meals, but the meal part felt the same. I could tell he had something he wanted to talk about and so I let him take his time bringing up whatever it was. We each hunted two deer before he started.

"Bells, I know you are happy and love Jasper and the rest of them, but I need to ask you something".

"Go ahead dad".

"Would I have been able to save you from this life if I had tried?" he asked seriously.

I looked him in the eyes, "No, I don't think you would have been able to".

He nodded solemnly. I decided to tell him everything that I hadn't before, including what I knew about Alice's visions of me and Jasper. "Dad, it's not your fault. This life was chosen for me before I even knew what or who the Cullen's were. Alice saw a vision when she met Jasper of him being happy with someone else but she could never see who that was until Edward made the decision to leave me. It was me in her vision dad, don't you see, this life was always meant for me".

Charlie smiled a little, "That's a relief to hear. I've wondered if maybe I had done something differently or tried to stop you, you might still be human and none of this would have happened".

"I'm glad I'm a vampire Dad, and that you are too. I wouldn't trade my new life for anything in the world. I love Jasper with every fiber of my being and I'll always be with him forever now. I don't know if I've said it enough before, but thank you for everything you have ever done for me. You are the world's best dad and now I get to keep you forever". I reached out and hugged him, it was easier talking emotions like this with him now. We had been through so much together recently, that the words just flowed out.

He squeezed me back, "I'm glad I get to stay with you forever too, kid. I wonder how the Cullen's family dynamics will be when we ever move to a town. I would like to see you graduate high school for the first time still you know".

I laughed, "I'm sure you will see it more than once. Come on let's go back". I grabbed his hand and we ran back to our waiting family.

A/N: Okay, what happens with the rest of the story is up to you. I have two endings in mind, but I need to know how you would feel about a sequel before I do any more writing. So, would you be interested in a sequel? I wasn't planning one, but it sprang to mind, so here we are. Please let me know & thank you all for sticking with me through this one so far!