A/N I have a few housekeeping items to catch up on here. First of all, several chapters back I used the song "Tiny Dancer" and forgot to tell you all why... I loved hearing all the theories by the way, but my reasoning was actually quite obscure. It was homage to the movie "Almost Famous". If you haven't seen it, watch. It's a great flick. There is a scene in the movie where they have had a pretty bad day and they are all on the tour bus together. Tiny Dancer starts playing on the radio and they all start singing along. It makes all the 'bad' of the day go away and by the end they are all smiling again. It's one of those songs that just makes you feel good when you sing it!

Next item: Edward is pleased to present you all with his striptease... He is covered in chocolate sauce, whipped cream, cherries, sprinkles, and whatever else you all would like on an 'Edward Sundae'. Please enjoy! It is Edward's and my way of thanking you all for helping us reach our goal of 1,000 reviews. We could not have done it without every one of you who reviewed!

Third item: This is officially the last chapter of this story. There will be an Epilogue and then we will be done! I'm SO SAD that it's over, but I think the story has told itself. I will get the Epilogue posted soon as it has been written in my head for several months now. I so appreciate the support of all of my readers throughout this story. All of your reviews, PM's, favorite adds, alerts, everything has meant so much to me and has made my first fanfic experience a great one!

Last item: In addition to my readers, there have been several other people who have made this story a wonderful experience. Lillie Cullen... you are a goddess among women. If not for this story, I may never have met you, and if I had never met you, I may never have posted this story. Thank you for being there for me every single day, for listening to my insecurities, talking me through the hard times, celebrating the successes, and becoming one of the best friends I've ever had while we were on this journey together. If this story brought nothing else to me, it brought me you, and that is something I will cherish forever. Thank you, for everything.

Lillie is not the only friend I have made via this story, and there are a few others that stand out: Amy, Militza, Eoin, Jen, Taffy, cptnsassypants, Voluptuous Vamp, and Phoenix Rising. You all have been wonderful on my thread and to chat with and get to know and be friends with. I bless and thank you all for your friendship. I could not ask for a better bunch of 'Forum Stalkers' than the ones I have. If there's anyone I left out, I'm sorry. I love you all. I'm just too teary eyed right now to think right. :)

Disclaimer: Although SM owns Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, and all the characters therein, I own Ascension, European Edward, Invisi-Bella, EdCom, Bella's Revenge, the Mile High Club, and an Epic Battle that unseated the Volturi. Although I wish I owned Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, I think I'm happy with owning Ascension rather than Breaking Dawn. Sorry Stephenie, that's just the way it is.

Edward

I released Bella and we turned to walk, hand in hand, to the pack. I could hear in their thoughts that they were concerned about where to bury their dead. They didn't think they could make it back to La Push with the bodies, but they had to bless the ground they buried them on. I decided that I could be of assistance and approached Sam.

"Sam, I'm so terribly sorry about your losses." Bella reached for him and pulled him into a hug. Sam was surprised, but hugged her back affectionately.

"I would like to help with your dilemma." Sam cocked his head to the side and looked at me with curiosity plain on his face. "Your dead, Sam, I would like to offer a place for you to bury their remains."

Sam's eyes lit with understanding as he replied, "What did you have in mind, Cullen?"

I gestured towards our house. "We own most of the land around our house. You're welcome to find a suitable area and bless it, prepare it however you need to, and bury them there. Any member of your tribe would always be welcome to visit their graves there and you wouldn't have to worry about their graves being desecrated."

Sam glanced around to the other pack members who were all nodding their heads in agreement. He turned back to me and said, "That's a very generous offer. We accept, and we thank you."

I nodded once and said, "Do you need assistance with moving their bodies?"

Sam bowed his head almost imperceptibly and said, "We would be very grateful." I patted his shoulder and went back to the group of vampires who were still gathered together and talking.

Vladimir, Stefan, and their group of new friends were preparing to leave. I stepped over to them and stuck out my hand to shake theirs. They each took it in turn, saying their goodbyes and thanks for our hospitality. We thanked them profusely for their assistance. Once they bade everyone farewell, they took out at vampire speed across the valley, over the hill, and then they were gone. I turned to find Felix and Heidi approaching Carlisle and myself.

"Carlisle, Edward, we were wondering," Felix started, "if we might stay with you a spell to learn more about your lifestyle." Carlisle and I were of the same mind and I nodded to Carlisle who answered them.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you wish. We would be thrilled to welcome you into our family." They both nodded in appreciation and shook our hands.

I took Carlisle aside and explained what I had told the pack and he agreed immediately. He pulled the family together and spoke to everyone about it. No one had any objections so we made preparations to leave. As we walked the valley making sure that every bit of the dead vampires had been burned to ash, Felix asked me about the wolf pack so I explained to him the difference between them and werewolves. His interest was piqued and I found him to be rather interesting to talk to. I also found myself hoping that he and Heidi would stay on with our family for more than just a short time.

Benjamin, distraught over Tia's death, had decided to head back to Egypt immediately. Maggie had decided to travel with him as far as Ireland so she could return to Liam and Siobhan. We bade them farewell and watched them leave too.

All that was left was the Denali family, Marcus and Gianna, who was thrilled at the prospect of being changed by Marcus, Demetri, who was madly in love with Kate already, Garrett, Heidi and Felix, and our family. Eleazar approached me to pull me into an embrace. "There are no words," I said. His mind told me that he knew what I meant. He knew that I was sad for his loss, happy for his gains, and thankful for their help.

"We're going to return home for a while but you know that you are welcome there any time, Edward, all of you are."

"Yes, we know, and hope you know the same goes for all of you."

"Ah, we count on that," he said with a smile.

"As do we," I countered, smiling as well.

All of us said our goodbyes to them and they were gathering to leave. Bella walked over to Gianna and Marcus and my breath caught in my chest. What is she up to? She reached out tentatively to Gianna who willingly came right to her. Jasper tensed next to me and we watched closely. Bella pulled Gianna into a gentle embrace and whispered, "Good luck, Gianna." A single tear streaked down Gianna's face and she choked out a thank you. Bella released her with a smile and turned to Marcus whom she also hugged. "I'm happy to see you alive again, Marcus. Come see us after, okay?" Marcus was stunned by her kindness and I could see in his thoughts that he was struggling with how to answer her. Finally, he came up with something.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cullen. I appreciate your kindness to me after… everything. Once we are… settled… we will certainly come by for a visit."

"I'd like that," Bella responded with a smile. She then approached Demetri and hugged him too. "Goodbye, Demetri. You must visit as well."

"Goodbye, Bella! We most certainly will. I feel that I must offer thanks to you for, well, freeing us. It seems we were all being kept against our wills and we will be forever grateful to you and your family for making it possible for us to live again."

"Everyone should have the chance to live as they wish. I'm just happy that if things had to be the way they were, there are those who ended up happy."

Demetri nodded his head to her and said to all of us, "Don't worry about the wives. I will take care of them if there is any animosity or thought of revenge. I honestly don't think they will be all that unhappy, but I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Demetri. If you need any assistance with anything, please let us know," I answered and with that, the Denali family, along with their new friends, left towards their home. Garrett, in the meantime, had decided to stay with us for a while, so we made our way over to the pack to help them with their dead.

I immediately picked up Jacob's lifeless form and Bella stood next to me looking at his face. "I just don't understand why this had to happen," she said softly.

"I know, love. It just doesn't seem fair, but he was fighting for you."

Her eyes pierced into mine and she said, "I think that's the only way he would have wanted to go." I nodded.

"So do I, love."

Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, and Felix each picked up a body and we all started towards home. The rest of the pack phased so they could run with us and we were there before we knew it. Esme had a wonderful spot picked out for the pack and she showed it to them. They all agreed immediately. It was near the edge of the woods overlooking the ocean. It was a beautiful spot. We each gently laid the bodies down and left the pack to their preparations. Emmett and Rosalie offered to go to town and get Nara, but I stopped them.

"I think I should go."

"I want to go with you, Edward."

I looked at Bella and thought about this briefly. Finally I said, "Will you be able to control your thirst with her in the car, Bella?"

She shrugged. "If not, I'll get out and run home, but I want to go. I should be there. He's dead because of me. I need to be the one to tell her."

I wasn't entirely sure that it was a good idea to take Bella, but I knew that she felt strongly about being there. I finally agreed and we hopped in the Volvo and headed to town. Bella was fidgeting and I knew she was nervous. "Bella, you don't have to go."

"Yes, I do, Edward. They just got married! Jacob should never have been there and if it had not been for how he always felt about me, he wouldn't have been. I feel responsible for his death and if Nara is to be angry with anyone, I want it to be me."

I sighed. "You aren't responsible for anyone's death, love. They all knew the risks and chose to be there. Please don't take this on yourself."

"I'm sorry, but I still feel responsible for Jacob. At least none of the rest of the Quileute that were killed had wives."

She had a point. Why Jacob had chosen to get married right before the fight was beyond me. I was thinking that over as I drove and realized that Sam and Emily still had not married. I thought back on the Quileute legends and stories that I knew and it dawned on me. Jacob had intended to stop phasing. That was why he got married. And it could only point to one thing. I prayed that I was wrong as I pulled in front of the motel that Jacob had put Nara up in.

I walked to the door tentatively and Bella slipped her hand inside mine. As soon as Nara opened it, I knew that my suspicions were right and my stomach turned a flip. When we had seen her previously, it had obviously been too early for me to hear it, but as she stood before us now, there were two distinct heartbeats. Hers and the faster, fainter one of the child she carried. Bella's grip on my hand tightened and I glanced at her. She opened our connection and practically screamed inside my head, "Oh my God, Edward she's pregnant! What have we done?!"

"Calm down, love. One step at a time."

Nara greeted us with a tentative smile, looking cautiously at Bella. "Hello, Edward, Bella… to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

I answered before Bella could blurt out anything. I didn't want to put the life of Nara's child in danger by upsetting her too much. "Hello, Nara. We came to get you and take you to our house. As you can see, Bella is doing better with her, um, thirst, and we would like you to come with us."

"Is the fight over?" she asked with a twinkle in her eyes. She was looking around behind us and I could tell by her thoughts that she was wondering why Jacob hadn't come.

"Yes, the fight is over, but we have some bad news I'm afraid. Would you mind if we got your things together for you while you sit down?" As soon as I said it, she knew. Her face fell and a lone tear made its way down her cheek slowly. She stepped back into the room, leaving the door open, and sat down in a close by chair.

"He's dead, isn't he?" she asked after sitting down. Bella went and started packing up her belongings while I sat in the chair next to her.

I leaned forward and said, "Yes, he's dead, Nara. I'm so sorry. We all are." I watched her carefully and listened to her thoughts. She wasn't surprised. She knew that he wasn't wild about the idea of settling down already. Her pregnancy had been accidental and unexpected on both their parts. They had quickly married when they discovered that Nara was pregnant after the first time they had been together. Although he had imprinted on her and loved her with all his heart, he had wanted to remain with the pack until some of the others started to settle down and stop phasing, namely Sam.

She looked up at me with more tears rolling down her cheeks and said, "Thank you," she looked over at Bella, "thank you both, for coming. Is there… a body?" she asked hesitantly.

Bella stepped over to her and took her hand. "Yes, Sam and the others are preparing a burial ground. We wanted to get you there so you could participate. I'm so sorry, Nara, for everything."

Nara stood, looked Bella over, and then hugged her. Bella's eyes widened and she stopped breathing, but put her arms gently around Nara. Nara stepped back and said, "He loved you, too, Bella. Never doubt that he cared deeply for you."

Bella nodded and said, "I know, Nara, and I cared deeply for him."

Nara smiled through her tears and looked around. Bella had already packed all of her things. She turned and walked out the door carrying one of her bags.

We arrived back at the house a short time later and took Nara out where the pack was digging the graves and preparing for their burial ritual. I spoke briefly with Sam who asked our family to attend the ceremony later on that night. He also asked if a few food items would be possible for the feast. He feared that since they had little time they would be unable to do the necessary hunting and cooking. I agreed and took Bella back to the house. We rallied the family and headed out to hunt the necessary food for the Quileute burial feast. We found two wild hogs and brought them back. We quickly built a fire while Sam and Paul slaughtered the hogs, dressed them out, and they were placed on the spit. Garrett and Esme agreed to stay and cook the hogs, which smelled horrid, for the pack. The rest of us retired to the house for a few hours before the feast was to start.

We were all so relieved to be alive and together that we all spent a significant amount of time just standing around and staring at each other. Emmett and Rosalie couldn't stand it anymore and took each other's hands to head up the stairs. Alice and Jasper followed suit. Esme was out with the wolves and Carlisle had taken Heidi and Felix into his study to explain our lifestyle in full to them, which left Bella and me alone. She looked at me and grabbed my hand so that I would follow her. The first place she went was into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Her favorite place. I grinned and stripped off my soiled clothes to follow her in.

After we had spent a significant amount of time letting the water run over us and clinging to each other I leaned down and kissed her, trying to let all my feelings of love, relief, joy, and sorrow through to her in that one kiss. She buried her head in my chest and finally let go of all of her emotions. She sobbed, then she was angry, then she denied that anything had happened, and then she sobbed some more. I stood there quietly and allowed her to go through her expected gamut of emotions. Bella was so sensitive to everything around her. She had been so strong during the battle, doing the things she had to do, the things she knew she needed to do to ensure our survival, but it was all coming out. Her anger and fear were the most significant of her emotions but her sorrow at all the deaths, not just Jacob's, was overwhelming. I was finally able to coax her out of the shower and wrap her in a fluffy robe. I yanked on a pair of jeans and led her to the bed. We sat down and I held her some more, letting her rid herself of her devastating emotions. When she was finally beginning to calm down I placed my finger under her chin, as I had done so many times before. I raised her beautiful face to look at mine. I wanted to do something that would make her happy. I couldn't bear to see her so distraught.

"Bella, open our connection, please?"

"It's open."

"Good. I have a promise to fulfill. Are you ready?" She looked up at me with shining eyes and I took her hands in mine, facing her. I stared into her eyes and began pouring every single memory of us into our connection. The memories flashed through my mind as I gave them to her. The first time I saw her, the first time she walked into biology lab, the week I spent in Denali, the day I saved her from Tyler's van, the night I saved her in Port Angeles, the first time we went to the meadow, our first kiss, me watching her sleep, all of her dreams, every conversation we ever had, every thought I ever had about her, James, her disastrous birthday party, the day I left her in the woods, every detail of the time I was away from her, the day she rescued me in Volterra, Jacob, Alice's visions about her, Victoria. All of the happy and all of the bad, everything, I gave it all to her. I gave her our wedding day and our honeymoon. I made sure to give her every single detail of our lives since the day I met her. When I was finished, I sat silently waiting for her to say something. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life, giving her all of my memories. I had wanted to edit some of them to save her the pain of some of the memories, but in the end, I wanted her to have them all, the good with the bad.

Several moments passed and she didn't take her eyes off me. Finally, she said, "Thank you, Edward. I… I love you… so much."

I pulled her into my arms and held her tight. I kissed her hair and stroked her back and whispered, "I love you, too, my angel. You are everything to me."

Emmett knocked on the study door, pulling us from our moment. "Hey, guys? Come on. It's time."

Bella placed a small, but meaningful, kiss on my lips and rose to dress. I pulled a black t-shirt over my head and when she was ready, we set out, hand in hand, to the burial ceremony.

All the pack members were around a large bonfire. I almost felt like an intruder, but we took our places and joined them in their celebration. They had been busy. They had chopped down trees and hollowed out logs that would hold the bodies of the five boys. They had dug graves that would accommodate each of the five logs and had gathered rocks to place on top of the graves. After several hours of feasting, dancing, telling stories, and chanting in their native tongue, they lowered the logs into the graves one by one and began covering them with earth. The rocks were placed one by one with each member of the pack taking a turn to place a rock. With each rock that was placed, the pack member would tell of a memory they had about the dead boy. It was rather moving. Once they had all placed their rocks on each of the five graves, Sam turned to us and invited us to place rocks on any of the graves that we desired. He asked that if we did, we share a memory when we did it. Bella immediately hopped up and grabbed a rock, stepping towards Jacob's grave. I moved at lightning speed to stand behind her. She looked around at everyone there and then she spoke, her voice cracking.

"I have many memories of Jacob. Some of them, due to my change, are very distant, as though they happened in another life. Well, they did happen in another life. My human one. At any rate, Jacob saved my life at one of my lowest times and I didn't treat him fairly. I've felt badly about it, but didn't know how to make it up to him. Well, now I know. I'll remember him. Forever. I often hoped for happiness for Jacob and it seems that once he found it, his life was ended, so maybe it just wasn't meant for him. I love you, Jacob, I'll remember you always."

She laid the rock on Jacob's grave and collapsed into sobs against my chest. Emmett and Jasper came over and took her from me. They took her back to Rosalie and Alice who were doing their best to console her while I picked up a rock. I looked down at it thoughtfully then said, "Jacob and I weren't always the best of friends. I guess that happens when you both care deeply about the same woman. I am grateful to Jacob for a few things though. First, and foremost, I'm thankful to Jacob for holding Bella together during the months that she and I were apart. I know that he never understood the bond between us and I regret that I was unable to successfully explain it to him. He was a good friend to Bella and was there when she needed him. He was also a good friend to all of us and was there when we needed him as well. We'll always remember him as a brave warrior who died fighting for something he believed in and that makes him a hero." I placed the rock on Jacob's grave and then picked up four other rocks. I placed one on each of the other graves and said, "They all died as warriors and deserve to be remembered as such."

I made my way over to Bella and took her into my arms. We sat down side by side and watched the rest of the ceremony. After the graves were all suitable in Sam's eyes they ate and sat down to talk with all of us. It was an amiable conversation and by the time the sun was rising, the fire was dying down, and Sam requested to talk with me away from the others. He, Bella, and I walked along the coast for a ways and he finally said, "Would it be possible for some of the boys to go to the house and sleep in a bed for a few hours before we have to leave?"

"Of course, Sam. As long as they don't mind sharing, there's plenty of room for them to all find a comfortable place, including you." Sam studied me for a minute.

"Alright, Cullen. I might have to take you up on that. I don't remember the last time I slept."

Bella spoke up, "Actually, Sam, I know of a really great place for you to sleep, come on, I'll show you," and led him towards the house. She took him inside to our room with the piano and the big fluffy couch. She pointed to the couch and said, "How does that look?"

"That looks great," Sam said with a smile, "thank you." He may have been out before he got all the way down on the couch. Bella closed the door behind us and we went to find the rest of the pack and get them settled in.

Once we had them all settled in, I looked at Bella, wrinkled my nose, and said, "We'll have to burn all the furniture to get that smell out," with a smirk. She smacked me in true Rosalie style.

"Edward, be nice."

"Oh, I am being nice, love." She smacked me again and I chuckled.

Alice walked in the house, grabbed the nearest laptop, and walked back out. "God, we're going to have to burn the house down to get that smell out."

I raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Alice, be nice."

She flipped me off and said, "I am being nice, Edward."

Bella guffawed and Emmett joined her. We immediately all started wrestling in the back yard. After Bella had beaten everyone, including Emmett, we all lay on our backs laughing. It had been a while since we had all been able to have fun together.

Carlisle had left that morning to drive Nara back to the ferry. She had insisted she could make it the rest of the way home. She had been very sad, but quite kind and thankful to all of us for the respect we had shown Jacob. She was going back to her parents to avoid going immediately back to La Push. It was going to have to be up to Sam to let the rest of the tribe know what had happened to the five boys. Carlisle showed up on foot and looked down at the lot of us laying in the grass and laughing. He shook his head and sat down on the ground.

"Well, what do we do now?" Carlisle's thoughts were ranging from moving away to settling where we were for many years. He didn't want to give up his medical practice, but he didn't want the Quileute bodies to be left alone either. I sat up and thought for a moment.

"I think that we should stay, at least for now. Bella and I can occupy ourselves with online classes. She's doing very well and it won't be long before we'll be able to take her out in public. I think that when we get ready to leave, we need to offer this place to the Quileute. They can use it for a vacation place or something and at least the boys' families will have someplace they can stay if they want to visit their graves." I shrugged my shoulders. "What do the rest of you think?"

"Dude, I think that's a great idea. Let's hang here for a year or so and when we leave, we'll just give it to them. They can do what they want with it." I nodded in agreement with Emmett, as did Jasper, Rosalie, Alice, Esme, and Carlisle. I turned to look at Bella who was staring out over the water.

"What if we gave the place to Nara?" she asked. I thought about this for a minute and came up with a better idea.

"What if we just set up a fund for Nara?" Bella looked over at me with curiosity in her eyes.

"Like, a trust fund? To take care of her and the baby? Forever? I think that's a wonderful idea, Edward."

"Jasper? Could you make arrangements for that? I would want it to remain anonymous, of course." Bella nodded in agreement and looked hopefully at Jasper.

"Sure, I can take care of that. Do you want to leave her a portion of this property in addition to that? Just so the Quileute don't leave her out?"

We all nodded in agreement. Problem solved. Nara and her baby would be well taken care of. I hoped that would alleviate some of the guilt than I knew Bella had been feeling since discovering Nara's pregnancy.

The pack all started waking up late that afternoon. Bella, Esme, and I cooked up a huge meal for them and after they had all showered, eaten, and said their goodbyes, they set out for La Push. Before they left, Sam promised to stay in touch. Seth begged to stay with us, but Sam insisted he had to get back home and go back to school. He told Seth he could come see us when school got out. Bella and I were laughing as Seth ran into the woods yelling, "I'm holding you to that, Sam. I'm coming back as soon as school gets out. I'll see you guys over spring break!" and then he was gone. He phased and ran with the rest of the pack. I squeezed Bella's hand as we listened to them thunder through the woods.

Alice and Rosalie had gone to try and air out the house. I was amused when I turned around to find them tossing sheets and towels into a pile in the yard and setting fire to them. "Seriously, can't you just wash them?" I said jovially.

Alice put her hand on her hip and glared at me. "No, we can't just wash them, Edward."

"The smell will never come out in a washing machine, Mr. Fix-it." Emmett laughed at his wife's new nickname for me. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head. I glanced over to see Bella heading into the woods at a dead run. I sniffed the air and smelled it too. Mountain lion. In Alaska. Again. It was definitely time for us to have a good meal.

Bella

After Edward and I had found the stray mountain lions and feasted on them, we found a nice quiet place in the woods and laid down on the bed of pine needles that covered the floor. After everything that had happened, all I wanted was to be alone with my husband.

Apparently, he was feeling the same way. He wordlessly took me into his arms and pressed his lips against mine. Our lips molded together perfectly and his taste was even better than I had remembered. It had only been a couple of days, but so much had happened in those couple of days. I finally felt like it was the first day of eternity for us. We no longer had the Volturi to worry about. They would never be after us again. They would never make demands upon our family again. We were finally free to be together and love each other, and that was all that mattered.

Edward released my lips and kissed his way across my jaw to my ear and then down my neck. I shuddered at the sensation of his lips and tongue on my ear. He paid special attention to the hollow of my skin where my neck and shoulder met and my eyes fell closed at the feelings of passion that were being ignited within me. His fingers were magical as they danced across every part of my body, stopping here and there to linger, but never long enough.

We kissed and touched each other for hours, it felt, and finally, at some point, our longing became too much and we found ourselves naked and worshiping each other's bodies alone in the woods. Our skin pressed together was exquisite and I found myself never wanting to let go. I traced my fingers over the rippling muscles in his back while he made love to me, savoring each indentation of his skin. He was so beautiful and all mine, forever. We each climaxed many times, but neither of us was willing to stop, so each time we found ourselves working each other up again until we were at a frenzied state. When we finally were both spent, we lay in each other's arms staring into one another's eyes.

"Your eyes are lighter," Edward said with a fingertip running down my cheek. I reached for his hand and kissed his fingers one by one.

"Your eyes…" …kiss… "…are as golden…" …kiss… "…and bright…" …kiss… "…as I've ever…" …kiss… "…seen them." He reached and touched my nose.

"Isabella Cullen, I love you, forever, and ever."

I pulled myself over on top of him and laid my head on his chest, feeling it rise and fall with each breath he took. "Edward Cullen, I love you, for all eternity," I whispered.

I felt his fingers in my hair and I sighed at the mastery with which he touched me as though he had always known exactly how and where and when I wanted to be touched. We were made for each other. It wasn't chance that had brought us together, it was fate. He had waited almost a century for me and I had been sent to him just when he needed me to be sent to him.

We finally decided that we needed to get back to the house so we found our clothes that were strewn all over the place, got dressed, and headed back. When we arrived, Rosalie and Alice were done burning the house bedding. Edward was still laughing at them. We went inside and noted that every window in the house was open and we both laughed at that, too. One point they had was that the house stunk like werewolf really bad!

We found Emmett playing video games and sat down with him to play. It was so nice to just lounge around with the family and not have anything to worry about. Felix was playing chess with Jasper and Heidi was somewhere in the house with Esme. Carlisle had gone to the hospital to work a shift since he had been off for so long. He was anxious to get back to work. Garrett joined us to play video games, something he had never done. It was really hysterical to watch and we all got a kick out of Emmett trying to teach him. I'm not sure how many times Emmett died trying to show Garrett how to play, but watching Emmett freak out when the zombies killed him was a riot.

Later on, Eleazar called to let us know that Marcus had begun Gianna's transformation and that she was doing well. He wanted advice from Edward about how I had awakened so easily. Edward told him that he had no idea how he got so lucky with me other than it seemed that being a vampire had brought out the best in me and seemed to be what I was cut out for. I beamed at Edward for saying that. He had been so against my change for so long, but once it was over and he saw how wonderful things could be between us, I didn't think he had ever regretted it.

When Alice and Rosalie were done changing the beds, they decided that all of us girls needed to get on line and shop for new clothes in 'celebration' of our victory. Alice came and dragged me off the sofa while Edward chuckled. At least she wasn't going to try to take me to a mall just because I had managed to be around two humans in the last few days and not kill them.

As we were shopping, Alice decided to open her email account and low and behold, she had an email from the antique shop in Seattle where I had bought Edward's locket. All three of us squealed and Alice opened it right away. The owner said that he had combed through all his records and found that his grandfather had obtained the locket via an estate sale in Chicago in early 1919. He said that it had been in a box for many years and he had only gotten it out of the box and put it on display a few days before I had bought it.

"Edward, come here, please?" He appeared in the doorway before the words had even left my mouth.

"Does he have any other items from that estate?"

Alice laughed because she had already typed the email back asking the shop owner if he had any other items from that particular estate. She explained that the photos in the locket were some distant relatives of her stepbrother's and that we would like to purchase any other items he might have from the sale.

Edward smiled warmly at Alice when he thanked her. She blurted out, "You're welcome, now go away, we need to shop!" Laughter erupted throughout the house and the sound of it filling the air was a wonderful sound. I had often imagined all the fun times we would all have together and it seemed as though it might finally be coming to fruition.

It didn't take too long for us to lighten the family coffers by quite a bit and when we got done we went back to the great room. I heard piano music coming from our wing of the house so I headed back to listen to Edward play. I hadn't heard him play my lullaby in a very long time and I was excited to hear it. For the first time in what seemed like forever, it was a quiet evening at home with the Cullen family. It was something I had looked forward to for a long time and I settled in to enjoy it.

End Note: Please don't forget to review for us. There will only be this and one other chance to review and let me know what you think of this story. I'll post the Epilogue soon. If there is something in the story that you are dying to see how it turned out and I haven't addressed it, please let me know in the review and I'll try to add it to the Epilogue if it fits. Thank you to all of you again...