I DON'T OWN THE RIGHTS TO TWILIGHT OR ANY RESEMBLANCE THERE OF.
EPILOGUE:
(Bella POV)
"Are we there yet!"
"Jackie honey, you're almost seven and big girls like you should know the value of patience."
"But Mom! Athena is eight and she's impatient too!"
"Honey… Athena is a dog and she's been cooped up in a cage in the bowels of a plane for hours, she's allowed to be impatient."
"Fine. Hey Daddy? Do you think Donatella will be there already?"
"Should be baby - Uncle Jackie and Uncle Seth took the flight to Paris yesterday, so the three of them should have gotten to the house last night."
"Cool!"
"And Auntie Alice, Uncle Jasper and the twins should be arriving next week."
"Daddy, do me Donatella and Daisy have to share a room with Jett?"
"Yes and remember you girls promised you'd be nice – no ganging up on the only boy ok?"
"Ya. ya."
We were only another fifteen minutes away from the house, but it didn't feel like vacation just yet. Over the years we had made a couple of changes to house like adding an extension and a pool house, of course always making sure not to interfere with the view of the lavender field out back. The first summer we went back to the house, we had so many guests that people were sleeping on the couches and it was clear we needed to make some changes. Now the house had six bedrooms, four baths, and the pool house had another bedroom and bath.
This was the third year that we had the whole brood at the house for the summer. Alice and I got pregnant three months apart, she says by accident, but I'm pretty sure she had planned it that way. Jazz and Alice each named a child. Daisy was Jasper's idea and Jett was Alice's. As for us, we knew that regardless of the sex, the child would be named after Jackie (Jacob if it were a boy), there was no question about that. We got Athena soon after we were married. Athena was a rescue dog, another Boxer – but we got her as a puppy, a scared little timid thing shaking in her cage. She blossomed into the crazy character she was currently when I got pregnant with Jackie. Athena never left my side and quickly took on the roll of Nanny when the baby was born. We had nothing to fear as far as the baby was concerned, Athena wouldn't let anyone near her and they were inseparable even now.
When we got to the house, as soon as the gates opened up Athena started barking. Our Jackie opened the car door and Athena ran to the pool where she dove right in and stayed for the rest of the afternoon. As soon as we were parked, Donatella came running out of the house and she and little Jackie squeezed each other then ran off someplace to play. After Seth and big Jackie had their commitment ceremony, they adopted Donatella. They got baby Donatella (after Donatella Versace of course) from Bolivia when she was ten months old – all of our little terrors were the same age.
Over the years, Alice had opened two more Salons, one in Brooklyn which big Jackie ran, the other in the Hamptons near the Cullen house. As for Seth, he had made a name for himself when he exposed the condition of the Orphans living in Bolivia and sold the pictures to Time Magazine. His photographs were so highly praised that when he had his first show in a Gallery on Spring Street, every single one sold.
As for Bellissima, it was still a success. Tia, Benjamin, and Kifi were still working there, along with other random family members as needed. I left the studio in their very capable hands during the summer months when we went to the house. As for The Glass House Music School, although it had a slow start, over the past three years it has become a great success. It was a destination spot for musicians to give classes and because of Edward's many connections, some very famous music industry types taught there as well. The big boom happened when the press found out that Julia Roberts was going there for voice lessons to prepare for her latest role in a musical. After that, people came streaming in en masse for singing lessons, drumming class, Musical Theory etc.
Although Rene had a permanent apartment in Brooklyn now, she traveled most of the time – it's what made her happy. Every couple of weeks another package would arrive for little Jackie from someplace exotic filled with candy or some little bracelet or doll. As for Charlie and Sue, their wedding was the summer after ours on the beach in Forks. It was simple and sweet, her 'something borrowed' was the abalone bracelet she had given me for my wedding. Little Jackie had spent last Christmas with them and they, along with Carlisle and Esme, would be coming to visit us in France sometime during the summer.
When I told Edward that I understood what 'bliss' was that first night as husband and wife, I could have never imagined that life would further exceed my expectations. I'm blessed with a wonderful family, a beautiful daughter, a successful business, and a man that still makes my heart beat fast at every glance. A man who had just walked me to our bedroom, locked the door, and was now slowly unbuttoning my shirt…
*****
(update 1/8/10): My next story, "Then as Now," is up and complete.
Thank you all again for reading! I had no idea this whole thing would be as much fun as it has been.