Chapter 37

A/N: Shout out to Lost Betwixt Worlds… here's Esme's POV!

Second to last chapter. Chapter 38 will be last... but... because after writing this for like... five years almost... I can't let it go without an epilogue. So... two more installments and this sucker will be marked 'complete'. Thanks for sticking with me.

Esme POV

It is said that we bring most of our strengths and our weaknesses from our human life into our vampire life, that the venom enhances them, good and bad. Having lost my infant son just before the end of my human life, I carried over my fear of losing my family. I'd coveted each vampire 'child' like a treasure and had adored each.

Until recently.

Having spent so much of my vampire life in the near constant fear of losing a member of my vampire family, I wasn't nearly as upset about Edward's demise as I thought I would have been.

Edward had always been… a bit arrogant for my taste. I could never really tell if he was being genuine or if he was simply acting as he thought we wanted him to act. It wasn't until recently though that I finally saw his true colors and… well… suffice it to say, they were simply not flattering.

The day he completely disregarded Alice's advice about avoiding one Isabella Swan changed our lives forever. Edward had been becoming increasingly annoying… he was very angry that Alice seemed to be keeping something from him. He always did hate not knowing things.

His petulance at being asked to stay home that day was… unrivaled. I had actually been relieved when he'd left for a walk. If I'd known he wasn't going where he said he was going…

I shook my head and pulled myself from my thoughts.

I initially was a bit worried what fate the Swans would want for Edward on our journey to this new home. Then, he'd betrayed our family.

My family.

Alice shared a great many things with us after her impressive execution of Edward. One of the most disappointing things she shared was that Edward not only knew of the nomads that attacked her and Charlie, but he'd conspired with them.

He purposely lead destruction to our door.

She initially felt terrible for not having seen it, but, considering how heavily she was searching for her own mate at the time, not to mention Edward's intimate knowledge of how her mind and gift worked and no one could fault her for missing it.

There was something about the Alice that we rescued that was… different. She'd not been gone from us long, but it was becoming more clear to me with each passing moment that something had changed in her.

Time would tell, but from what I could detect thus far, the changes appeared to be good ones. I wasn't sure if the changes were attributable to her new mate, or the… thorough ass kicking she'd received, or kidnapping, or the things she'd learned from her kidnappers.

She'd yet to fully disclose all that she'd learned. Mostly, she'd been wrapped around her mate. I was surprised they'd even stayed around this long. I could tell by the slight twitches of her hands and the furrow of her brow that she wasn't satisfied with the post-injury inspection she'd given her mate. She had literally climbed up him and growled as she kissed and licked each newly healed shoulder. She had not had a chance to do so for his legs and I could tell it was really eating at her.

I was honestly not sure how either she or Charlie were still standing with us.

The battle, if it could even be called that, was over. They were back together and safe. The enemies were beat so swiftly that it almost felt silly that we'd been in such a tizzy.

Of course, they'd had Alice. Alice was worth the tizzy.

Jasper… or… The God of War and Bella had taken off as soon as they were satisfied that all the bits in the fire were burned. She'd had arm in her right hand and he'd had a leg in his left and the two of them had linked arms and nearly skipped into the woods together. It was disconcerting to say the least, but, I knew that with him in that state, anyone who dared to mess with his mate was going to be a pile of ashes.

Speaking of ashes, we kept seeing tiny, nearly imperceptible even to our eyes, plumes of smoke. It was easy to track Bella and Jasper's trek through the forest by the bits of Edward they burned hither and yon.

I wondered again if I should feel more sorrow at the loss of one of my longest companions. Edward had been with Carlisle when I awoke. I'd known him my entire vampire life.

Though… when I thought about it, the most relaxed times in my vampire life were with my family… when none of us had to worry about shielding our thoughts.

Edward always did add an extra layer of tension to every situation.

Despite his age, he always had a definite lack of maturity. He never could grasp the concept that thoughts and actions were separate. Evil thoughts do not an evil being make. Even the kindest beings can have dark thoughts from time to time. The good comes in seeing the dark and still striving to… not succumb.

A look at my husband eased my fears.

In my heart of hearts, I knew my main worry about Edward's pending demise had been about how it would effect my mate. Edward was first vampire that my mate sired. He was his longest companion… and yet...

I'd never seen my mate, my everything, so at ease.

Where I'd always assumed the upright, stiff posture he held was because he was a product of an older time… something that would never fade, after Edward was no more, I saw him with a certain peace and calm about him that I'd never seen before.

When I really looked at the rest of my family, I noticed that my mate was not alone in this.

It looked as if all of my coven mates, my family, were more serene than I'd ever seen them.

I knew the loss of Edward would have an impact on all of us.

Never did I imagine it would be so very immediate and positive.

We'd all spent Edward's entire existence being verbally berated for our every bad thought. We'd never had peace, even in our own minds.

Finally, I started to cry.

Carlisle, not understanding, rushed to me and held me to him. He shushed me as he rocked me and stroked my hair, all things that typically soothed me in times of distress.

But my venom tears were not sad tears.

I sobbed for joy and relief and release.

When I pushed away from my mate and he saw the smile on my face, he looked confused. I was nearly hysterical in my relief and had a hard time speaking. It was lucky I didn't need to breathe, but I did need air to communicate properly.

"I… am happy. Relieved. You are all so relaxed. So free. I see it. It makes me so happy. For all of us. For me. My mind… it is my own again."

Carlisle smiled and pulled me to him again. He chuckled as he kissed my head and soon I was surrounded by familiar scents and arms as my family engaged in a rare group hug. To my surprise, even Peter, Charlotte and Charlie joined in. I took a moment to bask in the love surrounding me, for some feelings are strong enough for even the ungifted to feel from time to time, and smiled.

Then, I looked at my spritely daughter and smiled. "Alice, dear, I am so very happy you are alright." She smiled and went to speak but I continued. "I love you and I know you have much you haven't shared with us yet, but…" a look at my own mate's nodding head and I knew I was on the right path, "I am fairly certain the area is clear. If you head in the opposite direction of Jasper and Bella, you should be able to get vision of any prob…"

The newly mated couple was gone before I could even finish my sentence.

Emmett's boisterous laughter echoed in the trees around us. "Wondered how long they'd be able to stick around. If you hadn't said anything, I think I'd have won my bet with Rosie."

I smiled. I'd known all about his bet with Rosalie. He wasn't always as quiet as he thought he was. After Rosalie had lost her favorite vintage Gucci handbag in a bet with Char, she needed a win. Besides, her bets with Emmett typically had the two of them out of the house for a few days… and out from under foot…

I simply gave a non committal 'hmmm' and nodded at my most rambunctious 'child'.

"So," Rosalie said, looking at another small plume of smoke signaling another piece of Edward burned, "Looks like Jasper and Bella are mostly zig-zagging in an north by north east direction and Alice and Charlie headed south west, which will ultimately mean water or coast. Em, we're going to head north. If we stick to the coast, we might bag a bear or two… and maybe we can make up for that bad road trip."

He merely gave an exited 'whoop' before he threw her over his shoulder and ran off the way she'd directed. That left us with Peter and Charlotte.

"Ahh… now that the kids are all gone, us grown folk can talk," Peter started.

Char gave him a sound slap upside the back of his head and chuckled. "Yeah… all the people that wrecked shit at the house are gone before they can fix it!"

I shook my head. "Oh, you'll find that much more can get done without them under foot. By the time they're done with… business time… we'll not only have the deck, yard and that faucet fixed, but we'll have their boxes in their room to be unpacked. With time to spare. Perhaps you could tell me where you got a few of the furniture pieces I noticed…"

Char nodded eagerly and we all headed back to the place that would hopefully be our home for the next while. The newborn mates of our family were far more settled than any newborns I'd seen, but I hoped that we'd be able to all stick around and get to know them better.

They were, after all, a package deal.

Bella claimed she wasn't good at 'vampire math' but… she did seem to understand the instinctual fundamentals and that's further than Edward ever got.