Epilogue

-25 years later-

Carlisle's POV

I strolled down a long corridor, toward the chamber near the back of the Volturi castle. I wasn't ready for this. Not that an extra day or two would have helped – I didn't think that I would ever be ready for this day to come. I'd always thought that time passed quickly for vampires. Often, years went by in the blink of an eye for us. It's something that happens when you live forever, I suppose. But the past twenty-five years seemed to have passed even more rapidly than usual, no matter how much I wanted to grab on to each day, holding tightly to it so that it would stay with me in more than memory.

For twenty-five years, I had lived in peace with my family; my wife, my children, and my "brothers" and "sisters". I had done the thing that no vampire ever expects to be able to do; I had watched my children grow up.

My son, Oliver, was now a handsome young man, an amazing artist and poet who had a penchant for deep thought and soulful musing. He felt things in a way that rivaled Jasper's abilities, and never ceased to amaze me. Like his mother, he loved the freedom of riding a motorcycle, and ever since he had learned to ride one, he'd often taken off for long weekends spent in in solitude in the woods, on top of a mountain, wherever he could find beauty in nature.

My daughter, Lily, well, there was no young woman more beautiful than her in this world, I was sure of that. Her heart and her incredibly ability to love rivaled that of my wife. She was incredibly intelligent and could always be found reading, whether it was non-fiction or a novel as simply a matter of her mood that particular day, but by the time she was twenty years old, her knowledge rivaled that of vampires who had been on this earth for hundreds of years.

Watching the two of them grow up had been nothing short of amazing. Their bodies matured in half the time that it takes a human, but the changes seemed to have stopped around their tenth birthday, so their bodies are frozen at approximately twenty years old. They still retain human habits, such as eating and sleeping, though neither of them requires more than three hours of sleep a night anymore, and both will tell you that they would rather drink blood than eat food.

Bella and I had been blessed, of that there was no question. Our existence had been filled with happiness and laughter and love since the day she woke after the battle. Something about that day, we have always assumed it was the unimaginable torture she went through when she felt every attack that was made on the rest of us, tamed the beast within her, ending her struggles for control. After that, being a vampire was a much more pleasant experience for Bella than her first few months had been.

One of the biggest blessings that came along with that had been the ability to keep Charlie and Sue in our lives. I doubted that there was anything that Charlie loved more than being a grandfather, and no matter where we were in the world, we visited with him monthly. I was sure, in fact, that Oliver's quiet personality and love of nature had a great deal to do with all of the time he spent with his grandfather.

Over the years, we'd continued to move often, an unavoidable issue, especially while the children were growing, but the younger Cullens had never returned to high school. Instead, their time had been spent in college, studying a variety of subjects that peaked their interest, or, more recently, working. We'd spent the last five years living in New York, and for the first time ever, each member of the family had taken a job. Alice worked as a fashion buyer for Macy's, Jasper was a very popular history professor at NYU, Emmett had found a position that he loved as a sports announcer (for radio, of course, as television wasn't really an option), Rosalie was working as a counselor at a battered women's shelter, and Bella found herself a position as a librarian. I, of course, continued to work as a doctor.

I paused as I reached the turn in the hall, taking out my cell phone and dialing Marcus.

"Buon pomeriggio."

"Hello, Marcus," I replied. "I'm just calling to ask one question. Are you sure you are ready for this?"

"I have never been more ready for anything in all my years, mio amico," he said.

I sighed. This was really going to happen. I really was not ready, but I had no choice. A promise was a promise. "I'll see you soon," I said before ending the call.

I resumed my earlier pace, making my way down the hall toward the room in which I was expected. I had spent so much time in this castle during the past twenty-five years, chasing my young children through the corridors during the earlier portion of that time, that I knew every stone like the back of my hand. I smiled, thinking back to the games of hide and seek and marco polo that had been played within these walls. The children had often engaged members of the Guard or the Council in those games; no one, it seemed, was immune to their charm.

Finally, I reached the door to the chamber. I knocked softly, then turned the handle to enter, knowing that I was expected. As I stepped into the room, I was met by the beautiful smile of my loving wife.

"We're all ready here, Papa," she said, stepping aside to reveal my daughter standing behind her, looking like nothing less than an angel in her wedding dress.

My hand came up to cover my mouth, and I could feel the venom stinging in my eyes as I took her in.

"You are breathtaking, Lily," I whispered.

My daughter flashed me her gorgeous smile, and walked over to wrap her arms around me. "Is Marcus ready?" she asked.

"Your fiancee is more than ready to make you his wife, my darling girl," I answered.

Her smile lit up even more. "Let's go, then. I don't want to keep him waiting."

A few moments later, I was walking my daughter down the aisle.

Hours later, as the reception was winding down, I stood beside Marcus and watched as Bella danced with Oliver and Lily danced with Charlie. I looked over to the man who had long been my friend, and was now my son-in-law.

"I know I don't have to tell you to treat her right," I said. "So my only advice to you is to never forget how blessed you are."

Marcus smiled. It was a true smile, one that lit up his eyes with happiness. The kind of smile that had gone hundreds of years without gracing his face. "I will never forget that, Carlisle. Your daughter has changed me, healed me, reminded me of what love and happiness truly are. Years ago, I asked you to end me. Thank you, my friend, for knowing better than I on that day, and for giving me the chance to know love that makes me feel alive once again."

I clapped him on the back, understanding exactly how he felt. "Bask in it, Marcus. The way you feel now, it's the way I felt years ago when I made Bella my wife." I looked over at him, giving him a knowing smile. "It's the way I still feel today."

The song changed, and I immediately recognized the opening notes of Frank Sinatra's You, My Love. I smiled, knowing that Bella was behind the song choice, as it was the first song that we had danced to as husband and wife.

I nodded to Marcus, giving him a wink. "I'm going to dance with my wife. I suggest you do the same, son."

The two of us smiled at each other and walked over to the two most beautiful women in the room. As I neared Bella, I nodded to my "brothers", standing just behind Bella on the dance floor, their wives by their sides. Every one of them wore a smile on their face. While it was a difficult thing, as a father, to give my little girl away to another man, this was a happy day for my family.

As Charlie walked away from Lily on his way back to Sue, wiping tears from his eyes, he paused by my side, resting his hand on my shoulder. "You did it, Carlisle. Hardest day of your life, but it's the best one too. Your little girl gets to be happy and loved, just like you've always wanted for her. Congratulations."

I knew he was right, and whispered my thanks to him, then smiled as I watched Seth step away from his mother, walking quickly back to Lizzie, the young woman he'd imprinted on in Seattle two years earlier, so that Sue could embrace Charlie on the edge of the dance floor.

Finally reaching my wife, I tapped Oliver on the shoulder. "Mind if I take her now?" I asked with a smile. Then I gestured over his shoulder, toward where Tanya was standing. I had noticed the way she was looking at my son all evening, and it wasn't the way I had seen her look at any other man in all the time I'd known her. She wasn't looking at him like he was something to be conquered, but rather like he was something to be cherished. "I think there's someone there who would like to dance with you," I advised.

I chuckled as I saw Oliver's eyes widen in surprise as he saw to whom I was pointing, and smiled proudly as he walked over to Tanya and offered his hand.

With one last look over my shoulder to see my daughter, resting her head against her new husband's shoulder as they danced, I pulled Bella into my arms, holding her close as we swayed to the music.

"I love you, Carlisle Cullen," she whispered.

"As I love you, Isabella Cullen. Now as much as ever," I replied. "And for all of eternity."

Author's Note:

Marcus, in my story, should be pictured as Benecio del Toro, not the odd looking guy in the movie. Pictures of him and the twins as adults can be found in my profile.

I started writing A Light in the Darkness 15 months ago, because I wanted to read Carlisle and Bella together and wasn't finding very many options, even less that I thought were decent. I had no idea, when I started writing, what this story would become, what it would mean to me, and the doors it would open for me in the fandom. Writing this series, especially Basking, I got to know some of my reviewers, made friends with them even. Today, I can count some of my reviewers as real life friends; the kind of friends that I talk to constantly, visit, share the good and bad of life with. That, in itself, is one of the greatest things, in my opinion, to have come from this story.

The experience of writing this, though, was amazing. I look back at earlier chapters sometimes and cringe, but I like knowing that I've grown as a writer through this story. A big part of that growth is due to reading some other amazing authors, beta-ing for other stories, and working on my own writing with my beta.

I have a few people that I'd like to thank:

First, to every single person who has read my work, Thank you. Your support has meant so much more than you'll ever know. If you had any idea how I laugh, squee, grin, etc while I read reviews... You make my day every time.

Second, to my friends, especially those of you who supported me on Twitter when I wanted to kill all my characters during the writer's block, who cheered me on when I finally was writing, who talked out chapters with me when I wasn't sure, and who entertained me with Pfach porn when I was in a bad mood... Every one of you means so much to me, and you know that. Brook, Chris, Tiff, TV, Mommy D, Izzy, Wendy, Heather, Kristine, Kendall: Thank you all so much.

And finally, the person who, when it comes to this story, I owe the biggest debt of gratitude. Babe, I would never have been able to do this without you. For every late night, early morning or middle of the day when you've talked me off the ledge; for every little thing you've caught that I wouldn't have noticed; for every time you've helped me figure out how to make something work; for "super cum" and every PM, gchat, skype, text and call since: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I love you.

I would love the chance to thank every one of you personally for taking this journey with me. I always reply to reviews, so if you have any comment to make about this story and what you thought of it, I would be thrilled to hear it one last time.

And with that, I hit complete.