Chapter 21: Home

"I'm fine," Paul insisted as I frantically felt around his neck to make sure that it wasn't actually broken. "It was just a bad dream, Mel."

"I am not letting you out of my sight," I said firmly. "It may have only been a dream, but it felt way too real."

"I will be fine," he said gently. "You don't have to worry about me."

"That's like me trying to convince you not to worry about me," I grumbled.

He chuckled and pulled me close to him. "But I actually do have to worry about you."

I leaned against him and closed my eyes. As soon as I'd actually woken up, I'd rushed into the living room to make sure he was okay. I'd told him what had happened in my dream and he'd comforted me, reassuring me that he was completely fine. The dream had put me even more on edge than I already was and I didn't even want to let go of Paul out of fear that I would lose him again.

I spent the entire day curled next to Paul, anxiously waiting for some sort of news from Forks. I forced myself to eat something to appease Paul, even though my stomach was so knotted that I felt like I wouldn't be able to keep it down.

Alice's call came the next day. I'd been sitting out by the water with Paul at my side, anxiously looking out at the waves lapping against the shore. Sitting on the beach and feeling the heat from the sun on my skin had calmed me down a tiny bit and I found a bit of solace gazing out at the bright blue water.

My phone rang and I felt my stomach lurch nervously. I hesitated before picking it up, feeling my hands shake slightly. Seeing Alice's name appear on my phone comforted me a tiny bit—it hopefully meant that everyone had made it out of the confrontation with the Volturi.

"Hello?" I asked breathlessly into the phone.

"You arrived okay?" Alice asked.

"Yes, we've been here for a couple days now," I said. "Is everything okay there?"

"For the most part," she said.

"For the most part?" I repeated. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"They're gone," she said, making me breathe a sigh of relief. "You were quite a lengthy topic of conversation. We lied and said that you and your boyfriend had just gone on vacation for the holidays so it didn't appear as though you'd fled the country. Carlisle explained and showed Aro how dire your situation was and told them that you're pregnant to try and curve the odds in our favour a bit more. Aro seemed understanding, surprisingly enough, but I don't fully trust that. I'm still going to be keeping an eye on each of them to make sure they aren't planning anything, but as of right now they're all heading back to Italy."

"Thank God," I whispered. "Is everyone else okay?"

"We're all fine," she confirmed. "They had no option but to leave without a fight after we proved that Renesmee isn't an immortal child and that you had no other option. Plus, it definitely helps that we had the wolf pack with us—he actually looked into Sam Uley's mind and we were able to prove that you were technically part of the pack as well." She paused for a few moments. "It's going to be a few days before we can get the two of you back here, is that okay? There are a lot of vampires here right now and we need to work on getting them all out before we can focus on getting you guys back."

"Yeah that's fine," I said. "It's beautiful here."

"I'll be emailing you your plane and boat tickets in the next few days," she promised. "But Mel, what I mean is, are you okay…medically? If you need to be flown back out here because of baby issues, please do not hesitate to call me and we'll drop everything to get you back here."

"Oh! No, I'm completely fine in that regard," I said. "I've just had a couple pangs of pain, but that's normal. Carlisle and Sue Clearwater mentioned that it would be."

"Are you sure?" she asked worriedly. "I can try to look for earlier flights but I don't know how much luck I'll have."

"Alice, I am fine," I promised. "You guys have enough to worry about right now. We'll be okay here."

"Okay," she said with a sigh. "But like I said, do not hesitate to call me if anything happens, okay?"

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll call or Paul will if anything happens. See you soon, okay?"

"Bye Mel," she said, ending the call. Relief washed over me at what Alice had said—everyone was okay and we'd be returning to Forks within the next couple of days.

"Everything okay?" Paul asked.

"Everything is perfectly fine," I smiled. "Nobody got hurt and Alice said she'll be sending our tickets home in the next couple days. She just has to work out a few kinks back in Forks before we can go back."

"So, in the meantime, we get to enjoy the island?" he asked, smile lifting his lips.

I grinned. "That's right."

We ended up staying on Isle Esme for another week before we went back to Forks. It was lovely to be able to sit on the island and enjoy the hot weather and the sun. We were able to explore the island a little bit and it was nice to be on what felt like a little vacation with Paul.

As amazing as our time on the island was, I was excited to get home. Alice picked us up from the airport in Seattle and I when I saw her, I hugged her so tightly and I didn't want to let go of her. As she drove through the streets of Washington, she told us everything that had happened in Forks with the Volturi and said that she could see that every member of the guard was back in Italy.

Once Alice had dropped us off at the apartment—lightly warning us to lie to Sam if he asked if she'd crossed over the border—Paul pulled me into bed with him. Even though we'd spent the last week lounging on an island in the sun, I felt exhausted after all the traveling we'd done. He was rubbing light circles on my stomach and I had my head rested against his shoulder.

"I'm glad everything worked out okay," he murmured.

"I am too," I said, smile lifting my lips.

Deep down, I was still a bit worried about the Volturi—Alice had said that she didn't fully believe that they were okay with me being human and I couldn't get that thought out of my head. I had no idea what I'd do if they came back for me and tried to hurt Paul, the baby, or me.

I mentally shook myself—Alice was just being extra cautious. Being an imprint came with information about the vampires and the Volturi had solid proof that I was part of that. There was no reason for them to return to Forks to come after me—I hadn't broken any laws.

I fell asleep on Paul's shoulder dreaming of the frothy ocean water at Isle Esme.