Epilogue
Bella POV
Five years had passed since I had left Forks. And finally we were back in the little town where my life had changed oh so much.
I was sitting on the bed that had been mine and Jasper's first together and looking out to the forest, enjoying some time by myself before the events to come later.
Five years ago, I had been a newborn vampire, ready to embrace my new life forever with Jasper after a less than perfect start thanks to a pesky little ant, and then we had left town.
Jasper was last seen in town at what should have been our first graduation together, and then after a few days of preparations, we headed north to Alaska. It seemed as good of a place as any to learn how to be a vego vampire, and allowed us to enjoy our new life in relative peace. Of course there were other family members, everyone made their way up as they left Forks slowly, to alleviate suspicion.
Though Jasper and I didn't stay in Alaska permanently.
Once I was controlled enough and adjusted to my new body, which took a while and a fair few close calls, we were off to live a semi-nomadic life.
We started in Canada, sticking to the weather patterns that offered us freedom, and the wilderness that offered plenty of food. And of course we didn't stay away from everyone for long. We would often go back and see them, spend time together or various couples would come to spend some time with us, but it was a time for me to explore the world.
I hadn't had any chance as a human to travel, so when Jasper suggested we take time now, I was all for it.
Slowly we extended out to see places further south. We even did some human touristy things like checking out New York City, Washington DC, and eventually even LA by night.
Every now and then we would fly Charlie out to somewhere and meet up with him, and a few times Jacob had met up with us as well, sometimes with another wolf or two, but then eventually, we knew our nomadic time was coming to an end. I wanted to go to college, and after what had turned into quite the long engagement, we decided it was time to plan a wedding.
Alice was of course over the moon, and her help was incredibly welcomed, but there wasn't a lot for us to actually plan.
We weren't getting legally married as we didn't see the point in it, and therefore anyone could conduct the ceremony.
The only two things I was set on was that we marry in Forks, and I wear the shoes Alice had bought me all those years ago for the prom I never got to go to. I still hadn't worn them, and I still thought they were beautiful and long ago I had moved them from the mental category of 'prom shoes' to 'wedding shoes'.
Other than that, I was allowing Alice total freedom, and I was sure it would be lovely.
They were all spending enough time setting everything up that it had to be lovely.
I had been sequestered to our old bedroom while I am waiting for the preparations to be at the point where Alice was able to come and assist me in getting ready, and left alone with my thoughts and the few old novels I kept in the room. And of course to perfect my mental notes on the vows I would exchange in front of our nearest and dearest. That was definitely a perk of being immortal. Perfect recall.
Had I been human perhaps I would have napped. Or maybe I would be too nervous to be marrying my soul mate.
As it was, I was just bored and waiting for the time to come.
I continued to stare out into the forest and wait for that little pixie who was my little but older sister come in to help me.
Could I have dressed myself? Absolutely.
Done my hair? Not as well as her.
Make up? Well, I didn't really see the point in it, but if I knew Alice, there would be something.
Through the cracked open window I could hear all of the commotion as they moved everything into place, and could smell all of the forest around me, with a few smells that I could identify as out of place.
The first was plywood. I guessed for the dancefloor as Alice insisted we would be dancing the night away. At least now I was graceful enough for this to be a possibility.
The second smell was something floral. A whole mix of different flowers. Wisteria, delphiniums, sweet peas, and something mossy. It was far too much I could already tell, but I had been sternly told that you only get married for the first time once, so I was to sit back and enjoy this.
Eventually, I heard Alice bark out some last instructions and dart inside. She opened my door only enough to squeeze in and slammed it behind her.
"Ready?" She asked, pretending to be casual.
"Clearly not." I joked, raising my eyebrow at her and then looking at myself, clothed in black athletic wear.
"Well, if you don't want to get changed you could walk down the aisle in that, I'm sure Jazz wouldn't mind." She joked back.
"No but I would, you've rubbed off on me just a little bit." I joked back, grinning like a madman.
"Oh good, you are getting excited!" She squealed, jumping and clapping a little before settling down with a very serious face. It looked incredibly out of place on her fine and child-like features.
And with that very serious face she patted the chair at my old desk, which she had set up for my hair and potential make up and began the process to turn me into a bride.
I watched in the mirror as she expertly curled and pinned my hair, creating a soft updo at the base of my head, and framing around my face.
In the mirror I could see the ghost of the scar on my neck, where Rose had bitten me and saved my life, and I smiled thinking of all the good that had happened since then.
I looked to my face, so similar yet so different from my human face. There was a photo on the desk of me and Jasper at my eighteenth birthday, and I concentrated on my face here.
Of course the few teenage spots I had at the time were long gone. My eyes were now bright gold instead of the chocolate brown they had been. As a human I can remember thinking my bottom lip was too full for my top, but now I could see the fuller bottom lip was in proportion to the rest of my face. My cheekbones were a little more pronounced, and my jawline a little less soft. I was still me, and I was so grateful for that. I was just a slightly improved me. And now looking back, I could see how I was beautiful in my own way as a human.
Alice barely touched me with any makeup, for which I was thankful, just a slight hint of blush to make my skin more alive, and the barest hint of brown eye shadow as a liner.
I looked breath taking.
"Ready for the outfit?" She asked after giving me a moment to take it all in. All I could do was nod in agreeance.
Perhaps the nerves were getting to me.
Another think I was grateful for while getting dressed, was Alice had actually listened to me after all these years and chosen an outfit that wasn't a dress.
Instead, the concoction she had come up with and designed herself was pure white, and a jumpsuit. Apparently, this was very modern and the latest trends, but it was perfect for me. The jumpsuit had beautiful long, flowing pants, that just allowed my shoes to peak out as I walked, was then fitted to my upper body with a high neck, and had a beautiful big cut out on my back that revealed from my shoulders down to my waist. But the best bit was the sleeves. They seemed to fall off of my shoulders and nearly touched the ground, only a half of an inch above the length of the pants, and with slits all the way up the front exposing my arms. If anything, they were more like a cape than sleeves.
As Alice helped me step into the white silk, and fastened the nearly invisible closure at the top of my back, I could see myself fully done up as a bride for the first time. I felt beautiful, I felt regal. I was ready to walk down that aisle.
It was then I could hear two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs towards my room. The rougher, slightly uneven steps I easily picked out as Charlie, and a step behind him was Jacob.
The men knocked on the door and Alice let them in.
Charlie complimented Alice as he always did, and then Alice excused herself to allow us to have some time, and for her to get ready.
"Bells," Dad began. I could see he was almost crying but the smile on his face assured me it was from happiness. "You look positively radiant."
"Thanks Dad," I responded with a beaming grin and a firm yet gentle hug. "I'm so happy I could have you hear to celebrate with me."
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world, there was no way you were running off on me." He laughed in response.
"I know, I wouldn't have tried."
"Oh stop getting all sappy!" Jacob laughed. "Stop getting emotional and come hug your best man."
Of course I listened and gave him my usual strong hug, he was less breakable than Dad, and as usual he picked my up and span me a little.
"You scrub up alright, even if you smell awful." He joked.
"Speak for yourself, at least I don't smell like wet dog." I jabbed back.
We laughed as we bantered, and it still felt like it did years ago. Except now we could be more open about what we spoke about in front of Charlie.
"We'll we didn't come up here just to chat, we come bearing gifts." Charlie interrupted.
"The both of you!" I scolded, "Just having the two of you hear was more than enough of a gift for me."
"Nonsense Bella." Charlie rebutted as he pulled an old black velvet jewellery case out of his suit pocket. "I've been saving this since you were born to give to you on your wedding day, and it's something that your mother wore on ours all those years ago."
He opened up the case and there was a beautiful, antique looking silver hair comb with small sapphires imbedded in the intricate metal work.
"Dad, it's beautiful!" I pulled him into another hug.
"Well, it's something old, and something borrowed for you." He added with a small chuckle. "I won't put it in your hair though, I'll wait for Alice for that." He said. "These were my grandma Swan's originally, then my mom wore this, and then Renee. Now you." And now I was the end of the line.
I smiled at my dad; my eyes full of tears I couldn't shed.
"You know your mother would be so proud of you Bella, if she knew the woman you had become."
"I know, I just miss her. And it's worse because I know she and Phil have the two kids now, and I'll never have the chance to meet them."
Charlie stroked my cheek in such a loving way, and I took a moment to think of the two little half siblings I had. One boy, who was four now, and a two year old sister. Renee and Phil had wanted kids when they got together, and it took them a lot longer than expected. Renee wrote to Jasper every now and then, and of course I read the letters, but we hadn't really heard much since the last baby. But I had a photo of the four of them. Their happy little family. The note Renee had scribbled on the back read 'wish we could have you and Bella here with us'.
But she had moved on and I was happy for her. Motherhood later in life suited her. She was more grounded. More responsible. And Phil was a great Dad. Her new little family kept her grounded, and she wasn't even forty-five yet. She had so much of her life to live and I was happy that she wasn't brooding over the loss of me.
I stepped away from my dad, took a breath and brought myself back to the present moment.
"You said you had a present too?" I said looking at Jacob.
"Absolutely, and definitely way cooler." He joked as he pulled a small jewellery bag out of his pants pocket.
He tipped it out over his hand and the small silver chain almost sparkled with sound. He picked it up and showed me a delicate charm bracelet, with a beautiful wooden wolf carved charm.
"Oh, it's beautiful." I said as I held out my hand to allow him to fasten it on my wrist. "Did you make this yourself?" I asked.
"The charm yes, I carved that, but I had help with the chain, good thing I started dating a jewellery maker." He laughed.
"Oh yes, I look forward to meeting this elusive woman. I wasn't sure if I believed she was real or not yet." I giggled.
I inspected the charm on the delicate silver charm and smiled. It reminded me of the old times.
"It's your something new, but it's also to remind you of the old days. Back when you used to run with wolves." He said with a grin.
"Oh absolutely, but now you know I can outrun you wolves, right?" I joked.
I glanced to my side to see Charlie a little stressed looking, and at least made it look like I felt guilty for reminding me of our otherness as Charlie had begun to refer to it as.
And then, Alice burst into the room.
"We aren't too far off of starting, so Jacob I'll need you to head down to the back door beside the curtains, you'll walk down before Bella and Charlie on my signal," Alice began to boss everyone around and make sure everything was perfect. "And Charlie, thank you for bringing the hair comb, it's perfect." She said as she picked it out of the box and expertly slid it into the back of my head.
Rose then knocked on the door and stuck her head in, Esme right behind her.
"We have one more present for the beautiful bride before she can walk down the aisle." Rose said as she let herself in.
Esme was holding a small box, and she opened the lid to reveal it was a very intricate lacey garter.
Jacob snorted and announced 'this is my cue to leave' and Charlie just worked very hard to not look at it.
I let out a small laugh.
"If I don't agree to put it on then why do I feel like I'll be held down and forced anyway?"
"Because it's tradition." Esme laughed.
Charlie excused himself out of the room, and Alice took it from the box to assist me in placing it around my upper thigh. At least the pants were loose enough that it could be placed, and if they insisted on Jasper removing it with his teeth, I wouldn't have to worry too hard about people seeing what I would prefer they didn't.
"Alright then," Rosalie said, "It's time to get you married."
Rosalie, Esme, and Alice all walked ahead of me to take their places in the front row of seats. Jacob and Charlie stood with me in the living room, hidden by opaque white curtains that I couldn't see through, with only Jacob peaking through for his signal.
He obviously got it and left with just a brief wink to me, and then I waited the twenty nerve wracking seconds I have been told to wait.
Charlie squeezed my arm and we began our walk.
As we stepped through the curtain, I was surprised to see almost nothing.
There was a trail of delicate white fairy lights and a few white petals marking the way to the woods, through the grass of the yard.
I could see Jacob ahead of me disappearing into the trees.
As we approached the trees, the fairly lights continued, but also wrapped around the trees around us, forming a long aisle.
I could hear the crowd ahead of us. There were vampires, wolves, and a few humans, but I could hear them all whispering, excited. And then they were silent.
I saw the path turn us slightly, and then I could see all the way to the end, the actual aisle.
It was lined with what felt like a million flowers, white, and pink, and purple, and blue, and green moss, and ferns.
People were arranged in a lose group. Some seated in white chairs, some standing around either side. Mostly people I knew, but I few I was yet to meet.
And at the end stood Jasper. Absolutely radiant and glowing in his navy suit and the soft filtered daylight.
Off to the side I could hear Edward playing the piano, the classic wedding march with a beautiful and intricate twist.
Jacob reached the end of the aisle and paused. Plunged his hands into his pockets, and then threw them up in the air with a flourish, leaving hundreds of slightly crumpled white petals to fall around him. I small giggle went through the crowd, and I couldn't help but join.
He took his place beside where I would stand with a little bow and cheeky smile and wink to the people watching.
Beside Jasper stood Emmett, in a matching suit and playing the role of the best man again, I knew he had been the first time too, and in the middle was Carlisle, who we had asked to conduct the ceremony.
Finally, I reached Jasper, and took his hands after Jacob grabbed my simple bouquet.
"Hey." I said as I beamed at Jasper.
"Hey yourself." He replied.
"You ready?" I asked, knowing he would say yes.
"I've been ready since I followed her," He looked to Alice briefly, "And she led me to you."
The End.
Thank you all for being amazing readers while I took you on this incredibly long journey, I am so happy to have made it here to the end. But there certainly is a part of me a little sad to be here too.
I started this journey as an 18 year old who didn't know her place in the world. And now, I am preparing to turn 26, I'm in a long term relationship, I've recently found faith, I'm in my second big career, and I'm looking to buy a house in 2022.
What a wild ride you have been on with me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
From now on I don't see myself posting too many more stories, unfortunately. Maybe the occasional one shot. Maybe some random thoughts. But my newest passion project is a blog. I have recently found Faith, and God, and am taking the time to document this. If you are interested in how this has all come about, how a young, modern twenty-something is navigating love, life, and faith, I would love for you to check me out at (I think this site still doesn't like links? Maybe I've just been on here too long)
Love you all,
Daisy xx