A/N: Hi! I split up the last chapter into two because it was getting way too long. This does have some of Breaking Dawn in it. After this is when we veer out of the canon, witnessing the new Edward and Bella and family.

As always, the Twilight World belongs to Stephenie Meyer. All original characters belong to me. No copyright infringement intended.

I took the babies back up with me to Carlisle's office. They were curious, looking around me to see their sleeping mother.

"She'll be awake soon, little loves," I assured them before their lids got heavy. I had to chuckle a little at how much Masen slept. He reminded me so much of Bella when she would try to fight sleep, rarely succeeding. I hummed Bella's lullaby, and once they were sure that their mom was sleeping too, Lilly and Masen were out like champs.

Another long day had slowly passed. Bella was definitely a vampire, or more vampire than human, at least. Her heart pounded like a freight train, but the wet sound of blood moving through her veins was gone. What blood was left was thicker, more viscous, requiring her heart to work hard to move it along. Bella's formerly ivory skin had changed to a pearly white, not yet as white as mine, but on its way.

I put my fingers to my wife's beautiful lips and found that there was no human softness left to them. They were hard as marble, like mine. Beyond a doubt, it was happening. Bella would be unbreakable…I was looking forward to that! I let myself imagine what it would be like to kiss her with all my passion, to make love without continually holding back, to be in love with her without ever worrying I might kill her. It was hard to conceive.

Carlisle and Esme slightly knocked and walked in. Esme was eyeing the sleeping Masen, while Carlisle was eyeing Lilly. I handed the sleeping treasures over, so I could hold my wife's hand.

"So how does it feel to be grandparents?" I asked.

Esme's eyes glassed over, tears would be flowing if it were possible.

"Oh, Edward, I never thought I'd be holding an infant in my arms again, much less two! I would say that Bella is magic, but we already knew that."

I forgot to tell Carlisle Bella's surprise appearance.

"Oh! Speaking of magic, Carlisle I was downstairs with them, Jasper wanted to spend time with Bella when both of them started pointing to the same place squealing 'mommy!' in their thoughts. I didn't pay much attention to that. Masen got angry… or close to it. Masen put his hand on my face, forcefully. I saw Bella in real-time. She astrally projected, and these two could see her, and I could too through Masen. I knew it wasn't some sort of illusion because she told me to stop talking in thoughts. She can hear us. Jasper helped calm her into the state to do it. She's back in her body now."

Carlisle had to take a second to think about that, "she astrally projected with the venom in her system? I can't smell the morphine, just that her scent has changed."

"So it seems."

"Fascinating. May I examine Bella?"

"Of course."

Carlisle handed Lilly to Esme.

"Everything looks good son, I heard about Bella's sigils. It is tough to surprise me, but this lovely young lady never fails to."

"You aren't the only one."

"I don't know how she's doing it." Carlisle shook his head, bewildered, "These two are at least, right now, very good at letting us know what they want. I forgot what human hunger felt like, but they know how to project it to all of us. Something they will have to get control over. Influencing large groups of people is not something that will keep us inconspicuous."

"Do you think they are manipulators?"

"I have no idea. I believe this has something to do with you two. We'll just have to wait until Bella wakes."

"In the short time I've spent with the twins, it amazes me how much they are like me, Bella, and my mom. I even see my dad in Masen. They already have a relationship like Bella and Gabe. You cannot really dismiss the biological similarities." I mused.

"I was just telling Lydia the same thing. She wanted to know what your mom and dad were like."

"What did you say?" I was curious too. I had never heard Carlisle speak of my father, and my memories were very dim. Although I remembered more and more.

"Well, Elizabeth was quite a woman. From the moment she laid her eyes on you, it was almost like she saw through you. So perceptive and open-minded. The way she looked at you, Edward. Total parental devotion. You and Bella had the same look when they were born. They love Edward, they are good through and through just like your parents."

"Just like their Mom." I chuckled.

"And their Dad!" Esme added

"I wonder if Bella and I had met when I was human if we would have gotten along? I know my Mom would have liked her but back then… you know how I was… how society was… I can see my Bella being a suffragette and a proud one at that. Of course, my mother was too, but she was in the closet. She just supported the cause."

Carlisle chuckled, "I think you guys might have had a disastrous meeting just like you did in this life. You say that you haven't changed, but Edward. Bella would not have fallen in love with that guy. Or if she did you two would argue all the time. Time has made you more open-minded, and she has opened you up even more. I believe your mother would have found a way to get you two together. I wish I had known your Father better. He seemed rather stoic. I see that in you, often. He was more worried about you and his wife. When he was well aware he didn't have much time left. You'll have to fill them in, of what you remember."

"More memories of him are coming back. He was stoic, he wanted me to go to law school and stop thinking about going to war. He took me to ball games, those I remember well." I thought about it for a moment, "Do you think Bella will forget Charlie?"

"Memories are a fickle thing, but maybe," Carlisle answered. Maybe, was not usually in his doctor's lexicon, but this was very different.

"And good riddance, if she does!" Gabe yelled from downstairs, snooping.

"Well, then come and tell us about Renee." I joked.

Gabe and Lydia brought two chairs with them, then got two more for Carlisle and Esme.

Lydia asked, "May I hold Masen?"

"Of course."

"You know, he may have some of Charlie's attributes, given his likeness to Bella. I also see Gabe and Renee. Renee's compassion was something she wore on the outside. Lilly and Bella have the same smile, just like her Mom. Their protective nature is very much like how Bella and Gabe were, even this young. It seems as though everyone is fairly well represented."

"I have been thinking about it," Carlisle looked off before continuing, "I don't think there is anything to worry about with Bella being around them. Their scents changing and becoming more prominent must be by design."

"I think so as well," I added

"When did you turn into such an optimist?" Gabe asked.

"When I married one."

"She will be a great mom. I know it's a lot for the age of (almost) nineteen. She has done a lot of living. Her quest for perfection will help her learn to control whatever powers she has, along with her need to be with her kids, and help them control their powers. I hope she gets to enjoy some experiences she missed out on as a child with them."

"I hope so too," I added.

"Let's put these guys down," Lydia said in a way that was almost asking.

"That would be great," I answered.

"How long, Carlisle?" Gabe asked, trying to hide his anxiety.

He looked at me, then at Bella. "I don't believe it will be much longer. This is the fastest transition I've ever seen. The syringe to the heart must have done the trick."

I just shrugged, hoping this would be over soon. I didn't know if Bella was miserable or not. I was pretty sure if she was in too much pain, Jasper would show up again.

I waited, vigilant, praying through the night. I did not want to pass another night without my Bella. Please let it be over soon. Please let her not be suffering.

The sun rose again, and Bella still had not moved a single muscle or made a solitary sound.

I wondered if we would have to fake our deaths, for Charlie. They may not have much of a relationship, but eventually, he would want to see her. If she disappeared, well, we didn't need the chief of police looking for her. Maybe it would be easier on Bella if we chartered a plane that "crashed." Bella wouldn't have to lie in a coffin while her father broke her heart, crying over her oddly non-pigmented body. Bella and I would have several such dilemmas to face together when she was with me.

The last six hours passed less painfully than the previous hours had. Now that I was finally convinced, Bella would come back to me. I could wait for her in peace. I wasn't aware of time passing after that. I was caught up in anticipation, thinking of all the things I wanted to tell her and all I wanted to do with her. Re-introduce her to the babies, teach her to hunt, explore her new body… there was so much.

Near midmorning, my reverie was disturbed by a change in Bella. Her heart had inexplicably sped up, the heartbeats so frenzied that they blurred together ina continuous wave of sound.

"Carlisle," I called nervously. Carlisle entered the room with Alice trailing behind.

"Listen," I said, looking for an explanation.

"Ah, it's almost over," he said. So this was a good sign. I guess I hadn't paid such close attention when the others in my family were changed. Perhaps back then, I hadn't wanted to be reminded of my own horrific burning.

Alice was looking at the immediate future. "Soon," she said. "I'll get the others. Should I have Rosalie…" stay with the babies? She finished the sentence silently.

"Yes—keep them away."

Bella's fingers twitched. We stopped breathing and went silent. The furious pounding of Bella's heart was the only sound in the room.

"Bella? Bella, love?"

There was no response to my touch or my words.

"I'll bring them right up," Alice said, as she darted downstairs to summon the family. None of us knew, but as a precaution, we would need everyone there to make sure that Bella didn't hurt herself or anyone else. She would be too strong for me to handle alone if she panicked at the shock of her change. It was a disorienting experience, which I recalled with perfect clarity.

Impossibly, Bella's heart thudded even faster and louder. It was the sound of an engine winding up beyond the stress limits of its physical form, threatening to explode. Faster and faster, tighter, and tighter. Without warning, Bella's chest arched from the table, as if a puppet were pulling a central string. Then she fell back with a light thud and made no further movement. Her heart couldn't possibly sustain this tympanic pounding for long.

Suddenly, with a loud "buh-BUMP, buh-BUMP," Bella's heart ceased to function. The sound that sang of Bella's humanity, her fragility, that identified her in a crowd and made her easy to find was gone now. Without it, without the ability to hear her thoughts, she was utterly silent to me. Fortunately, I would be able to detect her delightful scent in a room full of fragrances.

The entire family, plus Lydia, Gabe, Nia, and sans Rosalie, had gathered in the room. I maintained my presence next to Bella a the table.

And then… Joys of Joys!... Bella opened her crimson eyes. She stared into space. Motionless, no doubt taking in her environment, altered into the strangeness of her acute vampire senses. Her face held no expression in its flawless marvel form. She remained frozen, not even moving her eyes. I squeezed her hand, which I'd been holding for the last several minutes.

Without warning, Bella's body stiffened and curled, and a non-human burst from her lips… a vampire's growl. She instinctively moved away from the threat—my hand, apparently as she flipped from the table, landing her back against the far wall of the room. Everyone but Alice responded by raising their arms as if to hold her in check. She didn't charge, but she crouched in a defensive posture.

I had imagined Bella as a vampire, of course, but the reality was still a shock. She was as graceful as a lioness, lithe as a doe, sinuous as a python in water. Though my beloved was wholly different, her new form seemed natural, and somehow, predictable. It was like I had known her as a vampire always. Everything that I loved was still there but in a highly refined form. She was as stunning to me now as she'd ever been.

In the back of my mind, I knew there were some things that I would miss… her heart, her softness (though not her fragility.) My senses would be free to enjoy her without the constant iron control that had been required before. In fact, she was undoubtedly more of a danger to me at the moment than I was to her. That would be a new experience, one I welcomed wholeheartedly.

I wanted to touch her to see if I could hear her again. She was hard to read now that her skin had transformed her face into a more consistently composed, less malleable form. I could not interpret her expressions asI had learned to do when we weren't talking. Her crimson eyes were inscrutable.

She was stunningly beautiful, I wanted to touch her, to hold her, to take her in my arms. It was not possible while she was in her disoriented state. Her vampire instincts could be triggered, and she might injure me. I wouldn't risk upsetting her by letting that happen.

With a pang of fear, I wondered whether she would remember me, love me. What if her feelings were lost with her human memories? Could she learn to love me again? What if she didn't?

Biting back my panic at these unwelcome new thoughts, I leaned across the metal table with my hand extended, inviting her back, willing her not to be frightened. Incredibly Bella recovered immediately from the touch that had startled her, and she abandoned her defensive crouch. She straightened her body into a standing position while her eyes surveyed me and appeared to evaluate the potential danger of the room and the gathered company.

Bella's eyes fixed on me. No doubt, I did look startling different to her new eyes. I hoped that the changes she perceived were pleasing to her, that I was still appealing to her as she was to me.

Her eyes followed me as I moved around the table cautiously, my hand still outstretched. If she allowed me to touch her—assuming she knew me as her love—she might feel more grounded, more stable. I was something she could hold onto while she adjusted to the profound alteration of her senses. I remembered how overwhelming that was at first.

"Bella?" I ventured, trying to mask my concern. Was her mind unable to grasp what was happening? Could it be too much for her to take in? There was no visible change in her stance or expression, nor did she speak. I tried it again.

"Bella, love? I'm sorry, I know it's disoriented. But you're all right. Everything is fine." I reached out to her again, eager to release her from her frozen wariness. She remained still as I moved close to her.

Tension crackled in the air. I heard the fear in my mother's mind.

What if she hurts him?

Very slowly, I reached out to stroke her cheekbone with my fingers, a touch she surely remembered as safe and pleasant.

**BPOV**

'Smooth as satin, soft as a feather, and now precisely matched to the temperature of my skin. Edward's touch seemed to sweep beneath the surface of my skin, right through the bones of my face. The feeling was tingly, electric-it jolted through my bones, down my spine, and trembled in my stomach.

Wait! I thought as the trembling blossomed into a warmth, a yearning. Wasn't I supposed to lose this? Wasn't giving up this feeling part of the bargain? I was a newborn vampire. The dry, scorching ache in my throat gave proof to that. And I knew what being a newborn entailed. Human emotions and longings would come back to me later in some form, but I'd accepted that I would not feel them in the beginning. Only thirst. That was the deal, the price. I'd agreed to pay it. But as Edward's hand curled to the shape of my face like satin-covered steel, desire raced through my dried-out veins, singing from my scalp to my toes.

He arched one perfect eyebrow, waiting for me to speak. I threw my arms around him. Again, it was like there was no movement. One moment I stood straight and still as a statue; in the same instant, he was in my arms.

Warm, or at least, that was my perception. With the sweet, delicious scent that I'd never been able to really take in with my dull human senses, but that was one-hundred percent, Edward. I pressed my face into his smooth chest.

And then he shifted his weight uncomfortably. I leaned away from my embrace. I stared up at his face, confused, and frightened by the rejection.

"Um… carefully, Bella. Ow."

I yanked my arms away, folding them behind my back as soon as I understood.

I was too strong.

"Oops," I mouthed.

He smiled the kind of smile that would have stopped my heart if it were still beating.

"Don't panic, love," he said, lifting his hand to touch my lips, parted in horror. "You're just a bit stronger than I am for the moment."

My eyebrows pushed together. I'd known this, too, but it felt more surreal than any other part of this ultimately surreal moment.

I was stronger than Edward.

I'd made him say ow.

His hand stroked my cheek again, and I all but forgot my distress as another wave of desire rippled through my motionless body.

These emotions were so much stronger than I was used to that it was hard to stick with one train of thought despite the extra room in my head. Each new sensation overwhelmed me. I remembered Edward saying once—his voice in my head a weak shadow compared to the crystal, musical clarity I heard now-that his kind or our kind were easily distracted. I could see why.

I made a concerted effort to focus. There was something I needed to say. The most important thing.

Very carefully, so carefully that the movement was actually discernible, I brought my right arm out from behind my back and raised my hand to touch his cheek. I refused to let myself be sidetracked by the pearly color of my hand or the smooth silk of his skin or by the charge that zinged into my fingertips.

I stared into his eyes and heard my own voice for the first time.

"I love you," I said.

My voice rang and shimmered like a bell.

His answering smile dazzled me more than it ever had when I was human; I could really see it now.

"As I love you," he told me.

He took my face between his hands and leaned his face to mine- slow enough to remind me to be careful. He kissed me soft, soft as a whisper at first, and then suddenly stronger, fiercer. I tried to remember to be gentle with him, but it was hard work to remember anything in the onslaught of sensation, hard to hold on to any coherent thoughts.

It was like he'd never kissed me—like this was our first kiss. And in truth, he'd never kissed me this way before. It almost made me feel guilty. Admittedly I was in breach of the contract. I couldn't be allowed to have this, too.

Though I didn't need oxygen, my breathing sped raced as fast as it had when I was burning. This was a different kind of fire.

Someone cleared their throat. Emmett. I recognized the deep sound at once, joking, and annoyed at the same time.

Oh… crap… Edward, you are such a shit! You heard all of that!

I just remembered he could listen to my thoughts again.

'I did,' he thought, unable to wipe the smirk off his face.

'Do you think I am dangerous?'

He shook his head.

'Good!'

I pointed to the door and looked at my family, smiled, and then said, "Get out!" daring any of them to challenge me.

Edward was beaming.

Jasper and Alice nodded in consent.

I winked at Carlisle.

The family left the room.

Finally, Edward and I were alone and equals.

The freedom was miraculous.

A/N: So, yes, coming up will be the explanation of the powers or the discovery of all of their capabilities. Bella's ability to astrally project is one of them. If she had not been shot, that would not be so. So hint: Bella was a mighty magician, more than anything I have described, she will have many tricks in her toolbox.

Masen's ability to make other's see and feel what he is might be a problem. Lilly is plenty powerful herself, at this point, she's in protector mode. Protector of her brother, and worried about her mother.

I didn't include most of Bella's burning because it is different than what it was in the book.

Here is the spot where we start to veer off canon quite a bit. Sorry for how long it has taken me to post this. Thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoyed the beginning of the new Edward and Bella.