The back of Nikolai's head greeted me as I entered the living room. " I thought you were going to give me more space," Irritation spiked my casual tone as I dropped a stack of magazines – Home & Design, Elle Décor, DIY Home and Garden – onto the wood framed glass coffee table. It replaced the beat up cheap coffee table Gram had for years. More additions to the house started to appear gradually as the funds became available to update the older, less abled furniture. The Italian vase Enzo sent as a reconciliation gift currently resided in the vestibule. I only kept it because of how beautiful the porcelain masterpiece was. For a brief moment – until he opened his mouth – I envied the adoration he lathered on Kheti.

I already planned on renovating the kitchen and replacing the knob and tube wiring in the house. All I needed now was to hire a contractor to undertake the job. " I'm going to talk to Enzo about where we're going to live when you're made," He answered me with a big grin, as if I should be equally thrilled.

It'd only been a few days since I've come to grips with the fact that I was going to be made whether I wanted to be or not. Everyone around me opened their arms telling me that my future would be beautiful. Even the reluctant Sehkhet Mariani embraced me as a sister to look after. As much as I liked the woman I also understood she had a very warped sense of reality based on how long she lived. Having a sister to nurture probably provided her a distraction from the long life she lived.

Guiding me, shaping me. Kheti promise me hope and Nikolai promised me love.

His eyes " Somewhere secluded. Somewhere we could both be left in peace,"

" You forget I'll be some crazed blood thirsty hound," I answered the wistful longing with dark reality. I dropped down into a chair by the fireplace and opened a Home and Garden magazine. " We wouldn't have peace for decades,"

He leaned forward, a beautiful Russian sculpture of a healthy young man. His eyes, a shade of gray with a hint of blue, beckoned me in again. " I love you,"

How many times did he have to say it? " If you didn't care for me, you wouldn't be standing there," I didn't even look up from the magazine.

" Sitting," His Russian accent reappeared as his eyes rested on me possessively.

" Same difference," I flipped the magazine page and admired a full fledged garden. With all the rain, I should be able to grow a similar garden. Yet, I couldn't even make an indoor garden grow. " I don't want changed, Niko. I love who I am,"

His hands turned a cell phone over in his hand. " Enzo says that we're going to do great things. Accomplish greatness," He looked up. " He seemed more interested in you than me," Placing the cell phone on the table, he looked past me.

I lifted my gaze off the current page detailing how to care for hedges. His jealousy, while flattering, did nothing for keeping me alive and sane. I didn't even fully understand why it had to be me. There were other practitioners in existence. Enzo lived long enough to cross their paths and he'd likely live longer. " I already do great things – as a mortal," The idea of living past 100 mortified me. What would I even do with an additional 50 years of clarity? There was only so much I could write before I tired of the genre of high fantasy.

Learn another language? Study history? Shape history? Dodge the ever growing ability of identification technology? No. I much preferred a mortal lifespan. It made life much more appreciable.

The doorbell relieved us of the petty argument. Bella Swan stood awkwardly at the doorway, every bit as anti-social as I was determined to be at the moment. " My father wanted me to invite you to dinner. We're having steak and potatoes,"

" Bella does the cooking in the Swan house," I explained to Nikolai calmly. The chief, bless his heart, somehow survived on fish, beer, and tv dinners. Having Bella cook for him turned into a godsend for the man's unbalanced diet. It was odd that she knew how to cook, as if she were an older person in a young person's body. Having grown up with nurturing, independent mother figures who doted on me, I could see where learned it from. " We will be over shortly,"

" I'll be sure to let him know," The girl bowed her head and hurried back to her house down the street. As soon as the door closed, I stared at a curiously offended Nikolai.

When he said nothing, I walked upstairs to ready for the impromptu meal. A hand on my waist pulled me back into the man as we were poised at the top of the steps. He could turn and throw me down the steps if he wished. I trusted that he wouldn't do that. I hoped that he merely wanted to say something sweet. " Would you marry me if I were to propose here and now?" His lips sought my neck to tease, and my pulse they did find.

No, no, no. " Would you support a century long engagement?"

" A decade,"

His hands moved to places they shouldn't. " A decade with an insane woman who will barely be able to restrain herself will not make for a nice wedding, especially since the wedding would turn to slaughter," I reminded him, wrapping my hands around his to keep him from moving his hands. In full reality, he could have shifted me into a pretzel and I wouldn't have been able to fight it.

" 50 years then,"

" 5 decades is a rough estimate," Kheti said that 50 years was the shortest time span that she personally knew of. Others took up decades more to gain control of themselves, and if she were being completely honest, it would always be a struggle for me to keep control of my primal urges. " 100 years as vampires, and I will marry you,"

" 6,"

" 10,"

" 8,"

" 10,"

" 9,"

" 10, now I need to make myself more presentable," I tried to move his hands off of my waist, but there they stayed. His mouth stayed pressed against my neck. Fangs threatened to prick flesh, and then he pulled back, nudging me forward so I didn't fall back into the empty space. A quick line of black eyeliner and green eyeliner, I applied a peach tinted lip gloss and then hurried along to the small closet in my bedroom. The disadvantage of older houses were the smaller closets, and gram's house had been no exception. I half expected him to appear at my side again, but he waited patiently downstairs to my great surprise.

The ratty pair of jeans I wore around the house wouldn't do for dining at someone else's house regardless of how casual the meal was. I picked out my best dark blue jeans and selected a red blouse. Nikolai met me at the bottom of the steps as I reached for my coat, slipped my shoes on, and grabbed the house keys and small metallic flashlight I carried with me. I had a small can of mace and a fancy little pocket knife that I kept on me, but the flashlight usually saved the day. " Don't forget your cell phone," Nikolai tucked the handy device into my inner coat pocket.

The short walk opened a channel of silence that our already awkward relationship did not need. The door opened before we could even knock. Charlie welcomed us into the house. " Bella is upstairs. Please make yourself comfortable," He removed his service weapon and badge. It appeared he'd only just gotten in himself.

" Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Swan," Nikolai said before I could even greet the chief of police. He placed his hand in mine, fingers wrapped firmly yet gently so that I couldn't pull away. I pasted a fake smile on my face, hoping that Charlie did not challenge it. " I was just telling Allison that she is fortunate in having such friendly neighbors. People who look after each other,"

" We are a close knit community. We are truly blessed to have the capable mind of Dr. Cullen working with us. A mind like his could be earning him ten times what he makes at the hospital," He almost sounded like he was defending the man instead of stating a fact. Allison already knew that the shapeshifters refused to entertain any peaceful intercourse with the Cullens and did not bother trying to bridge the supernatural gap. Nikolai had been warned to not feed traditionally while in Forks. " We haven't been introduced yet,"

" Oh, this is Nikolai. He's my…fiancé. We're entertaining an extended engagement right now," I said before Nikolai could embarrass himself. So far I hadn't lied. I intended to keep it that way. " He's staying with a room mate north of here while I get settled into gram's house and make it my own. We're thinking of buying a house of our own one day,"

Back before he hit me for being a practicing witch, we started to look at houses in the range of 250,000 to 300,000. I was going to be the main contributor, and we were going to have a big wedding that we wanted to save up for. I gave up on the idea of escaping him and a part of me loved the Russian bastard still.

" So when are you moving in with Miss Bishop?" Charlie turned his attentions onto Nikolai while my nose followed the scent of steak and potatoes. I thought I heard the tapping of keys on a keyboard from upstairs. The internet was an amazing thing to behold, and the youth were becoming trapped in it. Everyone was. I arched a brow in question at his line of questioning.

As I watched the two men go back and forth with questions and answers, I envied the protectiveness Charlie displayed. Bella cooking intrigued me more than I cared to admit. " Bella, when did you start cooking?"

" I always cooked for Mom. And my Dad doesn't have much of a palette besides fish," She laughed. It didn't extend to her eyes as she prepared a salad and then set the table. " She's with Phil at training,"

" You miss her," I already missed my grandmother and mother. " Mothers are special,"

Her eyes went to Charlie and Nikolai watching tv. " Yes, they are,"

" It's okay to be away from them. It means you're growing up, becoming an adult," I made myself comfortable, studying the girl. Her anti-social behavior stemmed from an awkwardness that was not uncommon for her age. I had been an introvert trapped in my mind during high school and the bullying had been merciless. When I graduated high school and moved on with my life, I thought I put all that behind me. Seeing Bella now reminded me how glad I was that I didn't have to repeat the experience.

She rolled her eyes. " I got that speech from Mrs. Mariani when she picked me up from school,"

" She is quite the historian," I smiled. The woman always made life interesting, whether she knew it or not. I found myself slowly coming around to the idea of calling her sister, even if It meant no longer being human. " You should listen to her, but remember to have your own voice,"

Bella just went silent, permitting the adults to casually discuss Forks and the Cullens.