Ever After Chapter 1: Here We Go!, a twilight fanfic

Hi. *Waves*.

So, this is my very first story.

I'm currently working on a few different stories, but I wanted to post something. Anything. So, I figured I'd write a quick one-shot. Just to get my feet wet and see if I enjoy sharing my musings. Turns out, I can't write a one-shot. How do people manage it? My story, that was meant to be a one-shot, is sixty pages long! It's twenty-three thousand words!

So, my one-shot is now a multi-chapter mini-story.

It's quick. Kinda tame in comparison to the other stories I'm working on. But it's my first, so be kind.

Word of warning: I do not have a Beta. Or a proof reader. Or a pre-reader. I'm all on my lonesome over here. So, even though I've edited the crap out of this and proofread about twelve times—no joke, I do that—alas, I am not perfect. Sigh. There may be mistakes. I apologize for that.

I think that's everything.

Oh, of course. I think it goes without saying but, just in case. I am not Stephenie Meyer. I do not own The Twilight Saga. I just enjoy playing in her sandbox.

This story is OOC in the extreme. AU. And probably some other terms I don't know.

Okay. Here we go. Enjoy!

– Bella's POV –

I never thought I'd say this but I, Bella Swan, love being a mom.

After spending my childhood practically raising my own mother and taking on responsibilities no child should ever have to deal with, I decided—at the tender age of ten years old, mind you—children were not for me.

Because of my delinquent mother, I missed out on having a childhood. I was too busy taking care of her to worry about the things girls my age struggled with. I didn't go to parties. I didn't date. I didn't have sleepovers with my friends. I didn't have friends! I was too busy making sure the house was taken care of, the bills were paid on time, there was food in the fridge, and gas in my mother's car.

By the time I reached my teen years, I'd had enough responsibility to last me a lifetime.

I wanted a life.

To travel the world.

To go to college.

To make friends.

To be crazy and reckless.

To backpack through Europe.

To climb the Himalayas. Well, okay, maybe not the Himalaya's. Not with my coordination. That could be a disaster!

But you get my point. I wanted to be a teen. To be free. To go to a party and have a beer with my friends. To be normal!

Those dreams didn't last long, either.

When my mother got married to a baseball player just six years older than me, I was shipped off to live with my father in the small town of Forks, Washington.

That's where everything changed.

I met a boy.

Well, he wasn't a boy. He and his family were vampires. And they loved me. At least that's what they told me, I now have my doubts about that.

Once I met Edward, all my hopes and dreams for the future changed again. Suddenly, living and experiencing the life I'd missed out on didn't matter to me. All that mattered was him.

I wanted to spend eternity beside my vampire mate. To join him in immortality, even if that meant leaving behind everyone I loved, giving up my life, my home, and my ability to have children.

All that matter to me, was him. He was all I wanted and all I saw.

Now, seventeen years later, I look back on those days and shudder at how naive I'd been. Because, if it wasn't for my so-called vampire mate dumping me, the supernatural world revealing itself to us humans, and a fiery redhead charging back into my life, I wouldn't have my twins or be pregnant with my third.

Maybe I start from the beginning?

You know my story. It's pretty simple. None of the details have changed.

Silly, clumsy, socially awkward Bella Swan moves to a small town to live with her father. On my first day at Forks High, I met an Adonis who turned out to be a vampire.

Insert dramatics here.

Edward and I fell in love. Supposably.

I met his family. They claimed to love me, too.

Vampires like to play baseball, who knew?

Insert evil red eyed vamp who thought I was a tasty snack.

Shenanigans ensued.

Vampire family chase down evil red eyes.

Evil red eyes lured silly teen to her death in a ballet studio, where he attacked, beat her up, and bit her for good measure.

Edward, the genius that he is, sucked out the venom to ensure I remained human.

He was so against me turning, he risked killing me, to keep me human.

Edward's hot brother, Jasper, then killed the evil red eyed vampire.

Yep. You heard that right. Poor Eddie couldn't even kill the enemy to keep his so-called mate safe!

So sexy God of a vampire—Jasper, not Edward—kills evil red eyed vampire.

I had a nice long stay in the hospital instead of becoming a vampire, as I wanted. My wishes didn't matter much to a vampire who knew better. Edward insists he sucked out the venom to save my soul!

Yada.

Everything goes back to normal and the attack in the ballet studio is never mentioned again.

Summer vacation.

Yada.

Senior year beings.

Yada.

I turned eighteen.

A tiny gnomepire masquerading as my BFF decided to throw me a birthday party I didn't want or ask for. A party I said was not necessary but was forced upon me anyway.

When it comes to these vamps, my wishes don't matter. Silly me for thinking I had a choice!

Everything went to shit.

Papercut. Ouch!

Growling.

Snarling.

My asshat of a boyfriend totally over reacted.

I'm thrown into a table full of glass plates . . . because, seriously, who the hell needed all those plates?

Now I'm bleeding all over the damn living room.

A minor injury is turned into something that needs stitches!

None of the vampires can stand being around my blood so they flee.

And that's the last I saw of them.

The vampire family—who claimed to love and cherish me, who thought of me as family and called me their sister and daughter—left.

No goodbye.

No 'see ya 'round Bella'.

No letter.

No note.

No phone call.

No text.

Not even a 'fuck you!'

Instead, what they left me with was an emotionally inept vampire who proceeded to lead me into the forest—a place he'd warned me never to go—and viciously rip out my heart. Metaphorically. Not physical. Though it did feel like that at the time. Then, genius boy that he is, left the directionally challenged teenager all alone. In the middle of the forest! At sundown. In September.

I was wandering around that forest, trying to find my way home, for almost ten hours! It's a fuckin' miracle I didn't get hypothermia.

I did, however, get the flu.

Bastard.

As you can likely tell, I'm still a wee bit angry.

After the bastards left, I was depressed.

No. Depressed is putting it mildly.

I was . . . dead inside.

A zombie.

For months.

I couldn't eat. Drink. Think straight. Fuck, I could barely get out of bed!

The pain of losing them was worse than anything I'd ever felt. It was like losing a limb! A huge chunk of me had been ripped away and I couldn't seem to get past it.

Then, one day, everything changed. Again.

While my father, Charlie, and I were arguing outside our home—something about him sending me back to Florida to live with my mother and therapists and God only knows what else—she attacked.

Enter the fiery redhead.

Seems the bastard and his family left a loose end behind. Victoria. The redhead. James's mate.

Well, so called mate.

Seems James lied to her.

Is that like a vampire trait? Can none of them tell the truth?

Anyway. Victoria took one look at my father and . . . well, what proceeded on the front lawn was not meant to be witnessed by a daughter's innocent eyes.

. . .

Yup. Charlie and Victoria are mated.

And the moment she locked eyes with my father, she claimed him. In every way a vampire can claim their mate.

Right there on the front lawn.

Oh, and trust me, you have no idea what embarrassment is until you have to explain to your eighty year old nosy neighbor why the Chief of Police is butt ass naked on his front lawn, taking the gorgeous redhead from behind.

When it was over, Victoria sank her teeth into my father's jugular and then proceeded to mark him as hers by biting him . . . everywhere.

And I do mean everywhere!

Even I cringed when she sank her teeth into his balls and roared at the top of her lungs, like a pissed off lioness claiming the Chief like he was a juicy wildebeest.

Apparently, that's what vampires do when they find their True Mate. The initial claiming is highly sexual. It's all about marking and scenting. And to do that, you've gotta get messy.

It's all teeth. Snarling. Growling. Fighting. Domination. Venom. Biting each other. Licking. Swapping spit, venom, and all your other fluids is mandatory for mating.

I learnt more from Victoria that day than the entire time I was with the Cullen's.

Granted, it's things I'd rather not have known about my own father, let alone witnessed firsthand.

Fuck. I was scarred for life that day.

Thank God Victoria had to get Charlie out of town before his awakening because I could not have faced him after seeing . . . everything I was forced to witness.

I saw things no daughter should ever have to see.

But, in a weird way, I'm glad I was there to see it.

I know, that sounds weird.

But afterwards, when she was calmer, Vicky and I talked. She explained why she was in Forks and her awful relationship with James.

He was an abusive bastard, to say the least.

When he'd died, Vic had been devastated and she did the only thing she believed she could do; seek revenge. A mate for a mate.

She also taught me what it means to be mated. Truly mated.

Knowing that Edward was not, could never have been, my True Mate helped me to move on.

Of course, that's when the fury set it, but at least I wasn't depressed anymore.

The anger motivated me.

It pushed me to get my act together.

I finished school, studying harder than I've ever studied, and got into a great college.

Once I was out from under the depression, I wanted to experience life. I was alive and I didn't have Edward Cullen bogging me down with his constant demands and childish, selfish, belligerent behavior.

Now I was out from beneath him and his vampire allure, I could see our relationship for what it had been. Toxic. Abusive.

So, I lived.

I took a risk and applied to Columbia University in New York. I never expected to get in, Columbia's a great college and I wasn't sure I had the grades to pull it off. Turns out, I did. I even managed to get a full scholarship. How the hell I did that, I don't know. But I took all the help I could get.

Right after graduation, I moved to New York.

By this point, Charlie knew everything.

Because of the risk to my life, as he was a newborn vampire, we did all of our talking over the phone, but I didn't spare even one detail. He knew everything I knew; vampires, the Cullen's, the pack of shifters on the reservation, Edward's abuse, the Volturi, James, the ballet studio, all of it.

When I graduated high school, he was six months into his first year as a vampire and doing remarkably well, according to Vicky. So well, they decided to move to New York to be closer to me.

New York was a great place for them to feed. Charlie refused to hunt animals like the Cullen's, insisting he is a vampire and will eat like one. Though, he decided to hunt only the worst of the worst. Rapists, murders, and the like. Vicky and I figured that was the cop in him wanting to help the only way he could now. He refused to harm an innocent. He even urged Vicky to feed the same way, so they became a vigilant team, targeting those criminals the police couldn't catch.

I decided it was best not to live with dad and Vicky. I didn't want another repeat of their first mating. Thankfully, dad doesn't remember what I saw and Vicky and I have agreed never to tell him. We think it's for the best. And the less I have to think about it, the better.

So, I found my own apartment equal distance between dad and Columbia. I went to school and enjoyed my life.

I studied hard. Made some great friends. Partied. Dated. Lost my virginity. Snuck into a few clubs. Had my first beer. And then my first hangover. On my ninetieth birthday I got my first tattoo. I had my belly button pierced. And my ears a few more times. Then got another tattoo.

Dad and I went cliff diving and I become a bit of an adrenaline junkie after that. we went skydiving, bungee jumping, and wingsuit flying. It was totally awesome! Such a freeing experience!

When Vicky discovered dad's gift, it opened so many doors for them and, by extension, me.

Turns out, dad has a shield, like me. That's the reason Edward can't read my mind. I block him out.

With dad's shield, he's able to block out UV rays, which means he and Vicky can walk around in the sunlight without sparkling like disco balls!

Once they discovered this and dad had it under control, the world was open to them.

While I was in school, they traveled all over the world. They'd send me postcards every couple of weeks. But during the summer we took a long family vacation. First to backpack through Europe. Then to South America. Then to Asia. Then to Australia and New Zealand.

I've never felt so free and excited about life.

In two thousand and nine, just four years after the Cullen's left me, life changed again.

The whole world was shocked when vampires revealed themselves. Not for nefarious reasons, as you might've thought, but to help.

Within the first year, their scientists had eradicated all major diseases. Cures for everything—cancer, aids, HIV, diabetes, dementia and Alzheimer's, even the flu and common cold—were being administered. And, though at first there was speculation as to whether it would work or not, humans were shocked by the number of people recovering from illnesses that should have taken their lives.

They had cures for illnesses human scientists had been working on for decades. And they shared all of this knowledge without asking anything in return.

Money was poured into third world countries. Places like Africa were flooded with doctors, medication, clean water, and food. Now, thirteen years later, all third world countries are thriving and have accepted and embraced all supernatural creatures into their land.

Education was made available to everyone who wanted it. Free of charge!

A decree went out that all vampires were to only feed from the blood of criminals. No innocent was to be harmed. Those on death row were now food for a vampire. Where jailcells had once been overpopulated, now vampires took care of the worst of the worst.

Obviously, not every criminal was eaten. That would be barbaric. And not all criminals deserve to die. But for those who did, new laws were passed to include death by vampire. Instead of the electric chair or needle.

They even had scientists working on synthetic blood! We all know there's never going to be a world without criminals and wrongdoers, but for those who don't want to kill, there's now an alternative that isn't animal blood. Synthetic blood looks, tastes, and nourishes a vampire's thirst, just as human blood does. Only it comes in a bottle!

The biggest surprise came my senior year at Columbia. Vampires revealed their mating habits to the world. Apparently, in the last century the vampire population had been dwindling and more and more of them were finding their mates with humans.

This is one of the reasons they revealed themselves. They didn't want any vampire to miss the opportunity to be with their soulmate due to their outdated laws.

Next came the news that a team of supernatural scientists and doctors had discovered a way to allow mated vampires the chance to procreate.

Though female vampires cannot carry a child, she and her True Mate can conceive a biological child via a willing surrogate.

Carlisle always insisted it was impossible for a female to have a child once transitioned. And, he was partially correct. A female vampire can't carry the child, but she can undergo a procedure to extract her eggs.

I don't know the science behind it. Or how they discovered it or made it work. I'm not a scientist nor a doctor. This goes way above my head.

The doctors and scientists spent centuries studying and experimenting until they found a way to allow Truly Mated couples the chance to have a child.

My guess is, as only Truly Mated vampires can procreate, it's got a lot to do with magic and their bonds. But, as I said, it goes way above my head.

I guess, somehow, a female's eggs are naturally frozen when she's turned. They're altered by the venom in her system, but this just makes for a unique child.

Rather than a half human-half vampire, which apparently is a thing, these children are born vampires. They grow just like a human. But sometime in their late teens, early twenties, stop aging and mature into a new breed of vampire.

As vampire females are unchanging and essentially frozen, she can't carry her child, but willing human surrogates can.

The year after I graduated from Columbia, I offered to carry Vicky and Charlie's first child.

Vicky expressed a desire to be a mom, and Charlie can't say no to her, so they were looking for a surrogate. Back then, the process was still in its infant stage and there were very few humans willing to risk their lives so a vampire could have a child.

So, I volunteered.

After a lot of back and forth, Charlie finally agreed to let me do this for him and, in two thousand and eleven, I gave birth to the twins; Charles Noah and Alexander Geoffrey Swan. Or Noah and Alex.

My first pregnancy was an experience I'll never forget. Being able to give Vicky and my dad something they wouldn't have had otherwise was truly a blessing.

There was one unforeseen side effect not even the supernatural doctors had known would happen.

With the small amount of vampire venom in my system, I stopped aging.

I'm not a vampire.

I'm still fully human.

But, with the added venom—miniscule amounts, really—I haven't aged a day since I was twenty-three. My senses are a little sharper and my strength has increased. But apart from that, I remain perfectly human.

My doctors aren't sure if I'll begin aging again once the venom leaves my system, or if I'm now partially immortal. Or, if, in time, I'll spontaneously transition and become a vampire. It's a bit risky, but I'm not ready to become a vampire just yet. So, I'll live with the risk. For now.

With the news that vampires could procreate via surrogacy, the next thing to come out were The Agencies. Their job was to place humans with their vampire soulmate, providing they had one. Finding your soulmate was no guarantee but it's easier now than it's ever been.

All that's required is a little blood, a DNA test, and a little bit of magic.

I'm sure it's far more complicated than that, but as I said, I'm no doctor or scientist. I've got no idea how this stuff works, only that it does.

Within the year almost every girl I knew was planning her dream wedding with her perfect vampire soulmate.

Just like all the other girls I knew, I was tested. And, my results came back with a perfect match.

Somewhere in the world, I have a True Mate. A soulmate.

Unlike all the other girls—shocking everyone I knew—I declined to know who he was.

Well, actually, I already had an inkling. It took me a while, but after putting all the pieces together, I figured it out. I may have been treated like a stupid, naive, teenage girl by the Cullen's, but I'm far from stupid.

Once I put all the pieces together and pulled my head outta my ass, the truth was staring me right in the face.

All things considered; I probably should have seen it sooner. It was so obvious!

Of course, I'm not Edward's soulmate.

He never wanted me physically. He never even came close to mating with me, the way Vicky had mated with my dad. Hell, Edward couldn't bring himself to kiss me with tongue! He wanted me for two reasons: the scent of my blood and my silent mind. Nothing more.

I just couldn't figure out Alice's part in all of this. What did she get out of it?

Did the others know and go along with what Edward and Alice wanted? That wouldn't surprise me.

I knew all my test results would be sent directly to my True Mate. So, I figured, if he wanted me, he could come to me. I wasn't about to go running off to find him.

I've been hurt before. I'm not going to put myself in that situation again.

And besides, he left me, too.

He willingly walked away from me.

I could forgive that. Sometimes, a mating isn't recognized right away when it's between a vampire and human. Sometimes there are outside forces that prevent the vampire or the human from feeling the bonds initial manifestation.

All forgivable.

What won't be so easily forgiven is the last eleven years.

Eleven years!

I had these tests done eleven years ago!

And the ass still hasn't shown up.

Obviously, I'm not that important to him, am I?

He received the documents. I got the notification to say he'd personally signed for them. He read them. Saw that we were mated. And, who the hell knows what happened after that? He sure as hell didn't rush to find me.

Eleven years!

. . .

It's fine.

It's all good.

I don't need a man to validate me or my life.

If I'm not good enough for him, that's fine.

. . .

In twenty-thirteen, I was approached by Irina Denali and her mate Laurent. They'd heard what I'd done for dad and Vicky and asked if I would be their surrogate, too.

I'd enjoyed the experience of carrying my brothers and seeing Vicky become their mom, so I agreed.

Louie and Eli were born at the end of twenty-thirteen.

And in twenty-fifteen I gave birth to George Victor, dad and Vicky's third child.

After George was born, I decided to travel for a while. As much as I enjoyed seeing my family flourish, I felt like there was something missing in my own life.

I knew what it was.

It was him.

The jackass who was meant to be my mate.

But I'm a stubborn bitch and I wasn't about to go running off to find him only to get my heart broken. Again. So, I packed my bags and took off to places unknown.

I traveled for years.

I started a travel blog. Wrote articles for various magazines. Then I got into photography. Several of my pictures were published by National Geographic.

While I was in school, I studied photography, art, literature and creative writing. It was all things I loved, now I was just making money from it.

Then I started writing more and more. It's always been a passion of mine.

I was in France when I finished my first novel.

Vicky suggested writing might help me let go of my anger towards the Cullen's. So, my first novel was a tragic love story about a shy, naive girl falling for the wrong sort of boy.

Yeah. I might've put a bit too much of myself into my main character.

Since the supernatural world had come out of the proverbial closet, books about vampires and other creatures didn't hold as much regard as they used to, so I made my story about two humans.

I was stunned when it was picked up by a publisher.

I figured, I'd write it, send it out to publishers, it would be rejected and that would be that. I never thought, for one minute, someone would want to publish the damn thing!

But they did.

And I made a small fortune!

No joke. This book—that was only meant to help me get out some of my anger—sold over a seventy-five thousand copies in a week! It debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list in the first month, later peaked at #1!

I was flabbergasted!

That was the beginning of my career.

Long Past Dawn was published and four books followed it.

Oh, and no. Just in case you were wondering, my heroine did not get back together with the bastard who broke her heart. He died. Quite painfully.

Once the series ended, I switched things up and wrote a raunchy romance about a sexy Cowboy living on a ranch in Texas.

The ideas kept flowing and I kept writing.

Vicky was right, too. Writing did help. Not with my anger, that's still there, but it gave me something else to focus my energy on. It gave me purpose. And it made me happy.

In twenty-eighteen, life changed once again.

I received a message from The Agency informing me my mate had donated his sperm but, due to his diet, it was beginning to degrade. If I wished to have a child with him, while I'm still human, it would need to be done as soon as possible.

I wasn't sure, at first. I knew, if I didn't take this opportunity, I'd never be able to have a child.

Mated females cannot procreate with anyone but their True Mate. So, even if I met someone, fell in love and we got married, we would never be able to have children together. Not biologically.

My only chance to have a biological child, would be to have a child with my True Mate.

I went back and forth over the pros and cons for months.

After talking to Vicky and my dad—and doing a lot of soul searching—I realized that I truly did want to be a mom.

The only thing I had a hard time getting past was my mate and the question that kept nagging at me; was it right to do this without him?

I didn't think it was, so I contacted The Agency. According to them, my mate came in, donated several samples, and signed away all his parental rights to any child I may have.

So, he didn't want me or our children.

Yeah. I'll admit it, that one hurt.

But it also gave me pause. Why on earth would he willingly donated his sperm so I could have children, when he wants nothing to do with me or any children I may have?

Vicky pointed out that it wasn't that uncommon, if you think about it. Human men do it all the time.

Of course, dad reminded us this isn't an ordinary human man. This is my soulmate.

A soulmate who doesn't want me.

Who doesn't want our potential children.

And who's made it clear he's happy living his life with his chosen Coven.

Dad was furious about the whole thing.

Vicky was concerned.

And I was just . . . done.

I was done with it.

This decision had to be mine and it had to be one I could live with. Maybe it was wrong. But there was a part of me that wanted to have his child.

Yeah.

This is a guy who's made it crystal clear he doesn't want me and yet there's a part of me that still desperately wants him.

The truth is, though I don't know him well, I miss him. My body aches for him. My heart hurts knowing he's not here with me. I think about him every day and wonder what he's doing. I wonder why he doesn't want me. Was it something I did? Am I not good enough for him?

Vicky assured me that what I'm going through is completely normal. She said it was the mating bond trying to urge us together. It likely wouldn't stop until we were together. Because he is supposed to be here with us. With me. And I'd have to deal with it as best I could and find a way to learn to live without him.

Apparently, I was living a sort of half-life. Because the other part of my soul is God knows where, doing who the hell knows what with a tiny gnomepire I would happily take great pleasure in ripping into teeny tiny little pieces!

. . .

Sorry.

The anger comes and goes.

. . .

On the twenty-fifth of November two thousand and nineteen, at three thirty-three in the morning, I gave birth to twins.

Charlotte Victoria and Jasmine Beatrice Swan.

As soon as my dad put them in my arms, everything changed. My whole world suddenly revolved around these two precious little angels.

From that moment on, everything I did, I did for them.

I never knew I was capable of loving someone as much as I love my girls. You hear it from parents all the time, but I never knew. Never understood.

I wasn't planning on having anymore, the girls and I were happy and settled. But when The Agency called to tell me there was a little sample left but it was almost completely degraded and I'd have to act fast if I wanted to try for another . . . well, I went for it!

One last time.

How could I not?

My girls are apart of him. They're the only part of him I'll ever have. And maybe that's selfish but I can live with it.

I honestly couldn't be happier. It hasn't always been easy, especially being a single parent to twins. But we've made it work. And we have lots of help.

I'm not sure what'll happen if I ever run into my mate. At this point, part of me hopes I don't.

After I gave birth to my girls, my anger with him morphed into something I never thought myself capable of. It's one thing for him to reject me, but to choose not to acknowledge your own children is something entirely different. Especially when you willingly donate your sperm so they can be born!

Who the hell does that?

As was their protocol, The Agency contacted my mate when I became pregnant with the twins. Again, when the girls were born. On their first birthday. On their second birthday. When I became pregnant for a second time. And on the twins third birthday.

There's been no shortage of communication from my side. The Agency has tried on my behalf, to seek him out. And again and again, he's chosen to reject us.

That's fine.

Like I said, I don't need a man to validate me or my life.

I did this for me. Not for him.

But it saddens me that my girls will never know their father. Because he chose not to be part of their lives.

There will be no forgiveness this time. I would have forgiven him for rejecting me. I can deal with that. If I'm not what he wants, that's fine. But I will never forgive him for rejecting my children.

God help that man if I ever see him again.