Disclaimer: All characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the wonderfully talented Stephanie Meyer. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Two

Forever and For Always

Bella

It had been seven years since I had become Mrs. Cullen, and Edward and I were spending our anniversary on the beautiful Isle Esme, the intimate hideaway where we spent our honeymoon. Somehow he and Alice had managed to convince me to leave our daughter, Renesmee with Rosalie and Emmett for the entire month of August. They relocated to Barnes Common, a posh suburb of London, just after the near catastrophic Volturi incident. Carlisle had decided it would be best for all of us if the coven disbanded for a few years, so as not to draw too much attention to ourselves. Although we had strength in numbers, most vampires felt threatened by our large group, and we did not want to risk being a targets any longer for Renesmee's sake. So much to our chagrin we all went our separate ways, knowing we would all be together again eventually.

Rose and Emmett built a Tuscan-inspired mansion in South West London. It was over the top and flashy, as if we would expect anything less from Rosalie, with eight bedrooms, twelve bathrooms, a six car garage and an indoor glass tiled swimming pool styled after the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. It was unbelievably decadent.

Alice and Jasper spent the past few years traveling the world, using their wealth and abilities to help the less fortunate. Jasper wanted to redeem himself for all of the innocent lives he took before he became vegetarian, and Alice didn't need an excuse to be so generous. The last time I spoke with her, she and Jasper had just ventured into the Thai jungle on the back of a sacred Chang Samkhan delivering food and clean water to impoverished villages affected by the Tsunami. I admired their passion for benevolence and goodwill.

Carlisle and Esme settled into a grand estate that sat on the rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Davenport, Maine. Carlisle was chief of surgery at a renowned Children's Hospital, known for its groundbreaking surgeries. His position often kept him away from Esme, who ironically developed a love for baking in all of her free time. She opened a gourmet bakery, which she playfully named Forks as an homage to the quiet little town that we once called home.

And Edward and I moved to a quaint town in the Catskill Mountains named Serendipity with our beloved Nessie and confidant, Jacob. Edward and I were semi-retired from playing high school students, while Jacob and Nessie attended Brinkley Academy, a prestigous prepatory school, known for its challenging coursework. We wanted to provide Ness with the best education money could buy, although we knew her intellect far exceeded what they could ever teach her. She wanted to have a quasi-normal life, and we made it our priority to do what we could to make that possible.

I was grateful to Edward for sweeping me away to this paradise, but my mind was filled with worried thoughts of my daughter. It had been the longest Edward and I had been away from Renesmee. We had left her with our family while on hunting trips, but never for more than a few days and we had never traveled so far away.

Although I knew Nessie was more than capable of taking care of herself, considering her immeasurable intellect and extensive defensive training, I couldn t help but worry about my little girl. While she was technically almost seven human years old, she looked like a seventeen-year-old girl; an exceptionally stunning seventeen girl, I might add.

Fortunately for Renesmee, she inherited more of her father s distinguished features than mine. She had long silky brown hair with deep red flecks that framed her round angelic face flawlessly. Her eyes were piercing emeralds, her cheeks were blush like ripe peaches, and her bee-stung lips were the perfect shade of raspberry. She stood taller than I at five foot seven with a slim build, long toned legs, and generous bosom, much to Edward s consternation. I was thankful she was more influenced by Alice s fashion sense than by her Aunt Rosalie's, whose wardrobe selections were at most times questionable if not offensive. I was also grateful that she did not inherit my severe awkwardness. Instead she carried herself gracefully and carefully like her father, so I never worried about Renesmee hurting herself, as Edward often did when I was a fragile human.

If her accelerated adolescence didn t make me apprehensive, she had recently developed romantic feelings for Jake, my best friend and werewolf, who had imprinted on her the moment she was born. Edward and I knew that eventually after spending every day with Jake, Renesmee may eventually feel for him the way he had always felt for her, but we hadn't expected it to happen so soon. With her seventh birthday quickly approaching, we knew we would have no choice in the matter, as she would be an adult and able to make decisions for herself. It was difficult for me to swallow, but Nessie's revelation was even harder for Edward to accept. In his tortured mind, he felt he had almost lost me to Jacob once and didn't want to lose his baby girl to him too. The only thing that saved poor Jake was that Edward knew that he loved our Nessie as deeply and selflessly as Edward loved me.

We had agreed to allow Jake to accompany Nessie to London, under the mutual agreement that he would stay in a separate wing of Rose & Emmett's mansion. While this gave us some peace of mind, Edward and I knew all too well that rules were made to be broken. I was certain Jacob would be a gentleman, if not out of respect for Edward and I, at the very least out of absolute fear. It was common knowledge that my husband would tear him to shreds if he heard anything less than honorable thoughts about our daughter streaming from his mind.

Edward, sensed my tension and worry, and began massaging my shoulders attentively.

"Stop worrying about Renesmee," Bella, he pleaded, kissing a trail from the back of my neck to my jaw line. My body shivered with desire, and for a few moments thoughts of my daughter escaped me.

"Maybe a nice swim will help you unwind," he suggested, dropping his cashmere robe to the white sand. He lifted me from the hammock and put his icy mouth on my neck, nibbling gently. I smiled with delight.

His perfectly sculpted marble figure made me swoon incessantly. It looked heavenly beneath the glittery moonlight. Strong and statuesque, and all mine.

"If you insist", I agreed, tossing my robe over my shoulder and embracing him eagerly.

I still felt as if the wind were knocked out of me every time our skin touched. Tiny electric currents surged through my body when his lips caressed mine. I thought kissing Edward was intense when I was mortal. His kisses were dizzying, always leaving me struggling to breathe and longing for more. Now that I was immortal we were able to be intimate in ways I had never imagined in my wildest dreams.

I love you. I let him hear me, pushing my shield away for a moment.

"I love you, too, Isabella Cullen, forever and for always."