Lexi Cullen
I missed home. I loved my family. I loved Beth and my new mother and father and siblings but I missed the sea and my friends. I missed my sisters and my father and I missed being able to swim.
I could still swim, as a human. I kicked my legs and had to move my arms to get anywhere in the water but it just wasn't the same. I didn't have a tail, my lilac tail that had scales that danced in the sun light. I used to love swimming close to the surface where the sun was just above the water. I missed swimming with my sisters too, we would have races and hide behind corals and wait for the others to find us. Above all I missed watching the magic. Every night the Nel would surface and pray to our Gods, they all floated in a circle, praying above. I always wondered why we prayed to the skies like the humans did. The humans had no evidence their Gods existed but we did. The Gods granted us power but there was never a direct link. We didn't know where it came from. After the Nel prayed the water would shimmer, there was a brief vibration that went through the all the oceans and it radiated from the capital. We had a power orb in the temple of the Nelifia. It was a magnificent building right at the heart of the capital. Inside was almost like a crystal ball, inside there was a swirling mist that glowed endlessly. That was the magic of the Nelifia, every time the Nel prayed the orb would glow brighter to signify the power within growing. This was the power that turned me human and stripped me of my tail. That was the power that cut my life span in half and made me mortal.
I couldn't complain really. I had fallen into an amazing family and when I was given the choice to go back I denied it. I loved being human, I loved being here in the human world but it didn't mean I didn't miss where I was from. I had been here just over six months now. Every day I woke up around 9am, Beth would always be awake already; she didn't seem to sleep much anymore. She looked at least ten now. We would immediately dress and leave the house for our run. Beth went running, I went swimming. I wasn't as fast as Beth. I was only human and Beth was getting faster and faster every day, she liked to run and I held her back so we decided that whilst she did laps around the island I would swim in the bay closest to the main house. By 10am I would go home and meet up with Nessie and Jacob to have breakfast cooked by my momma or sometimes daddy Edward cooked it. Beth would arrive home just before 11 and we then got changed and ready for our day. Four days out of the week I had to have school, daddy Edward said that because I was human I wouldn't retain things as easily as Beth so I had to have more schooling. Beth said that she didn't want to do things on her own so she stayed in school with me instead of doing her own thing which she could have easily done. Every now and then she went to spend time with Eddie or Nessie but she thought I felt left out so she didn't do it often. I knew I wasn't really their sister, not in the way they are siblings themselves, I was adopted and not blood related to Nessie, Eddie or Beth at all but it didn't stop them treating me like their sister.
"What are you doing little sister?" Eddie asked me as he entered by bedroom. It used to be the bedroom Nessie and Jacob shared when they first arrived but now Eddie and Nessie had their own house only thirty yards from this one so Edward and Bella gave me my own room. I smiled up at Eddie from my desk. He was always calling me little sister and I loved it.
"School," I told him.
"The History of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?" he asked looking over my shoulder.
"One day I hope to go there," I said wistfully.
"Im sure you will," he grinned at me.
"Have you ever been there?" I asked. I knew it was a stupid question, he was a hundred years older than me; he has probably been everywhere. He pulled the rocking chair over to sit beside me and sat down in it. He crossed his legs and gently swayed.
"I have. Many times." He answered with a smile. "My daughters live there, and my son too soon I imagine."
"Holly, Avia and Teddy," I smiled, remembering the Family History lesson from yesterday, daddy Edward was teaching me all the Cullen's and Black's and where they lived.
"Indeed," he smiled at me.
"Where does Teddy live now?" I asked. I couldn't remember everything; I was only just remembering names and faces from pictures.
"He's been visiting William and Sophia, Renesmee's son and his wife over in Washington. When I say visiting… he's been there four years now. He and William have become close and I think he likes it there, even though that's not where he was brought up. His sisters and cousins were brought up there, it's a home he didn't know he had. Anyway, his wife is British, last I heard she wanted to move back home." Eddie explained.
"I'd love to meet your children," I smiled at him.
"One day you will little sister, but there is no need to rush, they are not going anywhere," he smiled back.
"Which of your kids is most like you and Chloe?" I asked.
"I'm told Teddy is most like me," he laughed. "Avia is like Chloe. Holly is just a mix."
"What about Nessie's kids?" I continued to ask him questions about our family. I quickly lost interest in the school work I was doing and Eddie and I sat for hours as he told me about our family I had never met.
"I can't wait to meet them all," I said happily, I was now lying on my bed, my chest on the quilt and I held my head up with my hands as I watched Eddie on the rocking chair as he told me endless stories. I could listen to them all day.
"Lexi, dinner is ready," I heard my momma call. Already? It had only been one pm when I started my school work. When daddy Edward gave us work to do Beth and I had to go into our separate rooms to work on it, when we were together we got too easily distracted and would never get any done.
Eddie stood up and held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me off the bed with one easy swipe. I giggled as I landed on my feet next to him. He didn't drop my hand as we walked out my room and down the stairs to the open plan kitchen and living area
"Oh Eddie I didn't see you come in," momma said, serving the food to Nessie and Jake who were already at the table.
"Where is Izellah?" I asked. It was the last week of the month, Izellah stayed for a week over at Renesmee and Jacob's house every month. She should have arrived around three but I lost track of time with Eddie. Sometimes Sarah and Nahuel came and stayed with her, sometimes she came on her own to be with us. Beth and I had so much fun with her, it was my favourite week of the month and I hated saying goodbye to her. Izellah was only a child, barely five but she was lively and very active, and she loved playing with me and Beth and easily kept up with us.
"Sarah went into labour an hour ago so they'll be coming over tomorrow with a new baby," my mom smiled at me. I smiled back widely as I ate my dinner. I looked over to Renesmee who had her phone practically glued to her hand.
"Waiting for news?" I asked her with a smile.
"Of course, another grandchild," she sighed wistfully. "Sometimes I think my heart can't physically love anymore but every time a new baby is born into this family I surprise myself. I already love this baby and I don't even know his or her name yet!" Nessie laughed happily. I smiled at her, I couldn't relate to her, not in this sense. I had no children or grandchildren but I loved this family. At least those I'd met, I knew what it was like to love more than one person and she was right, it didn't seem like I could fit anyone else in.
"I think it's a girl," I smiled. "A boy would be alone with all us girls."
"You're right he's surrounded with sisters. I know, whilst you three play he can stay with me and Jacob. We'll teach him how to be a boy," Eddie laughed. As we spoke Nessie's phone began vibrating, she immediately answered it and put it on loud speaker for us all to here.
"Nahuel?" Nessie asked.
"You have another grandson Renesmee; we've named him Jacob William Edward." Nahuel answered. Nessie's hands immediately went to her cheeks and I saw tears falling from her eyes, I frowned slightly at the emotion.
"She's happy," daddy Edward said from behind me, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and I leant into him. We had become much closer over the past few months, ever since he saved me in the city. I loved him like a father but because I still thought of my birth father as my daddy I started to call Edward, daddy Edward. Bella said Edward would always be my father for as long as I lived now and I could have two daddies.
"Another Jacob?" Bella asked she was smiling widely at Jake sitting next to Renesmee; he had his arms around her in a hug now.
"We're going to call him Jay so he doesn't get confused with his grandfather."
"I'm honoured Nahuel and I can't wait to meet him," Jacob spoke for the first time, his voice was shaking with what I could only imagine was pure happiness and emotion.
"We're leaving tonight so we'll see you all tomorrow, I've emailed you photos already," Nahuel answered and Bella shot over to the other room, I barely blinked and she was gone. I couldn't keep up with the vampire speed. She came in with an iPad and was aww-ing.
"Ok Nahuel, tell Sarah that we love her and can't wait to meet little Jacob," Renesmee said and hung up. The iPad was passed around the family.
"He's beautiful and definitely a Jacob," Chloe smiled at Jake.
"Esther is coming?!" Beth suddenly blurted, she had the iPad in her hands.
"Elizabeth!" Bella scolded. "You should not look at my emails without asking. It was supposed to be a surprise," she sighed.
"But she's coming!" She exclaimed, I had heard all about Esther but I hadn't met her yet.
"Yes, she said she would have come sooner but there has been trouble in Volterra but shes on her way."
"I'm so excited!" Beth squealed. Eddie laughed.
"Oh shut up, you're excited too!" Beth laughed at our brother.
"Of course I am, I love seeing my best friend. I'm just laughing at you. You've only met her once."
"And shes amazing! And so sweet and she is super powerful and she taught me so much," she said in her excitement, she put her hands on Eddie's knees and bounced up and down in front of where he was sitting. Daddy Edward coughed from behind me.
"You teach me things too daddy and you're amazing but it's Esther!" Beth said with a squeal at the end.
"Im glad you love her so much." Chloe smiled at her.
"When is she getting here momma?" Beth asked.
"Tomorrow," Bella answered with a smile.
I had never seen Beth so excited before, her excitement was contagious and as I opened my eyes the next day Beth's face was right above mine.
"Wake up Lexi! Izellah will be here any second and Esther comes today!" she squealed, she was jumping on my bed making me bounce up and down. I laughed as her excitement ran through me. I looked over to the time. Six am.
"You're three hours early Beth," I laughed and kicked the back of her knees; she laughed as she fell to the bed.
"No im not, Sarah and Nahuel are on the boat over here right now."
Beth crawled over to me and put her head on my stomach, I sat up and she slid down to my lap.
"Your excitement is contagious," I giggled. She grinned up at me and jumped from the bed with impressive speed. She jumped over to my iPod and put on some music.
"Get ready!" she called over the music as she danced around my bedroom. I giggled and jumped off my bed, Beth and I danced and sang as I got dressed. By the time I was in some shorts and a tank top we were both jumping on my bed singing, although it was more like screaming. As the song ended we heard laughing coming from the door.
"You girls ready for breakfast?" momma laughed. I jumped off the bed in sync with Beth and we ran over to Bella, hugging her at her waist. She chuckled and hugged us both back.
"No time for breakfast, Sarah is here," daddy Edward sang, he literally sang instead of simply saying it and he was over by the door before I could blink. He seemed excited too.
"Izellah!" both Beth and I said in complete sync as we ran to the door. Izellah was the first one in and we hugged her before falling to the floor in giggles. The laugh I found the most intriguing was a baby; I looked up to see Sarah holding the most beautiful little boy I had seen. He was giggling delightfully at us on the floor. I stood up from the floor, both Izellah and Beth holding on to my hands. I was still the tallest of us, even though Beth was only about half an inch smaller now. I reached up and stroked Jay's cheek, he smiled down at me. He was dark skinned, at least darker than Izellah, he resembled Nahuel a lot more than he did Sarah. He had Izellah's curly hair though and it was black just like his sister's and father's.
"Want to hold him?" Sarah smiled down at me.
"I'm first," I heard Nessie behind me and reached out for her grandson.
"After Nessie," I smiled at Sarah as she handed her newborn son; that looked about a month old to Renesmee.
"Hello pretty baby," she cooed, "I'm your grandmomma."
The baby squealed in delight and rested his head on her shoulder in a hug. I hadn't met Izellah this early and even though I have been around the intelligence of a hybrid before, it still shocked me to see a baby this small understanding us.
"Who else is here? We saw another boat coming over," Nahuel said as we all went into the living room. Jay was placed on my knee and I held him with Beth next to me and Izellah on the other side. Izellah was leaning across Beth's lap and pulling funny faces at her baby brother to make him laugh.
"A shipment is due," daddy Edward explained. Every month we got presents and parcels, most of it were from our extended family or things we ordered over the internet.
"Presents!" Beth called out.
"Yes I'm sure there is something there from Alice for you and god knows who else," he smiled at her.
"This is the best day ever!" Beth called out and jumped up and down on her bottom. The room laughed at her.
"I must go meet it actually. I'll be back soon," daddy Edward called and stood up.
"I'll come," Eddie told him and they both left the house.
"My turn," Jacob said coming over to me, he lifted little Jay off my lap and into his arms. The baby looked lost in Jacob's giant arms. The baby looked up at Jacob in bewilderment and awe. His face was blank but his eyes were curious and large as he scanned Jacob's face.
"Hello sunshine," he grinned down at him and Jay giggled delightfully. I couldn't help but smile.
Who would ever want to leave this family? I wouldn't have been this happy if I was still a mermaid; although I missed it I was really really glad that I was now a Cullen.
Eddie Cullen
I walked over to the dock with my father. We didn't talk, it was a comfortable silence and as we reached it, we both sat on the edge and dangled our feet off.
"I see you've bonded with Lexi," he mentioned. I smiled at him at my side.
"She's a sweetheart." I replied.
"She is. She is an amazing little girl. I never thought I'd ever adopt. Not after you, when we found out we could have children but I think this is really good for your mother. It's brought out an entirely different side of her I've never seen. She loved that little girl from day one."
"What happens when she gets older? It's going to crush Beth and mom," I said sadly.
"Lexi has already voiced to me that she wishes to be turned. I told her not to mention it again, especially not around Bella. But when shes older I'm sure it will be brought up again."
"Lexi wants to be a vampire?" I asked with a frown.
"Of course she does. She's surrounded by immortal beings, not one of us will die like she will. She knew from the first month she was with us she wanted to be turned when she was older."
"That's kind of upsetting," I frowned, I couldn't imagine that little girl anything other than human. I knew she had been born something different and entirely new to us but she was human now. She was so innocent and pure.
"You turned Chloe so you could be with her forever, why does it have to be different for Lexi? She has two best friends back there, Beth and Izellah will be best friends forever, just like Renesmee and Chloe. Lexi just wants to have that, and I don't blame her. You knew what Chloe and Renesmee were like the day Emma Clearwater died. She lived to be a hundred but it didn't ease their pain when they lost the third point of their triangle.
"I know," I said sadly. I would remember that day for the rest of my existence. She had been a friend to me too, to all of my generation. She was the last member of our human friends to die. She held on until the very last, long after her husband Seth died. That was a whole other deal; I had never seen Jacob so withdrawn, even when his father died a hundred years ago.
As Edward and I spoke I could feel her coming. I couldn't explain it, over the years Esther and I had become linked in the way our daughters had been from day one. Our mind had moulded, I spoke to her when she was thousands of miles away. I was aware of her every move and her of mine and as she came closer to the dock I could feel her excitement to see us all. I stood up as I saw the boat coming into view.
"I thought you said it was a shipment," I said to Edward.
"It is." He laughed. "It's just not being driven by a postman," he added as Esther docked the boat. It was barely tied up before she was onto the dock and in my arms.
I missed you. I sighed in my head.
I missed you too my friend. She added, her tight iron grip was both a comfort and annoyance.
She chuckled out loud.
"Didn't miss me that much then did you?" she winked and pulled away. I grinned widely, I missed seeing her smile. She kissed my cheek before turning to my father and they embraced.
"Good to see you again Esther," he greeted her. Their hug was over quicker than ours.
"You too Edward… A new baby? How exciting!" she suddenly chimed, seeing it from his mind.
"Let's get these parcels over. Beth may have already burst from her excitement," he chuckled. I laughed with him as we pulled the many parcels from the boat. Esther helped and we walked human speed back to the house.
Let us in first. I placed in Esther's head. I wanted to see Beth's face when she saw Esther. She didn't think she was coming until that evening. Edward and I entered the house with all the parcels.
"Beth there's a present here for you," I called.
"From Alice?" she squealed in excitement and started to walk over to me. As she got in line with the door she looked to see Esther standing there. "Esther!" She squealed. I nearly had to cover my ears from her high pitched voice. Esther walked into the house and Beth collided with her. Esther pulled her up and Beth wrapped herself as tightly around Esther as she could physically get. I could literally feel the love they had for each other and my smile just grew wider.
"I missed you little bird," She whispered to her as she hugged her tightly. She kissed her temple and then her hair line as she walked over to the rest of the family after a good five minutes of hugging.
"Beth, move," Chloe chuckled as she walked over to her. Beth barely moved her head to look at Chloe. "I want to hug my best friend," she added. Beth smiled but didn't move from Esther, she just loosened her grip slightly and opened her arm for Chloe to hug both of them. Esther and Chloe laughed as the three of them hugged.
We missed you. I heard Chloe's thoughts. I smiled as I looked to the floor. I didn't want to intrude in their moment. She was saying that to Esther.
Missed you too. She said with a smile as they pulled away.
"You must be Alexandra" Esther said, seeing Lexi and walking over to her, she still had Beth wrapped around her but she was sitting on her hip now. She knelt in front of Lexi who was on the couch. Lexi looked nervous to meet Esther.
"Lexi," Lexi corrected quietly.
"My granddaughter was called Alexandra. It's a special name in this family, a special name for special girls," she said softly.
"You're Allesandra's grandma?" Lexi asked in bewilderment.
"I am," she said softly. Esther was amazing with children, she was a lot like Renesmee in the way she knew exactly how to talk to them and radiated a maternal love.
"I wish I could have met her," she told her.
"I wish you could have too, little one."
"Lexi is my new sister, Esther," Beth said happily.
"So I've heard. Where is your great niece and nephew?" she asked her. Beth giggled at this.
"I don't think of them as my niece or nephew. Izellah is like my sister… there," she said and pointed to Izellah who was sitting on her father's lap, a bit shy of the new person she had never met. Esther moved from Lexi and over to Izellah by Nahuel. She smiled warmly at Nahuel before looking down at his daughter.
"Aren't you a beauty?" she smiled at her. "My name is Esther."
"Izellah," she barely replied.
"Do not fear little one. I would never hurt you. I am family." She said with a smile. Beth hugged Esther tighter and Izellah looked curiously between the pair.
"You're really pretty," she said.
"Why thank you, little princess. So are you." she said with a wink. Izellah's face lit right up at Esther calling her a princess, she knew the meaning of her name and I think she loved being called a princess. Esther had won her over with two little words.
"And this is Jay, short for Jacob," Sarah said behind Esther. She stood up and turned to face Sarah, they embraced before she paid attention to the baby.
"Congratulations, you have beautiful children Sarah."
"Thank you," she smiled.
"So how is everyone in Italy Esther?" Bella asked as we all settled back into the couches. My dad began sorting out the parcels and issuing them to whomever they were for. Beth was happily opening presents from Alice, Esme and Chantelle. Lexi had presents from Alice and Esme too.
"Not much different from when I last updated you. Although we've been having some trouble with the werewolves."
"Jacob's kind?" Bella gasped.
"No, the real werewolves, the children of the moon." Esther explained.
"I thought they were extinct now," Bella asked.
"They were on the brink of extinction but they've come back. They've been quiet for hundreds of years but there seems to be a lot of them in Italy right now. Zio is conflicted on how to deal with them. He called a family meeting over it. He never calls a family meeting. He's a natural leader and all his decisions have been well thought out and normally between himself, Matthew and Ben but this… he actually asked the rest of us. It's quite the dilemma."
"Why?" Jacob asked with a frown.
"Because they're human, by day they're just regular humans, most of them don't even remember what happens to them when they're wolves. It's one day out of the month but it's starting to cause problems, an entire village was ripped apart. The wolves aren't in control. They are just animals."
"Chantelle can't control them?" I asked. Surely she just needed to tell them not to kill, it didn't matter what form they were, they would have to obey.
"We don't even know who they all are. She has managed to control those we've managed to catch but the others need to be found."
"You need a tracker," Chloe said softly.
"Yes we do," she said to her eying her carefully. So what's what she was here for… to bring my wife back to Italy and make her a guard member of the Volturi?
No Eddie. Esther said suddenly, looking at me as if she was hurt that I even thought that.
"We live here now," I told her out loud. I had always dreaded the idea of moving to Italy. I knew most of our family was there and Chloe and I visited all the time but I didn't want to live there. It was too far from the rest of my family and I loved my new sisters. I wanted to see them grow up. If Chloe went to Italy to help track the wolves it would take months and new wolves would need to be tracked all the time.
"Eddie, if Zio needs my help im going," Chloe told me sternly as if she had already made her decision without even thinking it through properly.
"And what about me? You know I don't have a choice; I will have to go with you. What about the life we have here now?" I asked her.
"Now is not the time for this." She argued with me. I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest like a spoilt child.
"Why can't you track them?" I asked Esther after a while of conversation I wasn't listening too.
"Because I only have the early stages of Chloe's ability. It's taken me a hundred years to be able to track those I know. I can't track anyone like Chloe can. I have her ability from when she was a teenager." She explained.
"Boost it with Ariella," I argued.
"You know her ability doesn't work with us," she rolled her eyes.
"Use magic."
"I'm not a full witch. I absorbed the power of a witch which means I have basic witch abilities but I can't do a tracking spell like that," she told me.
"Eddie, outside now!" Chloe ordered me and was heading for the door. I sighed, took one last look at my best friend and followed my wife out.
"What good is she being so powerful if she can't track down some basic werewolves?" I moaned as I reached her on the edge of the beach. The water was around her ankles.
"It's more complicated than that. She has to track their human form. I'm the only one that can do it and you know it. Holly hasn't begun to master her ability, not nearly as much as me." she told me. Chloe's ability had evolved since her first discovering it when we were teenagers. She could only track people she had met but now she could track anyone, and imagine anyone. I had seen it in her head as she did it, it was like strings. If she thought of any one with brown hair she could see strings in her mind, leading to every possible person with brown hair and she knew who each and every person was too, she could follow each string and see exactly where that person was. She knew everyone in the world by appearance and the supernatural beings had the brightest strings; anyone, from Luna Bambini, to hybrid, to vampire, to shape shifter. She could see them all and no doubt she could see the wolves. The downside was there was a limited radius, to find anyone further than a certain point she needed Ariella to boost her ability; and she was in Italy. Holly had a very similar ability. It didn't show itself until she was nearly thirty years old, she had no idea that she could track for the first part of her life. She tracked objects a lot easier than people though, the only person she had successfully tracked was her sister Avia and I think part of that was because she was so close to her.
"What about our life here?" I asked her.
"We'll come back," she said softly, all anger gone and she placed her hands on my chest. I stepped towards her and wrapped my arms around her hips and kissed her forehead.
"In what a year?" I asked.
"They'll still be children," she told me.
"Beth won't be. She'll be nearly two. She'll be fully grown."
"They need me. You promised Zio that we would help him with anything he needed. He needs this. I'll do it as quick as I can. It shouldn't take any longer than a month."
"Then there will be something else Zio needs you to do, and something Chanti needs you to do and something Matthew needs. It won't end. You know what it was like last time we were there. It's a convenience for them. I know they don't mean it, they don't realise what they're doing but you have the one ability that they don't have over there. You're like no tracker they've ever met."
"And just like last time, we'll go home afterwards."
"I love Zio and Matthew, they're family but they're also Volturi. They're leaders; they weren't around when the first Volturi was here. They're not the same, I realise that, they're a million times better than Aro, Caius and Marcus ever were but they have been out of normal life for too long. Even Zio, he doesn't remember what it felt like not to be Volturi. He isn't the boy we grew up with."
"What are you talking about? Of course he is. He is Zio; he is everything he was when he was a child. He is who should be ruling this world, no one else. He belongs there, always has. The life he had in America was just postponing it all." She argued.
"My point is he doesn't see why we don't want to live there. He said it himself to me. Our family is there, at least most of it so why wouldn't we go and help them? And the reason is because I don't want you to become a weapon. You deserve a worry free life, where you can do whatever you want where you don't need to answer to royalty. Even if that royalty is my brother." I tried to explain, she softened again, her anger dissipating.
"Oh Eddie," she sighed, taking my face in her hands. "How long have we been together?" she asked casually. "To the exact year," she added.
"One hundred and eighteen years" I answered into her hair.
"So you should know by now that I'm stubborn and I won't do something I don't want to do. I don't want to stay in Volterra and Zio knows never to ask me. He knows he has my help when it's needed but I'm not a guard member." She answered and tilted her head up, her chin resting on my chest. Her face was a two inches from mine now. I leant down and kissed her gently.
"Okay," I sighed. She gave me a beautiful smile and kissed me again.
"I love you," she said slowly, emphasising every word. I grinned at her, my usual grin that showed all seriousness was gone.
"I should hope so," I told her; she giggled and unwrapped her arms from me. "No," I said and pulled her back into my chest. She collapsed into me and wrapped her arms around my back and put her head on my chest.
"A month, I promise. No more. Esther can pick up where I left off if we haven't found them all by then," she said to me as we both stared out at the ocean.
"Okay" I said and kissed her head. I wrapped my arms securely around my wife and enjoyed the moment of us just standing here, the water lapping at our bare feet. The only noises were those of the wildlife on the island, and the heartbeats of our family inside the house. Their conversation must have stopped because I could hear animals on the opposite side of the island and even on Isle Esme, the closest island to the one we were on. My hearing range had magnified so much over the past hundred years. I now understood completely what Esther had said about our abilities growing. Everything, every strength I had had multiplied by a million, I was now stronger than Emmett, faster than Edward and my shield was more powerful than my mother.
I stood with Chloe in silence as we listened to the sounds and watched the ocean.
And I knew I didn't want to leave but I would, for Chloe; for our family in Italy. And then we would return and live the next few years here, in the perfect serendipity of Isle Isabella.
Ellie: I give you complete permission :) Thank you for asking me first, let me know when you post it I would love to read it!