AN: Woo Hoo! Two chapters tonight!

I think I've said it before, but happy to repeat: I own nada.

Chapter 8

Edward POV

Carlisle and I were thrilled with the outcome of the meeting with the Quileutes. Even the conditions placed on us were ones we could live with. The hardest would be the last. Telling them all we knew of our world. It broke every code we have lived by for our whole existence as vampires.

The family met us in the living room as we returned from our meeting. They were on tenterhooks awaiting our news. Esme paced the floor as we began recounting the meeting.

"Carlisle, hold on. This guy, Sam, is a wolf. Are there more?"

"Yes, Jasper, Sam is a wolf. So far he's the only one we know of."

A few minutes later, Jasper interrupted again. "So he agreed to have us yank a tooth out of his head? That doesn't make sense."

I took a breath to calm myself. "If you would let Carlisle finish, you would find out that they had a few conditions."

All eyes were suddenly on me as my family braced for the conditions. Carlisle gave me the go ahead to finish our tale.

"Nothing unreasonable. The want to be sure that Sam and one other wolf are present; they want a supply of the antidote to keep at the reservation; and they want us to tell them all we know of our world."

I waited for the thunder to erupt from but they were all quiet. At least out loud. Mentally, they were all turning the pros and cons of the requirements over. No one had any objection to the first two. It was the last giving them all pause.

Esme finally voiced the common concern. "What about the Volturi? What happens when they find out that we have told others of our world? Actually, what happens when they find out we are no longer vampires?"

"I don't know if we need to worry about the Volturi caring that we are no longer vampires. They have more important things to concern themselves with," Emmett answered.

Before he could continue, Alice spoke. "I don't see them having any trouble with our no longer being vampires. But I cannot see their reaction to the wolves knowing about them. I can see nothing when the wolves are involved. The only way I know the tooth will work is that I see us all as humans."

"Alice, can you focus your thoughts on Aro?" She tried to look into the future of Aro as Carlisle suggested, but could see nothing. She tried with Caius and also, nothing. Then she tried with Marcus and what she saw was astounding. Marcus as an old man! He was enjoying watching children playing on a lawn in the sunshine. An older Renata was at his side, holding his hand. It appears they had been married after changing. But whose children where they? Marcus had been changed at 20 but it was difficult to think of him as a young man, capable of having a family. Could they be his grandchildren? And how were Aro and Caius missing? Alice explained what she saw to us carefully. We were all confused but excited by what her vision foretold.

"Enough! We are getting to far ahead of ourselves." I was desperate to move the project forward and to be human again. I only wanted to be able to live the life to which I was born. Now that I had found Bella, I wanted to be able to experience all life had to offer with her. The only way to do that was to become human again.

Once they all settled down, I continued. "The trial has worked in its initial stage. We were able to duplicate the results multiple times in the vial. We need to take the next step in the experiment. I say we call Sam and arrange to take the tooth tomorrow. We can inject the serum right away and observe the results." With no reply, I continued. "I know we discussed testing on an animal, but I think there has been everyone has made their position abundantly clear on that. We need to move directly into testing on one of us."

Esme immediately jumped into the conversation. "I won't have any of my family being used as test subjects. We don't know what will happen."

"Esme, please. We know it works in theory. We need to move the testing along. How do you propose we do it?" I understood her hesitancy but I couldn't allow this to hold us up.

Her thoughts immediately went to a vision of her sitting on Carlisle's table, being injected. "No, Esme, I can't allow that. Carlisle would not survive if something happened to you and we need him to be working at 100%. I am the most logical choice. I have no mate. No one will be permanently affected should something happen to me."

"That's where you are wrong, Edward. You are my son and have been since I changed you 87 years ago. I would be forever affected if any harm came to you, as would everyone in our family. But I agree that you are a logical choice. As you said, I need to be working at 100% to see the rest of the family through the change. I think it is best if we go in pairs. That way, if the pain is anything like when we first changed, I doubt any of us could watch our spouses going through—again in some instances."

As I looked around the room, everyone was nodding their agreement. It was decided. I was becoming a human again.

Two days later, we all watched as Carlisle hollowed out the tooth Sam had just donated. The extraction had gone well. Shocking all of us, he immediately starting growing a new tooth. By the look of it, the tooth would be complete in no time. Sam's friend Paul stood sentry in the corner letting loose with an occasional growl but otherwise, he was harmless.

Once the homemade syringe was complete, Carlisle approached me. "Edward, are you sure about this?"

Was I sure? Certainly I was scared. My life was about to change drastically. Could I handle it? Would I be able to live as human again? It had been so long. What about the pain that might come? The answer to all these questions were unclear, but the one thought that was constant was Bella. I would do all this for Bella.

"Yes, I'm certain."

Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice each took a turn shaking my hand, patting me on the back, or hugging me. They each carried on what was hopefully the last silent conversation they would with me and then left the room. I don't think they wanted to see firsthand what I would face, in case they lost the nerve to go through with it themselves.

Esme kissed my cheek and threw her arms around my neck. "I love you, my son! You are so brave." If she could cry, I have no doubt she would be soaking my shirt at this moment.

"Mom, I will be fine. I promise." I smiled at her and tried to emit confidence. I returned her kiss and squeezed her hand. "The next time you look at me, I will be your human boy!" She smiled and left to join the others, giving a glance and nod back at Carlisle.

"Alright, Edward, let's make sure you are comfortable." I was sitting on the hospital table we had brought into Carlisle's office. The entire room was serving as a medical clinic with all the equipment needed to perform diagnostics and surgery. We were unsure what blood type I would be after this but he had stocked all types to be sure.

"Lay back and we will get started."

I lay on the table and looked over to our new friends, the wolves. "Thank you for making this possible."

Carlisle took an alcohol wipe and cleaned the area of skin over what would soon be my carotid artery. "Edward, I will inject you here, at the neck. If you are capable, let me know what you feel as we go through the process. I will be taking notes throughout and will not leave your side."

"Before you do this, know that I am grateful. Carlisle, I am so grateful for the life you have given me." He squeezed my shoulder and injected the serum into my neck.

Immediately, I felt heat. Heat like I had not felt in all my life. It radiated through my neck and down my throat. The heat was intense but not unbearable. It drifted into my head and for the first time in 87 years, I felt the pull of sleep—a peaceful sleep that carried its passengers into dreamlessness.

Beep… beep … beep … beep … beep … beep

What was that sound? That constant rhythm of a mechanical instrument pulls me from my slumber. My slumber! I had slept! I had not felt this refreshed in decades, literally.

I prepared myself to open my eyes and see a duller world than my vampire eyes were used to seeing. I would not experience the world in the same way, but I would be able to live as I meant to. I was human again.

I slowly opened my eyes and was thrilled. I didn't notice a duller world or the fine details that my senses were missing. The first thing that I saw was the smiling faces of my family. They each stood with their spouses, holding hands or hugging and looking like they were waiting for answers. But what were the questions? I concentrated on each person but could hear nothing but my own breathing.

"Edward, how do you feel, son?"

I took a moment to evaluate my body—feeling all my limbs, digits, and muscles. I felt different, but I there was no pain. "I feel OK. Great actually. How long was I out?"

"Three days. Just like the first change. You fell asleep within 30 seconds of the injection and slept without a peep. Everything went perfectly. Your heart is beating perfectly. Your breathing is excellent. I drew blood about an hour ago and we'll have the results shortly. I can't find anything that would indicate you were anything other than human."

"In that case, Esme, can we put that beautiful kitchen of yours to work? I'm famished!"