Okay guys. Firstly, you deserve an apology. This ending has been written for quite some time, but I was just too sidetracked by life in general to post it. It's a long time coming, and I hope it's better than you were imagining.
And now, this is it. The last chapter. The end of this section of Adele's story. I do have a sequel planned, and the first few chapters written. I will hopefully be posting it soon, now that I have my timeline in place. I will post an author's note in this story when the sequel is published, but you could also add me on author alert to make it easier.
Again, thanks to everyone that has reviewed, and especially the loyal and dedicated Scampifish for just being amazing. And, so, here we are: The End.
Epilogue: Things I Know
Assuming there is such a thing as a normal vampire, I certainly never fit that bill. There was my talent, after all, that meant no one was ever perfectly safe when I was around. When I was first introduced to the Denali clan, I managed to terrify Kate by accidentally electrocuting her when we shook hands. I have learned control since then, with her help. We can laugh about it now, but we certainly didn't then.
And then, perhaps the weirdest of my new traits, was my temperature. It changed. My first adventure in the human world was a trip to the movies, in which I brushed my hand against that of the teenager working the concession stand. There was transfer of warmth between us, and I thought I had received some new gift from him. When I tried to find it, it didn't exist. I touched Edward's hand to grab his attention, and he jumped.
"You're warm." He said. He grabbed Alice, who confirmed it as well. Through the movie, I cooled down to my normal temperature. Later, we tried it out at school. I could absorb the heat of humans. I could also take the chill from my family, evening out my temperature. It was an interesting phenomenon, and like the rest, went unexplained for many years.
Only one thing bothered me in my change from human to vampire. My mind kept returning to my memories of Jamie. He was the first boy I had loved, and even though I knew I couldn't continue our relationship, I wanted for him to be happy. I told Alice this one day, and she just smiled. I asked, knowing she wouldn't tell me. She didn't, but told me that I would figure it out in approximately ten years and three months. She wasn't far off.
It was actually ten years, one month and twenty days. It was Valentine's Day, 1973. As was our tradition, Edward and I spent the day together, giving the actual couples in our family some alone time. It was as much for their benefit as it was our own. Edward had gotten to choose this years activity, and he insisted on visiting Niagara Falls. We had lived in three other states, plus London, between the time of my change and that day. But Carlisle always wanted to return to the smaller areas, were good doctors were hard to keep. We were living a couple dozen miles from the Falls, and decided to run there.
We were just discussing how best to ruin one young couple's fun when the man suddenly turned to me. I gasped, as did Edward. It was Jamie, looking like an actual man now, rather than the boy I had kept in my mind.
He beckoned me forward, and I felt my feet move without my consent. I had crossed the space in no time, a smile forming on my lips. He may have grown taller, and his hair a little darker, but his blue eyes were still the same.
"Adele Foster?" I winced at the name, but nodded. "How are you!?" He pulled me into a tight hug, and I touched his ear with my finger as inconspicuously as I could. I absorbed some of his heat, and was finally able to blush.
"Jamie!" I sounded properly happy. "I can't believe it's you!"
"Me neither!" He was still as bright and cheerful as ever. "You look…good." I knew I looked good, even better than good. I looked like a polished version of the same girl I had been. He let it go, though, still laughing.
I took a peek at the woman behind him, and felt shock ripple through my body. "Cindy?"
She laughed, her blond curls shaking under her hat. "The very same." I hugged her too, amazed.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I'm here with Jamie." He said. I stopped, suddenly making the connection.
"You mean you two got married?" I looked between them, laughing at their identical, sheepish grins. "That's so great!" I smiled, and found myself genuinely happy.
"Yeah, we got together after high school." She laughed. "It's five years today."
"Congratulations." I shook my head. "If I'd have known, I would have sent you something."
"We tried to track you down, but you move an awful lot." Jamie said. "I hear you were dancing in Moscow."
I nodded, wishing the cover story were true. "Yes. It was so much fun. But those Russian men are really mean."
They laughed, then Cindy grew serious. "Did you ever find a man, Adele?"
I was ready to answer no, when something flashed through my mind. As soon as he saw it, Edward was begging me to reconsider, but I didn't. "Actually, do you guys remember the Cullens?"
"Yeah, you were friends with the younger one…Edward, right?" Cindy remembered. Her eyes grew wide as I pasted an embarrassed smile on my face. "You didn't? You two?"
"Yeah." I grinned. "We eloped last year. We came back to tell his parents, but we got a little sidetracked." I pretended to look around, silently ushering Edward towards me. "I don't know where he's gone."
"Adele!" He was grinning just as stupidly as I was as he approached. "There you are, love." He swept me up into his arms and kissed me lightly on the cheek. You are going to pay dearly for this, Adele Cullen. He growled in his head.
"Edward." I pretended to be embarrassed, which wasn't hard this time. He set me down, and I turned to my human friends. "Jamie, Cindy, this is Edward."
"Nice to meet you." The men shook hands as Cindy threw me an approving look. "You're taking care of our Adele?" Jamie asked, trying to look gruff. It didn't quite suit him.
"I try my best, but sometimes she gets herself into trouble." Edward said, his tone laughing. I knew he meant it.
We chatted for a little longer, then Edward managed to politely end the conversation. We waited until we were far out of earshot before cracking up.
"We eloped?" He asked in between chuckles. "That doesn't sound like either of us."
"It worked." I giggled. "And you are some romantic kisser, Edward." I added sarcastically.
"Just playing my part, sis." He kissed the top of my head, and together we made our way back home.
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In religion class, they used to tell us that grace was God's undeserved love, the thing that resided in humans that made them want to do good. I understood that meaning, though it never made a whole lot of sense to me. Why would God love people if they didn't deserve it? What could make someone unworthy of love?
Now, when I think about grace, I understand what I didn't then. But something doesn't make sense now that did then. Why is it just God's love? Can't it be considered grace, even if it's just another human loving someone who doesn't deserve it? I think of my mother with this one, and how she loved my father, right up until the end. He never deserved her, and still she clung to him.
I also think of myself. How my mother loved me, even though I was an accident. I caused her a lot of trouble, and still, she loved me fiercely. She understood the concept, too, even giving me the middle name Graciela, the name of the same concept in her mother tongue.
But most importantly, most distinctly, I think of the Cullens. How they found me, shattered and alone, and still loved me, loved me enough to accept me. I have never changed my mind, convinced that I was damaged goods, that I didn't deserve what they gave me.
And that is the beauty of grace. It isn't deserved. You can't claim it. I could try my hardest, and still, my family couldn't love me more than they already do. In the same vein, I could massacre a small town on my own, and their love would still shine as bright as a lighthouse in a tempest. I was blessed with two families, and though the concept of God is still up in the air for me, I am a firm believer in grace.