For the last time with this story: I don't own any of these characters I never will. Stephanie Meyer does.

Epilogue

IT HAS BEEN TEN YEARS SINCE EDWARD AND I GOT married and I am going back to Forks for the first time. I wish I could say it was a completely happy reason for my returning now but that would be a lie. My reasons are mixed I have a funeral and a wedding to attend this next week. Things could not have happened more random than they seem to in my life.

A month ago I received the invitation in the mail to attend the wedding of my favorite werewolf in the whole world. He had finally imprinted and was now marrying a girl from town. I wish things were so happy with my father though. All I know right now is that there was some sort of accident and he didn't make it. I will get to the bottom of it when I get there.

Edward and I were sitting on the plane talking when the voice came over the intercom and announced that we would be landing shortly. It had seemed like a long flight from Chicago but we had only been flying for a few hours not the days it felt like. I have so much to do before Wednesday. That's when I have to say goodbye to Charlie forever. I know arrangements for the funeral have been started but I have to finish them and write all the things I want to say about my father when I get there. I also I have to find out what the accident was and how everyone but him managed to survive. Luckily after that we have an upswing for Jacob's wedding. I am so happy for him. I only hope that he will be as happy as Edward and I.

The plane landed and Edward and I got off with our carryon bags. We had packed everything in them so that we wouldn't have to wait for the luggage to come off the plane. I have a lot to do in the next two days. As we raced down the familiar highway to Forks I made a mental list of how I was going to get everything done. I was going to spend today finalizing all the arrangements for the funeral and then tomorrow I would find what had happened. I would snoop in their minds if I had to.

As soon as we reached the house I was out of the car and in the house. Edward came in with the two bags and asked if there was anything he could do to help. I asked him if he could play for me so that I could write and get everything I wanted on paper. I still don't do very well with letting my emotions out in words. He simply kissed the top of my head and went to the piano and started to play. He played Esme's song and then my lullaby and then he started to play something I had never heard him play before. It was beautiful and caused a myriad of emotions to flow through me. It didn't take long then and I was able to write exactly what I wanted to say about my father.

When I finished I went and sat next to Edward at the piano. As the song came to a close I asked what it was.

"That my love is a song I have been working on for twelve years now and I was finally able to finish this last week. It is a song for your father. I tried to make it come from your point of view and so I had Jasper help me so that I could get the right feelings into it."

I hugged him and then finally spoke, "Edward I don't know what to say it is wonderful. Can I ask you a favor though? Would you be willing to play that at the funeral? I know you don't like to play in front of people but it would mean a lot to me if you would."

"For you I would do anything."

"Thank you."

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while and then the phone started to ring. I answered it and it was the funeral home. They wanted to meet with Edward and me at six. It was now five thirty and we said we would be there. We changed and then headed to meet with them.

When we got there it really hit. My father was gone forever. I would never see his smile again. His visit to see us this last Christmas would be the last memory I would ever have of my father alive. I didn't know how I was going to be able to deal with this. I wasn't ready my father had been taken so suddenly.

Edward put his arm around me and guided me to the office. After introductions we got to business. I didn't want to be here any longer than necessary. We went over all the arrangements that the station had done already. I was happy to find that the flowers and things like that had been taken care of. All that was left for me to do was set how the service was to go and what kind of headstone I wanted for my father. They told me he already had a plot. He had gotten it when he joined the department. I decided on a simple headstone with the words loved father and honored officer on it. We hammered out the details of the service. A member of the department would speak and then Edward would play as I spoke about my father. We then would go to the cemetery and place him to rest.

When we left, I, for the first time since my new life started felt exhausted and wished for the escape that sleep could give. Edward could tell that I was having a really hard time and suggested that we go for a run to our spot. I agreed knowing that at least running would give me some kind of relief from how heavy my stone cold heart felt in my chest right about now.

Once we reached the meadow I flung myself down on the ground and started to dry sob. It felt good to get it out. I just wanted to get this done now so that I could get through the next two days. I knew that tomorrow was going to be intense and that I would need to be able to focus all of my efforts on finding out exactly what happened to my father. Edward took me in his arms and let me cry until I felt like I had nothing left to cry for.

"How do you feel now?"

"Marginally better, thanks. I needed to get that out so that I could get through the next few days without being sidetracked with my sadness. I have to figure out exactly what happened."

"I will do what I can to help my love."

"I know, thank you. I don't know how forthcoming everyone will be with the details so I may need your help looking in their minds."

He kissed the top of my head and got up running to the house with me in his arms. Upon reaching the house he set me on my feet and went to the kitchen table. He came back with a note and a pile of newspapers.

Bells,

I am so sorry about your dad. I thought that these might help. They are all the papers from the last few days. They all have stories about your dad and the accident in them. In the binder though are clippings from old papers and they are all things about what your dad has done for this community in his life. Let me know if there is anything my dad and I can do to help you. We will see you Wednesday if you don't call sooner.

Jacob

I tore into the papers and started to look for anything that would help me find what had happened to my dad. I started with the oldest paper. All it said was that my father had been brought into the hospital by fellow officers and was pronounced dead upon arrival. I looked in the second one and it had a little more information. Whatever happened to him happened in the woods. The officer they were interviewing said that they had driven to the end of the highway and were in the woods because of claims of a bear or something being seen close to the road in that area. I dropped the paper then. Edward looked at me and said what I was thinking.

"He was close to the meadow."

I continued to read the article. The officer found my father in a clearing that seemed to perfect to be made by nature. It was perfectly round and had wild flowers growing there. He was in our meadow. He then went on about things that were in the last article.

The third and last paper had something that made it so that I would need to talk to Jacob first thing in the morning. The other officer that found my father said that he heard a wolf cry and ran after the sound and about five minutes later he found my father on the ground covered in blood. I set the paper down. I needed to know what had happened in those woods. What had happened in our meadow?

I wanted to get my mind off of it for a little while and so I decided to spend some time looking at the scrapbook of articles about my dad. He had done some really cool stuff. Hunting trips to keep populations down to manageable sizes. Then there were the articles about his fishing and catching some really big stuff. In a lot of the pictures Billy was with him. They really had been friends for a long time.

When I finished looking through the book it was about seven in the morning and so I called the Black's house.

Billy answered, "hello."

"Hey Billy, it's Bella. How are you holding up?"

"As well as can be expected. I never thought he would go before me."

"I'm so sorry Billy. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?"

"I don't know I mean you two were friends forever. I didn't know him as a live in father until half way through junior year of high school and then I got married the summer after my senior year. I feel like your bond to him is stronger than mine ever will be."

"Bells, he loved you. He was so happy to have you come and live with him finally. He was even happier when you asked him to walk you down the aisle at your wedding. You will forever be his little girl and he will forever be your dad. He may not have lived in your house your whole life but he loved you more than life itself. He was always proud of you. The day you graduated from Dartmouth I think was the proudest day of his life. His little girl had done it. The last twelve years of his life were the best of his life and that is because of you not me. So how can I help you?"

"Well, is Jake there I kinda need to talk to both of you. Could you meet me at my house in say an hour?"

"Sure. See you soon."

I hung up and went to take a shower. Not long after I got out there was a knock on the door and Billy and Jacob were standing there with sorrow brimming to the point of almost overflowing in their eyes. I had them come in and then gave each of them a huge hug. It was nice to have people around right now. I knew all too soon though we would have to talk about what happened to my father.

After a while of small talk Jacob looked at the table and said, "I see you got my note and that you went through the papers. Did you find anything?"

"Jake you know I did, if I hadn't you would be at home with your fiancé right now not here talking to me. One officer said he heard a howl in the woods. Which one of you was it?"

"Jake looked at Billy for a moment and then to me. It was me. We caught the scent of one of your kind but we were too late. They had already killed someone by the time we found them. After we got rid of them I went to see who it was and as soon as I saw your dads face I started to howl. It was all I could do."

"So the one that killed Charlie has been disposed of?" Edward asked. I knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Yes, she is dead. I, we killed her and then I went back to see who. I knew most of the guys that were out that day. I wanted to see if it was one of them. I never in my life thought it would be Charlie." He looked at me with tears flowing down his face then. "I did my best Bella. I tried to protect him. Sam and I are the only ones left who phase into our wolf form now. I would understand if you want me to stop phasing and grow old with my bride now Bella."

"No, Jake, keep it up. You will have a family to protect from them now. You will want to protect them just like Sam does this to protect Emily and his boys." I looked at Edward and then back at Jake. "Thank you for doing what you could. I know you can't protect him all of the time. I'm not mad at you. I actually would like to ask the two of you something. Billy would you say a few words about the kind of friend my dad was before I speak tomorrow? I want you to be a part of it and I know you can't help carry the casket so I want you to do this. Jacob I do however want you to help carry my father. Can you guys do that for me you are the only family I have left in Forks now."

They both shook their heads yes and hugged me before they left. Billy said he needed to go and figure out what he wanted to say. I knew the real reason was because they wanted to be away from me before the tears really started to flow.

I changed and Edward and I headed to the funeral home for the viewing. This was going to be the first time I saw my dad dead. I really didn't want to do this but I knew I had to. I had to be in a room all night with my dead father and people coming up to me and saying I'm so sorry for your loss and then telling me stories of my father. This was going to be the worst night of my undead life.

The night lived up to expectations. As soon as it was over I wanted Edward to get me home so that I could cry in the comfort of his arms. I cried until about three in the morning before I decided that enough tears that would never flow had been shed and went to take a shower. The funeral was at ten and I needed to be there at eight thirty to go over how everything would run. I took my time feeling that for the final time I would see my father a human pace would be nice. I spent over an hour in the shower just letting the water pour over me. I then washed my hair and got out. I took out the blow dryer and curling iron and did my hair. I got dressed and went down to Edward. It was after eight and we needed to get going.

With Edward driving we somehow managed to get there right on time. I went in with Edward holding me. We finalized the order in which people would speak. We then waited in this small room for everyone to be seated and then we followed Charlie's casket in and sat down. Billy and Jake were on one side of me and Edward was on the other. Someone from the department spoke first and they talked about how he was dedicated and hard working. He never missed a day of work unless it was really important. He was a good man and everyone he worked with thought of him as family. By now I had my head down and was dry sobbing. Billy went forward to speak then.

"Charlie was a very dedicated man, not just to his job but to those who were lucky enough to be called a friend by him. He loved the men and women he served with as an officer. He was a very giving man, any of his friends could tell you that.

I remember when I had my accident and ended up in this chair. Charlie was right there. He helped me adjust to my new life. He even came to my house and helped me to make it wheelchair friendly. He never treated me like I was different from anyone else. We still went fishing and watched ball games. Then when Bella won the tickets to the game in LA he decided to take Jake and I. He also took Embry Call even though he had never spent more than a few moments with him in his life. He knew he was one of Jakes best friends and so he took him along too. I think he would have had more fun if he took someone that could jump around and be as enthusiastic as he was but he chose me. He was and will always be my best friend.

He is very loyal, when we lost Harry eleven years ago he was there to help Sue take care of everything. He was there to help her through the grief. He helped all of us through it. He never wanted anyone to feel sorrow or grief. He was always a good man. He will forever be loved."

He then came back and I knew it was my turn. Edward and I got up. Edward went to the piano and started to play. I was silent for a few moments trying to gather myself so that I could speak. I then looked up at everyone. A new wave of grief hit me but I knew that I had to say something 

so I began. "I would like to start by thanking all of you for coming and for all the stories about my father you have shared with me. They mean a lot. It is really nice to see how loved my father was by this town that he loved so much. I really didn't have a strong relationship with my father until about twelve years ago. I always knew though that he loved me. He had sure that I knew at least that. My early years with my father consisted of trips up here to Forks every year to spend a month with him. We would go fishing down in La Push with Billy and his family. Then as I got older I let him know how much I despised this town. I never had really given it a chance. I had let my mother lead my thoughts about this town. He let me have my way though and we would vacation in California instead. Then twelve years ago I came to live with him. I was truly blessed because of it. Because of the love he has for all of you and for this town, I was able to come here. It was here that I really got to know the man that was my father. It was because he was here that I met and married the love of my life. It is because I chose to live with him that I was able to have my father walk me down the aisle. I owe him everything that is good in my life…. Then as things in my life made it difficult to impossible to come and see him he came to see me. He was there the day I graduated from Dartmouth. He was there most Christmases. He was there for every important thing in my life. I will forever be grateful to my father. I will forever love my father and I will forever remember my father as the man he truly was. The honest loyal fun wonderful person he always was."

I finished and let the music of Edward's song fill the room. When he finished it was silent for a few moments before the preacher asked those who were invited to carry my father to come forward and take their places. A crying Jacob joined the officers who made up the rest of the group. Billy Edward and I followed them out and got in the car to go to the cemetery. When we got there a prayer was said and he was lowered into the ground. Everyone again said sorry to me for my loss and left. Jacob, Billy, Edward and I were the last to leave. We stood in the light drizzle that always seemed to cover Forks and looked at our lost friend and father. We hugged each other and said that we would see each other soon.

Friday came and I had a wedding to go to. I put on a happy face and got ready to go. The wedding was simple but very sweet. I told Edward that when we get married again this is more along the lines of what I want. It was very similar to our Utah wedding that nobody but those of us who were there knew about. After the wedding I hugged Jacob and told him that I was very happy for him and that I would see him soon.

Edward and I left then and got ready to go home to our family where I could grieve in the way I needed to, with Jasper trying to manipulate my feelings and Alice dragging me to the mall saying that shopping would be therapeutic. I needed to be where things were normal for me again, comfortable for me.

I needed to be away from Forks, for a long time.

That's it folks. The story is over. I have a poll up take a look and vote. It will help me decided what to write next. Thank you to all who have read this. Thank you even more to those of you who reviewed and kept me going.

Twirose