Epilogue
"Where are we going, Daddy?" Renesmee chirped as the quartet left the Cullen house.
Edward chuckled. "Wait and see, beautiful."
Renesmee pivoted to her Uncle Jacob, who merely laughed as he bounced J.E. on his shoulders. "Sorry, Nessie. It's a surprise!"
"Yeah, Nessie!" J.E. called from his perch.
Renesmee pouted. "You be nice…. Jacob Edward."
J.E. scowled at the utterance of his full name. Before he could order his dad or Uncle Edward to reprimand his half-sister, both men chorused, "No arguing!"
At last, the four reached the top of a grassy hillside. The sun was shining across the green blades. Exactly at the hill's peak was a headstone, adorned with flowers. Renesmee broke free from her father's grasp and ran to the spot. Jacob noticed his adopted niece abruptly stop and knew she must have read the name on the headstone. The mood had suddenly changed to a somber one. Without taking his eyes off Renesmee, Jacob set J.E. down, who now nervously stood where he was, unsure to approach. Edward nudged the boy forward so that he finally did. Reaching her side, Renesmee whispered to him, "It's Mama."
Both hybrid children stood in silence for a long moment, heads bowed. At last, their fathers approached, and consoled them with gentle touches.
J.E. cried into his dad's shirt. "I miss her, Daddy. I miss Mama."
Jacob nodded once. "I do too, my little wolf. Every day. Your mother was one spectacular woman."
Renesmee clung to her father's leg as she, too, wept. "Can you read her mind from heaven, Daddy?"
Edward chuckled ruefully. "Sweetheart, I couldn't read her mind even when she was here on Earth. But…. I do know that she is in a better place. And that she misses you. J.E. as well."
"And you want to know something else, kids?" Jacob asked. Both Renesmee and J.E. looked to him.
"Your mother loved you both. She loved you very much. She loves you still."
J.E. wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve and looked back at the headstone. "I can live with that."
"Me too," Renesmee agreed meekly.
Jacob and Edward looked at each other with sad smiles. Bella loved her children, and she loved their fathers, even from afar. And both vampire and werewolf knew, in their hearts, that they could live with that, too.