Jacob POV

October 31st, and finally a goddamn moment's peace.

Raising 2 kids is no joke,but raising them with the love of your life? It definitely could be worse.

I don't think the house had been this quiet in … damn, 3 years? Since the pups were newborns . Bella wasn't too happy when I started calling them "pups" but I see her try to hide a smile whenever she hears it. She'd gone to Port Angeles with Charlie and Sue to pick some halloween costumes out, and I promised to finally start clearing up the yard with the free afternoon.

3 years of nothing but diapers, throw up and mess. The twins were starting to grow into their personalities and while the yard was definitely a plus when we moved into the house, I hadnt need to think about child proof fencing until last week when Lola took her first steps, and Lucas just a day behind her - and boy they're fast! Now they're on their feet suddenly the whole house feels like a death trap!

I hit the shower to get rid of that familiar dried oil stench. Everyday it comes home with me since the garage opened. "Black & Co." And even though Bella swears that she prefers it when I stay dirty , something about "smelling more like Jacob" I kinda think it's more like wet dog… As I undress and take my hair out, I notice it's longer than ever, almost to my ass. I always had the feeling Bella liked my hair longer , and since the twins I havn't phased, so no shaggy wolf repercussions .

About a year ago I noticed the little changes again, my hair started to get coarser and my hands started look less like a kids hands in a stretchy skin suit and more like a man's hands. A real man, with a real job and a real wife and two pairs of feet to protect from stray nails in the yard. Starting to age again had actually felt good. My centre of gravity shifted, I felt more connected to the ground and not like I was about to take off or disappear if I didn't keep it together.

Don't get me wrong - the pack was still alive and well. Sam still phased regularly and Paul to his flank. For some it had been a few months, for others like me a few years. But the threat had gone. Really gone. 5 years to be exact.

I tried not to think about it as a rule. When Bella showed up that day, with nothing but pure terror in her eyes- It sounds bad to say that it was the happiest day of my life. Because she was safe, I knew the penny had dropped. She had realised what that psychopath had done to her, him and his whole bloodsucking family. I knew she would never go back or put herself in danger again.

And of course the kiss, the first of many. Not like the juvenile ones before. If you could even call them kisses! I wasn't the most mature in those days. But that day she fell into my arms, was the start of our real life. It was as easy as breathing like it always should have been. It took a year before we made it officially , got hitched on the beach in La Push , Charlie, Renee my Dad the whole pack came out. Another year before this place came up for sale and damn, that part was not easy. But Charlie helped with the downpayment and Bella used some of her college fund but we made it work. I always wondered if Bella missed out on going to college, she's always said she was content with the open university online courses. English Literature , what else? At first I hated the fact that she had given up on moving away. On seeing some more of the world… But soon enough I realised anywhere outside of forks meant she could run into them, and I didn't push her. I was happy, she was happy, and out of that happiness ? Boom! 2 little bundles of joy.

It was hard to deny my genes that's for sure, jet black hair and quileute skin, but everything else is all Bella. Especially their eyes. Sometimes at bath time I watch how amazing she is. Like she was born to do it, like she's always known them. Bella talks in her sleep too - who knew… and even before they were born she talked about the two heads of black hair running on the beach.

Of course that isn't all she talks about… That first year his name came up alot. It was all I could do not to phase right there in the bed next to her. Pain always mingled in her words when he visited her dreams, then over time it got less and less. She doesn't say his name aloud when she's awake. Only in her dreams. But now the pups take up so much of our life , everyday feels full. And not with vampires and werewolves , death and heartbreak. But of baby pictures on the fridge held up with magnets from each city Renee had visited. Dress up sundays with Charlie where the pups try on all his chief hats and badges. Christmases with my Dad playing Santa if Santa was a native american Professor X.

Happy. We were happy. That's what happy people do.

After showering I threw on some dry clothes and got to work. The leaves were starting to create a thick layer on the ground turning the whole clearing golden brown and red. The clearing behind the house wasn't too different from Billy. About 20 ft of ground separated the back door from the edge of the forest. A small slope created a wall that at least for now the pups couldn't scale. But for now I just needed to prop the new fences either side of the house and replace a back wheel on tricycle that Lola will not stop trying to mount. Taking after her old-man, the girl is a grease monkey I can feel it! But while Bella would throw a wrench at my head for taking Lola to the shop, we settle for the tricycle for now.

I pulled out a few household tools and started to take the tiny wheels off one at a time, when a scent on the breeze caused the hair follicles on my arms to stand up. A prickle started at the base of my neck and my nostrils instinctively flared. The same breeze from the west brushed across my damp hair as I turned to face the source of the danger and the edge of the forest. Shoe tips touched the borderline of my property.

"Hello Jacob" The voice said.

I'd had a lot of practice these 5 years. At staying calm. Every time Bella would say his name in her sleep, or the way she'd tense when we drove past the turning to their old house… I thought when this day came , I'd better be prepared to not lose my shit. For my family's sake.

We stared at each other for a long moment, a buzzing in my core that threatened , no begged me to phase was comfortably at bay.

His eyes were black, his clothes not dirty but - windswept? Like he'd been running for weeks. And older somehow, still unnaturally a teenager of course but I couldn't put my finger on it… he looked like hell.

"Edward," I said politely. He seemed shocked for a second, that I'd used his name I suppose. I wasn't known for being that courteous in our past lives. I thought when he showed up on our doorstep I'd feel more threatened. Terrified that he'd weave some story, begging for Bella's forgiveness. But seeing him now he seemed so out of place. And not just because he was in La Push but an alien species in this life we'd built. In this version of the story where Bella lives happily ever after. Suddenly the tricycle wheel in my hand for him to see felt like the sharpest weapon at my disposal.

"She's out of town - won't be back for a few hours" I said.

"It's actually you I was hoping to see" He said , eyes still unreadable. "I wont make a scene"

"I'm glad to hear that" I wouldn't want Bella to come home to an even bigger mess. " There are children".

The corner of his mouth twisted in pain. He couldn't just be happy for Bella finally having a normal life. "They're beautiful…" He said. "I'm happy for you, Jacob"

"You might want to tell your face that-" I started fidgeting with the tools in front of me, acting as though him being here didn't both break the treaty and set my nerves on fire. "If you don't mind… I've got a busy day, and I'm sure somewhere in your schedule is a plan about how to address every treaty rule you've just broken."

He nodded " I was in contact with Sam not too long ago".

"You what!?" I balled my hands into fists to quell the shaking that began to vibrate through me. This was news - I hadn't seen Sam in a few weeks. And without daily phasing I didn't get the instant updates I'd grown to rely on. But this! Sam would have warned me, would have said something! Unless … unless the reason Edward was here had only one ending.

"Why are you here?" I demanded "Haven't you done enough? If you even for second thought that she'd take you bac-"

"I want you to kill me Jacob" He interupted. I said nothing. "My …acquaintances in Italy refused me once again. I've not been in contact with my family for some time… Sam afforded me one opportunity to ask you myself before-"

"Before what? You start experimenting with explosives?" I asked. His disheveled appearance was starting to make more sense. " I can't give you what you're asking for. As much as I'd love to take you out myself and know the deed was done for good."

"Yes I see that now" He said , deep in thought. Damn I'd forgotten what a mind fuck this was. Having my head invaded. Of course he knew I wouldn't or couldn't phase. Not while I had my family. And certainly not for him. "No one in your pack would do the honor?" He asked.

I shook my head "Not without my go ahead" I confirmed " We have our own treaties within the pack. Of whose allowed to be touched. It's less my decision more than it's all hers." I watched his eyes closest. "And she has no idea you're even in the county."

He looked directly at me now as I spoke very clearly "You know you'll never come this close to my home again, don't you bloodsucker?" This charade was starting to grind my nerves.

He nodded. "I suppose … there remains only one option" He said, with a faint flicker of hope in his face.

"To crawl back into hole you came out of?" I asked futilely.

A small smile masked his face but didn't quite reach the eyes. "No…to ask the one person who can sanction my end. To all of it - once and for all."

Bella.

Then right on cue - we both heard the faint crunch of tyres against the gravel opening of the driveway. They were home.

October 31st, Halloween. The house was still a mess which meant my wife was going to lose it. And to top it off I'd have to break the news that her psychotic and highly suicidal vampire ex-boyfriend was lurking at the back gate.