Everyday Moments Of Perfection
Chapter Fifty-Two: The Future Is Bright
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to darkroselight, who is my one thousandth reviewer! Woohoo. :) She wanted the continuation of the last chapter, and so... we've fast forwarded ten years. ;)
I concede, the chapter title is a little cheesy, but hey! I don't care. :) We all need a little cheese in our lives. Plus, my original title didn't find into the box thing. So... yeah. Also, I believe it's one half of Orange (the phone company)'s catchphrase. Hm.
... 1000 reviews. Wow. Did I mention I love you guys? :) Seriously, I had a mini thousand review party. With DVD marathons and cake. Lol. Any excuse. :)
Angela Cheney stepped out onto her front porch, her pale, pastel green shoes making a soft, creaking sound against the wooden platform beneath her feet. The simple, understated yet beautiful ring that adorned her left hand glinted softly in the rays of golden sun that touched it. Angela lifted her face to the rare warmth, and closed her eyes, a smile touching her lips.
The air was humid, a thing that was scarce in the small town of Forks. Angela liked the feeling, of the heat enveloping her skin, clinging to her. She looked out over the green landscape, marvelling at how little things had changed in ten years. The house was the same, too. Her parents had moved down to Florida, wanting to spend their retirement in warmer climes, leaving the family house in Forks to their only daughter.
She hadn't changed it. The childhood pictures of her still adorned the hallway, and more had been added to them. They read like a timeline; Angela's graduation photo, Angela and Ben messing around with the camera - the candid shot of Angela hugging Ben from behind was the chosen wall-candidate, Angela and Bella embracing at her wedding, Angela catching Bella's bouquet... continuing on from then; Ben and Angela's engagement party, a few photos of their wedding - Angela looked stunning, fully grown-up with a more mature countenance. She had grown her hair out a little longer, and she had become a little more slender and willowy as she grew into her adult form. A few years later, the photos started to show a bump. There was a shot of Ben surprising his wife on one of her midnight ice-cream raids, tub of Ben and Jerry's rested on her pronounced stomach. Then the baby shower; Jessica (who had by then married Mike) looked far kinder than her teenage self had been. Her eyes were kinder, and her blonde locks had grown darker with age. Mike was clasping her hand as Angela opened her gifts, a broad smile on her face. Lauren, too, had matured. No longer was she the spiteful and insipid girl from school; marrying Tyler had given her peace and happiness. Ironically enough, the last Angela had heard, Lauren was working as a yoga instructor down in Seattle.
The photographs then began to show the children more; starting with Angela looked weary and worn but glowing with beauty, holding a tiny bundle in her arms. Her baby girl; Liliana Rose Cheney. The years went on, and Liliana grew, until the most recent picture of a tiny, two-year-old girl with dark brown curls shooting a gap-toothed grin at the camera over the cradle of her one-year-old brother; Nathaniel Benjamin Cheney.
Angela sat on the wooden chair on the porch, smiling as she remembered. She looked towards the forest, gazing at the beautiful landscape. She double-took on one section of the forest. She could have sworn she had seen something twinkling, like a yellow star, next to the trees. She frowned, but dismissed it. Probably just the reflection from the sun.
"Ange?" Ben called from inside.
"What is it, hon?"
"We've got an email from Bella."
Angela rose from the chair and darted inside. Correspondence from Edward and Bella was a rare occurrence, but Angela liked to know they were alright. Something inside her told her that they were the happiest a couple could be, but the rational part of her liked to have some proof.
She sat in front of the computer and began to read.
Dear Angela and Ben,
Sorry I haven't been able to write as often as I would like. Life around here's been a little hectic, what with the baby and everything. I'm sure I wrote to tell you we decided to call her Renesmee, though some have been known to call her Nessie (they have been swiftly reprimanded). Angela paused to give a little laugh, and continued; I hear you've settled down and had some children of your own! I know they must be beautiful, especially if their parents are anything to go by. Congratulations, by the way, on your anniversary. Has it been eight years now? Feels like eight minutes! The rest of the family are well, thanks for asking. Edward's being his wonderfully overprotective self, as usual, especially when it comes to Renesmee. I'm glad of it though, he loves her so much. Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme are all still the same. Alice and Jasper have been travelling for a while, mostly up around the States. Charlie's the same as he's always been, still loves his football games, though he's a little more fragile than he used to be. We've tried to explain to him that he needs to slow down, but he's still full of vitality, or so he insists!
I know I haven't spoken to you in over ten years, Angela, but to me it feels like it's been a day since graduation day at Forks High. I wish I could tell you all about my life since then, and write you a detailed account— I'm sure you'd laugh at the absurdity of it all — but I can't. And I can't tell you why either. Just know that I'm safe, and happy, and content. And from your emails, it seems that you are too.
You don't know how glad that makes me.
Love you,
Bella (and the rest of the family.) xxx
It wasn't for another few seconds that Angela realised she had a little tear in her eye. Ben looked at her, smiling softly, and kissed her cheek, just below her eye. Angela smiled in response, before dragging the message to a little folder with an inbox of three, labelled 'Mail — Bella & Edward'.
"I'm glad she's doing well," Angela whispered. Ben nodded, stroking his wife's palm with his thumb.
From upstairs, there was a quiet, insistent sound of crying. "Nat," Angela said, getting up, but Ben put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, I'll get him."
Angela nodded, and made her way back towards the porch, thinking about Bella's letter. She kept feeling like Bella was trying to tell her something, but she didn't know what. Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme are all still the same. Maybe there was a hidden message. Angela smiled at the absurdity. Now she was just being ridiculous, reading into things that weren't there.
Alice and Jasper have been travelling for a while, mostly up around the States. Angela briefly wondered where they were now. She had always liked Alice and Jasper, even when the other kids had branded them 'weird' and left it at that. Maybe it was an overly romantic idea, but Angela had always thought they were adorable. They seemed to live in their own little world, their private bubble. They had never seemed to care what anyone else thought of them, they were so wrapped up in each other. Angela had always noticed Alice's comforting little gestures, every so often she would place a hand on his arm, or his hip, as though trying to protect him from something.
They had always been a kind of unit in her mind. Never Jasper without Alice, never Alice without Jasper. Always 'Jasper-and-Alice'. Angela had been in a class with just Jasper, and he always had a slightly sorrowful expression on his face; as though he was wishing he was somewhere else. In Angela's idyllic mind, he wasn't just finding the class boring like all the other students who wore a similar expression. He was pining after Alice. Maybe it wasn't the case at all, but Angela liked to think it was. And the evidence seemed to support her view. She had never seen a couple so clearly in love that it almost hurt to look at them.
Edward and Bella were in love as well, yes, but their relationship had been a lot more complicated, and Angela had to admit there had been a time when she had hated Edward. He had left, and Bella had been a shell of herself for almost a year. But Bella had forgiven him, and Angela trusted her friend's judgement. So her dislike of Edward had faded, and had completely disappeared once and for all at Bella and Edward's wedding. It was impossible to overlook the total adoration on Edward's face when he saw his bride walking down the aisle towards him, and Bella's expression mirrored his absolutely. There was no doubting their connection.
When she was younger, before Ben had asked her to prom and her fairytale began, she had envied them all, just a little bit. She envied how they could be so in love; how they knew that they were in love and were confident enough to go ahead and act on it.
Angela envied their passionate kisses, their soft caresses, their intimate whispers. But only for a little while. Because it was soon after that she realised.
That wasn't what love was. Not at first, anyway.
At first love is all nervous smiles, palm sweating and avoiding eye contact. Avoiding speech of any kind for fear that you will say something so completely stupid the other person will cease to want to converse with you at all. Angela knew that, and became reconciled with the fact that was the way it was supposed to be.
As Angela thought about the Cullens, her eye was once again drawn to the forest, the edge of jade that ran along the landscape.
Some would say it was coincidence, others, fate. Alice would say it was inevitable.
At the precise second Angela's gaze flitted across the trees, Alice stopped running. She stood in the distance, a glimmering angel to Angela's sight. Angela wasn't quite sure what she was seeing; the sparkling effect seemed to blur Alice's outline, but that cropped, ebony black hair was unmistakeable, and Angela could faintly make out the bright topaz of her kindly eyes.
The same eyes.
It wasn't just the eyes, either. Angela could have sworn she was looking at a memory. And the memory was smiling sheepishly at her.
She's just as beautiful as she ever was. Perhaps even more so; her skin seemed to be glowing, casting crystals onto the ground around her.
But her face was still glowing with the vitality of youth, her skin flawless and fleshy, as thought she had been caught in time, a frozen picture from a decade ago.
"Alice," whispered Angela.
It seemed impossible, but Alice seemed to hear her, and nodded, a nervous smile tilting her full, cherry-coloured lips upwards.
How can this be real?
Alice tilted her head to the side in a comforting glance, and Angela realised she had spoken her thoughts aloud. Suddenly, Bella's words seemed to echo in her head.
Still the same.
They're all still the same. This thought hit Angela with the force of a ten-tonne truck, but she found that she was not horrified by the idea, mostly just shocked. But as the shock passed, she felt something like… contentment. She finally knew what Bella had been trying to tell her all those years. She had been trying to tell her that she was happy, and content… and perfect.
And she always would be.
Nothing had changed. Nothing would change.
Out of the foliage, Angela spotted another sparkling figure, much taller than Alice. She saw the honey-blond hair, and whispered, "Jasper."
Alice laughed, and the sound, like a million wind-chimes in perfect harmony, reached Angela's ears and warmed her heart. Jasper smiled at Alice, before his slightly darker golden eyes turned towards her. Angela shivered a little. She felt like he could see through her, right into her soul.
Maybe he could.
He too, looked exactly how Angela remembered him from French.
Angela was startled out of these revelations by a tugging at her skirt. She looked down and saw the mop of brown curls first.
"Lily-bean," Angela said, using her nickname for her daughter, "What's the matter?"
"Nuhfin', Mommy," Liliana said, the words blending together in her daughter's two-year-old vocabulary.
Angela leant down, scooping Liliana up in her arms. She kissed her on the forehead, and Liliana giggled, clasping her tiny hands around her mother's hair, and leaning into her.
Angela once again looked out, half-expecting them to be gone, a mirage from her mind. Yet they were still there, and Angela could see a crystal below Alice's eye. The way it was set on her skin made it look like a tear. Alice was smiling widely now, leaning into Jasper.
Angela spied their hands entwined in each other's.
Nothing really changes.
Angela felt a small drop on her cheek, and saw it drop onto her daughter's head. It took a second before she realised it was a tear. She saw Alice raise her hand, a gesture of farewell. Her arm was cascading diamonds, even as she lowered it. Still clasping Jasper's hand, they seemed to meld back into the forest, until not even the faintest glimmer remained.
Angela's eyes softened, as Ben emerged from the house and slipped his hand into hers, giving it a light squeeze.
"You all right, honey?" he asked, stroking his daughter's hair with his free hand.
Angela smiled as she looked towards her husband, and then back out to the forest.
The sun was setting, casting a faint orange glow across the sky.
No, nothing really changes. Time may march onwards, but we're all still the same. Still madly in love.
Angela placed a slow, soft kiss on Ben's cheek, and looked down at her baby girl, her Lily-bean, now sleeping soundly in her arms.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
A/N: Well, that's what I think happened to the Twilight humans, anyway. ;)
By the way, Angela's childrens' names are some of the names I was considering for my future children, you know, when I was randomly thinking about it. Except the middle name of 'Benjamin'. That was just because of Ben. :D
Peace and love, chickadees.
Raven. xxx