Alice joined us at Bella's side. Neither Carlisle nor I had left after returning from our most recent errands. I had fed on a pair of deer and Carlisle had received the tragic news from Charlie and let the hospital know that he would be taking personal leave for an extended period. He hadn't let go of Bella's hand since he had returned. We had watched her features change slightly, her complexion pale, her hair gain luster. Her heart was slowing, nearly stopped. I listened to that steady beat and fought sadness. I was going to miss it. It had been the driving force in my life for over a year, and soon, it would be gone forever.
Carlisle sighed loudly. "Is that my sorrow or yours?" he asked in a whisper.
"Mine." Carlisle had been anxious, but not mournful. "Sorry. I'm going to miss that heartbeat."
"Me too." His sorrow was his own now.
"Not me. I can't wait for her to join us." It was true. Alice had always seen Bella as one step from a vampire, always looked forward to today.
Bella's eyes flickered, and we held still as she surveyed the ceiling.
Then she smiled and turned to us. "I can hear all of you breathing, you know."
We laughed. Carlisle hugged her first. "How do you feel? Was it very painful?"
Her breath caught, giving her answer. "It was worth it," she said sitting up. "Is that my voice?" she asked, puzzled. "I sound so... strange."
It was true. Her voice was in the same range, but all huskiness was gone, leaving only a lilting in its place. As well, her voice had picked up the timbre of ours, a slight resonance that made it always sound musical.
"I imagine I look strange too," she said looking down her body.
Alice hopped up the bed and hugged her from the other side. "You look amazing, just as I said you would." Alice kissed her cheek and Bella hugged the arm around her neck, looking to me.
"You still miss it? My heartbeat?"
I looked down. It was true, I did miss it. I missed her human scent. My eyes lifted back to her bright red ones. "Yes, but only a little. We get to keep far better things."
"Yes!" Alice cheered, bouncing on the mattress.
"Alice, calm down," Bella said, giggling.
I gasped, realizing that Bella was calmer than Alice.
"Something wrong, Jazz?" Bella asked.
"Just... surprised. Are you thirsty?" I asked, knowing she must be.
"Oh." Her hand flew to her throat, no doubt just noticing the burn there. "Yes." She broke into a grin. "Any suggestions for my first kill?"
"The bears are lazy with full tummies; go get one of those," Alice suggested.
"You coming?" she asked Alice.
"Nope. I have a wedding to plan. I think your fiancé is going to accompany you." Alice smirked at Carlisle who shifted nervously.
"I'd understand if you-"
"If I what?" she asked. "Changed my mind?" She laughed and paused, listening to herself with a grin. "No, Carlisle. I most definitely have not changed my mind. And I understand I'll have no trouble tearing you apart if you claim you have."
Her deadpan humor made me roar with laughter. Carlisle swallowed, still nervous. Alice tittered and slapped Bella's arm. "Take it easy on him. He's been worried sick about you. Oooh, come see the dresses. No peeking," Alice warned us before bursting down the stairs.
Bella's smile grew before she raced after Alice.
If I had thought it would be awkward living with Bella while not having sex with her, I was wrong. Carlisle was so much more for her than I could have been. Granted, for a lot of the time he was just a hard body, but he was also a mentor, a lover, a caregiver, a student. That was fun to listen in on. Bella had learned a lot from us that she could teach Carlisle.
Alice started packing up one evening without much announcement.
"Where are we going, sugar fairy?" I asked her.
"Denali." She smiled at me over her shoulder before returning to the trunk she was loading.
"We're moving to Denali?" I asked.
Bella appeared in our doorway. She was still enjoying being able to respond so quickly to things in other rooms. Of course, she might have taken the second to put on a robe...
"Denali? When?"
"Tomorrow. The wedding is in three days. Think you can keep the sex in check for the drive? It will be somewhat hazardous if you and Carlisle are going at it in the backseat."
"Hmm, I'll try. But I'd better get some more out of my system first." She smiled at Carlisle, who was wearing a robe, standing behind her. "You don't mind, do you?"
"I wouldn't mind a break actually. Maybe a hunt? Increase the stamina?" he joked and kissed her.
"I think you have plenty of stamina," she teased, playing with the tie on his robe.
"Go! Go hunt, go fuck, just go," Alice ordered. "I've got a show to run." She smiled up at Bella and Carlisle. "Have I told you today how adorable the pair of you are?"
They were currently kissing in the doorway.
"Not today," I answered, as neither seemed likely to break the kiss.
"But they are, aren't they?" she asked me, her heart full. "I never guessed..." She sighed. "I didn't think I would be this happy about it. You sure you don't want to hop on this bed with me, Bella?" Alice asked, but I didn't detect any lust from her.
It was just as well; Bella shot her down. "Nope. I think I'll take Carlisle back to mine. Thanks, though. You're cute, too." She winked at Alice before grabbing Carlisle by the arms and carrying him off. She was also enjoying being the strongest of us.
It had been thirteen weeks since Bella's first day. Her eyes were a bloody orange as the red continued to leech from them. The three of us couldn't be seen in town anyway, so hiding her eyes hadn't been a problem. Keeping her away from Charlie had been a little more difficult.
After her first encounter with a human on the hunt, from which the human miraculously ran away, she seemed determined to try to see her father again. Only showing her the funeral notice that had been in the paper convinced her that it was a bad idea. Even then she had 'ghost' ideas. Carlisle had been the one to explain that it would be easier for Charlie if we left no questions around her death. He had Sue now, and they could grieve and move on together. She and Carlisle had poked around the yard once, just to prove to Bella how well Charlie was doing. After hearing him and Sue having sex, she had come back to the house, relieved.
All the sex jokes were really just ribbing. Bella was remarkably self-controlled, just as Alice had predicted. She was insatiable, but that didn't stop her from socializing with Alice and I, helping with wedding preparation, or getting out to hunt regularly. She juggled her intense emotions and propensity for distraction with flair. She was the perfect vampire. It was uncanny. She commented herself on how right she felt now. She had talked with Kate and Eleazar on the phone a number of times and had plans to work on expanding her shield when we were there.
"So, when were you going to tell me we were moving?" I asked.
"I didn't? Oh... I didn't, odd. I'm sorry, Jasper." She moved to another trunk, loading it with my clothes this time. She tossed one shirt aside with a sniff. I picked it up, wondering what was wrong with it. "We need to move on from here. Carlisle needs a hospital. Bella's going to need something to fill her time as well. Denali is just a stop on the way. We aren't staying there long — a few months." A pair of jeans got tossed out as well. Those I understood; I'd ripped the ass out of one side. I didn't know why I still had them.
"What's wrong with the shirt?" I asked, holding it up to myself. It was plaid, flannel.
"Nothing, for Forks, but I'm hoping to go somewhere where lumberjacks aren't the norm."
"Where is that?" I asked, curious now.
"Ithaca," she said with a grin. "But we'll wait till the fall, take our time getting there. Won't that be fun?" she asked.
"You tell me," I taunted, feeling her glee.
By the time we had loaded the last bags into the Mercedes, Bella and Carlisle had descended, both fully clothed. Carlisle held her hand, idly playing with the ring on her finger. If I was honest, I did the same with Alice.
"Ready to go, big bad vampire?" I asked Bella.
She laughed. "Yes, let's go, little man."
"Hey, now!" Alice protested. "You know he's not little."
Carlisle cringed and Bella laughed. It was still fun to turn her nickname for me on her.
"Shall we, Doctor and Missus Cullen?" I asked, opening the back door for them.
"Yes, Mister and Missus Cullen," Bella replied with a smile of her own.
Alice had had to do a bit of rearranging after her first call to Denali. As soon as Irina heard that both Bella and Alice were getting married, she made sure to have a ring on her finger as well. Alice bit her tongue, but made the arrangements. I felt her indecision, her reluctance, and her doubt. They were intense as we drove.
"Something wrong?" I asked her. Bella slid forward to hang on my headrest and look at Alice.
"Felix has cold feet," she said simply. "He hasn't decided not to go through with it, but he's definitely considering it."
Carlisle frowned. "Why would he do that?"
"Because it's a lot harder to get away from your vampire ex-wife than your human one," Bella answered. "I completely understand. If it weren't for the fact that I have no family to frown at me, I might not have accepted your proposal," she told Carlisle. "In my world, marriages don't last forever. Felix is worried that his won't either."
She made perfect sense.
"Did Irina push him into it? Because that won't help either," Bella added.
"She did," Alice answered. She was quiet for a while, then smiled broadly. "I'm going to be able to convince him. No worries. I just have to get there before he bolts." She put her foot down on the gas.
"Do you need to do this alone?" I asked her.
"No, actually, it would be better if you came with me," she told me. "I'll drop the two of you off at the house, alright?" she said to Bella and Carlisle.
As soon as we reached the manor, I followed Alice as she ran into the mountains. "I'm going ahead. You can find us," she called as she burst from my sight. I continued to follow her scent.
Felix had run far. It took me almost an hour to catch up to him and Alice.
"I've seen it, Felix — four hundred years. That's not eternity, but it's close enough. And I don't see anything changing in the relationship, I just can't see past that. I think it's some personal limit. I don't see anything after that for anyone."
"You're sure, Alice. I can keep this up? I mean, the vegetarian thing?" I cringed a little at the term, but I supposed it would do. "I still crave humans."
"You always will," she told him. "You can do this though, if you want to." She rose. "Ask Jasper."
I felt suddenly on the spot. Felix was very undecided, he was thirsty, and he was petulant. "She's right. You will always crave humans; that won't change. You will just get better at resisting it, better at accepting it." I paused trying to sift through what he was feeling. "Are you angry with Irina?"
"Yes," he growled. "What woman proposes to a man? I would have done it, eventually."
"Would you?" Alice asked quirking an eyebrow.
He huffed and bent his head again. "No." Now the fear returned. "I don't know if I can do this, Alice."
"You can, Felix. I told you that. Now come. Get married with us."
He didn't move.
"Go. Tell her what you want," I advised. "Tell her how you want it. You won't be happy until you do. You don't have the luxury Alice and I do. You aren't mates, naturally matching each other, naturally changing for the other. You have to work at it. Unless you're scared of a little work?" I taunted.
He growled at me. "Alright." He rose to his feet. "But if she beheads me, or has Kate knock me out, I'm coming for you." He poked me in the chest with a finger.
"Fine. As long as you thank me after a hundred years as well," I shouted after him as he ran away.
Alice laughed. "Well, ready to throw the biggest event no human will ever see?" she asked sweetly.
"You know I don't need some party, right? You're already everything I need."
"I know. Come on, you're going to look amazing in your tuxedo."
I chuckled and ran with her back to the manor house.
A/N And that's the end. They all live Happily Ever After because that's how I like to end my stories. It's the end of the story, but I do have a couple of outtakes that will go up for auction when auctions come around next. How about Bella and Alice their first night together? Carlisle the day Bella comes home from University? I have both of those near finished.
Thanks to Sharebear for betaing this the whole way. She's always got my back.