~A/N True story, I've never finished a story without shedding a few tears. You might want a box of tissues nearby if you're that type. Epilogue is far into the future...

Epilogue: An Extraordinary Love Story

Trinity Call-Fuller double checked her replies. Everyone was making it like they promised. She'd been in charge of the reunion. She would have volunteered even if the vote hadn't been unanimous within her family. Trinity was the most organized and passionate about the day's significance. Had it truly been five years? She couldn't help the tears that welled up in her eyes. Happy she was a part of it, but tearful that it still hurt to miss them so much.

She was the great-granddaughter of Jacob and Bella Black as well as Embry and Samantha Call. In fact, her grandmother was none other than Lily Black who fell madly in love with Embry's firstborn, Jordan. Mimi, their name for Bella, told her it was love at first sight when they were infants even. No one was shocked whenever Jordan phased that the first person he ran to was Lily as soon as Uncle Jake gave him the green light. He kept a keen parental eye on the boy, but they all witnessed him imprint with his third child, who was a blossoming teenage girl at the time.

Lily was their only adopted child out of the five, but that never mattered. Lily knew nothing but love and devotion from her parents. They all knew the tragic story about her other father, Linx and still honored his memory in a special way. He'd laid his life down for her great-grandmother. The stories they shared over the years with all of them were quite harrowing. They were almost too crazy to believe, but she knew they were true. There was no such thing as a pack with the third and fourth generations, so reading and listening to stories about cold ones, shape-shifters and werewolves was straight out of fiction or film.

The original pack gradually gave up the wolf until it was only, Pops, their affectionate name for Jacob, and the new recruits. Most of the sons of the original pack phased before 16, 17. Jacob phased right along with them, leading and guiding them until he was certain a new alpha, Alexander and his beta, Lincoln could take over the reigns. He looked more like an older brother than a father at the time. Trinity had seen many pictures through the years. Jacob was relieved to trust his sons so he could devote his time to Bella and their growing, extended family. He had to quit his regular day job long before. No one would understand how he never aged a day for decades, but he ran a consulting firm online to continue to support his family until their nest egg was secured.

Jacob and Bella had a wonderful, fulfilling life. They had two more children after Lily. Lincoln came way earlier than they planned for. It was a joke that after a date night, nine months later a new Black would appear, but the baby of the family arrived five years after Lincoln. Emma was the caboose and she was given tons of attention with four older siblings.

Even though, they lived a charmed life after the threat of blood thirsty, jealous vampires was a thing of the past, her grandparents still did experience a tragedy now and then. Their closet friends and family aged gracefully. The wolf gene had a side effect of longevity which was nice. However, Bella and Jake were forced to bury all their parents before they were truly prepared. Trinity wasn't alive when any of her great great grandparents lived. Grandpa Billy was the first to pass on and Grandad Charlie was actually the last parent to slip away. He'd been living with them, since losing Sue in Billy's old space. Mimi was by his side, holding his hand whispering her love for him. She had a tremendous bond with her father and never got over the loss.

The fact was, the blessing from their ancestors made them extremely healthy. They rarely caught as much as cold over the years. No matter that they eventually aged and their hair turned gray or their skin ended up with wrinkles, they were still a vibrant couple. The Cullens kept their distance when it seemed the grandchildren showed no signs of phasing. They didn't want to trigger another generation, but always were available if either Bella or Jacob called upon them.

Trinity remembered the day, Bella invited the entire family over. She had an announcement to make. Even Trinity's grandparents were getting around pretty slowly by then and appeared to be much older than her great-grandparents. Mimi breathed out a weak sigh as the room quietened down to listen to her.

She first told them all how much she loved them and that Carlisle Cullen had just visited which wasn't a normal occurence. It was the first she'd ever heard him making a trip back to the res in decades. He'd examined them both and told her a few things.

"This is our last family get together, but I expect you to carry on the tradition. Family is everything. The truth is, I'm tired and because I'm tired so is your grandfather. We've had to say goodbye to so many friends. I miss them. The losses, although inevitable are tougher every time. As you know, we've buried all our brothers and sisters, but it never got any easier. One thing, I swore to Jake I'd never do was bury another child." The five grown children surrounded their parents. She whispered her love to each of them. There wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Mimi got emotional, so Pops continued. "Carlisle thinks very soon, Bells will go to sleep. She looks great, always beautiful in my eyes, but her heart is getting weaker each day and so is mine. We just wanted you all to know, the strength is in you. We love you, and one day after everyone's time on earth is fulfilled, there will be a Black pack reunion like no other. The spirits destined us and that destiny includes all of you. Our story won't end with our deaths, it will continue through your lives. You are our legacy."

It was a trying week for the ones that volunteered to stay with them to help care for their needs as their strength and health quickly declined. The last couple of days proved how rapidly their Mimi was weakening. Trinity was almost certain, it would happen on her night and sure enough in the early morning hours five years ago today, she went in their room to check on them. Jacob and Bella had crossed over, still hand in hand from life into death. Their love always remained.

Her husband, Koty, grabbed her hand and told her it was time. They would all walk over to the family's private cemetery. Bella had a unique intuition because AJ and Lily both passed not too long after losing their parents. The other three Black children were too old to make the trip with them today, but their children and grandchildren would tell them all about it.

Trinity read some letters Bella left behind for them to cherish. They were memories from something she called a blog. No one knew what the heck that was but they were nice. She had a few saved in an envelope that were marked for her and Jacob's eyes only so those were buried with them, but the rest were shared with the future generations. Some passages were amusing, and others were heartfelt sentiments about life, love and loss. Bella was quite the gifted writer. She never stopped jotting down memories and occurrences. They kept them as records with the tribe's archives now. Trinity gave everyone that wanted an opportunity to speak a memory or sentiment a turn. They were all headed out to the lake cabins for a weekend celebration of life and family later. The cabins had been built and re-built over the years, but the lake was always a special place to the packs and their families. The younger generation carried on the tradition.

Koty knew she always like a few minutes alone to reflect after a gathering. He gently rubbed over her belly swollen with child. Her first daughter, Isabella was due in just four weeks. Trinity pulled two fingers across the stone, engraved with their names. She circled around the wolf charm. Many, many years ago, Jacob noticed it was becoming weathered with age so he had the trinket preserved in a special resin. The surviving family knew exactly where it should remain as long as time existed. They had it set into the granite stone underneath a picture of a young Jacob and Bella. She wiped away the tears that fell quickly down her cheeks so she could focus on the inscription. The words moved her each and every time she read them. She whispered her love for them as she brushed her hand over her unborn daughter. Jacob and Bella were right, their love would always continue.

.

.

.

He gave her 100 years and then some and it was extraordinary.

Jacob & Bella Black, the alpha pair.

***THE END***

~Thanks for reading.

I hope it was a good ride for all of you. I love spinning a story and when I'm able to see it through to completion, it makes for a bittersweet result. Fingers crossed, I'll update my profile one day, and actually have a published story.