Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight
Chapter Fifty-One
*Grace's POV*
It was any normal day. I'd woken Tyler up in the morning, helped him get ready even though he protests how he's old enough to do it on his own now. Despite that, it went smoothy. He told me all about how he wants to be a pirate this Halloween. Masen made us breakfast, proving to me how people who don't even consume human food are the best cooks. Tyler had a bottle of blood substitute to balance out his cravings, we met Robert and Cordelia on the way, and we then headed to the Cullen household for lessons. Simple as that.
However, the moment I walked into the house I didn't know what to expect. Nothing really, I knew there were new faces here, but I didn't think much of it...Then I saw him.
He was so familiar, but at the same time the person standing before me was also a much different person. His brown hair was still the same as it had been. In fact, he looked the very same. Just like how we last saw him boarding that fateful flight to Seattle. Except this time around he was paler. His skin tended to tan easy, but now it was a light stone. His eyes weren't blue anymore either, like mine used to be. They were golden, just like the Cullen families.
He looked at me with wide eyes the moment my fiancé said my name. My heart beating furiously as I tried to comprehend what was happening.
"Grace?" he said my name in surprise. I could hear a gasp come from my mother's lips. However every being in my body was on fire.
"Dad?" I whispered, tears welding up in my eyes. "You're…You're alive?"
"Grace," My dad repeated. "You're…You're not…You're not a little girl anymore."
"No, I'm not," I responded, my voice watery. "How…How?"
"I was changed," he explained in a fumble.
"By Victoria," Masen spoke up in shock.
"Yes," my dad answered. "I was turned by her during the 2006 Seattle Newborn raids…I was changed. Brought into the army. That's where I met Fred, but I didn't want anything to do with it. I wasn't me anymore, but I didn't lose my humanity. I left the coven and met up with Fred later on…."
"Why didn't you tell us?" I choked out angrily before he could finish. There were various waves of emotion going on through me right now and I couldn't quite describe how I felt.
"I wanted to, but…But I couldn't do it. I knew how your mother felt about vampires…" he explained shamefully. "I thought it would be better if you thought I died…I…I didn't want to disappoint you. I wanted you to move on…I didn't think…"
"Well you were wrong," I said, tears running down my cheeks. "We missed you so much."
"I'm so sorry," he apologized, looking at me helplessly. "I haven't stopped thinking about you or any of the others. I…I-"
Without another word, I cut my dad off. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tightly. I could feel his arms wrap around me as he began to dry sob. In that moment, I could practically feel his guilt wash down as he held me. My father was here. He wasn't dead or six feet in the ground. He was a vampire and he was alive. He was here.
"Tyler."
We both broke apart to see my mother looking at him with wide eyes. "Lane," he whispered, looking at her with hungry eyes, taking in every feature about her for the first time in years.
"Tyler," she sobbed, running at him full force. My dad, with one swift move, took her in his arms. My mother cried her heart out, gripping to my father like a life line. They then kissed before pulling apart.
"You're an idiot," she muttered under her breath. "Tyler James Martin are a moron!"
"Mom," Robert said in surprise, even though he still wasn't quite over his shock.
"What! Tyler you were a fool for thinking that you becoming a vampire who make me stop loving you," My mother told him fiercely. "You dumb ass! You left me alone! I…I lost my mind without you. I didn't…I didn't know how to function! I was a terrible mother!"
"Mom," I said, tears falling rapidly. "Don't say that. You're being hard on yourself."
"I'm so sorry," My dad responded. "God, Elaine, I'm so sorry. So, so, very sorry. I understand if you don't want me to be here. I can leave-"
"No you stupid jerk," she said, cupping his cheeks. "Just because I'm mad at you doesn't mean I want you gone. Tyler, I missed you more than anything. I love you."
"I love you too," he replied, bringing her into an embrace. The two stayed like that for the longest time, until my dad noticed Robert. He smiled at him.
"Robert, my boy," Dad exclaimed excitedly.
"Dad," Robert said, a smile gracing his face as he ran to give our father a hug. My dad held him tightly while the two now embraced. My mother smiled, holding on as well and then I joined in.
"So that's Mommy's dad?" I could hear my son say in the background. I turn to see Masen holding our son. My little boy on his father's hip looking at the image before him with wide eyes.
"Yes, baby," I said, coming over to pick my son up. Masen smiled at me and I smiled back at him. I then grabbed his hand and with my son on my hip walked to my father.
"Dad, I'd like you to meet Masen," I said, introducing my mate. "And this is our son, Tyler Edward…He's named after our fathers."
"You named your boy after me?" My dad whispered in shock.
"Of course," I told him tearfully.
"You had a child though?" My dad repeated, trying to process this all. "I'm a grandpa! And…And this is your husband?"
"Fiancé, actually," I corrected, smiling at Masen. "We're going to get married soon, hopefully."
"Aren't you guys a little young?" My dad asked nervously.
"We are," Masen said, causing me to snort in laughter due to the fact Masen was at least, technically, thirteen years younger than me. My dad gave me a strange look for that, but Masen proceeded to continue, trying to keep his composure. "But I love your daughter very much, Mr. Martin. More than my own life."
"Masen's proven this time and time again," my mother said, smiling at us. "They take care of each other, Tyler."
"Good," My dad said, smiling. "But…Wow…A grandfather."
"Twice over, actually," Robert announced, bringing Cordelia and Lucia over. "Dad, I'd like you to meet my wife, Cordelia, and this is our daughter, Lucia."
"Lucia Grace," the youngest Martin declared, smiling up at her grandfather. "After my aunt and my Uncle Lucas."
"Two grandchildren," Dad repeated in shock. "And…And you're all related to the Cullen's now?"
"Yes," I answered. "We're all family here. Bella and Edward are Masen's parents, and Renesmee is my best friend, practically my sister. Their entire family have done so much for us and we're all here, together, to get back Masen's little sister, his cousin, Ethan's brother, and Cordelia's sister from the Volturi."
"You're the daughter of Aro, aren't you?" Tyler asked, looking at Cordelia now.
"Yes," my sister in-law confirmed warily. I gently took her hand and smiled. She smiled back and looked at my father, "But I'm nothing like my family. I swear and neither are my sisters. We only want peace."
My dad nodded, "Well…I think this gives me more of a reason to fight now. I came in hopes of that if the Volturi were gone it'd allow me to see you more. Less threat to the family. Guess I knew to follow my instinct, right Freddie?"
"Sure, Ty," Freddie said, shrugging.
"You should try to socialize more," Violet declared, bringing the blonde curly haired loner vampire towards the center of attention. He seemed uncomfortable around us, but relaxed a bit as Violet began to show him around.
"Well too bad, I'm anti-social," Fred stated dryly.
"Violet, stop playing with the reclusive little creature," Hazel said, rolling her eyes. "He obviously wants to be left alone."
"Hazel, you could be nicer," Violet said, frowning.
"Eh," Hazel said, shrugging.
I chuckled, sharing a look at my family now. We were finally whole and for the first time, in a long time, everything felt almost right. Now we were just missing the other pieces of our puzzle and we'd be complete.
*Masen's POV*
I couldn't help but smile at my fiancé with her family today. Seeing the Martin family so whole was good, and seeing Tyler get the chance to meet his grandfather was even more thrilling.
However, now it was just us Cullen's. Most of the other vampires have settled down for the night ether on patrol or hanging in the Cullen living room. The rest of us have been camping out in other places besides the house since we needed our privacy. Too many people around here with good hearing. I know Lily and Ethan were getting tired of it considering Aunt Rose and Uncle Em are kind of tired of hearing them have sex. It's why they've found themselves in our guest room recently. Thankfully, it was for only sleep. I don't need to know where they've been doing the later. Speaking of, my parents even have Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett hang around their place tonight because they were also tired of all the entertaining.
Elaine and Tyler went back to her house down the road from ours. I know the two of them had a lot of catching up to do, and I know Grace didn't want to leave her dad, but I think she could rest knowing he'd be there when she woke up.
"There's still so much I have to tell him," Grace told me worriedly. We were currently sitting in our bedroom, just the three of us. "Things he missed…Things I never would want to tell him."
"He doesn't know about you dying…Does he?" I asked hoarsely.
Grace shook her head stiffly, "We just found out he's alive today. I don't need to ruin his day with that or make him hate everything we have." Grace sighed and looked down at Tyler. He was sound asleep and sprawled out on his mother. His head resting against her chest, with one hand resting there as well while another was slung on her side.
"I don't think he won't," I said, rubbing her shoulder. "He's a parent, you're a parent. I think he'll understand."
"I hope so," Grace said, pressing her lips to Tyler's head. "God, I wish he stays this way forever."
"Unfortunately he won't," I said wistfully. "But he'll always be our baby, you know that."
"I know," Grace said, running a hand through his hair gently. "Remember when he was about physically three and used to want to sleep with us all the time or how he wouldn't go anywhere without his stuffed bear."
"We barely got any alone time then," I remarked, chuckling.
"But, I miss it," Grace said, shrugging. "I just want him to hold onto his child like wonder, you know? Never have to go through what we did."
I thought about what my fiancé said. Images of Tyler flashed through my mind over the last two years. His first steps were right across the floor of the cottage's living room floor into Grace's arms. When he was physically four Charlie took him on his first fishing trip and he loved it. His first Christmas was the reason my parents didn't slum into a depression without Lizzy. My father teaching him piano and my mother teaching him how to read. Renesmee would take him to LaPush on beautiful beach days when she was home for the summer and the two would spend hours building sandcastles and when the girls went back to California Lily would always sent new outfits for him. My aunts and uncles had become costumed to buying him all sorts of new toys and gifts, my grandparents teaching him about the world around us, and Elaine watching him every time Grace and I needed a night off. Tyler playing with Lexie, Tommy, and Lucia- and being able to see him and Lucia grow like siblings. When he was a baby I'd read him the stories my mother read to me every night and when he'd wake up screaming because of a nightmare I'd get him and hum the lullaby my father would. I couldn't believe all of this happened in two years, but every moment has been precious.
"He won't," I promised adamantly to Grace. "We'll make sure of it."
Grace nodded, but bit her lip, "Masen…"
"Yes?"
"Would…Maybe in the future would you be for having more children?" she asked me curiously.
"More children?" I questioned with raised eyebrows. "How much we talking here?"
"I don't know," Grace replied, shrugging. "At least one more. I'm not asking for many, just maybe another or so. No more than four."
"Four?" I said with wide eyes.
"Slow down, I'm just throwing numbers around," Grace told me, chuckling. "I just wanted to know your opinion, that's all."
"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "Grace, I don't want to see you in pain, but if we have another baby it could be better this time being that you're fully witch. It'll be easier for you to carry the child and…I won't be against it but for now…Maybe until this craziness is over we just focus on Tyler."
"I agree," Grace said. "Until we get all of our family back."
"Until then," I agreed, looking back at my son. I could see in his mind he was deep in dreamland. Images of LaPush and playing with his cousins flashed through my mind. I could see him playing with his Grandpa Tyler in there. His excitement was clearly evident. Now he could have his Grandpa Edward and his Grandpa Tyler.
"Mase?" I immediately look up to see Renesmee and Lily were now in the doorway of our bedroom.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we hoped it would be okay if we could talk to you guys," Ness said to me.
I looked to my fiancé for an answer and she nodded, "Tyler's asleep, it's fine."
"It's about the plan," Lily mentioned.
"We'll meet you guys in the living room once we put Tyler down," I said to them softly, looking back at my son who was in a deep sleep.
"I hope he never grows up," Renesmee mused wistfully.
"Remember when he was nothing but a little rugrat," Lily added, grinning widely.
"Of course," Grace agreed bittersweetly, picking him up in her arms. His head lulling onto her shoulder. I walked with Grace until we got to Tyler's room at the end of the hallway. I mean, thinking about it now, we did have room for more children- I think Grandma, Aunt Alice, and Aunt Rosalie thought of that when they helped me get this house together.
Tyler's room was a light blue. We haven't changed it since he was a baby, but it was simplistic. Aunt Alice helped decorate it. Of to the side was his bed with flannel sheets. He had a large bookcase on the other side and even a small desk which he usually spent most of his time drawing at if anything. He also had a toy piano my dad got for him in the corner while the rest of his toys were scattered together in a pile.
"Night baby," Grace whispered, pressing her lips to his head while I tucked the sheets around him. "Sweet dreams."
I smiled, pressing a kiss to his head before heading out of the room quietly with my wife. I couldn't detect any sign of him waking up- which was good. With that, Grace and I walked downstairs to find Renesmee, Jacob, Seth, Aidan, Jen, Lily, and Ethan. They all looked serious and ready to talk- oh, what else is new.
*Aidan's POV*
"That was wild," Jen mentioned to me as we left the main house. The Martins had just been reunited and everyone was now settling down for the night.
"Yeah, that was," I agreed, thinking about it. "I wonder if it's going to be that emotional when we reunite with everyone in Volturi."
"Of course," Jen said, shrugging. She then smirked in my direction. "You're going to bawl the moment you see Lizzy."
"You're not wrong," I said, smiling at the thought of my little cousin and best friend. "She's probably an adult now. Think she'll even want to hang around her dope of a cousin?"
"I think so," Jen insisted fondly. "The two of you have always cared for one another. Lizzy's just as much as your sister as Lily is. The same goes for Abby, Ness, and Masen. You and your cousins were raised like siblings."
"We were," I agreed, the memories flooding through my brain at a rapid rate. I tried not to think about it that much or what this has all been like, but I couldn't help it. Part of me desperately wishing it was all of us in New York again, running down the streets after almost getting caught by the cops. I wanted to go back to that summer, specifically the one after Serena was defeated. Back then we only worried about each other. Abby was old enough to hang around and life was good. We used to take weekend trips to different places along the east coast, just enjoying the time we had together. I would trade anything to be pranking again with Lizzy and Abby. To hear their laughter...Anything...
"Hey guys," I hear Seth greet us from behind.
"Hey buddy," I exclaimed, patting my best friend on the back. "How ya doing?"
"Pretty good," he replied. "I was just going to meet up with Jake and Renesmee. They're going to Masen and Grace's to get away from all the craziness."
"That's where we're headed," I said, motioning to Jen. "What were you guys going to talk about."
"The message Ness got from Lizzy," Seth explained. I could see the hurt and longing in my best friend's eyes. This was killing him. This is the longest anyone in the pack has gone without seeing their mate. Even though Liz and Seth were separated for some time when we were living in the islands- it wasn't for more than a month. We were always visiting Forks and they were always visiting us when we got the chance. We were still very close even though we didn't live in the same town. Seth didn't know what was going on and it was killing him from the inside out especially now that there was a message from Lizzy- the first one in two years.
"What about it?" Jen asked curiously.
"I just wanted to study it some more. Maybe find a route we could use," Seth said, scratching the back of his head. "I…I know I'm probably pushy about this…I…I need to see Lizzy. I need to. The last time I saw her we left off on bad terms and…I never wanted her to think I hated her or I thought of her as a job."
"Dude, if she sees you I'm sure that's the last thing on her mind," I point out.
"I don't know," Seth confessed, shrugging meekly. "I just…I feel like she's going to be mad with me."
"Seth, she won't be," Jen told him softly. "Look, I know I wasn't very involved in the fight you two had but…I think the moment she sees you- she'll embrace you. Whether Lizzy was doubting your relationship, Seth you've proven to us time and time again about how much Lizzy means to you- imprint or not. Loving a person is a job…Whether it's as a friend or as a lover- it's a job because we need to protect our significant others and make sure they're alright. I know you two were unsure about where your relationship would go…But I believe that Liz needs to realize your love for her isn't fake. I thinks he was going through a phase and if she's still in it, she'll come out of it one day because she knows you two are best friends and you always will be."
"Thanks, Jen," Seth said as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"Ah, it's what friends do," Jen chirped, smiling brightly. "And think about it, soon we'll all be back together. Me, you, Aide, and Liz. Just like it used to be."
"That sounds good," I agreed, holding onto my girlfriend's hand. "With of course Abbster, Lucas, and Dru."
"Of course," Jen sung. "And my niece."
"Who I still need to meet," I added, causing her to chuckle.
In no time we were at Grace and Masen's house. It was a beautiful white two-story home hidden away on Cullen land. There wasn't a driveway, but a long path that led back to the main Cullen household. Masen and Grace kept their cars at the main Cullen house since the garage was huge.
When we entered Renesmee, Jacob, Robert, Cordelia, Lily, and Ethan were all sitting in their living room. I could hear Grace and Masen talking about something upstairs, so they were probably putting Tyler to bed.
"Have you guys looked at it?" Seth asked, walking to where Renesmee was observing it on the coffee table.
"Yeah, we're just trying to figure this all out that's all," Ness said, looking at it more.
"We're just here for battle strategies really," Lily said, looking in my direction. "I don't know nothing about infiltration. More of a fighter if you ask me."
"Well, infiltration is just as important as that," I said, walking over to where Seth was now sitting by Ness. The map showed various tunnels underneath the castle. Most of them leading right to the dungeons. Others led to various unmarked rooms. I noticed Lizzy's hand writing marked out where their bedrooms were and other rooms marked safe.
Robert moved closer to the parchment and watched us carefully while Cordelia frowned, as if she was trying to figure something out.
"I think Lucas is in your old room Robert," Cordelia declared, squinting in frustration as she took a closer look. "Dru has her old one, while Lizzy must've gotten one of the spares. So did Abby…"
"Who's Wes?" Renesmee asked curiously, pointing at the map.
"Yeah, there's a room that says "Wes's room" and it's in Lizzy's handwriting," Seth added.
"Maybe it's someone they can trust," Jacob pointed out.
"There's also a Stef and a Bo," Renesmee said. "She also put down Felix's name…"
"Going through to where Felix is could be risky," Robert mentioned. "Because it's right by the throne room…But Wes? Bo? Stef? Those names don't ring a bell…"
"Wes," Cordelia repeated. Suddenly her eyes widened, "Robert…Wes could be short for Wesley."
"Wesley," Robert said slowly as the recognition then hit his face. "Wait- Wes! That's it! Wes must be Wesley! Caius's son!"
"Caius has a son?!" Renesmee questioned incredulously.
"We never met him, but he got a human girl pregnant before we left," Cordelia explained. "Sylvia. Dru was very close to her since she helped her through most of the pregnancy."
"So maybe Liz thinks that his son is safe. They must be friends," I mentioned.
"I'm just curious how they found this," Robert said, studying the map. "We could never score anything like this when we were with the Volturi."
"Well, looks like they have Felix on their side and they are pretty smart girls," Ethan said.
"And Lucas is pretty sneaky when he wants something," Cordelia added, looking at the map gently. "This has to be something from my father's private collection. A map of the castle just doesn't get into the hands of two teenage girls. Dru wouldn't be able to get passed the guards since Aro doesn't trust her at all and Lucas- maybe, but this had to be Abby and Lizzy's doing. What strings are they pulling?"
"We'll soon find out," Renesmee said. "As soon as we pick a route to enter."
"Well," I said, looking at the map. "We'd have to enter through the sewers. It seems like one entrance is closed off, we could try to break it but this could be risky if we all invade from the inside. They could find out. We'd have to have someone go into the castle walls and distract. Get anybody who's willing to get the brothers or the guards away for a bit. Then the rest of us could sneak through he tunnels until we reach this one." I pointed at a tunnel in the middle that lead to their library. "Once we're in there, we split up. Get the girls and then bring them back to the nearest tunnel entrances."
"This won't work," Robert said, running a hand through his hair. "The reason why it's hard to sneak in is because there's too many guards. Too many people that will take you down in a heartbeat. We're no match. Even if we have some powerful people- how much can Cordelia do or me. We'd get ganged up on eventually."
"It's why it was impossible for us to escape," Cordelia added. "Too much protection. Even if we thought we had a flawless plan, there was always something wrong with it. It's the reason we ended up in the dungeons."
"Well, there has to be another way," Renesmee said as they all began to argue. As they talked, I couldn't help but notice something on the parchment. Gently, I turned it over and noticed dates. One of them reading next week's along with times.
"What's this?" I asked, touching it.
"Those are times for when the guards feed," Cordelia explained. "But the dates, I'm not sure."
"I saw those and wasn't sure what they meant. I didn't get a good chance to look at them yet," Renesmee explained.
I saw the first date and frowned. I then pointed at it, "That was this weekend. The first weekend of October."
"The next one is in another week," Seth said, looking at it curiously.
"What happened this weekend…" Lily trailed off, biting her lip. "Did Lizzy say anything in that area of yours."
"Not really. She was trying to do it before the connection got broken off," Renesmee said, thinking hard to her conversation. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "This weekend the Volturi leaders went away. To where, I don't know, but the way Lizzy put it, it isn't the first time it's happened."
"Sometimes they'll go out on business," Cordelia spoke up. "For weekends on end. They don't explain much, but they used to go to Greece a lot. They used to take us with them for awhile, but suddenly one day it stopped. Apparently they had something top secret going on there."
"We always assumed it had to do with Meredith and getting a chance to use them Magia Pisicina himself to create a Lux Lamia," Robert added. "Which he succeeded in doing, so there would be no need for him to go to Greece…Unless-"
"Unless they have another reason to go. Maybe something we don't know about," Renesmee piped up.
"Hey guys," Masen said as he came into the room with Grace. "What's going on?"
"I think we figured out when to get the girls," Renesmee chimed.
"Next weekend," Robert declared. "If this means what I think it means, most of the guard will be following the brothers. They want high protection, so there will be less guards. They'll take the twins, of course, but they'll leave a few of them behind. It's the perfect time to go and with this map, the map of all the Volturi's secret passageways- we're unstoppable."
"We'll go through this tunnel," I said, pointing to the one I knew was the best. "It's the least inconspicuous and leads right into the room of Wes- who hopefully we can trust."
"If Lizzy trusts him, I trust him," Renesmee stated firmly.
"As do I," Seth added, earning nods from the others.
Masen then headed to where the map was. He paused and looked at it carefully, "The entrance to this sewer is right outside of the city. They don't have guards until the very entrance of the city. This will be perfect and if we can sneak in during the day, it'll be even better."
"Did we actually plan how to get our family back?" Jen asked with a bright smile.
"I think we did," I exclaimed, picking up my girlfriend and swirling her around excitedly. Soon, we were all grinning ear to ear. Finally, after all this time, we were going to get our family members back.
A/N: Hey guys! Slowly getting there, can't believe it's almost the end! Thanks for reading and keep on the lookout for the next update!
