[Disclaimer] All things Twilight belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] I really wished I could be a better writer. When I compare myself to others I always feel like a complete dilettante. Anyway, I'm thankful for those of you who keep encouraging me to continue with this story. It's because the love you show for this story that keeps me writing it.

This chapter here is dedicated to Villemo79 and mydsgirl. Hope you'll enjoy

**Chapter 86**

Ali's POV

What is it that draws one person to another? Is it really just coincidence or is it destiny that somehow, in a wondrously way leads us finally into the arms of the one person we were always meant to be with.

My heart skipped a beat, making the blood pulsate so quickly through my body so that my fingertips started prickling.

"Mrs. Swan?"

I raised my head and shoved the picture of Bella I had been holding in my hand back into my handbag.

"Yes?"

"Mrs. Volturi will see you now."

"Thanks," I mumbled, clearing my dry throat twice before I entered her office.

She has taste that much is obvious I realized when I took a moment to look around in the huge room. Everything was covered in light cream colors apart from the couch that was a warm, deep brown shade and smelled like olive oil and old leather.

When she saw me the edges of her mouth twitched upwards into a half smile.

"Good Morning, Ali. I'm sorry that I had to keep you waiting. Do you want to drink anything?"

I shook my head and sat down on one of the sandy colored chairs in front of her mahogany desk. The color instantly reminds me of Bella's beautiful hair and once more I found myself wishing that she had been able to come here with me.

Somehow it's better that way. I needed to do this on my own.

"Thank you, I'm fine. Did you get that message from Zafrina?"

"Hmm,"

Her hair had now a few caramel colored highlights in it that made the blonde appear a tiny bit more natural. She's a beautiful woman, or at least she had been a few years ago. Now she reminded me a little bit of a flower that was about to dry up.

"I don't understand."

"You don't understand what?"

"Why you are saying no to my offer."

"It's not like that." I stumbled out, cursing myself because I sounded like a stupid, insecure school girl now.

"Would you care to explain to me what kind of problem you have with the contract?"

I took a deep breath and although I knew, deep inside me that I should probably not tell her the truth it came out like word vomit.

"It's because of the photographer you hired to work with me. There is no way I'm going to work together with James Hunter, ever."

She raised one eyebrow and took a sip from the glass of water in front of her before she spoke up.

"Are you going to tell me what kind of problem you have with Hunter in specific?"

"No,"

Crap that came out a little too harsh. Maybe I should just go now before I manage to embarrass myself any further.

"Did you have an affair with him or something? That would surprise me…concerning your preferences."

"No, I didn't." Thanks god for that.

"But he and I once were…friends with the same person, if you understand what I mean."

"Hmm, I see. Did no one tell you not to mix your private life with your work life? That's pretty unprofessional."

"I know. But yet you are here, practically running the company of your ex-husband on your own. How does that fit in with your standards of separating job and private life?"

She cringed and started playing with the sapphire ring on her right middle finger.

"Love holds is a strange power above us and once its flame is blown out, no one of us remembers how hot the fire has been. All we remember are the different shades of lights in it. I helped him build this company basically from scratch and I won't let him ruin it. That's why I'm here."

"Didyme, look, I really want to work for you. It's a great chance but if it includes spending time with that man, there's no way I can do it."

"Too bad,"

I stood up from the chair, hoping that my legs that suddenly felt like Jell-O underneath me would manage to keep me upright.

Her secretary appeared in the door frame and cleared her throat nervously before she spoke up.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Volturi but your niece is here now."

"Good, bring Janetta in. We're almost finished here."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, wrapping my hand around the cold wood of the mahogany desk. It's so beautiful and I wonder how much that thing might have cost.

"Why are you sorry? Hunter is the one who is supposed to be sorry. He seemed to really be looking forward to work with you."

"I don't understand."

"Jeez, Ali, it's you that I want to work for me. You're like an uncut diamond and if I let you go, it would be…well, just stupid. I don't make stupid decisions. Well, apart from those my heart has been involved with."

"Zia Didyme!"

I turn around and my eyes widen as the tiny white-blonde figure wraps her arms around Didyme's neck. How could the little witch child, as Bella referred to her, be related to one of the richest women in Seattle? Her father owned a restaurant where they served $ 8 pasta dishes.

For the first time I realized that I know absolutely nothing about Volturi Inc. What exactly do they do in this company?

"Oh Janetta, you look so lovely. Did your father allow you to keep that IPhone I sent you last week?"

She frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Certo che no. He says it's too expensive and that I should give it back to you."

Didyme giggled and leaned forward to plant a kiss on Jane's forehead.

"My brother is stubborn but so am I."

"Then I'm supposed to keep it?"

"I insist."

Jane's mouth turned into a bright smile. There was something like an evil aura around this child that I couldn't really put a name to. I wondered why Lilly was so fond of her.

She turned to me and my cheeks reddened a few shades because the way she gazed at me made it seem as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.

"How's it going Ali? Lilly told me that you and her mom are going to have a baby."

"Yes, that's true."

"I don't like babies. They cry all the time and that's annoying."

"Hmm, yes sometimes probably."

Didyme giggled and put a wisp of her hair behind her ear, exposing a pair of expensive looking ear rings with tiny diamonds in them.

"Janetta, you'll understand that better when you are older. Babies are lovely."

"If they are lovely why haven't you any of them?"

"Because I like it far more being an aunt than a mother," she told her, trying to make her voice sound cheerful and light.

I wondered what difference it would make for me. Would I love the new baby more than I loved Lilly? Or would it just be a different kind of love, one I didn't really know anything about.

"Ali, are you still here with me?"

"Yes, Didyme?"

"Are you going to sign the contract if I hire a different photographer?"

"Of course,"

And just like that, I became part of the mysterious Volturi Inc.

XXXX

"Are you still angry at us?" I asked him worriedly, sitting down on the couch in the small living room.

Stefan's mouth twitched for a moment before he handed me the plate with the cinnamon rolls.

"Eat, Alicija. You're too skinny."

"I'm not."

"Trust me you are. As for being angry at you…,"

He sighed deeply and sat down next to me.

"I'm angry, but not because the three of you decided to have this baby together."

"It's me and Bella who are having the baby. Benjamin is more like a…supporting character in the whole thing."

"Hmm, I see."

"Can I ask you something? Is Benjamin really like his…like our mother?"

"You don't really know anything about her, do you? What has your father told you about Sasha?"

"Not much. Just that she was the niece of his housekeeper when he worked in Romania and that she was way too young back then."

"Hmm,"

He cleared his throat and pulled a silver pocket watch out of his vest.

"Don't mention that to my wife. It would upset her if she knew that I'm carrying this with me all the time."

"Kay,"

He flipped it open and my own face, or not really my own face, just one that looked a lot like my own stared back at me. Her fingers were twisted around one of the black curls of the tiny infant in her arms. It looked more like a doll to me than an actual child.

"Is that Benjamin?"

"No, that's you."

For a moment something cramped around my heart and I had to swallow hard before I managed to speak again.

"She was pretty, wasn't she? I didn't even know that she had pictures with me."

"This is the only one. Sasha burned all the others."

"Why did she do that?"

A deep sigh left this throat and his fingers clenched around the pocket watch so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Because she was angry,"

"At me?"

"No, not at you, at herself,"

"What for?"

"Oh girl, you're really still a child. Look, Sasha was a very emotional person. For her it was all or nothing. Although all was probably what she preferred a lot more. She couldn't let go of you."

"I don't think, I understand."

"Why do you think that we came here? She wanted to move to America because she wanted to be closer to you. And for a long time I was...pissed at her, because I thought that she just wanted to get back together with your father."

"Do you think she loved him?"

"She loved him a lot, probably way more than she ever loved me. He was her first love. That kind of left a mark on her…sort of."

"I still don't understand why she burned the pictures."

"Like I told you, she was angry. I think that she had watched your other…mother bring you to school on that day."

"And how is Benjamin like her? He seems like a pretty cheerful guy to me."

"He is. But the problem is that he bases all of his decisions on his emotions. He never thinks twice about the consequences of his choices and that makes him just like his mother."

"Is it wrong to trust your heart?"

"No, it's not, but it makes people vulnerable and some wounds never heal."

"You're not going to give him a hard time now, will you?"

"No, I won't. I can't really be angry at him for long. He's the only thing of Sasha that I have left."

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Every single day but it's a good thing that I've found Ela. She's my tomorrow and I need tomorrow because I already have too much yesterdays."

"Hmm,"

"Can you tell me why you and Bella wanted to have this child so much?"

"Honesty I never really considered having kids of my own. It just didn't feel that important to me but with Bella it's different. It's like with her I want everything, everything that's possible."

"You're hungry for life…that's a good thing. Don't let anyone tell you different."

I stood up from the couch and put my jacket back on.

"This isn't exactly how I expected becoming a grandfather."

"I can imagine that."

"Maybe you can…or you don't, it doesn't really matter. We're all in this now."

He wrapped some aluminum foil over the cinnamon rolls and handed them to me.

"Take those with you. Maybe Bella will like to eat them."

"Thanks, I'll make sure she has some. Bella loves everything sweet but she has this weird idea that she's getting too big if she eats too much candy."

His mouth twitched again.

"But you don't mind her gaining weight, do you?"

"No, I don't. It doesn't matter to me how much she weighs. I love her the way she is."

"Love is a strange thing, isn't it, Alicija? Makes us blind and at the same time it lets us see so much that is invisible for our eyes."