Author's Note: Thank you SO MUCH to Anyagal for pre-reading this epilogue for me. You're a gem!
- Chapter 25: Epilogue -
June 1940
The day dawned with a magnificently miserable aspect, which pleased Edward greatly.
The Cullens would not be relegated to the indoors for Nessie's 18th birthday, as the girl had feared.
Told you, Alice thought smugly from the loggia, where she was setting up the tables that would soon be overloaded with Mrs. Weber's finest.
Edward rolled his eyes toward the heavens. Lord save him from his meddling sister.
Edward, come pretend to help me with this, would you?
He felt a thrill at the sudden opening of that connection. Bella had mastered letting him into her mind years ago, but he was certain it would never get old. To feel her adoration, hear how she needed him—
Oh God, Jasper's mental voice cut in. Get a hold of yourself, please.
Ignoring him, Edward sped down toward the kitchen, slowing to a sedate walk at the final turn of the servants' stairs.
"Oh, Mr. Cullen!" Mrs. Weber, looking flustered, spotted him instantly. "Wonderful timing. Would you be so kind as to carry these platters outside?"
Edward shot a secret smile at his wife, who was helping Angela slice cucumbers for yet another tray of fussy white bread sandwiches.
"Goodness," he said aloud, letting his gaze wander around the room. "What kind of army are we feeding, Mrs. Weber?"
Angela giggled and Bella sent him a warning look.
"You open the house to all and sundry, Mr. Cullen, and you must be prepared to feed them!" Mrs. Weber chided, her soft chin wobbling in her intensity. "For all we know, two whole towns' worth of young people are about to drive through those gates. Imagine the shame if we sent them home hungry, and on their first visit to Culwoode Hall!"
Edward bit back a grin. "You're right, of course," he said, picking up a multi-tiered crystal display of perfectly-stacked triangles. "I thank you for your attention to our reputation as hosts. Lord knows what we would do without you."
Mollified by this pretty speech, Mrs. Weber sniffed delicately. "Yes. Well. I merely wish to ensure dear Nessie's party is a success."
"It could hardly be otherwise, with you on the job."
He sent a wink to Bella, who was shaking her head ruefully at him.
"My darling," he said, "will you accompany me? Alice had a question for you about the streamers."
She shot him a grateful look and picked up the nearest platter. "Of course."
Either of them could have managed the majority of the trays by themselves. But discretion, of course, was even more necessary than usual with the house open to the whole town of Forks and the reservation.
At least they were relatively used to tempering their abilities in front of the small staff they still kept on, despite not strictly needing the help. Mrs. Weber, Angela, and her now-husband Ben Cheney had been easily convinced that a months-long illness before their hurried marriage had caused the subtle shifts in Bella's countenance. As for the eyes…Angela had told her mother that they were paid too well to ask questions.
The members of the tribe, too, could be relied upon to hold their tongue about anything odd they might notice about the residents of Culwoode Hall. But they would have to be much more careful with the Forks residents.
Edward smiled, thinking of the little white schoolhouse where Nessie had attended school with the reservation children and Bella taught literature. It had been Jacob Black who had suggested the treaty between the Pack and the Cullens be revisited to allow Bella access to the reservation.
"Nobody here will say a damn thing about her looking different from before," Black had promised when he first made the proposal, and it was true.
Edward was still grateful to the mongrel, who he'd begun to think of with a rather gruff affection, despite himself. The wolf's insistence had given Bella a purpose, a way to make herself useful. And he had to admit that Nessie had been much happier amongst children her own age.
Still, he wasn't quite sure how his wife stood the smell.
Bella guided him to the proper table on the loggia, showing him where to set the sandwiches.
"What did Alice need me to do?" she asked.
He grinned at her. "Alice needed you out of that kitchen before Mrs. Weber made you taste any more bites of the chicken salad."
Bella laughed. "I swear, I have no idea how you manage the sleight of hand with her—I always have to chew what she gives me and spit it into a napkin."
"Ages of practice, my dear. You'll catch up—one day."
She stuck her tongue out at him, a delightfully juvenile gesture that stirred him something fierce. But he could hear the first of the automobiles turning up the long drive, far down the hill. That would have to wait.
- o - o - o -
Barely an hour later, the party was in full swing.
The rain held off, making Ben Cheney's frantic search for a large enough marquee the day before rather superfluous. Though Bella assured him that the effect was charming, all the same.
Edward was just glad for the thick cloud layer that enabled him, Bella, and the rest of his family to join the festivities. Though he noticed the wide berth the humans instinctively gave all of them—with the exception of Esme, who was deep in conversation with a rather tipsy-looking Mrs. Newton about the rose bushes, of all things.
He felt Seth Clearwater before he saw him, a familiar presence at the edge of the gathering, humming with nervous energy. Edward turned his head just as the young man rounded the corner of the house.
Seth had only just returned from a two-year carpentry apprenticeship earlier that spring and it felt to Edward as though they ran into him at every turn. He seemed to always working on something at the schoolhouse, based on the offhand mentions in Nessie's stories over dinner. If Nessie went into Port Angeles to watch a picture with her friends, Seth happened to be picking something up from the hardware store. If their little family went to walk along the tide pools, Seth was patrolling along the beach and stopped to say hello.
Now he was here.
As Edward watched, Seth lingered at the edge of the lawn, searching the crowd. He held his tall, broad figure with a forced casualness, one hand jammed in his pocket, the other holding a small package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a rather extravagant bright green ribbon.
Down among the group playing croquet, Nessie caught sight of him and lit up like a firecracker.
"Seth!" she called, breaking away from a group of her classmates. She ran to him without hesitation, her coppery curls bouncing around her shoulders.
Edward tensed.
Nessie, still petite as ever, practically jumped into Seth's arms to wrap him in a joyful embrace, and he caught her with practiced ease. The ease of someone who had always known how to be gentle with her, who would never drop her, even if she threw her whole self into his arms. She looked up at him like he'd hung the moon.
Bella slipped up beside him on silent feet, winding her arm around his waist. "Easy," she murmured.
He didn't answer, his sharp gaze locked on Seth. Not that he needed to see the boy's expression to know his mind—open as ever, bright with affection. There was nothing but joy and the faintest undercurrent of awe, as if Seth couldn't quite believe she was running that way toward him.
Not at all inappropriate, Edward noted. He could admit that, at least. Seth had the purest of intentions. But that didn't make it easier to see his Nessie—a child no longer—laughing in the arms of a wolf.
By the time the pair made their way toward the marquee on the lawn, Nessie had her arm looped comfortably through Seth's, talking animatedly about something Edward couldn't quite hear. Her smile was the same one she'd worn as a little girl, bright with excitement—but now it carried the ease of someone ready to face the world.
The pair stopped before Edward and Bella. Seth shifted his weight nervously, like he was awaiting the judgment of some feudal monarch.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen," he said in greeting, a shy smile on his face. "Thank you for having me."
"Oh, Seth, please," Bella said warmly, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder in a way that made Edward's mouth tighten. "You know I hate when you call me that. It sounds so formal."
Seth ducked his head, the smile spreading into a boyish grin. "Sorry, ma'am, force of habit now."
Bella gave him a light smack on the arm, making Nessie gasp.
"Mama!"
"Oh, hush," Bella said with a smile. "I've known the boy since he first started shifting. The least he can do is call me by my first name."
Seth was laughing now, and Nessie relaxed a little.
"You know you're welcome here anytime, Seth."
It took a rather large effort not to shoot a glare at his beloved for that little addition. No need to make him feel too comfortable.
"If you're quite done," Nessie said haughtily. "Seth, Mrs. Weber just brought out a fresh batch of those little sausage rolls you love. Come have a bite."
Edward watched with narrowed eyes as the pair walked arm-in-arm to the loggia.
"Do you have to encourage him so? I promise he doesn't need it," he grumbled, shooting Bella an accusing look.
Bella gave a soft laugh, pressing closer to him. "What was it you told me, that night in the study? That you wanted her to build a life on her own terms—to fall in love?"
"I certainly wasn't picturing a man like that when I said it. He's twenty-three."
Bella raised an eyebrow. "And? She's eighteen now. Besides, he's still shifting—he's not aging, and she is."
"Irrelevant," he said stubbornly. "Physically, he might not be changing, but his mind is still five years older than hers. She's too young."
She let out a shout of laughter, then stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. "Oh, Edward," she admonished affectionately. "Tell me, how many years older was your mind than mine when we met? Sixty?"
"That was different," he mumbled, but he knew when he was beaten. He remembered the conversation Bella was thinking of with perfect clarity. He had said he'd wanted love for Nessie. And he'd meant it.
Life and loss had taught his Lizzie to seek security in her marriage. Nessie, he'd vowed, would have all the chance to seek happiness.
He might not like the shape it took—but he had to let her find it on her own terms.
Still, worry nagged at him—a father's prerogative, he'd learned. Bella felt it, and her hand traced soothing patterns on his back.
"She'll have to leave soon, won't she?" he murmured. "If she doesn't ask for the change…"
Bella's hand stilled for a moment. Even without insight into her thoughts, he knew the turn they were taking. To that awful day, nine years before. "I'm sure she could stay for a little while longer without much risk," she said softly. "But if she delays much longer on the change, then yes, I suppose you're right. She'll need to make her life somewhere else."
Edward's jaw tightened. "To make sure Aro doesn't wonder."
At the mention of Aro, Bella's face darkened. That name always stirred unease.
"He hasn't shown any interest since he looked into her mind then," she whispered. "It's... unlikely he'll come again."
"Unlikely isn't impossible." Edward's gaze strayed to the trees beyond the broad lawn, his thoughts far away. If Aro sent someone to check on Nessie and found her among them as an adult, there would be questions.
Bella exhaled, a quiet but deliberate sound. "She wouldn't have to go far," she offered. "Seattle, maybe. And really, it's only natural that a young woman should leave her family home." She sent a tiny, warm smile up at him. "She knows she can always return, but she'll want a chance to study, to travel. It's simply time."
Edward smiled faintly at her wisdom, even as the sharp twinge of his anxieties still rankled. "I suppose she'll just have to drag Seth along with her," he said, only half a joke.
Bella laughed. "I doubt there will be much dragging involved." Her eyes glanced back toward where the pair were still visible through the arches of the covered loggia. "Where she goes, he'll gladly follow, I'll wager."
Edward shook his head, but a reluctant smile tugged at his lips. He would feel better about Nessie out in the world with a man like Seth at her side. A poor substitute for his own protection, but…
He supposed this was the natural order of things, the bittersweet transition he'd missed out on his first go at parenthood. You spend so much time and energy guiding the child you so loved, teaching them and giving them as many resources as you were able—and then you simply had to step back and watch what they chose to do with them.
Still, he thought he had the right to keep a close eye, just in case.
"I'm going to tell Mrs. Weber to stop cooking and join the party," he said.
"Good luck with that," Bella replied lightly.
Edward felt her eyes on him all the way up to the house, but she kept her mind closed to him. Truthfully, he appreciated it in that moment; there were enough thoughts and feelings swirling around him already.
Predictably, his attempts to pry Mrs. Weber away from the kitchen were futile.
"That crowd'll empty the sandwich platters three times over, Mr. Cullen, you mark my words!" she huffed. "Now you go enjoy the festivities and leave the victuals to me."
He'd been about to leave through the loggia when he spotted Nessie and Seth through the windows. Nessie sat on a bench, beaming up at the tall young man, who stood somewhat awkwardly before her.
He really shouldn't spy, but…
"Happy birthday, Nessie," Seth was saying, holding out the small package he'd been carrying around.
She took it with a shy smile. "Oh, Seth! You didn't have to get me anything."
"I wanted to," he said, voice steady, though the tips of his ears turned red.
Edward carefully shifted to the side to get a better view through the French doors. There was something subtle but unmissable about the way they looked at each other—something that made him think, uncomfortably, of how Bella had looked at him all those quiet evenings in his study, nearly a decade before. A fascination, but something more, too; as though figuring him out was the most worthwhile undertaking she could imagine.
And then he saw it: not in Nessie's expression, but in Seth's mind—a quiet, unspoken promise.
He would leave it all behind for her.
Give up the Pack, the opportunity for unnaturally long life that stretched out before him, the duty that had shaped him since he was fourteen. He would give it up to live as simply a man, in love with a woman. To grow old. To stay with her.
Edward frowned.
It was a rare gift, Edward knew, to have that kind of choice. The boy was still young, but his intentions were clear—and the path he was prepared to take was a mortal one. There was no need for grand gestures or declarations. The quiet certainty in Seth's mind spoke louder than words.
Nessie was still unwrapping the package, her fingers carefully peeling away the paper. Inside was a small, carved figure—a wolf and a girl standing side by side, her hand curled in the beast's ruff.
Seth shuffled his feet. "I know it's not much, but—"
Nessie's breath hitched, and she touched the figure as though it were made of glass. "It's beautiful, Seth." She looked up at him with a sincerity that gave Edward pause. "I love it."
Edward watched the quiet understanding pass between them, and the sharp bolt of pain at the thought that she might choose mortality was less of a surprise than the balm that followed: relief.
Whether or not she chose to stay human—wherever life took her next—she would be loved. There would be a place for her in the world.
Nessie was standing up now, wrapping Seth in a hug that, though entirely chaste, made Edward look away.
She wasn't a little girl anymore.
"Come on," Nessie said, tucking the gift carefully into her pocket. "The three-legged races will start soon, and I've decided you and I simply must win."
She tugged Seth out of the loggia, back toward the lively hum of the party below. And Edward was left alone in the shadowy room, ashamed and torn and pained by what he'd witnessed—and yet, there was that fragile bubble of hope floating above it all.
"You know," a soft, familiar voice said from the passage to the great hall, "there are worse fates for her."
Edward swallowed. He ought to be embarrassed to be caught, but he couldn't find the energy.
"She might not want to change at all," he said, voice tight. "Their kind live a long life, but not like we do, and he were to—if they…"
Bella stepped up beside him, and they stood together for a moment, watching Nessie move toward the gathering—half girl, half woman, wholly her own.
"Perhaps not," Bella said finally. "But Edward, what has all this been for, if not to give her the choice?"
Her words settled into the quiet space between them, gentle and undeniable, like the faint light filtering through the thick clouds outside.
Edward's gaze followed Nessie and Seth as they disappeared into the crowd, her laughter carrying across the lawn like a breeze.
A choice. Wasn't that exactly why he'd taken her in? To give her a life free of fear, free of burdens—not locked into the same chains that had bound her grandmother. His first daughter.
And yet...
He let out a breath. Had he known all along that it would hurt this much?
A future where she might grow old while he and Bella remained unchanged, where he would watch her life end like Lizzie's had. Where one day, she might slip quietly away from this world, hand-in-hand with the boy who had chosen to share that fate.
He ached at the thought. But wasn't that what it meant to love her? To let her go, even knowing it might end in loss?
Bella's fingers laced through his, and the cool, steady pressure of her hand pulled him back to the present. "It won't be easy," she murmured, her voice low enough for only him to hear. "No matter what she decides."
He turned to look at her then, marveling—as he so often did—at the quiet strength of her.
"But we've made it through everything else, haven't we?" she continued, her smile small but unwavering. "Whatever happens, we'll have each other."
Edward's heart, silent for over a century, felt as if it would begin to stir anew for the first time. He pressed her hand to his lips, a gesture of both devotion and gratitude.
"Yes," he whispered. "We will."
For a moment, it was just the two of them. The hum of the party faded, and the years slipped away—back to that first, uncertain moment when he'd seen her, wanted her, needed her. And he knew then, with sudden clarity, that they could face anything as long as they faced it together.
Whatever Nessie chose—whether she stayed human or asked to be changed—he and Bella would endure. They would watch over her, and her children, and her children's children, if that was the path Nessie walked. And they would have each other. That was enough.
Edward exhaled slowly, the ache in his chest loosening at last. He had let go of one daughter, long ago, and it had nearly broken him. But this time would be different. This time, he would not lose his family.
And, he reprimanded himself, it would not be tonight, or even this year. He had time yet. Time to love her, to continue to be the father he'd always wanted to be for his Lizzie. He should not waste a happy day on a future pain that may or may not come.
He turned toward Bella, brushing his thumb across her knuckles. "Come on," he murmured, tilting his head toward the party below. "We can't let a wolf win the three-legged race. Think of the shame."
Bella laughed, a sound that made everything feel lighter. "Are you suggesting we beat out the birthday girl herself? Hardly seems sporting."
"Undoubtedly not."
They shared a conspiratorial glance—but underneath, he saw the bittersweet sentiment reflected in Bella's golden eyes. He gave her a tiny smile; that would keep. For now, they would live in this moment, with their beautiful girl, young and vibrant and ready to make her future her own.
Hand in hand, they left the dim quiet of the house behind and stepped out into the late afternoon air, toward the noisy, joyful chaos of life unfolding below.
- The End -
Author's Note: Well, that's that! I am SO GRATEFUL to all of you who came on this journey with me. Saturday marks the exact one-year anniversary since I posted the first chapter, and I feel like I've learned so much working through the process. It really was super fun and I'm (mostly) happy with the results. I hope you are, too. :)
In case you missed it, I have started a new (and very different) story called skin contact. It's a modern AH AU set in the fine dining world, featuring Edward as a chef and Bella as a sommelier. The prologue is up now and the first chapter will follow next week. Check it out if you're so inclined!